Jemma made a face, as if she couldn’t decide if she should be mad or just accept the praise. After a moment, she decided to ignore the quip and just answer Xu Han’s question. “First, we have to sort out this Vial of Change treasure you offered to the other dungeons. Which you did all on your own without consulting us, by the way.”

  Xu Han tuned out the accusation from his dungeon fairy and turned to the Guardian. The Guardian’s gaze was distant, staring at nothing like he was contemplating the meaning of life.

  “So, what do you think? Could you give out the vials to the other cores?” Xu Han asked.

  “In theory, yes,” the Guardian replied, picking his words carefully. “I’m already giving them to adventurers, and nothing says I can ‘only’ give them to adventurers. There’s nothing in my orders that prevents me from giving them to other dungeon cores, and if those cores want to give out the vials after receiving them… there’s also nothing to stop them. So, the idea itself isn’t a problem.”

  “Then, what’s the issue?” Xu Han pressed.

  “The catch is, Carda doesn’t want the vials to be gifted out to just anyone. For this to work, we need some kind of trial so only the worthy can get their hands on them, and creating the trials for the other cores will be difficult.”

  Jemma made a face and scoffed. “Seriously, how are you supposed to know if someone is worthy or not? Honestly, I have no idea how you decide if an adventurer is worthy of receiving the vial. What is the criteria the adventurers need to meet to get a vial from you anyway?”

  “How far are they willing to go?” the Guardian tossed back, plain as day. “How far will they actually go? Would they throw it all away just for a shot at more?” The Guardian trailed off as if he was weighing out his words. “It’s not about who’s the strongest or who’s got the best skills. It is about Luck, Chance, and Freedom.”

  Xu Han piped up, “The three domains of Carda.”

  The Guardian nodded in all seriousness. “Exactly. How ready are these adventurers to roll the dice? Where is their line? Is there a line? How much Luck will they push? Their Freedom to say ‘No’ is the key; that’s what I was poking at.”

  Xu Han made a mental note, chewing on the explanation. “So, what we need is a trial that basically measures the adventurers’ willingness to risk it all. Something that pushes them to the edge.”

  Stolen story; please report.

  The Guardian smiled and shook his head. “That’s what most people think, but that is wrong.”

  “Huh?” Both the dungeon core and the tiny fairy looked at the Guardian in surprise. The Guardian, the Emissary of the Lord of Cards, spelled it out.

  “It’s not that extreme. Carda is not asking anyone to ‘risk it all’. Actually, it’s better if they don’t bet it all away. Carda’s the god of Luck, not Daring or Courage.”

  Jemma, who had been sitting there stewing, finally jumped in. “Wait, let me make sure I got this right? So, what you’re saying is that we need to set up a test where the adventurers have to risk something, but they also got to know when to call it quits?”

  The Guardian grinned, like a teacher who had been waiting for one of his students to finally get it. “Luck is slippery. It is a fickle thing. You got to know when to stop pressing.”

  “But that’s even trickier. Now we’re talking about threading the needle between going all in and knowing when to fold. How are we supposed to do that?” The fairy sounded annoyed.

  “I did warn you that coming up with a good trial for the cores would be a pain,” the Guardian said, not even pretending to apologize.

  Xu Han, meanwhile, was off in his own world, mulling over every adventurer he had seen in the dungeon. Most of them were driven by greed or glory, not exactly beacons of self-restraint. Still, a few had surprised him. “Jemma’s got a point. If given half a chance, most adventurers would be willing to risk everything for treasures or levels.”

  “Yes, that is true,” the Guardian admitted, rubbing his forehead. “Which is why I don’t just hand out vials to everyone who entered my hall. Most of the time, the adventurers who bet against me didn’t even care. They were bastions of Courage or Greed with no calculation. They’d jump at a one percent chance to win like it’s a sure thing. That’s not what the God of Chance is after.”

  “Wait, it’s not?” Jemma’s jaw dropped.

  “No,” the Guardian went on, sounding almost offended. “If you are betting everything even though you have a ninety-nine percent chance of losing, you’re not being bold. You’re not pushing your luck. You are just being stupid.”

  Xu Han chuckled, and honestly, he felt that Carda was right. It was like the sun had dawned, and the dungeon core now believed he had a better understanding of what the Lord of Cards was about.

  Xu Han started thinking back on all the weird, dangerous realms he had entered when he was a cultivator and wonder which ones would actually fit Carda’s criteria.

  “So, what we actually need is a challenge that rewards smart risks, not blind faith or reckless abandonment. A trial where careful consideration and a bit of intuition actually matter more than sheer audacity.” Xu Han said, half to himself.

  Jemma groaned, rubbing her hands over her face. “Great. How are we supposed to get adventurers to stop rolling the dice just for the chance of a better treasure? They’re adventurers! Calculated risk isn’t really their thing. If it was, they wouldn’t be adventurers! And that’s not even considering the fact that the other dungeon cores would need to design their own trials.”

  The Guardian looked like he was about to say something, but Xu Han cut in. “What if the trial had levels?”

  “Levels?” Both Jemma and the Guardian asked.