Waldo glanced at the chat and immediately realized that the squares for each challenger were randomly refreshed. Some challengers were unlucky, encountering mostly dangerous elements. Others were incredibly fortunate, finding all their squares filled with food, making other challengers envious.

However, luck was a tricky thing. Sometimes, good luck meant squares filled with food or various treasures. Bad luck could mean facing all dangerous squares, either fierce beasts or deadly traps.

Waldo then saw challengers showcasing their finds.

"Just a small thing, a beer and a chicken leg, got them easily, and they were incredibly tasty."

"Awesome, that’s luxury!"

"Haha, I got a level one hammer, adds ten points to my combat power, I think I have some ability to protect myself now."

"Plus ten to combat power? Not bad! It’s said that after coming to the chessboard world, our base combat power was adjusted to one hundred points, and it’s one hundred ten for level five or above challengers, just a bit higher than ours. Bro, with that hammer, you’re as powerful as those with higher abilities!"

"Haha, no big deal! I’ll protect you guys in the future, haha!" 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Indeed, after entering the chessboard world, Waldo’s power was severely suppressed. His base combat power was only one hundred ten points. However, Waldo was unconcerned. It was just the beginning. He would grow faster in the coming time. After following the chat channel for a while and finding it uninteresting, Waldo went to sleep.

The next day.

As soon as he opened his eyes, Waldo received a message about the dice roll refresh.

"Time to roll the dice again."

Waldo opened his somewhat blurry eyes and looked towards the chessboard in front of him. The board had been refreshed again.

[The first square is a level one scythe]

[The second square is a bottle of red tea]

[The third square is instant noodles]

[The fourth square is a small swimming pool]

...

This time, the six refreshed squares were mostly harmless. "Makes sense, after all, we’ve just entered the chessboard world. If every day were hellishly difficult, challengers would probably die off in a few days."

As Waldo contemplated which square to enter, he also pondered in his mind. "Now should be a newbie protection period. Except for the first day, which was quite difficult, the next few days should be smoother. Of course, this applies to ordinary challengers. For me, it doesn’t matter, since I have the Hand of God and can control the dice roll as I wish."

Without hesitation, Waldo rolled a 6 and was then transported to the sixth square.

"Boom!"

As soon as he landed on the sixth square, a deafening sound greeted him. A waterfall, many meters high, was cascading down beside him. Waldo walked towards the waterfall, where he found a decayed axe. The axe was rusty and seemed heavily oxidized, but as soon as he touched it, it burst into a brilliant golden light.

[Mock Mountain Axe: Level one weapon, adds twenty points to combat power!]

[Challenger Waldo, your combat power is now 130 points!]

Seeing this, Waldo was slightly satisfied. A twenty-point boost from an axe was quite good. Even if he encountered several challengers at once, he could easily handle them.

"In a few days, the various leaderboards will be refreshed, and the top-ranking challengers will receive rewards, either food or weapons!"

The next few days were crucial. He needed to find ways to improve his rankings, including progression, combat power, and wealth rankings. Waldo knew that the combat power ranking was based on the challengers’ combat strength, and the progression ranking depended on the number of squares advanced.

As for the wealth ranking, Waldo was somewhat unclear about it. Was it based on the amount of material possessions one had? Or was it something else?

"Damn it, a new round of dice rolling has started! What should I do, I’m so nervous! Of the six squares in front of me, two are dangerous, there’s a one in three chance of falling into danger..."

"Hahaha, all six squares are safe, I hit the jackpot!"

"Damn, this time it’s really a matter of life and death for me!"

"Does anyone have any food? I’m so hungry! I want to trade my token for some food. I haven’t eaten in more than a day, is there any kind soul to save a child?! (pitiful)"

Waldo glanced at the chat channel to get an idea of the situation of the other challengers. Unlike the first day, the challengers were gradually getting used to the environment of the chessboard world. Also, Waldo noticed something. The actual number of real challengers in the chessboard world was much higher than he had imagined. The Land of Darkness where he was previously located was just one area of the real Land of Darkness, known as "Area Seventeen."

There were over a hundred areas. Therefore, he estimated that the number of challengers who entered the chessboard world was at least over one hundred thousand! This number was much higher than Waldo had imagined.

"The more people, the better, as it brings competition. Otherwise, even if I get first place, it wouldn’t feel like much of an achievement. Now it’s great, competing with a hundred thousand people... that’s what I call exciting!"

Waldo laughed carelessly, even feeling a surge of excitement. Then, he turned his attention to the trading platform. It was only the second day, and people were already listing items on the trading platform. However, they were all weapons and various unknown items! As for food, there was none.

However, these exchanges all had one thing in common: they all required food.

"Food is still valuable," Waldo thought, smiling at the thought of the bread in his space. Suddenly, his gaze sharpened as he saw a small fragment on the trading platform.

"Is that it? The bronze fragment I saw yesterday? What could it be?"

Waldo noticed a palm-sized bronze fragment, feeling a slight stir in his heart. This bronze fragment gave him a familiar feeling. At the same time, he had a vague sense that this fragment was extraordinary. He had this feeling yesterday, but had to give it up for food. Seeing it again today, Waldo didn’t plan to let it go. He decisively contacted the challenger named Little Rabbit.

In the vast chessboard world, a cute and delicate little girl, with a pained expression on her face, felt like her stomach was about to collapse from hunger. Suddenly, her expression changed.

"Hello, are you looking to trade for the bronze fragment?"

A challenger named Waldo had suddenly sent her a private message.