River needed time.
A lot of it.
With River sleeping and sleeping and sleeping – resting, Aspen realized, for once in his life – Aspen wanted to stick to him to ensure that he was still alive, but there was a big issue with that.
They were Gamblers now, and with that came changes that were harder to deal with than expected.
Namely that they didn’t have to breathe anymore, and while Aspen still breathed and kept his fake bodyparts running whenever he was awake, according to ShuShu all of that stopped the moment he was asleep, so he appeared just as dead as River did during his rest.
That was a bit too weird for Aspen – staring at the lifeless body – so he tried going out, only to encounter the next problem.
A world of sounds, shapes and colors that humans couldn’t recognize was at least not frying his not-really-existent-anymore brain, but it did cause him to enter a confused daze. While he was now technically able to understand all of these things, his human side was still attempting to rationalize it in a human way and failed dramatically.
Thankfully, Gamblers were a very… innocent and supportive species. They simply created an endless environment for him, mimicking Earth’s landscapes, and made sure to take on more normal forms whenever they came by.
They were childish and harmless, not at all aware of the horror they spread on planets they affected – mostly because their primary feelings were happiness and curiosity, with sadness and anger appearing to be absent completely.
The moment River woke up, Aspen ended up dragging him everywhere. Across all of that wide, Earth-like space that was theirs to command, to the edges of the realms bordering other worlds and dimensions. Seeing that, River hadn’t blanked out – no, he had smiled at the endless knowledge spread over an infinite amount of worlds, and the immeasurable amount of time he now had to sink into it.
River, Aspen realized belatedly, would have never been happy as a human. Sooner or later, even growing up in a peaceful family, he would have reached a wall.
When he told River about that thought, River ended up calling his partnered Gambler Mephisto. The Gambler completely missed the joke, but it was happy nonetheless. It was an affectionate nickname for sure.
River grew older, as he wanted, and Aspen loved the sight of his most important person as a fully grown adult. The tiniest bit of creases around his now grayscale eyes, the dark hair always put up in a short ponytail and ShuShu riding on his shoulders.
“You are staring again”, River commented, back turned to Aspen while he indulged in what was a tome from a world far away.
“You don’t know that”, Aspen drawled – very much staring – as he laid on his back, head dipping over the edge of the bed to observe River.
The tall man turned around on his chair, light colored eyes meeting Aspen’s dark gray ones, and raised an eyebrow. It had Aspen giggle happily, these stupid little comments, so very much human when neither of them were human anymore.
Gamblers were a hive-mind. You could shield yourself from it easily, as some games required secrecy from others, but otherwise there was a constant sharing of something.
River knew how he looked in Aspen’s eyes.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Shining and shimmering, a bright star with flickering edges that would never burn out again. A light in the darkness, a unique existence created for Aspen alone.
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“I’m trying this whole space-reformation-thingy. I want to build a forest around our place and a mountain and a lake and create a library for you.” Aspen blurted out his thoughts. “But it’s hard, so I’m annoyed.”
“Why the hurry?” River’s voice had lost its monotony over time. By now it was languid, often reminding Aspen of a cat lying in the warm sunshine. It was completely relaxed and at ease. Another kiss touched his lips. “Learn it step by step. Humans couldn’t be further away from Gamblers in terms of ability, so it’ll take a while longer for you to get used to it.”
“You’re good at it”, Aspen complained childishly.
“It’s like magic.” The whisper was accompanied by a beautiful flimmer inside River’s eyes.
His partner was only whining. He did that whenever he had to retreat after sinking into the concept of infinity and nothingness too deep, both of which were concepts impossible for a human to grasp.
“Aspen, don’t make the same mistake again.” The words were spoken lovingly. Aspen reached up to pull River closer, and the tall man wrapped him up in a warm and safe embrace. “It was no use trying to fit in with humans, but you tried anyway. Now you’re trying to become a Gambler, but we never will truly be. Don’t you know them? Don’t you understand that they love each other and us? That they couldn’t care less about the distance between us, that they embrace both similarities and differences? We will not be outcasts, even if we weren’t born here.”
Aspen exhaled slowly through his nose. He closed his eyes, inhaling River’s scent. “I’m just… wary.”
“How long did I sleep, in human terms? Over a decade, Aspen. I spent over a decade resting my mind where you tried to work things out on your own. Give yourself time. You’re not alone, I am with you.”
They felt the twinge of the hive-mind.
Countless Gamblers, perking up and paying attention to the feeling they didn’t understand, but the feeling they knew that their two little humans didn’t want.
Curiosity and a love so selfless it couldn’t belong to a human washed over the two men like a wave.
If they needed help, they’d come. If they wanted something, anything, there’d be someone willing to grant their wishes. They were safe and welcome and so precious, oh, so precious! Two little treasures so very dear to all of them, absolutely incomparable.
A hiccup broke Aspen’s breath, but he held back his tears.
“See?” The low voice rumbled against Aspen’s neck. “Don’t hurry. Relax and rest. We will build up our home together. You don’t need to do anything on your own unless you wish to.”
“When exactly did you start sounding so mature?” Personally, Aspen found that new streak of River’s incredibly attractive, but that wasn’t going to keep him from complaining about it. The indulgent small arc of River’s smile had him swooning most of the time.
“Let’s travel once we’re better”, he hummed, pulling stronger at River and shifting on the bed so that he was more comfortable. River joined him, leaning over him and rubbing their noses together. “Different worlds and all that. We can ask Mephisto to watch over us so we don’t get in danger.”
“Your Gambler also wants a name. Keeps asking me what game you could be challenged to that it could ask for one as the stakes.”
“Them and their games. I’m already thinking of one! I’m just not good at coming up with names.”
“Wouldn’t it be happy no matter what name you give it?”
River tugged up Aspen and pulled him into his lap after sitting down on the bed.
The other had not aged a day while River had been asleep, but once River was awake and decided he wanted to let his appearance age, Aspen followed along.
Where age had given River a mature vibe, Aspen had kept a babyface. With how often he pulled puppy eyes on River, River wasn’t sure if that wasn’t on purpose. He was happy to indulge the other, though.
In this realm, many things had stopped mattering.
How they looked, how old they were. The exact nature of their relationship, or any label they might be forced to put on it on Earth.
They didn’t.
Calling it love never quite suited them.
They weren’t lovers or husbands. Partners they accepted, for the pointed neutrality of the term.
Turning into a Gambler had brought out a lot of the obsession they both had originally suppressed – it was ugly and ferocious, bloodthirsty.
As if they wanted to devour the other to ensure they were bound together, never to be seperated.
But then again, the Gamblers’ hivemind worked to their advantage here. The constant connection soothed the monsters inside their heart, leaving nothing but sweet adoration and gentleness.
But love, they both wordlessly decided, was a too nice word to put on the feelings they had for each other.
Even if the monster didn’t rear its head, that didn’t mean it didn’t exist.
The little kisses that River put on Aspen’s neck made him giggle. He squirmed in River’s arms, the little sounds spilling out of him. His cheeks flushed rosy with laughter.
“My treasure”, River hummed, the cheesy nicknames only making Aspen giggle louder. “My soul, my other half. Don’t stress yourself. It hurts me more than it hurts you.”
“You grew so mushy over the years”, Aspen teased, all the while lovingly bringing his hand up to River’s hair and playing with it.
“Terrible.” River responded with a dry tone. “What I don’t do for you.”
“What, how am I at fault?”
“Would I do this for no reason? It’s because you love me being mushy.”
The other man sighed dramatically. “Oh, I absolutely do.”
There was a tug at their minds. A knock at the door, one could say, and when they paused to open the connection, a playful invitation from Mephisto seeped through.
There was a new official gamble, the being called.
A new world. A new game.
Everyone was invited to observe the creatures so that later they could decide whether to bet on one of them or not.
River and Aspen did not have enough power to participate in the event, but Mephisto was excitedly offering to pay for them. To pay for a chance to gamble.
The sides of Aspen’s lips jumped upwards.
The smirk was too wide for a human, his eyes just a bit too narrowed. River mirrored the expression perfectly, letting the desire to play overwhelm himself.
“Let’s go play a game”, River whispered, pulling at Aspen’s hand to kiss his palm. “Win or lose… It doesn’t matter. Let’s go enjoy ourselves.”
After all, that was the nature of Gamblers.
Final Author’s Note
I think readers might be surprised at this twist that turned bittersweet into “sweet”, though I personally don’t see it that way. My two MCs took this choice because of a very bitter reality; the fact that in their actual home, they are rejected and hated. That they need to change species to be able to be happy is pretty sad. However, I’m a strong defender of leaving behind my characters peacefully after all they’ve gone through, so here they are.
Many, many things I could say about this story, but I don’t want to bore anyone by throwing a huge wall of text into here.
If anyone here is interested in anything, feel free to ask and I will answer!
Thank you very much for reading it!
I like this ending. It opens a realm of possibilities. A chance for misfits to be accepted
I love all of this author!
Are you already planning a new story author? If so will it be a similar genre because I feel that you write the thriller/horror/mystery genre very well and would be excited if you made another book like this.
I don’t plan to publish any of my stories any time soon again, sorry! But it’s super nice to hear that I managed to accomplish what I wanted within this genre~
Oh, well if you ever do end up publishing anymore stories, I’ll gladly read them!
Does river parents get what they deserve for abusing him.
Ok thanks for clearing that up. It’s a great story I really enjoyed reading it 😀
Very beautiful ending and honestly, perfectly suits the characters. I am extremely happy for them but sad because it’s over 😭 thank you again for all of your hard work! It is extremely appreciated and you have incredible talent! Can’t wait to read more of your works ❤️❤️❤️
Thank you <3 It’s a bit of a bittersweet ending, but I’m happy to leave the two of them where they are now~
Okay! I tried to find you in discord to comment and was sad when I saw that there were too many owls… then I realised that I could comment here hahahahahaha
I absolutely loved the story binged it in a day. It was really different from the normal MCs and MLs. I look forward to other original novels by youuuu!
Oh yeah, there’s quite a number of Owls on the discord 😀 I’m the stressed one, haha
Wow, in a day! Guess you had a nice weekend~
I did like this ending as well! Thank you for your hard work, the awesome reading experience and for sharing Rivers and Aspens story with us! I really enjoyed it ❤
Thank you so muchhh!!!! I really appreciate you and this story 🥹 I am thankful that I found this!! Thank you againnnn 🫶🫶🫶
Thank you so much for this wonderful book Owl-san. I’m glad River and Aspen are in a place they belong to. It’s kind of sad to be apart from them, but I really won’t forget this masterpiece.
Such a satisfying ending for these two poor souls who had to endure so much to find their happiness. I adored both of them so much! I always love characters that are outside of the norm and both of them were such a pleasure to experience. Such a fitting ending that was deserved for them, opening up all kinds of possibilities for the happiness they deserve! Thanks for such a great story!
thank you so much for this amazing read.I was obsessed i even recommended it on my tiktok
That’s super sweet 🙂
I had taken a break so the author could finish because the suspense and angst was killing me, but now…I just want to go back before I read so I can relive all these beautiful emotions🥰. Great work, author. You’ve earned yourself the heart of a fan…will definitely be waiting for more from you🧡🧡🧡🧡
Thank you for the fun read! I really enjoyed the non-typical but still empathetic depictions of the two MC’s. It felt loving in it’s own way. The species change was unexpected but such a good way to end it, really validating their feeling of non-humaness but still capable of finding people around them for support.
The story is so good, vey different than what i usually read but enjoyed it very much. Loved the ending too. Thank you very much Author.
With how you said this is your first time in this kind of genre, dear author, I wouldn’t believe it as this had all the somber mood, the thrill and mystery, gore and horror all mixed in a fascinating plot. Truly, the Owl is wise. All hail the Owl xD (˘︶˘).｡♡ (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ.✧
I forgot asterisks make the words italicized. the emoticons looked like swaying or drunk😂
Prologue was supposed to be confusing, it makes considerable more sense when you know it’s a scene of the Gamblers preparing their game on Earth xD
Thanks for all the praise! Always glad to hear when people enjoyed reading something I wrote 😀
If confusing was how it was supposed to be, then it certainly did its part 😂
You’re welcome, would love to see more of your works! (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧
I’m unlikely to upload another novel onto CG since I’m going to start trying to actually sell books, but you can check out the other 2 finished series here 🙂 and for “life is a game”, it’s dropped but the first arc can be read as a finished story!
Wow, may lady luck be always with you! ✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧
I’ve always wanted to have hard copies of the books I’ve read online, I’d try to grab myself one if your books are up.On that note, I’m reading one your completed stories now xD
I’m happy I’m really really happy. Finding someone who accepts you as you are, without caring of other mundane things, that’s what they needed and that’s what they got.
Thank you translators!
❤
*Author, and thanks for reading! 😀