Chapter 128 – Game start

This continued for some time until Braelyn arrived. She was directed to the storage room and entered with a backpack looking very full, only to have the same reaction as her friends, and went to join them in inspecting the shop's collection. Eventually, Waverly had a suggestion.

"What do you say we try one of these games instead of just playing one of ours?"

The two other girls agreed with her, even Braelyn who went home just to get the games.

"True, it's a good opportunity to try something new."

They then discussed which game they wanted to play. The wide range of choices made it hard to choose and it took them another few minutes to pick one they all agreed on. Now that everyone was satisfied, they went back to their seats. The owner came with one more menu for Braelyn and they all started to go through the different options to pick something to their taste. Benjamin noticed that they all went for the cheap options and was comforted in his opinion that they were quite decent people. Of course, he told them they could choose whatever they wanted but didn't manage to convince them to change their choice in the end. They called the owner to give him their order. He came back a few minutes later with what they ordered and they finally were able to focus on the thing they were here for.

The girls had chosen a game called "Wondersfull". None of them had played it before but it seemed that the game was well-known among board gamers because they had a basic understanding of the gameplay. It seemed that they had never bought it themselves for budget reasons since the game was quite expensive. They usually preferred to buy several cheaper games for the same price instead because they would get more diversity that way, even if they found it a shame to miss the most popular ones. Today's opportunity was a blessing for them, allowing them to enjoy games they had always wanted to try without having to waste any money. Of course, they didn't say this last part out loud, even if everyone was aware of it.

They still went over the rules, read everything meticulously, and were able to find some details they were not aware of. The goal of the game was simple and each player had to build the most magnificent wonder possible. To do that, they had to manage different elements like money, workers, resources, the climate, accidents and even hindering from other players. Each turn, they had the right to perform two actions of their choice while also drawing a card, which could be a helpful event for them, something neutral, or a disaster.

They started to set up the game after they were sure everybody had understood how to play. It was a good thing the table they were using was wide since the game board itself was quite large and there were a lot of small pieces they had to keep in front of themselves but out of the game board's area. Once they were ready, they rolled a die to find out who would start. Azariah won and began by drawing a card. She found out it gave her some stone to help with her construction. She smiled at her luck and continued with hiring some workers before directly starting her construction since she now had some construction materials. She was playing the game swiftly as if it was not the first time she was trying it, and Benjamin observed what she was doing to get a better idea of what he should do when his turn came.

Next was Waverly's turn. She drew a neutral card saying that nothing special happened. Next, she used her money to employ some workers and buy construction materials. In a way, she got to play the most standard turn that was possible in this game. Next was Benjamin. He drew a card and saw it was a special card called "Bribe". The card description text said that he was allowed to steal one group of workers from another player due to offering them a better salary. That was great, he would be able to get workers for free with the help of the card while also hindering another player. As for his target, he choose to go with Azariah who had the best advantage currently, even if only by a small margin. He showed his card to the girls and announced.

"I'm bribing your workers, Azariah. You should have paid them a better salary."

"Ha ha, very funny. Here."

She transferred her workers to him while the two other girls laughed at her misfortune. She didn't stop there and added a small warning.

"Remember that the world of board gaming is all about karma. You'll get what you deserve sooner or later."

"Oh, really? Come then, I am waiting for you."

The game had barely started and the mood was already very high. Braelyn took her turn while Benjamin and Azariah were smiling at each other, not bothering about anything else. The game continued like that. Anytime Benjamin or Azariah could do anything to trip the other, they would do it without any hesitation, laughing stupidly when they managed to hinder the other one. They started to spend money and resources to hire spies, saboteurs, and the like, their wonder construction not getting much progress. On the other hand, Waverly and Braelyn went on with the game normally. They would still get attack cards from time to time, which they used on each other, but didn't spend excessively on hindering anyone.

This created a funny situation where the gap between the duo of Benjamin and Azariah and the duo of Waverly and Braelyn was getting wider and wider. Soon enough, it was obvious that the former had given up on winning the game and only aimed at getting a less terrible result that their opponent. The latter were the only ones having a decent progression and the four of them entered the second half of the game in this manner.