"Let's go now."
We entered the portal.
The moment I closed and opened my eyes, the world had completely changed.
A bubbling pond, a glamorous casino hotel, an auction house, a glittering restaurant, and fluffy clouds spread across the sky as if within arm's reach. It was practically a paradise on earth.
"Casino! Anyone going to the casino, stick with me!"
Cha Nayun stepped forward energetically. Yoo Yeonha and Kim Suho had no choice but to stick with her.
I was going to the casino too, but I didn't bother attaching myself to Cha Nayun.
Kim Suho asked me.
"Hajin. Where are you going?"
"...I'm tired. I'm going to rest a bit at the hotel and grab something to eat first."
*
That's what I said, but the moment I unpacked at the hotel, I went straight to the casino.
The inside of the casino, which I was visiting for the first time in my life, was more impressive than I had expected.
"...Ooh."
In the space without mirrors or clocks, the sound of slot machines spinning was loud, and various languages mixed together, hanging in the air.
What should I do here? Should I play the slots? Or go straight to the tables? Ah, I should exchange for chips first.
First, I headed to the exchange counter.
The cash I had brought with me was 10 million won. I would exchange all of it.
"Before exchanging, please submit your identification."
The cashier with a smiling face spoke in fluent Korean. I submitted my Cube cadet ID. The cashier exchanged the chips without batting an eye. I met the cashier's eyes and asked casually,
"How many years has it been since you started working?"
The cashier—no, 'Jane,' disguised as a cashier—answered with a smile.
"It's been six years."
"That's a long time."
"I suppose so."
I picked up the chips and bag and turned around.
* * *
Whether to go for a jackpot at the slots, or to clean out the dealer.
"...Ah, so close!"
As I was pondering, I somehow heard a familiar voice.
It was Cha Nayun's shout.
"I really lost by a hair's breadth."
Cha Nayun was sitting at a seven-card stud poker table.
This casino had various poker tables, but there were only three seven-card stud tables among them. However, Cha Nayun had, of course, chosen seven-card stud. Because it was the only poker game she knew.
"Ah, this is so frustrating."
The Black man sitting next to her said.
"That was close. Haha."
Close my ass.
A mark like Cha Nayun was easy for anyone to spot; the four people sitting at her table right now were all part of the same swindler's team.
From a distance, I could see that Cha Nayun had just lost a whopping 10 million won in the last hand. Perhaps the loss was burdensome even for her, because she tried to get up and leave.
"I'll take my leave now."
"Haha. Take care. Oh, but, it feels a bit wrong to take pocket money from a kid. Here, I'll give back 25%."
But the leader of the con men stopped her.
The swindler Bert.
A white man with a big nose, a character who had occupied an entire page in my novel.
"What? Pocket money? If I do it right, I can win it all back."
Cha Nayun sat back down, burning with pointless competitive spirit.
Hiding his sinister teeth behind a skillful smile, Bert held out chips to Cha Nayun.
"Come on. Just take this and go. I'm saying this for your own good, miss."
"Miss my ass. Just deal again."
...And so, Cha Nayun got caught in the quagmire.
She won 1 million won twice in a row for 2 million, then lost 8 million on the third hand. She won 2 million on the fourth hand, then lost 20 million on the fifth and sixth hands.
"Ah~ what a waste."
On the eighth hand, Bert intentionally lost. Unaware of this, Cha Nayun giggled.
"What a waste? That was a hand I was definitely going to win."
"...Is that so?"
Bert was a swindler, but right now, he wasn't using any tricks. The casino's cards were specially crafted artifacts, so no hero could see through them—though I could, of course—and tricks couldn't be used either.
Bert was simply catching Cha Nayun's minute facial expressions to figure out her cards. Moreover, seven-card stud required revealing quite a lot of cards, so Cha Nayun never stood a chance from the beginning.
"Ugh. Fold."
The hands continued to the eleventh.
Cha Nayun folded holding two pair.
But Bert had one pair, and his team member had Q-high.
"I fold too."
To provoke Cha Nayun further, Bert intentionally folded. Then, in a subtle tone, he asked his Black teammate,
"Ah, let's see your cards. What did you have?"
"Haha. This, it wasn't a hand I was supposed to win..."
The moment she saw the Q-high the teammate revealed, Cha Nayun's face flushed red.
"Ah, what the hell!"
At this point, no one could stop Cha Nayun anymore.
In the next two hours.
Within a mere two hours, Cha Nayun would lose all her money and then shut herself in the hotel, bawling her eyes out.
Of course, I had no interest in the heartbreak Cha Nayun would suffer.
However, I was a bit interested in the swindler Bert.
I quietly approached and tapped Cha Nayun's shoulder.
"Hey. Get up. Let me play."
"W-what. When did you get here?"
The moment I tried to push Cha Nayun out, the swindlers' faces instantly hardened.
Their response was very swift.
"Ah, I'm getting a call. I'll be leaving now."
One team member got up from his seat pretending to take a call.
Then Bert said with a smile,
"Then it looks like we can play with five people like this."
"...May I join in too?"
I said that and sat down.
Bert greeted me with a bright smile.
"Of course."
"Hey. You don't have much money. The minimum bet here is 100,000 won."
"Just deal."
The game began, and the dealer dealt three cards to each player.
Everyone else checked their cards. Then they chose one card out of the three to reveal and showed the face.
"...Hmm?"
But I didn't. I simply left the cards exactly as the dealer had placed them before me—that is, face-down. I didn't even bother to look at my cards.
"Hey. Aren't you going to look at your cards?"
One of Bert's team members asked. He was a bald Black man with quite a threatening appearance.
I smiled broadly and nodded.
"Yeah. Not looking."
Even without deliberately trying to look, I could see the face-down cards.
Two Queen of Hearts and one 3 of Spades.
"You know the rules, right?"
"Yeah. You think I'd come here without knowing?"
Humming *Which one should I choose*—I flipped over one card.
It was the 3 of Spades.
At that moment, veins bulged on the Black man's temples.
"...Why does a little punk keep speaking informally?"
"You're the one who spoke informally first."
"What?"
"Excuse me."
Bert hurriedly intervened.
"Haha. Can't you see this uniform? It's a Cube cadet uniform, a cadet uniform. Let's all mind our manners."
Contrary to those words, Bert's face had also stiffened slightly. Even the great Bert probably never dreamed that a lunatic who didn't look at his cards would appear.
But really, even if there is skill in gambling, how much can there be?
Gambling is simply a game where the lucky guy wins.
* * *
"Six from the Alliance of Evil confirmed. Three Heroes dispatched from the Association. Some random swindler. And one from the Light Source side. But the Light Source one seems to be here for simple tourism."
Jane reported to someone.
The Alliance of Evil, a group of villains.
High-grade Heroes dispatched by the Hero Association.
A Hunter from the Light Source.
And even the Pseudo-Color Squad.
It was quite a big event, so all sorts of beings had gathered. And Jane had only named those she had confirmed for certain. Unofficially, there were probably many more.
"Ah, right. And Kim Hajin, who the Captain is fond of."
With Kim Hajin last, Jane finished her report.
—...Stand by for now. And I don't like Kim Hajin.
"Really? I didn't know."
That was the Captain's order.
"But Kim Hajin saw my face. What if he recognized me?"
—He needs to focus mana on his optic nerves to see through it. But he usually doesn't go around wasting mana when looking at ordinary people.
"...Well, I suppose so. I didn't sense any mana movement either."
End.
The rules of Seven-Card Stud are simple.
When the game begins, all players are dealt three cards by the dealer. Each player chooses one of those three to reveal, while the remaining two are kept hidden.
Afterward, the players' betting begins, and the dealer supplies cards one at a time face-up when the time comes. Once a player holds a total of '7' cards, the betting ends.
After all cards are revealed, the one with the higher hand ranking wins.
"This bastard really isn't looking at his cards until the end. Look at your cards, man. What are you so confident about?"
"If I look at my cards, you'll read my expression. I don't have confidence in maintaining a poker face."
The bald Black man kept picking a fight from the side. However, I was only staring intently at Bert. To be precise, at the bracelet on his left wrist.
A gleaming black obsidian bracelet.
That was an artifact bracelet Bert had obtained through swindling. However, right now, Bert probably didn't even know what function the bracelet had.
I wanted that bracelet more than Bert's money.
The poker game was currently on its twelfth hand.
Cha Nayun was still in a state of having lost a lot of money, while my chips had swollen to 60 million won.
"...Tch."
Bert was heated up right now. Naturally. Because some guy who had suddenly rolled in had snatched up 60 million won.
Still, the current table situation favored Bert the most. With five cards dealt, if just one Ace came out, Bert would complete an 'Ace Full House.'
"I will deal the cards."
The sixth card was dealt.
Bert's card was the Ace of Hearts.
The 'Ace Full House' was complete.
In actual gambling, the probability of a full house appearing is 0.144%. Moreover, an Ace Full House is a hand that doesn't lose easily. The only hands that can beat an Ace Full House are Four of a Kind or higher. And the probability that a Four of a Kind appears in the same hand as a Full House is lower than the lottery.
However, his facial expression hadn't changed in the slightest—it was astounding.
"...Hmm."
This was actually a favorable situation for me.
My luck leads the situation itself in a favorable direction. If I had Four of a Kind and my opponent got a lesser hand, that would actually be considered bad luck. Because they would fold immediately.
It means a pot worth taking down with Four of a Kind only comes about when the opponent has at least a Full House.
Of course, I hadn't completed the Four of a Kind yet.
The cards in my hand were only the 'Diamond 2,' 'Heart 2,' and 'Clover 2.' I still didn't have the Spade 2.
But I believed in my luck.
"Call."
Bert bet while maintaining his composure as much as possible.
"I raise!"
The bald Black man raised the pot with a garbage hand. I didn't know what it was, but he had clearly received a sign from Bert.
"Call."
Cha Nayun called meekly.
I raised as Bert wished.
After that, the pot grew rapidly. The limit for chips on a single table was 500 million. However, before the final seventh card, the hidden card, was even dealt, I went all-in with my entire fortune.
"The final hidden card."
And finally, the hidden card given to me.
'The 2 of Spades.'
The Four of a Kind was complete.
"But. That student is already all-in. He can't bet anymore, can he?"
As Bert said, I had blown through my 60 million. The betting had to go around one more time, but I didn't have the money for that.
Bert asked casually,
"Or why don't you stake that ring?"
Bert seemed to have noticed that my ring was no ordinary item. As expected of a sharp-eyed swindler.
"What?!"
But this fierce reaction came not from me, but from Cha Nayun.
"Is that guy crazy! Hey, let's just go!"
"...What are you doing. Just sit down."
"No. I'll give you the money you lost, so—"
"I said sit down."
What's wrong with her? I grabbed Cha Nayun's wrist and sat her back down.
"Fine. This ring is extremely expensive, you know? I'll stake it, so you stake that too."
I took off the ring and placed it on the table. And I pointed at the obsidian bracelet on Bert's left wrist.
After pondering briefly, Bert soon unfastened the bracelet.
"Okay."
Then Cha Nayun whispered in my ear with a worried face,
"Hey. Are you really okay? That's your family heirloom..."
"I'm not going to lose, so stay still. Do you think I'd stake it for no reason?"
I didn't even listen to the end of Cha Nayun's words.
"Now then."
There was 300 million bet on the table, but the real pot was far larger than that. After all, an artifact bracelet and an artifact ring were in play.
“What will the rest of you wager?”
The other team members, excluding Bert, immediately called fold.
“······I fold too.”
Chae Nayun said that and pressed her lips shut.
The only ones left were Bert and me.
“Then shall we show our hands, student?”
“Go ahead.”
“Me first.”
Bert revealed his hand first.
An ace full house.
“A full house?”
Chae Nayun’s face stiffened with a crack.
She had been taking this game more seriously than I was for a while now.
“Haha. Sorry about this.”
Then Bert grinned and tried to sweep up the table. It was the familiar behavior of a loser at a gambling table.
“Ah, wait a second. I haven’t shown my hand yet.”
“······What?”
As winners at a gambling table tended to do, I grabbed the loser’s hand as he tried to sweep up the table. Then I slowly revealed my cards.
What appeared were four cards marked with the number 2.
“Oh. Four of a kind. That means I win.”
In that instant, Bert’s face turned pitch-black.
Chae Nayun clapped her hands with a squeal and shouted.
“Wooow! It’s four of a kind! What the, what the!”
Chae Nayun’s hair stood on end. The same went for the fine hairs on my body. I had known victory was mine, but there was tremendous pleasure in savoring that moment.
* * *
As expected, Bert caused a scene, calling me a cheat. However, before the security personnel from afar even needed to come, Chae Nayun immediately subdued him, and I swept the chips and the obsidian bracelet off the table.
===
[Obsidian Bracelet of an Athenian Citizen] [Magic Relic]
A bracelet engraved with a magic inscription.
─Damage Absorption & Automatic Charging
*When the wearer receives damage, it converts that into mana and stores it inside the bracelet.
*When exposed to air, it slowly charges mana.
===
Bert would only realize the true value of this precious bracelet at least a year later. This bracelet could store mana, but the wearer could not use it “directly.” In other words, the charged mana only circulated inside the bracelet.
Then how should this bracelet be used?
Simple. One only needed to engrave another “magic inscription” into the bracelet.
A total of four magic inscriptions were possible, and I intended to engrave physical buff magic into it.
“······What were you going to do if you lost?”
Suddenly, Chae Nayun, who was walking beside me, asked.
“I was going to jump into the Han River.”
I said it as a joke, but Chae Nayun’s face turned serious.
“······Don’t say things like that. The living have to keep living.”
The sight of her muttering that in an extremely solemn tone was something to behold.
“What’s with you all of a sudden? What, are you asking me to return your money?”
Of the 300 million I had won, 100 million was actually Chae Nayun’s money.
“No. You use it. You’re the one who won it. I’ll consider it tuition. I’m never gambling again.”
Chae Nayun grumbled as she walked on. It seemed she intended to leave the casino just like that.
“Hey, but.”
She stopped walking and looked at me. Then, after hesitating for a moment, she spoke to me in an unnecessarily curt voice.
“You looked pretty cool today.”
Leaving those words behind, Chae Nayun departed from the casino.
“······I did look cool.”
But I had no intention of leaving.
I stopped in the middle of the casino and felt the heated atmosphere of this space itself.
Rattle, rattle, rattle─
The sound of the roulette wheel turning lodged itself in my ears.
The cheers from baccarat rang out.
Slot machines tempted people with their clamorous mechanical noises.
The dealers’ laughter drifted through the air, and chips and cards lay scattered across the tables.
A casino where the fate of vast riches was swayed solely by luck.
Here, I could become king.
“······.”
I clenched my fist and chose my first destination.
First, roulette.
I strode over and plunked down 100 million.