Chapter 266
Chapter 266
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 266
Chapter Title: Even If I Fall Into a Ghost Story, I Still Have to Go to Work
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I've gathered the basic information needed to sweep up over 1,000 coins in the Body Casino.
All preparations are complete. Now it's time to try.
"...Hoo."
In the underground casino, low-quality jazz played softly.
The Body Casino's visitor took a deep breath and stepped forward.
That's right.
"Hello, Dealer!"
First, he sat at a table in the dealer room.
But the table he chose wasn't the one with the dealer bearing Deputy Lee Seonghae's head—it was a stranger's unfamiliar face.
He ignored the gaze of Deputy Lee Seonghae from afar.
"Greetings, Visitor. Shall we begin betting?"
The visitor flashed a bright smile at the unfamiliar dealer.
"Yep. Let's bet. Can we do the card game from the introduction? The one where you guess the card."
"Of course. We'll proceed with the 'X-Ray Game'."
The dealer spoke kindly to the seated visitor, then shuffled the deck of cards with flair and offered it.
"Oh, this one."
The seated man picked one card from it.
A simple game: guess its suit or number.
"Hearts, 3 coins."
"Yes. Confirmed."
But the visitor's attempt failed.
The card was Spades 7.
3 coins gone.
"So close. One more game!"
"Yes. Bet confirmed."
The games continued like that.
The visitor bet the minimum, winning some, losing some.
Then... occasionally.
"This time, 30 coins. Feeling good."
He went big.
And.
"Bet failed."
"Argh!"
He lost big.
But out of every three or four, he won once.
"Nice!"
In this way, the coin count was subtly managed.
The visitor's win rate and bets fluctuated wildly, hitting highs and lows without pattern for a long time.
A pile of over a hundred coins stacked on the table, but the visitor's 'funds' had already halved from the start.
Then...
Over an hour later, at some point.
"Shall we bet?"
"Hmm..."
The visitor, seemingly deep in focus, reached out and...
pushed all the coins on the table forward.
Clink, clink, clink...
Thud.
Under the dim bulb light, the coins gleamed.
The ghost story dealer, kindly catching the rolling coins, lit up his eyes and asked.
"Total of 113 coins?"
"Yeah, let's go all in."
"Then pick a card."
The visitor gracefully pointed to one of the cards lined up on the table.
"This one."
"Confirmed."
The dealer picked up the chosen card.
The visitor's eyes gleamed strangely at the sight, then quickly dimmed.
And.
"...Number 7."
"...!"
The dealer's expression didn't change, but his movements slowed subtly.
"Confirmed."
The dealer flipped the card...
"Spades 7."
Jackpot.
"...Bet successful."
"...!!"
"Paying out the winnings."
A massive pile of coins emerged from under the table, returning to the winner.
"904 coins."
Under the table, the visitor clenched and unclenched his fist briefly.
He'd earned nearly 999 coins in one go.
Yes.
And of course, this wasn't luck.
'I knew and picked it.'
Spades 7.
Because he already knew what number and suit were on that card's face.
Of course, no x-ray vision or anything. They played under the casino's rules without any cheats.
Just.
'There's a loophole in those rules.'
It was thanks to one element available right upon entering this casino.
The outdated facilities!
'It's terribly worn.'
Walls, bulbs, slot machines, even the dealer room tables—all worn and frayed. It looked almost abandoned.
That added to the ghost story eeriness, but crucially created a 'condition' different from normal casinos.
The game tools were worn too.
For example.
'The playing cards.'
Normally, poker cards have identical backs, indistinguishable mass-produced items.
But time changes that.
'Distinguishing marks appear.'
Tiny stains, scratches, creases.
The 'wear' faintly visible in the light becomes what differentiates each card.
So they decided.
-For the first game, pick the card whose back shows the most 'traces' visible.
This time, it was Spades 7.
Probably spotted the faint double scratch on the back glinting in the light.
Confirm the front: Spades 7. Then wait.
And...
-Once enough time passes without suspicion, find that card again and bet.
Jackpot.
Of course, the scratches are minuscule, extremely hard to distinguish with the naked eye for most people.
But surprisingly, this group had the perfect person.
"Hahaha, hit again!"
Agent Choi.
Possessor of observation and memory skills that can identify people by veins and bones alone.
With his habit of memorizing everything, perfect.
-Ah~ A good civil servant shouldn't gamble, but... no choice. Okay, leave it to me.
And so, nonchalantly, calmly, skillfully, he gambled at the table.
Thus.
"Ah~ Feels good."
Success.
Yeah. Real casinos would use new decks daily to prevent this.
But in this ghost story where 'worn-out' is the feature, it works.
"Current coins held... 924."
"...Okay."
Smooth sailing.
I sat next to Agent Choi, who was playing, peering in like I was excitedly watching the stakes rise.
'One more careful round like this.'
To earn without drawing attention, we'd built a natural scenario so far.
"On a roll, keep it going..."
"Visitor."
......
I turned my stiff neck.
"Using an interesting method, aren't you?"
Deputy Lee Seonghae's face peered at us from the approaching table.
Staring.
Smiling faintly.
"It's the method I used as a visitor."
"...!"
"Remembering scratches on card backs to figure out suits and numbers, right?"
The dealer ran his unfamiliar hand—ring and middle fingers from different people—over the card backs.
Chills ran down my spine.
"And once a loophole is spotted, it can't profit again."
Damn.
"...No idea what you're talking about. Got proof?"
"See, Grape! This casino's scary. Win a bit, and they accuse you of cheating. How can I play scared like this? My back's soaked."
"......"
"No proof, right?"
The dealer pulled his hand from the card backs.
"You're right."
But I wasn't relieved at all. Because...
"Shall we continue the game?"
The dealer with Deputy Lee Seonghae's head shoved aside our table's dealer and took his place.
As the conductor.
"You wouldn't run, would you? Suspiciously."
"......"
"Great. From now on, I'll continue as dealer."
And he pulled out a new deck from his pocket.
Worn, but completely different from before.
"Now then..."
The smiling face said.
"Place your bet."
Caught.
"I'll do it."
"Oh."
"Grape."
"It's company funds. Luck averages out, so the one who's won big should stop, and I take over."
I said, meeting the remaining eye of Deputy Lee Seonghae.
"That okay?"
"Of course!"
And whispered to Agent Choi.
"I want to feel the thrill of betting too. Just a sec."
"......"
"Feels like I'll win."
Agent Choi's eyes darkened, but he stepped back.
And I, for a moment...
......
"Visitor?"
"Ah."
I looked up.
"Could we move to the original dealer's table? Feels like the luck here's used up."
"Of course!"
The dealer with Deputy Lee Seonghae's head gladly led me to his table. I hurriedly grabbed the coins and moved, hearing the question again.
"How much will you bet?"
I placed all the gathered coins on the table...
924 in total.
"...!!"
"924 coins?"
"...Yes."
"Confirmed. Then..."
Deputy Lee Seonghae spread the cards on the table again. I reached to pick mine...
"Hold on."
My hand was grabbed.
"Visitor, you can't touch the chosen card."
"......"
"Trying to leave fingerprints to remember it?"
"No. And there's a misunderstanding."
"Oh?"
"I've bet everything. If I lose this hand, no next game. What's the point of remembering this card? I'd already be done."
......
"Oh."
The dealer released his grip.
"True. Let's proceed."
"Yes."
I picked the card I'd originally intended.
Drip.
Cold sweat fell on the table.
"Now."
......
"What suit or number?"
I barely lifted my eyes.
"...Hearts."
This one.
"Won on hearts first bet, so trying it again."
"......"
The dealer, looking at the card, suddenly turned his head.
Scanning the people and objects around the table—no one signaling from reading the dealer's card, no sudden mirrors.
Section Chief Lee Jaheon leaned casually against the nearby back wall, but that was it.
No dealer stopped him.
Meaning he hadn't done anything 'suspicious.'
"......"
"Dealer?"
The dealer flipped the card...
"Congratulations."
Hearts 4.
"Paying 2,772 coins."
A massive flood of coins poured onto the table.
"...!!"
Done.
'Success.'
I clenched and unclenched my fist under the table.
It was soaked with cold sweat.
"Jackpot! Whoa, coin rain!"
Agent Choi slapped my back like an ecstatic gambler, but his eyes were sunken.
Wondering how I'd guessed it.
'Yeah.'
Rightly so. Because...
I hadn't used a loophole—I'd straight-up cheated.
'Hoo.'
The reason for suddenly switching tables.
-Brown, could you ask Lizard Section Chief to lean against the wall behind Dolphin Deputy's table?
Yes.
It was the table with Section Chief Lee Jaheon naturally leaning against the wall behind it.
And why Section Chief Lee Jaheon was needed was simple.
'His head looks like a lizard to me!'
And lizard eyes on a human-sized head are larger than human eyes, with thicker lenses.
In other words.
'The dealer's card reflects in them.'
No need to read fine details like numbers.
Just color and blurry silhouette—success.
'...And it worked.'
I saw the card's face reflected in Section Chief Lee Jaheon's eyes and bet correctly.
Thanks.
...And the best part.
'No one knows what method I used.'
Because Section Chief Lee Jaheon looks human to others.
This held true even in past ghost stories, so basing it on his 'human head'...
'No way a card reflects in the eyes.'
Ultimately, a signal only I could see.
Maybe even he doesn't know.
Dunno.
Though only I can see it, the mechanism itself...
'Undeniable fraud.'
But in this casino, the surefire ways to win were either that loophole—already blocked by someone who's done it—or outright scams.
We'd improvised and twisted it this far, but if...
"......"
Did they notice?
I sat casually at the table, laughing and celebrating with Agent Choi, but the dealer was silent.
Couldn't even look.
And...
A moment later.
"Congratulations. You've exceeded 999 coins."
"...!!"
"You can now enter the VIP area! Shall I guide you?"
"...Yes."
Done.
I clenched my fist tight and carefully stood from the table.
"Only parties holding 999+ coins may enter the VIP room, up to the holder plus 2 others."
The cheerful voice of a dealer explained ahead of the six walking through the casino's public area.
And soon, footsteps stopped.
VIP ACCESS
"Then, opening it."
The dealer gripped the golden iron door, sliding it aside...
The VIP room opened.
"...!!"
Inside, surprisingly...
A maze.
Like luxurious spaces for secret talks stretched endlessly beyond curtains. Connected mirror-like.
Emphasizing it was qualitatively different from the shabby outer Body Casino.
Only one異質 thing.
~■■ CITY ROYAL CASINO~
A subway ad poster framed on the wall instead of a picture. Unsettling.
We ignored whispers from beyond the curtains and reached the door.
"Come in? Sit comfortably. Enjoy private gambling in separated spaces."
The group entered quietly. Baek Saheon tried to slip out at the rear but was caught by the Bronze Agent and entered.
But I felt a bad premonition rising.
"This way."
The dealer parted curtains and entered.
The scenes were similar: velvet sofas, tables, refreshments, and...
A silver pistol.
"Today's game is..."
Step, step.
The dealer picked up the pistol on the luxurious wooden table, broke it open to load.
"Russian Roulette."
Fuck.
"It's famous, but to explain: load one bullet in a six-shooter, two players take turns pulling the trigger!"
Click, click, click.
The dealer's hand pulled the trigger fearlessly.
As tense people stiffened reflexively, the smiling dealer held up the unfired pistol.
"The one who gives up first loses."
Ha.
"But! If scared to shoot, there's another option."
The dealer scanned us.
"Forfeit a body part."
"...!"
"Then pass your turn and hand the gun to the opponent."
"Wait."
I hurriedly asked.
"Who are we playing against?"
"Other visitors."
"...!"
"Russian Roulette between visitors; winner takes all bets. But in this VIP room right now..."
The dealer smiled faintly.
"No other visitors besides you."
"......"
"Will others come if we wait?"
"Who knows. Not certain."
"When was the last visitor to this VIP room?"
"Hmm, can't say."
"...Have you seen one yourself?"
"No."
"......"
What the fuck.
"Wait. Then the 'special use' body parts in the pawnshop..."
"Oh, you know already."
Deputy Lee Seonghae's smiling mouth said.
"If a visitor pulls the trigger three times in a row, they get a body part as injury prize!"
"...!"
"Cool, right? Fits the thrilling game."
The subway poster descended, revealing a freight elevator inside.
No, rails.
'Body parts.'
Various limbs and organs from people hung neatly on the rails...
Deputy Lee Seonghae's among them, probably.
"......"
To rescue Deputy Lee Seonghae, we had to play this game and win a body part.
"Now then..."
The smiling dealer looked at us.
"Who'll play?"