Chapter 48
Chapter 48
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: Devil's Gamble - Rules (1)
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I stood at the bus stop with my arms crossed.
My head tilted to the side.
Conversations from inside the shaman's house just moments ago came to mind one by one.
Besides the stuff about my horse star fate.
A few minor exchanges had come even before that.
"But why did she ask for my signature?"
It was a bit hard to understand.
The moment I stepped inside, those were her first words.
Her god wanted my signature.
Her face was hidden behind black cloth, so I couldn't see inside.
But somehow, it felt like she couldn't meet my eyes from behind it.
A bit embarrassed?
Avoidant.
In the end, I didn't hear the reason.
Why her god needed my signature.
It was my first time at a shaman's house, so I didn't even ask.
Do other people all sign and leave like this?
I shook off the worries.
I got a free consultation, so it doesn't matter.
It's a world too far removed for an ordinary guy like me to understand anyway.
Still.
My head nodded.
I might come back.
It was better than I expected—no.
'..Better than I thought.'
With my mind made up like that.
I boarded the arriving bus, sat down for the first time in ages, and opened my stock app.
Something I'd forgotten about for a while.
The familiar profit graph appeared as soon as I launched it.
A bar graph dyed bright red.
The stocks I'd bought a few days ago had thankfully grown.
By 0.1%, but still.
[NovelP][+0.103%]
Should I go brag on the stock gallery?
"Does this even count as a gain?"
1% of 100 million is a million won.
0.1% is 100,000 won.
In my case, about 200,000 won total.
But this is nowhere near enough to secure my retirement.
I want to spend my later years raising a dog in a detached house.
Phrases like "Whatever I buy hits the peak" or "Buy at the shoulder, sell at the ankle" popped into my head—wise-sounding nonsense—but I brushed them away without dwelling.
The bus reached downtown, so I decided to put complicated thoughts aside.
Food first.
As I reached into my pocket for my card, an unfamiliar texture brushed my fingertips.
A small object sandwiched between my cards slipped out along with one.
Ting—
It rolled across the bus floor, making a clear sound.
My gaze naturally dropped downward.
There lay a square object, glinting on the floor.
I picked it up.
The cool metal touch spread across my palm.
I carefully brought it up to examine it.
"..This."
It was quite familiar.
[Button]
[Description: Might be usable to turn something off or on.]
[Current Status: 'Inactive']
***
"Busy?"
Kang Su-ji crossed her arms after ending the call.
"More than that, Lee Jin-seok, you—!"
"...This has nothing to do with me."
Lee Jin-seok shouted quickly as Kang Su-ji approached.
"I'm a patient! A patient!"
He was on the verge of being pounced on by Kang Su-ji.
At that moment, the man lying in the next bed jumped in with a laugh, saving Lee Jin-seok.
"More importantly, she seemed like a really good person, impression-wise? How to put it… She just gave off that vibe of being a good soul. Is this what they call an aura of kindness?"
"Huh? An aura of kindness...? No way, bro. You didn't fall into some cult, did you?"
As Kang Su-ji eyed him suspiciously with half-lidded eyes, Kim Seung-tae shot back indignantly.
"No, absolutely not! What I mean is… I only had your stories to go on, Su-ji, and I imagined Alpha as this super cold, calculating type!"
"Why? I never said anything like that..."
Question marks formed in her eyes.
Flustered, Kim Seung-tae continued rapidly.
"Listen. He analyzed the maze rules in just a few tries, figured out the exit had real and fake ones mixed in?"
Nod—
"He deduced one anomaly had been swallowed by another, and even broke through that twisted maze to reach the core?"
Nod—
"And finally, after seeing your impulsive move, he took the most appropriate action? So after hearing all that, what image of Alpha do you think I had? Like someone straight out of a Mission: Impossible movie."
"..Yeah, kinda?"
Hearing it from a third party, Alpha's image shifted in her mind to a cool, intellectual type with horn-rimmed glasses.
Maybe a little similar?
Just then, a knock echoed from the hospital room door.
Since the topic had been Alpha until a second ago, Kang Su-ji reflexively blurted out.
"Alpha?"
"Huh? Is Alpha coming here too? I thought he had a separate appointment today."
The door opened with a soft voice.
The person who entered was quite familiar to her.
A teammate from the last maze anomaly.
Kim Se-ra.
As she opened the door and stepped in, Kim Se-ra's expression turned mischievous.
"Su-ji, I'm hurt. I came to visit like we promised last time, and you're only looking for Alpha."
In her lightly raised hand was a gift set.
"Wah! No, that's not it, unnie!"
Kang Su-ji hurriedly waved her hands.
"Bro, say something...?"
As she spoke, Kang Su-ji glanced toward the doorway and the bed area.
Her brother Seung-tae oppa's spot from their conversation moments ago.
When she turned her head, he was staring blankly at Kim Se-ra.
Kang Su-ji immediately approached and jabbed her elbow deep into his side.
"Kuhk?!"
"Oppa! I'm telling unnie everything! You said you're getting married next month!"
"Kuhuh... What did I—"
Kim Seung-tae shrugged and laughed it off.
"Anyway… did you ask Alpha?"
"…Huh? Ask what?"
At Kang Su-ji's bewildered expression, he shook his head in disbelief instead.
"I'm taking leave next month for the wedding. You said you'd recommend him as your teammate then."
"Ah!"
Kang Su-ji's face turned urgent in an instant.
But her body didn't move.
"What are you doing? Not calling?"
"If I call too much in a row... wouldn't that be a bother?"
"Bother? You hammer me with twenty calls easy if I don't pick up. Without batting an eye."
"That's different with Seung-tae oppa. Alpha's Alpha, right?"
"...You're too much."
***
Nothing much happened until I got home.
"She told me to be careful with money."
Those were the shaman's words to me before closing the door on my way out.
So I deliberately spent most of what I had on the way back.
Now, once I step off the elevator and reach my door, my outing's over.
At this point, her words even felt like a ritual courtesy.
Did I take it too seriously?
Like the "Be careful" farewells in dramas.
Like tree talk at the door.
Plant one if you don't have it.
Tend to it if you do.
The vibe wasn't particularly superstitious, though.
—That's why my son brought a gold necklace for my birthday, even though I said it was fine—
"..Uh..huh..?"
What I wanted to say was.
If only the call had come a few hours earlier, before I reached my door.
Then I wouldn't have emptied my wallet on a brand-new gaming console.
—What's wrong, my son?
Mom's voice was unusually gentle.
For a split second, I nearly blurted, 'You're not my mom.'
"..Of course. A gold necklace."
Ding—
The elevator arrived.
"I'm at my door right now. Yeah. I'll call back later."
Is this karma?
I ended the call, stepped out of the elevator, and was about to punch in my door code.
Right in front of my apartment door.
A single sheet of paper lay abandoned on the floor.
[★★★20000% Profit Guaranteed★★★]
[@@@@@@@@@Baccarat@@@@@@@@@@]
[Hold'em ▒ Baduk ▒ Unknown Games]
[One Chance Only! ☞ Life Reversal ☜]
[♠♣♥♦ Golden Coins Overflowing ♦♥♣♠]
[The Golden Door Opens Once! Roulette Awaits Your Heart Now!]
'Who dumped trash in front of my door.'
I sighed and bent down.
The flyer text caught my eye.
Baccarat. Games.
Common phrases I see walking the streets sometimes.
Every time I see these flyers.
I wonder if anyone actually falls for this crap.
As I picked up the flyer and reached for my key.
My hand swam emptily through the air.
I looked up.
My front door, the apartment hallway—gone.
"...What the hell."
I blinked.
But the familiar scenery was nowhere.
Instead, a massive, gaudy casino hall glittered before my eyes.
The ceiling overflowed with golden chandeliers pouring dazzling light, the floor stretched endlessly in red carpet.
At the hall's center, a roulette wheel spun slowly yet imposingly, scattering vibrations.
And only then did the cacophony flood into my ears belatedly.
Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep—!
"Kyaaaaah! That's it! Did you see? I won!!! Han River view penthouse now!!"
Clatter-clatter-clatter—
"Shiiiit!!! I'm rich now! Rich, I tell you!!!"
Ding-ding-ding-ding-ding!!
"You fucking bastards!!!! Rigged, right?! No way!! It stopping there is bullshit!!"
Lights, cheers, wails exploded all at once into my ears.
A cold chill wrapped around my entire body.
...
Looks like.
The shaman I visited today was spot on.
I really should have done that exorcism.