Chapter 59
Chapter 59
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: Devil's Gamble - Rules (12)
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The Horror Gallery had fallen into silence.
When the newb first entered the casino, the atmosphere had been the complete opposite.
The gallery users had been tossing jokes around, chatting about things unrelated to the gamble, all lively and bustling.
But that flow changed.
Once the newb sat at the table and the game began.
The chats gradually dwindled to a noticeable degree.
And in the end, even those sparse messages completely cut off.
As if slicing through the silence, the newb's lips slowly parted.
A cautious voice echoed through the hall.
—...19.
The dealer's hand stopped.
Slowly, two cards were placed on the table.
One was the 10 of diamonds.
The other was the 9 of hearts.
Totaling 19.
The chat window's scroll came to a complete halt.
Perfect silence.
The number the newb had called matched exactly with the cards on the table.
In isolation, it wasn't anything surprising.
The cards had already been flipped over, after all.
But the key point was—
[Pa Cheonhwang]: ...
[Flounder]: ..Wait a sec
[Cream Bun]: ..What did I just see
Gradually, a few usernames snapped out of it and started typing.
[Pa Cheonhwang]: Am I the only one who saw that? Or what
[Flounder]: Just now. Newb. Weren't your eyes closed?
[Human Centipede]: lolololol coincidence. You idiots. Getting all worked up over one lucky guess..lol
[Human Centipede]: Eyes closed lololol
Then one chat popped up.
[Polar Bear]: (screenshot) ...eyes
[Polar Bear]: ..closed?
That last gallery user's message was the trigger.
A brief silence.
And then—
The frozen gallery users sprang to life all at once, and in a flash, the chat window exploded.
[Flounder]: ?!?!?!?!?
[Happiness Storage]: insaneinsaneinsaneinsaneinsane
[Future SCP]: momiwannabegrownupnewbwhenigrowupmomiwannabegrownupnewbwhenigrowupmomiwannabegrownupnewbwhenigrowup
[Crazy Woman]: W-wanna do business with your big sis? Newb? No, Newb-nim. P-profits 5-5 split! Obviously the 5 for you, Newb. No, I'll give it to you—
└[Not Human]: Get lost!! Don't tempt him!
The scroll flew by at tremendous speed.
Every second, posts were pushed up from the bottom by the sheer volume.
Yet the comments kept pouring out endlessly.
Traffic surged, messages cutting out here and there, hard to read.
Then, into the briefly lulling chat window, a perfectly timed message dropped.
[Gamble Black]: Krhahahahahaha
[Gamble Black]: Those cards are from a shuffled deck! They're shuffled, and the dealer even shuffles them. How the hell does the newb know?
[Gamble Black]: Impossible for a player to know a shuffled deck! So it's just luck. Good luck matching the called number by chance.
At first, some negative replies followed the veteran's words.
But soon, backup fire changed the mood.
└[Hopeless Life]: I know this guy a bit, yeah he's legit lol used to be a casino black back in the day lol
Thanks to that previous 2,000 coin pledge.
The veteran's words now carried weight.
[Flounder]: ..Hm, guess that's it. Thinking about it, it didn't make sense from the start.
[Human Centipede]: After watching newbs this whole time. Somehow felt like if it was this newb, it'd be no big deal even if he nailed it. Tch
[Happiness Storage]: fr lol newb's human too! Human lolol obviously—
At that moment, the newb moved on screen.
As if confirming something, the newb recited a number once more.
—..18
The cards on the table were revealed.
Diamond 7
Heart A
[Happiness Storage]: —No wait. Yeah. I believed! Unlike you filthy betrayers.
└[Human Centipede]: ..So fucking pathetic.
[Flounder]: So what's this then. Self-proclaimed black? Explain.
└[Gamble Black]: Coincidence. Matching the called and revealed numbers isn't completely impossible.
—20
[Crazy Woman]: What about this?
└[Gamble Black]: ....That's. Still, the odds of three in a row are 0.0156—
Then the voice rang out again.
—17
[Crazy Woman]: Answer.
└[Gamble Black]: ....That's.
—21
[Crazy Woman]: Answer.
└[Gamble Black]: ....Th.
—16
[Crazy Woman]: Answer.
└[Gamble Black]: ....
After that, no more replies from Gamble Black appeared in the chat.
[Crazy Woman]: Hey Hopeless Life? What'd you say earlier.
[Crazy Woman]: Pft. Pffpffpffpff! This guy's a former casino black who made it big? Looks more like black in a different sense to me?
└[Hopeless Life]: Hm...
[Crazy Woman]: If that guy's Gamble Black, then I'm Gamble PhD.
After a long silence, one chat appeared.
[Hopeless Life]: ...Misjudged the guy.
Hopeless Life lost about 2,000 coins worth of credibility.
***
At first, I'd had that thought too.
Like in the first run, maybe lean on Gamble Black's help.
Having a reliable hand to rely on definitely eased the mind.
When someone next to you throws out certainty, anxiety dilutes easily.
But soon, I cut that thought myself.
If I'd deemed that the right way—
I'd have repeated the same choice dozens of times across runs.
Yet I kept choosing this because I was certain it wasn't the answer.
It didn't align with my current goal.
What I needed now wasn't comfort.
What I was about to do from here was a kind of time attack.
To the top of this space.
Before the bastard evolved.
I couldn't keep advancing that path, leaving it to uncertain probabilities every time.
In that case, better to.
Bet on even a slightly more certain possibility.
***
Sweeping up the chips pushed toward the table's front and rising from his seat.
The Information Junkie noticed something off.
"What is it...?"
The gambling hall was still bustling, but it felt somehow empty, like something was missing.
Not completely quiet by any means.
The clatter of chips, stifled laughs, curses still mixed in and flowed out.
But the density of that noise that had rung in his ears, the energy heavy enough to press on them... had lessened.
He turned his head, scanned the surroundings, but spotted no obvious changes or reasons.
Figuring his ears had just adapted to the noise, he kept walking.
The entrance to the second floor.
There stood a man with a familiar silhouette.
Newb 120053.
The moment he realized the current location, the Information Junkie widened his eyes and hurried over.
Staying here long was dangerous.
Reflexively, he yanked an antigen from his pocket and held it out.
"Newb? Here, take this—"
"Ah. Thanks. Was just running low."
The newb took it as if he'd been waiting, popped the lid without hesitation, and downed it in one go.
Not leaving a single sip.
He drained the bottle boldly.
The Information Junkie stared blankly at the sight.
Then he realized he hadn't even introduced himself yet.
At that moment, the newb spoke first.
"Ah, saw you on the stream. Knew it was you, Information Junkie."
"...Yeah?"
The Information Junkie nodded and continued.
"More importantly, newb, you might not know but—ah."
A thought struck him mid-sentence.
"First, face forward. I'll explain on the way up."
Placing a hand on the newb's shoulder to head to the second floor, the Information Junkie took a few steps before he couldn't advance further.
His body halted as if braked hard.
Turning his head, the newb was still standing right there.
"It's fine."
"...What?"
"Don't have enough chips for the second floor yet anyway, and there's still stuff to handle on the first."
Toward the speechless Information Junkie, the newb added.
"And, Information Junkie."
"...Yeah?"
"If possible, you should get out of the casino quick."
At the newb's words, the Information Junkie opened his mouth in confusion, then froze.
When their eyes met.
The newb's vibe had completely changed from moments ago.
***
After repeating regressions, you get a feel for it.
Like the approximate weight of chips needed to ascend to the second floor.
And the chips I had now—
Were just shy of that exact threshold.
One more win, and.
I'd have to leave the first floor for the second.
Fortunately, this casino had one way to spend chips without advancing floors.
The place I arrived at.
The same scenery as always.
Items densely lined along the walls.
From among them, a masked doll lifted its head to greet me.
"I want to exchange chips."
"Please place the items on the scale."
The clerk's voice was mechanically flat.
As if handling a routine task.
A scale sat to one side.
Excluding some chips, I placed all the rest on it.
Clink—
A short, clear metallic ring echoed as the scale shook.
My gaze went to the sign hanging above the scale.
[We'll exchange anything.]
At a glance, it sounds near-omnipotent.
Like truly anything's possible.
But I'd realized watching the fourth floor's owner.
'The bastard doesn't have true omnipotence.'
It just seems that way.
It's merely faked with items the casino holds as collateral.
I'd tried swapping horror coins for chips, but nothing came out.
In the end, even the bastard's power.
Even what could be exchanged here for chips.
All existed only within the limits of the casino's collateral holdings.
If the bastard's power isn't omnipotent.
The method is simple.
Strip off every layer of shell.
Cut off all its hands and feet so it can't move.
Until it's reduced to crawling helplessly on the floor.
'Called my role a pawn, huh.'
Looking forward to who the pawn will be next time we meet.
"Is there an item you'd like to exchange for?"
At the echoing question, I finished organizing my thoughts.
I opened my mouth with a smile.
Starting from the first floor.