Chapter 60
Chapter 60
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: Devil's Gamble - Rules (13)
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“Exchange completed.”
The clerk’s voice was no different from when I first stepped into this place.
No emotion leaked from behind the mask, and even the intonation was uniformly mechanical.
I turned my gaze away from the clerk and looked back into the pawn shop.
When I first entered, the walls were lined densely with display cases.
From valuables to things that looked like mere junk.
But every time I placed a chip on the scale, they vanished one by one.
At first, the change was so subtle it went unnoticed.
However, as I headed to the table to collect chips, then returned to the pawn shop.
As I endlessly repeated this cycle—
Little by little.
……Little by little.
The items pawned in the casino’s first-floor pawn shop.
Lifespans, talents, memories, objects… they all faded away.
The invisible gaps grew larger and larger.
Eventually, the emptiness became visible enough to catch the eye.
To the point where it felt like cracks had formed in a sturdy wall.
Now, in the pawn shop’s shelves, it was faster to count the empty spaces than the filled ones.
All that remained were traces of vacancy.
Of course, there had been plenty of trial and error at the start.
I’d gotten the card order wrong, mixed up the numbers.
But the moment I perfectly memorized a full deck of shuffled cards—
Everything changed after that.
“We will distribute the cards. Please set your betting amount.”
The dealer’s cold voice echoed through the hall.
I had already memorized the entire sequence of the shuffled deck used on the casino’s first floor.
And that memorization.
Gained momentum and speed the more items I purchased as collateral.
The instant the dealer’s hand moved.
The calculation of the next card was already complete.
‘This hand… it’s dangerous.’
The dealer’s card was clearly superior.
I immediately placed just one chip on the table.
Clink—
A light sound rang out.
Soon, the dealer’s hand was revealed.
My hand: 18.
Dealer’s hand: 20.
Dealer wins.
I calmly pushed my cards away.
Losing just one left no wound.
Next round.
The numbers surfaced in my mind.
‘This time—’
The calculation concluded in that instant.
I pushed all the chips on the table forward.
The cards flipped.
The suits revealed in sequence.
Diamond A.
Spade K.
Total: 21.
Blackjack.
The dealer’s hand froze.
The air in the hall subtly chilled.
Lose with the minimal cost.
Win by betting everything and claiming overwhelmingly.
Now, without any particular thrill, I quietly swept up the chips.
The moment I knew the future.
This was simply a predetermined outcome for me.
The chips multiplied exponentially.
And accordingly, the pawn shop’s shelves emptied just as quickly.
Right now, my chips were exactly one short of the amount needed to enter the second floor.
I stood from my seat and headed to the pawn shop.
With familiar motions from the repeated actions, I poured chips onto the scale.
Clink—
The scale naturally tipped.
And on the opposite side, items matching the weight appeared one after another.
However, the scale, which had risen evenly, suddenly halted midway.
I looked up to see the masked clerk staring at me.
A flat voice reached me.
“There are no more items to exchange.”
I nodded.
My business on this first-floor pawn shop was done.
I slowly turned my steps away.
The sign above reading [We Exchange Anything] flickered faintly before going out completely.
The missing chip was soon filled.
What could be exchanged wasn’t limited to mere collateral items.
‘Anything.’
That word itself.
They never should have written it in the first place.
As security approached from around me, I rose from my seat.
But soon, they halted their steps.
Blocked by something else in front of them.
As I turned, those blocking the path stepped aside.
The security followed behind me like an escort.
Now, it was time to head to the second floor.
***
The table dominated the second-floor hall.
A gleaming chandelier illuminated it, and beneath it lingered a heavy tension.
But it felt entirely different from the usual tension.
The dealer, clad in black leather gloves, swallowed hard.
Soon, bags were brought to that table.
Click—click—click—click—click—
Masked attendants placed the bags down.
And inside the opened bags were countless chips.
I sat naturally at the gesture pulling out the chair and looked up to see several people seated at the table.
An elderly gentleman with smoke dangling from his lips. I remembered him pawning his pocket watch.
A bald man with half his face covered in scars. Ex-military.
A woman with heterochromatic eyes. When she’d lost all her chips, she’d mentioned her parents dying?
And a man wearing a smiling mask.
He looked like someone important, but that mask was fake. Just a fashion item.
Familiar faces.
I turned my head to survey the surroundings.
There were twenty tables on the second floor.
Meaning, if I repeated the same actions twenty times, it would be over.
From my perspective, the higher the floor, the easier the difficulty became.
The earnings per round grew that much larger.
And the amount I could buy grew accordingly.
With the gamble yet to start, I tapped the table with my fingers.
Tap—tap—
“Deal the cards.”
I recalled my first time here.
When I arrived on the second floor, the dealer had said:
—Only those qualified are permitted to participate here.
This time, no such question came.
It was a line I’d been slightly looking forward to.
The dealer’s glowing red eyes leaked through the mask’s gap.
The aura emanating from him was definitely different from the first-floor dealers.
But that no longer mattered.
The moment I saw visible fear in those eyes, he ceased to be a source of terror.
Rule 5.
A newly discovered one.
It felt similar to the previous.
Like when approaching the information junkie and getting hit with a rule violation from a single voice.
No one who entered this gambling hall could perform actions negatively impacting the gamble.
And that included the dealers.
No abandoning the gamble, no obstructing it.
The tension from those seated at the table burst forth.
But even that.
Sank completely with my voice.
“Deal the cards.”
Finally, the dealer bowed his head, and the gamble began.
Before the cards were even dealt, I had already pictured the outcome in my mind.
The winner: the masked man with the highest hand.
The soon-to-be-revealed cards would prove it, so without hesitation, I placed only the minimum amount on the table.
Clink—
The dealer’s hand stopped, and the result was as expected.
Masked man wins.
Hand: full house.
Since I’d already called fold, I indifferently pushed my cards away.
And in the next round, the calculated numbers rose clearly.
Along with the chips poured onto the table, the cards flipped.
The air sank heavily. The dealer’s fingertips trembled faintly.
Without a hint of a smile, I calmly swept up the chips.
Minimize losses, take all gains.
Like on the first floor—but rougher.
The second-floor chips doubled.
All chips from everyone here would vanish.
In front of the pawn shop.
The shelves filling the walls came into view.
I’d already gone through this once on the first floor, but this place was on another level.
Each item seemed far more intricate and valuable than those on the first floor.
Their worth had doubled as well.
“Would you like to exchange?”
The masked clerk’s voice remained mechanically flat.
‘Doesn’t matter. It changes nothing.’
I nodded, and my attendants moved in unison.
The cases opened, and hundreds of chips scattered onto the scale like falling leaves.
Clink—
“Now, calculating—”
As the clerk tried to speak, another attendant stepped forward and unleashed a second bag.
Crash—
Chips mercilessly scattered onto the scale again.
The metallic clamor layered over itself, swallowing the clerk’s voice whole.
In the midst of the chaos, I looked up and met the clerk’s gaze.
I caught the flicker in the eyes behind the mask.
“A bit too many chips, you see.”
With that joking remark, another attendant behind me dumped yet another bag onto the scale.
After that, it was simple repetition.
Sweep up chips from the table.
Head straight to the pawn shop.
Pour chips onto the scale.
Exchange.
Clink—
With each metallic ring, collateral items vanished one by one.
From the invisible.
To the visible.
A dagger adorned with black jewels.
A crystal orb glowing green.
An antique clock with an old-world feel.
…Bizarre objects whose names I couldn’t even guess.
And eventually, the end arrived.
Shortly after I stepped out of the pawn shop, the lights inside went out completely.
A time twice as short as the first floor.
I turned toward the path to the next floor.
And the procession behind me had grown far longer and grander.
Security in black suits lined up on either side.
I glanced at the transparent glass orbs embedded in the ceiling.
Now up to the fourth floor.
But only one floor remained.