Chapter 285
Chapter 285
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 285
Chapter Title: The Fourth Night (4)
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The demon dealer was genuinely flustered.
No matter that this was the VIP room, it had been less than ten minutes since the "Fourth Night" had begun.
Reclaiming the coins from the humans who entered the VIP room was the role of the dealer, "Lukar."
'It's only the fourth night so far. The limit for coins a lowly human can have is barely a hundred...!'
This night had been meticulously crafted after thorough prior investigations.
It was a flawless casino, cleverly designed by peering into all of humanity's potential, weighing averages and limits.
The average number of coins held by top-tier humans barely exceeded twenty.
Even the world's elite were said to have only around a hundred, according to all the demons' consensus.
But right now.
The amount Park Chan-woo had bet already surpassed even that.
Twenty at first, then another twenty, followed by three hundred twenty.
The coins on the table already totaled three hundred sixty.
Was this even possible?
If Lukar called the raise here, he'd have to add another three hundred sixty.
In other words.
'He must have at least seven hundred twenty coins.'
...Arrogance and anxiety clashed within him.
Was seven hundred twenty the end of it?
Or did he have more?
All the coins Lukar was betting belonged to his master, the Demon King of the Blazing Inferno.
Losing hundreds right from the start would make regaining trust difficult.
Sure, he could win them back, but if the losses reached an irreparable level, a gruesome death awaited.
'You're not planning to play the game properly, are you?'
He kept raising until the other folded.
He had zero interest in guessing what equipment was in the box.
It was a ploy to corner him and force surrender.
To pull off bets like this, you needed guts and the coins to back it up.
...Just how many did he have?
It was already beyond common sense.
Lukar activated the "information network" available to all dealers.
Numbers then appeared above Park Chan-woo's head.
Ha.
A sigh escaped him the moment he saw it.
'No information at all. He hasn't played a single game and came straight to the VIP room.'
Not having played even one game meant he'd staked hundreds of coins blind.
With nothing known, he couldn't gauge the opponent.
He'd have to rely purely on "gut feeling" to proceed.
Call, raise, or fold?
Folding would declare defeat and cost only one hundred sixty coins.
Calling and losing would vaporize three hundred twenty.
Or raise in return?
'...Six hundred forty.'
If the opponent raised back once more, it'd be one thousand two hundred eighty.
'Impossible. No amount of scraping could reach that.'
Earth's surviving population was around six billion.
Of them, about five million were judged to have twenty or more coins.
One in twelve hundred.
Among those who'd run nonstop through four nights, only one in twelve hundred had around twenty coins.
To gather a thousand coins, you'd need to take every coin from fifty such humans.
Humans, greedy like demons, handing over all their coins? Hard to imagine.
Then, suddenly, another thought struck him.
'Wait. Why am I even agonizing over this?'
Lukar grimaced inwardly.
He was rattled.
Caught in the opponent's pace.
And understandably so.
'No matter how many coins he bets, I just need to win the game, right?'
This human wasn't here to play.
Just to crush him with coins.
Beating a human at their own game was incredibly hard to begin with.
There were over ten thousand known equipment items from regular unique boxes.
No human could know or memorize them all!
In truth, this "tasting game" was rigged for the dealer to win.
From the second round, it wasn't pure random; participants took turns as "dealer," choosing and hiding boxes, equipment, tools, etc., for others to guess.
A device to boost participation.
But he couldn't show weakness in the absolutely winnable first round.
So.
"Raise."
He called.
Pushed further.
Ching!
He added three hundred twenty more coins to the table.
Total: six hundred forty.
Could he match this too?
Lukar stared at his opponent, Park Chan-woo.
And was flustered again.
'He's... smiling?'
...Because he was.
Very brightly, at that.
"Raise."
Ching!
"...!!!"
"That guy's insane, right?"
Six hundred forty more coins hit the table.
The onlookers were just as shocked.
'Fine. Let's see how far you go.'
He must've properly scraped together coins.
Not from one human, but many.
Yeah, that could happen.
There were ways to hold lots of coins.
Coins could be transferred.
Like-minded humans could pool theirs to the most skilled one, letting a single person hold over a hundred.
Possible for a dictator-king type.
'My limit is five thousand.'
Losing over five thousand coins meant death for Lukar.
But Lukar no longer wavered.
"Raise."
Total: one thousand two hundred eighty.
Could he counter this?
"Hm."
Park Chan-woo stroked his chin briefly.
His first sign of hesitation.
'Didn't expect him to keep up this far.'
It was unexpected.
He'd followed so well.
So relentlessly.
'Didn't know top-tier demons were such pushovers.'
Really.
A VIP room dealer had to be a top-tier demon.
A subordinate of the Demon King, so just below a "Demon Lord."
He'd likely assisted in plenty of "gambling" for other lords.
Yet he'd followed.
Even with a thousand coins on the line, a heavy burden.
'Demon King of the Blazing Inferno. He desperately needs coins.'
Fourth Night.
To run a casino this scale, he had to recover more than invested.
Or face accountability to the creators for kidnapping the apostle.
Adora could access the "creator community," and rumors there pegged compensation at least in the hundreds of thousands of coins.
That was why the Demon King of the Blazing Inferno needed to sweep coins from participants and succeed the "Fourth Night."
He'd likely granted dealers full authority.
Which meant.
'Little chance of the Demon King of the Blazing Inferno intervening directly.'
Unlike Aheta's hands-on devotion or rule-bending.
Gambling-related creator abysses had strict no-creator-intervention rules.
Forcing it would draw finger-pointing from all creators, possibly triggering forced bankruptcy like Aheta's.
He pondered briefly.
'If not now, this honey-sweet chance won't come again.'
First rounds mattered.
Maximize when opportunity knocked.
He wouldn't follow from the second bet on.
Risk existed.
Fail the next hint, and bankruptcy would hit him, not the dealer.
Even winning might expose him or his identity.
But nitpicking risks meant he wouldn't have pushed from the start.
'...Must boot the Demon King of the Blazing Inferno out fast.'
Too dangerous.
Couldn't let him keep managing the "Night," even if it meant some exposure.
Inflict maximum damage here, or bankruptcy.
Perfect chance.
He'd already spent a million coins stripping Aheta bare, now owing creators a fortune.
Prime moment to bankrupt the Demon King from the outset.
So, he'd take the risk.
Park Chan-woo eyed the demon.
...Just how many coins could this demon dealer handle?
Game barely started, so dealers had caps.
But the Demon King's coin situation was poor.
Even in VIP, under ten thousand.
Over ten thousand? His loss.
He only had a bit under three thousand himself.
"Raise."
Ching!
One thousand two hundred eighty more coins added.
"...Call."
Lukar joined in.
But no further raises.
Couldn't.
No capacity left.
Thus, two thousand five hundred sixty each.
Total five thousand one hundred twenty coins on the table.
Now, who guessed first?
Letters appeared on the box.
4. Vampiric option.
Instantly.
"Blood Edge."
"Storm Sword."
They spoke simultaneously.
Lukar said "Blood Edge"; Park Chan-woo, "Storm Sword."
Answers diverged.
A thick smile crept across Lukar's lips.
Storm Sword had no vampiric link.
The name was "Storm," after all?
Blood Edge, though, screamed blood from the name.
Lukar had memorized all ten thousand equipment items, plus related options.
Thus, this game.
'I win.'
Pop!
The box burst open.
The revealed item made the contrast stark.
"...What?"
Lukar's face hardened.
The sword from the box.
Wasn't his "Blood Edge."
"'Storm Sword' shouldn't have vampiric function...!"
...It was Storm Sword.
Park Chan-woo chuckled.
"It's the Storm Sword's set effect option. Guess you didn't memorize sets. And."
He drove the nail in.
"Blood Edge doesn't suck blood; it boosts attack power on blood contact. Strictly speaking, not 'vampiric.'"
"Even if so... how did you know?"
He still couldn't believe it.
Unless he knew every possible unique box outcome.
But for Park Chan-woo, it was natural.
He'd run more "Abyss runs" than any human awakeners, opening at least hundreds of thousands of unique-or-below boxes.
All for the "title grind."
'Opening lots of boxes gave titles.'
During his growth stagnation.
Desperate bid to grow stronger.
Easier to grind titles with masses of low-grade boxes than few high-grade ones.
Thus, he knew nearly all "cases" from unique-or-below boxes.
"Take it well."
Ding!
"Ah, no...!"
Lukar's body trembled.
Lost a must-win game.
In the very first round, no less.
And his coin limit hit zero.
Proof that higher-ups—casino manager demons or the Demon King of the Blazing Inferno—were involved.
"P-Please, mercy...!!"
Whoosh!
Flames erupted across Lukar's body.
Soon, he crumbled to ash and vanished.
'Excessive Luck for a Newbie'
'Over 1,000 Coins in the First Game?'
'Bankrupting the VIP Room Dealer'
'Ruler of the VIP Room'
"Pleased to meet you. I am 'Diamante,' the executor carrying out the will of the 'Demon King of the Blazing Inferno.'"
Diamante.
Not some run-of-the-mill demon.
'A Demon Lord!'
A Demon Lord, ruling over demons, had appeared as a mere "dealer."