Chapter 145
Chapter 145
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Translator: penny
Chapter Title: Chapter 37 Jang Cheonmun (4)
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Gambling house.
A place that should normally be tucked away in some dingy back alley, but was this the way of the pleasure city, Soho?
Instead of a shadowy hideout, the illegal gambling den floated astonishingly on the lake.
Dozens of massive flower boats bobbed on the water, adorned with lavish pavilions atop them.
Phil-li-li-ri-.
Thump. Small. Thump. Small.
As the vibrant lights from the flower boats reflected off the nighttime lake, raucous music blared without cease.
The group's mood as they watched was complicated.
"They said they'd show us another world."
"I never dreamed it'd be an illegal gambling house."
Baek Ri-seol and Moyong So-hye pressed their foreheads together glumly.
Squeak. Squeak.
They'd rented a small rowboat, the only way to access the place.
They'd even changed into civilian clothes to hide their identities.
And to look more adult-like, they'd applied light makeup.
Though an outing like this should have been thrilling, no one's heart felt light.
They'd had to leave their weapons behind at the entrance, claiming it was the rule.
"If weapons were allowed in a gambling house, it'd turn into a bloodbath."
They understood the explanation that came with it, but parting with their weapons left them uneasy.
But what really stirred their hearts was the instructor bickering nonstop with the boatman.
"I'm telling you, I'll pay."
"Two nyang in silver. Hand it over."
"I'll double it when we get back."
"No doubles later—pay now."
"Three times. No, five times."
"Should I flip this boat over?"
After a long haggling match, Chu Un-hwi returned grumbling.
"Damn it. That stingy bastard."
He was the stingier one.
But no one said it.
No one wanted to get dragged back to Soho by the scruff of their neck.
Chu Un-hwi turned to the students.
"Everyone memorized the rules, right?"
"Yes. We've mastered the dominos and dice."
"From now on, keep your wits about you. This is battle."
A war fought with pure math and strategy!
They thought maybe they didn't need to fight a war at all, but they hid their true feelings and chorused back.
"This is battle."
"Strategy and calculation."
"We'll wage a splendid fight."
"Clap clap clap."
Jegal Tan, mimicking applause with his mouth, got smacked for lack of sincerity.
"Chorus properly."
Chu Un-hwi stretched both hands to the sky and cried out fervently.
"Mountain spirits! Primeval Lord! Grant us a big win today!"
It was embarrassing.
People seemed to be whispering and staring.
Even the boatman's rowing picked up speed.
But a moment of embarrassment beat violence.
"Grant us a big win!"
Then Baek Ri-seol, ever quick-witted, added,
"We're on water—shouldn't we pray to the Dragon King instead of mountain spirits?"
"Oh, right."
Chu Un-hwi spread his hands to the air again.
"Dragon King! Grant us a big win."
Squeak. Squeak.
The rowboat slipped forward, overtaking the others.
Babble. Babble.
Stepping onto the deck revealed a dazzling banquet hall.
Hundreds of people sat engrossed there.
"They say gambling knows no gender."
"Quite a few female patrons too."
As they looked around, a shout of "Ei!" erupted from one side, and a man ripped open his shirt.
"Ei! Damn. They really don't take kkut cards."
Sympathizers chorused "So close" or "You almost had it," and the man, downing a bowl of liquor, tossed his last coin pouch onto the table.
"Deal the next hand!"
The gamblers refocused intently.
From another group, a roar of "Waaah!" rang out, followed by a similar scene.
"Where's the instructor?"
Baek Ri-seol scanned around and spotted him pointing their way from a corner, grinning oddly.
He looked less like a companion and more like a gambling house employee.
"It's too noisy—I can't hear what he's saying."
With everyone shouting at the top of their lungs, even standing nearby made conversation tough.
"I caught a few words."
Only Baek Ri-seol, with her sharp senses, picked out some.
"Four people. Suckers. Commission?"
What did that mean?
While the others puzzled, Jegal Tan seemed to know.
"Doesn't matter what it means."
"...?"
Moments later, the instructor returned, dangling a small coin pouch he'd apparently received from a staff member.
"Alright. Got a feel for the vibe?"
Now. The battle begins.
It started with dominos.
White bone tiles marked with pictures were thrown to form sets, and it progressed quickly.
Clatter.
One throw decided the winner fast—too fast for calculations.
At the level of barely memorizing winning hands, they'd get cleaned out in no time.
Under the instructor's urging, they tried a couple rounds but soon lost interest.
The mood sank.
Strangely, only shirtless old men seemed to enjoy dominos.
"I don't like this."
"It's dark and smelly."
A bearded man mid-throw gaped in shock as the sole woman stood up.
"Sigh. Can't you wash up?"
The bearded men glumly clattered their tiles as she left.
Next was the tile game.
This drew a cleaner crowd.
Even scholars in robes were spotted.
A few women too.
"Come on, draw your tiles."
Unlike the haphazard domino tosses, drawing tiles had a refined air.
Shaking the container smartly to pull elegant colored papers, then abacusing numbers and pictures—it looked proper.
"Let's see. Horse. Deer. Pheasant."
Moyong So-hye tallied her three tiles and tossed them with disgust.
"Tch. Total bust."
After a few failures, bored, she wandered off.
In one corner, Jegal Tan sat straight-backed, handling tiles expertly.
"Next hand decides it."
"Tch. Cleaned out."
His calculations sharp, nearby gamblers clicked their tongues in admiration.
"How many times already?"
"He's a total pro."
"Who'd have thought they'd make someone like him."
Folding unlikely hands, betting only on sure wins.
No huge pots, but silver coins piled up before Jegal Tan.
He whispered boringly to approaching Moyong So-hye.
"Tile games are calculation and skill battles."
Nothing more.
"Master the math, and it's not gambling—it's confirming the result."
Boring.
With a subtly smug air, Jegal Tan stood.
Gamblers jeered.
"Running after a win?"
"Learned gambling in the outhouse?"
"Useless fool."
Unfazed,
Clunk.
"Wet your whistle."
He dropped some winnings back on the table.
Reactions flipped instantly.
"Knows manners."
"Drink up good!"
"Heh heh heh."
Just like instructors, words turning on a dime.
"Predicted that reaction too."
Jegal Tan winked.
"Where's the instructor?"
"Said play around a bit."
"Time to kill. Shall we find Nangong Yun-ho?"
A shy guy, mismatched for a gambling house.
"He hasn't lost it all, has he?"
As smug Jegal Tan turned,
"Waaah!"
"It worked?"
Cheers erupted from one side.
There was Nangong Yun-ho.
Stone-faced with cards in hand.
But his friends read his inner glee.
'He has no idea why they're shoving money at him.'
Just taking what's offered?
"Incredible restraint."
"Yeah. Can't read him at all."
"Damn. Where'd this guy come from?"
Among admirers were fleeced gamblers.
"Thought he was blindly charging, but he hooked the big one."
"Devoured us all with trash hands."
"Hell of a gambler."
Counting fingers out of sight—he hadn't memorized all winning hands yet.
Moyong So-hye shook her head.
"Isn't gambling calculation?"
"... ."
"Just luck?"
Jegal Tan insisted stubbornly.
"Beginner's luck."
Time to regroup; they found mild commotion at Baek Ri-seol.
"Wait. I've almost won it all."
The pot was scraping bottom.
"One more hand—I'll turn it around."
Muttering addict lines, Baek Ri-seol peeked at her tiles nervously.
Shhff!
Brightening, she threw them.
"Gabo!"
Opponent grinned, laying out.
"Jang-gwi. My win again."
"Aaaargh!"
Clutching her hair, Baek Ri-seol bet again.
"One more!"
She wouldn't rise easily for a reason.
Observing Moyong So-hye whispered to Jegal Tan.
"That's it, right?"
"Yeah. Wins big pots, loses small ones. Common strategy."
Her pot shrank; one hand became three, five.
Unable to watch, Moyong So-hye hauled her up.
"One hand! Just one!"
"Yeah yeah, got it—get up."
"Just one!"
Moyong So-hye dragged her away.
"Huff. Huff. I almost had it all."
"Sis, you got wiped out."
"One hand would've reversed my life."
Like attracts like—they resembled their point-loving instructor.
"Where is he?"
Too crowded to track.
Luckily, Moyong So-hye, uninterested in gambling, remembered.
"Said dice for men, headed that way."
"Ah, innermost?"
Asking around, they found him.
And more.
Tang!
A man shook dice in a teacup and slammed it down.
Clatter.
Listening to them roll, he called,
"Two!"
Lifting the cup wide, two dice lay side-by-side as ones.
Onlookers "Wowed."
"Impressive dice work."
"Smallest number—how to beat that?"
"Even that lucky bastard's done."
Instructor nonchalantly took the cup, shook.
Thud.
Flipped it.
"One."
Murmurs rose.
"One? Impossible?"
"Two dice minimum two—how one?"
"He's lost it?"
But lifting revealed wide eyes.
"Whoa! One die stacked on the other."
"That's how you get one."
"Dice ghost himself."
Clap clap clap clap!
Gamblers applauded.
Instructor had talent for gambling too.
Overwhelming even black path folk.
"Kuh."
"Not bad, but far from me."
Clatter.
Chu Un-hwi swept the silver stakes greedily with both hands.
"Heh heh heh heh. Thanks for the meal."
Pulling a pile close, smacking lips, he fidgeted.
"Time to bounce?"
As they pondered the beaming instructor amid his hoard,
"Hey. Leaving the table early, aren't you?"
A thick voice boomed; a thick-bearded man appeared.
"Boss!"
Boss?
"It's proprietor."
The dicer who yelled "boss" coughed and bowed.
"Sorry, proprietor."
"Hmph!"
A loan shark?
Flourishing his sleeves, the man plopped before the instructor.
"Night's long—leaving already?"
"Long nights have more than dice."
"Fair, but."
Thud.
Leaning in, he smirked.
"Can't let you fool around and slip away."
"Fool around?"
"Your sleight of hand was sloppy."
"Must be mistaken—fair and square."
"We'll check."
"Oh ho~."
At the near-threat, Chu Un-hwi smirked.
Suddenly, the four recalled his pre-entry words.
[I'll teach you how to stir trouble in enemy territory without cleanup worries.]
On the lake.
Surrounded by foes everywhere—how to escape leisurely?
Sneer.
Instructor gibed,
"Hey, buddy. Sure you won't regret that?"