Chapter 47
Chapter 47
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: Jackpot Judgment
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47.
Already, the faces of the two employees were full of sneers.
Even before the cards were dealt, their attitude made it seem like their victory was set in stone, boldly etched across their faces.
“Let's start!”
The blond man bellowed and flicked a single coin into the air.
Ting!
The moment the coin dropped from the sky, everyone's cards were distributed.
The card Park Yeon-jeong received was.
-♥3
Low.
Really low.
He figured his chances of winning this game were basically zero.
Naturally, his gaze shifted above Jeong Da-ram's head.
The number on the card floating over Jeong Da-ram's head was.
-♠1
We're screwed.
Win or lose seemed decided right from the jump.
“Why? Get a low number or something?”
The glasses guy sneered at Jeong Da-ram.
But Jeong Da-ram stayed quiet.
Her silence only made the two employees' lips curl into even sleazier grins that smeared across their entire faces.
I know these types of organization agents all too well.
Delusional wrecks who think they're above everyone else, lost in their superiority complex.
Guys who'd survived a ghost story or two or three, high on the arrogance doping their shoulders.
Felt just like staring at Park Yeon-jeong himself a few minutes ago, parked at that roulette machine.
Even outside the [Ghost Story Archive] site, there's a catch-all label for assholes like this.
- Henchman Villain 1 (Blond Employee)
- Henchman Villain 2 (Glasses Guy)
Spot on.
And right now, those two henchman villains were marching straight through their script like clockwork.
“Then let's see those hands. Gotta be low anyway… our pretty little bitch Jeong Da-ram.”
The glasses guy degraded her while flashing a nauseating smile.
Now ditching even her deputy manager title, piling on the vile barbs to mock her.
“…….”
Jeong Da-ram kept her silence this time too.
We laid our cards out, and the totals came to.
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Park Yeon-jeong 3+8=11.
Jeong Da-ram 1+4=5.
Blond Employee 9+7=16.
Glasses Guy 6+10=16.
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The gap was glaring.
Our clear-cut defeat.
But.
I knew.
Their win from the start wasn't just pure 'luck'.
At the very least, it wasn't some bullshit you could chalk up to simple 'coincidence'.
Jeong Da-ram had probably clocked it too.
Thud!
The glasses guy shot up from his seat, yelling at the two of us.
“Hey! What the hell are you two doing? Throw to the master already, don't keep her waiting!”
“…….”
Even amid the two employees' sneers and smug attitudes, Park Yeon-jeong kept eyeing the watch, tracking every single reaction.
Staring down the two employees who were dead certain they'd won this game.
Park Yeon-jeong calmly rose from his seat.
Flinch-
The employees recoiled a bit.
Park Yeon-jeong gazed down at them with a face devoid of emotion and spoke.
He figured the moment had finally come.
"The game isn't over yet."
The air froze solid.
The icy vibe rolling off Park Yeon-jeong's tone and expression locked the two employees' faces up for a split second.
I know exactly how to handle scum like this.
Guys who get off on their own inflated egos.
For morons convinced the world bends to their whims.
Best way is to shove their wrongness down their throats—forcefully.
Make it super obvious.
So weeds like this never sprout again.
"You two... seemed to grasp the rules okay...... but you made a fatal fuckup breaking them."
==========
/Ghost Story Log
[Jackpot]
:Identification Code Cd-C-4911.
.
.
.
No cheating allowed.
Gamble with a pure heart.
==========
"Cheating's a straight-up rules violation."
He said it cold.
The two employees' bodies jerked.
Meanwhile, Jeong Da-ram muttered under her breath.
'That was my line.'
......Ignore her.
Park Yeon-jeong let out another deep breath, checked the Lie-Detecting Watch with a blank face, and tacked on.
"You cheated against me. Organization folks must have ghost story manuals or whatever. Didn't think you'd pull kid-level mistakes like this......"
But the two employees snapped back at me, pissed.
"This ghost story fucker......"
"Shut it."
A chill swept through in an instant.
Park Yeon-jeong's single word killed the blond employee's voice dead.
'If Noise was here, he'd yank that blond's head clean off on the spot.'
I'm tame by comparison.
Finally, they seemed to clock their situation.
Way too late.
"So if you were hiding it, hide it right."
I shot up from my seat and bellowed at the table.
"I object!"
"What? Game's done—what objection?"
This time the glasses guy barked, furious.
"I clearly."
Flinch!
"Told you to pipe down. Some people just don't get it."
Just stay fucking still, please.
At least my line made the glasses guy's face stiffen too.
Perfect.
Now just wait for that guy to show.
Flutter.
Speak of the devil.
A plush red carpet plummeted from thin air, unfurling like stairs right in front of us.
Click.
Heel strikes echoing on the red carpet.
Every eye locked upward.
Click... click... click.
The mystery figure in the black skull mask descended the red carpet nice and slow.
In the [Ghost Story Archive], they called this thing.
Arbiter.
She had the build for "beautiful woman with graceful curves."
Halting atop the table, she embodied the word 'seductive' to a T.
A luxury red fur coat wrapped her skin, but it couldn't hide those killer curves stealing every stare.
Her presence—beauty and majesty combined—crushed everyone there.
Everyone but one guy.
With fluid grace, the Arbiter set the red hoop-shaped chain in her hand down on the table, stroked the black skull poking out from the hoop's end amid swirling black smoke, and spoke.
【Noisy.】
Her first glance iced the two employees.
Then she turned to me.
【You called me.】
The Arbiter said it with a frosty smile.
【That familiar scent of him wafting from your body.】
She stepped right up.
Brought my wristwatch to her face and inhaled slow.
【Enviable. You, basking in his favor. So enviable... insanely envious. I envy you.】
Then she exhaled.
Crack-
!!
A fracture spiderwebbed across the watch face.
......Shit.
Noise is gonna chew me out...
But it was still ticking.
Park Yeon-jeong freaked for a sec but locked eyes on the Arbiter, cool as ice.
"I'll report their cheating."
I said it polite.
Evened out my voice, killed any shake.
【Understood.】
A low 'whirr' hummed as the skulls at the chain's end floated up, vibrating.
【Judgment commencing.】
"W-What! What cheating did I do? Got e-evidence?"
Glasses guy panicked hard.
I kept it steady.
"Those glasses you're rocking? Item, right? Name's 'I See Your Misfortune'."
Easy guess.
Looked identical to the one I knew.
That's why I asked.
Glasses guy's face went ghost-white fast.
"W-What the fuck! Bullshit! I ain't got no such item!"
Tick.
Second hand ticked on his answer—confirmation.
Item that tanks the target's luck.
Glasses guy deployed it this game.
"Give those glasses a once-over, please."
Park Yeon-jeong used the intel to nail his foul.
Jangle!
Arbiter seized the chain, and a skull zipping around her snatched the glasses guy's specs in a flash.
【Hmm...... Definitely laced with weird power. Confirmed.】
Arbiter ruled instant, and right then the hovering skull gaped wide in front of glasses guy.
"Wa, wait a......"
Crunch!
Nothing but empty space where his head had been.
Chew chew.
Skull chomped away like it was bubblegum.
Blond employee, ringside for the show.
Thump.
He crumpled limp to the floor.
Now just expose the blond's cheating.
But.
【Your turn now.】
......Huh?
Arbiter's stare pinned Park Yeon-jeong himself.
Just paranoia?
【Especially you, reeking of his scent.】
Jangle!
Her hand flicked.
"Huh?"
Jeong Da-ram's sharp voice nicked my ear.
Skulls gaped huge and gulped down Jeong Da-ram and the blond employee.
!
Like she'd tracked my tiniest twitch, her soft laugh rode the breeze to my ear.
【Just clearing out useless pests.】
She flicked her hand—sent Jeong Da-ram flying to some pocket dimension.
Blond? Who cares.
Jeong Da-ram? She'd pull through.
That's what I figured.
Then she reached to stroke my cheek.
Flinch-
I backpedaled, but her hand snagged my arm, yanked me close.
【And this? My little gift for his favorite.】
Zap!
Right arm burned—hiked my shirt.
Black coin tattoo warped into a skull shape.
【Can't have those skinny limbs or that breakable neck snapping off. He'd miss you.】
With that, the skull lumbered my way, jaws unhinging.
Before its maw engulfed me.
Her final words rang crystal in my ear.
【Bad luck to you. Die nice and slow. Painfully.】
Crunch!
Skull swallowed me—eyes snapped open.
"......Pretty clouds."
I was plummeting from the sky.
......Fuck.
*****
Crackle-
[Unnecessary meddling.......]
Craaaackle-
Ear-splitting static roared through the library for a good while.