Twisting the Natural Flow
“Haha. Looks like we’ve got some new brothers at the table. Pleasure to have you.”
Once the seats filled, the man—clearly in high spirits—greeted Yoo Eunhyeon with open friendliness.
Being welcomed so warmly at a place like this usually meant they already saw you as an easy mark. Most people would have taken offense. Yoo Eunhyeon, however, let nothing show on his face.
“Brother, your luck’s run dry. From here on out I’ll be sweeping the board, so just sit back and watch.”
Wi Dong, who had sat down at the same time as Yoo Eunhyeon, threw out the boast with absolute confidence.
“Is that so? Well then, give it your best.”
The man chuckled. In the eyes of a man already raking in winnings, both Wi Dong and Yoo Eunhyeon looked like the same kind of fool.
Yoo Eunhyeon deliberately took the seat directly across from the man. There was something he wanted to confirm. Shutting out every unnecessary distraction, he fixed his gaze on the dice inside the bamboo cup.
“All right, here we go again!”
The attendant dropped the dice into the cup and shook. Instantly the men around the table began placing their bets. The rules were simple: if the sum of the dice landed between one and nine, Gap won; between ten and eighteen, Eul won. Yoo Eunhyeon had no intention of getting greedy from the start, so he casually tossed one nyang of silver onto either side.
“Four-six-two! Eul-byeong!”
“…….”
“Three-eight-seven! Eul-byeong!”
“…….”
He began betting properly after that, but by sticking mostly to the lower hands his silver dwindled the way clothes grow damp under a soft rain.
Wi Dong glanced over and muttered with a snide little smile.
“Well now, brother. You’re going to have to try a little harder than that.”
Wi Dong, for his part, was winning. As if to prove his earlier confidence hadn’t been empty talk, he kept hitting the high hands one after another and cheerfully raked in the silver.
Yoo Eunhyeon only sighed inwardly and quietly watched the flow of the game. He already knew that swagger wouldn’t last much longer.
He’s toying with him completely.
The man was deliberately funneling money toward Wi Dong. While barely touching his own silver, he arranged for the others to lose to Wi Dong, fattening the younger man’s pile.
The purpose was obvious enough. Inflate Wi Dong’s confidence, draw him into a big showdown, then snatch everything away in one clean sweep at the end. Yoo Eunhyeon drummed his fingers on the table and sank into thought.
If I use internal energy, the flow of natural energy will inevitably stir…
Had Yoo Eunhyeon used internal energy, manipulating the dice inside the bamboo cup would have been no great difficulty—but he would have been caught at once. Without internal energy it was impossible to control such tiny needles with that precision in the first place.
If I can just twist that flow ever so slightly…!
If he managed that, the man would no longer be able to move the dice as he pleased. Yoo Eunhyeon watched several more rounds, waiting for his chance.
“Brother Yoo, you still haven’t taken the lead even once, have you?”
Wi Dong asked offhandedly, looking at him.
In Cheonganbo you had to bet on the highest hand and win before you earned the right to open the bamboo cup. Yoo Eunhyeon had yet to win a single round, so of course he hadn’t.
“Whether it’s bad luck or something else, it isn’t coming easy.”
“Tsk. What did I tell you? Luck is a current. Hmm… all right. I’ll yield my turn as opener this round. Well, brothers? No objections?”
Wi Dong looked around the table. Everyone nodded at once.
In their eyes Yoo Eunhyeon still looked like a complete novice, so they didn’t even bother to be wary. Handing him one free “opener” as a kind of house cut seemed the easiest way to soothe their own consciences.
“If that’s the case…”
Yoo Eunhyeon was hardly going to refuse such a perfect opportunity. The moment the next round of dice began to tumble, he lifted the bamboo cup and gave the natural energy flowing through its interior the slightest of twists. All he needed was enough to interfere with the fine needles; he used barely any internal energy at all.
“Three-four-five! Eul-byeong-gi!”
“Oh?”
Yoo Eunhyeon, who had bet on the consecutive hand, let out an involuntary sound of surprise. He had only nudged the flow of natural energy a fraction, yet the dice had landed exactly as if they had moved by his will.
“Whoa~ Brother Yoo. Looks like the opener really does bring good fortune.”
“Haha. Seems that might be true.”
Yoo Eunhyeon gave an awkward laugh and gathered his winnings.
That luck, however, proved short-lived. Like a cow stepping backward and somehow catching a rat, he began losing money again with uncanny precision.
“Oof. Been a while since I took the lead myself.”
After several more rounds the moment Yoo Eunhyeon had been waiting for finally arrived. The man who held the lead made a show of stacking ten nyang of silver on the Heavenly Stem hand.
“Here we go again? That fellow’s hit rate on the Heavenly Stem hand is terrifying. Better play it safe with the lower hands this time.”
“If you just copy him you end up getting reeled in the other way… no choice, I guess.”
The other players murmured among themselves and began scattering bets across Gap and Eul. It made sense: if your opponent hit the Heavenly Stem hand and you failed to match even a single hand, you owed five times your stake in silver.
“Kahaha! Nothing but cowards at this table. You’ve got to seize an opportunity when it comes!”
Only Wi Dong treated the situation as a chance. He confidently matched the man by betting on the Heavenly Stem hand as well.
“If everyone’s ready, we’ll begin the round.”
The tumbling dice waited for no one. Everything shook, then settled at once.
In that instant Yoo Eunhyeon sensed the natural energy inside the cup stir. The man had clearly launched a hidden weapon. Yet there was still no sound, no tell, no preliminary sign—only the faintest shift of natural energy. Yoo Eunhyeon silently clicked his tongue at the refined internal energy on display.
“Well then… shall we open it?”
The man wore a sly smile as he slowly reached for the bamboo cup. Every gaze at the table—including Yoo Eunhyeon’s—locked onto that single point. Tension hung in the air for a heartbeat. Then the cup opened fully, and the man’s face went rigid the moment he saw the result.
“Sixty… five?”
“Five, not six?!”
“He missed?”
People began whispering in disbelief as they stared at the dice. The man himself could only look at them with a hollow expression, as if he couldn’t accept the outcome either.
“How is this possible…? What just happened?”
Wi Dong, who had foolishly followed the bet and lost his money, wore much the same stunned look as he watched the scene unfold. Still unable to believe it, the man kept glancing back and forth between the cup and the dice. Something beyond mere anger—an almost murderous glint—flashed in his eyes, and the atmosphere around the table froze solid.
“We’ll let it pass for now.”
The man had surely felt the natural energy move, yet he had not realized the interference came from Yoo Eunhyeon. Even Cho-yeong, who had reached the Yeonhwagyeong, had failed to grasp that particular flow of natural energy; it was only natural the man couldn’t either.
A brief stir passed through the room, but to everyone else it was nothing more than an ordinary turn of the cards.
The game continued. Yoo Eunhyeon stepped back a pace and simply observed Wi Dong’s contest. He had already confirmed everything he needed; there was no reason to keep interfering. Besides, if he kept winning, someone was bound to grow suspicious.
“Well now… Brother Yoo. Looks like I was the lucky one after all. Hahahaha!”
In the meantime Wi Dong swept up a considerable sum. It still fell short of the pile the needle-using man had built earlier, yet once Yoo Eunhyeon gave the flow a gentle twist, Wi Dong was able to seize the momentum.
“I’ve learned a hard lesson today. I really shouldn’t be playing games like this.”
“Heh heh heh. Everyone thinks that right after they lose money. But brother, losing is part of gambling too. That’s what makes the pleasure of hitting a hand so much sweeter.”
“You might be right about that.”
The thrill of correctly calling a hand on your own and raking in the silver was no small thing. Yoo Eunhyeon nodded in agreement.
“Anyway, I had a good time today. Here—this is the cut I promised. Take it.”
Smiling brightly, Wi Dong held out one hundred nyang of silver to Yoo Eunhyeon.
“There’s no need to go that far…”
“Hahaha! Half of these hundred nyang was originally Brother Yoo’s money anyway, so there’s no reason to refuse! Just take it!”
“Tch…”
In truth Yoo Eunhyeon had lost a fair amount himself, so the words weren’t wrong.
“We promised from the start that we’d each walk away with our principal intact. And even if it is gambling, money still changes hands according to the rules. Anyone who breaks those rules and cheats shouldn’t be left alive—but that doesn’t apply to the two of us, does it?”
For a moment Wi Dong’s eyes turned sharp. Yoo Eunhyeon flinched slightly, yet his expression never changed.
Strictly speaking he had only interfered with the attempt to cheat Wi Dong and had gained nothing for himself, so there was nothing to feel guilty about.
“If that’s the case…”
Outside of farming, Yoo Eunhyeon had never been one to cling to pride. In the end he accepted the money Wi Dong offered.
“That’s the spirit. Hahahaha! Well then… our connection for today ends here! If chance allows, let’s meet again at the next table!”
Laughing heartily, Wi Dong left the gambling floor without a backward glance. Yoo Eunhyeon watched that receding back and moved his lips soundlessly.
You won’t be coming back a second time, so we won’t be meeting again.
With that private murmur, Yoo Eunhyeon turned his back on the still-heated gambling hall and started walking. It was time to go find Ju Yu-ryeon and Ho Won-jik.