A Closed Room Game
The back alleys of Changsha were incredibly labyrinthine.
So complex, in fact, that even locals born and raised there occasionally lost their way.
The guide led Jeok-un to a building tucked deep within these alleys—a run-down, two-story pavilion.
"It's here."
Following the guide inside, Jeok-un found the interior completely empty, save for a single, tattered rug abandoned on the floor.
At first glance, one might wonder, Is there really a secret gambling den here?
It must be underneath.
Jeok-un's assessment was different.
Sure enough, when the guide pulled back the rug, a heavy iron door was revealed.
Creak!
Lifting the iron door revealed a deep, dark passageway.
The passage was barely wide enough for a single person to squeeze through, but the air wafting up from it didn't smell half bad.
"Now, please go on down."
The guide smiled warmly, gesturing toward the opening.
They'll probably lock it from the outside once I'm in.
Since the iron door was designed like an underground vault, that was almost certainly the plan.
It was a meticulously constructed gambling den designed to ensure no one could escape.
He was essentially walking straight into the lion's mouth.
Jeok-un smirked.
When he bared his teeth in a grin, the guide looked flustered.
"?!"
"Make sure you lock it tight. Wouldn't want the loser running away."
With those words, Jeok-un dropped into the passage.
A heavy thud echoed as the door slammed shut behind him.
Immediately after came a faint click.
It was locked.
Hearing the sound, the smile slowly faded from Jeok-un's face.
Fools.
A locked room means you can't run away either.
He walked along the long, narrow passage for a few minutes.
The moment he reached his destination, voices drifted into his ears.
"Well, well. The last guest has finally arrived."
"They say the hardest part of mahjong is gathering four players. The sages of old were never wrong, not even once."
"Hey, did you bring plenty of buy-in money?"
Jeok-un didn't reply. Instead, he scanned the room.
True to its status as a VIP room, the interior was far more luxurious than the main gambling hall. There was only a single game running, played at a large, ornate table situated right in the center.
Three men were seated around it.
Jeok-un grasped the situation the moment he looked at their faces.
Two marks and one shark.
One looked like a spoiled brat, likely the youngest son of some newly rich family, brought in to be fleeced alongside Jeok-un.
Another had a prominent scar across his face, looking like someone who lived by the blade.
But it was the third man who caught Jeok-un's attention.
I didn't expect them to bring in the Gambling Demon.
He didn't know the man's name, but he had heard of his moniker.
The Gambling Demon, widely considered the best gambler south of the Yangtze River.
Though Jeok-un recognized him, he showed no sign of it and quietly took the empty seat.
"A quiet one, I see."
"Are you already focusing? Or is this some cheap attempt at mind games?"
The mark and the shark spoke up in turn.
Jeok-un remained silent.
The moment he sat down, the door opened and a new voice echoed.
"Ah, you've arrived."
It was No Hwang-gu, the ugly man dressed in fine silk.
No Hwang-gu bowed slightly, clasping his hands in greeting.
In the brief moment the man's head was lowered, Jeok-un's eyes flashed sharply.
Like a hawk spotting its prey.
But it lasted only an instant. By the time No Hwang-gu looked up, all traces of hostility had vanished from Jeok-un's eyes.
"Welcome. I am No Hwang-gu, the manager of this establishment. It is an honor to welcome a new distinguished guest."
No Hwang-gu spoke with an air of easy confidence, suppressing his boiling rage toward Jeok-un.
Jeok-un didn't even spare him a glance.
"No need to call it an honor. I was only invited because I cleaned you guys out."
"...!"
Jeok-un sneered openly.
His attitude made it clear he knew exactly what tricks they had been pulling in the gambling house.
"Ha... haha. I'm not sure what you mean by that. Our gambling house is a highly reputable—"
"Save the excuses for someone who cares. Let's just get started."
This bastard...!
How dare he cut me off?
No Hwang-gu's anger flared at Jeok-un's insolence, but he forced it down.
He had to win back everything the boy had taken.
Clinging to that single goal, No Hwang-gu summoned a strained smile.
"Well, I apologize, but there is one small issue."
"An issue?"
"This is a place of absolute secrecy. Which means everyone's identity must be clearly verified—"
"You talk too much. You just want me to take off my hat, right?"
"?!"
"Sure, why not."
Leaving No Hwang-gu to turn red with frustration at being interrupted yet again, Jeok-un reached up.
With a swift motion, Jeok-un tossed his bamboo hat aside.
"Wh-What?!"
Wait, that face...!
Everyone in the room, including No Hwang-gu, gasped in shock.
They couldn't possibly fail to recognize him.
Lately, wanted posters from the Jegal Family had been plastered all over the Central Plains.
"Ah, much better."
"Jegal Jeok-un...!"
The sudden appearance of the Jegal Family's notorious outcast threw everyone into a panic.
They knew he had fled Hubei, but they never expected him to show up here in Changsha, the heart of Sadocheon's territory.
They exchanged tense glances as a heavy silence fell over the room.
But the silence didn't last long. No Hwang-gu spoke up.
"Well, look who it is. The man who has been causing quite a stir in the Jianghu lately."
"Is there a problem?"
"Hehe, of course not. As long as we play, nothing else matters in a gambling den."
"Glad to see you're reasonable."
No Hwang-gu offered a pleasant smile, but his inner thoughts were entirely different.
Perfect. If things go south, I can just kill him.
No Hwang-gu's mind filled with dark greed.
Jegal Jeok-un was famous for betraying his family and fleeing, but rumors also ran rampant that he had stolen the clan's most precious treasures.
Seeing the massive amount of money he brought today, those rumors must be true.
He would strip the boy of everything he owned and everything he had hidden.
Determined to bleed Jeok-un dry of his gold and treasures, No Hwang-gu clapped his hands.
Clap!
At the signal, servants entered and placed bottles of alcohol on the table.
"The alcohol is on the house. Please, drink to your heart's content and enjoy the game."
"Now that's what I like to hear."
As if he had been waiting for those exact words, Jeok-un grabbed a bottle the moment it touched the table.
Gulp, gulp!
He downed the entire bottle in one go, practically pouring it down his throat.
"Ah, that hits the spot. Now, deal the tiles."
Jeok-un grinned.
Seeing this, a triumphant smirk spread across No Hwang-gu's face.
What... what is the meaning of this?!
No Hwang-gu's face froze.
It had only been an hour.
In just one hour, No Hwang-gu's smug expression had completely crumpled.
"Tsk. I guess this place is nothing special either."
"N-No, Brother Jeok. How is this even possible?!"
"A maximum bet! Another maximum bet...!"
On the table, Jeok-un's solo streak continued.
Just like at the gambling house, Jeok-un only played the hands he was guaranteed to win, and when he did, he bet aggressively as if there were no tomorrow.
It was no exaggeration to call it a barrage of maximum bets.
And the result was exactly the same.
A mountain of gold was piling up beside Jeok-un, just like before.
The only difference was the scale.
Instead of wooden tokens, actual gold bars were stacked high like a mountain.
And the speed at which it accumulated was different.
Because the stakes were several times higher than in the outer hall, the amount of gold piled next to Jeok-un after a mere hour was staggering.
If Jeok-un walked away with all of it, the Changsha branch of the gambling house might have to shut down its doors for good.
It was only natural that No Hwang-gu, trembling with rage, sent a telepathic message to the Gambling Demon.
[Gambling Demon, you bastard! What the hell is going on?!]
[I-I don't know either! This... this shouldn't be possible!]
But the Gambling Demon was equally frustrated.
His tricks weren't working.
He had clearly rigged the tiles, so why did the highest and best hands keep ending up in the boy's grasp?
Is he a gambler who surpasses even the Gambling Demon?
The thought crossed No Hwang-gu's mind, but he quickly shook his head.
No. Even if he is a better gambler than the Gambling Demon, the drug in the alcohol should have kicked in by now.
No Hwang-gu's ultimate trump card was neither the rigged tiles nor the Gambling Demon. It was the alcohol.
The bottles scattered across the VIP room, dozens of which were already empty.
To be precise, the drug dissolved in the alcohol was his masterstroke.
Why isn't the drug working?
No Hwang-gu stared at Jeok-un with anxious eyes.
Jeok-un had drunk several bottles of that alcohol.
More than a dozen, to be exact.
So why...?!
Just then, Jeok-un's gaze locked onto the anxious No Hwang-gu.
Jeok-un deliberately downed another bottle right in front of him before speaking slowly.
"You know, you've been staring at me every time I take a drink."
"N-No, that's not..."
"But I noticed it upstairs too. This alcohol tastes great."
Now, shall we begin?
Cutting the man off once again, Jeok-un continued.
"It tastes so good that I keep reaching for it even in the middle of a game."
"...Is... is that so?"
"Yeah. Almost as if someone spiked it."
"...!"
No Hwang-gu tried his best to hide his shock, but Jeok-un sneered openly, as if he knew everything.
He knows.
As No Hwang-gu's eyes shook with panic, Jeok-un delivered another blow.
"Hey, Gambling Demon."
Another shockwave hit No Hwang-gu's group.
He even knows about the Gambling Demon?!
"...!"
Both No Hwang-gu and the Gambling Demon froze in sheer disbelief.
Jeok-un stared directly at the man beside him, completely certain of his identity.
"Gambling Demon? I have no idea what you're talking about."
The Gambling Demon replied, desperately trying to maintain his composure.
But Jeok-un didn't care whether the man was acting calm or not. He moved on to deliver the final blow.
"Let me tell you a very interesting story."
"...Huh?"
"Once upon a time, there were two brothers."
In the tense, suffocating atmosphere, Jeok-un spoke like a storyteller.
"They lost their parents in a clash between the Orthodox and Unorthodox factions and became orphans. Living in a living hell, they eventually became bandits."
"Life was hard when they begged as beggars, but once they turned to evil, things got easy. Cheating, killing..."
"But one day, they stole from someone they never should have touched."
They stole it.
The moment No Hwang-gu heard those words, his eyes stopped trembling.
In its place, a thick, suffocating killing intent began to pool in the depths of his eyes.
A murderous aura rose from within him.
"That person was incredibly cruel. He fed the brothers something horrific. Do you know what a Gu poison is? A terrifying parasite that makes your Qi explode, killing you if you don't take the antidote at regular intervals."
"Anyway, after feeding them that poison, he gave them a way to survive."
The game had completely stopped.
Everyone in the room instinctively realized that the story Jeok-un was telling was based on reality.
"I-I'm leaving..."
One of the marks tried to sneak away, but his attempt failed.
Click.
The guards had already locked the exit.
Jeok-un paid no attention to the fleeing mark and continued.
"'Become spies. Infiltrate a certain organization. I will support you so you can rise to the very top. All you have to do is climb the ranks, secretly distribute drugs, and sow chaos from within.'"
With those words, Jeok-un turned his gaze from the Gambling Demon to No Hwang-gu.
"Now, do you know what kind of reward one gets for capturing and handing over a spy from Heukpaeseong who committed such treasonous acts? It's far more lucrative than you can imagine."
Depending on the severity of the spy's treason, one could receive enough wealth to support three generations, or even be appointed to a high-ranking position like a Grand Captain.
Just as Jeok-un was about to add those details...
Whoosh!
Screeech!
"Die!"
No Hwang-gu, the spy of Heukpaeseong, shrieked as he lunged furiously at Jeok-un.