Chapter 55. A U.S. Tour With Max Guide(?)
Chapter 55. A U.S. Tour With Max Guide(?)
Dinner was a luxurious spread, the kind you'd expect at a fine restaurant.
A salad with homemade dressing, walnuts, blue cheese, and berries.
Sides of truffle mashed potatoes and grilled asparagus.
And the mains: prime rib roast and roast chicken with herb stuffing.
"Wahaha!! What do you think of my guild's prized secretary's skills?"
"Whoa... she could open a restaurant."
"Haha, she's good enough I'd want to live with her!"
He fires off flirtatious remarks as naturally as breathing, even with her standing right there...
Emilia smiled gently at Max's praise.
"I tried not to make it too heavy, to suit Asian tastes. Is it alright?"
I, who had been shoveling food into my mouth nonstop, silently gave a thumbs-up.
"Ahem... Hoon, aren't you going to stream?"
"...?"
"I'm just a little bored, you see..."
"Hmm... your place will be on-screen. Is that okay?"
Max nodded, saying he didn't mind in the slightest.
If he was the one bringing it up, he must have been genuinely bored.
I was planning to post our US schedule on the notice board anyway, but saying it directly was easier.
[ World's Strongest Hero : This is Max's house ]
[Wow first time seeing a stream turned on at this hour]
[Ah I'm at the office rn fuck]
[lolol unemployed guys 1 win]
"Hello. This is Max's house."
When I pointed the camera at Max, he flashed a grin showing his white teeth, and when it went to Emilia, she shyly waved.
"It's probably morning in Korea right now."
After saying that, I mentioned we'd be heading to a casino in Las Vegas tomorrow.
The viewers promptly asked what other plans we had.
"Dunno."
[If you don't know, who does]
[This motherfucker flew first class to the US to gamble lololol]
"No, I mean... Max said he'd be my guide."
I deflected a share of the responsibility and pointed the camera at Max.
Max laughed heartily and said he'd teach the frugal Hoon, who barely spent a fraction of what he earned, how to actually spend money.
I thought there might be some resistance to blatantly throwing money around, but the viewers actually liked it.
[Honestly I'm so damn curious lololol]
[I do wonder what chaebols eat and spend money on]
[To them, chicken is like 30 won and a PlayStation is 700 won]
"Then I'll see you all in Las Vegas!"
---
We were headed back to the airport.
Why?
I didn't know Las Vegas was that far away.
"If we take the private jet, we can take off right away."
"Still takes about five hours, huh?"
"A perfectly reasonable amount of time. Las Vegas only truly starts after the sun goes down, after all."
Right.
I'd never actually been, but in movies and shows, the backdrop of Las Vegas was always at night.
"You'll probably arrive after a nap."
The flight was neither short nor long.
Since the airport was right in the city of Las Vegas, we headed straight to the hotel.
"Boss, we'll do some shopping and be back."
"Sure, whatever works."
Emilia and Laila left to go shopping, leaving just me and Max.
Maybe because Laila wasn't there, casual, local-style conversation wasn't possible, but we could communicate to some extent.
"Ahem... my English is poor..."
"Hm? You worry about things like that?"
"Isn't it uncomfortable?"
"Wahahaha!!! The fact that a Korean can even use English is what's impressive."
"Is that so?"
"I can't speak even a word of Korean. Compared to me, you speak two languages, don't you?"
He was surprisingly considerate, given his outward appearance.
Max led the way to the casino.
But as I looked around, many people were dressed up as if attending a formal party.
"By the way, shouldn't we be wearing suits or something?"
"Puhaha, it is important to follow the dress code with proper formality."
Our outfits were casual clothes, like we'd stepped out just for a stroll near home.
Even so, Max waved his hand and said it was fine.
"People like us don't need to observe formalities. Because we, by our very presence, embody formality."
'Oh...'
In fact, when Max showed something to the security personnel, they bowed their heads and stepped aside.
There wasn't even a pat-down.
"Follow me."
Following him inside, there were a great many people.
People sitting at seats betting chips, people spinning slots, staff carrying drinks.
He went over and exchanged for chips.
"Whoa, this coin is..."
A chip that looked a little bigger than a 500-won coin held a value of 35 million won.
And on top of that, the square chip Max was holding was worth 140 million won.
"There's no place here for people like us to play."
Saying this, he grabbed a passing staff member and said something.
Immediately, suit-clad staff wearing in-ear pieces came and politely guided us.
"This is the high-limit room where the VIPs play."
Sssip...
I suddenly halted as I tried to turn on the stream.
was it okay to turn this on...?
"It's fine, isn't it?"
Max was even smarter than I thought.
If you judge by a gambler's social status and wealth, I won't be punished.
As long as I close donations and don't glorify gambling, it should be fine.
"Ah, whatever. When else am I gonna visit a place like this."
I set the age restriction to 19+, closed donations, and turned on the stream.
[ World's Strongest Hero : Do it with the heart, not the hands ]
[???]
[Wow you fearless bastard lolol suddenly put a 19+ lock huh]
[Korea's first-ever casino stream fuckin lololololol]
[No but usually filming isn't even allowed in casinos, is this one okay?]
"Yes, because it's a private VIP room, there's only us, so they said it's fine. The casino side gave permission too."
'Gambling and alcohol were things men could never truly be separated from!'
I rationalized.
But no sooner did I start betting than I blew all my chips in a single hour.
'Fuck...'
[Retard lololololololololol]
[You have no talent.]
[You're seriously such a dumbass lololol]
[Well he definitely learned a lesson about not gambling]
Next to me, Max also lost steadily, but his expression didn't change one bit.
He nonchalantly doubled his bets every time.
"Hoon, you just keep doubling each time."
"..."
Max was even richer than I'd imagined.
And he was losing to the point I thought, 'Can you really be this unlucky?'
"Then you only need to win just once."
The classic casino winning strategy.
When you lose, you double your bet amount.
Then you only need to win once.
[Wow thanks for the great info]
[Fuck lololol but the condition is your money has to be infinite]
"Player Win, congratulations."
The dealer sitting in front opened the cards and Max won.
"Wait, this actually works?"
Max laughed heartily and handed me chips equal to what I'd lost.
Normally, transfers weren't allowed, but perhaps because it was the high-limit room, the staff recorded it.
"Enjoyed yourself enough?"
"Uh, um..."
I was not sure about enjoying, but I definitely learned that gambling was something you absolutely must not do.
Just as I was about to stand up, I got a call from Laila.
Since streaming was impossible elsewhere in here, I called them over to this spot.
[???????????]
[Wow wtf what is this???]
Laila, finished with shopping, came in wearing a black dress with Emilia.
"H-How is it...?"
A beautiful black dress that revealed her pure white shoulders.
Back at the monster auction, she'd worn a modest dress that covered most of her. This time it was a heart-stopping dress that stirred a man's heart.
"S-Say something...!"
Unlike when she openly tried to seduce me, Laila was shy in subtly revealing clothes.
'Come to think of it, she's always worn things with minimal exposure outside, hasn't she?'
"Wow, what should I say..."
This wasn't the alluringly seductive Laila.
Blushing and unable to meet my eyes, she seemed genuinely embarrassed.
"Uuugh...!"
'I was planning to hold back today...'
[Heuuuung... my eyes...]
[I wanna burst out a donation...]
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[How can a person be that pretty?]
[I'd seriously believe it if you said she was a Goddess]
No.
Laila was far more beautiful than a Goddess.
Even after leaving the casino, Max took me around to all sorts of places.
We enjoyed everything Las Vegas had to offer: luxury penthouse parties, high-end shopping tours, VIP seats at celebrity concerts.
"..."
But none of it drew my interest.
Because my gaze was fixed solely on Laila.
"Did you enjoy it?"
"Yeah, it was an experience I've never had."
"Glad to hear it. Then I'll now show you how the real upper class plays."
Wasn't blowing money what we were just doing—the way the rich play?
When I asked Max with doubt, he smiled and said.
"This is simply how the money-rich nouveau riche play. Do you know what the greatest asset of the upper class is?"
I could only think of the perfectly obvious things: money, stocks, real estate.
"It is connections."
"..."
"You understand. Then I'll see you in front of the hotel tomorrow."
---
The moment I came into the hotel and opened the door, I grabbed both sides of the off-shoulder dress and pulled it straight down.
Then I buried my face in her chest and healed to my heart's content.
─ Stroke, stroke...
Even at the sudden action, Laila smiled with benevolence and stroked my head as I nestled in her embrace.
"It's a little embarrassing... but if Hero likes it, I'll wear it for you from time to time♥"