The waiter announced the result with a blank expression and stepped forward, skillfully deducting the corresponding amount of chips from the scruffy middle-aged man's pile.
The scruffy man froze in place, staring at the dice on the table. His mouth hung slightly open in utter disbelief.
The pile of chips in front of him shrunk instantly. What had been a relatively healthy stack was now nearly depleted.
A chorus of groans erupted from the people who had followed his bet, many complaining that he had been too impulsive.
On the other side, Dr. Lin couldn't hide his smile. He leaned toward Ren Yi and spoke in a playful tone, "This human really is interesting, isn't he?"
Ren Yi knew he was referring to the Battle-Damaged Guy.
"You actually won? I thought your persona was that you lose every bet you make," Ren Yi said, nudging him with his elbow.
"What are you talking about!" Dr. Lin immediately bristled, his tone full of indignation. "In all those previous losses, someone was deliberately setting me up. It wasn't because I actually have bad luck."
Ren Yi didn't respond. His face had remained expressionless from the start, but his eyes held an inexplicable, eerie quality as he stared straight at Dr. Lin.
His gaze was so blunt that Dr. Lin's smile gradually faded.
"Why are you staring at me like that?" Dr. Lin cleared his throat awkwardly, breaking the unsettling silence.
Ren Yi finally withdrew his gaze slowly and cast a faint glance toward the noisy gambling table.
Let's get back to the game.
Interesting? What was so interesting about it?
This was a game that fell completely outside his scope of knowledge. He couldn't see any logic in it at all; he only felt that it was eerie in every respect.
But from Dr. Lin's playful tone, he could vaguely sense that the Battle-Damaged Guy's winning streak couldn't possibly be as simple as "luck."
Ren Yi looked at the waitress standing nearby and asked, "He's won three rounds in a row at this table, hasn't he? I saw several rounds before that as well. Are customers with winning streaks like this common here?"
The waitress maintained her standard smile and replied flatly, "They're alright."
"Since the establishment of Xinglong Entertainment City, the number of worlds we've connected with has long since surpassed triple digits. This guest's performance can only be considered average."
"My point is," Ren Yi paused, his tone carrying a hint of interrogation, "if he's cheating, aren't you going to do anything about it?"
The waitress tilted her head slightly, her smile unchanging. "You say he's cheating, but do you have any evidence?"
Ren Yi fell silent. He certainly didn't have any evidence.
He hadn't even fully grasped the rules of the game. His suspicion that the Battle-Damaged Guy was cheating came solely from the subtle hint hidden in Dr. Lin's tone earlier.
"Since you have no evidence, I'm afraid we cannot process your complaint," the waitress said with a smile after seeing his silence.
After a brief pause, she continued, "Mr. Ren Yi, Xinglong Entertainment City has connected with over a hundred worlds. People from these worlds possess various talents and power systems; we cannot monitor them all individually."
"For example, there was once a guest, Mr. God of Gamblers. His talent was 【Luck】. In a sense, isn't that kind of innate good fortune also a form of 'cheating'?" She paused, her tone gaining a touch of helplessness.
"But obviously, we cannot make such a judgment. So even if Mr. God of Gamblers forms factions or stirs up trouble within the Entertainment City, as long as he keeps winning, there's nothing we can do."
"Therefore, in our casino, there is only one condition for determining cheating: a customer must proactively raise the issue and provide sufficient evidence."
"If the evidence is conclusive, we will take measures."
Ren Yi nodded, indicating his understanding.
On the surface, gambling appeared to be a game of pure luck, but in reality, it was a clash of strength or those secret "techniques."
So, while the Entertainment City presented itself as a place for fair games and competition, beneath the surface, it was actually a battlefield of supernatural abilities.
As long as those methods weren't brought into the light, and as long as no one could produce evidence, the Entertainment City would continue to turn a blind eye, allowing this "unfair game" to persist.
Once he understood this, Ren Yi turned back and quietly released his perception. Wisps of his aura spread out, completely enveloping the gambling table in front of him.
He had no interest in exposing the Battle-Damaged Guy's methods, but he couldn't help but be curious about what kind of "cheating technique" this man was using to win so consistently.
To his surprise, the scruffy middle-aged man still hadn't left the table.
While it was true that most gamblers got more hooked the more they lost and found it hard to stop, this Entertainment City was filled with gambling tables. This wasn't the only one available.
Even Ren Yi felt that something was wrong, and Dr. Lin seemed to have seen through it already. As the veteran gambler sitting opposite the Battle-Damaged Guy, how could he not have even a shred of suspicion?
Moreover, he had very few chips left. The minimum bet at this table wasn't low; if he played again, he would likely have to wager everything he had left.
Was he really going to press on despite the odds?
As a stowaway who had survived for so long and endured so much hardship, the old gambler should have a conservative nature and always leave himself a way out.
Had he forgotten that if he lost one more round, he would become a penniless "stowaway" again?
No, perhaps he knew, but he was ignoring it.
And since no other Anomalies were acting, this influence likely came from the man himself.
Ren Yi silently took out his phone and noted down the line "Reduced perception and vigilance toward danger" in his memo app.
After writing it, he put his phone away and continued to watch the gambling table with interest, curious to see what would happen next.
By now, the scruffy gambler's expression had become extremely distorted. The corners of his mouth twitched between an upward-curving smile and a downward-drooping look of dejection, as if two completely different emotions were clashing violently in his heart.
His eyes were fixed on his own hands, entirely unaware that his face was frantically switching between a smile and a sob, looking both eerie and ridiculous.
After a moment, he seemed to have finally made up his mind. The struggle in his heart subsided, and the corners of his mouth stabilized into an upward curve. There wasn't a trace of dejection left on his face.
Instead, he began to radiate an air of "confidence" and "optimism," as if the loss he just suffered had never happened.
Some of the onlookers were even influenced by this aura and decided to bet on him winning.
The scruffy man closed his eyes. This was his habit before an important game—a way to steady his mind and prevent emotions from affecting his judgment.
But at this moment, this seemingly calm action acted like a trigger for some obsession in his heart, as a voice echoed repeatedly in his mind.
It's fine, it was just a bit of bad luck. That last round was a fluke.
He's not the God of Gamblers. He just got lucky enough to get five 5s. He can't stay that lucky forever.
I'll definitely win the next round. I'll win back all the chips I lost, and maybe even more.
This loss was just a setup for a huge win in the next round. As long as I play one more time, I can turn the tables.
At this thought, the scruffy middle-aged man snapped back to his senses and pushed all his remaining chips into the center of the table. "Another round!"
As for the option of turning around and leaving...
The path was right behind him, but he seemed to have forgotten it existed.
Rate on N.U.
