CLS-Chapter 81

Chapter 81

Six, six, six, six, three, one.

“Twenty-eight!”

“Wow! Look at those numbers!”

The onlookers were shocked at the number Dok-bi had created. A number exactly one less than Wei Yan-ho’s. And the dice showing those numbers were nothing ordinary either.

‘Did he lose on purpose?’

‘Seems like it?’

“…So it’s true that master gamblers can make dice show whatever numbers they want.”

Everyone looked at Dok-bi with admiration.

‘But why did he lose on purpose?’

That was the incomprehensible part.

Being able to make dice show any number you want was truly amazing, but was there really a need to deliberately lose?

Dok-bi soon resolved that question.

“Young Master won.”

“I must have been lucky.”

Wei Yan-ho smiled brightly.

“Luck is also skill. Now, with this the match has returned to square one. Young Master’s stake is twenty nyang, my stake is also twenty nyang. The next round’s stake is twenty nyang.”

“One round and it’s over?”

“That’s right.”

Only then could the onlookers understand the situation. The stakes had returned to their original state, but unlike the beginning, the stakes had increased from one thousand silver nyang to two thousand nyang – that is, twenty gold nyang.

‘He’s giving him a way out only to tighten the noose around his neck.’

‘Having hope and then losing it is harder to bear. Dok-bi has steeled his resolve.’

For Dok-bi, who could win whenever he set his mind to it, there was no difference between winning in ten rounds or eleven rounds. But which side would feel greater despair in defeat was obvious.

“Young Master Wei.”

Jin So-ah, who had once again positioned himself behind Wei Yan-ho, spoke with concern.

“What?”

“…Are you alright?”

“What’s wrong with me? I originally came in with just one silver nyang.”

“You don’t properly understand the concept of debt.”

“Huh?”

Jin So-ah just kept sighing as he looked at Wei Yan-ho’s innocent face. He felt like he was filling someone who was living well with false hope and ruining their life.

“How about stopping here?”

“We agreed we couldn’t stop until both our pockets had holes in them.”

“Still, if you talk it out well…”

“Not a chance. Do you know what kind of place a gambling den is?”

Wei Yan-ho lightly pushed Jin So-ah’s worried head with his finger.

“So don’t worry and go stand over there. If you keep sticking by my side, people will just say we’re cheating.”

“Young Master…”

Jin So-ah’s eyes wavered.

This gentleman…

Usually he was someone whose soul seemed more absent than normal, but why did he seem so dependable at times like this?

“Hmm…”

Wei Yan-ho straightened his back.

“If I had quit earlier, I wouldn’t have come this far.”

“Ah, I suppose that’s true…”

Wei Yan-ho scratched his head.

“But strangely, I have a feeling I’m going to win.”

“Hehe, everyone says that.”

And everyone fell into the abyss that way.

The thing to be most wary of in gambling was groundless confidence.

“Then let’s begin. This round’s stake is twenty gold nyang.”

Chareu-reu-reuk!

Chareu-reu-reuk!

All the silver nyang that had been piled in front of Wei Yan-ho and Dok-bi was gathered forward. A match where they were betting all their stakes against each other was beginning.

“I’ll go first.”

“Yes.”

Dok-bi grabbed the dice cup as soon as Wei Yan-ho’s answer fell.

‘How should I end this?’

Dok-bi was completely regaining his composure.

‘It was nothing special, I got scared for no reason.’

It was true that he had suspected there might be something to this complete novice, and even if he really was just a novice with nothing special, gambling was something that once you started losing, you could lose endlessly, so he had been somewhat tense. But Wei Yan-ho was truly showing complete ignorance about dice.

Charuk!

Dok-bi confidently swept the dice into the cup.

Chak! Chak! Chak! Chak!

Clean sounds came from the dice cup shaking with precision. To the others, that sound seemed like the footsteps of a gambling master going to behead Wei Yan-ho.

‘Poor fellow.’

‘If he had seen Dok-bi, he should have run away immediately. This is why they say information is life in gambling.’

Everyone was offering their own lessons and interpretations, but Wei Yan-ho maintained an unwavering posture. No, it wasn’t just unwavering.

“Don’t fall asleep!”

Thud!

Dok-bi slammed the dice cup down on the floor and shouted.

“That startled me!”

Wei Yan-ho, who had been dozing off and woke up, looked confused.

“You scared me.”

“What on earth are you thinking about in life that you can fall asleep even in this situation!”

“…I’m not thinking about anything.”

“Ugh.”

Dok-bi suddenly felt pathetic about gambling with such a person. No matter how much he liked money, gambling was supposed to come with the tension of walking on a knife’s edge…

‘Whatever.’

Anyway, this was the end now.

“I’m opening it.”

“Yes.”

Dok-bi glared at Wei Yan-ho with eyes full of killing intent, then slowly lifted the dice cup.

The onlookers stared at the scene as if their eyes would pop out.

Six, six, six, six, six, six.

“Aaaah! Perfect score!”

“Six-six came out!”

The onlookers screamed like mad with enthusiasm and jumped up and down in place.

Seeing six-six in a dice game was never easy. Even if you frequented gambling dens your whole life, it was a number you usually couldn’t see, and now it was unfolding before their eyes.

“Amazing!”

“I’ve seen perfect scores with three dice before, but this is my first time seeing it with six dice!”

“As expected of Dok-bi!”

Dok-bi smiled triumphantly as he listened to the pouring praise.

‘Hehehehe.’

A high-level gambler knows how to win matches, but a top-level gambler must know how to drive the audience into a frenzy. That’s how your value increases and you can get into higher-stakes games.

Especially for someone like Dok-bi, who was employed by the gambling house, he needed to show such scenes often so that people would come to the gambling house after hearing of his reputation.

“What do you say? Will you continue?”

“Huh?”

Wei Yan-ho’s head tilted to the side.

“Is there any reason not to?”

“The match seems to have already been decided.”

“Well, you never know.”

Anyone would think Wei Yan-ho was being stubborn.

“Y-Young Master!”

Jin So-ah looked at Wei Yan-ho with an urgent expression. If Wei Yan-ho couldn’t produce six-six here, the match would be as good as over.

“Do you trust me?”

When Wei Yan-ho asked seriously, Jin So-ah nodded frantically.

“Of course! I trust you! If I don’t trust Young Master, who would I trust!”

“Hehehe.”

Wei Yan-ho scratched his head.

“I’ve never heard anyone say that in my life…”

Usually, anyone with sense wouldn’t try to trust Wei Yan-ho.

“Then I should repay that trust.”

Wei Yan-ho reached out and grabbed the dice cup placed in front of him. Countless gazes poured onto his slow movements.

‘He seems relaxed?’

‘So he wasn’t just a fool after all?’

‘Actually, if he were really a fool, he couldn’t have won ten straight victories at Yin-Yang. Until now, it didn’t really matter if he lost. This round determines who takes all the stakes.’

Squeak.

As Wei Yan-ho gripped the dice cup tightly, the onlookers began to tense up.

It didn’t matter how many times he had lost so far. If he won just this round, he would sweep up all the stakes.

“What happens if that young master produces six-six?”

“What do you mean what happens? They play again.”

“Then he hasn’t lost yet.”

A thread of hope was still alive.

But everyone there knew that this hope was just another name for despair.

“Hehe.”

Wei Yan-ho made a low laughing sound.

‘Hm?’

Dok-bi felt a momentary chill from Wei Yan-ho’s laughter.

‘Could it be?’

Had he been waiting until now?

Chareu-reu-reuk!

At that moment, Wei Yan-ho’s dice cup shot up into the air.

Charuk charuk! Charuk!

Different from Dok-bi’s precise shaking, but Wei Yan-ho’s dice were equally lively.

Thud!

Then it quickly settled on the floor.

Dok-bi stared at the dice cup intently.

‘It can’t be.’

There was no way. No matter what, six-six wasn’t something you could produce every time. If you could accurately match the dice numbers you wanted, you wouldn’t be a gambler but a god.

Even gamblers of that level might succeed once out of ten attempts with six-six.

‘There’s no way that boy could do it.’

Dok-bi steadied his mind several times over.

“Hehehehe.”

Wei Yan-ho laughed lowly.

“If I win this round, forty nyang!”

Forty gold nyang.

Enough money to live a lifetime without working.

Wei Yan-ho’s face twitched as he couldn’t contain his joy.

Who in the world would say they dislike money?

“You cannot win.”

“Ah? Is that so?”

When Dok-bi poured cold water on him, Wei Yan-ho readily agreed.

“Open it.”

“Eh…”

Wei Yan-ho looked at the dice cup with slightly complicated eyes. Dok-bi didn’t rush Wei Yan-ho. Any gambler would understand what he must be feeling right now.

In cases like this, not rushing the match was an unwritten rule of gambling houses.

“Young Master, you’re alright, aren’t you?”

Jin So-ah rushed over and stared intently at Wei Yan-ho’s dice cup.

Only six-six.

If it wasn’t six-six, this round couldn’t have been won.

Jin So-ah was confident that Wei Yan-ho had produced six-six. Wasn’t Wei Yan-ho someone whose personality was strange, but whose abilities were certain?

“Don’t you trust me?”

“I trust you!”

Jin So-ah spread both arms and praised Wei Yan-ho.

At first glance, he looked like he had become some kind of cult leader.

“Well then!”

Wei Yan-ho grinned and put strength into the hand holding the dice cup.

“Should I open it?”

“Yes!”

“Or not?”

“…”

“I guess I should open it?”

“What are you doing?”

Wei Yan-ho spoke in a dejected tone.

“Actually, I’m human too, so I’m getting nervous. If I open this and the number I want doesn’t come out, I’ll be ruined.”

“…That’s right.”

Would he just be ruined?

If the debt was ten gold nyang, it would be money that couldn’t be repaid even if you spent your whole life paying it back. Jin So-ah knew this because he was carrying the tremendous debt of twenty gold nyang.

“I’ll probably be beaten to death.”

“What?”

“Father will try to kill me. Brother will probably try to hang me upside down from a tree and make me food for eagles.”

“Stop talking nonsense and just open it.”

“How heartless.”

Wei Yan-ho smiled confidently, then without another word, lifted the dice cup.

“Ooooooh!”

“Waaaaaaah!”

Everyone who saw the finally revealed dice let out exclamations together.

“How can such a thing happen!”

“Could there be such a case!”

Everyone was shocked and stared at the dice. Seeing six-six in gambling was rare but possible. But in a round where six-six appeared, for such a number to appear again – you had to wonder if there had ever been such a case throughout history.

“My goodness! Six-one!”

One, one, one, one, one, one.

All the revealed dice were pointing to one. A number that was rare in a different sense from six-six had appeared.

Wei Yan-ho trembled with the hand holding the dice cup and muttered weakly.

“Ah, I’m screwed.”

Jin So-ah foamed at the mouth and collapsed on the spot.