CLS-Chapter 79

Chapter 79

The crowd’s attention focused on the spot Dok-bi pointed to.

“Dice?”

The onlookers began murmuring.

“Dice? Isn’t that too ordinary?”

“But it’s also the most reliable.”

“Dice is the type of gambling where the skill gap between masters and novices shows most clearly, isn’t it? That boy won’t be able to handle Dok-bi, will he?”

“What gambling could anyone handle against Dok-bi? Dice is actually better. Besides, he doesn’t know the rules of other gambling games. Dice is much fairer than gambling with complicated rules.”

After some time, public opinion shifted toward praising Dok-bi’s choice of dice.

“How honorable.”

“That’s Dok-bi for you.”

Observing this reaction, Wei Yan-ho was… half asleep.

“Hey, wake up!”

“How can you be sleepy in this situation!”

The crowd shouted at Wei Yan-ho in surprise.

“Mmm…”

Wei Yan-ho forced his heavy eyelids open.

“…Can’t we just do this tomorrow?”

“What are you saying after coming this far! Absolutely not.”

Gang Cheon-rip declared it absolutely impossible.

“Ugh.”

Wei Yan-ho felt like dying.

“This is exhausting.”

“What did you even do to be exhausted! You’ve barely been here for one shijin.”

“Still, exhausting is exhausting.”

“Still, impossible is impossible.”

“Tsk.”

Wei Yan-ho sank deep into his chair and nodded.

“If that’s how it is, I guess I’ll have to finish quickly and leave.”

Wei Yan-ho began to ignite his fighting spirit.

“When do we start?”

Dok-bi clenched and unclenched his fist as if incredulous.

This guy seemed to view him as some pushover he could deal with whenever he felt like it.

“We can start right now if you want. But do you know the rules?”

“No.”

Wei Yan-ho shook his head.

“…There are countless variations of dice. What method would you prefer?”

“I don’t know.”

Then what are you trying to do?

Dok-bi was so bewildered he couldn’t continue speaking.

He didn’t know anything but kept wanting to do something. And what was with that expression that showed he was annoyed to death?

“Ugh.”

Dok-bi somehow felt pathetic for having to gamble with such a boy.

“Let’s keep it simple.”

“Yes?”

“Roll these six dice, and whoever gets the higher total wins.”

“That’s a very simple method. Isn’t there anything more complicated?”

“Could you handle something complicated?”

“I was just asking. Out of curiosity.”

Dok-bi took a deep breath to calm his racing heart.

He’d had his heart race from tension about matches many times, but this was the first time his heart pounded from anger while facing a gambling table.

“The method is whoever gets the higher sum with the dice wins! Any objections?”

“No.”

“We continue the match until one side wins everything down to the last nyang. Any objections?”

“Yes, I do.”

“What?”

“What happens if one side can’t win everything? Do we have to keep gambling? I want to finish quickly and go home.”

“That won’t happen. The stakes double after each round ends. So the match will definitely conclude.”

“You should have told me that earlier. What’s with your explanation?”

“I was about to say it now! Now! I was about to say it now, you turtle-like bastard!”

“Why are you suddenly cursing? It hurts the listener’s feelings.”

Veins began bulging on Dok-bi’s forehead.

“Dok-bi, calm down.”

“Kh-heh-heh-heh.”

Dok-bi shook his head vigorously.

Gang Cheon-rip’s strong restraint brought him halfway back to his senses, but he almost completely lost his reason for a moment.

“Whew, I won’t get angry.”

“No, well, you don’t need to apologize particularly.”

“Thanks for understanding.”

“I’m not understanding though?”

“Hm?”

“I just want to go home.”

“Who, who said you could leave as you please?”

“Does this gambling house make people gamble while cursing at customers?”

“Huh?”

“Still, I’m a customer, but I can’t gamble while being cursed at. My father said that while customers can’t become kings, they shouldn’t become slaves either. But I don’t think even slaves would get cursed at like this out of nowhere.”

“…”

Dok-bi and Gang Cheon-rip became speechless.

Why was that stammering fool suddenly speaking so well? As if he were a different person.

“If my father found out I gambled while being cursed at, he’d try to tear my ears off. He might even try to destroy my bed. Saying I can’t even listen properly and am just lying around pathetically.”

Wei Yan-ho trembled.

Just thinking about it was horrifying.

“…Ah, your father?”

Gang Cheon-rip’s face went slightly pale.

No matter how you looked at it, Wei Yan-ho didn’t seem like the son of a high official. But if someone would send such a slow-witted son out on a journey with silk clothes and even servants, they definitely weren’t ordinary people.

If news reached such a person’s ears that their child was cursed at for no reason at a gambling house and even had money stolen before being kicked out?

‘The Golden Flower House would be destroyed.’

Of course, the Golden Flower House had the foundation to withstand even if high officials tried to destroy it openly.

The connections they’d built weren’t just one or two, and their master was someone who could eliminate most high officials overnight.

Even so…

‘Just because the Golden Flower House is safe doesn’t mean my neck will be safe too.’

Gang Cheon-rip could be destroyed just for drawing unnecessary attention.

Understanding the situation, Gang Cheon-rip poked Dok-bi’s ribs.

‘Why are you doing that?’

‘Apologize.’

‘Me?’

‘Hurry!’

Under Gang Cheon-rip’s pressure, Dok-bi trembled and turned toward Wei Yan-ho.

“Hurry!”

When Gang Cheon-rip even opened his mouth to urge him, Dok-bi spoke in a shaking voice.

“Young, young master!”

“Yes?”

“I… made a mistake… Please forgive the mistake made by this presumptuous mouth…”

“Hmm…”

Wei Yan-ho seemed to ponder Dok-bi’s response before nodding lightly.

“My mother said that everyone makes mistakes, and having the magnanimity to understand mistakes is also a gentleman’s duty.”

Jin So-ah raised his hand.

“Huh?”

“Wasn’t that your father?”

“It was mother.”

“Usually fathers say such things, don’t they?”

“Usually mothers say such things, and fathers nag, don’t they?”

When Wei Yan-ho asked with a face that showed he had no idea why Jin So-ah was asking, Jin So-ah found himself at a loss for words.

“…Right.”

“But why are you asking? Both my father and master are men who have too much nagging as their problem. They should become more magnanimous like women.”

“That’s not usually how it is.”

“You’re the same way.”

“Me? What on earth do you mean by that!”

“Your sister.”

“Ah…”

Just looking at personality, his sister was several times more gentleman-like than him.

“Come to think of it, that might be right…”

Jin So-ah fell into confusion.

“Anyway, thank you for accepting my apology.”

“Don’t mention it. But when do we start? If we’d started during all this arguing, I’d probably be done and home sleeping by now. People are so lazy that they’re still living in gambling houses, aren’t they?”

Crack.

Dok-bi began grinding his teeth again.

“Dok-bi, calm down.”

“Do I look excited?”

“Goading strategy, goading strategy!”

“…”

“You know well that you must never get excited at the table. Don’t look down on your opponent as a young child. Wasn’t it you who said there are no old people, no children, and no women at the gambling table?”

“…The hall master’s words are correct.”

Dok-bi chided himself for getting excited.

Getting excited at a gambling table was absolutely forbidden. Failing to maintain such an obvious rule was his mistake.

‘I let my guard down because my opponent was a child.’

Though he’d resolved not to, Wei Yan-ho seemed so young and inexperienced with gambling that he’d unknowingly forgotten this was a gambling table where money and lives flew away.

“I went too far, way too far. If I’d stopped appropriately, I might have faced him while excited. The goading strategy was good, but I failed to maintain moderation.”

“…What are you talking about? I didn’t do anything, but you turned red all by yourself.”

“Ugh.”

Dok-bi turned around and crouched down.

‘Let me calm down.’

How to put it.

It wasn’t that his words were annoying.

That face clearly showing ‘I’m annoyed to death but I’m forcing myself to make time to deal with you’ kept undermining Dok-bi’s reason.

“Whew.”

Dok-bi, who had taken a long breath, suddenly stood up and turned around.

“The games are over, young master. Now I’ll face you seriously.”

“Got it. Let’s hurry up. Why is there so much preamble?”

Dok-bi didn’t respond. Since it was clear that the more he talked, the more he’d get entangled, there was no need to converse and benefit Wei Yan-ho.

“Let’s start.”

“Just one confirmation before that.”

“…What now?”

“Are the stakes set?”

“Do you have more money to bet?”

“No. But your side might bring more stakes if I win everything.”

“Heh heh, shall we make it a condition that no additional stakes are added?”

“No. Additional stakes are fine. But instead…”

“Instead?”

“If the other side wins all the current money, they can choose whether to play the next round or not.”

“That’s fine.”

Since the choice would come to Dok-bi anyway, Dok-bi had no reason to refuse.

“Then let’s begin.”

“Yes.”

Jin So-ah massaged Wei Yan-ho’s shoulders.

“You can do well, right?”

“Have you ever seen me fail at anything?”

“…”

He’d tried to find something to criticize, but thinking about it, there wasn’t a single thing Wei Yan-ho had failed at once he put his hand to it.

Wasn’t Wei Yan-ho someone who could treat patients he’d never seen before with ease?

“I believe you’ll do well.”

“Good.”

Wei Yan-ho put on airs as he looked at the gambling table being prepared in front of him.

Now that they’d roughly noticed Wei Yan-ho’s laziness, they were bringing the gambling table to him.

“Would you like to go first?”

“No. You go first.”

“Going first is more advantageous though.”

“…I’m too lazy, so I’ll go after.”

Usually such words were part of psychological warfare, but Wei Yan-ho clearly looked genuinely lazy.

“Then I’ll go first.”

Dok-bi raised his hand and grabbed the dice cup. Then he swept the six dice on the floor into it in one motion and began shaking it brilliantly in the air.

Clack clack clack clack clack clack!

The sound of the dice shaking was incredibly rhythmic.

“Oh!”

The watchers were amazed.

“Truly brilliant!”

“It’s dizzying to watch.”

‘Heh heh heh heh.’

Dok-bi smiled slightly.

To be called the greatest gambler, it wasn’t enough to just gamble well. First-rate gamblers knew only winning matches, but the greatest gamblers had to create the game itself. Mesmerizing the surroundings with brilliant techniques was also a virtue gamblers should possess.

‘How about that?’

Dok-bi expected Wei Yan-ho to be amazed and turned his head.

Then he shouted like lightning.

“Don’t sleep!”