Chapter 53
CHAPTER 53
Luck and Misfortune (4)
[Lifespan]
At those words, the dealer cautiously asked,
"...Do you mean your own lifespan, Player?"
Ju-heon shook his head.
Then he gave a short smile.
"No."
"I'm talking about the lifespan that can be given to anyone."
"In other words... reserve lifespan."
"...Reserve... lifespan?"
The dealer's eyebrows twitched.
Reserve lifespan.
A transferable reserve of life.
It wasn't simply a person's remaining years.
It was a form of currency handled only by Majesties involved in wars, contracts, experiments, or resurrection.
He's actually talking about that...?
For the first time, the dealer truly failed to understand Ju-heon.
More than that, lifespan was the rarest currency in this city.
It was life itself.
Transferable lifespan was valuable enough to alter the fate of entire civilizations.
Why would this man want to collect something like that?
Is he trying to become some kind of savior?
Instead of answering, Ju-heon lightly tapped the table.
"Oh, right."
"This time, use the game you're most confident in."
It was an obvious provocation.
The dealer clenched his teeth.
I'll show him the difference in skill.
The game he excelled at most was Three Cups of Fate.
It was a simple shell game with three cups and a single ball.
But wrapped around the dealer's wrist was a tiny bracelet of luck bestowed by the Majesty of this world—the Queen of Fortune herself.
Finally—
The dealer's hands blurred at a speed no eye could follow.
There.
Now no one knows where the ball is.
Smiling confidently, the dealer placed the cups on the table.
But the moment he lowered them—
He saw something bizarre.
For an instant...
It looked as though the ball had been sucked back into its original cup.
The dealer stiffened.
The ball went back...?
No.
I definitely put it in the other cup.
Then...
He swallowed.
...But what if I didn't?
His palms became soaked with sweat.
"If I make even the slightest mistake in front of Her Majesty, I'm dead!"
Panicking, the dealer tried to recover.
He needed to check where the ball really was.
But that was the worst move he could have made.
"...!"
His fingers suddenly cramped.
One of the cups tipped over.
Even worse—
A hidden ball rolled out from his sleeve.
It was a spare ball he always kept concealed in case he needed to manipulate the game.
But why—
Why now?
The dealer's face turned deathly pale.
The entire casino fell silent.
"Hey, Dealer."
"What exactly are you doing?"
Ju-heon smirked as he caught the rolling ball with a finger.
"One ball inside the cup."
"One in your sleeve."
"So you've got two balls?"
"N-No! That's..."
"I-I was just trying to fix things...!"
"Fix things?"
"You mean cover up your cheating?"
"Huh."
"So all the dealers here are like this?"
"If you were going to cheat, at least do it properly."
"Instead, you practically handed me the evidence yourself."
[Interference Detected]
The world's system activated.
The announcement instantly drained all the color from the dealer's face.
Interfering with the game meant automatic defeat.
[Dealer Cheating Detected.]
[According to casino regulations, you must surrender twenty years of reserved lifespan as compensation.]
"No!"
"I wasn't trying to cheat!"
The dealer screamed throughout the casino.
"You were."
Ju-heon's single sentence ended everything.
The dealer was dragged away without another chance to defend himself.
Only the lingering terror remained where he had stood.
After a long silence, Majesty Yu Jae-ha muttered,
"...I almost feel sorry for that dealer."
From Yu Jae-ha's perspective, who still had no idea how Ju-heon kept winning, everything looked absurd.
That was probably another one of his bad-luck abilities...
But Ju-heon had no intention of stopping.
"Well."
"I guess it's the next dealer's turn."
The casino erupted again.
"He's still going?!"
"Is he completely insane...?!"
Even the dealers became visibly shaken.
Not a single one wanted to step forward.
After exchanging nervous glances...
They finally made their decision.
A relic floated onto the table.
It was an incense burner.
Simply looking at it dulled one's concentration and slowed one's thoughts.
It was the kind of relic that exhausted players, clouded their judgment, and led them to destroy themselves.
One of the dealers spoke.
"This time..."
"Let's play a game where the player is allowed to interfere directly."
Ju-heon smiled.
"What?"
"So you've finally lost your confidence?"
The dealer chuckled.
"...Not at all."
"I simply thought our honored guest might grow bored."
"So we're giving you a chance."
That confidence wouldn't last long.
The newly presented relic was specifically designed to dull an opponent's judgment.
The dealer asked,
"So then..."
"What would you like to wager this time?"
"Your luck?"
Ju-heon didn't hesitate.
"This city."
"The whole thing."
The casino exploded into chaos.
"That's impossible!"
Even the dealer couldn't hide his shock.
"...That..."
His voice cracked.
"You can't wager something like that!"
Ju-heon cut him off.
"Why not?"
He raised one finger.
"The rules clearly say so."
Then he read them aloud.
"If you have nothing else..."
"...Wager whatever you own."
The blood drained completely from the dealer's face.
It felt as though the God of Misfortune had descended upon the City of Fortune itself.
"...That's..."
His throat went dry.
"...This is beyond what I have the authority to handle. Please...!"
Ju-heon smirked.
"Then bring someone who can."
"This isn't something that ends at your level."
At Ju-heon's casual demand, the entire casino fell silent.
The dealer merely trembled, unable to answer.
To demand an audience with the Queen herself...
This was no longer a simple gamble.
It was a declaration of war.
Just then—
With the sound of strange machinery, a golden elevator slowly descended from the ceiling.
When its doors opened, an elderly gentleman in an immaculate tailcoat stepped out, leaning on a cane.
Every step he took caused the relics surrounding the table to part as though bowing in submission.
"My, what an honored guest we have."
"It seems this matter has grown far beyond what our dealers can handle."
"...Administrator!"
The old man, known as Basil, politely bowed to Ju-heon.
His smile was courteous.
His eyes, however, were ice cold.
He was the acting administrator personally appointed by the Queen of Fortune, Shamo Meirim.
"So you're the administrator?"
"Indeed."
"Her Majesty does not personally involve herself in trivial disturbances such as these."
"However..."
Basil lightly tapped the floor with his cane.
A magnificent magic circle spread beneath the table where Ju-heon sat.
"Do you really think we would simply let a Majesty who interfered with Bitrain's plans leave unharmed?"
So that was it.
They had already figured out who he was.
As expected—
[Your Luck is steadily decreasing.]
[Your opponent is using a Divine-grade relic.]
Ju-heon grinned.
A relic, huh?
Apparently it was nothing more than a debuff that reduced luck.
Honestly, something like that didn't even hurt as much as when Irene beat him senseless with Bankruptcy.
Basil proudly declared,
"If you're truly willing to wager an entire world..."
"Very well."
"Try bankrupting us."
"I'll offer you a 5% ownership stake in this world."
Ju-heon leaned back comfortably.
"Five percent?"
"I'm not interested in buying things piece by piece."
"It represents the share of one of the twelve owners of this world."
"It would be an excellent bargaining chip when negotiating with the other Majesties."
"Hm."
"Good enough for an appetizer."
Ju-heon still hadn't used the Declaration of Plunder he'd received from Loki.
Using a trump card like that on nothing more than an administrator would have been wasteful.
Instead, he casually tossed Sisyphus's Stone onto the table.
It was there to prevent anyone from trying to escape midway through the game.
"So."
"What's the event?"
The old man smiled.
"Don't you find games decided by machines rather dull?"
"The most valuable thing in this city is luck."
"So let's wager... people blessed with luck."
Rather than answering directly, Basil activated a relic.
[Odysseus's Labyrinth (Grade 5 Relic)]
The casino floor split apart.
A massive circular arena rose from below.
It was a labyrinth with no visible exit.
Countless intersections branched in every direction.
The terrain shifted endlessly.
Then...
Several men and women were dragged into the arena.
They were ordinary people who had gone bankrupt in this casino and pawned away their lifespans.
Basil smiled pleasantly.
"You know the Greek hero Odysseus, don't you?"
He pointed his cane toward the maze.
"He won the war..."
"...yet spent ten years wandering before finally returning home."
In other words—
The maze was unimaginably difficult.
"The contestants have chains fastened to their ankles."
"The concentration of poison gas changes at random."
"The winner is whoever reaches the finish line first."
"Although..."
"...most contestants die without ever seeing the goal."
"So we're betting on human racers?"
"Precisely."
"A game perfectly suited to your tastes."
"In this event, direct interference is permitted."
"You may grant luck to your own runner."
"You may also use relics that increase luck."
"Then wouldn't someone with stronger luck relics have a huge advantage?"
"Of course not."
"The game must remain fair."
"So I'll provide something even better than relics."
With a wave of his cane, two buttons of different colors appeared before Ju-heon and Basil.
"If you press this button..."
"...your runner will receive a tremendous surge of luck."
"However..."
"The price is the player's lifespan."
"Each press consumes one year of life."
Then Basil smiled maliciously.
"But fortunately for you..."
"...don't you happen to have an excellent substitute wager to pay that cost instead?"
Majesty Yu Jae-ha's face turned deathly pale.
You bastard...
Don't say something like that in front of him!
You'll only encourage him!
Sure enough—
Ju-heon stared at the button with a wicked grin.
Yu Jae-ha looked at him nervously before asking,
"...You're kidding, right?"
"We're on the same side."
Ju-heon didn't answer.
Sweat trickled down Yu Jae-ha's forehead.
"...Right?"
The corners of Ju-heon's mouth slowly curled upward.
"As long as we win..."
"...what's the problem?"
Watching him casually reach toward the button, Majesty Yu Jae-ha's expression twisted.
"You son of a—!"
The old man calmly added,
"The game hasn't even begun yet."
"Oh?"
"Then let's get started."