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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: TushChen
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Dogwi sat at the Daehang Sawi table with a pale, terrified face.
Perhaps the rumors of the previous day’s gambling had spread throughout Sacheon.
Still, today, Youngsang Pavilion was genuinely packed with people swarming in like clouds.
Sa Chae-Yong was biting his nails, and Jang Yi’s face was grim enough to kill someone on the spot.
“We will eliminate that bastard on his way here.”
Sa Chae-Yong whispered in Dogwi’s ear.
The voice dripping with sheer murderous intent itself chilled Dogwi’s spine.
“Despite yesterday’s crushing defeat, the reason I let you live today is because that son of a bitch, who I can’t even chew up and spit out, agreed to extend the match today, and numerous people heard that fact. If that bastard fails to arrive at this Youngsang Pavilion today due to an ‘unfortunate accident,’ it will end with your victory. My crushed pride as Sa Chae-Yong will never be resolved.”
Dogwi trembled at the declaration that he would be finished off by the end of tonight.
Please let Hocheon An be a hidden master and safely break through and escape the assassins prepared by Sa Chae-Yong.
If Hocheon An didn’t come, Dogwi was a dead man.
Of course, even if he came, if he couldn’t defeat Hocheon An, he was still a dead man.
The entrance of Youngsang Pavilion started to stir.
It didn’t take long for that stirring to turn into cheers.
Dogwi’s complexion brightened, and Sa Chae-Yong’s face twisted.
Dogwi felt hope upon seeing Hocheon An’s expression.
It was an expression like a completely drained kimchi.
Did he break through the assassins with force?
Sweat flowed down his neck, and his arms and legs looked utterly drained of strength.
Of course, Hocheon An had only exhausted himself from avoiding the gazes of the Sacheon outcasts and running.
He had dealt with the assassins using the gratitude plaque of the Ten Prodigies given by Yeo Il-ye.
No matter how great the prestige of Youngsang Pavilion was, they couldn’t afford to incur the resentment of the Ten Prodigies.
Naturally, Hocheon An’s expression was not good.
One could obtain a characteristic when all skills in a series were mastered.
To create variables when facing Yeo Il-ye, he had recklessly tried to complete the training of intuition and acquire the gambling series characteristic by making such a scene yesterday, but the situation had already ended.
The gambling was very one-sided.
Hocheon An had also rolled in the gambling house for several years.
No, even if he hadn’t rolled in the gambling house, he already knew the ins and outs of the gambling house through the game.
It was a situation where even assassins were employed to kill Hocheon An.
Dogwi would die if he couldn’t win all the money today.
Even if he didn’t die, he would suffer a fate as miserable as death.
Hocheon An was convinced of that.
Having fully grasped Dogwi’s capabilities yesterday, the formula was established if Dogwi didn’t know the number.
If Dogwi bet first, he would unconditionally avoid it.
If Hocheon An bet first, he would only bet when the number was discerned.
It didn’t matter if intuition didn’t ring.
Because there wasn’t enough time, even assuming they went all-in to win more than 120 gold taels overnight.
“Phew.”
However, he wasn’t pleased because the matter with Yeo Il-ye had already ended.
Hocheon An still clenched his fist with a thrilling sensation.
He wandered the world for a year and became a second-rate warrior, then became a Sacheon outcast to manage his fame.
After becoming a Sacheon outcast, Hocheon An tried various methods to surpass his realm.
Since the game had become a reality, there had to be a loophole somewhere, and he thought he could surpass his realm if he just discovered it.
It took 2 years to admit that there was no such trick.
After that, for a whole 5 years.
No, for 7 years, the status window that had shown no change finally had a new resident called [Luck] (New!).
It was the fruit of 5 years of effort, so Hocheon An couldn’t help but feel a thrilling sense of achievement.
‘Fuck yeah! It’s finally over!!’
Even if the emotion was closer to a sense of liberation rather than achievement.
Hocheon An examined his betting chips.
128 gold plates.
In front of Dogwi, whose face had already turned black, there were 28 gold plates.
“Let’s, let’s end it with this round.”
“…What do you mean?”
“I’ll bet all my money. You bet all your money, and the winner takes it all.”
Hocheon An said while fiddling with the dice.
“How long are we going to nibble away at one or two gold taels? Let’s have a manly bet.”
The people around stirred.
Hocheon An’s proposal was actually insane.
It was like betting 128 taels to win 28 taels.
However, there was also an opinion that it was more rational.
If Dogwi had finessed the table and gotten up now, the chance to win even 28 gold taels would have disappeared.
Dogwi’s eyes trembled uncontrollably.
Dogwi knew better than anyone the difference in their capabilities.
At this rate, losing the remaining gold plates before the night ended wasn’t even a matter.
However,
Such an opportunity for a reversal would never come again.
“I’ll do it.”
“Alright. Then it would be more fun to bet before throwing, right? I’ll bet on even.”
The crowd surrounding the two stirred.
For Dogwi, it was his life on the line, but it would seem like an exciting spectacle reaching its climax to them.
Hocheon An smirked and threw the dice.
Ooh!!
Clang!!
To Dogwi, the cheers of the people around him sounded like they were submerged in water.
Dogwi’s five senses only chased the trajectory drawn by the dice.
The dice that bounced once at the mouth of the pot were sucked straight into the pot.
The waitress in charge of the proceedings slowly lifted the pot.
Even the hands of the waitress, a veteran at Youngsang Pavilion, were trembling with tension.
It was a bet worth a whopping 156 gold plates.
Even a bet where a single gold plate was exchanged was considered a big deal, but 156 gold plates!
Wooooooooah!!!
People cheered.
Dogwi, who had closed his eyes, not having the courage to look at the dice, slowly opened his eyes.
The number on the dice was 1.
…How?
People, excited by the tremendous reversal narrative, ran over and patted Dogwi’s back, continuously congratulating him, but Dogwi, even as his upper body swayed from their congratulations, didn’t take his eyes off Hocheon An.
Hocheon An had just used a sleight of hand.
It was a highly advanced technique that Dogwi couldn’t even comprehend, but Hocheon An had definitely used a method.
The sleight of hand that he hadn’t used even once in over a hundred rounds combined yesterday and today.
The dice that hit the pot’s rim and fell inside had never bounced inside the pot, even once.
It had simply slid down the pot’s curved surface due to exquisite hand sleight.
Hocheon An had succeeded in intentionally creating the number of Daehang Sawi that everyone considered impossible.
Dogwi was convinced that the index finger that remained straight long after the dice were thrown was a declaration of intent that it would be 1 even before throwing.
But why?
Why did he use his skills at the very end to give Dogwi the victory?
The relief of having survived.
The reverence of witnessing sleight of hand beyond his own imagination.
Even the fear that came from Hocheon An’s incomprehensible actions.
Dogwi was engulfed in confusion and could do nothing but stare at Hocheon An.
The excited crowd surrounded Dogwi, continuously shouting his name and proclaiming him the best gambler under the heavens.
He wanted to hear it all his life, but at this moment, Hocheon An was more important to Dogwi than being called the best under the heavens.
Dogwi was just ordinary and couldn’t break through the excited crowd.
Amid the chaos, warriors concerned about the gold plates disappearing rushed out.
They separated the excited crowd from the gambling table.
When the commotion settled, Hocheon An was nowhere to be found.
When he grabbed Jang Yi and asked, he only heard that Hocheon An had quietly slipped out of Youngsang Pavilion with an inscrutable expression.
“You’re lucky, Dogwi.”
Sa Chae-Yong grabbed Dogwi’s shoulder with a face like he had bitten a bug.
“A promise is a promise. I’ll give you the hundred gold taels as promised.”
Dogwi, who was about to rush out to find Hocheon An, stopped at the words “hundred gold taels.”
Suddenly, a hollow laugh escaped him.
He prided himself on being the best gambler under the heavens and had his feet stop at the words “hundred gold taels.”
In comparison, Hocheon An had voluntarily abandoned 156 gold taels and left.
Dogwi felt the difference in caliber between himself and Hocheon An.
‘Living in the gambling world… I’ll probably meet you someday. Then I’ll defeat you and ask why you did this today.’
Dogwi made that resolution.
Until he caught up to Hocheon An, who had shown skills genuinely worthy of being called the best gambler under the heavens, he would not stop for a single moment.
And by surpassing him like that, he would one day meet him in the gambling world, defeat him, and rightfully question him about today’s events.
Of course, Hocheon An was simply trying to manage his fame.
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I like Dogwi
He got that dawg in him