Ch.1616. The Stakes Are Lives (3)

“Blue said it from the beginning. I don’t have much money. Who carries cash around these days? But nearly a thousand has already come out.”

The man continued calmly.

“Using the full ten thousand in the first round was psychological warfare to make you believe I really only had small amounts. For safety, the unit should be 500, then multiplied by ten thereafter. If there are six rounds, starting with a hundred would mean Blue would have to pay 10 billion by the sixth round. That would be too wasteful.”

Ji Se-hwa just listened.

“By enduring the pain once to suppress the psychology through round 3, the amount to pay in round 6 drops to about 1 billion. That was your thinking, right? If you stored your lobbying funds in chips… you must have about 50 billion.”

Ji Se-hwa glared at the man. He seemed very close to the truth. She looked ready to pounce and kill him.

“Blue, let me repeat that I want to negotiate. In our line of work, trust doesn’t come from gratitude or loyalty. You know that well, right? It’s money.”

“What do you want?”

Ji Se-hwa took the bait.

“I recently had something to settle at my company. 38 billion. Let’s round it to 40 billion to match units. Place that chip in front of me now. Then I’ll write down ten thousand. I’m happy to show you me writing it.”

“We can’t see what each other writes.”

Lu-a interjected.

“Hmm… that’s unfortunate. One stab to the stomach. For 40 billion, there’s nothing I can’t do. Despite appearances, I’ve dealt with villains before. I’ve been stabbed once before. Not pleasant, but bearable.”

Ji Se-hwa was contemplating. Her eyebrows were twitching.

Of course, I could see right through the man’s intentions.

He was just as vicious as Kim Young-heon whom Lu-a had mentioned earlier. Scum of the earth who filled his coffers by sucking the blood of the weak.

His dealings with villains were exactly what they sounded like. He had politicians assassinated to block unfavorable legislation.

“You, are you serious? You’ll endure being stabbed?”

“The location would be the lower left side. Dangerous if it hit a kidney, but fortunately, I had my left kidney surgically removed. I also have enough fat that it wouldn’t be fatal. I won’t die. For 40 billion… hehe.”

The man laughed. A fitting laugh for a demon obsessed with money.

Indeed. At this point, even I’m curious if he’s serious.

“Two minutes left.”

“Fine. This isn’t breaking the rules, right? Since it’s a negotiation.”

“Yes. It’s allowed.”

Lu-a grinned at Ji Se-hwa’s question.

“Take 40 billion from my chip and put it in front of him.”

Since I was managing the box containing Ji Se-hwa’s cash, I transferred 40 billion from the chip to a spare chip.

I showed the man the terminal confirming the 40 billion and placed the chip in front of him.

“Oh, 40 billion. Hehe.”

“The deal is done. Trust based on money, you’ll show me, right?”

“Of course, Blue. I think we can continue to do good business together in the future.”

“Hehe. That’s right. If you’re someone who doesn’t lie about money, I can trust you too.”

As Ji Se-hwa said this, veins were bulging on her neck.

She’s really angry.

“Time’s up. Both of you write.”

The two wrote their prices. Lu-a took the notes and gave an enigmatic smile.

“Now I’ll reveal. Guest first.”

The man closed his eyes lightly.

“Blue, I’m sorry.”

He declared calmly. Ji Se-hwa glared at him.

“Guest, 59,995,000,000 won.”

59.9 billion. That was the amount the man had written.

“The amounts Blue has written so far… it felt like you were spending a little more than half of what you had. If round 2’s psychological limit was 300, round 3 would be 1,000. I had some information. That Blue would be meeting a certain congressman later today to hand over lobbying funds of about 100 billion.”

The man continued his explanation.

“When I saw Blue give me 40 billion, I was certain. Spending this much means you definitely have over 70 billion. My information is likely accurate. And the average cash people carry around is 2 million won. Subtract what’s been spent so far, and it comes to about this much. What do you think?”

The man was confident in his victory.

He planned to take the money without even getting stabbed.

As a man, he had no reason to keep his promise to Blue. He wasn’t certain Blue would survive this game, and if he survived, the money was already as good as his.

“You fucking bastard.”

“Cursing won’t help.”

“If it weren’t for you… if it weren’t for you…!”

Ji Se-hwa couldn’t contain her anger.

“I saved so much money, you fucking piece of shit!!”

But the direction of her anger was slightly different from what the man had expected.

“Blue, 274,229,410,000 won.”

Lu-a announced.

The amount Blue had spent.

It was 27.4 billion.

“Wh-what…?”

“You fucking bastard! If you had just kept your mouth shut! If the unit hadn’t gone this high, I wouldn’t have had to ‘balance the remainder,’ you fuuuuuuck!!”

Ji Se-hwa screamed at the top of her lungs. The man didn’t seem to understand.

“Don’t you get it? Hehe. You dug your own grave. If you knew Blue had hundreds of billions, you should have quietly tried to survive. Once that’s revealed, Blue has no choice but to adjust her balance to make you ‘exceed’ the amount, don’t you see?”

That’s right. The moment the man knew about the lobbying funds, Ji Se-hwa had no choice but to spend almost everything.

And it was the stomach, not just any body part. A stab there would be fatal. She had to win at all costs.

The man might have known the correct information and written an even higher amount. Then she would have certainly lost.

Above all, even if she saved money here, she couldn’t save in the next round. The “chest” area was still left. Like the stomach, it was an area she absolutely had to win.

Even if she had an ambiguous 50 or 100 billion left in the chest round, she would still have to spend it all. Because the opponent might write in the hundreds of billions like this man.

So the correct answer was to spend almost everything here to ensure victory.

“Th-this can’t be! Even with lobbying funds, where did all that money come from!”

“You stupid bastard! Picking up such garbage information, fuck! Fuck!!”

Ji Se-hwa cursed violently.

The man’s predicted amount and Ji Se-hwa’s actual holdings were vastly different.

Well, even without lobbying funds, Ji Se-hwa always carries cash like a madwoman. She has a habit of carrying only cash that should go into accounts.

The reason is simple.

Because she’s someone who trusts nothing else.

“Ugh, urgh. B-but! If I just survive, the 40 billion is mine! J-just one stab!”

The man gritted his teeth. Lu-a smiled sweetly at him.

“Really? Who said it would be just one?”

“Huh? Everyone before got stabbed once…”

“There’s no such rule.”

“Wh-what? Ugh, uuugh?!”

The subordinate began stabbing the man like sashimi. Screams followed.

“Yes! Stab him more! Kill him!”

The enraged Ji Se-hwa was also excitedly watching the scene.

Eventually, the man stopped moving and was only then released from the coffin.

“Oh my, there’s an ownerless chip here? Who could be so careless to drop something like this?”

Lu-a tossed the chip to me.

“Now, round 5. The body part is the chest. The tool is… just this? A ballpoint pen.”

The man being set up in the coffin was Kim Young-heon, whom Lu-a had specifically mentioned earlier.

“G-good heavens. Even if it’s a ballpoint pen, the location is the heart!”

“Just win, right? Then let’s begin~”

“N-no! I can’t die in a place like this! Blue, please! If I’m gone, our company will be ruined! The balance, tell me the balance! Please!”

Ji Se-hwa grinned at Kim Young-heon.

“No, nooooo!!”

Five minutes passed quickly.

The amount Kim Young-heon wrote was 3,120,000 won. The amount Ji Se-hwa wrote was 478,525 won.

Without question.

“Guest, you exceeded the amount.”

“Aaaagh, aaaaaaagh!!”

Kim Young-heon died, spurting blood from his heart. Seeing this, Ji Se-hwa let out a sigh of relief.

“I survived. Fuck. I’m alive.”

The remaining body part was the left arm.

No more fatal wounds.

“You bastards. If you’ve eaten well, you should spit it back out too. Give me back my money, fuck.”

Now that her life was secure, Ji Se-hwa seemed to be thinking about money.

“There’s still one round left. Hehe. Your money is what we rightfully received as dealers according to the rules. If you had played well, we would have only gotten a measly 100 million.”

“Fuck. Because of that trash bastard!”

Watching this, the last guest’s eyes began to roll back.

“Urgh… ugh. Grrrrrk.”

He foamed at the mouth and then collapsed with a thud, passing out.

“Oh my? There are no more guests to play the game?”

“Hmph. That’s enough, isn’t it? The probability of that guy guessing my balance correctly is astronomical. He knew that and fainted. Hurry up and put a hole in his arm and let me go. You said you keep your promises, right?”

“Yes. I keep my promises. Don’t worry. But that’s when the game is over, right?”

“Then what are you going to do? Make me stay like this until that bastard wakes up?”

“Hehe. We’ll need a substitute.”

“A substitute?”

“Yes. You there, you’ll be the substitute guest.”

Lu-a said this while pointing at me.

“Wh-what?”

Ji Se-hwa was flustered by this unexpected development.

Without answering, I walked steadily toward Ji Se-hwa.

I faced her. Even through the mask, I could feel her rough breathing very well.

“Don’t fuck with me, you bastards!! This guy was just managing my money! He knows exactly how much balance I have down to the last won!!”

Of course I know.

I’m the one who told Lu-a to make this situation happen.

The last guest didn’t have many criminal charges against him. So I told Lu-a to make him faint at the start of round 6 and send me out as a substitute.

“No need for negotiation, right? Geo, would you like to state the amount you’ll propose?”

“Fuck off! Fuck! I don’t accept this!”

“11,127 won.”

“Oh my. You matched the balance exactly? Even if Blue proposes the same amount, it’s Geo’s victory. Oh, I forgot. I didn’t present the tool.”

The subordinates brought a weapon. Seeing it, Ji Se-hwa’s face turned pale.

“…Stop this bullshit. You bastard, take it.”

I took it from them.

Gripping the handle and drawing it from the scabbard, the blue blade gleamed magnificently.

The Leviathan Saber.

The very sword that is Blue Saber’s main weapon.