episode_0082

“I told you there’s nothing to be nervous about. Just relax.”

“B-but…… Haaah.”

I calmed Woo Miae, who was anxiously on edge inside the airplane.

She was pressing her chest as if hyperventilating, unable to breathe properly, so I held her hand to reassure her.

No matter how much I tried to soothe her, it seemed useless orally. Woo Miae took out a Cheongsimhwan wrapped in gold foil and swallowed it with water.

She dabbed away the water trickling from the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand, then whispered in a seemingly resentful voice.

“Such an absurd amount of money is simply on the gambling table. How could I possibly calm down?”

“Can’t be helped. Since we’re doing it, we might as well bet big.”

Woo Miae glared at me, a hint of resentment in her gaze, as I spoke with such an easygoing tone.

“Actually, if you think about it, the one who should be most nervous is you, young master… Are you truly unfazed?”

“I’m nervous too. If things go wrong, I’ll lose all the money I’ve diligently saved and end up a pauper.”

“Then!”

“Stop.”

I didn’t want to hear her fretting, which would be useless even if she talked about it for a hundred days, so I smoothly pulled down the sleep mask I had resting on my forehead.

Leaning back in my chair, I lay in the most comfortable position possible and spoke to my overly worried secretary.

“We’ve already confirmed it multiple times. That he’s subtly cheating inside the casino. Knowing his methods is all we need.”

With my eyes covered and lying down, her expression was unreadable. I’d guess Woo Miae was still anxiously biting her nails.

“I know, but… that’s only possible if we expose his trick or report him to everyone. Even if we point out a few things on the enemy’s home turf, unless they’re fools, they’ll try to hide it and stop us. Do you have another plan?”

“I’ve called in some witnesses, so we don’t necessarily have to focus only on the trick. More importantly, we have a way to win 100%… well, 99.9% at the casino, don’t we?”

“……”

“Worrying too much will make all your hair fall out. If your shoulders are too stiff, things won’t work out, so let’s just do things as usual.”

“Haaah…”

Another deep sigh spread. No matter how much she lamented, the game had already begun.

The plane, stripped of all its economy seats and left with only a few business class seats, carrying this heavy cargo, was flying steadily towards the Philippines.

*

After completing all preparations, the casino we arrived at was quite literally a marketplace.

The crowds were bustling, but this casino, with its high-ceilinged two-story structure and vast space, could comfortably accommodate a large number of people.

-Sobrang daming tao, nakakabaliw na! -May tao kayang magpapasalin nito sa translator?

What was unusual was that the people gathered in the gambling hall weren’t particularly enjoying gambling.

From the start, many slot machines and poker tables had been removed from inside the casino, replaced instead with chairs, tables laden with full glasses of alcohol, and sofas.

It meant they weren’t gamblers, but merely guests attending an entertaining show.

They were laughing and chatting abundantly, enjoying the expensive refreshments and drinks given out for free, as if savoring a ‘show’ before the main event.

Naturally, they weren’t mere spectators.

They were primarily high-ranking politicians from the upper class who led this country.

And chaebol who operated other casinos in this country, along with their acquaintances who flocked here for the spectacle.

Even the Philippine National Police Chief, who acted as a shield protecting them and was ready to issue stern commands if necessary.

It was an upper-class party.

Because such figures were gathered, even the security guards protecting the casino were different from usual.

Stable blue police uniforms.

Deployed police officers had entered the casino directly, and there were even soldiers in military uniforms carrying machine guns.

The police handled basic security, while soldiers, fully equipped with advanced gear and issued live ammunition for their machine guns, were stationed in front of the special reserved seats, covered by dark bulletproof glass.

Armed, they firmly guarded the entrance.

‘This means they’ll watch how things unfold from the special seats.’

Though they weren’t moving around personally for safety, it implied that famous political families of this country were present here.

Influential political families of the Philippines, always criticized as corrupt in newspapers, yet clinging to the country’s political power and refusing to let go.

It was clear the inside wasn’t transparent, yet I felt gazes.

Their gazes, looking down from those scenic VIP seats with their panoramic glass fronts, clearly overlooking everything below.

A smirk.

Just as we had agreed, they were acting as self-appointed witnesses.

Since I’d paid them to move their heavy asses, I had nothing more to ask for.

After this, I passed by, greeting people around me with brief English words.

Escorted by a few of my direct bodyguards, whom I’d brought just in case, I moved forward and came face to face with the exact person I needed to meet.

“It seems you’ve made a lot of friends in the Philippines in such a short time?”

My younger sister, Cha Soeun.

Today, she appeared wearing a white dress with a deep side slit and even draped in fur.

My cute younger sister, draped in luxury brands as if mimicking an adult, smirked provocatively, so I, too, grinned widely, revealing my teeth.

“Well, I need some friends to adapt to a new place. More importantly, what’s got you so excited?”

“Of course, I’m excited.”

She flashed her neat teeth even wider,

“Because all the companies you, oppa, arrogantly took over, I’ll be inheriting them all today.”

“Since when did you take charge of my companies?”

“Well, isn’t it only natural that if you, oppa, go broke, you’d come to me? Because everything my ‘husband’ owns is ‘mine’.”

My younger sister, already celebrating prematurely.

As Hwaryeon noona said, she truly had no sense.

To her face, as she climbed without knowing the sky’s height, I grinned and reminded her of reality once more.

“Stop being so cocky, you brat.”

A curse word slipped out, stemming from my frustration.

At my sharper words, my sister quickly put on a serious face, covering her teeth with her plump lips as if recreating a Chinese Bian Lian.

Regardless, I took a step closer and told her to step aside.

“You don’t even do anything yourself, so why are you strutting around and showing off so much?”

“……”

“Anyway, isn’t the person who’ll step up as your Black Knight right behind you?”

At this point, my brother-in-law, Victor, slowly stepped forward.

Even though he was shorter than me, he approached, showing off his broad-shouldered physique and golden teeth, while flexing his fingers laden with rings.

“Ugh…!”

Pushed back by his bulk, my sister had no choice but to retreat on her own.

“Hyungnim, long time no see!”

He greeted me with a smile.

Along with that greeting, which surely held no genuine sentiment, he scanned the guests filling his casino.

“You’ve invited quite a few interesting guests without my knowledge. Wow~ I never knew your connections, Hyungnim, were so extensive.”

The true opponent of the day had appeared.

Victor de la Cruz, the gang boss who controlled Asian casinos, the one I truly had to deal with today.

As he leisurely taunted me to his heart’s content, I countered with a move of my own.

“The stakes are quite high, so it’d be a waste to enjoy a show like this alone, wouldn’t it?”

“Ah, now I see. It seems you didn’t just quietly go back; you stopped by various places.”

Police were stationed everywhere for security.

Even seeing the police, who were naturally the bane of gangs, Victor remained relaxed.

In this place, where his country’s police were deployed everywhere, he rather seemed to find more stability, leisurely looking around.

“I ought to express my gratitude to you, Hyungnim.”

Going further, he grabbed a random police officer who was standing guard beside him and smoothed out his collar, saying,

“Thanks to the arrangements you made, Hyungnim, I won’t have to pay my bodyguards today. After all, my close colleagues are providing security for me like this.”

The police officer, with a rigid face, straightened his back tautly at Victor’s hand tightening his tie.

The gang boss, who must have committed every illegal act imaginable within his own country, felt not fear, but rather personal safety from the police.

In fact, if people weren’t watching, the police officer seemed disciplined enough to even salute him.

“……”

Furthermore, the elderly police chief remained solemnly silent even after witnessing it.

This was clearly a performance to flaunt his connection with the police.

As if telling me that I had made a self-strangling blunder, he showed off his golden teeth at every opportunity.

“…Alright, have you familiarized yourself with the rules?”

“Ah~ The rules you mentioned?”

Victor, grinning endlessly, seemingly unfazed.

He seemed even more satisfied with the proposal I had made earlier, spreading his arms wide and shouting loudly.

“Hanggang sa maubos ang lahat ng kayamanan ng isang tao, o hanggang sa matanggap niya ang pagkatalo nang walang reklamo. Hanggang sa dulo!” (Until one person’s entire fortune is exhausted, or until they accept defeat without complaint. To the very end!)

He had been speaking Korean quite well, but he deliberately spoke this phrase in the local language.

As he shouted it out, clearly intending for those around to hear, today’s invited guests raised the glasses in their hands and cheered.

“This is correct, isn’t it?”

Excessive confidence overflowed from him.

Just as I had a plausible plan, Victor, too, was brimming with confidence, shrugging his shoulders as if dancing.

‘He properly understands what kind of show this is meant to be.’

Indeed, as expected of the boss, he possessed such a talent.

A talent for escalating the game properly.

“You know it well. Then, shall we stop with the trivial chatter and begin?”

“Indeed. It’s the casino’s duty to provide ‘entertainment’ so that the audience isn’t disappointed.”

We smirked at each other and walked towards the center of the stage.

In this massive casino, there was only one table operating for the game.

The basic stake alone exceeded the cost of a house in Gangnam.

I sat facing him there.

A game that would continue until one person was ruined.

Just as watching a fire in someone else’s house is most entertaining, the audience simply smiled widely at a match where one side would face utter ruin.

We both extended our arms onto the table, which was filled with pre-exchanged diamond chips that no one else could possibly intervene with.

* * *

“The game seems to be flowing quite one-sidedly.”

“……”

“How about it, Hyungnim? You seem quite nervous. Will you continue?”

Checking my smartphone’s clock, 1 hour and 17 minutes had already passed.

So far, I was down 200 million dollars to him.

In just over an hour, I had lost approximately 244 billion Korean Won.