episode_0085

“Go…… Go.”

That was the answer he gave after nervously glaring at the table.

Capital that had left his hands.

A burning desire to cover his losses and recover.

Even amidst this, gold gleamed enticingly from the side.

More than anything, Victor seemed to be succumbing to the atmosphere.

As a casino operator, he knew how far his reputation would plummet if he disgraced himself and bolted, so he chose to proceed.

“That means you’re betting your casino stake, right?”

I relentlessly pressed on to confirm it.

I wanted a definitive answer, lest he backtrack later, buried under the audience’s cheers. But he reacted with extreme agitation.

“Shit! I said I’m going, you bastard!”

“Oh? Then it’s my turn, so I’m throwing right away?”

“W, WAIT!”

A sentence that mixed English and Korean, showing just how complicated his thoughts were.

Regardless, I threw without wasting any more time.

Since he had deliberated for so long and the atmosphere had cooled, I rolled them calmly.

The number that came out was 8.

A pair of 4s came up, but I hadn’t felt the thrill of a one-shot win for a while.

“Huu, huu…!”

At that, Victor let out rough snorts of breath.

Even if he wasn’t familiar with the dice rules, playing for the first time, he knew that 2 and 3—the minimums with few combinations—wouldn’t come up often.

Conversely, it seemed he believed 7, which actually has many combinations, would likely come up.

Holding onto that expectation, the dealer collected the dice.

Victor, clutching the cheap dice, clasped his thick hands together as if praying to God, squeezing them tightly.

Perhaps not expecting it to come to this, he threw them solemnly, unlike me, betting everything on this ‘real gamble’ he was entering for the first time in his life.

His effort was literally double mine, yet,

“SHIIIIIIITTTT! F-Fuckkkkkkk!”

Curses instantly spewed forth.

Curses more impactful than any Korean, who might have kimchi broth flowing through their veins.

As soon as he saw, the capillaries in his eyes looked ready to burst.

Victor glared intensely at the cheap dice, truly as if shedding tears of blood.

On the table, a 1/36 probability had hit.

An extremely rare roll when throwing two dice.

But that number wasn’t the maximum value of 12, but the minimum value of 2.

It meant he had busted once more.

The venue stirred.

Although no visible value like chips or gold was seen leaving, with this single instance, Victor’s life had been completely ruined.

He had lost the absurdly inflated pot of 8 billion dollars.

In just two losses, not only the thick wallet he had brought, but it was as if his assets and house had been marked for seizure.

A stake in a casino business responsible for over 1% of this country’s GDP must certainly hold immense value.

Even if I couldn’t swallow all of it in this turn, I had taken most of it.

Even with a low estimate, it was certainly over 80% of his core assets.

All his accumulated victories up to now were rendered meaningless; everything ended in one go.

All the wealth he had amassed had vanished with a single roll of these cheap dice.

“This is ridiculous! It’s a scam… How could it hit twice in a row!?”

He looked as if he would flip even a fixed table with the force of his surging blood pressure.

The king of the casino, as if utterly unable to accept this reality, even resorted to petty complaining.

“It’s a scam! This is a fucking scam, you motherfucker!”

“Cool it.

If it’s a scam, then prove that the cheap dice were rigged.”

“If you have eyes, look! These are the dice you gave me! How could such low numbers come up twice— ”

“Maintain some dignity.

Just because most of your stake is gone, are you going to completely fold your casino business?”

“…….”

“When you cheated, I kindly pointed out every single detail, didn’t I? If you’re so confident, then report what’s a scam.”

For this very scenario, I had needed to expose Victor’s fraud earlier.

If I hadn’t experienced it myself beforehand, he would surely have complained midway through the game.

He had to be silenced from the very beginning, leaving him no room to speak.

Above all, the dice I brought, which cost less than 1000 won, truly had no rigging; there was no way there could be a trick even with precise analysis.

Because I really just picked them up from Dai○.

I just needed not to be cheated.

Even if I didn’t know gambling games, my plan would be fine as long as the game was purely based on luck with a 50% chance of winning, not a mind game of gambling that I didn’t know well.

This simple 50:50 probability was my sure victory plan.

“So, what are you going to do now?”

“…….”

“I have nothing to lose, so shall I slowly get up from the table?

Ah, no, that’s not right, is it? Since it’s mine now, shouldn’t you clear out, taking your subordinates who reek of marijuana with you?”

“U-Don’t make me laugh!”

Bang!

“Of course, we proceed!

One more time with this pot! The flow has turned in my favor, so hurry and roll the dice!”

“Wait.”

The fellow fidgeted like a dog that needed to pee.

After cautioning my brother-in-law, for whom I harbored no affection, as if to instill some manners into him,

“What are you going to bet now? If we’re starting the game, we need to properly see the collateral.”

“Th-That’s, of course, all my casino stake…….”

As he stammered, I waved my hand as if shooing away a snot-nosed kid trying to buy cigarettes on credit at a corner store.

No matter how much value the casino stake held, the remaining value certainly didn’t amount to 4 billion dollars.

Even by simple calculation, it was hard to value it at even 1 billion dollars now.

It was an 8 billion dollar pot; if I accepted, I would clearly only incur losses.

“It’s not enough. It’s far from enough to play with me with this pot, Victor.”

“Don’t be ridiculous! You’re the one who said you’d go all the way, aren’t you?! If you’re backing out now— ”

“Of course, I’ll go all the way.

But the value of the remaining stake you’re mentioning… wouldn’t amount to more than the chips you gave me earlier, would it?”

“Sh-Shut up!

You MotherF○cker bastard! Just because you won twice by my mistake, how dare you wag your mouth in front of me!?”

As he hurled curses, I simply smiled.

The situation was so ridiculously funny that I openly gaped my mouth and scoffed, covering my face towards the ceiling.

I trembled as if having a seizure, then wiped away tears.

He had acted so leisurely at our first meeting, but seeing him now flailing wildly in desperation was amusing, so I offered a piece of advice.

“Calm down a bit.

What I mean is, the pot is utterly insufficient, so you need to fill it up.”

“Now… are you telling me to even go into debt to a guy like you?”

“No.

I’m not the type to maliciously drown people in debt and exploit them.”

I raised a finger.

“Not me, but over there.”

First, I pointed at myself, then at someone else.

“She’s standing right there, isn’t she?

Your biggest, most reliable ally?”

“……!”

At the unfolding turn of events, the venue whispered once more.

At a simple finger-point, as if the audience easily caught on to my meaning, they held their breath and stared only at that person.

“M-Me… to get involved in a situation like this?”

That was none other than Cha Soeun.

As she was pointed out, she immediately crumpled her face into one of dismay.

“Y-Y-Y-Yes! That’s exactly it!”

Conversely, in Victor’s eyes, it was truly a ray of hope.

Having been completely immersed in the all-in gamble, he recalled his best ally, whom he had forgotten.

Conversely, my younger sister, who was pulled onto the stage, looked dismayed.

Perhaps she had hoped for a coach’s position, where she wouldn’t enter the boxing ring but merely throw in the towel and share the match fee; she was utterly disgusted to step into the public spotlight.

It was a natural, all too natural, reaction.

Because there was no way she would want to get involved with this table, which had already hit rock bottom and reeked of decay.

Soeun tried to cautiously distance herself, but Victor strode up and grabbed her shoulder.

“It hurts. L-Let go, Victor….”

“Soeun, thinking. Think carefully.

If we win just once, all of that will be ours again! We can reverse everything in one go!”

“Hey… your eyes have completely spun out now. This has crossed a line.”

“NO!

Fuck, who the hell dragged that crazy psycho in here in the first place!”

“Kyaak!”

A roar of complete madness.

A crack that easily formed, to the point where they could no longer be called a married couple.

“Please think calmly.

If we win this time, we’re back immediately. This will definitely be the last time.”

“…….”

“Enormous gold! Soeun, you liked it too, didn’t you? You were crazy about it, weren’t you?

Now, are you going to blow this good opportunity? All this enormous money right in front of your nose!?”

Every single word of persuasion heard from across the table was utter nonsense.

It was a game without any preparation or certainty; if she had any reason left, she should have cut ties immediately.

“…….”

But my sister’s anxious eyes couldn’t answer immediately.

Looking at the accumulated tower of gold, totaling 30 tons, piled up at Victor’s instigation, she wavered, as if regret and even dormant greed welled up within her.

Even knowing it was something an entrepreneur should never touch, the youngest of the Hwaryeong family had excessive materialistic desires.

Seeing her husband’s behavior, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say she married money.

“Th-Then, actually….”

Wetting her throat with saliva and thoroughly testing the waters, my sister said to Victor, who was drenched in hope:

“Then, if we win this game, Victor’s casino will all become mine, won’t it?”

“……!”

Victor immediately sobered up.

His face, which had been damp with sweat, turned into a chillingly cold stone as he glared at his wife.

“What… what does that even mean? W-It was originally both of ours!”

But at this point, Soeun calmly detached herself.

If he came any closer, she calmly eyed her husband with caution, as if ready to use her bodyguards.

“Well, if I provide the money, I become the financier, don’t I?

If we lose, I’ll lose absolutely everything and there’ll be nothing to salvage. Why should I get involved in that? Especially with you, who has nothing left now.”

“…….”

He had no words.

If argued dispassionately, it was too true a statement, so he couldn’t retort.

But emotionally, it was incomprehensible.

Even if they had met because of money, they had still lived as husband and wife, yet a husband with nothing in his hands was immediately treated worse than trash.

The moment someone showed weakness, Cha Soeun immediately threw them into the ‘waste’ category.

‘…Even though she’s my younger sister, Hwaryeon Noona was right; she really is a genuine bitch.’

With so many dreadful rumors circulating, from kidnappings due to corporate issues, I just took it in stride.

However, Victor truly wore a not inconsiderably shocked expression at his wife, who had instantly flipped her stance.

As if she was now the protagonist, Cha Soeun left the useless Victor aside and stepped directly onto the stage.

“Besides, if it’s Oppa, you’d definitely want my company, wouldn’t you?

Of course, you’d appraise its value much higher, right?”

As she casually glanced my way, I immediately snorted.

Even though she was my sister, as expected, her abilities lagged behind her surging materialism, making her simply pitiful.

“No, I don’t covet that at all.”

“Oppa, in this situation, are we really going to undercut each other? I’m a Hwaryeong, just like Oppa, a Hwaryeong.”

‘Oppa’ only sought when needed.

Regardless, I was truly indifferent, so I just picked my nose.

“What do you want me to do if I genuinely don’t covet it?

I covet this casino that wickedly sucks up money, but I hate that trash company you built. I don’t even want to value it at the 3 trillion won it’s supposedly worth.”

“Ha… Fuck, Oppa, you’re going too far— ”

“You siphoned off various things from company funds as slush funds and had a good time all this while, didn’t you?

We were neighbors until things split; did you think I wouldn’t know about all the things you extracted by manipulating funds?”

I flicked a booger, as if to say, ‘Here, eat this.’

After leisurely wiping my hand on my clothes, I patiently admonished the two of them.

“Without you two needing to adjust anything, I’ll just tell you clearly.”

After pointing decisively,

“On this dice roll, bet even your necks.”

“…….”

“…….”

“Not just your existing stake, but if you bet your entire bodies and put them on this pot, I’ll play one last game with you.”

If not this, the conditions for equality would not be met.

To match the value of 8 billion dollars, I wouldn’t be satisfied if it wasn’t at this level.

“What will you do? You can back out now if you want, you know?”

It had become very simple now.

As I first proposed: lose everything. Or gain everything.

“This, should I roll it? Or not?”

Clattering the dice in my hand, I swaggered like a demon employee sealing a contract.

Whatever the outcome, everything would end in this single-round match now.