Liar's Dice

Ren Yi didn't feel like wasting words with the waiter. He stepped forward and reached out to grab Dr. Lin's arm.

Dr. Lin froze for a moment and instinctively turned his head. When he saw it was Ren Yi, a flash of stunned confusion crossed his face.

Then, he quickly glanced up at the rabbit-masked waiter standing behind Ren Yi. Only then did he seem to fully register the situation, and his expression visibly stiffened.

"Why did you come here?" Ren Yi lowered his voice, his tone laced with a hint of helplessness. "Where's my brother? Didn't we agree that you'd be responsible for taking care of him? Also, where did you get those chips?"

Dr. Lin looked a bit dazed, his eyes darting around as he stammered, "I... I've already settled him. I just came out for a stroll to see what all the fuss was about..."

"By the way, you're just a kid. You can't even participate, so what are you doing here in the gaming area?"

He deliberately tried to change the subject, but his flustered expression had long since betrayed his guilty conscience.

Ren Yi frowned, having no intention of letting him off the hook. He continued to press, "Stop changing the subject. Where did the chips come from? Didn't you say before that you didn't have any money to exchange for them?"

Driven into a corner by the questions, Dr. Lin had no choice but to lower his head. His voice was as thin as a mosquito's buzz. "I... I borrowed some chips from someone nearby. Just for a quick game..."

Ren Yi was completely speechless and massaged his temples.

This guy had been so self-assured back at the restaurant, repeatedly warning him that the contracts in the Entertainment City were sinister and not to cause trouble.

And then he turns around and borrows chips to gamble himself?

How was he so easily fooled in this regard? Where was his IQ? Hadn't he seemed quite intelligent before?

Ren Yi looked back at the waitress; she was standing nearby with a faint smile.

Ren Yi felt like he finally understood how Dr. Lin had been scammed before.

Just then, a clamor erupted nearby. Dr. Lin turned toward the gambling table, his eyes lighting up.

"It's about to start! Come, come, let's watch a round first. I've already placed my bet on this one, I can't leave yet."

Ren Yi was utterly helpless. That line was the classic gambler's excuse for staying at the table.

The game resumed. The rabbit-masked waiter, acting as the dealer, placed the brand-new dice and two dice cups in the center of the table with practiced precision.

"Gentlemen, Liar's Dice is ready. You may begin." With those words, he stepped aside and said no more.

Ren Yi stood beside Dr. Lin, looking at the dice cups on the table with a slight frown.

Whether in this life or his last, he had never visited a place like a casino.

His entertainment was limited to Fight the Landlord; he couldn't even figure out Mahjong, let alone something like Liar's Dice. Naturally, his face was full of confusion.

Just as he was wondering whether to have Wang Zhixin "look up some info" again, Dr. Lin leaned into his ear. While staring at the gambling table, he began to explain in detail.

"Liar's Dice is a classic dice game, also known as Bluffing Dice. The core is guessing the total number of a specific die face across the entire table."

By now, Battle-Damaged Guy and the scruffy middle-aged man had picked up their respective dice cups. Dr. Lin spoke faster, continuing his explanation.

"See, when two people play, each has five dice and one dice cup. The process has four steps: shaking, checking, turn-based bidding, and challenging to open the cups and determine the winner.

"First is shaking. Both shake at the same time. After shaking, you can only look at your own dice. Peeking is a violation and results in an immediate loss."

Ren Yi nodded, his gaze falling on the hands of the two players.

The scruffy man had already gripped his dice cup and begun shaking it, the crisp clattering of the dice particularly piercing.

Meanwhile, Battle-Damaged Guy simply picked up his cup, gave his wrist a few slight turns, and then firmly pressed the cup down onto the table.

"After shaking comes checking, followed by bidding." While the two were peeking into their cups, Dr. Lin continued explaining the core rules.

"The bid must follow the format of 'Quantity + Face Value.' For example, if someone calls 'three 2s,' it means they're guessing that between the two players, there are at least three dice showing the number 2.

"Bids must always increase. You either increase the quantity, or keep the quantity the same but increase the face value.

"For instance, if the opponent calls 'three 5s,' you can call 'three 6s'—the quantity is the same, but the face value is higher. Or you can call 'four 2s'—the face value is lower, but the quantity is higher. Both are valid moves.

"But you can't call 'three 4s.' The quantity is the same and the face value is lower; that's a foul."

At that moment, the scruffy man finished checking his dice and was the first to bid: "Three 3s!"

Dr. Lin took the opportunity to integrate the live action into his explanation. "Three 3s is a safe opening. It's not too many or too few. It tests the opponent while leaving himself an out.

"Besides that, there are other rules. One is the 'Pure' and 'Wild' status of the 1s, and the other is the Five-of-a-kind bonus."

"What are those?" Ren Yi felt his head starting to ache.

How did this guy memorize all this so perfectly?

"By default, 1s are 'Wild,' meaning a 1 can be used as any number," Dr. Lin answered.

"But as soon as any player bids on 1s—for example, if someone calls 'three 1s'—the game enters the 'Pure' state. From then on, 1s can no longer be used as other numbers."

He paused, then pointed at the table and added, "Then there's the Five-of-a-kind bonus. If all five dice in your hand are the same number—like five 3s or five 6s—that's a Five-of-a-kind.

"If a Five-of-a-kind appears, it counts as one extra when calculating the total. For example, five 3s would count as six 3s."

Ren Yi barely managed to digest the rules when Battle-Damaged Guy responded to the scruffy man's bid, his voice flat. "Three 5s."

"See, that's a valid bid. The quantity is the same, but the face value went from 3 to 5. Either he has a lot of 5s himself, or he's testing the other guy's hand," Dr. Lin whispered.

Ren Yi looked at him with some suspicion. "So, which side did you bet on?"

Dr. Lin's explanation was so objective that Ren Yi couldn't tell where his bias lay.

"I bet on the one with the facial scars. I find this human rather interesting," Dr. Lin said with a smile.

Ren Yi blinked at that and glanced up at Dr. Lin.

The pace at the gambling table was lightning-fast. The scruffy man sneered, "Four 5s! I don't believe you'll dare follow that!"

Battle-Damaged Guy's expression remained unchanged. Without even lifting his eyelids, he spoke calmly: "Five 5s."

As soon as those words left his mouth, the scruffy man's face darkened instantly, but then it shifted into a look of certainty. "I'll call that! Who are you trying to bluff? Five 5s? It'd be a miracle if there were five 5s in total!"

Seeing this, the rabbit-masked waiter stepped forward, his voice robotic. "Challenge accepted. Please open your cups."

The scruffy man snatched his cup away. His dice were 2, 3, 3, 5, and 6. Only one 5.

He looked at Battle-Damaged Guy, but as Battle-Damaged Guy slowly lifted his cup, the scruffy man's smile froze on his face.

Battle-Damaged Guy's dice were 1, 4, 5, 5, and 5.

According to the "Wild" rule Dr. Lin mentioned, the 1 could be used as any number. Counting it as a 5, he had four 5s.

Combining both players' dice, 1 + 4 = 5. Exactly five 5s. It was the precise number Battle-Damaged Guy had bid.

"Bid was five 5s. Actual count is five 5s. The challenger loses."