Ren Yi looked at Ren Man, who stood beside him with a calm expression and a hint of encouragement in his eyes.
Then he looked at the Battle-Damaged Guy, who was slightly tense nearby, and sighed silently to himself.
Fine. As the saying goes, he was currently within the Alliance's jurisdiction.
When the sky falls, the tall ones are there to hold it up. What did he have to fear?
Besides, his curiosity had long since been piqued.
Where would this bizarre gamble ultimately lead?
What exactly was the Battle-Damaged Guy's talent, that he dared to proactively cross paths with a God of Gamblers who possessed a bug-level talent like 【Luck】?
And what kind of trump card was he hiding to dare make such a bold claim?
Why was this situation starting to feel a bit... exciting?
Ren Yi felt that he might actually have a talent for being a drama-lover himself.
Pulling his wandering thoughts back, Ren Yi looked at the Battle-Damaged Guy in front of him. He leaned forward slightly, squinting with a smile.
"So, where were we? You want to challenge the God of Gamblers?"
From outward appearances alone, Ren Yi looked quite a bit younger than the Battle-Damaged Guy, giving this negotiation a strange sense of inverted status.
"Yes!" the Battle-Damaged Guy replied immediately, his mouth splitting into a grin to reveal a row of neat white teeth.
"For the sake of my life, I have to do this. There is no way back."
Though he was smiling, his tone carried a trace of bitterness and helplessness.
However, just as he said those words, the little cockatoo that Wang Zhixin had transformed into on Ren Yi's shoulder suddenly fluttered its wings.
Its tiny head gently rubbed against Ren Yi's neck, its downy feathers brushing against his skin with a slight itch.
Ren Yi froze for a second, then raised his hand to his shoulder, his fingertips gently stroking the parrot's feathers.
From his movements, it appeared he was simply comforting a clingy pet.
He looked back up at the Battle-Damaged Guy, his eyebrows arching slightly as he spoke in a casual tone.
"Tell me, how do you plan to gamble? You can't just pick any random game and mess around, can you?"
"It doesn't need to be a complicated game. Just guessing the dice will do."
The Battle-Damaged Guy answered quickly; it seemed he had planned this long ago.
His version of guessing the dice wasn't like Liar's Dice from before; it was the very common game of Big or Small.
In other words, it was even more simple and direct—a game of pure luck.
A game of luck against the God of Gamblers? He really wasn't planning to hide anything anymore.
How did that saying go? When a cheater meets the King of Luck...
But then again, as long as no one caught you, it couldn't be considered cheating.
"As for the stakes, I will gamble for the invitation," he paused, then added, "If I win, he has to give the invitation to me."
"That's it?" Ren Yi raised an eyebrow, the playfulness in his tone deepening. "I thought you were going for some grand spectacle."
"That's it," the Battle-Damaged Guy nodded, his eyes bright. "The simpler it is, the less likely something will go wrong."
Wang Zhixin twitched in Ren Yi's palm again, its head rubbing against his fingertips as if acting spoiled.
This time, the little parrot truly caught Ren Yi's attention.
Ren Yi lowered his eyes thoughtfully, taking the bird off his shoulder and placing it in his palm to toy with, his fingertips lightly scratching its feathers.
While playing with the parrot, he spoke nonchalantly.
"Does this gamble require chips? Since you've left all your chips with me, what are you going to use as a stake?"
"You can't exactly walk up there empty-handed and let everyone laugh at you, right?"
"I kept three chips." The Battle-Damaged Guy seemed prepared, patting his pocket with a composed tone.
"Before the official duel begins, I will use these three chips to quickly earn enough for the stakes."
"Just three? Is that enough?" Ren Yi asked.
The Battle-Damaged Guy gave a crooked smile. Ren Yi felt as if the man had been waiting for him to ask that very question for a long time.
"Three chips are enough!"
The Battle-Damaged Guy tilted his chin up, his expression full of bravado and absolute confidence.
"Without absolute certainty and capital to show for it, how would I dare to rashly barge into this Instance?"
Ren Yi: "..."
What kind of chuunibyou line was that?
No matter how he looked at it, he felt this man had been holding that line in for ages, just waiting for Ren Yi to give him the cue so he could drop that 'cool' quote.
Can't we just talk normally? This is a bit awkward.
On the surface, Ren Yi merely stared in silence at the Battle-Damaged Guy, who was currently posing.
The silence lasted for several full seconds until the Battle-Damaged Guy seemed to suddenly remember his pathetic state when he first arrived.
The confidence on his face instantly drained away, replaced by embarrassment, and his tone became somewhat awkward.
"Uh... that time before was an accident."
"I really didn't expect the entertainment city's eligibility check to be so strict. A moment of negligence left me in a passive position."
Ren Yi still didn't say a word.
However, Wang Zhixin, in his palm, seemed to have grown impatient from being toyed with. It suddenly flapped its wings, broke free from his hand, and flew up to land on his head.
Sensing Ren Yi's odd behavior, the Battle-Damaged Guy quickly reined in his bravado. His tone softened, carrying a hint of a plea.
"You really only need to say the word to help me initiate the challenge. Regardless of the outcome, I will bear all the risks. It won't involve you."
The Battle-Damaged Guy spoke very seriously.
"Furthermore, any extra chips I obtain can be given entirely to you as a token of my gratitude for your help."
"And, don't you think..."
Ever since he uttered that dramatic line, the light in the Battle-Damaged Guy's eyes had been shining slightly.
"Dethroning a guy with the 【Luck】 talent by challenging him at his own casino... isn't that interesting in itself?"
Is that your real goal?
You really do have the energy of an unhinged person.
Ren Yi didn't bother with Wang Zhixin, who had quieted down and was treating his hair like a nest.
He cleared his throat, his tone becoming serious again as he spoke slowly.
"Alright, then one last question."
He looked up at the Battle-Damaged Guy and asked point-blank.
"You should be aware of the God of Gamblers' talent, right? It shouldn't be a secret within the entertainment city."
"Do you truly believe you can... defeat Fate?"
"I don't have much of a choice," the Battle-Damaged Guy sighed softly, a look of helplessness appearing on his face.
"First of all, I never intended to defeat Fate. I know how ridiculous a talent like 【Luck】 is; it's not something that can be easily shaken."
"But I have a plan for that too."
"I will resolve in my heart that if the God of Gamblers loses anything to me, I will repay him afterward with chips worth more than what he lost."
"Losing doesn't necessarily mean misfortune, right?"
"I believe this method should be enough to offset a portion of his talent."
"And..."
He grinned.
"I don't think I'm going to die here."
"Chirp—!"
Before Ren Yi could respond, the little parrot on his head suddenly bristled. It flapped its wings and yanked hard on Ren Yi's hair.
"Hiss! What are you doing? Don't move, that hurts!"
Ren Yi grimaced in pain, quickly reaching up to grab Wang Zhixin from his head and clutching the bird in his hand.
He shot a helpless glance at the bristling parrot in his palm, then looked back at the determined Battle-Damaged Guy. His peripheral vision caught the waiter watching from the side.
His mouth twitched as he spoke to the waiter.
"Fine. Since it's just a matter of saying the word anyway, go ahead and initiate that whatever-the-hell challenge."
"Thank you so much for your consent!" The Battle-Damaged Guy let out a sigh of relief, a smile of liberation appearing on his face.
He gave Ren Yi a deep bow and added quickly.
"If there's nothing else, I'll go earn some chips first. I'll definitely be ready as soon as possible. I won't delay your business!"
Leaving those words and the trunk full of chips behind, the Battle-Damaged Guy fled as if he had been set free.
It seemed that staying with so many Anomalies for so long had put quite a bit of pressure on him.
As soon as the Battle-Damaged Guy left, the scene fell silent.
Only the Ren brothers, Dr. Lin, Dr. Zhao, and the entertainment city waiter remained. The atmosphere became somewhat subtle.
"I say, did you all overlook something?"
A ghostly voice suddenly drifted over, breaking the silence of the scene.
Rate on N.U.
