Who told you I am an NPC

Chapter : 92

Faced with the 'pure and good' Divik, I didn't know what to say.

“……Don't do that next time.” I coughed twice, the base of my ears still burning hot. “It's not that I want to squeeze it that much... no, I just don't want to squeeze it!”

Although the feel was indeed very good... wait, I am an upright person, absolutely not to be seduced by beauty!

Before I could say anything else, there was a knock on the room door.

“Sir, the competition is about to begin. Please get ready.”

I immediately came back to my senses, remembering the most important thing right now.

Why did we appear in the same room?

“Did you say this was your room before?” I looked at Divik.

Divik told me everything he knew: “Yes, my previous room was blown up, so a 'Man'er' moved me to this room.”

Blown up...

I paused, seeming to understand how Divik's room had been blown up.

Ahem, it seems that something I did before had inadvertently implicated Divik.

“So you already moved in last night?”

Divik nodded, “I went to try and see if I could get close to that Chigu Sword again, and when I came back, I found that the room had been disturbed.”

I said: “……I see.”

It seemed that our meeting in this room was purely because Mandiper had arranged for us to be together.

Divik had entered Mandiper with ulterior motives to begin with, so it was normal for him to be sensitive to changes in his living environment.

That's why when I returned from swapping places, I was caught red-handed—

“No, what method did you use to conceal your presence?”

So why did my minimap fail? Or was there some way to deceive my system cheat?

Divik rubbed his nose, also remembering what had happened at the beginning, “A skill that the dragon race is born with, [Conceal Breath]. Do you want to learn it?”

“...Can a skill your dragon race is born with be learned by others?”

Although I didn't understand the specific effects of [Conceal Breath], I was sure that my minimap cheat could also be deceived.

I would need to be more cautious in the future and not trust the minimap so blindly.

“No.” Divik's eyes were shining brightly, dazzling me a little. “But a dragon's partner can receive the inheritance.”

I said: “...Politely declined, ha.”

Divik didn't seem too disappointed, as if he had merely proposed a feasible possibility.

After leaving the room, I learned that the rooms arranged for this competition were all in pairs of two.

Those who chose the same room were automatically matched as teammates.

Although the first round was individual participation, advancement was based on the team's score.

I looked at Divik beside me and began to think about how to carry this dead weight so that Divik could advance.

Judging from Divik's absurd luck in the past, he would basically be a burden at a gambling table that relied purely on luck.

Divik: Innocent.JPG

All the contestants were gathered in a large hall, and a mask was handed to me. It was a very simple white mask that could only cover half of my face.

I held it and felt it for a moment, discovering that the size of this mask was very similar to my [Face·Masquerade Ball].

...Could it be that because Mandiper couldn't find the person who caused trouble before, they made a mask similar in size to Joker's mask, planning to first screen all the guests with similar appearances?

I found it a little funny. After the 'Man'er' prompted that we needed to put on the masks to enter the venue, I put on this mask without much hesitation.

It would be a miracle if they could find me.

My current appearance was completely different from Joker's, not even my body shape was the same. How could they possibly identify me?

Divik followed closely behind me, put on his mask, and walked into the venue.

The venue was very large, estimated to accommodate over a thousand people. In comparison, with only a hundred or so contestants standing here, it seemed a bit empty.

I keenly noticed a slight change in the [Mark] on my status bar; it had become [Deep Mark].

The prompt turned blood-red: 『You have been marked!』

...This didn't look like a good thing no matter how you looked at it?

I opened Divik's panel for a look, confirmed that he also had this [Deep Mark], and after seeing that all the surrounding contestants had it without exception, I closed the panel again.

It's the same old saying, as long as I wasn't the only one marked, it wasn't a big problem.

But in just a short month, had Mandiper produced more than a hundred Midas Touches?

I found this number a bit terrifying, after all, the requirement for a Midas Touch was to win thirty million gold coins for three consecutive days.

I was sure that from the low-level hall I first entered, to the intermediate and advanced halls later, I was the only Midas Touch to appear in those few days.

So the rest of these people, were most of them from the top-tier hall?

My gaze swept over these people. There were men and women, old and young.

The youngest-looking one was a small boy, less than 1.6 meters tall, with a build similar to Inuo's.

Of course, this was just my guess. After all, various long-lived species existed in this world, and their apparent age was not equivalent to their real age.

While I was observing others, I myself was also being observed by everyone.

Although most of the people present were wearing masks, they were basically people who had spent some time in the top-tier hall and knew each other to some extent.

There were only a few who were complete strangers.

I was one of them.

Compared to the extravagant scenes of spending money like water in the top-tier hall, the advanced hall and below were just small fry in the eyes of these rich and noble people.

After confirming that I had never been to the top-tier hall, everyone's gaze immediately shifted, falling on those who were more likely to be their rivals.

A rotating crystal chandelier hung from the high ceiling, refracting a soft yet splendid light onto everyone.

The hall was filled with an intoxicating floral fragrance, divided in the middle by a long table.

It was a meticulously arranged dining table, laden with exquisite pastries and beautiful tableware.

Crystal wine glasses sparkled, reflecting the brilliant light from above, and clusters of blue flowers were dotted among them.

In the very center was a fountain-like device, but what it sprayed was not clear water, but a deep red liquid.

Getting closer, one could smell the rich aroma of wine wafting from it. It was actually a fountain that used wine as its water source.

The hall was divided into two sides by the long table in the middle. At regular intervals, a gambling table was placed, twenty in total, with different games on each.

A 'Dealer' stood by each table. These 'Dealers' also wore masks, but compared to the contestants' pure white masks, their masks were much more gaudy.

They stood by the tables with their hands behind their backs and their spines straight. With a sweep of my gaze, I accurately found Inuo's figure among the twenty 'Dealers'.

As expected, he was still in charge of card games. I memorized that table.

After all the contestants had entered the venue, the lights above suddenly dimmed.

The lights on the stage at the front of the venue gradually intensified, and a tall figure leaning on a cane walked onto the stage.

That person also wore a mask, a pure black one, the complete opposite of the contestants'.

He was dressed in fine clothes, and I estimated that person was nearly two meters tall.

He stood firm in the center of the stage, tapped the ground with his cane.

I don't know if a sound amplification device was installed, or if he simply used amplification magic, but that light tap actually resounded in the ears of everyone in the venue.

The entire venue gradually quieted down.

“Welcome, everyone—to Mandiper.”

“This is a magnificent Garden of Eden, worthy of a gambler betting everything to win.”

“It is an honor to meet all of you here. The 'Midas Touch' competition is about to begin.”

“This competition is divided into three rounds in total.

Contestants from different countries will go through a group qualifying match, a single-elimination match, and finally, the finals.

The 'Midas Touch' who achieves the final victory will receive the great honor bestowed by Mandiper.”

“A Chigu Sword made from Resplendent Dragon bone.”

A platform slowly rose beside him, and on it lay a sword enclosed in a glass case.

The sword had the texture of white jade all over, and a faint golden light appeared where it was illuminated, a special texture of the Resplendent Dragon bone.

I threw an [Appraisal] at it from afar. Three seconds later, the system only gave me a vague description.

[Chigu Sword]

A sword made from dragon bone, incomparably sharp.

It didn't even give specific stats. I didn't know if it was because of that glass case, or if there was a problem with the sword itself.

I could clearly feel the people around me boiling with excitement the moment the Chigu Sword appeared. Everyone's eyes were fixed on that white jade-like longsword.

Every part of a dragon's body was a treasure.

A single small scale could be sold for an exorbitant price, let alone a longsword made entirely from polished dragon bone.

Not to mention whether such a sword would become a rare treasure, the value of the dragon bone alone was enough to make everyone present hold their breath and quietly admire the sword before them—as if they were looking at a mountain of gold.

My gaze lingered on that Chigu Sword for too long.

My hand hanging by my side was suddenly grabbed by Divik. I could feel an extremely oppressive gaze coming from my side and behind me.

I didn't even need to look to know what Divik was trying to express right now.

Wasn't it just 'If you like it, I'll pull out my bones and make one for you'?

How could I convince Divik that I really didn't want that Chigu Sword?

The corner of my mouth twitched. The hand that was being held squeezed back slightly, pinching his well-defined fingers.

Divik behaved, but then he shoved both his hands over to me, his eyes sparkling.

『Squeeze some more?』

I threw them away: No.

Divik: Little dragon is sad.JPG

“I believe that after seeing this beautiful dragon bone sword, all of you are already eager to start the competition, right? Next, I will introduce the rules for the first round, the qualifying match.”

“First round, qualifying match.”

For the qualifying match, two people assigned to the same room are automatically matched as teammates.

They will participate in gambling games on opposite sides of the venue. Each person starts with ten golden chips.

Each 'Dealer' at a table has a quota of one thousand golden chips. The number of participants in each game cannot exceed 6 people.

When the same contestant wins over three hundred golden chips at one gambling table (a single win exceeding three hundred will not be deducted), they must change tables and choose a new table to participate in the game.

“Within the specified time, the first twenty groups to win one thousand golden chips will advance. Those who exceed the time limit and are not among the first twenty groups will all be eliminated.”

“The number of people advancing from the first round is forty.”

I quickly calculated. This situation prevented the possibility of one person having extremely good luck and winning a thousand chips by continuously winning at the same game.

Divik couldn't be counted on. To win a thousand chips by myself, I would have to participate in at least four different games.

This didn't even include the risk of losing in between, or the possibility of the 'Dealer's' chips being cleared out by other contestants, forcing me to change tables.

There was no rush for Inuo's table. With Inuo's ability, I wasn't worried about his chips being cleared out quickly.

The safest bet was to wait until I had won enough chips, then go to Inuo's side to double my bet and win.

“Of course—there are also some contestants who are very unlucky and lose all their chips at the beginning of the competition.”

“This is a point I need to emphasize. This competition only allows Mandiper's 'Midas Touches' to participate.

Once you lose all your chips, you automatically lose your identity as a 'Midas Touch' and will be directly eliminated from the game.

Therefore, please make sure to keep some chips on you before the end of the competition.”

That man emphasized the pronunciation of the four words 'eliminated from the game'. It was obvious that being eliminated from the game meant something bad here.

Thinking of the scene in the dark prison, I felt that this competition was definitely not as simple as it appeared on the surface.

At the very least, I hadn't figured out what benefits this competition could bring to Mandiper.

A rapid increase in turnover in just one month?

Or a more resounding reputation among the nobles of the entire Ailman Continent?

But none of this could compare to the Chigu Sword that Mandiper was paying out.

The apparent expenditure and income were not proportional, unless Mandiper had some hidden purpose.

“I know that a moment of luck does not represent your true strength, so we have also set up a mortgage office.

After losing all your chips, you can go to the mortgage office within ten minutes to mortgage items for chips.

As long as you pay back the mortgaged chips before the end of this round, Mandiper will not take away anyone's collateral.”

A 'Man'er' behind a long table at the edge of the stage smiled and bowed to all the contestants, revealing a sign hanging behind her.

On it was a large golden coin, which anyone could recognize at a glance as the mortgage and exchange office the man had mentioned.

“Next, please have the members of each group choose the left or right side of the competition venue. The competition is about to begin!”

I exchanged a look with Divik. Divik didn't care which side he went to, so I took the lead and chose the side where Inuo was.

A huge hourglass was moved out. With the man's shout of "Competition begins," the hourglass was inverted. Check latest chapters at ⓝovelFire.net

The fine sand slowly trickled down, emitting a shimmering blue light, which was quite beautiful.

I didn't rush to grab a spot at a gambling table. I looked at all the tables once.

A few contestants had already eagerly occupied a spot at a table and started the first round of gambling.

I chose a dice game table, stood by and observed for a while.

My enhanced hearing after transmigration made it easy for me to distinguish the subtle differences between the different point values.

(This text has been adapted)

This game was very simple. The 'Dealer' had a total of three dice, which were shaken in an opaque dice cup.

After the shaking stopped, the players at the table would guess big, small, odd, or even.

Those who guessed correctly would evenly divide the bets of the other players. If an option was not bet on by any player, the 'Dealer' would need to place a minimum bet of 5 chips.

The sum of the points between 4 and 10 is 'small', and the sum of the points between 11 and 17 is 'big'.

If the sum of the points is 3, 9, or 18, the 'Dealer' wins, and all bets in this round belong to the 'Dealer'.

At the same time, players could also bet on the point value. If the sum of the points was the same as the player's bet, regardless of whether the others guessed big, small, odd, or even correctly, or whether the sum was 3, 9, or 18, the player who guessed the point value would win and take all the bets.

On this basis, players could bet that the three dice would have the same point value (e.g., three 5s), in which case the dealer would have to pay the player double their bet.

This kind of game was said to be purely based on luck, but in fact, it wasn't.

Experienced gamblers could actually hear the subtle differences as each point value landed.

Therefore, this gambling table had long been surrounded by many contestants, and all six spots in a round were filled.

Some people saw that this place was already full and chose to give up and leave to try their luck at the next table.

But some stubbornly waited in front of the table, waiting for someone to be replaced so they could take their place.

At the beginning, everyone's chips were not many. For those with bad luck, losing all their chips and being replaced would only take ten rounds at most.

Most of those who chose to wait on the side were very confident in this particular game and were unwilling to try other uncertain ones.

I closed my eyes, quietly listening to the sound of the dice constantly colliding, and after memorizing the subtle differences of these three dice, I opened my eyes and waited for the 'Dealer' to reveal the dice cup, to match it with the sounds I had just memorized.

This game was very fast, and in a short while, nine rounds had passed. A contestant with only two chips left had already left the table early to find other games where it was easier to win chips.

I still chose not to fill the spot at the table, but continued to memorize the differences in the dice points. On the twenty-third hand, a 9 was rolled, and the dealer took all.

The faces of all the contestants at this table were hidden by masks. I could only tell their suppressed frustration from their agitated body language.

Suddenly, a contestant at the next table lost his last chip in a bet, and a dull bell rang out in the venue.

Before everyone could react, the fat male contestant at the next table who had lost his last chip clutched his chest and let out a miserable cry.

With a cry, he spat out a mouthful of blood, which splattered right at my feet.

This sudden turn of events made the people around the fat man scream and move away from him, while those further away turned their gazes in this direction.

I subconsciously took a step back, my muscles tensing in preparation to counterattack or defend at any moment.

When I saw clearly the shredded flesh mixed in with the fresh blood on the ground, my eyes couldn't help but widen slightly.

Above the stage, a magnificent throne had been moved from somewhere.

The man in the black mask who had been watching everyone from his seat finally spoke, his voice filled with cheerful laughter ringing in everyone's ears, “It seems the first contestant to be eliminated is about to appear.

Please replenish your chips as soon as possible, otherwise, in ten minutes, the gambler who has 'nothing at all' will be eliminated by Mandiper.”

My pupils constricted. I clearly saw the health bar above the head of the fat man who was vomiting blood and shredded organs constantly decreasing.

At the same time, a [Parasite] debuff appeared in his status bar.

[Parasite I]

You have been parasitized by an unknown seed. The seed is deeply buried in its growth bed, waiting to mature and break out of its shell. (Countdown 9:57:23)

The countdown kept decreasing, and the health bar above the fat man's head was also constantly dropping.

As the man holding the cane on the stage slowly said that the gambler who had 'nothing at all' would be eliminated by Mandiper, how could the crowd, who had seen the man frantically vomiting blood and shredded organs, not understand the true meaning of elimination?

That could only be—death!

The crowd panicked for a moment.

The contestants, feeling deeply fooled and deceived, couldn't help but become angry.

A hot-tempered muscular man slammed the chips in his hand down, pointed at the man on the stage, his voice loud and full of anger, “What do you mean by this? You want to kill us?”

I looked at the chips that had been thrown at the man's feet; only the last two remained.

It wouldn't be long before he turned into that state of frantically vomiting blood. I casually glanced at the contestants present.

All those who showed panic, impatience, or anger were basically those with few chips left.

And those contestants holding a large number of chips could still remain calm, watching this farce with cold eyes.

“My, what a rude thing to say,” the black-masked man tapped the floor with his cane again.

“It's just elimination. I said from the very beginning that Mandiper is a Garden of Eden where gamblers can bet everything to win. Everything here, of course, includes the lives of everyone present.”

The black-masked man's voice was flat and calm, as if putting one's life on the gambling table was just an ordinary matter that didn't need much explanation for him.

“Only by placing your life on the other end of the scale can you have enough weight to gamble for the victor's crown.

Otherwise, with just your meager assets and abilities, how could you be qualified to obtain the legendary Chigu Sword?”

Hearing this, the muscular man's lips, exposed below his mask, trembled twice.

He casually took off the mask on his face and smashed it fiercely on the ground, “What kind of bullshit competition is this? I'm not participating anymore!”

The plain white mask was smashed on the ground. Although it felt like some kind of plastic product, the moment it came into contact with the ground, it shattered into pieces.

At the same time, the golden chips that had also been thrown on the ground by the man dissipated into points of light at the same time the white mask shattered.

Another deep bell toll.

The muscular man's face quickly turned pale. With the fat man who was still vomiting blood as a demonstration, it was self-evident what this bell toll meant.

The muscular man took a step back in disbelief, “I clearly already... ptui!”

Before he could finish his words, a mouthful of blood sprayed from his mouth, even more exaggeratedly than the fat man.

The effect was no different from a water gun, spraying all over the people around him, staining the corners of several people's clothes red.

“Ah—”

“Heavens, how could this be...”

Cries of alarm rose one after another from the crowd, and panic spread again.

After spitting out a few mouthfuls of blood, the muscular man's thighs, which were as thick as my waist, could no longer support his body.

He collapsed on the spot, his whole body rapidly shriveling, as if his blood had been sucked dry by something invisible.

Seeing this scene, the crowd, which was originally in a panicked uproar, suddenly fell silent.

For a moment, the venue was silent, and only the 'Dealers' at each table could be heard, diligently fiddling with their gambling equipment.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you. Choosing to withdraw from the competition also means elimination.”

For a moment, you could hear a pin drop in the venue.

Only the 'Dealer' at each table was still diligently arranging the gambling paraphernalia.

This was indeed a gamble where lives were on the line.

I watched as strange outlines gradually bulged on the shriveled muscular man's skin, as if something was crawling under the withered skin, gradually gathering at his chest and neck. In just the blink of an eye, the thing inside broke out of its shell—

It was vines again?

The vines, irrigated by blood, showed a dark red color.

The moment they broke through the skin, not even a drop of blood flowed out, like a thin piece of paper being torn open.

The vines intertwined, blooming into gorgeous and eerie blue flowers on the corpse.