Chapter 326
That evening.
We headed to the gambling house.
Although I said 'we', we didn't all go at once.
If five people were to flock together, it could attract the attention of those who run the gambling house.
For now, our goal is to grasp the atmosphere here without attracting their attention as much as possible.
That's why we deliberately avoided wearing similar clothes as much as possible.
"Do you see that large building? It looks like an ordinary inn on the outside, but go to the waiter and tell him you dreamed of a dragon yesterday."
"What is that?"
"It's a code word to enter the gambling house. If you tell him that, the waiter will show you the way down to the basement."
We, from a place where we could see the entrance of the gambling house from afar, began to enter the gambling house one by one at regular intervals.
I decided to go in last.
Because I decided to go in after observing the surrounding situation until the end.
"Once you're inside, you must never pretend to know each other. Don't even make unnatural eye contact with each other. The guys who run the gambling house are incredibly quick-witted, so if they sense even the slightest thing is strange, they'll pull out right away."
Maeng Gwang-gae also, after giving such a stern warning, went into the gambling house.
After all my companions had gone inside, I waited a little longer.
About 15 minutes had passed since everyone had gone in, but nothing had happened, and I also moved my steps and headed into the inn.
"Welcome!"
The waiter greeted me.
I, trying to walk as calmly as possible, said to him, "I dreamed of a dragon, but I don't know if there's anyone who will buy it."
"Ah! I know a place where there is someone who will buy that dream well. Will you follow me?"
"Is that really true? I have met my benefactor."
I, with a bright smile, followed the waiter.
Then the waiter took me to the innermost room.
In front of the room, a martial artist with a large sword was guarding the door.
"A customer?"
"Yes, sir."
The martial artist, after looking me up and down, opened his mouth.
"Excuse me, but may I check how much money you have?"
"Why do you need to check that?"
"You look too young, so please understand. There was a young martial artist who came here to play without any money last time and just ruined the atmosphere and left."
He said in a voice that was intimidating but did not lose its politeness.
Although I was about to get a little angry, I, trying not to show it as much as possible, showed him my money pouch with a smiling face.
When my money pouch was full of silver coins, he said with an embarrassed face, "You really were a customer. I'm sorry. It's not that I doubted you, but it's because of the role I'm in charge of, so please understand."
Still, he spoke quite politely.
Although he is guarding the entrance of a gambling house, he also looks quite strong, and it seems he is trying to be faithful to the role he is in charge of.
I was reminded of Mr. Mo Yong-hae, whom I had met at the Flying Dragon Inn in Wuhan before.
"This way, please! Are you new here today?"
As I entered the gambling house, a man who looked like a weasel with a smiling face greeted me.
Although I had never seen him before, I knew instinctively.
That this man was playing a role like a manager who runs this gambling house.
"Yes. I'm new."
"Then please follow me. We have an upper limit on the amount of money you can bet in each area, so if you're new, I recommend you go to the lowest place and get a feel for the atmosphere first."
"Are you saying that because you think I don't have any money? You did that at the entrance too."
"Oh my, what are you talking about? It's absolutely not like that."
"If it's not like that, then what is it?"
"It's true that we checked your money pouch at the entrance to see if you have the financial means to have fun here. But the reason I'm taking you to a lower place now is to help you have fun here for a little longer."
"What do you mean by that?"
At my slightly softened tone, he continued his explanation with a relieved expression.
"Even if it's the lowest amount at our establishment, in reality, it's not that low. You can think of the minimum amount you can bet as about ten times the amount you would bet at a normal gambling house."
"The lowest section is ten times that of the outside?"
"That's right. And the highest section is two hundred, three hundred times that of the outside... and there are even places where you bet gold coins."
Hearing that, I couldn't hide my dumbfoundedness.
As if my dumbfounded expression was clearly visible, the manager's face was now completely calm.
Anyway, I knew this gambling house was large, but I never thought it would be this big.
To think they even gamble with gold coins... I can understand why the imperial family, after finding out the identity of this place later, defined this gambling house as a social evil and sent in the imperial army to wipe it out.
"Then will you follow me now? If you play at the place I take you to and get used to it to some extent, and want to move to a higher water, you can tell me anytime. At that time, I will personally escort you."
"Ahem. I understand. I think I misunderstood. I was lucky and made a lot of money, but because I look young, I've been ignored by the people around me, so please understand."
"What is there for me to understand or not? It's my fault for not explaining it properly from the beginning."
I deliberately acted as if I were intimidated by the talk of gold coins, and the manager, as if it were no big deal, began to lead the way.
While following him, I looked around.
Although it's definitely a basement, it doesn't feel that much like a basement.
Perhaps because it was designed to be well-ventilated, it didn't feel stuffy at all, and there were so many lanterns lit that it was hard to tell if it was night or broad daylight, it was that bright.
And more than anything, since they had dug the ground and then built a building with wood inside, if you let your mind wander, it was to the extent that you would be confused as to whether this was underground or inside a very large pavilion.
However, inevitably, in the passages between the rooms, there were places where the wood was empty and there were cave walls made of stone and earth here and there, reminding me that this was underground.
'If a fight breaks out here... it won't be easy to get to the end, or to escape.'
I, while constantly checking my surroundings, followed the manager inside.
Since the gambling house is connected in a long line, it seems it would be quite troublesome if enemies were to rush in from both sides.
Of course, with the martial power of me, our senior brothers, and Maeng Gwang-gae, it's not like we can't stop them unless a group of very high-level masters appears.
"Now. This is the Rabbit Room. I hope you have a good time."
As we came here, the manager explained that the gambling table with the lowest stakes is called the Rabbit Room. A place a little higher than this is the Fox Room, and a place a little higher than that is the Deer Room. And finally, the room where he said they even bet gold coins is called the Tiger Room.
When I heard that explanation, I somehow thought that the place called the Rabbit Room that I was going to now would be a small and shabby place.
But the moment I set foot in the gambling house.
"Wow... no, how..."
I let out an exclamation of admiration without realizing it.
Because the scale of the gambling house was much larger than I thought.
The size of this place seemed to be at least twice the size of the great training ground I had seen at the Shaolin Temple.
The Shaolin Temple's great training ground is large enough to accommodate five hundred strong men with their arms spread out, and since this is twice that size, I couldn't even properly guess how big it was.
"Agh! I'm ruined. Why is my luck so bad today?"
"Hahaha! Thanks to you, I'm winning a lot of money. I'll fill my stomach with this when I go home."
And the place was teeming with people.
As if they had come from all over the Central Plains, their accents were all different, and their clothes and appearances were all different.
Moreover, there were people who were worn out from coming here almost every day and were used to it.
There were also people like me who had come here for the first time and were looking around here and there, trying to get a feel for the atmosphere, and so on, and there were all sorts of people.
'Come to think of it, this might be the biggest place.'
I vaguely thought that the higher you go, the bigger it should be, but in reality, I also thought that it might not necessarily be the case.
The number of people who go to a higher stake table than here will surely be smaller, and it seems the gambling house will probably limit the number of people and the scale of the Deer Room and the Tiger Room.
'For now, where would old man Maeng Gwang-gae and my senior brothers be?'
I, pretending to be looking around, looked around and searched for Maeng Gwang-gae and my senior brothers with my eyes.
As a result, I was able to find my five senior brothers sooner than I thought, but I couldn't easily find Maeng Gwang-gae.
Although this place was very wide, it was probably because a master of Maeng Gwang-gae's level is very good at hiding his presence.
So I, for now, gave up on looking for Maeng Gwang-gae and approached the nearest table.
Although there was also something like a mahjong table, since I had no interest in this from a long time ago, I didn't know how to play mahjong, so I completely excluded the mahjong table.
"Ahem. What are you doing here?"
Although there were quite a lot of people standing at the table, I asked one of them.
"You must be new here."
"Yes. That's right."
The man, after glancing at my face, said, "Do you see the man standing in the middle of the table? He's going to toss a coin. It's a very simple game where you just have to guess heads or tails."
"Then how do the winners get their money?"
"No matter how much you bet, if you guess heads or tails correctly, you get double. And if you lose, you lose everything without a single bit left."
"I see. Can I participate too?"
"What's there to stop you? In a little while, that man will shout to place your bets. At that time, you can bet on what you want."
He explained kindly, as if he were blunt.
Right at that moment, as he had said, the gambler shouted.
"I'll take bets from now on. Come on!"
As his shout ended, a young-looking man with a box hanging around his neck began to go around the table once.
It seemed to be a method where you give him money and say whether it's heads or tails, and he gives you a piece of paper with the amount and heads or tails written on it.
I, for now, took out five silver coins from my money pouch and waited for my turn.
But the man who had kindly taught me next to me asked, "Five silver coins from the first round? Where are you going to bet?"
"I'm just going to bet on heads."
"This time, it's tails."
"How do you know that?"
"Heads has come out four times in a row recently. It's about time for tails to come out."
"Isn't that completely unrelated?"
"I've been in the gambling house for ten years already. Do you know what it means to have been in the gambling house for ten years?"
"What does it mean?"
"It means I've survived well without going bankrupt. So if you listen to me, you won't lose."
He spoke confidently, and when my turn came.
"Five silver coins on heads."
I bet five silver coins on heads as I had originally intended.
"Tsk, tsk. To think you can't even trust someone else's words like that. Don't regret it later. Two silver coins on tails!"
And a little while later. The gambler tossed the coin up to his head with a *ting!*.
He didn't catch the coin again, but let it fall to the ground.
It seemed to be because there were people who thought that if a person caught it with their hand, they could manipulate something at that time.
"Heads! It's heads again!"
"Hmm...?"
I made eye contact with the man from a little while ago.
Then the man, clearing his throat with a ahem, ahem, continued, "Well. There's no 100% probability in gambling."
And the next round.
"Five on heads again!"
"This time, it's definitely tails. Trust me."
But, this time too, the result was.
"Heads again! It must be some kind of day today."
I unintentionally won money several times in a row.
Old man Maeng Gwang-gae told me to lose all my money today, but I don't know why it's going so well.
'Should I try betting on a place that seems unlikely to win?'
As I was thinking this to myself, the man who had been teaching me this and that until a little while ago came up next to me and asked stealthily, "By any chance... where do you think it will land next?"
I burst out laughing.
It seems that for today, because of this person, I have to go all the way to the end.
(End of Chapter)