Lawless & Sinful Another World

In my original world, I had played pretty much every common gambling game—mahjong, poker, and the like. I’d even bet on lunch sometimes, so I had a decent amount of competitive experience for an average person.

It was a risky bridge to cross, but I had a strong conviction that I could win that bet.

There were three reasons.

First, the people around me were letting their guard down toward me.

In the previous round, I had been the one to initiate the big confrontation right from the first hand. On top of that, I was noticeably younger than the men around me. Anyone could tell at a glance that I had far less experience.

That youthfulness led them to assume this was just a reckless “rocket launch” from a young guy. Because of that judgment, even if my hand was a little weak, they thought they could still beat me. Thanks to that, I managed to get four people to join the pot when there wasn’t a single community card on the table yet.

The proof was that two men folded after seeing just three community cards.

Second, I had very few chips.

When I joined, I only had eight copper coins. No matter how you looked at it, I seemed like easy prey.

Even if they bet against me, they could either slowly chip away at my small stack or go for a big all-or-nothing reversal. But since I barely had anything, the chances of me being at my best were low. No matter how things went, from their perspective, I was just a mark.

Conversely, it also meant that if I got a strong hand, I could punish them hard. And fortunately, the guy to my right and I both managed to draw good hands.

And finally, the third reason: I had drawn a pair of tens.

In poker, the lowest hand is a pair—two cards of the same number. It’s common to not even make a pair at all.

The next strongest is two pair, which is even rarer.

What I’m getting at is that even the weakest made hand—a single pair—is actually quite strong in poker.

The man to my right had a King and a Queen. Those two cards alone weren’t enough to beat my pair of tens. However, if he drew just one more King or Queen, he could win.

Not only him—other men holding an Ace or a Jack could also make a pair later depending on the community cards and beat me.

To make them think they had a chance and keep them in the pot, I wanted to avoid drawing any Jack or higher cards. If I did get one, I only wanted a single one. That was how I lured them into staying in the hand.

In the end, it was mostly luck, but a win is still a win.

My strategy worked perfectly, and the scope of the game suddenly widened.

“Fold.”

I passed my hand to the dealer—cards that would have been worth playing in the previous round—and waited for the next opportunity.

“May I join as well?”

At that moment, a woman dressed like a witch appeared.

“I don’t mind.”

“Yeah, more than welcome. We were just missing some flowers.”

“Is that so? Then… excuse me, I’ll sit here.”

“…Go ahead.”

The woman sat down to my left.

Originally, the men including me had been sitting with one empty seat between each of us. There was probably enough space for nearly ten people, but no one had tried to sit down. I didn’t know exactly why, but they probably weren’t interested enough to risk their own money.

Only the top player was sitting alone at the very end. With the woman now sitting to my left, the seating order became: the man with the fewest chips at the table, the witch-like woman, and then me.

“Hey, you.”

The witch-like woman spoke to me. I wanted to ignore her, but I had just folded. The current hand was between three people including the top player, so it wouldn’t end anytime soon. Since I had nothing better to do, I reluctantly replied.

“…Yes?”

When I turned around, there sat another stunning beauty from this other world, this one with an exceptionally large chest. She wore a large hat, and right beside her was a gnarled wooden staff—the very picture of a classic mage.

“You’re pretty strong for someone so young.”

“You mean what happened earlier?”

“Yes, exactly.”

“It was just luck. I got a pair of tens and went all-in on impulse. Youthful recklessness, you know.”

“Yeah, that was definitely just luck,” the man I had beaten earlier chimed in, joining our conversation. He wasn’t in the current hand either.

“More importantly, miss. I don’t see any money in front of you. You’re not seriously planning to join without anything to bet, are you?”

Now that he mentioned it, there wasn’t a single copper coin in front of the woman, unlike the other men.

“Ah, right. Excuse me.”

The woman then reached into her cleavage with her right hand and pulled out some coins.

“Whistle~ That’s quite the bold way to store money, young lady.”

I couldn’t help but swallow hard at her action. Pulling something out from between her breasts was something I had never seen before. Sure, coins like coppers or silvers could probably fit there, but who actually uses their cleavage as a wallet?

The amount she placed on the table was modest compared to her bountiful chest: one silver coin and three copper coins. In an instant, she took over the position of having the fewest chips at the table.

“I saw what you did earlier and thought maybe I could do it too.”

“Hahaha! Now that’s what I call bold!”

She had seen my earlier play and decided to join. I understood that much. But while there had been strategy involved, my win had also relied heavily on luck. It definitely wasn’t a tactic I would recommend to others.

I definitely wanted money right now, but I had zero intention of taking it from this woman. The man to my right seemed to feel the same way.

What I was truly aiming for was the stack belonging to the top player, who was watching us from the far right.