Chapter 97: Casino
Although it's random, it's not up to the two great masters.
Examinees from the same examination centre would be sent to the same rest stop. With the others already gone, they were merely following after them.
The heavens had never answered 'Lucky' You Huo's wishes, and it was the same this time too.
It wasn't the old and tattered rest stop Chu Yue managed; it was the complete opposite – an extremely prosperous city.
"Oh! Congratulations, you managed to be assigned to one of the best rest stops." 078 rubbed his hands together as soon as he entered the rest stop.
You Huo wasn't pleased.
There were only five rest stops in total. Was it really necessary to say "one of the best"?
Qin Jiu however was in a good mood. He patted You Huo's shoulder and pointed at a place bustling with people in the distance: "You see that tower? Try and guess what it is."
You Huo: "....Casino."
Qin Jiu said with praise: "Our Big Invigilator is very clever."
You Huo: "...…."
Are you being serious?
The top of the tower was a pyramid with a lightning shaped rod pointing up to the sky. Hanging from it was a string of dice and on the four corners around the tower were large $ symbols.
Only the mentally disabled wouldn't be able to tell that it's a casino.
But speaking of casinos....
You Huo recalled the things the driver from the Gypsy exam mentioned.
He asked Qin Jiu: "You can draw cards at the casino? Things like Guaranteed Pass are there?"
Qin Jiu nodded. Just as he was about to speak, 078 spoke first: "Who told you that? That person must not have been in the casino before."
You Huo turned to look at him: "You have?"
078 cleared his throat: "This is my favourite rest stop."
"I didn't know you liked this sort of excitement." Qin Jiu said.
078 didn't know if he was being serious or if he was mocking him.
"Anyway, there are indeed good cards at the casino. Things like Postpone, Exemption, Bonus Points...If you're lucky enough, you can get your hands on a couple of them. As for Guaranteed Pass, don't keeps your hopes up."
078 hadn't met up with the other three invigilators so he didn't know of You Huo and Qin Jiu's card situation. He just knew that these two have always had bad luck.
"Think about it. Who wouldn't immediately use the card once they get the Guaranteed Pass card? That is a top ace card so what's the point of bringing it to the casino to be exchanged? That's unless someone gets two draw opportunities in an exam and draws two of them at the same time…. but that's even more impossible because there's only one of them in each deck." 078 shook his head as he spoke.
He didn't notice You Huo's expression and just said sincerely: "As someone who has been there before, let me give you a warning. Don't indulge yourself in the casino. Once you've had enough, get out before you delve too deeply. Also, don't even think about getting a Guaranteed Pass."
You Huo expressionlessly pulled out a card from his pocket: "We don't plan on getting a Guaranteed Pass. We plan on giving it. Are we stupid?"
078: "....."
He slapped himself and quickly ran off.
Qin Jiu leaned against a lamppost and stared at You Huo's side profile with a smile on his face.
"Am I funny to look at?" The handsome guy asked icily.
Qin Jiu answered: "No. I just felt that when our Mr. A uses profanities, it's very...…"
He paused.
You Huo waited for him to finish.
Qin Jiu narrowed his eyes: "Very sexy."
You Huo was rendered speechless.
He looked at Qin Jiu from head to toe and suddenly responded: "Not as sexy as you."
Qin Jiu: "?"
Probably because he didn't expect the other party to throw that line back at him, he stood there stunned for a while.
When he returned to his senses, You Huo had already brushed past him and walked ahead.
***
This rest stop really was bustling with people.
This time, this wasn't sarcasm.
You Huo pointed at the cars and people passing by and asked Qin Jiu: "Are these real people or NPCs?"
Qin Jiu: "Half-half I guess."
"Half?" You Huo was surprised, "Where do all these people come from?"
"Most of the examinees from this country are concentrated here."
"If I remember correctly, someone said that for a period of time only examinees from the same examination centre can enter the same rest stop?"
"Yes, but this place is an exception."
"Why?"
"Because of that casino."
Qin Jiu pointed at the tower that was getting closer and closer, "There are many things that can be exchanged in there. Everything you can think of, and everything you can't think of. For example, cards. If you combine some of the cards, it can help postpone the next exam and buy more time for the examinee."
One month, two months.
One year, two years.
Here, houses and cars are not as valuable as good cards so it's easy to get.
Once you start living here, you become less willing to take the risk of doing the next exam.
And so, more and more examinees remain.
And, inevitably, examinees from different exams would intermingle.
"Because the exams are different, the examinees here can exchange and sell information." Qin Jiu said, "That is also the reason why many people choose to stay here."
There was a psychological effect ——- After collecting ten sources of information, they would worry that they would end up in the eleventh examination centre. After collecting 100 sources of information, they would worry that the system would have 1000 different examination centres waiting for them.
Constantly worried that they missed something, constantly thinking that it wasn't enough….
And so, it became difficult to leave this place.
"Isn't it ridiculous?" Qin Jiu asked.
He didn't ask this mockingly and was just expressing his thoughts.
"It's understandable." You Huo thought for a while and said, "In the end, it's a problem with the system...…Why are you looking at me like that?"
Qin Jiu said: "No reason. How should I put it...…People like you are very rare."
You Huo: "How so?"
Qin Jiu: "From the beginning to the end, you firmly believe that the system is repulsive. People like that are rare. Most would have been swayed by it."
"How is that possible?"
"Of course, it's possible." Qin Jiu said: "Don't you think the system is sometimes stupid and naïve?"
You Huo understood what he was trying to say.
Most people are soft-hearted by nature. Sometimes they are rendered speechless by the stupid things done by the system and would temporarily forget about its cruelty.
Once or twice was okay but what about ten or twenty times?
Or even.....a hundred or a thousand times?
Those who have stayed here for a long time ———– The examinees and invigilators who have been here for while would probably go through something like this every day.
Not to mention, the system would also occasionally give them some "preferential treatment" and "reward."
Gao Qi had said before that early invigilators used to be divided into the gentle faction and the forceful faction because some early invigilators still held some feelings towards the system.
At that time, You Huo couldn't comprehend it.
He couldn't understand why a gentle faction would exist. He couldn't understand why people would be soft-hearted towards the system and think that it could be put back on track.
But now, he understood.
It was difficult to say whether the system was doing it intentionally or unintentionally.
But it indeed seems to be a little confused.
If it was done intentionally then that really.....is a little scary.
***
This great master finally had something to ponder over but unfortunately it couldn't last more than twenty minutes.
It was because the casino was really too noisy.
Just after receiving their number plate and entering through the door, loud cheering attacked You Huo's ears.
In an environment like this, you could only rely on shouting or speaking into the other person's ear to communicate.
The two of them are lazy so shouting wasn't an option. They naturally chose the latter.
Former invigilator 001 acted like a tour guide. He explained into You Huo's ear: "The first and second floor are for points. You can use your points to bet; if you win you earn points, if you lose you lose points. Many people try to maximise their points before an exam for more stability during an exam."
That loud cheering earlier was because someone had won 26 points.
That man celebrated for a while and then returned to the table.
You Huo wondered: "Doesn't he know that he should walk away now?"
Qin Jiu said: "It's not that he doesn't know. There's a rule."
"What rule?"
"You must play three games at a time."
The next second the person who won 26 points lost 19 points in an instant.
After patting his chest to pump himself up, he returned to the table a third time.
They passed through an arch and headed upstairs.
The third floor was also very lively, but the atmosphere here was slightly different.
Qin Jiu said: "This is for money."
"Money?"
"It's not money in a literal sense." Qin Jiu said, "It includes electronic transfers, houses, cars and anything else that represents money in real life."
"Money is almost useless here. What's the point of gambling it?"
"As an outlet to vent." Qin Jiu answered: "Will you easily bet a house in real life? You can over here. Gamble it out in three seconds and win it back in five seconds. It's an absurd venting outlet for some."
If the atmosphere on the first and second floors was extreme excitement and tension, the atmosphere here was pure catharsis; enjoyable but not tense.
They went up two more floors. Qin Jiu explained: "Here is the card zone."
The level of tension here was in between the two earlier.
The unique trait here was that there were only a limited number of people actually playing. Most were just watching from the sidelines.
They were there to see what cards the others have and what kind of people their cards can attract.
You Huo briefly looked around.
"Invigilator's Help", "Last-minute Cramming", "Cheat Sheet" etc accounted for most of the cards there.
There were groups standing around seven or eight tables betting on first-class cards with instant effects like "Bonus 10 Points" and "Copy the Answer".
There were also another two tables filled to the brim with people...Without even looking, Qin Jiu knew: "That must be for exam exemption and postponement. Those two are the most popular here."
"That's the place?"
This examinee who had lost his memory was very daring. He immediately moved to approach the table but was quickly held back by Qin Jiu.
"Wait, don't be in such a hurry." Qin Jiu said.
He had reached out too quickly, so he didn't grab his wrist and had instead grabbed his fingers.
You Huo lowered his eyes and glanced at it.
Qin Jiu didn't immediately let go nor did he retract his hand.
After a few seconds, the connected fingers naturally slipped away as their arms fell.
You Huo rubbed his fingertips that still carried residual heat and tucked it inside his pocket. He looked around and asked Qin Jiu: "Why not? Is there something else?"
"We're not gambling here. We need to go up one more."
"What's upstairs?"
"Everything." Qin Jiu said, "Cards, money, points, everything. We should be able to catch some mice up there."
Just as Qin Jiu had said, half of the people here are real and the other half are system generated NPCs. This naturally included gamblers in the casino.
The mice Qin Jiu referred to are those system generated NPCs.
They don't take exams, so they don't really care for points and cards, let alone cars and houses.
It wouldn't be a problem winning the cards from them.
In the casino, those who go straight to a table are usually all veterans.
Novices would usually look around for the first few days.
But a novice with the surname You immediately took over a table. Qin Jiu followed behind him and leaned against it.
Just with their appearances, both men were extremely eye-catching.
But looks cannot be gambled.
And so, everyone just looked over from the other gambling tables with no intention to come over.
This continued until the dealer asked: "What are you two betting on?"
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"Cards." Qin Jiu said.
There are many people gambling cards on this floor, but there weren't many good cards.
With endless streams of people pulling out the "Help" card, the veteran gamblers had already grown numb to it. Even just hearing the word "card" made them want to snort.
And they really did snort.
The dealer was a standard NPC. Like the system, he just followed his usual procedures.
He nodded unenthusiastically and didn't even look at You Huo: "Where's the card? Name the card and put it on the table."
You Huo let out a "mhn" and pulled the card out. He said calmly: "Guaranteed Pass."
"Guaranteed what?"
The dealer was only able to react a few seconds later. He looked over at the card dumbfounded.
Qin Jiu snapped his finger and repeated with emphasis on each syllable: "One Guaranteed Pass card."
The entire floor instantly went quiet.
After standing there frozen for a while, everyone stretched out their necks and looked over to check with their own eyes.
Several minutes later, everyone in the casino had heard about two handsome men who had gone mad despite their young age. They had actually brought a "Guaranteed Pass" card over to gamble.
In an instant, a crowd of people rushed over to the table You Huo and Qin Jiu sat at.
The dealer who had never seen something like this before was so excited his voice shook.
"How would the two gentlemen like to play?"
"The simplest one. Odd or even."
The dealer nodded: "Well then....which gentlemen or lady would like to stand on this side?"
He gestured to the spot opposite You Huo and Qin Jiu.
All the real examinees in the casino started fight for the spot.
The dealer hurried back to his corner and called out to You Huo from afar: "In a situation like this, you have the right to choose——"
Qin Jiu's eyes moved over everyone present and took in the things they held in their hands.
Finally, he locked onto one.
It was a very conspicuous mouse.
And this mouse was standing there holding two good student cards trying to look calm.
The moment Qin Jiu selected him; the entire audience went crazy.
The dealer asked blankly: "Are you here to do charity? There are so many good cards here including bonus 20 and bonus 30 point cards but you chose the worst one?"
Many examinees were calling out from the sidelines, but the two handsome men remained unmoved.
The dealer took a few seconds to calm down. After calming down, he placed the dice in his cup.
The extremely courageous Invigilator A for once didn't rush to the front line.
He said to Qin Jiu: "You go."
Qin Jiu raised an eyebrow: "You trust me?"
You Huo: "Don't trust. Your luck is no better than mine."
Qin Jiu snorted: "But you still want me to gamble?"
You Huo lifted his chin and motioned for him to go ahead.
The examinees next to them who heard their conversation felt their hearts trembling.
The dealer shook the cup and slammed it onto the table.
Qin Jiu asked: "Do you think it's odd or even?"
You Huo: "Even."
Qin Jiu nodded. He firmly placed his bet on odd.
You Huo: "...."
This is the correct way to use a 'lucky' Big Invigilator.
(Please do not try this at home)
....
Only those who are not afraid of the invigilator's retaliation and are confident enough to tease him back can give it a try.
KK has something to say:
The correct way to use You Huo HAHA
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