Chapter 51. Fortune and Misfortune (2)
"Hmm."
The first place Jooheon visited was the largest casino in the area.
Dazzling golden lights illuminated the building, and cheerful electronic sounds echoed throughout the gaming floor.
This was the territory of Xiao Meiling, where people supposedly enjoyed good fortune simply by breathing. Every slot machine seemed to sparkle with a blessing.
However, the moment Jooheon stepped inside, the atmosphere began to distort in a bizarre way.
[Authority: SPAM is permanently active.]
[The fixed effect 'Permanent Misfortune' is being forcibly transmitted to the surroundings.]
As soon as Jooheon sat down in front of a slot machine, everything around him began to change.
The machine beside him, which belonged to a man celebrating an incredible winning streak, suddenly made a terrible grinding noise and stopped.
"W-What the hell? Why did it suddenly stop?!"
Instead of displaying the message announcing his imminent jackpot, the screen showed two red words.
[System Error]
Beep! Beep, beep!
"H-Huh? What's going on?!"
All the points the man had painstakingly accumulated disintegrated and vanished into thin air.
"What?! Where did my points go?!"
His scream was only the beginning.
At every table Jooheon passed, gamblers who had been certain they had a ninety-nine-percent chance of winning began making ridiculous mistakes.
"What was that?! I just saw your cards!"
"You're cheating!"
Dealers who had never made a mistake in their lives suddenly found themselves unable to shuffle their cards properly.
"W-Wait! Why isn't this working?!"
Wealthy brokers who had been on the verge of victory lost everything in a single unfortunate round, leaving their entire fortunes mortgaged.
"Wait! This was a mistake!"
People went bankrupt without even understanding why.
Crash! Clang! Clang! Clang!
"Damn it! What's happening?! I was winning every round!"
"Shit! My money!"
"My stocks are crashing!"
"I'm bankrupt!!!"
Watching the spectacle, Cup-Ramen Jaeha let out a sigh.
[...Wow. For some reason, this feels incredibly nostalgic...]
It was like watching a second Bankruptcy Queen in action.
Cup-Ramen Jaeha was horrified by the familiar sight.
Meanwhile, Jooheon suddenly seemed to fall into thought.
"Jaeha."
[Yes?]
"Do you think this is how Irene felt?"
[...Huh?]
Jaeha lowered his voice in surprise.
Even now, the casino was filled with people who had lost their entire fortunes because of Jooheon and were being dragged away in miserable condition.
It was just like when they had first met Irene, the woman who was now Jooheon's wife and known as the Bankruptcy Queen.
[Captain...]
Had Jooheon finally begun to understand Irene's suffering?
She had once struggled with the curse that drove everyone around her into bankruptcy.
Don't tell me our captain has finally matured after getting married...
Jaeha's cup trembled with emotion.
Then Jooheon spoke.
"Just standing around is enough to destroy all my rivals. Isn't this ridiculously convenient? Hehehehe!"
[......]
Jaeha's emotional moment didn't even last a second.
[Weren't you finally understanding your wife's suffering?!]
"Hahahahaha! This ability is even better than I expected!"
[...You lunatic. I can't believe I got my hopes up for even a moment. This man really is a demon beyond redemption.]
"What's wrong? Aren't you curious which is stronger, fortune or misfortune?"
[All we need is your wife, and we'll have the perfect husband-and-wife fraud team...]
Jooheon unleashed even more of his Authority.
Now every gambler he passed was headed straight for disaster.
Then he noticed a commotion at a table he hadn't approached yet.
"...Looks like he lost."
Someone shouted desperately from the gathering crowd.
"Wait! Please, just one more chance!"
"You only get one chance."
At the dealer's reply, the loser collapsed.
"Aaaaagh!"
His body began visibly shrinking.
His skin wrinkled, and his back bent.
"That's brutal."
"They took his entire remaining lifespan."
People dressed in black approached and dragged away the defeated man, who now looked like an old man.
His feet scraped along the floor as he disappeared.
Yet the casino didn't stop.
In fact, everyone seemed perfectly accustomed to the sight.
"All the winnings here go to the Queen of Fortune, right?"
"Yeah. His lifespan, obviously, but also every bit of luck he possessed."
"He probably still has debts left, though."
"Of course. His family will probably be bound by those debts into the next generation."
Murmurs spread through the crowd like waves.
This wasn't an ordinary casino.
It was a gambling establishment operated by the Queen of Fortune herself.
[No money? No problem. Wager anything!]
Money, memories, contracts, and even Artifacts.
Anything that could be offered as payment could become a wager here.
People were gambling at all kinds of tables, but nobody approached the dealer at the center.
It was the very table where someone had just been ruined.
Even so, people couldn't bring themselves to ignore it completely.
There was only one reason.
The reward.
A single prize sat inside a glass case beside the dealer at the central table.
"...Look at that."
"Man, I'm jealous every time I see it. Should I give it a try?"
"Are you insane?"
Inside the case was something that barely looked like an Artifact.
A blank check.
[Queen Mother of the West's Register Paper (SS-Grade / Consumable Artifact)]
Guaranteed by Majesty.
Write anything on it, and you may obtain what you desire.
It didn't matter what someone wrote.
Depleted Fortune, money, stolen lifespan, memories, family members, Artifacts, or information.
Anything was acceptable.
For the lower-class citizens on the verge of being dragged to Murphy's City, it represented their only chance to turn their lives around.
For those blessed with exceptional Fortune, it was an opportunity to obtain absolutely anything they wanted from Majesty.
"Of course, because it can give you anything, people lose their minds and gamble away their entire lifespans."
There was just one drawback.
Nobody had ever won.
Then Jooheon suddenly pulled out a chair and sat down at the central table.
The atmosphere in the casino instantly turned cold.
"...Huh?"
"Wait."
"That guy just sat down at the central table!"
People began gathering around him.
"Is he crazy? Sitting there of all places?"
The crowd grew increasingly excited.
"I've never seen him before. Get out of that seat! You're going to die!"
"You're still so young!"
Jooheon merely glanced over the table before looking at the dealer.
"This game."
He asked in an entirely casual tone.
"What do I need to wager?"
The dealer remained silent for a moment before answering.
"...Your lifespan."
"How much?"
"All of it, if you lose."
The crowd stirred.
Instead of being intimidated, Jooheon looked even more interested.
"Nice."
He gestured toward the glass case.
"Then that's the prize, right?"
The dealer's eyes wavered briefly under Jooheon's unwavering gaze.
"...Correct. You can write anything you desire and receive it. The difficulty is determined by what you request."
"Good. I'll take the challenge."
Every eye turned toward him.
"He's actually doing it!"
After a moment of hesitation, the dealer handed him the blank check.
Jooheon wrote something on it and handed it back.
The dealer looked astonished when he saw it.
"Are you certain this is what you want?"
"Yeah."
