Chương 44: 43. Grants Passage to Unseen Places

Gambling with the Observer card was no different from cheating. When I had asked for a game of three-card Monte, I was genuinely surprised that the yellow mannequin had agreed. The first few rounds, I expected Harlequin to emerge out of thin air and tell me that things were over. It had to be obvious to him what an advantage I had. Then again, it wasn't like I was gaining much in the long term. The first five trials were designed to break people in.

Neither the deities nor the rule-masters cared what would happen to us. They just wanted to boost the prospects of the crop producing suitable followers. The rewards, the pacts, even the special rewards were no different from fertilizer. Besides, it didn't seem like it cost them a lot. The trick was not to wager cards. Once I did that, the difficulty would dramatically jump.

"Middle one," I said. The mannequin flipped the card. It had the image of Harlequin. A small ingot of gold appeared on my side of the table.

"Would you like to continue?" the mannequin asked politely.

"Yes," I added the new ingot to my stash.

"Same bet as before." When I had started, I had tested my skills on silver. Each time I won, I doubled the bet until I reached the point at which I received ingots instead of coins. After that, I remained at the same level. It made money accumulation a lot slower, but provided a mental safety net. A short distance away, Marcus had covered his side of the table with bricks of gold and silver. A crowd of onlookers had gathered. Envious of his success, they were eagerly waiting for the point at which he'd lose it all.

A few of the braver ones had decided to try their luck. I strongly doubted they would get anywhere close to his winnings.

"The one on the right," I said. Once again, I had guessed right. The speed at which the dealer moved the cards was impressive. Against common logic, it was based on the value of the bet, not the number of times I had won.

"Would you like to continue?" That was a good question. Despite my success, my eyes were getting tired. I could likely manage a few more rounds, but there didn't seem any point forcing it. I had already enough to boost my divine swords. If anything, I needed an item to hold my silver.

"Can I wager for platinum?" I asked.

"I'm sorry, I'm not a merchant so I cannot trade, convert or sell," the reply promptly came. Just the same as the last run.

"That's it, then," I said. The mannequin nodded, then vanished in a puff of smoke. Once I got up, the table would as well.

"Hey, share some money, okay?" a random participant approached. He didn't have cards worth crap, but that didn't seem to stop him from thinking he was owed part of my winnings. Rather notably, the curse card that he had ended up with was Greed.

"Sure," I said.

"What will I get?" The man stared at me with scorn, trying to guilt me into giving it for free.

"Hey, we must help each other out." I smiled. The only people who say that were the first to sacrifice you during a trial. At the same time, experience had taught me that the best way that cheaters were the easiest to trick.

"I'll give you this for your Archer card." I held up a gold ingot. The glint in the man's eyes was unmistakable. I wasn't even going to have to resort to my Bard skills. At this point, the deal had already been struck. We just needed to go through the motions of price haggling.

"You're okay with me dying?" he pretended to be shocked.

"What do you need gold for?" The question made him pause for a few seconds.

"What do you need it for?" The man crossed his arms.

"If it's worthless, it shouldn't be a problem giving it away."

"If it's worthless, you shouldn't be asking for it." The pause that followed was longer. Several more people were observing our exchange. Most were thinking the exact same thing, but were too cautious or cowardly to risk a confrontation with me. As much as it pained me, I had been the same at some point. In my case, it wasn't coins that I was going after, but food and water, but only because coins weren't an actual thing. With everyone focused on survival, loop caches were the last thing on our minds.

Even Harlequin's rewards had been of a seemingly more practical nature.

"Five at least," he said, the words I was hoping to hear.

"It's a card, after all." A card you haven't bothered to use.

"Two," I said firmly.

"Four!" he said, thinking this was some movie.

"Do you want me to go back to one?" I asked. The smile never left my face, but the hardness in my words let him know I wasn't bluffing. Startled, the men stepped back. At this point, greed had already taken hold of him. A smart person would just walk away, yet both his greed and ego didn't let him. I could foresee him being offered a pact from some minor resource deity. After all, he had just named his price.

"Two," he said, defeated. I placed the ingot on the other side of my table, then added another. Now it was his turn. The man looked at me suspiciously, then went up to his trade. The Archer card appeared in his hand. He looked at the gold once more, no doubt considering a way to get a bit more out of me. Ultimately, he decided it wasn't worth the risk and placed the card on the table.

"Much obliged." I took the card. THE ARCHER (XIV, MAJOR, SWORDS) (Rarity – Common) This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. SKILLS (1/2): 1 SHARPSHOOTING: (ranged weapon required) strike a target dead on 2??? The man grabbed an ingot. Not used to the weight, he almost dropped it before his hand steadied. Looking at him, he probably hadn't even tried to find a bow to make use of his card. None of them had, all falling for Sebastian's skill and huddling together.

"Use it the first chance you get," I gave him more advice than he deserved.

"Anyone else?" To my surprise, another volunteer stepped forward. Judging by her cards, she seemed a bit more pragmatic than the first. Her curse card was Weakness, which, everything considered, wasn't terribly bad. I made the exchange, then stood up. There was no point in wasting more gold. On cue, Marcus also stopped his run. He really was a high-functioning psychopath in the literal sense of the word. I tossed my winnings into my backpack, then went up to him.

Behind me the table vanished, marking that it wouldn't be used until the end of the day.

"Need a hand with that?" I joked as I went up to Marcus.

"I'm fine. She might." He nodded in the direction of Cathy. Of all of us, she was the only one having trouble at the table. A few gold coins remained on her side, but not that much more than the ones I had given her to start. For all her strength, the goddess Diana didn't seem to be of much help with gambling.

"Think we should rescue her?" Marcus asked in atypical fashion. I knew he didn't give a shit about others, even when it suited him. The question was aimed at gauging my reaction.

"We'll attract too much attention," I said.

"She'll be fine." He nodded.

"Find a way to stash the gold," I said. Right now, I would have gladly exchanged half of everything I owed for Carl's treasure locket.

"I'll go take a dump." Marcus looked at me as if I had a booger hanging from my nose.

"Why are you telling me that?" he asked.

"Just making sure you don't forget." I tapped him on the shoulder. In the previous run, such an attitude would have gotten my hand broken. It wouldn't have occurred here, of course. Marcus was fully aware of the limitations of the preparation hall. He would probably stare me down, then calmly announce that he'd break my hand. I had seen it happen several times before.

"You're sick." He shook his head—the closest thing that passed for friendly barter, then focused his attention on the problem at hand: where to stash the gold. Losing no time, I went to the bathroom area. The first thing I did was relieve myself. The second, after washing my hands, was to feed the gold to my divine blades. Awakening them to level one had cost me a hundred coins. In order to do so again, I had to spend a thousand, which was the equivalent of ten ingots.

One after the other, nine of them vanished on touch, consumed by the blades.

"Is anyone willing to offer me a treasure locket?" I asked. Dozens of messages appeared before me.

"Without having to form a pact?" All but one of the messages disappeared. Predictable bastards, I smiled internally. SPONSORSHIP REQUEST! A deity wants you to become first in the next trial in exchange for a Treasure Locket. Not even a large one?

"What are the consequences if I fail?" The message flickered. SPONSORSHIP REQUEST! A deity wants you to become first in the next trial in exchange for a Treasure Locket. The Treasure Locket will transform into a Treasure Draining Necklace upon failure. Another vampiric item, and cursed, no doubt.

"I'll think about it," I said. The offer promptly disappeared. Even after everything I had shown, there still were divine beings that thought so lowly of me. That said, now was a good opportunity to check out the necklace my benevolent sponsor had given me. I took it out of my pocket. So far, it hadn't provided any description, so I had been reluctant to wear it. Deities have been known to add curses to their gifts now and again.

Also, even if it came from a goddess, I doubted that she had given it so I could make a fashion statement. Identify, I activated the Observer card's skill. NECKLACE OF PASSAGE (Rarity – Restricted) Grants passage to unseen places. Necklace of passage? That was a new one. From what I was aware, only cards acted as keys. But what if I were wrong about this as well? No one discussed players vanishing. All the time, I had assumed it to be the rule-masters' doing. Yet, what if they were never involved?

"An invitation to leave," I thought. It would have been nice to have Marcus' intuition right about now. Sadly, as things stood, I couldn't risk putting it on. There was still something I needed to do before the end of the fifth trial, provided my actions hadn't caused that to change as well.

"Looks nice, at least," I said and returned the necklace to my trouser pocket. The rest of the day continued pretty much as one might expect. Finishing all the preparations, all I had left was to wait. Two more times the food tables filled up, then emptied, and still there was no announcement from Harlequin. This wasn't too unusual in itself. There had been times when a week would pass between announcements. Some had speculated that it had to do with the other rule-masters. Another day passed, and then another.

I spent most of my time at the gym doing standard exercises. The arena remained off-limits, just as before. Boosting my level was unnecessary at this point. Marcus, Cathy. And a few others had also joined me lifting weights, as well as a few of the others. Lacking anything that could pass for entertainment, they had probably resorted to the next best thing. A few had also occupied the toilets for some more carnal pleasures. Having a final fuck before possible death never went out of fashion.

On the fifth day after the last trial, people started getting nervous. Some worried that the powers that be might have forgotten us; others that they might not have.

"Still so serious," Elenor approached me as I was eating.

"Any reason for that?"

"Just waiting for the announcement," I said.

"And avoiding all fun in the meantime." She sat beside me.

"Why is that?" I couldn't tell whether she was coming on to me or just trying to check how far I could be pushed.

"Sex isn't everything. And you haven't gotten any, either."

"You've been watching me?"

"After what you said, would be stupid not to." The smile on her face turned into a smirk.

"Smart, but you're wrong. I've been getting lots of it every night." I snorted in disbelief.

"I'd have gone into your dreams, too, if it wasn't for that mutt." Had she just admitted to dream walking? Openly at that?

"Participants can't harm each other between trials," I said, maintaining my calm.

"Who said anything about harming?" She stood up.

"Tonight's your last chance, so call odd the beast if interested." She walked away, treating this as if it were a game. Part of me wanted to take her up on her offer just to see how far she was willing to go. Given the deity she had formed a pact with, she was just as likely to harm me as to have fun.

"Don't let her get close," I ordered the dream pup.

"Not yet." Tonight, I had something else planned.