The way to draw a button in the card game ‘Empire’ is simple. First, the dealer lays all the cards face down on the table. Then, all players turn over cards one by one until a wizard is drawn. The first person to draw a wizard from among them takes the button position.
“I’ll start with the boss button.”
Boss was the last gambler. The button is often a position corresponding to the ‘line’ in gambling. The dealer shuffled the cards he had dealt with a skillful motion and said:
“Chapter 2 of Community is open.”
Two cards are placed face up in the center of the table. They were wizards and barbarians.
A community card is a card that is shared by everyone. Each phase consists of 8 cards, so players are dealt 6 cards.
Chow chow chow chow-
With the dealer’s skillful hands, 6 cards were dealt in front of 5 players.
There was no change in the expressions of Johann, Pirallo, and the last gambler, but Adrine was different. Her eyes quickly shuttled between her hand and community cards.
The last gambler said in a friendly tone.
“You can draw a card to discard.”
“… uh? Oh, it’s from me.”
Adrin suppressed the excitement she was feeling and switched the two cards. However, the two barbarians she wanted to remove from her hand returned as barbarians.
“I’ll bet from the minute after the deal button.”
Adrine let out a small sigh and looked at the faces of the last gambler and Piralo. Both of them were watching her fiercely.
Each reason was subtly different. Pirallo was to find any signs of deception in her, and the last gambler was to put her safety on the gambling table.
In a gaze that seemed to be somewhat intimidated, Adrine spoke insinuatingly to the last gambler.
“How is it, do you like your hand?”
“Not much.”
[Seeker of truth] Adrine was able to recognize the truth of what he said. she said, pushing a pile of chips into the table.
“Raise.”
A total of 20 chips were pushed by Adrin.
Pirallo, of course, and the hairy boy who came to the final table with a decent chip from another table was also a chip that was burdensome to receive.
“He is dead.”
“me too.”
“Fold.”
When three people, including Yohan, gave up the game one after another, a heads-up situation was created between Adrin and the last gambler. And from the mouth of the last gambler, an action she did not expect came out.
“All in.”
Adrine was taken aback. ‘You’re going to put all the chips in?’
It was a bet that was clearly against what he had said earlier. Adrine said, hiding her embarrassment.
“Didn’t you say you didn’t like the hand very much?”
“It was.”
“… By the way, all-in?”
“I thought your hand would be worse.”
It was as he said. Adrine was holding 3 barbarians, including the community card. However, she has only two commoner cards.
In the first place, there is no condition to continue to the next phase.
Although it is said that all the chips were put in, the absolute amount of chips was much higher for Adrine. Unlike Adrine, who swept countless people’s chips, the last gambler was a late entry. Adrin passed her hand to the dealer without saying a word. It was like a fold declaration.
“You folded. Boss wins.”
Adrine asked quickly before the last gambler retrieved the chips he had pushed and handed his hand to the dealer.
“bump… Can you show me what it was?”
“I see.”
The last gambler opened his hand without much expression. Five commoners to one soldier.
If you think about it together with the community card, it was a hand that barely met the conditions. The last gambler said calmly to Adrine, who was staring blankly at her hand.
“Do you know the origin of the empire?”
Adrin was taken aback by the sudden question. I never thought I would be asked questions like the history of the country in a place like this.
When Adrine was silent, the last gambler continued.
“The empire was created about 100 years ago.”
“… yes?”
Adrine was even more flustered. Because the history of the empire couldn’t have been only 100 years old.
However, as a [seeker of truth], she felt that the last gambler’s words were ‘the truth’.
The dealer continued the game, leaving the conversation between the president and the customer alone. It was harder to believe what the last gambler had said than the fact that Adrin had four barbarians in her hands.
“Oh, that couldn’t be… .”
“you’re right.”
The people exchanged cards in turn, and Adrin also discarded all four barbarians. The last gambler said while checking the exchanged cards.
“This game was created by two men who lived in Province.”
Only then did Adrine’s embarrassment ease a little. The empire the last gambler spoke of was referring to this card game.
“I was a longtime friend and researcher. The fields were different. One was a scholar who studied mathematics, the other a scholar who studied history-”
“Wrong.”
The timing when I stopped talking was a little odd. It was Piralo.
“This game was made by Ong.”
As people stared at her cold tone, she briefly regretted it. It was because I was excited about the word related to my old teacher. But I had to point out what I had to point out.
Audrey was intrigued by her words.
“You mean Archmage Ong?”
“okay. little girl.”
“… So, Ong is 100 years old… .”
“no. He has a different concept of time than we do. I’m not a great wizard for nothing.”
Piralo is more afraid of his old master than he likes it. And like most wizards, he had respect for his achievements.
Also, like other wizards, he hated that his achievements were underestimated or conveyed differently.
“Why are you looking like that?”
The last word was directed to the last gambler. A man whose expression doesn’t change much during the game.
There was also an opponent I really wanted to win by gambling someday.
“I think I know a little bit.”
“What?”
“Why are you wearing a wig?”
Piralo belatedly realized that he had been subjected to induction interrogation. Archmage Ong is a person whose story is unknown compared to his achievements. If you know well about Ong, it is highly likely that you are a person related to magic.
‘By the way, how does that guy know about Ong?’
Piralo tried to question this part. However, there was one person at the table who was uncomfortable with their conversation.
The hairy boy grumbled as he scratched the beard in his fur and looked at the cards.
“Look. What kind of relationship did everyone come for? Whether someone else’s maid wore a wig or shaved her head, let’s focus on the game, us. I’m still a bitch, so I’m annoyed… fold.”
Two of Furbo’s rough-thrown cards went open. Of course, the situation where the card is opened when giving up the hand corresponds to bad manners.
The last gambler said calmly to him.
“If you’re going to sit down and play corpses, why don’t you just get up first?”
“Did I lose on purpose? … And whether Nam is dead or not, what a fight.”
“It is a suggestion, not a dispute.”
“under. how did i get here I only burned Levine 3 times. If I rob your seat, will you ask for my money?”
“yes.”
The furry eyes changed.
“… how much?”
“80% of the total stake.”
“uh… ? 80 percent?”
The buzz of people watching the game added to it. The furry eyes also widened. 80% of all chips.
This is the money you get when you win a tournament. Of course, it was an offer he had no reason to refuse.
“Now, are you for real?”
“yes.”
“great. call.”
“Nice call. Go to the counter and the kids will take care of it.”
Pirallo’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the hairy boy who got up from his seat. It was really strange how the plates flowed today. The last gambler also spoke to such a Piralo.
“Would you like the lady over there to wake up too?”
“Well. What are you going to give me? Do you give me 80%?”
“no. I want to give you something else.”
“So what?”
“life.”
The sound of swallowing breath could be heard from here and there. Tension began to build.
And Piralo chuckled.
Giving your life means ‘I’ll give you my life.’ It would be possible to interpret it as much, but the gambling hall is a representative place where wizards are prohibited from entering, and the gambling hall here also emphasized that fact extensively.
The Last Gambler’s logic was simple. ‘Since I noticed it’s a wizard, get out of here.’
The first thing I felt before that logic was freshness. I didn’t expect to hear threats rather than protests when I was discovered that I was a magician.
And what followed was anger.
She was as warlike a sorceress as her friend Kirov.
“You should bet with your chips. It wouldn’t be a deal if I gave you something that was originally mine.”
“I can’t agree.”
“What?”
“Your life is yours.”
“why?”
“Well, if I throw the knife now, it won’t be yours anymore.”
Going beyond threats and arguing? Pirallo is a magician who handles cards, and always carries his cards in his pocket. Pirallo laughed at the bravado of the last gambler.
“Yeah-. The boss is very nice here… Try it, then.”
There was a war between the two men and women.
And only Johan knew that the words of the last gambler were not bluffing.
The threat he made is possible because he is the last gambler and this is his gambling house.
Contrary to his image as a gambler, he is an extraordinary person who catches cheats rather than cheats. He never makes a cowardly move during the game.
And his secret skill [Karma of Fairness] gives a buff of punishment to those who have followed ‘fairness’ around him. As the last gambler, he judges that the fact that a wizard appeared in a gambling hall where ‘magicians are forbidden’ is wrong.
This is why it is a trap event in the original work. He is a professional gambler and can guess his opponent’s hand simply by looking at his subtle accent or behavior. So it is impossible to beat him by gambling, and it is impossible to beat him by fighting because of [justice karma].
‘I’m tired.’
John watched the two men nervously. As such, the appearance of the wizard is like a joker that makes it difficult to guess where the flow of events will turn. Without going far, there were already two examples.
Arien and Miri.
If you use them well, they can be a key help in resolving the problem, like when you dealt with the mercenary soldiers with Arien’s help. But if you don’t, the story will run amok like in the case of Miri.
“Use skill.”
It didn’t seem like the right time to save points. After making a small resolution, Yohan quietly recited.
“simulation.”
Subsequently, John assumed a situation to be experienced in advance. Then, in his head, the composition of the head-to-head confrontation between the last gambler and Pirallo began to be drawn.