Chronicles of the Lazy Sovereign Novel - Chapter 76

Chapter 76

The manly player Dokbi looked silently at Wei Yan-ho, then turned his head to turn his gaze towards Gang Cheon-rip.

“Your words are different.”

Gang Cheon-rip kept up the composure.

“What’s different?”

Didn’t you say you’d let me have a game like God commands, and now you’re telling me to compete against that brat?

“Snot?”

Gang Cheon-rip pointed to silver coins stacked in front of Wei Yan-ho.

Someone who made so much money at the Golden Flower House in less than one shijin is a brat?

Dokbi’s gaze turned to silver coins stacked in front of Wei Yan-ho. Seeing the mountain of silver coins stacked higher than a person’s height, Dokbi arched his eyebrows.

“Are you saying you won all that?”

“That’s right. He won ten consecutive games in the Yin-Yang.

“Ten consecutive victories?”

Dokbi looked at Wei Yan-ho with new eyes.

“I can’t feel it.”

Players are people who live in the world of competition. In an instant, they can win everything, and in an instant, lose everything. Those who live and die in such intense competitions inevitably possess something different from ordinary people: a subtle toxicity.

But Wei Yan-ho didn’t show any of that.

There was no desperate yearning for competition or the despair characteristic of those who live their lives on the edge of the knife.

“Really?”

“Everyone here saw it.”

“Funny.”

Dokbi silently watched Wei Yan-ho and then frowned.

“It doesn’t look like a player…”

Do players have the word “player” written on their foreheads? If you play well, you are a player.

Dokbi squeezed her lips.

Gang Cheon-rip was the owner of the Golden Flower House, but he was a merchant, not a gambler. Explaining the world of gambling to a trader was a difficult task.

“Isn’t he a con man?”

“Is there any way to win ten consecutive games in the Yin-Yang?”

“Mmm…”

Dokbi simply could not understand Wei Yan-ho.

Winning ten consecutive games of yin-yang wasn’t easy even for him. Other betting games might be different, but yin-yang was really a game where luck was everything.

That’s why it was even more incomprehensible.

In terms of skill, he should naturally be a teacher, but he could not feel any aura of mastery at all.

Leaving everything else aside, looking at those cloudy, empty eyes, Dokbi could not imagine that this young man could stand out in the game or in any other field.

Betting is half skill, half psychological interpretation of the opponent. In Dokbi’s opinion, having spent his whole life analyzing humans sitting in front of him at the tables, Wei Yan-ho did not seem to have any talent for gambling.

“Really strange.”

As Dokbi reflected, Wei Yan-ho yawned and opened his mouth.

“…Are we far from finished?”

Gang Cheon-rip shook his hand.

“It will be ready soon, so please wait a bit longer.”

“Yaaawn…”

Wei Yan-ho seemed ready to fall asleep completely.

After calming Wei Yan-ho, Gang Cheon-rip shouted softly at Dokbi.

– So, can you face it or not?

“Are you asking me?”

“Of course…”

“To me?”

Gang Cheon-rip realized his mistake and closed his mouth tightly.

Who was in front of him now? A person who was almost a legend in the world of the Hubei province game.

Born in gambling houses and having lived in them, Dokbi was someone who had achieved everything in the world of the game. Even Hubei’s most famous players respected him; his skill was indisputable.

Asking that person if he could handle a brat who showed up today for the first time was a serious mistake.

“I rushed too fast and did a discourteous thing.”

“Mmm…”

Dokbi stared at Gang Cheon-rip and let go of a low hum.

In other circumstances, I would not have tolerated such treatment, but now I could understand Gang Cheon-rip’s state of mind.

If you saw ten nyang of gold flying before your eyes, who could keep the composure?

Also, if all this happened in the middle of shijin, even Dokbi could not help but feel shocked.

As much as you try to be courteous and quiet, gambling houses are places where that becomes difficult. That’s why they are called places where you can see the limits of human nature.

Of course, having lived his whole life in gambling houses, Dokbi had seen much worse things, so he could understand Gang Cheon-rip’s feelings.

“I understand.”

Thank you for your understanding. What is your answer?

“There’s no way I’ll refuse to bet.”

“I will make it up to you generously.”

Gang Cheon-rip looked at Wei Yan-ho with triumphant expression. Now that Dokbi had agreed to intervene, the game was almost over. Even in Luoyang, the center of the game, Dokbi was known as the supreme player. It was impossible that a Dokbi so could not with a brat like him.

“Young Master.”

Wei Yan-ho was sitting in his chair, nodding like a sick chicken.

It seemed that he had fallen asleep, unable to wait any longer.

“Young Master!”

“Mmm.”

Awakened by the call, Wei Yan-ho looked around with his eyes half closed.

“Are you ready?”

“That’s right!”

“Yaaaawn.”

Wei Yan-ho stretched both arms, yawned languishingly, patted his mouth and then turned his neck from left to right.

Crack, crack.

‘How can a person’s neck produce those sounds?’

If someone with a large complexion had made such threatening sounds, it would have been chilling, but with Wei Yan-ho making such sounds while sitting in a chair like a sick chicken, even those sounds seemed pitiful.

“Then…”

Wei Yan-ho looked around and saw Jin So-ah, then said:

“Hey, you, go get a bowl of cold water!”

“Yes, yes, sir.”

Jin So-ah responded with a trembling voice and a respectful tone. Then he hurried to leave, brought water and offered it to Wei Yan-ho.

“Mmm.”

After drinking a sip of water, Wei Yan-ho grinned and returned the bowl to Jin So-ah.

Bring something cold, something cold!

“Nnngh!”

Swearing that he would definitely strangle that neck once he left that place, Jin So-ah took the bowl again and went to fetch water.

After completely tormenting Jin So-ah, Wei Yan-ho smiled and looked at Dokbi.

“So you’re my opponent?”

“That’s right.”

“You have a really fierce looking face.”

Dokbi laughed between his teeth.

Whether he understood the situation or not, he liked that audacity. Betting in front of all those people who watched him was something most would not dare to try for nervousness.

However, speaking so boldly meant that, contrary to Dokbi’s first impression, this young man was braver than expected.

‘Did I misjudge him?’

It was a bit disconcerting, but it didn’t matter. Although this young man in front of him had been perfecting his playing skills from the womb, he would not reach even half the years Dokbi had dedicated to the game.

– But why are you missing an arm?

Dokbi frowned.

“…I lost it playing.”

“Oh God.”

Wei Yan-ho shook his head.

“That’s why they say the game is the straight way to ruin. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

Dokbi responded as if nothing had happened.

“The guy who took my arm off paid with his life, so it wasn’t a lost deal.”

“Wow!”

Wei Yan-ho shivered.

“Do you bet on living in the game too?”

“It’s common.”

“I don’t understand why people play with their lives instead of betting.”

When the stakes keep going up, there comes a time when human lives seem trivial. Do you think your life is worth ten nyang of gold?

“Mmm…”

Wei Yan-ho scratched his cheek and replied:

“I think it would probably be worth more than that.”

You really think so?

“It’s hard to believe, but yes.”

Wei Yan-ho smiled widely.

No one would pay ten nyang of gold to buy Wei Yan-ho, but there were already those who had disbursed the enormous sum of a hundred nyang of gold to find him.

“Suddenly I miss them.”

Thinking about the family from such an unrelated conversation… Wei Yan-ho felt that his heart was restless.

What could they be doing now?

The letter should have arrived in Guangdong by now. Then, knowing that his second son was alive, everyone would be happy.

His older brother would probably be furious to hit him, and Wei Su-ryeon might be moaning. His mother would naturally be delighted.

– Father, well, what does it matter to him?

Even if they met again, Wei Jeong-han would no doubt begin to lecture Wei Yan-ho in a matter of days.

It was obvious without seeing it!

Then we’d better meet as soon as possible, but…

‘I miss them.’

Wei Yan-ho’s eyes became distant.

Still, they were people who, despite calling him his lazy son, prepared meals for him every day, took care of him and comforted him…

Before meeting the demon, he did not know its value, but the five years spent in the cave had taught Wei Yan-ho the value of the family.

‘When I come home this time, I should try to be less lazy.’

He would not dream of the absurd dream of living as a normal person, but he thought he should at least live a little more diligently.

“Would you be happy then?”

What are you muttering about alone?!

Jin So-ah had returned with water and offered it to Wei Yan-ho. Wei Yan-ho looked at her with a surprise face.

“Simply direct…”

“It’s cold water!”

Jin So-ah interrupted Wei Yan-ho’s words and offered him cold water.

Wei Yan-ho took cold water without saying a word and drank it.

“Ah!”

When the cold water came down, all the thoughts about the family and everything else instantly disappeared.

“Then…”

Wei Yan-ho placed the bowl of water on the table and looked at Gang Cheon-rip and Dokbi.

“What do I need to do?”

Gang Cheon-rip retreated. “From now on, the domain was Dokbi.

– That’s not for me to decide. You should decide, right?

Dokbi opened his mouth with a confident attitude.

Any betting game is fine. Choose the guy.

“Oooh.”

The crowd he observed admired Dokbi’s audacity.

How many types of gambling are there in the world? Dozens, hundreds of gambling games are being played right now. However, I was telling your opponent to choose the type.

It was an attitude that radiated confidence in his mastery of any betting game that might arise.

“To me?”

“That’s right.”

Wei Yan-ho bowed his head.

As if he was reflecting on something, Wei Yan-ho slowly scratched his chin and only after a long time finally spoke.

“But I don’t know any gambling games.”

“You… you don’t know how to play?”

“No. This is also my first time here today…

Dokbi’s eyes trembled as if an earthquake had occurred.

Is this your first time in a gambling house today?

Then he went to a gambling house for the first time, bet, won ten consecutive games to the yin-yang, and now he was sitting in front of him…

‘Is he a god of the game?’

Unless a deity had descended from the game, such a thing would not be possible.

– Don’t lie, do you think I’ll let my guard down for that?

If you don’t want to believe it, don’t.

Dokbi examined Wei Yan-ho’s expression with a bitter face.

‘It doesn’t look like a lie…’

Anxiety slowly began to take over Dokbi.