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CHAPTER 39: Gambling with luck
Dorias, looked like a theme park with a fantasy theme. The buildings styled like medieval village houses and castles. The roads were paved with smooth cobblestones and it seemed to be a place that never sleeps. They could hearing cheering and ruckus around every corner. The city was a place of addiction, and dopamine. Everyone was born to crave, it was one of the foundational pillars of creation, and they were capitalizing on it.
"Let's get going!" Gon ran forward, nearly colliding with a group of players stumbling out of what appeared to be a tavern.
The gambling city was up to its brim with various casinos, slot machines, and games available for every player to enjoy. And while Gon was eager to explore the new places with a childish glimmer, Killua was looking mischievous. Then Sakura remembered their bet in Yorknew and how Killua loved playing high-stakes games. So much so, he was in the lead for winning the bet for about two days before he threw it all away on a single game. He said that was just the roll of the dice.
"Bisky, you said there was an event in town to get a card, right?" Sakura queried.
"Of course, there are actually a few, but one of them is winning in a slot machine…."
Killua's eyes lit up like diamonds, and Sakura grimaced at the sight, thinking of a white cat staring at a mouse.
'Great….'
..
..
'This place would've been a dream come true for Tsunade-sama,' Sakura thought. Her ears rang with the sound of slot machines and the clinking of metal that made that special sound every time a handle was pulled. Even with a full house and the sound of endless noise from the other players, freely voicing their disappointment or cheering themselves on as they stared at the roll of the machine.
Personally, Sakura didn't like the concept of gambling. Tsunade, one of the legendary sannin, was a shameless addict, with a nickname that had attached to her like slug slime, and she refused to wash it off despite her 99 percent loss rate and debt that had racked up in her name. It had even affected her work as Hokage. Sometimes, having Sakura take to the gates so she could chase off debt collectors, because as the hokage's apprentice, that was apparently also part of her job.
She cringed as she heard another slot machine run, reminding her of all the times she had to pull her master away from it with Shizune. Not exactly an easy feat, often painful for her after Tsunade sobered up enough to realize she had interfered with her losing streak.
"The odds of winning once are only 0.01 percent," Biscuit said, pulling Sakura from her unpleasant memories. She stood with her arms crossed, surveying the slot machines, the eager faces convinced that they would be drawing the lucky number. "That's one in 10,000 tries. One try costs 50 Jenny,"
Gon frowned, attempting to do the mental math, until Sakura poked between his brows to loosen the grip.
Sakura did her own calculations quickly. It was a mathematically terrible proposition, designed to drain players dry while dangling the possibility of a big win just out of reach.
"The chances of winning are very low, don't you think?" Biscuit asked.
Killua held his chin, "The risk is too big….mmr risk!" He raised his head, turning to Gon. "The dice!"
Sakura got to that finish line before Gon, "You're not serious."
But Killua was already fidgeting with the Risky Dice in his hands, turning it over and over as he reread the description card. "The chances of rolling bad luck are low. There's only one slot marked with it out of twenty faces."
"No," Sakura said in a commanding tone.
"What?" Killua looked confused by her vehemence.
"I know what you're thinking. You're going to use the Risky Dice to play the slots and win." She stepped forward, positioning herself between Killua and the nearest slot machine. "It's a bad idea."
"The odds of losing are stupid low-just one try," Killua insisted, sidestepping around her, but she grabbed his arm, he tugged back, and they started to struggle. Sakura was about to take hold of Killua's fist, clenched with the risky dice, while the young assassin had bravely grabbed a chunk of her hair.
"Don't fight!" Gon exclaimed.
"I swear, Killua, I will haul you out of here,"
"I'd like to see you try-
"Enough!" Soon they both felt a throbbing in the back of their skulls, travelling down their spines. They released each other. Killua took this chance to throw the dice. He arrived at the slot machine, tossing the dice. It clattered and bounced, tumbling end over end before finally settling. The face showed a symbol-Perfect Luck.
Killua was sure to give Sakura a cheeky look back over his shoulder before he pulled for the slots. Gon, Sakura, and Biscuit all held their breath, frozen in place as if moving might somehow jinx the outcome.
The reels spun in a blur of colors and symbols,cherries, bars, sevens, diamonds. The mechanical sound built to a crescendo, then began to slow. The first reel stopped on a seven. Then the second. The third seemed to take an eternity before finally landing on the third seven.
The machine erupted like a celebration. Lights flashed, sirens wailed, and a triumphant jingle played at ear-splitting volume. It attracted the attention of players throughout the massive casino floor, heads turning, conversations stopping mid-sentence.
A card materialized in the winner's slot. Killua plucked it out, holding it up for them to see. "Rainbow Diamond. A-rank, limited to three copies in the entire game." He looked back at his companions with that insufferable smugness. "As I thought, the dice is the key to winning in this town."
Sakura cracked her neck, "This isn't a good idea."
Biscuit agreed, "If you rolled bad luck, it would be terrible."
"That's why I'm giving you this, Gon." Killua handed over the Rainbow Diamond, then reached into his card book and pulled out two more. "I'll also hand over these two cards I have, just in case I get unlucky. At least I've avoided losing any cards that way."
While this may have seemed tactically sound, Sakura recognized that this was also risk management that would allow him to keep gambling. 'That little sneak,'
"I'm more worried about you than the cards," Gon was earnest, but Killua refused to be moved.
"Yeah, come on, Killua. We don't want something to happen to you. The dice doesn't just affect the games; it affects you directly. We don't know what the consequences could be."
"There's only a 5% chance of bad luck," Killua said, brushing his nose. "Besides, what's the worst that could happen?"
The room shook, and the smell of smoke reached their noses along with the rattling of an explosion. They peered over, finding the source of smoke, thick and suffocating, coming out of a slot machine not too far from where Killua was operating his own.
Through the haze, Sakura could see a man slumped over the machine. The acrid smell of burnt flesh began to permeate the room. His face had all but burnt away. Despite the horror, onlookers couldn't help but gather at the morbid sight.
"This is terrible,"
"The slot machine exploded right in front of that guy's face."
"That's odd," a spectator nearby said, "He got the jackpot five times in a row. The guy was really weird, mumbling 'just once more' over and over again to himself."
Biscuit, Gon, and Sakura did a double-take between Killua and the dice in his hand.
"Killua," Sakura said, "You'd better stop now."
However there was no fear found in Killua's expression, instesad he seemed rather enthralled. "Just one more time, I know how to role dice,"
"But-
He zipped past his friends, already spotting a new game to try, the prize, of course, a new card.
"I forgot Killua has a gambling problem too," Sakura muttered under her breath, pinching the bridge of her nose hard enough to hurt.
Regardless of their pleas and chasing him around the casino, Killua kept pushing to play, using the Risky Dice, even after they had insisted he at least try to keep his rolling to a minimum. Killua ended up playing and winning a game of poker against the casino king.
Sakura, Gon, and Biscuit watched from the sidelines as Killua systematically dismantled the casino king's confidence.
"All in," Killua said calmly, pushing his chips to the center of the table. The casino king folded, and Killua revealed his hand, a royal flush.
They earned another card: the Fleeing Gambler, which would let them escape bad situations by automatically teleporting to the nearest town. Another restricted slot card filled.
"Fine, but don't use those dice again," Gon said firmly as they left the private room, relief evident in his voice now.
Killua, on the other hand, was still riding high on his victory horse and wanted to go another lap, "Just one more-
Thankfully, Biscuit was no longer tolerable, "Enough."
She appeared behind Killua and chopped at the back of his neck to induce immediate unconsciousness. Sakura caught him and shifted him onto her back.
"Sometimes he's so much trouble,"
"Huh?" Gon looked confused. As if the idea of Killua being in trouble had genuinely never occurred to him.
Biscuit nodded, "It's tough being the only girl, huh? Having to be the responsible one while the boys do stupid things."
"You have no idea." She adjusted Killua's weight across her shoulders.
"Let's get to the next town before he wakes up."
..
..
..
Games only got harder as the player progressed and leveled up, but Gon, Sakura, and Killua were taking on the challenges like it was a carnival with endless rides and no curfew. Biscuit was enjoying seeing her efforts shine through her new disciples. Even with the ease that allowed them to keep behaving like children. Regardless of the perils.
The four stared at their reflections coming off the clear water, shimmering like crystal; the surface could've been mistaken for glass if it wasn't for the breeze distorting their images. Gon poked his head underneath to look around. He stayed down for a good minute.
"I think we've got the right place," Gon said. "I saw the statues the diver master mentioned,"
For their next card, they had to explore the ruins of a city that had apparently been sunk underwater and retrieve a gold lamp. If they gave it to the dive master, then he'd give them their next card. Only it was deep, and the place was like a maze.
"Didn't he say something about a guardian?" Sakura asked, glancing around, but the area was quiet.
"Probably down there," Biscuit pointed. "Good luck,"
They dove in together. Swimming towards the bottom, it was another sight to behold, rays of sunlight touching them, as schools of fish swam past, the surface still very visible above their heads. But there was something more. Hidden beneath kelp and seaweed, stone statues are wrapped up and grown, feeding the ecosystem down here.
Gon pointed his friends to another he saw out in the distance. And they followed that trail for another few minutes, trying to keep calm and steady as they held their breath. After passing seven statues, they finally found what they were looking for, down below, the ruins of an underground city. It was more archaic than what they had on the surface, but they could still be determined as stone buildings, arches, and entrance ways with few walls and fewer ceilings.
Killua pointed down, and they dove further. The dip in temperature was almost instantaneous. Fish scattered from their path, not normal fish, Sakura realized, but constructed creatures with impossible colors in certain light.
They were soon exploring from the top, using Gyo, and with his already advanced vision, Gon was the first to wave and indicate that he had found something. The three swam, following Gon's direction and hoping that his intuition was correct.
Through the little air bubbles from the corner of her mouth, something in the distance made Sakura stop. She saw a shadow growing in the distance, coming out of the murky fog of the water and heading towards them. Soon, she was ducking to avoid jaws that nearly snapped around her. She met the eyes of a giant eel. She jostled; it was a little too close to a snake for comfort.
'Don't tell me it's an electric eel.' It certainly had the build of one.
Gon and Killua were already trying to turn around, but Sakura waved back at them, pointing back. Their lungs were strong, but they wouldn't be able to last like this forever, and it would affect their fighting.
Sakura made a cut sign and pointed in two directions; they understood, divide and conquer. Killua pointed to himself, then at the serpent. Sakura nodded.
They had to wave Gon off, watching him pout; he would've argued if his voice could travel underwater, and they would've reminded him that he had the best visual prowess of the three and already found a lead to follow.
The eel swam away, practically sprinting into the water like it had a current on its back, and vanishing into the dark. Of course, this was the way of predators when they hunt. However, it had chosen the wrong prey, and that's something they were looking forward to showing off.
Sakura glanced around, left, right, forward, and behind, and then she looked down. Deep yellow eyes, just staring back through the depths. For others, that would be a moment that everything would freeze, reality would fall, and they'd get a flash of their life as fear gripped them by the throat. Sakura just smirked.
Then bubbles gathered as it burst forward. Its jaw is wide open. She didn't throw the final attack; she didn't even move. The attack came from its side, and Killua emerged like a jet, delivering a powerful blow that knocked the monster down. It turned into a card, floating away.
Killua gestured for them to go after Gon, but they saw he was already coming back, using his legs only to do the swimming as his hands were occupied with a large gold lamp.
They broke the surface together, taking in gulps of air.
"We got it!" Gon said, holding up the item.
They went to the diver master to return the item, and that's when he took the vase, thanked them, and was taken into a puff of smoke, leaving behind a single card. Fickle Genie.
When 'gained', this card summons forth a fickle genie. He will grant you three wishes, but you first need to suggest 1,000 different ones, and he will pick which three to make come true.
Biscuit frowned at that, because while the thought of having all your wishes granted, going through those terms and conditions would be time-consuming. "In other words, you first need to come up with 1,000 different wishes, each one different from the rest. The genie will then pick three of these to grant. How is that fair?"
"I know, right? But I bet if you used the Risky dice-
Sakura snatched the card from Killua and handed it to Gon, "Don't even go there."
..
..
Their next quest took them out into a desert area, with air distorting heat waves, and a constant dryness in your throat, no matter how many times you drank. According to their information, somewhere in this vast wasteland was a treasure buried that held another S-rank card.
"The chest is buried somewhere in a hundred-square-mile area," Biscuit explained, "Previous players have spent weeks searching."
"Weeks?" Gon looked dismayed.
Killua was already thinking tactically. "We need to narrow down the search area."
"I think I can handle this one," Sakura knelt in the sand, letting her chakra sense extend outward. It was a technique that extended from her medical jutsu. Like an X-ray machine, without the need for the equipment, she thought about how it was used on patients to examine their internal structures with chakra and thoughta bout applying it in espionage.
"Wait," she said, feeling something. "There's an unusual concentration of Nen energy about two miles northeast. It's faint, but consistent."
They set off across the dunes, and within minutes, before the sun was starting to set, they found it. A small stone marker, easily missed, with symbols carved into its surface.
"It's a puzzle," Killua said, studying the symbols. "Some kind of directional code."
Biscuit took it, reminding everyone that she was a treasure hunter. "It's not a map, it's an instruction set. We need to walk in specific directions from this point."
They followed the encoded instructions: fifty paces north, thirty west, fifteen south, seventy east. The pattern seemed random, but Biscuit was able to decipher it. Finally, they reached a spot that looked identical to every other patch of desert around them.
"Here," Biscuit pointed without hesitation. "Start digging."
"Let's get this over with before it gets dark," Sakura said, opening her binder to grab a shovel.
With the three of them working together, they had unearthed the chest in a few short minutes, despite digging so deeply that the air had grown cool. They actually picked up after hitting something solid amongst the soft sand. They wiped off the dirt and pulled out what looked like a treasure chest.
The chest opened, revealing a golden book and a dictionary. It turned into a card, revealing to be an S-Rank. "Golden Dictionary,"
Gon smiled as he placed it into his restricted slots, "We have another S-rank."
The three shared a high five before climbing out of the sand, ready to go on their next adventure and collect their next card.
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