Wu Chang smoothly said, "My brother Gambler, playing cards is no fun. Shall we gamble on something?"
Gambler's eyes darted, targeting the potato in Wu Chang's pocket. He licked his lips and smiled:
"Let's not play too big at the start, just bet on your breakfast, how about it? If I lose, tomorrow's breakfast is yours."
Wu Chang immediately agreed, "No problem."
Gambler became interested, his bear paw-like heavy hands displaying dexterity unexpected from their appearance.
The playing cards danced between his hands, quickly shuffling and cutting, the patterns on the card backs shifting like a fast-changing kaleidoscope, dizzying anyone who watched.
"Blackjack, Belote, Sheepshead, noble play, city play, or countryside play, how do you want to play?"
Wu Chang didn't understand the games Gambler mentioned. After a brief hesitation, he said, "Let's keep it simple, just compare sizes."
Gambler's expression turned strange, was he unclear? His nickname was "Lucky Gambler" after all.
"As you wish."
Gambler confirmed the rules with Wu Chang, who, looking like an addictive gambler, nodded perfunctorily and urged the game to start.
He only needed the game to begin; winning or losing didn't matter.
While Gambler confirmed the rules and shuffled the deck, Wu Chang kept his eye on the large red resentment behind Gambler.
The twenty or so resentments Gambler carried all came from players.
Such a spectacular track record would make him an elite mob capable of killing novices in a game. Like a certain tree guard that deterred countless players, or a particular big cat vanguard that fed up on monkey heads.
Among the many resentments, two player death methods stood out: losing everything at the gambling table, being dragged out late at night by Gambler as if they were caught stealing chickens.
In debt collection mode, Gambler would enter a special state, making players almost completely unable to resist. As soon as they're dragged out, they die on the spot due to an inexplicable force.
This showcased Gambler's ability to act at night.
The second common death scenario was realizing Gambler's uniqueness and trying to use high attribute values to take him down head-on.
But Gambler would only appear in the activity room during the day, and if attacked there, he would dodge while calling for help.
At this point, four to five nurses with machetes would appear, teaching the troublemaking player what true values are.
Anyone who's played RPGs knows that even if you control an invincible character, with kings requesting your help, the city guards can still end you in two blows.
What interested Wu Chang was the unique cause of death of the owner of the big red resentment, unlike the two mentioned, quite innovative.
He directly gambled himself to death at the table.
The owner of the big red resentment was a pure gambler, covered with tattoos of dragons, even his skills and items leaned towards gambling.
His superb gambling skills allowed him to notice Gambler's cheating from the first glance.
The cards had special inspirational marks, visible with a few small tricks.
So he went along, controlling the field and luring Gambler to keep raising the stakes.
Until the end, he pretended to go crazy, taking out a contract to gamble his life with Gambler.
If successful, he could directly control Gambler, the key NPC.
Unfortunately, gambling is mostly deceitful. Gambler had hidden another trick, using techniques beyond the gambler's comprehension, causing him to lose the supposedly unwinnable game.
Under the contract, the gambler was killed on the spot, dying at the gambling table.
As an experienced gambler, the owner of the resentment's blood-colored will was quite distinctive.
[Defeat Gambler at the gambling table or expose Gambler's cheating techniques.]
Dying in the instance, his greatest obsession in life was about gambling. It's hard to say if he should be praised for his pure love, or if his death was not unjust.
Wu Chang, as someone who always needed to rely on the pity of luck to get anything, was quite confident in his luck, swiftly losing his breakfast in a minute.
Lasting a minute was only because Gambler spent fifty seconds shuffling to show off his hand skills.
The win came so easily that even Gambler, used to winning, was a bit stunned. He looked across the table at Wu Chang, momentarily speechless.
Could this kid really not be delusional, but actually an idiot?
Gambler packed up the cards on the table, feeling a retreat was in order.
Mom always said not to play with fools.
"Brother Sean, if you can't come up with more to bet, let's call it a day."
"Wait, don't rush." Wu Chang pressed down on the cards on the table, then turned to the nurse on patrol and whispered something.
Two minutes later, Julie jogged into the activity room. Seeing the lively Wu Chang and then looking at Gambler across from him, her cold expression wavered, showing dissatisfaction.
"What is it?"
Wu Chang, like a child seeing a guardian arrive, quickly stood up, hiding behind Julie, and then yelled loudly enough for the entire room to hear:
"He cheated!"
In an instant, the entire activity room fell silent, with all eyes on Gambler.
The entire sanatorium, including the medical staff, had more or less lost something to Gambler.
If it was luck, they could handle losing, but if Gambler's wins were due to cheating, he was in trouble.
Moonlight Sanatorium is located in a rural town, a place where the people are honest and straightforward. They wouldn't make a fuss over table cheating, just cut off hands and feet instead.
Gambler's expression stiffened, his mouth twitching, "Brother Sean, you have to accept your loss, you can't just falsely accuse someone."
Wu Chang hunched over, completely hiding behind Julie, confirmed again, "You did cheat just now."
Gambler's eyes became serious, anger showing on his Buddha-like kindly face.
He was enraged more by Wu Chang's questioning of his gambling skills than the accusation of cheating.
Against a rookie like Wu Chang, he could win with his eyes closed. Why cheat?
"I did not! Everyone in the sanatorium has checked my cards; there's no issue whatsoever."
Wu Chang pointed at the cards on the table, shouting, "Your cards are marked! If you take three special medicines at once, you can see the marks."
Swallowing a day's supply of medicine in one go would be difficult to prove elsewhere, but here at Moonlight Sanatorium, nobody was normal.
As soon as he spoke, the patients in the activity room didn't hesitate, stuffing medicine into their mouths as they surrounded the table.
Facing the swarm of patients like zombies, Gambler's anger froze on his face, hurriedly packing the cards, not daring to let others see them.
He looked at Wu Chang hiding behind Julie, his eyes full of anger and grievance.
Hunting geese daily, only to have a goose peck at his eye.
Unexpectedly, the new kid was feigning ignorance, actually seeing through his cheating at a glance, and ruthlessly exposing him publicly.
Beyond anger, he also felt incredibly wronged by Wu Chang's actions.
If he had truly been caught cheating, so be it, but he hadn't; being falsely accused felt tremendously frustrating.
Ignoring Wu Chang's settling of accounts, he turned to explain to the patients looking at him with unfriendly expressions.
"The markings on the card back weren't made by me. A friend used my cards to demonstrate how to cheat. After watching, I realized cheating wasn't for me, so I refused my friend's offer and stored the cards away. Leaving in a hurry today, I packed the wrong deck, leading to Brother Sean's misunderstanding."
Gambler firmly declared, "I, Gambler, did not cheat!"
Such a perfunctory excuse wouldn't fool even the patients at Moonlight Sanatorium, and soon they were embroiled in a lively scuffle.
The medical staff responsible for maintaining order collectively turned their backs, ignoring the chaos in the activity room.
Watching the big red resentment on Gambler dissipate, Wu Chang's attribute panel and personal space changed.
The reward for completing the blood-colored will was received.
Though Wu Chang wanted to taunt Gambler further, now was not the time; the fish had bitten the hook, and he needed to proceed with the next step.
He peeked out from behind Julie, regret on his face, saying:
"Brother Gambler, from my personal perspective, I'm willing to believe in your character. How about we make time for another game? If you win, I'll trust I misunderstood, and you weren't cheating earlier."
Gambler's face lit up with joy, disregarding the rain of punches on his face, shouting, "Now?"
Wu Chang's face showed a friendly smile, "No, I want to play your favorite private game. You know the time and place."