Silence returned to the cosmos — the uneasy kind that hums after a storm.
The House of Odds slowly rebuilt itself, each card rejoining the infinite deck, each chip finding its way back to probability's hand.
Rex floated there, suspended on a table of light, still catching his breath. Lia hovered beside him, quiet, the faint red in her eyes pulsing like a heartbeat.
"Did we… win?" she asked softly.
Rex smirked. "Define win."
Before she could answer, a ripple of laughter spilled across the void.
"You survived. That's… statistically interesting."
The Dealer appeared.
No grand flourish this time — just a slow, deliberate entrance. A man-shaped silhouette of cards and smoke, his mask cracked down the middle, showing a glimpse of something human beneath.
Rex groaned. "If this is another pop quiz, I'm dropping out."
"Oh, Rex," the Dealer purred. "If this were a quiz, you'd have already failed. This is… a consultation."
He snapped his fingers.
Reality folded.
The stars bled into velvet, the floor turned to polished obsidian, and a thousand candles lit themselves with ghostly flame. A massive table stretched before them — infinite, like a casino that never ended.
"Welcome to the Velvet Table," said the Dealer. "My private corner of the House. No bets. No witnesses. No escape clauses."
Lia stiffened. "This is restricted space. Even upper-level Dealers need clearance."
"Yes," he said smoothly, "and you, my dear, are no longer on their clearance list."
Her face paled. "What do you mean?"
"The system flagged you for emotional contamination." He tapped his mask. "Falling in love with a mortal, rewriting your code — tsk. The Auditors didn't come for Rex. They came for you."
Rex frowned. "Hold up. So she was the target?"
"Of course. You were the weapon. A very unpredictable one."
The Dealer leaned back, grin gleaming. "Tell me, Wildcard — do you even know what you've done?"
Rex crossed his arms. "Made the universe interesting?"
"You've bent the axis of probability around emotion. Fate doesn't calculate love — it avoids it. Yet your link with Lia created a paradox. The House's code couldn't decide whether to delete you or… bet on you."
He raised a card, spinning it between his fingers. On one side was Rex. On the other — Lia.
The card flipped endlessly.
"That's what you are now. A two-faced gamble. Heads and tails in the same breath."
Rex's smirk faded. "So what now? You going to erase us?"
"Erase you?" The Dealer chuckled darkly. "Oh no. I'm not your executioner, Rex. I'm your investor."
Lia's eyes widened. "Investor?"
"Yes. The House doesn't destroy potential profit. It cultivates it. And you two… are the biggest long-shot bet it's ever seen."
He leaned forward, voice dripping with theatrical gravity.
"You're being entered into The High Table Trials. The games where gods, devils, and cosmic empires gamble their universes for fun."
Lia's voice trembled. "That's suicide. Mortals aren't allowed beyond Tier-Three Tables!"
"He's not mortal anymore." The Dealer pointed to Rex. "The moment he synchronized with you, he stepped out of human probability."
Rex scratched the back of his neck. "So, basically, I broke your casino, kissed your assistant, and now I'm invited to the big leagues?"
"Precisely."
"...Cool."
"Cool?" the Dealer repeated, almost offended.
Rex shrugged. "Hey, I've been broke, dead, and statistically irrelevant. This is an upgrade."
Lia gave him a sharp look. "You're taking this way too well."
He grinned. "What can I say? I play to win."
The Dealer stood, his shadow stretching across the room.
"Then listen carefully, Wildcard. From this point on, every victory, every kiss, every heartbeat — the House will be watching. You're not just playing for survival anymore. You're playing for ownership of your odds."
He waved his hand, and a golden interface appeared in front of Rex:
[New Directive: Enter The High Table]
Condition: Earn 100 Recognition Points before the next Lunar Cycle.
Reward: Access to The Universal Shop — Tier 2 Permissions.
Bonus: One Wild Bet Token (Redeemable for any single impossibility).
The golden light dimmed. Lia looked at Rex, her voice low. "You understand what this means, right? The moment you sit at that table… you'll be gambling against gods."
Rex met her gaze — half-smile, half-serious. "Then let's make them nervous."
The Dealer chuckled softly, turning away.
"Careful, Wildcard. The gods love to bet on mortals who think they can win."
He snapped his fingers again, and the velvet world shattered.
In an instant, Rex and Lia were back in the main hall of the House of Odds — the music, laughter, and clinking chips resuming as if nothing had happened.
But above them, the lights flickered once — and every gambler on the floor paused, feeling something new in the air.
A shift.
A challenge.
A new name whispered through the crowd.
"The Wildcard who broke the Dealer's Table."
Lia turned to Rex, eyes soft but uncertain. "You really don't know when to stop, do you?"
Rex smirked. "Stop? I'm just getting good at this."
[System Notice]
Recognition Points: 50 / 100 (Mid-Cycle Progress)
Next Table Access: The Universal Shop – Tier 2
Warning: Emotional link approaching full synchronization. Emotional instability may cause shared dreams.
And somewhere deep within the system, the Dealer watched the data unfold — smiling faintly as he whispered to himself:
"Go on, Wildcard. Break the House again… I dare you."