The genius gambler
A Novel
The Novel
I've always wondered: How can a person admire a character who doesn't exist?
How can they cry with them, cheer them on, blame them, and love them... to the point of becoming obsessed? But I understand it now.
It was the first time a book truly captured my attention. I was ten years old then, and the book had been released three years prior. No, I won't say:
"Hiii, I was one of the first readers!"
Because that's not true. But what I can say with confidence is that I was one of the genuinely obsessed readers.
I became attached to everything about it: its characters, its events, and even its descriptions of places.
I loved the hero and the villain, and even the gray ones in between. I memorized the details of the locations by heart, because when the author described them, they felt completely real.
The story seemed simple at first, or so I imagined. It was like a small iceberg floating on the sea, but once you dive in, you discover a massive mountain of depth and beauty beneath.
The series spoke of a world that had been divided into four sections four thousand years ago, by a group of people. Who they were, and why they did it?
No one knows yet, and that's one of the secrets I hope the author will reveal in the fifth installment.
And when I say "divided," I mean it in every sense of the word, for the barriers between the sections were real; no one could cross them, not even the strongest of the strong, let alone ordinary humans.
Each volume of the series was dedicated to one of these worlds:
The first for the East, the second for the West, the third for the South, and the fourth for the North. And the events unfolded in the same timeframe, as if you were reading four different novels in one world. The highly anticipated fifth installment... would be different.
Because, as the rumor goes, the barrier would finally be broken. No one knows what will happen after that, but everyone knows the world will never be the same.
That's why we were insanely excited. I was trembling with both excitement and fear, because I didn't want this world, where I had lived half my life, to end. And perhaps we were hoping that our characters—both heroes and villains—would find a happy ending.
Their world was harsh, with no place for the weak. That's what I thought at first, but later I discovered that neither a hero nor a villain can escape greed and pride.
And perhaps, instead of showing us a good hero, the author wanted to show us how the world can create a villain.
And perhaps I only learned two things from that series:
That Good and Evil are not perpetual opposites, but twins born from the very womb of the world.
You are the one who decides who the hero or the villain of your story will be; if you think this person is a villain, someone else thinks they are a hero.
Oh, but of course, every rule has an exception. I chuckled a little as I remembered some of the crazy characters.
"Oh, Louian, you look so excited you're smiling at thin air!" I heard Louis's voice address me with slight sarcasm. The corners of my mouth lifted with obvious enthusiasm.
"Of course I'm excited about the ending! I mean, we already have thousands of theories, or more, about it."
I said, looking through the window at the road. We were very close to arriving.
"I hope it's a happy one, and that the remaining characters live happily, and that the story doesn't end with everyone dead. Imagine that! All the main characters die, with no happiness or any of that nonsense."
I heard Yona say this, looking cynical. It was as if it were a wish... but it felt more like a curse!
"Hey, don't say that, Yona! We're waiting on pins and needles for the ending. I bet the ending will be, at the very least, mmm... they live?"
Ivan yelled at her, his expression semi-convinced.
"Forget it for now, here we are, about to arrive. Wake up Liam." It was Maliss, still wearing her dark sunglasses, about to reach the store.
"Hii! Are you saying Liam didn't witness Maliss's crazy moment?" Louis shouted, raising both eyebrows in surprise.
"...No, he witnessed it. A crazy idea, Maliss, and a great jump."
Liam yawned, giving a thumbs-up to Maliss, who proudly touched her sunglasses.
"Forget the jump, she almost killed us!" Luca muttered sarcastically, looking through the window.
My eyes remained glued to the window, watching the houses and stores approach and recede. Most were dark; even the billboards were asleep, as if filing a lawsuit saying it was too early to light up. We felt our approach, and then...
The bus rounded the last corner, and the moment the store front was revealed, our breath froze in our chests.
"My God...!" Maliss's quiet gasp was the only sound audible.
It was a sight that couldn't be comprehended.
The people. They were endless, stretching behind the street corners, like an unstoppable human river. They were wrapped around the store, packed in the street, extended lines reminiscent of a giant snake waiting for its prey.
Every face carried the same look: insane anticipation, wild excitement, and exhaustion from waiting in the early morning hours. This was the end, and all these people had come to watch it begin.
Silence fell... it was a heavy silence, heavier than the excitement itself, because it was a shock... the shock of realizing it wasn't just a book; it was an event. It was a pulse shared by thousands of people for ten years.
"This... this is crazy. I thought we were early." Louian said, his face a mix of excitement and astonishment.
"Look! Someone came in a costume! And in this cold!" Louis's eyes were wide as he pointed to a person dressed as one of the story's characters.
"The street looks so much brighter than the rest. Look, someone is selling sweets and hot cocoa here. Let's buy something."
Ivan spoke, his eyes on the candy store.
"Oh God, I see sleeping bags and coffee... they slept here. I bet the first people in line arrived before yesterday's sunset." Yona looked at the people in amazement.
"So what do we do now?" Luca asked, looking at us one by one, hoping one of us had a plan.
Silence lingered for a few extra moments, but it wasn't just a silence of realization, it was a silence of planning.
The small bus was now parked a suitable distance from the crowds, like a rescue island overlooking a raging ocean.
"Okay..." Maliss began, pushing her sunglasses up onto her head, revealing her eyes which were gleaming with insane determination.
"Plan B."
Luca looked at her anxiously, the corner of his mouth twitching.
"We don't have a 'Plan B,' Maliss. The only plan was to arrive at least half an hour early."
"Plan B is improvisation."
Liam said with a sleepy smile, pointing to the narrow alley next to the bookstore that barely fit one person. "The street is completely closed. But look at the alley. And from there..." He turned back toward the store. "There's a back door for deliveries. I know because of the time our uncle gave me a gift card for my birthday."
"Are you suggesting we sneak in?"
Louis asked, hand on his jaw in thought.
"Liam, these people slept here. This is a blasphemy of enthusiasm!"
Ivan said nervously, looking at him.
"This is fair competition, Ivan! Do you want to wait in a line that stretches three blocks while the book is sold right in front of your eyes?"
Yona retorted sharply, her eyes gleaming with the same resolve. Yona was the most obsessed with a "happy ending" that was worth reaching for.
"I'm with you, Liam. But let's do it intelligently. We have to merge with the crowd first, and then diverge."
I said, looking thoughtfully at the street and the alley.
"I agree too." Maliss said excitedly, putting her sunglasses back on.
"Okay, as Louian said, let's do it smartly."
Ivan finally agreed, looking at the crowd piled up at the door.
Then we all turned to Luca, who was in an unenviable position. I sensed him wrestling between desire and logic, then he took a breath, and the look in his eyes changed to determination and strength, and he said:
"I bet I can get you in and out without anyone noticing."
Silence fell again, but this time it wasn't the silence of realization or worry, but the silence of full attention.
Luca had always been the voice of reason; he was the logic, calm, and discipline, but he had a special name, famous among young and old, which was the Genius Gambler. Whenever he bet on something, it meant he was the winner.
I remember him betting on one of the horses in a race and it won in the end.
I remember he was five at the time, and the matter escalated until people started betting on what he bet on, and he never lost a bet. But the most amusing thing is that he is a genius in the truest sense of the word.
Luca wasn't just a rational person; he was the Genius Gambler.
His fame wasn't built on luck, but on a near-superhuman ability to analyze factors, calculate risks, and exploit loopholes that others didn't see. And when Luca used the phrase:
"I bet I can..."
That bet meant he already had a meticulously crafted plan that went beyond mere sneaking.
The tension in the bus escalated. Louis looked at him with a mix of skepticism and admiration, then asked:
"You're betting our university careers, Luca. This bet isn't on a horse race; it's on one book... and seven lives. What's the plan?"
Luca looked at the crowds; he didn't see people waiting, he saw a system, a series of logical errors and predictable movements.
"The plan is simple, and it relies on two weaknesses in a crowd of enthusiasts," Luca began in his calm voice that carried absolute confidence.
"All these people have one goal: to enter through the front door and buy the book. Their maximum focus is directed forward. This means anything that happens on the periphery, or any distraction from their immediate goal, will be ignored or considered a fleeting annoyance."
"The distraction?" Maliss wondered.
"The sleeping bags and coffee, as Yona noticed, indicate that the first people in line arrived before sunset. This means there's a sense of acquired order, and everyone is waiting for the door to be opened with some respect. Respect is our weakness."
Luca waved his hand toward the dark alley that barely fit two people together, which Liam had pointed out.
"Liam was right. The alley and the back door are the way. But we won't storm it like this..."
Then he turned to me and said:
"Louian, you will lead. You'll go out first quietly and head to the adjacent candy store. Ivan, you'll follow Louian shortly after. We'll buy time for the others."
"How is that?"
I asked curiously, my face showing surprise.
"As soon as you approach the adjacent store, you'll start screaming. It's okay to be overly dramatic. Louian, scream as if you've just discovered that a special edition of the book is being sold exclusively at that small store. Don't worry, the store owner will be surprised at first, but once people go in there and realize there was no book, do you think people who have been without food for a long time will leave without buying something?!"
Louis's eyes widened, and he laughed softly.
"What an emotional distraction! You'll shift the focus from the original store!"
"Not everyone," Luca quickly continued,
"But a sufficient part of the back and side rows will move to check, fearing they'll miss the opportunity. They'll think the store is trying to sell the book unfairly, and they'll run to catch the alleged opportunity."
The Five-Movement Plan
Movement 1: Louian and Ivan (The Distraction) – You two get out now, pretending to be part of the crowd. Move quickly to the candy store and start screaming about the "limited exclusive edition" loudly. Wear dark sunglasses and hats so your identities aren't revealed, and make sure to blend in and get out quickly.
Movement 2: Yona (Crowd Monitoring) – You stay in the back. Your task is to monitor how many heads start to turn toward the candy store. Once the congestion in the corner of the alley lessens, you whisper to Maliss via the communication ring.
Movement 3: Maliss and Liam (The Breach) – As soon as Yona signals, you two quietly and quickly sneak towards the alley, pretending to look for something lost on the ground to blend into the scene.
Movement 4: Louis (The Follower) – You wait for Maliss and Liam's signal via the headset. After a minute, you exit and follow them directly through the alley, you and Yona, pretending that your money fell there.
Movement 5: I (The Cover) – I will stay in the bus. My task is to pretend the bus lights are not working correctly and are flashing on them to provide an additional visual distraction for a fraction of a second. Ivan and Louian should use this moment to quickly exit the store and enter the alley. When everyone is finished, I will enter after you by sneaking between the people. And for your information, we must get out five minutes before entering the store, or we will be exposed, meaning we have fifteen minutes.
Silence fell again, but this time it was the silence of preparing for battle.
Yona looked at Luca with admiration and astonishment, her eyes sparkling with excitement, then she said:
"This is organized chaos. I like organized chaos."
I grabbed my backpack and felt the adrenaline surge. Then I said:
"Well, it's good that our family is traveling. If they were here, we would be in big trouble."
"And one more thing, everything we do will remain a secret between us," Luca uttered his final command as he turned to us.
We met him with nods of our heads.
"Alright," I said, my hand on the door handle. "Ivan, get ready for some drama. Luca, do you bet we'll succeed?"
Luca smiled, his eyes flashing with sharp intelligence in the darkness of the bus.
"I never bet on something I'm not sure of, Louian. We will go in. We will buy the book, not steal it. And we will be out before anyone realizes we were here."
And with his command, the bus door opened, and we started moving toward that raging human river. There was no time to turn back.
Ivan and I set off, our movements dictated by Luca's precise rhythm. We stepped onto the crowded sidewalk and quietly slipped in among the crowds wrapped around the corner. The cold was biting, but the heat of the bodies craving the book created a strange kind of blazing warmth.
The hats and dark sunglasses, despite their ridiculousness at this early hour, provided a perfect mask.
We ran sideways, toward the adjacent candy store. I felt some eyes following me, but they quickly returned their focus to the front door of the bookstore. Luca was right:
Their focus was entirely on one goal.
I reached the candy store window and looked at Ivan. He nodded tensely. Then we went inside. I waited a minute and...
"Get ready, Ivan..." I whispered, then took a deep breath.
And without warning, I screamed at the top of my exhausted lungs:
"Oh my God! Wait, why is there a hidden box for the novel? Wasn't it supposed to be at one store? Is this the strange surprise the author is used to doing these days?"
My scream was just a sound at first. My excitement was about to explode. Yes, it was fun and scary.
The store owner looked at us as if we had grown trees on our heads.
I apologized to him internally and looked at Ivan, who was nervous, then quickly turned into an actor with unexpected brilliance. He shouted:
"They didn't say they would sell it at one store, but at more than one, but I didn't expect them to be next to each other!"
It wasn't complete chaos, but it was enough. The line began to twist. The heads of the back and side rows quickly turned, as if my voice was the starting shot for a new race.
The fear of missing out, that was the blind spot Luca had gambled on. About twenty people began to detach from the main mass, rushing toward the candy store, believing they had uncovered a secret sale operation.
From behind them, Yona was watching the scene of "emotional divergence." She monitored with a sniper's eyes: yes, the corner was now less congested, the crowding at the mouth of the alley was not as bad as before.
"The alley... ready."
Yona whispered the one decisive word into the ring from the bus, then quickly exited and walked along the dividing wall between the two stores.
Maliss and Liam didn't waste a second.
Maliss moved first, followed by Liam. They were acting with exaggerated calm.
Maliss bent down slowly at the entrance of the alley, pretending to look for something lost. "I can't find it, Liam... are you sure you put it here?" she said in a voice barely audible, but enough for nearby bystanders to perceive it as a "fleeting personal problem."
They slipped between the crowds like ghosts, until they disappeared into the relative darkness of the narrow alley.
And exactly one minute later, Louis dropped his wallet on the ground in front of the alley, then said with feigned frustration:
"How stupid! When will I learn to keep hold of my money!" Then he bent down, collecting his fallen coins in front of the alley entrance. Yona knelt beside him, gathering the money, and said: "Let me help you."
They both looked at the crowds, which were divided between the two stores. Yona looked at him cynically, and he responded with a shrug at how easily humans are distracted, as they both slipped behind a coin into the alley and disappeared as if they had never been there.
Then, it was Luca's turn.
Suddenly, the white light of the bus flashed strongly, twice, then three times in a row, as if it was struggling to start, creating a strobe that dazzled the onlookers at that critical moment.
"Now!" I heard Luca's voice through the headset.
Ivan and I used the flashing light as cover. We suddenly stopped acting, withdrew from the front of the newly crowded candy store, and rushed into the narrow alley.
Our breaths were ragged when we met inside the alley. The darkness here was comforting after the glare and noise outside. Maliss, Liam, Louis, Yona, me, and Ivan. Six people now inside, in three minutes.
Three and a half minutes passed. Less than twelve minutes remained.
I heard Luca apologizing to the people and explaining that the lights were broken, then he suddenly left the spot. I looked right and left, but he wasn't there. A minute passed, and I started to feel tense, then Luca descended in front of our eyes with a calm demeanor.
"Did you just climb the walls?" I asked excitedly, looking at him.
"Of course. Now quiet, and questions later. The important thing is that no one noticed, and those who noticed someone entering forgot about it because of the light noise I made. Now, come on." Luca said calmly, pointing to the back metal door.
"I can open it, Yona, a clip." I said quietly. The place was narrow, and we were standing in line, but it was dark and hidden, which was the main point. Then I sat on the ground, taking a clip from her and opening it. A minute passed, and then...
"I opened it." The door swung open quietly before us.
"Ivan, take care of hacking the system. Disable the camera and surveillance devices and delete any footage that shows us."
"Copy that." Ivan slipped past me and crept toward the computer. His expression was excited, as if he had been ordered to eat all the candy. Another minute passed, and all surveillance devices turned off.
"Done." Ivan gave us a thumbs-up, his face excited.
"We have five minutes to buy. Don't get distracted." Luca said calmly, looking at our bright, excited eyes.
We advanced. The place was magnificent in every sense of the word, truly astonishing. I noticed a book on the table that looked new, as if someone had just used it. Then I looked at them to find Maliss intending to take a book from a set of books, so I quickly said:
"Maliss! Don't take that one! If they notice a book missing from the shelf, they will wonder how it disappeared. As for the book on the table, the person who left it here will probably think they left it somewhere else and won't suspect its disappearance."
Maliss nodded in understanding, and her hand retreated from the shelf.
"I wonder about the sellers." Yona wondered, looking around.
"In a situation like this, the sellers won't come until five minutes after the usual time, most likely, because no one wants to stay in the store for a long time."
Liam said calmly, picking up the book from the table and extending his hand to Louis, who gave him the money and placed it on the table.
"Just so no one can say we stole." Liam said, looking at the black and red ornamented book in his hands.
"Luca, Louis, you know how much I love you..." I said flattering them, then Luca cut me off with a sigh.
"Quickly say what you want, we don't have time."
"Can we take other things? I mean, look, we still have time, and the whole store is ours! Please, please, pleeease."
I looked at them with bright puppy eyes. I felt for a moment as if my eyes had turned into a lamp. They put their hands over their eyes to alleviate the effect a little.
Then Louis sighed in surrender, looking at us with a look that said:
'Someday I will go bankrupt because of you,' but he said: "Okay, only two things. Luca, give them two minutes to grab what they want. It applies to everyone, but it's a debt."
"It's a long-term debt, brother, a long-term debt!"
I said sarcastically, noticing him counting his money then giving an amount to each of the six of us.
"The two minutes start now..."
Luca said, and we darted off in all directions. Whenever we chose something, we put money in its place until... It was two minutes of absolute madness. The quiet store turned into a playground for excited children.
Then, those two minutes quickly passed, and we converged.
"Done." I said to them, holding what I had chosen.
"Done."
The words "Done" that we uttered collectively were like the final whistle of a fast marathon. Two minutes of honest theft—if you can call it that—in which goods were exchanged for money, leaving behind a small but unnoticeable financial mess on the shelves.
"Less than two minutes left until zero hour," Luca announced in a calm voice that carried no trace of excitement, but programmed confidence. "Everyone to the alley now. No mess, no noise. And Ivan, fix the cameras after we leave."
Ivan nodded, rushing toward the computer.
And we rushed toward the back door. Liam was holding the black and red decorated book as if it were a precious artifact, placing it inside his backpack with extreme care.
We slipped out of the slightly ajar back door, Yona first, then Maliss, followed by Louis and Luca. Ivan, who finished, and I were the last to cross.
The moment Ivan stepped out, I quietly closed the metal door behind us, then turned around.
"Now what? We can't go back to the bus from here. The street is still crowded," Louis whispered nervously.
"If we can't get out from the front, we can get out from the top," I said, pointing up toward the building Luca had descended from minutes ago.
"Exactly, Louian, that's what I thought. Now, one by one, climb onto our shoulders to the top. We start with Yona, Liam, Louis, and you, Louian, and finally me and..."
"And Maliss agrees, hurry up and climb onto our shoulders."
Maliss said with a calm demeanor that hid great excitement. Then Liam and Yona climbed together and reached the roof, then it was Louis and Ivan's turn, and I noticed them reaching the top, then it was my turn.
I climbed onto Maliss's shoulders. Her muscles tensed beneath me with quiet strength, showing her resolve. I rose quickly, while my hearing was strained for the sound of an engine that was much closer now. It was no longer just the sound of a vehicle, but the sound of harsh braking, followed by the sound of a door slamming shut.
"Maliss, quickly!" Louis whispered from above, his voice carrying uncharacteristic tension.
I pushed myself up, feeling Liam's hand pulling me firmly.
The moment I crossed the edge of the roof and reached my colleagues, I heard the sound of shuffling footsteps approaching the door we had snuck out of. Wait, how did he enter the store? Wasn't there only one secret door?
And why is the alley door opening?
Questions rose in my head as I heard the sound.
"He's arrived,"
Liam muttered, looking down into the darkness of the alley.
Maliss had already begun climbing, ascending onto Luca's shoulders. Luca was looking up with a completely calm expression, as if watching the sunset, while Maliss accelerated her climb with acrobatic skill.
And suddenly, the sound from below was no longer just braking or footsteps.
It became the sound of a metal key being inserted into the lock that had been opened minutes before... and a sound of angry discontent.
"What the hell? Who opened this damn door?"
Maliss froze mid-climb.
Luca, below, raised his head slightly, and I saw a flash in his eyes in the dark. He was analyzing. Calculating.
The store owner, or whoever was with him, had discovered the door was open.
But he hadn't seen us yet. Maliss was between us, and Luca was waiting his turn below.
"Louian! Your glasses!"
Yona whispered, pointing to my disguise sunglasses that were still on my head.
I understood the signal.
I quickly pulled the glasses from my head and threw them down, toward the darkness at the entrance of the alley. It wasn't a random move, but one aimed at an auditory distraction.
There was a faint impact sound, "clink," as if a coin had dropped.
The angry sound below us stopped.
"Is anyone there?" the store owner asked in a voice of suspicion and anger. This was followed by the sound of his shoe moving one step away from the door, heading toward the spot of the slight fall.
This was Luca's chance.
"Pull, Maliss! Now!" Luca said calmly but firmly.
Maliss was pulled up with lightning speed, and Luca's hand rose; he no longer needed help. Luca pushed himself up, utilizing the rough wall and the narrow angle in a calculated jump, avoiding any friction that might make a sound.
He reached the edge of the roof like a cat. We all breathed a sigh of relief.
Below, we heard the store owner angrily closing and locking the door, convinced that someone had simply forgotten to close it, or that a passing child had fiddled with the lock.
"Two minutes and one second remaining,"
Luca said, standing next to us, dusting off his hat, a wide smile spreading across his face. "I won the bet."
Louis let out a loud laugh, but it was controlled and muffled, as if he still feared someone below might hear him.
"You don't bet on something you're not sure of, do you, Luca?"
Louis said, clapping his friend's shoulder with unparalleled admiration.
"Seven lives for one book... it was a winning deal!"
Ivan muttered, sighing in relief, his eyes glued to the bag holding the treasure.
Yona sighed, then approached Liam, who was carefully holding the bag. "Is it with us? Really?"
She asked, as if she couldn't believe the adventure had ended with such crazy success.
Liam slowly took the book out of the backpack, holding it in his hands.
The black and red ornamented cover, which they had seen in the advertisement, was now real and heavy in their hands. In the faint pre-dawn light that began to creep from behind the horizon, the golden letters of the title seemed to gleam as if they were breathing.
"The End... in our hands."
Maliss whispered, removing her sunglasses to examine the book with wide eyes.
"Finally, I thought I'd never know the ending."
I replied, feeling every atom of adrenaline in my body transform into a quiet warmth.
That moment was compensation for ten years of waiting.
Luca calmly pointed to the other side of the roof. "There's a service ladder leading to a back side street. Deserted at this hour."
They moved with the skill of trainees, Luca in the lead, guiding them through the maze of small rooftops. When they reached the ladder and descended to the quiet back street, the sounds of the crowds gathered in front of the main store had become just a distant murmur.
"Come on. Let's get back to the mini-bus and move before the store owner discovers where the book disappeared... and more importantly, before the doors open to everyone. The crazy moments are over, and now it's time for quiet."
"Let's go to the park, it's quiet now."
I suggested a place, and I saw them nod in agreement.
As we were about to return to the bus, I asked Liam: "Do you think they will fix the barriers after they are broken?"
He smiled, patting my head:
"I don't think so. The world will never be the same. And maybe that's a good thing. The world has to change... just like we were forced to change tonight."
Luca turned to us, getting into the bus, and said: "Are you two coming, or are you going to talk to the cover all night?"
We hurried to catch up, the book in Liam's hands was heavy as if it carried crazy secrets, not yet written on the pages, but they certainly began on that cold night... on a rooftop.