"The essence of gambling addiction is that the brain's reward system is hijacked, leading to decreased rational thinking ability and weakened impulse control."
"Humans are essentially hormonal animals. When the brain's reward system is hijacked, people become slaves to dopamine. At that point, willpower alone absolutely cannot stop it."
"So the best way to prevent gambling from entering your brain is to stay away from it—never touch it at all."
"Miss Faded Elf hereby reminds you that gambling harms both yourself and others. Children must never learn from this~♪" Miss Faded Elf raised her finger and said to Ryoma with complete seriousness.
"Don't talk such nonsense. Hand over the money quickly!" Ryoma's eyes were red, his expression nearly manic as he roared at Miss Faded Elf. "I need more money. I'm about to win!"
Facing Ryoma's hysteria, the girl calling herself the Faded Elf remained elegant.
Just like the many times before, she continued to advise Ryoma: "Mr. Ryoma, you've already lost a year of your life. Do you still want to continue gambling? You should know that besides the house, gambling has no winners."
"But I'm about to win!!!"
Ryoma pressed both hands on the table like a crazed beast, his expression seeming ready to tear apart the Faded Elf across from him.
So Miss Faded Elf sighed.
Then she somehow produced a briefcase from nowhere and placed it on the table.
Extending her finger, she gently flipped it open. Inside were stacks of neatly arranged, crisp bills.
The moment he saw the bills, Ryoma's breathing instantly became heavy.
Just as he reached out to grab them, the briefcase snapped shut.
This mysterious girl with light purple hair pressed down on the briefcase, her face still wearing that composed and elegant smile, though this smile now contained something indescribable.
"This money is enough to buy twenty years of your future life."
"I'll confirm once more—do you really want to accept this transaction?"
Ryoma paid no attention to the Faded Elf's words. Or rather, at this moment with his brain hijacked by gambling, he had lost the rationality and wisdom of a scholar. Only one thought remained in his heart.
That was to win—to win back everything he'd lost!
Ryoma snatched the briefcase and rushed into the pachinko parlor without looking back.
...
The sun rose into the sky, then gradually hid in the dusk.
As the pachinko parlor door opened, Ryoma stumbled out, staggered, and fell to his knees at the entrance.
The briefcase in his hand fell open on the ground. But now all the stacks of bills inside were gone, leaving only emptiness.
Ryoma's face was pale without a trace of blood.
He raised his head, both hands clawing at his distorted face as if trying to tear the whole thing apart.
Like a cornered beast with no way out, he howled hysterically.
"Ah! Ah!!!"
"My money! My money!!!"
"It's all gone!"
"All gone!!!"
Passersby around turned back to look briefly, but then calmly turned their heads and hurried away.
Such scenes could be seen almost every day near such establishments—nothing more than another gambling addict who'd lost everything. Not worthy of sympathy at all.
After wailing on the ground for a while, Ryoma suddenly remembered that mysterious woman in the alley.
"No, no! I still have a chance, I still have a chance!" He staggered to his feet and rushed toward the alley in his memory. "As long as I can get to that place, as long as I can get some more money..."
Sure enough, upon reaching the alley, that mysterious woman calling herself the Faded Elf was still there.
Ryoma rushed forward.
"Give me more money, give me more money. I'm about to win! I'm about to win!!!"
But this time, the Faded Elf didn't grant his wish. She merely spread her hands, smiling at Ryoma as she spoke words that left him bewildered.
"But Mr. Ryoma, you've already sold your entire life to me. You have nothing left to sell."
Ryoma gritted his teeth, his eyes bloodshot, roaring at her: "Didn't I only sell twenty years of my life? I want to sell another twenty years!"
Miss Faded Elf covered her lips and laughed softly.
"There is no more. For everyone in the world, their lives won't be any longer than twenty years."
"Because in twenty years, all the humans on Earth will be dead~♪"
Ryoma didn't know what this mysterious woman was talking about, but he knew she seemed unwilling to give him more money.
In his heart, the impulse to gamble had completely overwhelmed reason. Repeated crushing defeats at the gambling table urged him to turn things around at any cost.
Just win once.
Just let me win once!
As long as I can win once, I'll quit!!!
Thus, a thread of malice arose in his heart. A thought appeared in his mind that would never have surfaced under normal circumstances.
This woman seemed to have a lot of money, and with such a frail appearance, she didn't seem very capable in a fight. Was there a way he could get more money from her...
However, just as this thought arose, he saw the mysterious woman across from him lower her hand, the corners of her mouth curling into a strange smile.
"Well then, Mr. Ryoma."
"I've already given you the money to purchase your remaining twenty years of life. Now it's time we discuss fulfilling the promise."
Seeing the strange smile at this woman's lips, Ryoma felt his heart tremble for no reason, as if he'd been targeted by some inhuman entity.
Even his rationality suppressed by gambling returned somewhat. Ryoma instinctively stepped back.
"What are you talking about... Ah!!!"
Just as he stepped back, the woman before him suddenly disappeared. The next moment, a sharp pain came from his wrist.
He raised his hand and found his wrist had somehow been cut open, blood seeping from the wound.
"According to our transaction, from now on, your life is mine."
Ryoma looked in the direction of the voice and found the mysterious woman standing beside him, holding a glass test tube in her hand containing red liquid—apparently his blood.
Ryoma was frightened by the sudden turn of events. An extremely ominous premonition surfaced in his heart, urging him to flee quickly.
But unfortunately, it was too late.
His foot was tripped, and his whole body fell to the ground.
Then he saw a scene that shattered his worldview.
The woman calling herself the Faded Elf crushed the test tube containing his blood in one hand. Crimson blood seeped through her slender fingers, dripping onto the ground and transforming into rising blood mist.
In an instant, the blood mist enveloped the mysterious woman.
Through the blood mist, Ryoma could vaguely see the silhouette inside writhing like putty.
When the blood mist dispersed, a man Ryoma was all too familiar with appeared in the original spot.
Seeing this man's appearance, Ryoma's pupils trembled, his face full of disbelief.
—Because this person's appearance was exactly the same as his own!
"You, you..."
Facing Ryoma's terrified expression, 'Ryoma' bent down and said to him with a smile:
"I gave you many chances. Facing gambling's temptation, if you could have controlled yourself even once, we could have discussed cooperation."
"But unfortunately... I can't trust my back to a gambling addict teammate."
"So from now on, your life is mine."
Ryoma kicked his legs, backing away with a terrified expression.
"As for you, heh... don't worry, I'm not some demon."
"Go pick bananas in Africa. When you earn enough money to buy back your life from me, you can redeem it."
"Don't worry, I'll take good care of your daughter."
"Oh wait, now Mei is my daughter."