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Chapter 66: Isn’t this the person Gabriel asked them to find?
It was indeed about playing dice.
This wasn’t something An Wujiu excelled at.
But all gambling games, when you stripped them down, were just mind games.
As long as you figured out each person’s style, you were not invincible, but you could at least increase your odds a bit.
But this kind of game requires not just thinking and judgment but also acting.
That was currently An Wujiu’s biggest concern.
“The rules of the game are simple; perhaps many of you have played it before.”
The dice on the table are split into two piles, five dice each, with two wooden dice cups placed over them, shaking them up.
“All participating players in the game will receive a cup of dice, a total of five, and after shaking, everyone will look at the settled five dice to see what numbers they display and then begin to call out dice.”
Among them was a little girl who looked only seven or eight years old, her innocent eyes full of confusion.
“What does calling dice mean?”
The Holy Voice continued to explain.
“After shaking, everyone will get five numbers. Next, starting with someone in clockwise or counterclockwise order, players will start calling out numbers. For example: three 3s means the caller is betting that there are a total of three 3s among all the dice.”
“After this person finishes counting, the next person has two choices: first, follow the previous person’s call, which means calling out a larger number, either increasing the quantity of the previous number, like saying four 3s, or calling out a larger number, like three 4s, four 4s.
But remember, you can’t call out a smaller result than the previous one. Every subsequent player must follow the same rule: only go higher.
It’s important to note: the number 1 is wild and can stand for any other number.”
“What about the other choice?” The young girl with twin ponytails beside the little girl asks.
“The other choice is to challenge the previous caller’s claim. If you don’t believe the previous caller’s count, for instance, if they called out seven 6s and you doubt there are truly seven 6s among all the dice, you can challenge them. This means you demand that everyone open their dice cup, revealing the results publicly. If indeed there are not seven 6s, you win, and the person you challenged loses. Conversely, if you’re wrong, you lose, and the person you challenged wins.”
An Wujiu remained composed, listening quietly.
This game was not heavily reliant on luck. For each player, it could be broken down into two parts: handling information and judging the previous player’s count.
Through each player’s style of calling dice, their expressions, emotions, speed, and thinking time could all reflect their gameplay. When the results were revealed, you could also tell if they were lying during their turn, which was all about gathering information.
When it was one’s turn to call dice, it was a process of releasing information. To win, you have to give as little information as possible to others, or simply throw out a smoke bomb.
By mastering enough information, you could make more accurate judgments. Releasing enough confusing information could lower others’ accuracy.
On the sofa, the redhead Western man clapped his thighs. “I get it. It’s basically about guessing how many of a certain number are on the field, right? It’s about believing or not believing. If you don’t believe, you challenge.”
The Holy Voice acknowledged his statement.
“Are the six of us playing together?” Wu You asked.
An Wujiu noticed that the person sitting directly opposite him hadn’t said a word the entire time. He was a tall, slender young Eastern man with deep brown hair that reached his cheeks and narrow, elongated eyes, giving him a scholarly appearance.
“No,” the Holy Voice replied to Wu You. “You six will be divided into two groups. The person in each group who wins two victories the fastest becomes the winner, and the winners of the two groups will compete to determine the final winner.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the low table in front of them split into two, and a dice cup appeared in front of each person.
An Wujiu and Wu You were separated.
An Wujiu sat with the Eastern man who hadn’t spoken and the young girl with twin ponytails who had asked questions earlier.
Wu You sat with the child and the Eastern man with red hair.
“Don’t worry, you can only hear the players at your table speaking, so you don’t have to worry about interference.”
A row of small cups appeared on the table, each containing a sparkling, light golden liquid resembling champagne.
“This game is often associated with drinking, but here, the loser doesn’t drink alcohol, but our special concoction. It tastes good, and it might even make you feel like you’re floating. You drink a cup for each loss; it’s that simple.”
The redhead man laughed, “That doesn’t sound like a punishment at all!”
Of course, it was a punishment.
Drinking something akin to a hallucinogen, even just half a cup, could seriously impair your judgment, making rational thinking nearly impossible.
An Wujiu thought to himself as he quietly opened the dice cup in front of him and checked the five dice inside, finding no issues.
“Now, let’s get to know each other a bit.”
As before, each person’s name projection appeared in front of them.
An Wujiu looked up and saw that the young man sitting across from him had his gaze fixed on him the whole time; even when caught, he didn’t look away.
His name was Zhou Yijue.
The black-haired woman sitting next to him was named Toudou Sakura, seeming to be Japanese.
An Wujiu glanced to the other table and saw the redhead man facing Wu You.
To his surprise, the nameplate in front of him read ‘Maguire’.
His palms began to sweat.
Wasn’t this the person Gabriel asked them to find?
An Wujiu never expected to encounter him in the very next round.
In his mind, Gabriel’s angry expression was still vivid. He wanted Maguire’s life in exchange for information about his mother.
And this man was also the highest-scoring player Yang Erci had ever encountered.
An Wujiu subtly tilted his head and observed, noticing Maguire carefully flipping through the dice, examining each side.
“Everyone, you can begin your game now,” the Holy Voice announced, and Zhou Yijue, sitting next to An Wujiu, calmly spoke, “Who will go first?”
That was a good question.
An Wujiu wasn’t eager to go first. The first person to call dice must reveal their information first, putting themselves at a disadvantage.
Toudou Sakura glanced at both of them and gave a sweet smile. “I think Mr. Zhou should go first. What do you think?” She turned to face Zhou Yijue. “You seem quite confident.”
Zhou Yijue modestly shook his head, “I’m not particularly skilled at this type of game, but since such a lovely lady has spoken, I’ll go first.”
Toudou Sakura smiled brightly, her cheeks blushing slightly. Seeing Zhou Yijue agree, she pointed in a direction. “Let’s go clockwise then. Mr. Zhou, followed by me, and then Mr. An. How does that sound?”
An Wujiu also nodded in agreement.
So the three of them each held their dice cups and began shaking the dice.
Toudou Sakura looked at An Wujiu with curiosity. “Have you played this before?”
An Wujiu shook his head.
Toudou Sakura’s gaze remained fixed on the man in front of her. His eyelashes were long, always casting a shadow over his lower eyelids, giving him a troubled look. His slender, pale hands shook the dice cup clumsily, almost dropping a die.
Truly adorable, even in his mistakes.
An Wujiu clumsily placed his dice cup on the table and looked up at the two of them.
“Ready?” Toudou Sakura smiled and extended her hand to him. “You can take a look at your dice now.”
“Oh, sorry, I’m not very familiar with the rules.” An Wujiu pursed his lips, feeling a bit embarrassed as he smiled, then lowered his head to carefully lift the dice cup, inspecting the numbers inside through the small gap.
It was frightening; he was actually lying now.
An Wujiu himself wasn’t sure if this whole charade was something he naturally knew or if he learned it from Shen Ti.
Opening the dice cup, he found the five dice showing: 3, 3, 5, 6, 1.
There was a wildcard number.
Toudou Sakura noticed An Wujiu taking a long time to look, either because there were few repeating numbers or because he was too much of a novice and wanted to remember them better.
“Done?” she asked with a smile.
An Wujiu lifted his head, put the dice cup back, and nodded.
After Toudou Sakura received the signal, An Wujiu glanced discreetly at the table to his right, seeing Maguire holding the dice cup, his pinky finger extended inside.
“I’ll start,” Zhou Yijue spoke up, “Three 3s.”
He called conservatively, starting with a small number and a small quantity.
Next was Toudou Sakura. She hardly hesitated and called out, “Five 3s.”
Now it was An Wujiu’s turn.
Toudou Sakura could confidently call out five threes so quickly; it’s unlikely she didn’t have any threes in her cup. Daring to add 2 on top of Zhou Yijue’s count of three implies there’s likely more than one 3.
Considering the wildcard number 1, he had a total of three 3s in his dice.
Since that’s the case, it’s better to just call out a big number.
After hesitating for a while, An Wujiu first apologized softly. Then, with some nervousness, he tucked the strands of hair scattered on the side of his face behind his ear and hesitantly announced his number, “Seven… Seven 3s.”
Seven?
It was Zhou Yijue’s turn next. He gazed at An Wujiu, his beautiful and delicate face showing a slight furrow in his brows, making even his hesitation look particularly attractive.
To have seven, the most likely scenario would be that one of Toudou Sakura and An Wujiu had two 3s and the other had three 3s. However, An Wujiu’s prolonged hesitation most likely meant he didn’t have enough 3s. If Zhou Yijue were to raise the count, Toudou Sakura, the next player, would probably call him out.
“Open.”
At that moment, An Wujiu’s dark pupils flickered slightly, then he lowered his eyes.
All the dice cups were opened.
Zhou Yijue frowned.
An Wujiu: 33561
Toudou Sakura: 12236
Zhou Yijue: 23345
“I have two,” Toudou Sakura announced, tilting her cup lid and leaning toward the others.
Zhou Yijue acknowledged his mistake. He thought An Wujiu would play a little trick, but he didn’t expect him to actually have three threes. It seemed like a true novice style—saying what he had.
“Exactly seven, huh?” Toudou Sakura pursed her lips, looking at Zhou Yijue. “Mr. Zhou, you made a mistake.”
Zhou Yijue nodded. “Yes. I lost this round.”
An Wujiu moistened his dry lips. “It was luck. I’ll be quicker in the next round.”
“It’s okay, let’s go at your pace,” Zhou Yijue said, picking up the punishment drink from the table and tilting it back. The drink had a taste of elderflower soda with a hint of alcohol. It wasn’t bad.
Initially, he thought nothing of it, but the next moment, fractured hallucinations appeared before Zhou Yijue’s eyes. Each person seemed to split into multiple figures, wavering in his vision.
Zhou Yijue shook his head, pressing his hand against the table.
After a few seconds, his vision gradually returned to normal.
And so, they began the second round.
This time, An Wujiu didn’t lift the dice cup but slid it quickly across the table, glancing in Wu You’s direction.
If he didn’t see it wrong, Maguire was cheating.
Things weren’t looking good on Wu You’s side.
After everyone shook their dice, the table fell silent for a moment. An Wujiu gently lifted his dice cup to see the numbers inside: 1, 2, 3, 4, 4.
The other two also confirmed their numbers.
Zhou Yijue had 1, 2, 2, 3, 4.
While Toudou Sakura had 1, 1, 3, 4, 5.
After checking the results, Toudou Sakura closed her dice cup and touched her twin ponytails.
“Doesn’t the loser start calling this round?” she asked.
Zhou Yijue nodded, “Then let’s start with me.”
“Okay, how about this: You start, then Mr. An, and finally me. Is that order alright?” Toudou Sakura proposed.
Both of them agreed.
Zhou Yijue didn’t give an answer as quickly as he did in the first round; instead, he paused for a moment.
An Wujiu wasn’t sure if Zhou Yijue was contemplating or if the side effects of the punishment drink were affecting him.
“Three 5s.” Zhou Yijue’s call was still conservative, and he directly called out a number that An Wujiu didn’t have; even if you counted the wildcard 1, he only had one 5.
But three 5s could easily be made up just by Zhou Yijue and Toudou Sakura.
However, Zhou Yijue had thought for so long; either he didn’t have many fives or he didn’t have many ones.
“And you, Mr. An?” Toudou Sakura asked.
An Wujiu hesitated, “Four 5s.”
Toudou Sakura nodded, sticking to her quick and straightforward style, “five 5s.”
Back to Zhou Yijue.
He had drunk the hallucinogenic drink, and now he seemed a bit unsteady, unlike before. His cheeks were flushed, and he leaned sideways on the sofa.
“Six 5s,” Zhou Yijue murmured softly, his hand covering his mouth.
He called out so quickly that even Toudou Sakura hesitated.
“You called out so quickly; it can’t be that you suddenly got a lot of fives, right?” She teased, then suggested another possibility, “Do you have a lot of ones in your hand? You didn’t decide how many to turn into fives when you first called?”
This possibility wasn’t impossible.
Zhou Yijue’s lips curled slightly, his mouth shaped like that of a cat, as his slender eyes looked at An Wujiu.
“So, you said six 5s just now…” An Wujiu murmured softly, his eyes downcast.
After a moment, An Wujiu looked up at Zhou Yijue with hesitation and then glanced at his own dice cup.
“Six 6s,” he finally stated firmly.
Toudou Sakura looked at him, sensing sincerity and vulnerability in An Wujiu’s gaze.
To dare to switch from 5 to 6, he must have had 6s to do so.
So, Toudou Sakura followed his lead, “Seven 6s.”
If An Wujiu had a 1 and a 6, plus her two 1s, they could easily come up with 4 to 5 sixes between them.
It was a gamble on what Zhou Yijue had in his hand.
The side effects of the punishment drink were still present, making Zhou Yijue’s mind heavy, but he struggled to restrain himself. He squinted at Toudou Sakura and said, “I don’t believe there are seven 6s. Open.”
When the three of them opened their dice cups, Toudou Sakura’s eyes widened.
It turned out that, behind the initial calls for the number 5, only she had a genuine number 5.
And when An Wujiu switched to 6, there wasn’t a single 6 on the entire table.
There was only the wildcard number 1.
“You win, I lose,” Toudou Sakura said with a sigh, picking up a drink. She sipped it slowly, wrinkling her nose, “Such a weird taste.”
As soon as she finished drinking, An Wujiu could visibly see her cheeks flush, and her demeanor and gaze changed.
Glancing sideways, he locked eyes with Zhou Yijue.
“You won once, and I won once,” he said to An Wujiu with a smile.
At the moment of opening the dice cup, An Wujiu knew his disguise would be seen through by Zhou Yijue, so he also smiled, tilting his head slightly.
“Next round, let’s begin.”
Author’s Note:
In another room, Shen Ti, bored, rested his chin in his hand and lazily shook the dice cup in front of the two men.
“Call it.”
Shen Ti let out a meow.
The two players: ???
“I said, call it.”
Shen Ti got annoyed, “Ten 6s!”
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Oh how I would love to read the full scene of what’s happening on Shen Ti’s side. Undoubtedly very funny with his personality