(2/3)
Anchor Hall
Chapter 538: Gambler
Figaro led Wen Jianyan straight into the casino.
The furnishings inside the casino were almost the same as when Wen Jianyan came last time. On the huge screen, the numbers scrolled faster, almost becoming mere afterimages to the human eye.
But even so, Wen Jianyan could still notice that these numbers were far larger than those in the previous two days.
The atmosphere in the casino became increasingly frantic.
Under the high dome, people gathered around gambling tables. Every face wore a copy-pasted expression. The clamor converged into waves, sweeping everyone into an inescapable demonic vortex.
In the midst of it, no one could maintain sanity.
Figaro walked forward leisurely and skillfully. Unlike the crazy crowd around, his steps appeared leisurely and comfortable, unhurried.
Wen Jianyan followed closely behind him, trying his best not to be swept away by the crowd.
Unknown how long passed, suddenly, that blood-colored elevator leading underground appeared in Wen Jianyan’s view.
“…”
Wen Jianyan paused, sensing something, and turned to look behind.
Unknowingly, they had moved far away from the dense crowd, arriving at a spacious and deserted area. The excited gamblers seemed unaware that not far away lay such an isolated space. They still surrounded the gambling tables, screaming in excitement or sighing in despair.
Clearly separated by only a few steps, yet divided by some invisible barrier into two incompatible worlds.
Figaro didn’t even glance at the elevator, just walking straight ahead.
Wen Jianyan recalled the scene when he met Figaro last time under Chang Feiyu’s recommendation.
At that time, after parting ways, the other’s figure quickly disappeared into darkness, and footsteps vanished soon after. Looking at it now, he must have gone to the second floor back then.
This confirmed Wen Jianyan’s guess again.
Figaro indeed had deep connections with the casino’s upper management.
The light grew dimmer.
Even though Figaro was just a few steps ahead, the dim light made him appear very blurry. Wen Jianyan had to use almost all his attention to follow Figaro closely, ensuring he didn’t get lost in this darkness.
Finally, after an unknown amount of time, Figaro stopped without warning.
“Alright, this is it.”
Wen Jianyan paused, looking forward subconsciously.
Appearing before him was a staircase leading straight up. A lamp was lit at the top of the stairs. It was yellow, not bright, but acted like a lighthouse in the darkness.
“Want information? I can provide it to you.”
Figaro glanced at him, narrowing his fox-like eyes, rubbing his fingers, showing his profiteer nature:
“Of course, requires a little remuneration.”
Wen Jianyan: “…Fine.”
“Good,” the smile on Figaro’s face instantly became friendly, “What do you want to know?”
Wen Jianyan: “Who exactly is up there? I want all the information you know.”
“Just as you guessed,” Figaro said, “The second floor houses the management of Lucky Cruise Ship.”
Walking up, he said:
“There are three managers in total. Eaton Ethan manages cruise accommodation, Mesvis manages casino operations, and Carl Bell manages the underground auction.”
…Carl Bell.
Wen Jianyan narrowed his eyes.
He had met this guy once on the negative seventh floor. However, the other party only introduced himself as the auctioneer of the auction then. Didn’t expect him to be one of the managers.
Wen Jianyan quickly recalled in his mind—these three names had never appeared on the points leaderboard.
“They are not anchors?”
“No.” Figaro answered.
“Are they human then?”
“Don’t know.” Figaro turned to look at Wen Jianyan, revealing an inscrutable smile, “After all, what is the definition of human.”
“…”
Wen Jianyan didn’t answer.
Because he knew Figaro was right.
In Nightmare, the boundary between human and non-human had blurred. Anchors left in instances were no longer human, but were those surviving instances human?
Every anchor experienced more or less alienation. Nightmare Top Ten were the ten most alienated among all anchors. Strictly speaking, the vast majority of them had deviated from the definition of human.
“Above these three managers, there is a captain. Although I heard of his existence, I’ve never seen him—”
Figaro looked at Wen Jianyan, blinking:
“However, I believe you should have heard of him too.”
Wen Jianyan: “…Oh?”
“Of course.” Figaro looked strange, smiling, “After all, he is number one on the points leaderboard.”
“!”
This answer somewhat exceeded Wen Jianyan’s imagination. His pupils contracted involuntarily, stopping his steps up the stairs uncontrollably:
“…What?”
“Hahaha, didn’t expect that, right!” Figaro showed a happy smile like a successful prank, “That’s right, just as you heard, the captain of Lucky Cruise Ship is that famous but never-seen Oracle President—though as far as I know, he hasn’t shown his face for many years.”
Wen Jianyan reacted: “So, you haven’t seen him either?”
“No.” Figaro shrugged. “Before I entered Nightmare, the Oracle President had stopped live streaming instances—you are lucky. Besides me, not many people know he is the captain of Lucky Cruise Ship.”
He showed the profiteer’s smile again:
“So the charge for this information will double.”
Wen Jianyan: “…Fine.”
Figaro smiled: “Boss is generous.”
Wen Jianyan continued to press: “Then who has seen him? Nightmare Second and Third?”
“Dan Zhu probably hasn’t; she entered Nightmare around the same time as me,” Figaro thought, “But Yelin might have—but I’m not sure, so I won’t charge you for this one.”
Talking while going upstairs.
Unknowingly, the stairs reached the end.
Second floor arrived.
Unlike the dim stairs, the second floor was brightly lit.
It looked like a private luxury salon.
Compared to the madness below, the atmosphere here was extremely quiet, almost able to hear one’s own breathing and heartbeat.
Wen Jianyan’s gaze fell on the corner of the salon.
There stood a huge gambling table. However, unlike imagination, the felt surface wasn’t the familiar dark green, but rich blood-red.
“By the way, last question,” as if thinking of something, Wen Jianyan turned to Figaro asking, “Why was the table red when you finished the gamble downstairs before?”
“For the sake of your frequent patronage, I’ll give you this answer for free.”
Figaro said.
“Have you been to the underground casino of the cruise ship?” Figaro asked.
Wen Jianyan: “Been there.”
Figaro: “Then you should have seen the chips below?”
Wen Jianyan: “Seen them, but don’t know the conversion rules.”
“Chips in the underground casino have different values from those in the above-ground casino.”
Figaro explained,
“Green chips represent one thousand, five thousand, and ten thousand points respectively. Gold chips are one hundred thousand points. Red chips are one million points.”
Wen Jianyan was shocked.
Although he guessed the value of underground casino chips would be much higher than above ground, he didn’t expect it to be so terrifyingly high.
Recalling the chips Dan Zhu exchanged for him to play…
After a brief calculation, Wen Jianyan shuddered.
Turns out he actually lost over a fucking million points in the underground casino!!!!!!
Bad, feel a bit like vomiting.
“Red chips have the highest value and are rarest,” Figaro continued, “Once a red chip appears on a gambling table, it means the game enters the next level. Rules will change accordingly. The dealer will not only change to a core dealer under Mesvis, but the definition of the gamble will also be expanded.”
Wen Jianyan: “Definition expanded?”
“Means you can bet on anything,” Figaro said, “Even betting on whether the next person entering is male or female, or steps in with left or right foot first.”
“Of course…” Figaro changed tone, “In this kind of gamble, once caught cheating, the price will be very terrifying—at least as far as I know, no one dares to bear such a price yet.”
“Thanks, I know.” Wen Jianyan took a deep breath, nodding.
Just then, a surprised voice came from behind:
“Ah, it’s you.”
Wen Jianyan paused, turning to look behind.
The comer wore a black tailcoat, face extremely pale. Although polite, a lingering aura of death inexplicably surrounded him.
Exactly Carl Bell who appeared on negative seventh floor, also the person in charge of underground auction in Figaro’s mouth.
“Good evening, Carl.”
Figaro raised hand touching hat brim, said.
“Good evening.” Carl Bell nodded greeting. “This auction will officially start at 8 PM the day after tomorrow. Old rules for you?”
“Of course,” a smile lingered on Figaro’s lips, “Believe you will be satisfied with what I bring this time.”
After brief pleasantries, Carl Bell turned to Wen Jianyan. That pale face wore the consistent smile, attitude gentle and humble:
“Then, this honored guest, may I help you with anything?”
Hard to imagine he was actually one of the three managers on Lucky Cruise Ship.
Wen Jianyan: “I want to find casino manager Mesvis.”
“Is that so,” Carl Bell showed a surprised look, but quickly calmed down, smiling, “Alright then, follow me.”
He nodded goodbye to Figaro, then turned around, leading Wen Jianyan deeper into the second floor.
After bringing Wen Jianyan to the second floor, Figaro considered the commission completed.
He bowed dramatically to Wen Jianyan, smilingly saying goodbye:
“I will send the bill to you, look forward to next cooperation.”
After bidding farewell to Figaro, Wen Jianyan followed Carl Bell deeper into the casino’s second floor.
Walking, he observed the surrounding scenery calmly.
On the left were huge floor-to-ceiling windows.
Outside the windows lay the familiar huge casino. Below, gambling tables arranged neatly. Gamblers dizzy with desire sat around tables. Above was ivory white spiral dome. Bright lights passed through windows unreservedly without hindrance.
Looking out, the entire casino was in full view.
People on second floor high above, while gamblers swept into gambling vortex crouched in dust like ants. Everything happening in casino could be fully grasped.
If remembered correctly… further ahead should be the position of that screen.
Wen Jianyan looked up towards the position in memory.
Sure enough, the floor-to-ceiling window that should have offered an unobstructed view was cut off by a wall. On the wall was a screen of the same size as the one outside, only facing inwards.
That huge screen was divided into small screens. Each screen showed a gambling table, and each table showed an ongoing gamble.
Wen Jianyan was secretly alarmed.
Knowing he didn’t see any surveillance on the first floor, but those invisible eyes watching them were obviously ubiquitous.
In front of the screen was a huge white-gold sofa. Luxurious, massive, pieced into a huge ring, encircling that screen.
In the center of the sofa sat a figure from behind.
Wen Jianyan paused steps.
As if confirming his guess, Carl Bell spoke: “Mesvis.”
That back moved.
The other turned around.
A pale face identical to Carl Bell’s, and pair of weird eyes different from normal people—sclera proportion very small, almost ninety percent pitch-black pupils.
“What? Anything?”
Although Mesvis spoke to Carl Bell, eyeballs accurately fixed on Wen Jianyan behind Carl Bell.
Moment stared at, Wen Jianyan felt a chill. Back hairs almost stood up, instinctively rising a strong sense of being peeped at.
“A VIP from downstairs wants to talk to you.” Carl Bell said.
He turned to look at Wen Jianyan, attitude still gentle and polite: “This is casino manager Mr. Mesvis.”
“Good evening.”
Wen Jianyan stepped forward smiling,
“Finally able to communicate face to face, truly an honor.”
Mesvis stared at him with those eyes almost without sclera, silent.
“Amazing.”
Finally, Mesvis spoke slowly.
Wen Jianyan let the other scrutinize his whole body, hiding all emotional fluctuations cleanly.
“Above asked me to stop you sniffing around downstairs. Thought it absurd then; what can ordinary people sniff out?” Mesvis said. “But you standing here now… seems I was wrong.”
Sure enough, the person asking him to leave the Blackjack table was Mesvis, the casino manager, not Nightmare.
This matched Wen Jianyan’s guess.
“Since you found your way here, I’ll listen to your request.”
Mesvis raised hand snapping fingers. Several waiters appeared from shadows like ghosts, startling Wen Jianyan—he hadn’t noticed their existence at all. Waiters stepped forward, pouring amber liquor into glass.
One handed glass to Wen Jianyan.
Wen Jianyan paused, taking glass.
“I know Lucky Cruise Ship is currently on a course of no return, and points contributed by gamblers become fuel for cruise ship.”
Wen Jianyan took a deep breath, looking unblinkingly at Mesvis, saying slowly, “So, my request is simple.”
“—Gamble with me.”
“…Oh?” Mesvis obviously didn’t expect this answer, slowly raising one eyebrow.
“Ah, I understand. Want to even the score with your own power?”
As if realizing something, Mesvis smiled.
Wen Jianyan: “You guessed right.”
“You can’t do it.” Mesvis leaned lazily on sofa, shaking head. “Do you know what this number difference is?”
Wen Jianyan: “You tell me.”
“One billion.”
Even guessing the difference between banker and player accumulated to terrifying level, hearing this number truly, Wen Jianyan’s heart sank.
Mesvis showed greedy smile, “And how many chips do you have?”
He scrutinized Wen Jianyan with eyes full of pupils without sclera. In that instant, feeling of being seen through appeared again.
Heard Mesvis chuckle, voice containing unconcealable contempt:
“Heh, only one hundred fifty million.”
Correct, Wen Jianyan’s account points were one hundred fifty million.
For a anchor experiencing only eight instances in Nightmare, this asset figure was unimaginable terrifying and huge. Eight platinum instances, including multiple S and one SS rank instance, plus multiple Nightmare buff stacks, and large amount of viewer reward points total.
Of course, his points counted in ranking were even higher. However, although Wen Jianyan earned much, he spent much too.
Can’t blame Wen Jianyan. As level increased, points needed to exchange appearance became extremely huge. Just appearance cost in [Yuying Comprehensive University] instance reached nearly ten million.
In fact, if not for Nightmare removing “Termination Coupon” from Wen Jianyan’s system store, Wen Jianyan could have exchanged qualification to leave Nightmare long ago, leaving this hellhole.
Pity…
Points one person could accumulate, compared to entire casino’s trade deficit, were so thin and weak.
“However, daring to propose such suggestion, your courage is indeed commendable.” Mesvis said. “As return, I give you privilege to come to second floor.”
He leaned on sofa, waving hand lackadaisically, “Alright, you can go—”
“You could guess upstairs I would use Blackjack to do something, and had enough judgment to stop it,” Wen Jianyan suddenly stepped forward interrupting him.
Under overly bright light, his eyeballs presented extremely light color and texture like hard candy.
“I think, you should also be a veteran gambler, right?”
Mesvis paused action, turning to look at him again.
“Since so, you should know what ‘Backing’ means.”
Wen Jianyan hooked mouth corner, showing smile.
Backing.
Term only appearing in casino.
When gambler gambles on table, can choose to back, increasing leverage for on-table bet from under table.
Even capped gamble would become terrifying high-stakes gamble due to “Backing”.
Mesvis narrowed eyes, looking at Wen Jianyan, saying slowly:
“…Do you know what you are saying?”
Wen Jianyan: “Of course.”
He stepped forward again, saying lightly.
“Win, win ten times. Lose, also lose ten times.”
“I only have one hundred fifty million chips on hand right now, true,” Wen Jianyan stepped forward unhurriedly. Unknowingly, he arrived before sofa. “But adding leverage, these chips are one point five billion.”
His hands pressed on white-gold sofa surface. Leather surface pressed down, appearing spider-web-like wrinkles.
Wen Jianyan looked down from high above at this actual casino controller, smilingly saying:
“One point five billion gamble, willing to play with me?”
Casino light penetrated huge floor-to-ceiling window. Young man’s face completely exposed under strong light, expression in eyes fully revealed.
That look only desperate gambler would possess.
Greedy, arrogant, fierce.
