Chapter 5: I, Kingdom, Did Not Cheat!

Wu Chang took advantage of the momentum and said, "My brother Kingdom, just playing cards is boring. Shall we bet on something?"

Kingdom’s eyes darted around, landing on the potato in Wu Chang’s pocket. He licked his lips and smiled, saying, "We don't need to play for much at first. How about we bet on your breakfast? If I lose, I’ll give you my breakfast tomorrow."

Wu Chang agreed immediately, "No problem."

Kingdom grew interested. His fat, bear-paw-like hands displayed a nimbleness that defied their appearance. The deck of cards fluttered between his hands; as he shuffled them rapidly, the patterns on the backs of the cards looked like a rapidly shifting kaleidoscope, dizzying to behold.

"Twenty-one, Belote, Sheephead; aristocratic style, urban style, or country style? How do you want to play?"

Wu Chang didn't understand the variants Kingdom mentioned. After a brief hesitation, he said, "Let’s keep it simple. High card."

Kingdom’s expression turned strange. Had he not made himself clear? His nickname was "Lucky Kingdom," after all.

"As you wish."

Kingdom confirmed the rules with Wu Chang, who nodded perfunctorily, looking every bit the degenerate gambler, and urged the game to start. He only needed the game to begin; winning or losing was irrelevant.

While Kingdom was occupied with confirming rules and dealing, Wu Chang kept his eyes fixed on the deep red resentment swirling behind Kingdom. The twenty-odd resentments carried by Kingdom all came from players. Such a brilliant track record would make him at least an elite "newbie-killer" monster in a game—much like a certain Tree Sentinel who had discouraged countless players, or a certain vanguard Great Cat who was tired of eating monkey heads.

Among the many resentments, there were two common ways players met their ends. The first was losing everything at the gambling table, only to have Kingdom show up in the dead of night and drag them out of their rooms like a chick. When collecting debts, Kingdom would enter a special state that players found almost impossible to counter; once dragged from their rooms, they would drop dead on the spot due to some inexplicable force. This confirmed that Kingdom had the ability to act during the night.

The second method of death was when players, sensing Kingdom’s uniqueness, tried to rely on high attribute stats to take him down head-on. But Kingdom only appeared in the activity room during the day; if attacked there, he would dodge while calling for help. Then, four or five nurses armed with wood-choppers would appear, teaching the troublemaking player what "actual stats" really meant. Anyone who had played an RPG knew that even if your character was invincible and the King begged for your help, the gate guard in the city could still send you back to the respawn point in two hits.

The deep red resentment Wu Chang was concerned about belonged to a player who had died in a way quite different—and far more creative—than the two mentioned above. He had gambled himself to death right at the table.

The owner of that deep red resentment had been a pure gambler; even the dragon tattoo across his shoulders was a "straight flush" design, and his skills and items were all geared toward gambling. His superb techniques allowed him to see through Kingdom’s cheating from the very first glance. So, he played along, controlling the flow of the game to lure Kingdom into raising the stakes.

By the end, he feigned losing his cool and produced a contract, wagering his very life against Kingdom. Had he succeeded, he could have directly controlled this key NPC. Unfortunately, there is deceit in nine out of ten gambles, and Kingdom had an ace up his sleeve—a trick far beyond the gambler's understanding—which forced the gambler to lose a game he should have won. Under the power of the contract, the gambler was erased on the spot, dying right at the table.

As a seasoned gambler, the deep red dying wish of the resentment’s owner had quite a bit of personality: *[Defeat Kingdom at the gambling table, or expose his cheating.]*

Dying in a dungeon with one’s greatest obsession related to gambling—it was hard to say whether to praise his pure passion or conclude that he didn't die unjustly.

As for Wu Chang, a "non-chief" who always had to hit the hard pity cap to get anything, he was quite confident in his luck. He touched and flipped the cards without a moment's hesitation, and in just one minute, he easily lost his breakfast. That it lasted a full minute was only because Kingdom spent fifty seconds showing off his card-handling skills.

Victory came so easily that even Kingdom, who was used to winning, was a bit stunned. He looked at Wu Chang across the table, hesitant to speak. Could this kid be a real idiot rather than a delusional one?

Kingdom cleaned up the cards, feeling a desire to retreat. His mother had said never to play with fools.

"Brother Sean, if you can't put up more of a stake, let’s end the game here for today."

"Wait, don't be in such a hurry." Wu Chang pressed his hand onto the cards on the table, then turned and whispered something to a passing nurse.

Two minutes later, Julie trotted into the activity room. Seeing Wu Chang, who was perfectly healthy and energetic, and then glancing at Kingdom across from him, her cold expression flickered, revealing an emotion that could only be described as dissatisfaction.

"What is it?"

Wu Chang, like a mischievous child who had just seen a parent arrive, quickly stood up, hid behind Julie, and shouted at a volume the entire activity room could hear:

"He’s cheating!"

In an instant, the entire activity room went silent. Everyone’s gaze turned toward Kingdom. In the entire sanatorium, including the medical staff, everyone had, to some degree, had something won from them by Kingdom. If it were luck, everyone could afford to lose, but if Kingdom was winning through cheating, he was going to have trouble.

Moonlight Sanatorium was located in a small, rural town. The townspeople were simple folk who wouldn't make a big fuss over something as minor as cheating at cards—they would just chop off a hand or a foot.

Kingdom’s expression stiffened, and his mouth twitched slightly. "Brother Sean, one must be a good sport when gambling. You can't just go around slandering people."

Wu Chang crouched slightly, shrinking completely behind Julie, and reaffirmed, "You were cheating just now."

Kingdom’s gaze grew heavy, and a look of rage surfaced on his normally amiable, Buddha-like face. More than being accused of cheating, he was angered by Wu Chang’s questioning of his gambling skill.

Against a rookie like Wu Chang, he could win with his eyes closed—why would he need to cheat?

"I did not! Everyone in the sanatorium has checked my deck; there is absolutely no problem with it."

Wu Chang pointed at the cards on the table and said loudly, "Your cards are marked. If you take three special pills at once, you can see the markings."

Taking a full day’s dosage of medicine at once would be difficult to prove elsewhere, but this was Moonlight Sanatorium; no one here was normal. As soon as these words were out, the patients in the activity room didn't hesitate; they shoved pills into their mouths while swarming toward the gambling table.

Faced with the zombie-like surge of patients, the anger on Kingdom’s face froze. He hurriedly tried to pack up the cards, not daring to let anyone else see them. He looked at Wu Chang, who was hiding behind Julie, his eyes filled with rage and grievance.

He had hunted geese all his life, only to be pecked in the eye by a goose. He hadn't expected this newcomer to be playing the fool; the kid had seen through his trickery at a glance and then, with no regard for the code of the trade, exposed him in public.

Beyond his anger, he felt incredibly aggrieved by Wu Chang’s actions. If he had actually cheated and been caught, fine, but he really hadn't cheated this time. The feeling of being wrongly accused was damn-near unbearable.

He couldn't worry about settling scores with Wu Chang; he turned to explain himself to the menacing patients.

"The marks on the back of the cards aren't mine! A friend of mine used my deck to demonstrate how to cheat. After seeing it, I realized cheating wasn't what I wanted, so I refused him and sealed the deck away. It’s just that I was in a hurry to leave my room today and grabbed the wrong deck, which caused Brother Sean’s misunderstanding."

Kingdom said righteously, "I, Kingdom, did not cheat!"

Such a perfunctory excuse didn't even convince the patients of Moonlight Sanatorium. The atmosphere between the two sides grew heated, and they were soon engaged in a brawl. The medical staff responsible for maintaining order collectively turned their backs, refusing to look at the chaos unfolding in the activity room.

Watching the deep red resentment on Kingdom fade away, Wu Chang felt his attribute panel and spatial inventory shift. The reward for completing the dying wish had arrived.

Although Wu Chang wanted to taunt Kingdom a bit more, now was not the time. The fish had taken the bait; it was time for his next move.

He poked his head out from behind Julie and said with a look of regret:

"Brother Kingdom, from my personal perspective, I am very willing to believe in your character. How about this? Let’s find a time to play another game. If you win, I’ll believe it was my misunderstanding and that you weren't cheating earlier."

Kingdom’s face brightened, and ignoring the punches raining down on him, he shouted, "Now?"

A kind smile appeared on Wu Chang’s face. "No, I want to play your favorite private game. You know the time and place."