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Chapter 84 - Ch 84 : Surprised? Unexpected, isn’t it?

"How is that possible?!"

"No way! I actually won!"

Everyone suddenly stood up with a whoosh.

The intense ups and downs of the match had kept their hearts on edge, and now that it was over, instead of relaxing, the tension snapped like a pulled string.

Kibaou and Lind stared in disbelief at the proud and unyielding Velutia Great-Horned Ram standing in the arena.

Their hands trembled as they picked up their bet slips, stammering:

"Didn't—didn't they say that the sure-win guide… was a trap?!"

Meanwhile, in a shadowy corner, Akimi and Kirito clutched their chests as they saw the final result.

They looked at each other, and from the trembling in each other's faces and the uncontrollably rising corners of their mouths, they knew this wasn't a dream.

Akimi suddenly slapped the table and shouted:

"Totally fried it, baby!!! Hahaha! We're swimming in chips!!"

Then the smile on his face completely broke free.

Kirito was stunned for a second, then instantly caught on and burst out laughing too.

But they didn't laugh for long—because it was time to leave.

Given how petty Bardun was acting, if they didn't get out of here fast, the two of them—having placed a massive bet and won big—might be invited for a "chat."

And it wasn't hard to figure out: when it came to the broken lights, Akimi and Kirito were the most suspicious.

People who bet small had no reason to risk angering the giant Volupta Casino with dirty tricks; and among the big bets, only Akimi and Kirito had wagered on the Velutia Great-Horned Ram.

Before they left the Monster Arena, Akimi thoughtfully scribbled a line on their table:

"Surprised? Unexpected? Happy?"

He also drew a little silly face, and beside it, wrote:

"From your friendly forest elf pal."

They couldn't exactly frame someone else for it, but they could still make Bardun gag with rage—just one sentence was enough to keep him annoyed all day long.

In VIP Room 17, Asuna, Kio, Argo, and Kizmel eagerly looked at Akimi and Kirito as they returned through the secret passage.

Argo couldn't wait and fired off a barrage of questions:

"Kiri-bou, Aki-bou! You're back! So? So? Did you win or lose? Judging by your faces, I'd say you won! How much did you win? Over here, we nailed our part of the mission!"

The two of them, having just crawled out of a closet, were totally stunned by the flurry of questions and stood there dazed for a moment.

Akimi shot her a glance, gave the overly excitable Argo a flick on the head, and quietly said as he pointed to the petite figure lying on the big bed, "Keep it down—Nirrnir is still resting over there."

"Ehe~"

Argo scratched her head and stuck out her tongue, then dragged Akimi and Kirito back into the living room.

The others followed along.

"Come on, tell us—how much did you win?"

Argo casually picked up Nirrnir's high-end red wine and poured herself a glass, asking the question without hesitation.

"Hehe~ this much."

Kirito raised his right hand and held up two fingers, looking rather pleased with himself.

"Oooh?! Don't tell me… two million chips?!"

Argo's eyes lit up as she guessed.

Kirito's previously confident expression instantly froze, and then darkened.

He flicked Argo on the forehead as well and snapped, "You really dare to dream, huh?! Two million chips—selling you a hundred times over wouldn't be enough for that! It's two hundred thousand!"

"Yaaah! Kiri-bou! Why'd you hit me just because I guessed wrong?! I'm gonna get you for that!"

"???" Kirito looked utterly baffled as he raised his hand to block the flailing Argo and said, "Didn't Akimi also flick you just now? Why are you only going after me?"

Argo kept swinging her arms while saying, "Because that normie has a girlfriend! If I hit him, Asu-chan will definitely come after me. You're just easier to bully, Kiri-bou~"

"…Seriously?"

Kirito held Argo's head at arm's length, watching her swing at empty air, and muttered blankly, "What kind of reason is that?!"

Kio watched the playful scuffle between Argo and Kirito with a warm smile, wiping away tears from the corners of her eyes.

She said, "This is wonderful… Kirito and Akimi won the arena match, and Asuna, Argo, and Kizmel successfully obtained the magic item linking Bardun and the fallen elves—Miss Nirrnir can be saved now… This is really wonderful…"

Having watched the scene unfold for a while, Akimi glanced at the time and lightly clapped his hands to interrupt Argo and Kirito, saying, "Alright, alright, that's enough. We still have one more step in our operation—it's already five past eleven. Kibaou and the others will probably be returning to the inn soon, and we need to convince them to help us clear the boss before they do."

"And besides, when Bardun, who just lost two hundred thousand chips at the monster arena, comes back to his room and discovers that the magic item he used to communicate with the Fallen Elves has been stolen—who knows what kind of irrational thing he might do?"

Akimi spoke as he sat down on the sofa.

Glancing around, he asked, "By the way… where is that magic item?"

Just as Asuna was about to answer, Argo suddenly darted in front of her and covered her mouth with one hand.

She turned to Akimi and said, grinning, "Hehe—Aki-bou, why don't you guess?"

Asuna lightly tapped Argo's hand and shot her a glare, but didn't say anything.

"Tch, why does it have to be so complicated?"

Akimi gave a helpless smile, then scanned the living room.

It didn't take long for his eyes to lock onto the huge map laid out on the coffee table.

Unlike the third-floor VIP section blueprint Kio had placed on the table earlier, this map was absurdly large—about 1.5 meters by 1.2 meters, roughly the size of a small bed.

It depicted the entire layout of the seventh floor, and in one corner was a snowflake made up of six small lightning-shaped symbols—clearly the emblem of the Fallen Elves.

"It's this map, isn't it?"

Akimi raised an eyebrow at Argo as he spoke.

Argo cried out in surprise, "Eh—?! You figured it out that fast?!"

Then she spun around and hugged Asuna from behind, accusing, "Asu-chan! Did you give him a hint?!"

Asuna gave her an eye roll and flicked her forehead without saying a word.

"Ahh!!! So unfair!"

Argo puffed out her cheeks, plopped back on the sofa, and huffed, "You lovey-dovey cheaters, that's no fun at all~"

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