Jackpot!
Casino Hudson.
The Golden City of Arcana is also called the City of Pleasure.
And this place is one of the three major casinos run by Hudson, the lord of Arcana.
Its grandeur and splendor, regardless of night or day, seduce people.
The advantage of Casino Hudson is that even "outsiders from other cities" can enter without any special measures.
They don't verify identity, and the only thing needed to enter is "money."
Also, since it sits at the very peak of Arcana's nightlife, many people visit Hudson while hiding their identities.
"This house deed is only worth 8,000 gold? What are you talking about, it's still being traded for 15,000 gold right now!"
The entrance desk that filters the entrants.
When a man suddenly shouted, the small bespectacled person inside the desk shook his head.
"The actual transaction price around that area in District 5 is 7,800 gold. I think even 8,000 gold is a generous offer, but if you don't fill the remaining 2,000 gold, entry will be difficult."
"No matter what, how could you…!"
"Guards."
In an instant, the burly guards around them subdued the man at once.
"W-what! I'm a customer!"
"If you don't have the 10,000-gold entry deposit, you're not a customer."
"Keuk!"
When a guard grabbed the man and threw him straight into the air, the man flew several meters and crashed face-first onto the floor.
Watching that, the bystanders covered their mouths and sneered.
"Tsk tsk, where does a poor bastard think he's crawling in."
"Ugh, how ugly."
"District 5 is like a rat hole, isn't it? Feels like the stink is wafting from somewhere!"
Arcana's rich, wearing beautiful dresses, refined tuxedos or suits, or golden turbans symbolizing great tycoons.
They frowned the moment a shabbily dressed man tried to enter.
They mocked and sneered.
This was Arcana. A place where only "money" came first.
But my gaze wasn't on them, it was on the guards.
These weren't ordinary guards.
[Lv. 6]
Great Warrior, or knight-class powerhouses.
By the setting, they were all regular knights of Arcana City.
It might seem strange for honorable knights to be standing guard at a casino, but in this game each "metropolis" is basically its own monarchy.
So every city had completely different rules and customs.
Meaning Arcana has Arcana's own law.
"Welcome."
And the important point was, I was next after the man who got thrown out.
Isabella and I could also be flung away by the guards like that man.
"To enter the casino, a deposit of 10,000 gold is required. Of course, we also accept collateral."
The manager behind the glass wall smiled warmly.
A 10,000-gold deposit. But the cash I had wasn't even 300 gold.
'I spent 50 gold washing up and buying clothes.'
Exactly 250 gold left.
Because I couldn't enter the casino covered in blood.
Cash was nowhere near enough, so all that remained was collateral.
'Even the entry deposit divides your level.'
I had plenty to offer as collateral.
Like Isabella said, even handing over the Pumpkin Dagger would be at least 30,000 gold.
The manager basically had an upper-grade skill that could check the "value" of any item.
Only if you had 10,000 gold, or collateral equivalent to that, could you barely enter, and your level was also divided by the size of your collateral.
By definition, collateral is not treated as game money.
It's nothing more than a measure to distinguish an entrant's "level." A way to sort those who can casually deposit an enormous amount of valuables from those who can't.
"Customer? Do you not have any?"
The guards stepped closer.
"If you don't have any, move aside!"
"Can't you see the line? Just go in already!"
"Ah, you poor bastards. You're dragging this out forever."
The people in line snapped angrily.
Since two people in a row were stalling, the ones who wanted to get in and spin slots even one second faster were raising a fuss.
The manager's eyes swept me up and down.
'A lower-grade everyday outfit bought at the market for 13 gold. Besides that, I don't see anything worth money. The woman with him is fairly pretty, but there's nothing special.'
The manager sighed inwardly.
Today, there seemed to be an unusually high number of unqualified customers.
People who looked like they should be laying out mats at the market and gambling there, not here.
If too many unqualified customers come, the casino's reputation drops. Even if Hudson's among the three major casinos is the most free-spirited, still, this was too much.
'I should show them the pecking order.'
Even after seeing the guy before him get thrown out, he didn't back off, so he must be a real nuisance.
It felt like he needed a harsher punishment.
If he got beaten half to death in some remote place, he'd never set foot here again.
"Guards…."
"I'll use this."
Right as the guards were about to pounce, the man casually took something out of his chest pocket and held it out.
The manager checked the item and tilted his head.
'This is?'
He couldn't tell what it was. The moment he activated the "Appraisal" skill.
The manager's eyes widened as if they might pop out.
"...We will escort you to the VIP room. We sincerely welcome you to Casino Hudson."
Both the manager, and the guards who were about to pounce, politely clasped their hands.
"We will guide you through the vip-only entrance."
"Please follow us. Move, move!"
The guards' attitude flipped, their movement crisp and orderly.
They pushed aside people blocking the way and made a new path.
A scene as if Moses' miracle were unfolding.
"VIP?"
"W-what the hell…?"
The people in line, dumbfounded, could only stare blankly as we went up through the vip-only entrance instead of the normal one.
***
Top floor of the casino.
As we stepped into a place reserved only for vip guests, Isabella spoke to me with an uneasy expression.
"…What did you deposit?"
"Fairy Queen's Tears. A Talisman."
I answered as if it were nothing.
Then Isabella's doubt only grew.
"If it's a Talisman, isn't it a device that refines weapons? But no matter how good a Talisman is, getting this level of treatment from just one is…."
"Impossible."
No matter how good, a Talisman couldn't be worth more than 1,000,000 gold.
If you compared pure "value," the "Teleport Book" would sell for more. Because demand is high.
But this was Casino Hudson.
'Hudson. He's definitely a player.'
Gamers had flowed into the game world and become NPCs. Not knowing they were real people, I had mistaken their interference for "freedom of the game."
But if they weren't NPCs, then Hudson, the owner here, was with a 99% probability someone synchronized with reality.
'Hudson is collecting Talismans. If it's a rare Talisman, of course he'll covet it.'
Hudson is a merchant.
With terrible combat power and talent, he was trying to get strong through Talismans.
Because among Talismans, there are ones that remove weapon equip restrictions, or grant talent even to someone who lacks it.
Naturally, "Fairy Queen's Tears" fits those conditions.
Originally, it was an item that might drop only after killing about a hundred of the semi-raid boss monster, the "Fairy Queen's Knight."
And besides….
It was probably one of the Talismans Hudson wanted most.
'The most manageable guy. For cutting off variables, there's no one better than Hudson.'
I was curious, about the stories of those who became NPCs. About the information Hudson had.
And among the people I was certain about, Hudson was the easiest to approach.
But before making contact with him.
"First, I should spin the roulette."
***
Whirrrrrr!
A ball spins on top of a huge circular Wheel.
A roulette game where, among numbers 1 to 50 on the Wheel, if the ball drops into one slot you win by betting on high, low, odd, or even.
"Go in! Go in!"
"Stop!"
People, in a frenzy, fixate on the ball.
Ting, tiding!
The ball bounces here and there, impossible to predict where it'll land.
Soon, the ball dropped perfectly into the number marked "48."
"Again, again he hit it?"
"What the hell is that guy?"
People's eyes quickly gathered in one place.
A mountain of gold stacked before a single man.
"He started with 250 gold, how much is it now?"
"Already 1.32 million gold?"
"No. He just bet ten Gold Bars, so now it's 1.42 million gold!"
"Insane. Is he the god of gambling?"
Three hundred 100-gold coins stamped with the Central Bank seal.
Twenty Gold balls worth 1,000 gold each.
One hundred twenty-seven Gold Bars worth 10,000 gold each.
A total of 1.32 million gold piled before the man.
In the VIP room, this amount wasn't rare, but the problem was that he had started with only 250 gold.
'As expected, Golden Grace.'
I smiled faintly.
1.32 million gold was the amount before the last bet.
With a successful 100,000-gold bet, it became 1.42 million gold.
A real jackpot.
Because [Golden Grace] let me bet on the spot with the highest probability.
[Golden Grace] shows probabilities when you do something involving money. The more samples, the more accurate it becomes, and there's nowhere with more samples than a gambling hall like this.
The dealer's face turned pale with confusion.
Because it wasn't just me who won, everyone who bet with me won too.
And it wasn't a little win, it was thousands of times the profit.
By tomorrow, I'd probably be on every casino's blacklist.
"S-sir. Any more than this…."
The dealer, having taken catastrophic losses, looked like he was about to cry.
Soon, the guards grabbed my shoulders.
Meaning, I should stop now.
Even if this was a VIP room requiring over 1,000,000 gold in collateral, this loss was massive. They tried in between to check if I was pulling some trick, but they couldn't find anything.
"We will pay out your winnings in full. However, from now on you can no longer enter Casino Hudson."
In the end, they had no choice but to send me out.
The guards surrounded me.
If I resisted more here, not only the money but my life could be in danger.
Isabella glared around sharply.
"Stop. He is my guest."
At that moment, a man who had come down from an even higher floor spoke to the guards.
The guards straightened and bowed their heads.
The people around, as if used to it, began murmuring.
Ignoring them, he walked straight to me, held out his hand, and spoke.
"Nice to meet you. I am Hudson, the owner of this casino. If it wouldn't be too much trouble, would you care for a cup of tea?"
...Hudson.
The owner of this casino, and a man with a very high probability of being a real human from reality.
[Lv.9]
The first thing that caught my eye was the level above Hudson's head.
But as expected, aside from the level I couldn't distinguish anything else.
Then, like me, could Hudson see my level?
Other NPCs can't see my level.
Whether this is a player benefit, or an ability only I have, I still can't be sure.
If it's a player benefit, could Hudson recognize that I'm a player?
More than anything, I'd caused this much of a commotion. How would he react?
Since I had to collide with him directly to find out, even I couldn't help but tense up in this moment.