rslcontracting Chapter 85
Chapter 85
Chapter 85: Roulette For Cheaters
"Deal!"
"But…"
Silk-Stocking Desperado clapped her hands.
"Little bro~"
"Did you forget something?"
She stepped forward and lightly patted Guan Ming on the shoulder, leaning close to his ear.
"We paid the entrance fee… what for?"
"To win money from those ghosts, right?"
"But you used all your chips as the admission fee…"
"If you have no principal, what are you going to gamble with?"
"I…"
Guan Ming's whole body stiffened, and he fell into immediate silence.
He had never gambled before—and he had forgotten something this critical.
"Keep it. This big sis doesn't need your charity."
Silk-Stocking Desperado let out a loud laugh, spun around in a flourish, and slammed both hands on the counter.
"I want… to mortgage every single Gundam part on my body that can be mortgaged!!"
"Including my heart!!"
"!!"
At those words, not only the others—even the originally languid Nurse Ghost froze.
It immediately stood up and respectfully offered a parchment mortgage contract.
Silk-Stocking Desperado didn't even look at it. She bit her finger and pressed her bloody thumbprint down without hesitation!
"Hurry up and bring the money!"
She extended her hand toward the Nurse Ghost, eyes blazing with madness.
"I want to see exactly how much these 'Gundam' parts of mine are worth!"
The Nurse Ghost hauled a large black bag from beneath the counter and slammed it onto the table.
The bag was opened—inside were a full 500 Ghost Coins!
"Hahahaha! Didn't expect this old lady to be worth so much!"
Silk-Stocking Desperado burst out laughing. Then she grabbed 60 Ghost Coins from the pile and slapped them onto the counter.
"Except for this tsundere little bro's entrance fee, everyone else's…"
"This old lady's covering it all!"
"Hahahaha!"
Silk-Stocking Desperado stood with both hands on her hips, laughing without a care in the world.
Everyone was so unsettled by her reckless, death-defying behavior that they were left speechless.
Ye Yilin, a little scared, shuffled forward in small steps and tugged at the hem of Silk-Stocking Desperado's windbreaker, speaking softly.
"Desperado sis… none of us know how to gamble…"
"Is it really okay to go in? What if we lose everything you won?"
"Pfft—don't worry about it!"
Silk-Stocking Desperado said breezily.
"Little princess, didn't you ever see your good-for-nothing dad playing cards and gambling when you were a kid?"
"Next to his card table…"
"Wasn't there always a crowd of spectators?"
"Right now… you're all my spectators!"
"We've been stuck in this ghost place for so long. It's time I showed you all how the world works."
"……"
Ye Yilin's heart lurched.
‘How does she know that Dad used to invite friends over to play cards all the time when I was little?’
But clearly this was not the moment to dwell on that detail.
As long as they weren't sending these rookies to the table to throw their lives away.
So Ye Yilin nodded obediently. "Okay, Desperado sis, we'll do whatever you say."
Off to the side.
Guan Ming's expression was as dark as it could get.
He hated this feeling of being overshadowed at every turn.
'But this works out fine…'
'At least I don't have to mortgage an organ because I don't have enough principal.'
Guan Ming consoled himself inwardly.
Then, coolly, he said:
"Since you don't want it, I won't force it."
With that, he tightly gripped the 10 Ghost Coins the Nurse Ghost had given him as change.
Then he pushed the door open and strode into the Card Room.
"What a tsundere little kiddo~"
Silk-Stocking Desperado let out a light laugh, grabbed the money pouch, and led everyone in single file.
……
The moment the door swung open, Guan Ming was hit by a wave of smoke that made him cough repeatedly.
The hall was dimly lit, scattered with gambling tables—and completely empty.
Guan Ming didn't falter.
He walked straight to an empty mahjong table, looked it over, and sat down.
Immediately after.
The scrape of a chair rang out.
The seat beside him was taken in an instant.
Guan Ming looked up, brow furrowing deeply. "It's you? Why are you following me?"
He suspected this madwoman was holding a grudge from what had happened earlier and planned to mess with his head at the table.
Silk-Stocking Desperado crossed her legs and propped them up on the mahjong table.
"Relax~ little bro."
"Take a good look at this Card Room… only one table is open right now."
"If we want to gamble, we have to sit together."
Guan Ming didn't reply—he simply looked away and stayed on guard.
In the spectator area across the hall.
Liu Rui trembled slightly as he shook Shi Zhongshan's arm, asking worriedly.
"Brother Shi… can Guan Ming… actually survive this?"
He was gambling his life against ghosts!
Shi Zhongshan let out a long sigh.
"It's up to fate now."
"That kid Guan Ming was a top student in the criminal investigation unit—ranked first in every assessment."
"It was just his personality—too straight, too proud. Ended up offending the higher-ups."
"That's why he got transferred down to our prison."
"He's got… something up here." He tapped his temple.
……
Cold sweat was beginning to bead on Guan Ming's forehead.
As Shi Zhongshan had said, he really had come from the criminal investigation unit.
He had even been selected for undercover training and had studied gambling techniques.
But he had been expelled partway through for disciplinary reasons and transferred to prison guard duty as a cover.
Even with rigorous training behind him, this was still his first time gambling.
And it was against ghosts!
Sitting beside him, Silk-Stocking Desperado looked utterly at ease.
Slam!
She dropped that entire sack of Ghost Coins on the table with swaggering confidence.
Seeing this, Guan Ming followed her lead and placed his own pitiful 10 Ghost Coins in front of himself.
The moment the chips hit the table.
Hum!
A surge of black energy rose from the center of the mahjong table!
The black energy rapidly gathered and condensed—and out of it materialized a slot machine!
On the slot machine's screen, 3 reels began spinning wildly.
Images flashed across them without stopping.
A Joker,
A Revolver,
A Werewolf,
A Playing Card,
A Die.
Each representing a possible "game mode" for this round of gambling.
One minute later.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
All 3 reels stopped simultaneously.
Locking onto—【Revolver】.
"……"
Guan Ming stared blankly.
In the gambling techniques he had learned… Texas Hold'em, Blackjack, even Mahjong and Pai Gow—he had confidence he could win at any of them.
But what the hell was this 【Revolver】 business?!
What did that have to do with a mahjong table?!
'Could it be…?'
Guan Ming's pupils contracted sharply. He had realized what terrifying game this was.
"That's right~"
Silk-Stocking Desperado rested her chin on both hands.
"The famous game of Roulette."
"So, little bro—are you scared?"
"This is one of gamblers' most beloved and most dangerous games~"
"In this version… the loser doesn't pay up, because there's only one way out—death~"
Guan Ming drew a deep breath and forcibly steadied his violently pounding heart.
"You'd better worry about yourself, you madwoman."
"I've still got to stay alive long enough to pay you back."
To everyone's surprise, once Guan Ming learned this was a luck-based death game.
His emotions miraculously settled.
"Hmm?"
Silk-Stocking Desperado tilted her head slightly, puzzled.
'Why did this kid suddenly stop panicking?'
'Could it be… he's hiding some kind of cheat up his sleeve?'
"Interesting!"
She laughed and spread her arms wide, calling out to the empty gambling table.
"Then I'll just have to wait and see! Little bro!"
"And all you players hiding in the shadows…"
"Time to come out, isn't it?"
Whoosh!
The moment her words fell.
2 columns of black smoke erupted from the other 2 empty chairs!
Both of them—high-tier ghosts radiating ominous auras!
The one on the left.
Wore a blood-stained bank manager's suit.
A horrifying bullet hole sat in the center of its brow, from which black brain matter mixed with blood oozed continuously.
Floating above its head was a row of blood-red numbers.
【Win Rate: 53/9】.
The one on the right.
Was a black thief ghost dressed in a tight-fitting night-ops outfit.
While the outfit was arguably unnecessary for what it was, it was clearly a ghost of professional standards—not about to go around exposing itself.
Above its head, the same floating numbers.
【Win Rate: 78/6】.
"Brother Shi, what's that above their heads?" Liu Rui asked in puzzlement from the spectator area.
Ye Yilin raised her hand and said quietly:
"I know! That should be their record—showing how many rounds they've won and lost here!"
Liu Rui nodded, sucking in a sharp breath.
"My god… these 2 ghosts have such high win rates!"
"Between them they've killed almost a hundred people and ghosts! Can Desperado sis and Guan Ming actually beat them?"
However.
The moment those words left her mouth.
Not just the prison guards—even the 2 ghosts who had just sat down froze simultaneously.
Because.
Every single gaze in the room converged on the space above Silk-Stocking Desperado's head.
Guan Ming's eyes trembled violently.
Even the 2 ghosts looked like their eyeballs were about to fall out, wearing expressions as though they had seen a living person.
Because floating above Silk-Stocking Desperado's head was a line of numbers that could blind a person.
【Win Rate: 65/1】!!
"Hiss…"
The Bank Ghost and the Thief Ghost exchanged a glance—each seeing wariness mirrored in the other's eyes.
‘What the hell, they'd run into a fellow big-league player!’
‘Came to poach easy prey, only to get poached themselves?’
66 rounds of life-or-death gambling—and she had only lost once?!
Just what kind of monster was this woman?!
However.
When their greedy gazes shifted toward Guan Ming sitting beside her.
【Win Rate: 0/0】.
"Heh heh heh…"
The 2 ghosts let out cold, sinister chuckles.
"Such an adorable little zero~"
"Don't worry, uncles will take good care of you~"
With 2 high-tier ghosts boring their stares into him, Guan Ming felt as if the blood in his entire body was about to freeze over.
But he bit down on his teeth and didn't crack.
Because he too, had his greatest trump card.
Grade A Ability—【Premonition Dream】!
As long as he closed his eyes, he could foresee every event that would unfold in the next 10 seconds inside his mind!
For a game like 【Roulette】 where a single shot decided life or death, 10 seconds of foresight was an absolutely invincible cheat!
'As long as the revolver makes its way to my hands…'
'And that chamber has no bullet.'
'As long as those conditions are met… I can't fail!'
Guan Ming calculated his odds inwardly.
"Since everyone's here now…"
Silk-Stocking Desperado slapped the table, breaking the silence.
"Let the game begin!"
"I'm going all-in! You all do whatever you like!"
As she spoke, she actually shoved the entire bag of 540 Ghost Coins in front of her—all of it—straight to the center of the table!
"……"
The 2 ghosts stared.
Going all-in on the first round?!
Was she really that wild?!
"Fold…"
The Bank Ghost let out a hoarse sound.
It reached into its chest and pulled out 300 Ghost Coins, pushing them to the center.
The Thief Ghost silently added 200 Ghost Coins of its own.
And at this moment.
Guan Ming was completely dumbstruck.
He stared at the pathetically small stack of 10 Ghost Coins sitting in front of him and sank into despair.
By the unspoken rules of gambling dens, the order of turns in this kind of life-or-death game was determined by the size of each bet!
In that instant.
The 2 ghosts suddenly turned their heads, looked at Guan Ming, and smiled.
That look—was the look of a big bad wolf eyeing a freshly skinned little white rabbit.
Barely able to contain their eagerness…
For him to hurry up and spread his legs.
Because they were coming.
A bad premonition surged up in Guan Ming's heart.
And then.
Hum!
On the back of his hand, a blood-red number appeared—【4】.
The Thief Ghost's hand showed 【3】.
The Bank Ghost's showed 【2】.
And Silk-Stocking Desperado, who had bet everything going all-in, had 【1】.
‘Son of a—!!’
Guan Ming swore internally, his breathing turning ragged and heavy.
As everyone knew, in 【Roulette】—
Because bullets are expended with each trigger pull, those who receive the gun earlier actually have a higher chance of survival!
And his 【Premonition Dream】 required him to have the gun in his hands!
Only when it was his turn could he use foresight to determine whether the next chamber was empty or loaded—and from that, decide whether to fire.
That way, he could control whether the next person lived or died!
If the people before him used up all the bullets—or if by the time it reached him there was a bullet left—
His ability would be completely useless!
Fourth in the order.
This was the most dangerous, most desperate position imaginable!
'Don't panic! Can't panic!'
Guan Ming desperately consoled himself inwardly:
'The bullets aren't loaded yet! As long as someone gets shot before me, I'll have a chance!'
But in the very next moment.
He was completely blindsided.
"Huh?"
Without anyone noticing when it happened, a revolver had already appeared in Silk-Stocking Desperado's hand.
And—
The most suffocating part of all!
Click! Click! Click!
Silk-Stocking Desperado reached out and snatched 3 bullets from the table without even looking.
And casually shoved them into the revolver's 6-chamber cylinder—just like that!
"You lunatic!!"
Not just Guan Ming—even the 2 ghosts were stunned!
A 50-50 probability!
That was a literal coin-flip chance of dying!
Was this woman actually this insane?!
"Alright, alright~ loading complete."
Silk-Stocking Desperado even spun the cylinder with an outrageously cocky flick.
Rattle rattle!
Then—
Snap!
She snapped the revolver shut.
Without any hesitation.
She pressed the barrel against her own temple.
Bang! Bang!
She fired—
2 shots in a row!!
Click! Click!
2 empty-chamber hammer sounds echoed through the hall.
Nothing went off.
"Oh my~ how lucky."
Silk-Stocking Desperado blew on the barrel—which had no smoke to speak of—and tossed the gun onto the table, smiling sweetly at the 2 ghosts sitting across from her.
"How unfortunate, everyone…"
"Today, you're probably going to lose 2 of yours. Hehe!"
"……"
The Bank Ghost and the Thief Ghost clenched their fists, trembling with fury.
But at the same time, their eyes were filled with both wariness and reluctant admiration.
‘So this was the woman who had only ever lost once?!’
Firing 2 shots without blinking under a 50-50 chance of death—
That kind of nerve—she was more ghost than the ghosts!
"This madwoman!!"
Guan Ming sat to the side, watching through gritted teeth, his back completely soaked through with cold sweat.
'What is she doing?! How does she dare?!'
Guan Ming had nearly plunged into total despair.
6 chambers, loaded with 3 live rounds.
Silk-Stocking Desperado fired 2 empty chambers.
Which meant…
Of the remaining 4 chambers, 3 of them held live rounds!!
The probability of death had skyrocketed to 75%!
'Stay calm! Guan Ming, you have to be cold! Can't panic!'
He kept drawing deep breaths, reminding himself over and over.
Compared to him, the Bank Ghost—second in the order—was clearly far more rattled.
It reached out with trembling hands and picked up the revolver from the table, shaking like it had Parkinson's.
It pressed the barrel against its own forehead—which already had a bullet hole in it.
It closed its eyes.
"Keh keh keh……"
Suddenly.
It let out a sinister laugh.
Black energy roiled across its hand—and right in front of everyone's eyes, it used that ghost energy to quietly rotate the cylinder!
Click!
It pulled the trigger.
The gun didn't go off.
"You're cheating!!"
Guan Ming witnessed this and slammed his palm on the table, shooting to his feet and pointing at the Bank Ghost as he roared.
"I saw it! You used your black energy to rotate the cylinder just now!!"
This was against the rules! This was blatant cheating!
However.
What greeted him.
Was unrestrained laughter from 1 person and 2 ghosts.
"Hahahaha!"
Silk-Stocking Desperado laughed so hard she slapped her own thigh, tears practically coming to her eyes.
"Little bro~"
"You're saying it broke the rules? Then where's your proof?"
"Proof? The fact that it rotated the cylinder is the proof!"
Guan Ming was incensed beyond words.
At this moment.
The Bank Ghost rose unhurriedly from its seat, spread its hands, and displayed them to the room.
In the world of gambling dens, they say: to catch a cheat, catch the goods.
Like cards hidden up a sleeve, or dice weighted with lead.
But its hands… did they hold any physical evidence?
No physical evidence—on what grounds could anyone say it had cheated?
"You…!!"
Guan Ming, struck as if by lightning, slumped back into his chair in defeat.
In this gambling den controlled by the uncanny—where there were no rules—
The so-called fairness was nothing but a joke.
However.
The one silver lining was this:
Because the Bank Ghost had re-rotated the cylinder, it had essentially scrambled what would have been a certain-death sequence.
His odds of survival had, in theory, gone back up a little.
Then.
The Bank Ghost passed the gun to the Thief Ghost, third in the order.
The Thief Ghost took the gun and flashed a mocking smile at Guan Ming.
It was as if it were saying: 'Watch closely, rookie—this is why I've won 78 rounds.'
Hum!
At the tip of the Thief Ghost's finger, a wisp of pale black ghost energy condensed.
That thread of ghost energy bored directly into the cylinder!
Right in front of Guan Ming's eyes, it fished out the bullet that belonged to its own chamber—and then…
Wedged it into the 2nd chamber position.
Once all of this was done.
The Thief Ghost pressed the barrel confidently against its own head and pulled the trigger.
Click!
Nothing went off.
That chamber was empty.
But…
Guan Ming's face had already turned the color of ash.
Because he had seen it—crystal clearly—the Thief Ghost had placed the live round in the next chamber.
In other words, the one reserved for him.
This was a certain-death scenario.
Even without 【Premonition Dream】, he already knew the hour of his own death.
"Ha… hahaha!!"
Guan Ming's mind completely crumbled.
With trembling hands, he took the revolver from the Thief Ghost.
'This is no fair bet at all…'
'This is just seeing who can cheat harder!!'
He had no way out.
Guan Ming gasped heavily, his eyes brimming with unwillingness and despair.
He slowly raised the gun and pressed the barrel against his own temple.
Images flashed through his mind—the highlights of his short but proud life.
From the moment he was born and his criminal investigator father died on duty…
His mother raising him alone…
To graduating from university and joining the force, hoping to carry on his father's legacy and avenge him.
And now—this wretched state he had come to.
There was only one thing he wanted to say.
'I'm sorry… Mom… I love you…'
Guan Ming closed his eyes.
His finger applied force—and pulled the trigger.
Click!
The hammer struck.
And yet.
The gunshot—the explosion of brain matter he had fully anticipated—
Never came.