Qin Yao was still nervous, but after the blood draw was complete, she relaxed somewhat.
Earlier, Qin Yao had worried whether this crude blood-drawing device could accurately find her vein. If it pierced her muscle or punctured through a blood vessel, that would be no joke.
But judging from the current situation, no matter how frightening the various devices in the "Corridor" looked, they were absolutely reliable in terms of function.
Although losing 200 milliliters of blood did not make her feel too unwell, she still did not want to go through it a second time.
This device drew blood very quickly, and it hurt far more than getting blood drawn at an ordinary hospital. Watching the crimson blood continuously drain away felt terrible, too.
Besides, she did not know whether it was just her imagination, but Qin Yao felt somewhat dizzy and listless. She was afraid that if they drew any more, she would pass out.
After the blood draw was complete, the mechanism did not unlock. According to the game rules, the exchange process would only be fully completed after she finished a wager with the Chip Exchange Machine.
For every 10,000 chips, she had to gamble at least one round.
A small cover on the right side of the table opened, and the mechanism pushed a stack of smooth, round chips to Qin Yao's right hand.
These chips had a total value of 20,000.
Though all the chips were round, their sizes, thicknesses, colors, and printed numbers varied according to denomination, making them easy to distinguish.
The mechanical arm in front of her moved. It picked up the deck of cards, deftly shuffled it, then dealt three cards each to itself and Qin Yao.
"Golden Flower... Fu Chen explained it before, but I didn't remember that many details...
"Fortunately, there are detailed rules and hand charts here."
Using her only movable right hand, Qin Yao picked up the three cards dealt to her and examined them while looking at the hand chart on the wall to her right.
The three cards were the seven of hearts, nine of clubs, and king of hearts.
"This... doesn't seem to make any hand at all?" Qin Yao compared the cards in her hand against the hand chart again and again, but had to admit it with some disappointment.
Golden Flower was a simple and brutal poker game. Each player received three cards, then compared hand rankings based on those three cards.
The rankings were: three of a kind (three cards of the same rank) > Straight Flush > flush > straight > pair > high card. A was the highest high card, while 2 was the lowest. However, 2-3-5 of different suits beat three of a kind.
But the game played in Blood Poker was actually Simplified Golden Flower. The original rules regarding open and blind bets, comparing hands, and maximum hand counts had all been removed.
Under these new rules, everyone could look at their cards after they were dealt. There was no distinction between betting with revealed cards and blind betting without looking at the cards, nor was there any stage for choosing a player to compare hands with.
Everyone only needed to take turns raising, calling, or folding.
When only one player chose to raise while all the others called and stopped raising, the cards would automatically be revealed, and the player with the highest-ranked hand took everything.
If 2-3-5 and three of a kind appeared at the same time, 2-3-5 won outright. In all other cases, 2-3-5 was the lowest hand.
It had to be said that these rules were much friendlier than ordinary rules for people who did not often play cards.
Qin Yao looked toward the mechanical arm opposite her. According to the rules, both sides needed to place an ante now.
However, something shocking happened: the mechanical arm actually drew another card from the deck!
The mechanical arm now held four cards. It selected three of them as its hand, and the speaker once again emitted a garbled electronic voice.
[Please place your ante, then take turns choosing to raise, call, or fold.]
"Wait, why do you get one extra card?"
Qin Yao's question received no response.
She looked back at the game rules and discovered that they did indeed explain this situation. It was just written in a tiny line that was easy to overlook.
[When gambling against the Chip Exchange Machine, the Chip Exchange Machine will always be the dealer, will always act first, and may draw one additional card, choosing any three out of four cards to form its hand.]
"That's unfair!"
Qin Yao clenched the cards in her hand. Though she did not know how to calculate the exact odds, even an elementary school student could guess that under these rules, her chances of winning would be drastically reduced.
This was absolutely not a game of luck with even odds!
But Qin Yao still had no choice. She could only continue this game that she was almost certain to lose.
The Chip Exchange Machine had unlimited chips. The mechanical arm took the smallest-denomination chip from the mountain of chips piled on the other side and placed it in the betting area.
500. It was the smallest denomination among all the chips, as well as the default ante when gambling against the Chip Exchange Machine.
Qin Yao could only take out one 500 chip from her pitifully small stack and place it in the betting area as well.
[The dealer chooses to raise.]
As the prompt sounded again, the mechanical arm took another 500-denomination chip and placed it in the betting area.
Under ordinary rules, the dealer should have been the last to bet. But under this game's rules, the Chip Exchange Machine was always the dealer and always acted first.
Now it was Qin Yao's turn. She had only three choices: raise, call, or fold.
A raise had to be in increments of at least 500.
Qin Yao had already put down a 500 ante, while the other side had raised its chips to 1,000.
Therefore, if Qin Yao raised, she would have to put in another 1,000 chips; if she called, she would put in 500; if she folded, she would directly concede defeat.
"I choose... to call and reveal the cards."
Qin Yao finally made up her mind. She took out another 500 chip and carefully placed it in the betting area.
Raising was by no means a wise choice. The Chip Exchange Machine could draw an extra card, and being able to choose three from four gave it far better odds than the player.
Folding would minimize her loss to just 500, but it would also mean both hands would be collected without being revealed. She would have no way of knowing whether her hand had been high or low.
So Qin Yao ultimately chose to call. Although it would cost her an additional 500 chips, at least she could lose knowing exactly why.
Besides, what if she won?
The other side could draw an extra card, and while that greatly increased its odds of winning, it could not possibly make them 100 percent, right?
Instinctively, Qin Yao felt that gambling 500 chips on those odds was not too bad a deal.
However, when both hands were revealed, Qin Yao's heart sank halfway.
The other side had a pair of sixes. Her K University's mixed hand, with a king as its highest card, had unquestionably lost.
Watching the mechanical arm take away her two 500 chips, Qin Yao felt a pang of pain.
That was the equivalent of a full thousand dollars. It could buy at least two weeks' worth of food from the community vending machines.
The mechanical arm collected the cards and chips.
Then, it took a brand-new deck of cards from inside the gambling table, opened it, shuffled it, and dealt again.
Qin Yao had exchanged for 20,000 chips, so she needed to gamble at least two rounds.
Just like the previous round, the mechanical arm dealt the cards and raised first.
Qin Yao faced the same problem as before: call or fold?
Qin Yao looked at her hand and was disappointed. It was another mixed hand, this time with a queen as its highest card, slightly lower than her previous king-high mixed hand.
But after considering it for a moment, Qin Yao still took out another 500 chip and placed it as a bet.
"Call. Reveal the cards."
Conceding without revealing the cards still left her deeply unwilling. Even if she had to die, she wanted to die knowing the truth.
However, she lost even more badly this time. The Chip Exchange Machine's hand was a pair of jacks.
Qin Yao instantly deflated. Losing two consecutive rounds without any suspense left her with no fighting spirit at all.
"Beep."
A green button on her right lit up. Two words were written on it: [Leave].
After completing the minimum required number of rounds, this button would light up.
Of course, Qin Yao could choose not to press it and continue gambling instead. According to the rules, after exchanging 20,000 chips, she could play up to forty rounds with the Chip Exchange Machine.
But clearly, Qin Yao did not want to stay here for even one more second.
She pressed it almost impatiently. The next second, a series of clicking sounds rang out as all the mechanisms restraining her unlocked.
Qin Yao hurriedly stood from the iron chair and turned to push open the door of this cramped compartment.
The door was locked from the outside, but Qin Yao quickly found the latch and opened it.
Then she suddenly remembered something, turned back, and grabbed her remaining chips in her hand.
Before you continue