Poker Game 21

Although this dream was very different from the previous one, Lin Yu still recognized Nian.

After all, Twenty's appearance was almost identical to the last time.

However, compared to last time, Nian was much more proactive.

After jumping off the train, Nyen looked at the "four people" and walked straight to the table.

"Hey, there are way more people than I expected."

"My plan was to invite only one person."

He tapped the table and began to speak.

The algae and ferns stared at him coldly, saying nothing.

It was Lin Yu spoke up.

"You did only invite one person," he said calmly, "But... are you surprised that so many of us showed up?"

Hearing Lin Yu's tone, Nian narrowed her eyes and smiled.

"Ha, not surprising at all. Even among you men, women, and children... all four of you must be the same person, right?"

"But I'm not sure if you're the person I'm looking for."

Lin Yu did not speak again.

For him, all he needed to do was get Nian to say those words.

Sure enough, "Fern," who was in charge of foreign affairs negotiations, frowned.

"I don't know who you're looking for, and even if you are looking for me, I don't know what you want from me."

Twenty looked at Fern: "Didn't you find my hiding place and come to fight me to the death?"

"But someone of your skill level shouldn't be in this [Instance]," Fern said Leng Jing. "Besides, the way you entered this Entering Dream, the series of arrangements you made after entering this [Instance] to find someone, and the fact that you kept hovering around me, it's fair to say that my decision to challenge you to a life-or-death duel is a form of self-defense, isn't it?"

"If I say I had no malicious intent... can we settle this?"

Twenty asked with a low laugh.

The fern didn't answer, but the algae sneered, "Of course not."

Even though it's now Twenty's home turf in the dream, Algae and Fern clearly have no intention of backing down.

After all, both of them knew very well that the cloaked man in front of them was just joking.

"What a pity," Twenty said with a shrug, "But even so, I won't make things difficult for you... After all, I was just asked to come and find out your background."

As she spoke, Nian tapped her fingertips lightly twice on the table.

All the Playing Cards jumped up and flew into Twenty's hands.

"Most people who have made Contract with Nightmare will try to create difficulties, terrors, and attacks within the dream to torment their opponents once they pull their enemy's soul into the Entering Dream, thereby driving them insane," Twenty said calmly. "After all... the dreams created by Nightmare cannot kill those who enter them, and all the basic elements of the scene must be 'real.' Subsequent distortions of the scene must also be based on common sense and cognition, and there must always be an exit to 'leave the dream.' Furthermore, the dream manipulator's physical body must also exist somewhere within the dream that can be reached."

Zao was somewhat surprised to hear Nian suddenly start introducing himself, and said unhappily, "Why are you suddenly bringing this up... aren't these supposed to be your weaknesses and limitations?"

"Are you insulting me...? Do you think that even if we tell us all this, we still won't be able to get out of this mess?"

"No, you misunderstood. I'm just reiterating my sincerity," Twenty began smoothly cutting the cards with one hand. "The 'dream' I created using Nightmare was never meant to trap or kill those I brought in. I believe it's a place to understand others. The people I brought in are less my enemies and more people who interest me—so I don't want everyone to make a scene trying to leave this dream."

"You've already played Game on your way here, haven't you? -- You just need to beat me in the next Game to leave."

As he spoke, he neatly placed the shuffled Playing Cards face down on the table.

"Those who win can leave—and those who lose, I won't do anything to you, you just need to answer one question."

As Nian spoke, Fern seemed to still be struggling with her decision.

But unexpectedly...

Moss nodded.

"Sure, but... what games?"

It pointed to the Playing Cards and asked.

"One of the simplest and most classic poker Game, Blackjack," Twenty's fingers swept across the Playing Cards, the cards fanned out, "Also called Jack —you've all heard of it, right?"

No one claimed they didn't know.

This Game is so classic that it's mentioned in almost every Casino and movie involving Playing Cards, to the point that even people who don't like playing poker know its Rule to some extent.

Lin Yu and the trio were no exception.

After all, the Rule of blackjack aren't complicated.

The basic gameplay involves each player starting with two cards. Players can choose to draw cards or not. The goal is to keep the total points of their hand below 21 while still making it as high as possible – a maximum of five cards can be drawn. If a player's total points exceed 21 at any point, they lose on the spot.

The three cards J, Q, and K are also considered 10 points. A has two possible values: 1 point or 11 points. If the sum of A is greater than 21 when it is counted as 11 points, then A is counted as 1 point.

Seeing that everyone already knew the basic Rule, Nian smiled and spoke up.

"Now that everyone understands how to play this Game, I won't go into the basics."

"However, since we're not playing with money and chips, the Rule are a bit different from those in Casino —I've also incorporated some of my personal Rule."

"First of all, as the dealer, I will always have one face-up and one face-down card according to the Rule, but the difference is... your cards will also have one face-up and one face-down card."

"Each of us will have a face-down card, and during the subsequent card draw, even if you've busted, you don't have to declare that you busted; you just have to stop drawing cards. Of course, you can also declare that you busted."

"After all of you have stopped taking cards, I, as the dealer, will start taking cards—I still have the restriction that I must take cards that bring me to at least 17 points."

"After I take my cards, you can vote Xingyi exchange everyone's 'hole cards'—the order of the exchange is up to you, but once the exchange begins, everyone must exchange cards except those who have already declared they've busted."

"After that, if I don't bust when I stop drawing cards, I'll choose to compare my hand with everyone else's. Only then, if your hand is busted, do you have to make a declaration."

"If I bust, I must declare it on the spot, so those of you who declared bust during the card draw phase will not be penalized—but I can still choose one of you who did not declare bust to reveal the cards."

"If the selected player also explodes, then the loser of this round is the guy I caught; but if he didn't explode normally, then the loser is still me, and all the Player who didn't explode win."

"If you win twice, you can leave this dream."

"And if you lose twice... then you must answer one question for me."