Gambling Harms People

Stay Away From Gambling, Drugs, and Vice clutched at the lifeline thrown to her. "As long as you buy me, I'll agree to any request!"

Ling Chu only needed to hear those words. Judging by the final price of the previous lot, she should be able to buy her for no more than ten Chips.

Thanks to the Gambler's Coin that Stay Away From Gambling, Drugs, and Vice had sold her, Ling Chu had been able to win so many Chips today. What had she traded for that coin back then? It seemed she had only paid twenty Iron Ore.

For that reason, Ling Chu wanted to help her as well.

Stay Away From Gambling, Drugs, and Vice was a player on the rankings and had a Special Profession, so she should have been quite capable. Ling Chu just did not know how she had ended up in such a predicament.

Once the Auctioneer announced the starting bid, Box 11 rang its bell and bid 1 Chip.

Ling Chu immediately rang hers and raised the bid by 1 Chip.

"3 Chips..."

"4 Chips..."

"5 Chips..."

"6 Chips..."

Ling Chu only raised the price by one Chip each time, never more.

The guest in Box 11 had only wanted something novel. Black-haired, black-eyed women were rare, but once the price reached 8 Chips, he felt it was no longer worth it.

After the guest in Box 11 gave up bidding, no one else competed with Ling Chu. In the end, she bought "Stay Away From Gambling, Drugs, and Vice" for 8 Chips.

Following the rules, Stay Away From Gambling, Drugs, and Vice was brought into her private room.

Stay Away From Gambling, Drugs, and Vice still wore shackles on her hands and feet. The Attendant took the eight Chips and handed Ling Chu the keys to the shackles, signifying that this "slave" now belonged to her.

After the Attendant left, he thoughtfully drew the Curtain. Holding the keys, Ling Chu immediately unlocked her handcuffs.

Stay Away From Gambling, Drugs, and Vice stared at her face in surprise. "Y-you're a Girl too?"

"Is that so surprising?"

Ling Chu asked in return. So they had both mistaken the other's gender?

Stay Away From Gambling, Drugs, and Vice nodded.

She had been locked in the Dark Room for the past two days. When she was bored, she browsed the Public Channel, so naturally, she knew that Ling Chu had taken Rank One on three leaderboards and that she and Invincible and Handsome had put bounties on each other.

In her impression, Ling Chu was quiet and aloof, and her Sin Value was far ahead of everyone else's. She seemed like the type who would rather fight than waste words. It was not exactly a stereotype; Ling Chu's appearance was simply too contrasting. If she put on glasses and a schoolgirl skirt, she would look exactly like a top student at a university. Stay Away From Gambling, Drugs, and Vice could not imagine her with blood all over her hands.

Come to think of it, they looked about the same age.

Yet one of them was an honored guest in a VIP private room, while the other was a slave on the Auction floor. The gap between their circumstances was simply too huge!

The more Stay Away From Gambling, Drugs, and Vice thought about it, the more bitter she felt.

"How did you end up tied up on this ship? Did they capture you?"

Ling Chu was curious how she had gotten herself into this state.

"I... gurgle."

Just as Stay Away From Gambling, Drugs, and Vice was about to explain, her stomach growled loudly, interrupting her.

"I haven't eaten for two days. I'm starving to death. Can I eat the things on this table?"

Stay Away From Gambling, Drugs, and Vice blushed awkwardly and swallowed as she stared at the pastries on the table.

These were provided free for VIP guests: Butter Cookies, Macarons, and tea to cleanse the palate. Ling Chu had eaten too much at the buffet that evening and had barely touched any of the refreshments.

Ling Chu made a casual gesture. Stay Away From Gambling, Drugs, and Vice immediately pounced over, grabbed the cookies from the table, and began wolfing them down.

"I wasn't forced onto the ship. I happened to come across this ship at sea,"

Stay Away From Gambling, Drugs, and Vice choked on her food, hurriedly took two sips of water to wash it down, and then continued stuffing food into her mouth while rambling through what had happened.

"They invited me aboard to play a few rounds. I didn't want to go at first... Just look at my ID—you'll know I hate gambling with a passion. I'd already washed my hands of it. My dad ran a casino, so I knew all the tricks inside and out. I grew up around it, and while I wouldn't say my gambling skills were invincible, I had no rivals among people my age. Later, I got a little too full of myself and went to gamble big on someone else's turf. In the end, they chopped off two of my fingers..."

Hearing that, Ling Chu glanced at her fingers. All ten were there; none were missing.

"After entering this godforsaken game, my hand injuries were healed. That's why I chose this ID." Stay Away From Gambling, Drugs, and Vice noticed her gaze and explained.

"When I saw this gambling ship, I initially only wanted to take a look around. But those people were so terrible at cards that after watching for a while, I figured I could do it too. So I couldn't resist sitting down and playing a couple of rounds."

"After winning three card games in a row, the system notified me that I had met the inheritance requirements for the Special Profession, 'Gambler.' I thought, a Special Profession had to be stronger than an ordinary profession like Pirate, right? So I became a Gambler."

"The advancement requirement for a Gambler was to win ten games. I figured it wouldn't be so easy to fulfill that requirement after leaving this gambling ship, so I planned to play ten more rounds..."

Ling Chu could relate somewhat when she heard that. At first, she had only wanted to come in and take a look too, but gambling really was addictive. Once she started winning, she could not stop.

"After I won ten games, an Attendant suddenly came over and said their captain wanted to see me. I figured I should go, since I was on their ship."

"After I met the captain, he wanted to play cards with me. After only a few rounds, he pulled out a revolver and wanted to play Russian Roulette. I fired one shot, then he took it and went BANG BANG BANG BANG, firing four shots. He fucking left me with one bullet. How was I supposed to play after that? I couldn't exactly die for those Chips..."

Stay Away From Gambling, Drugs, and Vice had lost all her possessions that way, herself included.

As she recounted her miserable experience, Ling Chu had to hold herself back with all her might to keep from laughing.

So she had been scammed by that captain too. She was one of Russian Roulette's victims.

In fact, when Stay Away From Gambling, Drugs, and Vice had been tied up, she had considered asking Ling Chu for help, because Ling Chu was the only person on her friends list.

But on second thought, she and Ling Chu were not close. They had only made two deals together—why would Ling Chu come save her?

Stay Away From Gambling, Drugs, and Vice had originally planned that if no one bought her, she would wash dishes on this gambling ship to work off her debt. If someone did buy her, she would find another way to escape from the buyer's ship. After all, the chances of escaping from the heavily guarded Golden Finger Gambling Ship were practically zero, and all her weapons and her ship had been confiscated.

Of course, she had considered the most likely outcome: the buyer would discover her escape attempt, beat her senseless, and perhaps even toss her straight into the sea to feed the fish.

Thank goodness, thank goodness she had met Ling Chu. As Stay Away From Gambling, Drugs, and Vice spoke, her eyes reddened at the corners, filled with boundless regret.

"Wuwuwu, gambling ruins people. I'll never gamble again..."

Ling Chu said coolly, "That captain's revolver was specially made. No matter how the cylinder was spun, the bullet would only fire on the last shot."

Stay Away From Gambling, Drugs, and Vice's remorseful sobs came to an abrupt halt.

"What?"