The Surefire Method for Fate Roulette

"Let go! That's not what I meant..." Li You was shocked and furious, terrified that a full-blown brawl would break out and get him beaten to death on the spot.

"Oh, that's not what you meant? You should've said so earlier. You almost made me misunderstand you." Bai Ye released him with a grin and stole a glance at the clock. 23:56.

Fuck! Only one minute had passed.

Bai Ye's behavior made Li You's eyelids twitch. He looked miserably at the black handprint left on his floral shirt.

Who said he was back to normal? Wasn't he still crazy!? What kind of poisonous mushrooms had this kid eaten? Why was the aftereffect so strong?

"Um... Xiao Bai." Tan Jie's cautious voice came from behind Bai Ye.

"Are you sure you've completely recovered? How about..."

Bai Ye had been worrying about how to stall for time, and Tan Jie had walked right into the line of fire.

His brows rose as he snapped, "How about you do it! You do it!? I hate it most when people talk shit behind my back. If you don't trust me, then do it yourself."

Tan Jie's expression instantly froze. As the commander of the East District, being berated so publicly made him feel utterly humiliated. He wanted nothing more than to shoot Bai Ye in the head.

But he held himself back. The aberrant creatures were watching Gray Soil Town like tigers from beyond its borders. If they could not find someone to contain [Breath of Bones], then all of Gray Soil Town was finished.

He forcibly suppressed his anger, repeatedly reminding himself not to stoop to the level of a madman.

"Get started already. Everyone's getting impatient. Contain the forbidden artifact now." King Snake, commander of the West District, said coldly while gripping his gun.

Huff.

Li You took a deep breath, slowly calming himself as he stared at Bai Ye across from him.

Was he truly insane, or merely pretending?

Forget it. It didn't matter anymore, because next... I will control this gamble!

A flash of confidence crossed his eyes, born from more than a decade of painstaking practice in cheating techniques.

His nickname was Magic Hand, and he naturally had his own unique talents. Not only could he identify a playing card's suit by touch, he could even spin a revolver's cylinder to the position he wanted. That meant that if he wanted the revolver to fire on a certain shot, it would fire on that shot.

Rock-paper-scissors was even more basic. As long as he won the first move, he could load the bullet, spin the cylinder, and take control of the game.

"I'll throw scissors next," Li You said with a piercing gaze.

He deliberately revealed his strategy, launching a psychological battle against Bai Ye.

Bai Ye did not care about any of that. His mind was entirely focused on the time. Just three more minutes!

Damn it, why did three minutes feel so long?

He could only force some awkward banter!

At that moment, Bai Ye suddenly gave a cold laugh. "Do you know that Fate Roulette also has a surefire method?"

The moment he said that, not only was Li You briefly stunned, but everyone else watching was as well.

He's not taking my psychological bait? Li You narrowed his eyes and gave a dry laugh. "A life-or-death game like this depends entirely on luck. How could there possibly be a surefire method?"

Bai Ye looked at him with contempt, as though disgusted by the other man's lack of worldly knowledge. "Just because you don't know about it doesn't mean it doesn't exist."

The youth spoke with such certainty that even Li You, a seasoned cheat, began to doubt himself. "What surefire method?"

Bai Ye curled his lips. "The surefire method is to let the other person fire first."

Everyone was utterly confused. That guaranteed victory? How was that possible? And then?

"What kind of joke is that? And then what?" Li You looked deeply skeptical, suspecting Bai Ye was telling a lame joke.

"And then?" Bai Ye spread his hands. "Then take the gun and give your opponent five shots."

Li You: "???"

Nothing was more frightening than sudden silence.

In the plaza packed with more than a hundred people, Bai Ye's single remark froze the atmosphere solid.

It turned out that lame jokes really could make things awkward.

"Pfft..." Someone could not hold back a laugh.

Others immediately started cursing. "What the fuck..."

"What kind of bullshit surefire method is that? Why not just say you should fire all six shots at your opponent!?"

"Heh..." Li You sneered twice. "That joke wasn't funny at all. Let's play rock-paper-scissors."

Bai Ye silently watched the hand he extended. Two minutes remained.

Second by second, time passed. Li You's raised hand was starting to ache, while whispers rose all around them.

"What is Bai Ye doing? Why hasn't he started?"

"Don't tell me he's having another episode?"

"What episode? He's obviously scared! He must've gotten carried away earlier and thought he could become the owner of a forbidden artifact, so he went up there without thinking. But now that it's time for the real thing, the kid's chickened out."

Tan Jie's face darkened as he tightened his grip on his gun. The only reason he had tolerated Bai Ye was because Bai Ye had dared to step forward and subdue the forbidden artifact. But now Bai Ye was taking no action at all. Why should he continue tolerating him?

"If you're scared, get down already. Stop embarrassing yourself here!" Li You withdrew his aching hand, his tone hostile.

The doubts around them grew louder and louder, yet those final two minutes still refused to pass.

Bai Ye, who was faintly becoming the target of everyone's condemnation, suddenly smiled.

"I'm not scared. I just think it's too boring."

"Boring?" Li You frowned. "You think a life-or-death game is boring?"

"[Breath of Bones] can hold six bullets in its cylinder, but there's only one loaded right now. That means there's only a one-in-six chance of dying. Isn't that boring? If we're playing, we might as well make it bigger."

"How do you want to play?"

"Add more bullets, naturally." The youth's words caused an uproar.

Even a one-in-six death rate was enough to make people shrink back, yet they had never expected Bai Ye to dare add more bullets.

Li You's heart sank slightly. He was indeed a cheat, and he had specifically trained for Fate Roulette, but he normally practiced with only one bullet. If he rashly added another, his one-hundred-percent win rate would drop to ninety-eight percent. It was a little too risky.

Seeing Li You hesitate, Bai Ye continued, "Do you know why you still couldn't contain [Breath of Bones] even after winning three rounds in a row?"

"Why?"

"Because you don't have the guts!"

"You motherfucker..." Li You instantly flew into a rage. "Fine! We'll add them right now!"

He picked up [Breath of Bones] and shoved two golden bullets into it in succession, glaring furiously at Bai Ye.

"Now that's more like it. Only someone with both courage and luck is qualified to contain [Breath of Bones]. But..." Bai Ye suddenly changed his tone, his eyes blazing. "It's still not enough."

"What!? Still not enough?" Cries of alarm rose from the crowd.

"Two bullets still aren't enough? Does Bai Ye want to play with three?"

"Hiss! Three bullets means a fifty-percent death rate."

Even Li You was startled by Bai Ye's words. With three bullets, his win rate would be less than eighty percent. How was that any different from seeking death?

Bai Ye glanced at the time from the corner of his eye. Just one more minute!

He immediately felt reassured, though his face remained cold. "If you're scared, get down already. Stop embarrassing yourself here!"

Hearing those painfully familiar words, Li You exploded with anger. Me, a cheat, afraid of some brat?

"Fine. I'll play along with you."

He pushed the third bullet into the cylinder.

Who would have thought that Bai Ye shook his head? "Not enough."

Li You was dumbfounded. Still not enough!? Four bullets? Was he really going this far?

He did not dare meet Bai Ye's aggressive gaze. His hand holding the gun began to tremble slightly, and the uproar around him made his thoughts even more chaotic. He wanted to back down, but something hard suddenly pressed against his back.

King Snake's chilling voice sounded behind him. "You know what will happen if you fail to obtain the forbidden artifact."

With Bai Ye before him and King Snake behind him, Li You's path of retreat was completely blocked.

Humans were strange creatures. When there was no way left to retreat, a kind of courage known as burning one's bridges would naturally arise.

Li You gritted his teeth, and his emotions quickly steadied. With calm hands, he loaded the fourth bullet.