## Chapter 127 – (3)
“Fifty thousand chips on the blonde with the bat.”
The blonde man with the baseball bat faced the ferocious wolf.
As the bell rang, the wolf emerged from beyond the fence.
Its growls, as if it hadn’t eaten in days, excited the audience.
The wolf charged recklessly.
The man calmly watched the incoming wolf before swinging his bat.
Whoosh, whack!
“Yelp!”
The wolf, hit in the shoulder with the bat, yelped and retreated.
After that, it seemed to have lost its will to fight, as it avoided the man and scratched at the walls, leading to the blonde man’s victory.
And then the next match.
“Fifty thousand on the stray dog.”
This time, I bet on the stray dog.
It looked like an ordinary stray, but I could see it.
From its muscles to its posture, it was a well-trained dog.
It seemed to understand the threat of the baseball bat, crouching low and staying alert.
Just like the wolf, the stray dog lunged at the man.
Whoosh.
The blonde man swung the bat at the charging dog, but the dog instantly flattened itself against the ground.
Thanks to that, the bat swung through the air.
What followed was one-sided.
“Wh-What… Argh! S-Save me!”
The dog, having avoided the attack, lunged and bit the blonde man’s arm. The blonde man screamed in pain and conceded defeat.
Immediately, a tranquilizer gun was fired, and the dog fell asleep.
Its grip was so strong that it remained latched onto the blonde man’s arm even in its sleep, requiring two burly men to pry it off.
The next match.
“The scrawny guy.”
A large foreign man and a skinny man appeared.
The rule was a bare-knuckle fight.
Most people chose the bigger guy, but I immediately picked the skinny man.
At first, it seemed like he was being pushed back due to the difference in size, but the skinny man used a judo technique, a shoulder throw, to flip the foreign man over.
The man spun once in the air and crashed straight into the ground.
Thud!
The man, who didn’t know how to break his fall, landed awkwardly.
His large size became a disadvantage.
“Ugh!…”
The vibration was felt even up here, half a floor above.
The big man couldn’t get up.
“Hey, you! Live up to your size!”
“Give me back my money!”
“Sigh…”
People shouted.
I calmly sipped my cola, watching the skinny man.
His muscles were evenly developed for his size; was he a judoka?
That made it 150,000 chips already.
I would have earned more if the maximum bet wasn’t 50,000 chips.
And this time, two men walked out.
“Hmm… Pass this time.”
The two men who came out last seemed to be watching us and lacked motivation, so I passed.
Then, a man approached.
He was wearing a white and lavender suit, the uniform of the men working in this casino, so he seemed to be a casino employee.
This guy has slicked-back hair too.
“Um… Excuse me, sir?”
“Yes?”
The man spoke very cautiously.
I answered casually, but in my mind, I realized, “Oops.”
I had won three consecutive bets with the maximum bet out of nowhere.
The casino probably wasn’t too happy about that.
“If it’s not too much to ask, would you be interested in participating in a gamble where you can bet more?”
However, a completely different proposition came my way.
“A place where I can bet more?”
“Yes.”
That was tempting.
I was actually getting a little caught up in the thrill of gambling.
Betting a lot of chips, and if my prediction was correct, earning a large sum of money and being envied by those around me.
It was a simple but incredibly rewarding structure.
Plus, watching the fights was fun in itself.
It was a bit stimulating, but since they all chose it themselves to pay off their debts, I felt less guilty watching.
Besides, this was a casino that auctioned off humans.
I had expected this kind of gambling.
“…Sure.”
“Then, please allow me to guide you.”
I accepted the man’s offer.
The man smiled brightly and started leading the way.
He walked quickly and confidently, stopping in front of a red wall.
“Please step back for a moment.”
“…?”
I took a step back and looked at the man.
‘Could it be?’
There was something I had been wondering about since coming to the second basement floor.
Compared to the incredibly large first floor and first basement floor, this place seemed a bit small.
And now I could see why.
The man with the slicked-back hair rummaged around the wall and pressed something.
The place I had thought was a wall made a clunking sound and began to open.
The secret space of the second basement floor revealed itself.
The first thing I saw was a large arena.
And around it, there were luxurious spectator seats made of sofas.
There were quite a few people sitting there.
“This is the real gambling den.”
“Yes, you could say that. What you saw earlier was just a taste. Of course, betting 50,000 chips each time makes that taste a bit excessive…”
I felt a little awkward for some reason.
I looked inside the arena.
No one was up there, as if they were still preparing.
Taking this opportunity, I asked the man with the slicked-back hair what I was curious about.
I asked him more about the differences from the appetizer gambling outside.
“First, the maximum number of chips you can bet increases to 100,000. And if you guess the winner, you’ll receive three times the chips, not two.”
“Oh…”
That was extraordinary.
Of course, if there was a carrot, there was also a stick.
“However, you can only receive the money if you guess the winner three times in a row.”
“…Ah…”
It was definitely different.
Now it felt like a real casino gamble.
The appetizer gambling outside, where you only had to guess one of two outcomes with a 50% chance of winning, was definitely different.
I could clearly feel what high risk, high return meant.
“Lastly, this is just for you, as a special customer, but if you wish, you can participate directly.”
“Directly, as in, in that arena?”
“Yes, but when you participate, you can only bet on yourself.”
So, intentionally losing wasn’t allowed.
It was obvious when I thought about it.
‘He’s telling me this because it’s me. Ah.’
Only then did I think about my objective appearance.
Muscular and bulky.
I did have a body that looked like it had some expertise in martial arts.
“As it happens, there’s a woman participating directly over there.”
“…A woman?”
Turning my gaze at those words, I saw someone warming up and entering the arena.
She had a healthy, tanned complexion and a moderately muscular body.
The woman, wearing gloves, was apparently a celebrity, as the people in the audience started chanting her name as soon as she appeared.
“Lasha!”
“Die! You crazy bitch!”
“Lasha! Lasha!”
There were some inappropriate words in the middle, but since it was a gambling den, there must have been people who lost money to her.
The woman’s opponent was a large man called Bob.
“He’s a murderer who killed a police officer with his bare hands in the past.”
I gave a wry smile at the man’s kind explanation.
[This is a target for justice.]
My ability was reacting, so the explanation seemed accurate.
I looked back and forth between the two and placed my bet.
There was a small screen and a place to put cards on the armrest of the sofa I was sitting on.
Without hesitation, I bet 100,000 chips on the woman, Lasha.
The man next to me looked surprised.
“Why that choice…”
I didn’t answer.
I couldn’t explain it.
The other spectators also started betting, judging based on their own perspectives and opinions.
“No matter how good Lasha is…”
“I saw that guy on the news.”
“Really?”
Most people seemed to be choosing the man.
As the betting was coming to an end, the two slowly moved to the center of the arena.
Lasha was stretching, and the man named Bob was just grinning as he looked at her.
And then, the bell rang.
Ding!
With a cheerful sound, the two slowly closed the distance.
Bob moved first.
Bob closed the distance in an instant and swung his hand.
Whoosh!
As the hand, as big as an average adult woman’s face, swung, the sound of the wind being heavily cut through could be heard.
The woman lightly dodged the punch and countered with a kick to his calf.
However.
Tap.
It seemed difficult to inflict any damage on the man named Bob.
“Hmph…”
Something was off.
Clearly, in my eyes—
“Hahaha! Is that all you’ve got?”
Bob laughed at Lasha’s cute counterattack and charged with his arms spread wide.
It was a reckless charge.
He seemed to have judged that it wouldn’t matter if he took a few hits during the charge.
That was Bob’s mistake.
Lasha changed her stance.
From a boxing stance with her fists raised, to a stance with one knee lightly raised.
Then, she brought her knee straight into Bob’s chin as he charged.
It wasn’t even an attack.
She had simply extended her knee towards the oncoming Bob.
However, Bob, who was already charging quickly, couldn’t control his speed.
“Aaaaaah!”
Bob seemed to have thought that he would grab Lasha even if he got hit, so he increased his speed.
“Oh dear.”
A word of pity escaped my mouth without me realizing it.
That was going to hurt a lot.
Pow!
With a refreshing sound, Bob’s head and Lasha’s knee collided.
It was the giant man, Bob, who fell.
A moment of silence.
In the quiet room, only one person screamed.
As Lasha roared, the spectators also screamed.
“Lasha!”
“Well done!”
“Get up! Bob, you son of a bitch!”
The audience was filled with cheers and curses.
I looked at Lasha and fell into thought.
‘…Is there a way to make her a slave?’
My mind was already filled with the thought of capturing Lasha.
