Chapter 103: Confusing Course of Actions

Calvin walked along the streets of the Central Borough as he took out the inactive Notebook of Secrets That Will Destroy Your Life and started scribbling on its surface.

"Humanity's downfall was caused by a single man..."

A single sentence was left by his crude quill on the surface of the notebook— and in the very next moment. Despite Dandelion being inactive, the notebook was still able to apparently confirm the legitimacy of his words.

The word, "Verified" appeared next to the sentence before the sentence itself disappeared.

Now that I think about it... Since the Notebook of Secrets That Will Destroy Your Life can confirm the legitimacy of a sentence. I should be able to confirm if the thief was indeed a Doppelganger.

After all, the identity of the thief was still a secret and so long as it's a secret, the notebook should be able to confirm it.

Calvin thought to himself.

After careful deliberation, he walked into Mapayapa Street and found a random wall to lean his back on.

Then, he scribbled on the surface of the notebook.

"The thief who stole my two pesos earlier was a Doppelganger..."

Dim light surrounded the sentence, and the word, "Verified" appeared beside it— confirming Calvin's conjectures.

"A Doppelganger..."

Calvin mumbled.

The ancient notebook of the Notebook of Secrets That Will Destroy Your Life was a convenient tool for Calvin whenever he wanted to make a plan or arrange his train of thoughts. It was because the notebook never ran out of paper. Taking advantage of this fact, Calvin proceeded to write what he could remember about Doppelgangers.

"Doppelgangers, also known as Imitators are beings able to take on the form of every living humanoid being or animal they please. This transformation isn't something that could be detected so easily for this is a complete and authentic metamorphosis, the transformation isn't an illusion that a simple spell or anti-magic can detect nor break..."

"In other words, no amount of countermeasures can prepare someone against an enemy Doppelganger..."

"They emanate the same aura as beings whose form they have assumed. Combined with their intellect and cunning minds. The Doppelgangers are the perfect assassins or thieves..."

Calvin let out a sigh.

Doppelgangers were beings that were a pain in the ass to find, especially when they were trying to be sneaky. But just because they were difficult to find didn't mean that they were impossible to locate.

However, one thing was for sure.

With Calvin's current abilities, it was impossible for him to find this Doppelganger.

But did that really matter for Calvin?

Nope...

It was because— the moment that he had used Spiritualistic Magic earlier near the Yang Bridge.

His plans were already rolling.

It was now a matter of time before everything fell into place.

Closing the ancient notebook.

Calvin stuffed it back into his pocket before he leisurely walked towards a nearby gambling site.

The talkative chicken porridge vendor had told Calvin that if he had strength, he could go to the Combat Arena to earn a few bucks. The chicken porridge vendor never told Calvin about his idea if Calvin had money to use as capital. But it didn't matter for Calvin.

Having lived for several decades in the City of Ashmelion...

He knew what the vendor was talking about.

It was a popular form of gambling called Treasure Chests Gambling.

The world of Las Felipinas has a lot of dungeons rumored to be filled with "treasures" born from the first Cataclysm of the very first Epoch.

Supposedly, according to the merchants that gathered these Treasure Chests for people to gamble. All of the chests contained treasures. But to be honest, not even one percent of them contained genuine treasures. Most of them were fake.

But knowing that most of the treasures contained within the chests were fake.

Why was it still so popular?

It was because of its accessibility and cheap price.

Furthermore, it was also guaranteed by the government and there were a few success stories of rags to richest.

A beggar suddenly becoming a tycoon overnight.

Stories such as these gave hope to those that have nothing to lose.

It was somewhat unethical, but who could blame the government for tapping onto the desires and fantasies of the common populace?

Calvin arrived at the Sugal Street of the Center Borough.

The entire Sugal Street had nothing but establishments dedicated to gambling.

There was no entrance fee upon entering the street, but if one wanted to enter the buildings.

They must show proof that they had sufficient funds to gamble.

Calvin had no money whatsoever, then what was the reason why he came to this place?

"Stop... Show us proof that you can gamble." The guards of the building that specialized in Treasure Chests Gambling stood in front of Calvin. Their faces were stern upon realizing that Calvin looked like he was a beggar. His clothes looked as if it hadn't been washed for months.

Despite the intimidating looks of the guards, Calvin remained steadfast as he took a piece of crumpled paper and said...

"You must be confused, I've already shown you my proof of funds." He opened the piece of crumpled paper and flung it at the guards. The paper turned into a ray of indiscernible light and it entered the guards' glabellas.

"Oh... I'm sorry... You've indeed shown us your proof of funds already..."

Calvin nodded his head.

The runes that Calvin imbued in the piece of enchanted runecrafted crumpled paper was meant to confuse.

This sounded magical but there was a clear limit. For the runes to work, one must not go too far. In short, Calvin could ask these guards for a few Joselian pesos, but he couldn't compel them to commit suicide or give all of their properties to Calvin.

"Thanks, by the way... You owe me ten pesos..."

"Oh..."

"Here's my payment..."

The guards absentmindedly handed over a few pesos which amounted to ten Joselian pesos in total.

Calvin swiftly received them before he ran into the building.

He ran because he knew that the effects of the runes would only last for half a minute at most.

But that didn't matter for Calvin had already achieved the effect that he wanted to achieve.

He had managed to enter the gambling site and even had a few coins to his name that he could use to gamble!

A smile appeared on Calvin's face.

Afterwards, he wrote something on the ancient notebook and then hurriedly went out of the gambling site.

Noticing that the sun was about to set.

Calvin decided to call it a day for now.

But even though he hadn't earned any substantial money for today.

He was still satisfied.

His actions of entering the gambling site and exiting it with only gambling ten joselian pesos may be confusing to others, but for Calvin. It was a necessary action that would further bolster the attention of those people whose attention he wanted to attract.

Taking one last look at the gambling site...

Calvin used the few coins that he had to hail a carriage-taxi that would take him to the Northern Borough, back to Charlotte and Cecilia where he would spend the night.