Chapter 58 - Mastermo And The Rules Of Gambling

"What do you mean it's your favorite?" Zhihao asked curiously. 

[It means what it means]

"..."

Zhihao really didn't know if he was going to like this new system or regret ever knowing it. 

[This is a new feature added on the T-point trading page.]

[Players can now place bets on themselves and on other players. As long as the bet is placed in accordance with the rules, if the player wins the bet, the player gets his/her T-points doubled.]

Zhihao, "What are the rules?"

[A player cannot place a bet on one player in a row. If the player places a bet on the same player for more than three times in one month, the player will automatically get banned from placing further bets.]

[If the player wins three bets in a row, the player will be on an interlude period of one week and after that period of time is over, the player can place bets again.]

[Players cannot keep placing bets on themselves. The player can only place bets on oneself three times per month.]

[Players cannot place positive bets over 5000 T-points.]

Zhihao suddenly wondered if there would be someone crazy enough to actually go placing bets beyond that limit. 5000 T-points was the current highest total of T-points a player owned, and that player was none other than Mastermo who would never bet it all off in one go.

[If a player wins a bet, the next bet can only be placed after the waiting period is over. The waiting period depends according to the amount won back in the last bet. The higher the T-points are, the longer the waiting period is.]

[The minimum bet is set at 1000 T-points. Players cannot place a bet for anything less than that number.]

Zhihao felt like this new feature was certainly a waste because there possibly could not be anyone who'd be crazy enough to place such high bets. It would have been an entirely different case if the players had a lot of spare T-points but as it stands, everyone was poor in terms of T-points. 

[If a player loses three times in a row, the player will automatically be banned from placing bets and will be given 1000 T-points as compensation]

"..."

Zhihao couldn't understand who was the mastermind behind such ridiculous rules. Why were these rules even needed?

[Bets can be traded for T-points]

Zhihao found this rule to be the most ridiculous, "Why would people trade bets?"

[Bets give people the advantage of having the gambling bar. The gambling bar has a lot of features that can interfere in the game and help the players win.]

"Huh?" Zhihao thought about it a bit deeper but he couldn't fully comprehend it, if he needed to understand it completely he would need to play and find out for himself. 

[Do you want me to explain with an example?]

Zhihao nodded his head as he suddenly found this system to be much better than the last. To suggest giving an example to explain certain stuff, the old system could never compare. This was an upgrade indeed. 

"Give me an example."

[If I place a bet on Mastermo, I will have access to the gambling bar. If Mastermo were to be in a difficult situation and in need of a special item that could rescue you and this item was with me, I can use the gambling bar and provide it to you for temporary use.]

"But can't I just buy the item myself?"

[You can't. Once you have entered the level, you can't deduct or add items to your inventory.]

"Is this also a new feature?"

[Yep!]

"I have one more question."

[What is it?]

"Why trade bets? Can't a person just place a new bet?"

[I was already coming to that. This is why people tell you to have some patience.] The bot sneered

"..."

[Players can only place bets at the starting of a level. Once the betting time is closed, the bets can only be traded between the players, no new bets will be placed.]

"You said the gambling bar lets you provide aid to the players who you have bet on, but what if you don't own the item the player needs? Can you buy the item and send it?"

[Yes! You are right! You can buy items in the gambling bar and send them over to the players]

Zhihao suddenly felt like he could understand this rule a bit better. This gambling bar seemed to be an aid to the players. Previously, they were able to buy and sell items even inside levels but with that feature locked down, it became a huge disadvantage to the players. In order to make up for it, trading bets became a thing. 

If a player placed a bet on themselves, they'd have an advantage of the gambling bar through which they can help themselves. A player can't bet on themselves more than three times a month, this limited the use of such an advantage. If a player were to not place a bet on themselves and were in a difficult situation, they could go and buy bets from others who placed a bet on them. 

Zhihao couldn't understand the bigger picture behind it, but he felt like it was equal to increasing the complexity of things. 

Zhihao, "Alvi, by bets do you mean only bets on one player winning or can you place a bet on a player losing?"

[I'm glad you asked!]

[There are two types of bets. One is a positive bet and the other is a negative bet. If a player places a positive bet, the player can provide help using the gambling bar. If a player places a negative bet on the other player, the player can use the gambling bar to make things harder for the player on whom the bet has been placed on.]

"..."

Zhihao had a bad feeling. What was T.I.A.D. trying to do with such ridiculous features?!

"Do the two bets have different winning T-points?" Li Ling who had been silent all this while decided to speak up.

[Positive bets have a limit of maximum 5000 T-points. Negative bets do not have a limit, a player can bet as much as the player wants.]

This was dangerous. T.I.A.D., which had always discouraged cheating suddenly made a feature that was basically meant for cheating. 

If a player were to place a negative bet on his competitors, the player can make things harder for that competitor and make him lose, if the player loses, the player who placed a bet wins and gets double the number of T-points that he had placed. This was like hitting two targets with one stone. On one hand, the player will be able to double his total of T-points and on the other hand, the player can shoot down the competition. 

Zhihao suddenly felt a shiver go down his spine. Till a moment ago, he was sure no player would be crazy enough to use this but now that he had heard this, he was sure there would be a hell lot of players who'd use this feature and most of them would probably place negative bets, there was no doubt about it. Things were going to get very interesting. It was going to become a war zone soon and as the top player who was the main competition for everyone else, Mastermo was going to be in the epicenter of this chaotic war. 

[Are you scared?]

Zhihao suddenly smiled, he was amused, "Who do you think I am? It takes a lot more to scare me."

Li Ling also broke out laughing, "Things are going to be more fun."

Zhihao, "Now it's going to become a game of who is the best gambler."

[Are you two looking forward to placing bets?]

Zhihao, "I think I would wait and watch first."

[Understood] Alvi beamed.

"Move on with the new features."

[Sure]

<Character profile and background unlocked>

[This means the players would now have a certain character they'd need to roleplay and can no longer use their customized characters.]

"Wait, what?"

[Is there confusion?]

"What do you mean I will be given a new character to play?"

[It means what it means]

[The players can no longer use their original created characters, they'd be given a new character to play. This character will have a background and will not necessarily be the protagonist of the story. The character you get can be the hero, the villain, or a mere, cannon fodder, and isn't necessarily limited to humans. You can also become the hero's dog. It depends on your luck]

There was something Zhihao wanted to say but he didn't know if he would like the answer, however, he decided to ask no matter what, "Can we still use our acquired skills or would we only be able to use the skills the original character has?"

[Playing a character doesn't mean you are the character. It just means that you are acting as that character so naturally, you can use your skills and items that the original character doesn't have, but please remember that you cannot let other characters in the story find out that we have swapped you with the original character.]

"What does that last line mean?"

[If you are a dog, you must bark in front of people.]

"..."

Zhihao would rather die than bark like a dog. If he were to be put in that position, he would eject himself out from the level and purposefully fail the mission.

Li Ling, "If we are a team, does it mean we'll both be dogs?"

[Don't be ridiculous.]

Li Ling was scolded by the bot. 

[You will both be given different characters to play in the same level. If Mastermo is the dog, Devilmagiclover can be the owner or the villain tasked to kidnap the dog]

Li Ling, "..."

Zhihao, "Wait, but will we still have the same mission?"

[You may have the same mission and in certain levels, your missions may be different.]

Li Ling, "Can our mission be to kill each other?"

Alvi seemed to a bit too happy to answer that question. 

[One player may be tasked to kill the character of the other player. This is not limited to the team.]

"What do you mean not limited to the team?"

[Two different teams can end up on the same level and the teams will not be notified about it. The teams may be set up to plot against each other by being given the mission to kill the member of the other team.]

Zhihao, "Wait doesn't that mean I can kill another player without being aware that it is a player and not an NPC?"

[You are right!]

Zhihao understood the game a bit better. This stage two was certainly much more interesting than the rest. It was going to be harder to pass this than the elimination stage. 

Now that Zhihao thought about it, he felt like this was why the elimination stage was there in the first place. The players were filtered out into the ones who could really be qualified enough to play this new stage that was harder. 

If the elimination stage wasn't there, the untalented players would also be given the advantage of the betting system and if that happened, who knows how many noobs will climb up the ranks purely based on the gambling system. 

At least, now it was only available for the players who had already completed stage one and could be considered to be somewhat skilled. 

<Story line locked>

[This one is fun]

Zhihao never found anything Alvi labeled as fun to be what he would like. 

He had a bad feeling about this new feature. 

"What does it mean?" Li Ling asked. 

[It means the players would no longer get a world introduction in the beginning.]

[Your beginner-friendly privileges have been revocked]

"Does this mean, you won't tell us about the world at the beginning of the level?"

[You are bright! That's exactly what I'm saying]

[You have to figure out what happened on your own.]