Chapter 13: Gambling with One’s Life

The girl asked puzzled, “Gamble?”“Yes.”

Ji Xun nodded, his eyes shining brightly, his tone certain and calm: “Betting on whether my deduction is correct.”

“…”

Hearing this, the girl really couldn’t understand what her teammate was thinking.

This guy’s tone was so calm that one couldn’t hear any fear or uneasiness.

Instead, she heard a kind of eagerness to gamble with life?

He actively wanted to gamble with the monster?

Wasn’t this guy afraid of death?

At this moment, only one word popped up in her mind: Crazy.

Perhaps because of that fluorescent powder, or Ji Xun’s jinx.

The two had just stopped for a short while when suddenly a foul odor assailed them, and a dog-headed monster teleported in front of them.

Face to face, the terrifying pressure of an A-class calamity was almost tangible.

Moreover, the curse-type monster gave people a feeling of infinite, mysterious terror, as if facing an abyss.

However, the monster didn’t choose Ji Xun, but stood in front of the mechanical-armed girl.

The girl’s expression changed dramatically, her face darkening as she cursed inwardly: “What rotten luck.”

With so many people around, it chose her. She could only sigh at her bad luck.

But even at this moment, she wasn’t actually in a hopeless situation.

The mercenaries had no way to deal with this calamity, but that didn’t mean she didn’t.

The girl had an ancient relic capable of forced spatial teleportation out of the instance. Once used, she could leave immediately.

The only drawback was that after using that treasure, she couldn’t take anything she had obtained in the space with her.

Including the previously obtained [Witch’s Pituitary], which was a rare find.

If she missed this chance, who knew when she could find such suitable professional materials again.

Unless absolutely necessary, she didn’t want to give up.

But now, looking at the hideous face of the dog-headed monster in front of her, she was already in a desperate situation.

There was no choice.

The mechanical-armed girl felt a wave of gloom in her heart. What a pity.

At the same time, she felt apologetic. Once she left, her teammate would surely die. She had promised to protect him to the best of her ability.

But this was a situation she was powerless to change.

Ah…

She sighed softly.

However, before she could consider using that special relic to forcibly leave the instance, something unexpected happened.

She never imagined that at this moment, a provocative question suddenly came from beside her: “Do you dare to gamble with me?”

The girl’s eyes widened, looking at Ji Xun beside her with utter disbelief.

For a moment, it was as if her thoughts had frozen.

After a brief stunned moment, she understood what Ji Xun had done.

This guy…

Was he provoking the monster?

He was provoking the monster!!!

Sure enough, how could the monster tolerate such blatant mockery?

For a gambler, there was nothing they wouldn’t dare to bet on.

It immediately abandoned its current target, turning to look at Ji Xun, a mocking smile appearing on its dog head: “Which card is the Ace of Spades?”

As this incredible scene unfolded, the mechanical-armed girl was completely dumbfounded.

Her eyes were full of confusion. This guy had actually saved her?

But why would he do this?

Even if they were in a cooperative relationship, it didn’t have to go this far…

At this moment, the girl finally understood what he meant earlier by “we”.

This guy had said earlier, “If we get chosen”, let her escape first.

In other words, no matter who the monster targeted, he had prepared himself to face it?

But this…

No one had ever survived in front of the [Gambling Dog]. Why would he do this?

The mechanical-armed girl really couldn’t understand. Her gaze turned to Ji Xun, suddenly feeling a subtle complexity towards this temporary teammate.

Had Ji Xun been possessed by a saint, sacrificing himself for others?

No!

It was absolute rationality that allowed him to clearly analyze the current situation.

If this bodyguard teammate died, Ji Xun could be 100% certain that he wouldn’t survive what came next.

Those well-equipped mercenaries had an extremely low probability of survival, let alone himself?

Even a small monster could bring him fatal danger.

So escaping now, apart from living a bit longer, had no meaning.

If they couldn’t kill this dog-headed monster, death was inevitable in the end.

Moreover, there was an even more important factor.

He needed to verify a hypothesis.

The information obtained so far was enough, and the clues were stringing together in his mind.

He had already understood part of the “game rules” of this alternate dimension.

This was the confidence behind his words.

With only 30% of the instance explored, it was just the beginning. Only by verifying those hypotheses did he feel there was a real chance of surviving and clearing this instance.

Undeniably, this verification process did involve an element of gambling.

But for Ji Xun, if he were to be indecisive about his own certain judgments, what an uninteresting straw man life that would be.

Furthermore,

An eager thought in his heart had long been unable to contain itself.

He really wanted to gamble now.

Tsk tsk.

What could be more thrilling than gambling with one’s life?

“I choose…”

Ji Xun wore a composed expression, deliberately delaying for some time.

Seeing the struggling look in the eyes of the girl beside him, he also guessed that this teammate was probably going through some complex psychological activity.

But staying here now was not a good choice.

He raised an eyebrow, giving her a look to escape quickly.

Seeing this, the mechanical-armed girl’s expression became conflicted for a moment, seemingly feeling that it was unethical to leave behind someone who had saved her.

But seeing Ji Xun’s urging gaze, her eyes hardened, knowing that staying longer was meaningless. She said, “Take care!”

As soon as she finished speaking, she quickly retreated into the depths of the corridor, her silhouette disappearing in an instant.

With his teammate gone, the last factor that could cause accidents was eliminated.

At this moment, Ji Xun’s eyes were now without concern.

In this moment, it was as if the beast in his heart had been awakened, a sense of excitement surging through his blood.

He looked at the monster in front of him, without any fear, instead, the corners of his mouth raised in a provocative arc.

Like a clown walking on a tightrope, even if a misstep would cause him to fall, he still wore a bizarre smile on his face.

The monster also looked at him, full of mockery.

“I choose this one.”

Ji Xun had one hand in his pants pocket as he made his choice.

He casually chose a card and directly flipped it over.

This nonchalant draw was actually a choice between life and death.

But a miraculous scene appeared.

The flipped card showed the “Ace of Spades” pattern.

The gambling dog opposite, seeing this scene, still had a mocking smile on its face, but its expression had already stiffened, as if it could speak: How is this possible!

In an instant, the gambling dog seemed to understand something.

It seemed to have lost a second of memory just now: it had been mentally interfered with! sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ NʘvᴇlFire.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

But rules were rules.

The established rules of curse techniques had never been known to change.

At this moment, this [Curse Gambler], like all gamblers, wanted to grasp the last straw of survival, to live on.

But the backlash of the curse had already come like an overwhelming tide.

Ji Xun narrowed his eyes slightly, looking at the dog-headed monster in front of him, and smiled brightly: “It seems my luck is not bad, I guessed correctly.”

The dog-headed monster didn’t have time to say anything, the vitality in its eyes rapidly dissipating.

This gamble was a bet on life.

The monster lost the bet and died on the spot from the curse’s backlash.

Ji Xun looked at the calamity’s corpse that had collapsed in front of him and let out a comfortable breath.

At this moment, the morbid pleasure brought by the excitement made him feel as if his soul had ascended.

Although Ji Xun was good at poker, he wasn’t arrogant enough to think he could match gambling skills with an A-class calamity.

Just as the monster would cheat, he also used some not-so-honorable means.

The hand in his pocket was holding the [Witch’s Gaze] skill card he had obtained from hunting the Fallen Witch earlier.

When released, it could cause mental hypnosis on targets within range.

The [Curse Gambler] on the third floor was much more threatening than the [Fallen Witch] on the second floor.

But in terms of mental power, the latter was probably stronger.

If not immune to this spell, it would cause at least 1 second of forced hypnosis.

Just now, when drawing the card, Ji Xun used this hypnosis, not giving the dog-headed monster a chance to cheat, and directly flipped it over.

Luckily, he chose correctly on the first try.

Even if he hadn’t chosen correctly, time would have allowed him to flip over the other card.

Sure enough, he won.

It also confirmed his hypothesis.

As the calamity died, a green light slowly condensed on the monster’s corpse.

Ji Xun looked at the card floating in the light orb, once again confirming that hypothesis, and murmured: “Sure enough…”

[Gambler’s Severed Hand]

Quality: Silver

Description: One-time mysterious curse skill card; When released, it casts a curse on a single target below the second order whose mental power is not higher than 100% of the user’s. 50% chance of triggering instant death; If failed, the curse backfires, and the caster suffers equal damage;

The monster had dropped another skill card, which was that bizarre curse gambling technique.

Forced 50% death rate, very powerful!

And very unbeatable!

Ji Xun carefully read the card’s effects, a glint of wisdom flashing in his eyes.

At this moment, he finally confirmed something.

This was indeed a gamble.

But what was being gambled wasn’t some two-choice luck, nor cheating skills, but the understanding of the space’s rules.

Since BOSS couldn’t be killed by force, it could only be killed by rules.

This was what Ji Xun wanted to verify.

On a deeper level, he understood the thinking of the designer of this alternate dimension.

The A-class calamity [Gambling Dog] was dead, and the curse power inside the monster lost control. Ji Xun stood next to the corpse, and enlightenment appeared again.

“Curse power out of control, suffering from contamination erosion, constitution -0.02”

There was still glowing material in the chest of the corpse, probably another superhuman material.

But Ji Xun didn’t have that miraculous space containment card.

Even if he cut out this material, it would be too hot to handle.

However, at this moment, a figure slowly walked out from around the corner of the corridor in the distance.

It was his teammate with a face full of disbelief.

The monster could teleport to find people, so escaping didn’t mean much.

The mechanical-armed girl had been hiding in a nearby ventilation duct earlier, which was the limit of her perception range.

She had originally planned to wait until her temporary teammate’s aura disappeared before escaping herself.

But unexpectedly, after waiting for a while, instead of her teammate dying, she sensed the calamity’s aura suddenly disappear?!

Although she couldn’t believe it, the fact was right before her eyes.

Ji Xun saw her return as promised and smiled lightly. His teammate was indeed loyal.

The mechanical-armed girl looked at him, then at the corpse on the ground, her expression changing several times.

The guy who was probably dozens of times weaker than herself had actually killed that curse-type A-class calamity alone?

It really felt like a dream.

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