Casino of Despair

A casino was a place where people lost their minds to bright flashy lights and the allure of winning it all. Dreams and hopes were born here, only to be mercilessly crushed by the rigged odds.

Metro breathed out through his mouth. He looked at the plaque of the casino that was situated high above the entrance. The words Good Fortune Casino was imprinted onto it in gold letters, displaying the extravagance of the casino.

At the entrance, people were continually entering and exiting. Those who wanted to enter had to show proof of identity to the security guards in front, who scanned it with the latest technology to make sure there was no foul play involved. Most people who entered looked affluent, apart for those who had a crazed look in their eyes. Metro joined the queue, while gripping the wallet in his pocket tightly.

Activating his Abyssal Eye, Metro could see that the crazed people provided the most carnal energy within them. His heart wavered for a bit at the thought of exploiting these people, but he eventually steeled it. This was not a place where he could afford to give in to kindness.

Closing his eyes, Metro concentrated on the Abyssal Eye. The parasites within The Eye exhibited a sucking motion, which drew in the strands of carnal energy within the crazed people's heart and devoured it, converting it into the Abyssal Eye's reserves.

The people who were affected widened their eyes as their eyes turned grey, collapsing onto the ground with a dazed expression on their face. "What... I feel so tired?" They kept repeating these words, as they could not even bother with anything else.

"So scary!" Metro was sure that the amount of carnal energy he absorbed was less than 0.001% of the carnal energy that the parasites had provided. However, the people had already lost all their motivation after the carnal energy was forced out.

Of course, Metro had to consider the fact that the further he was from the person that he was absorbing the carnal energy from, the less he would absorb.

The most efficient way of gaining carnal energy was to force out the carnal energy within their hearts through experiencing absolute despair, but Metro was in urgent need of carnal energy to fool the guard, so he went with this simple method.

As everyone looked shocked at the people dropping to the ground, medical stretchers were rolled out to carry them. It was obvious to see that the casino had prepared medical services beforehand to ensure maximum efficiency for their customers.

The people who viewed the incident did not really care for the compulsive gamblers that had experienced something weird, so the queue quickly moved on until it was Metro's turn.

"Sir, can you provide your passport or ID card?" The white security guard looked like a movie star while wearing sunglasses, but he was not reckless like them. In fact, he possessed a high perceptive sense, able to differentiate minute differences in the facial features of the ID photo and the person who provided it.

From the backpack of the foreign tourist, Metro took out a passport. Opening his Abyssal Eye, he used the recently obtained carnal energy to fool the security guard.

This perceptive sense of the security guard did not extend to the supernatural side, as he viewed Metro the same as how the passport photo appeared, a Japanese tourist with tanned skin. The secret metal detector also scanned nothing, so there was no problem with the man in front of him.

"Thank you, sir. Welcome to the Good Fortune Casino." A bright smile filled with white teeth appeared on the security guard, who invited Metro inside. The moment Metro stepped into the casino, he was greeted by an assault on the senses.

Slot machines, tables that had various dealers looking after them, the roulette, and several other gambling games waited for him. There was a bar at the corner that was selling wine and giving out complimentary drinks to the customers.

Not only that, next to the bar, there was a split off with a board hanging on top. With names like, "Indulgent Foodies" and "Home", Metro could conclude that it lead to famous restaurants that could satisfy the customers.

Additionally, there was an elevator at the end of the haven of gambling. Metro felt confused. The casino did not have any hotel built on top of it. All the hotels were built next door to it, according to the pamphlet that he had obtained.

[Discovered an optional side quest!]

[Name: Casino of Despair]

[Description: The strongest gamblers are often cheaters. In the second floor of this casino, there exists an exclusive table for the best cheaters in the casino. Obtain the title of a cheater and defeat the Cheater High Council!]

[Rewards: Basic Cheater's Hands]

[Accept? Yes/No]

A description for a side quest popped out after he thought about the elevator. Metro scrutinised the side quest carefully. This was not an event that he had experienced, but a side quest! He could choose if he wanted to accept it or not, which was a big difference from the events that were set in motion by his arrival.

"There's not much option, is there?" Metro sighed in his heart, and accepted the side quest. The side quest even provided a look at the rewards for Metro beforehand.

[Basic Cheater's Hands: A natural talent that allows your hand to be more dexterous. You can also slightly increase efficacy of illusions using your hands.]

Obviously, this would complement his Abyssal eye well. Metro would be a fool if he did not take this opportunity to prepare against the demon. After all, every little bit helps.

Metro then stared at his watch. He had around 2 hours left, which made him slightly worried. He was lucky that the city itself was not that big, otherwise he would have spent a lot more time travelling around.

"I should get a weapon of some sort just in case I need to get more time." Metro's trained body was quite useful for killing already, but a weapon would only allow Metro to save at least 50% of the time he would need. Metro gritted his teeth. He had single-mindedly focused on the carnal energy, and had forgotten to get a trusty weapon by his side.

Metro tried to exit the casino to buy a weapon, but the notification asked if he wanted to abandon the side quest. It warned that he would not be able to redo it once he abandoned it.

Since Metro could only get weapons from inside the casino, the best place to get one was undoubtedly one of the restaurants here. Every good chef needed a kitchen knife they could rely on, and Metro believed the knives here would not let him down.

Metro stepped onto the lush red carpet and moved towards the split off and walked through a beige coloured corridor before arriving at the restaurants. Viewing from the outside, there were many customers dining on various cuisines.

Moving his head around, Metro finally settled on a restaurant to pilfer knives from. It was a restaurant that specialised in steak called "Executive & Co.". Even though high class marbled steak was extremely soft, they still needed steak knives to slice through them.

At first, Metro wanted to go for a butcher knife that had high killing power, but he decided against it, since it was too cumbersome. On the other hand, he could carry several steak knives and utilise them quickly to deal fatal blows to weak points in the human body.

Cloaking himself in an illusion, Metro took some steak knives from the tables and disappeared quickly. He could not maintain the illusion for long, as it consumed a lot of carnal energy.

Storing the knives in the backpack quickly, Metro rubbed his palms together. It was time to cheat the casino.