Chapter 107 Extortion, Leave a Legend
From the very beginning, they lured players to participate in the casino's "Find the Ghost Card" game, attempting to capture the souls of all seven players. Then came the "Sic Bo" game with its triple leopard, the "Soul-Eating Shark" with its changing cavities, and now this...
Every gamble has been a strong signal from the casino, targeting human players.
As players, they cannot solely rely on luck; they must also engage in a psychological battle with the casino. Only by understanding the casino's mindset can they find a glimmer of hope and win Ghost Coins.
Sophia recalled the eerie instances she had encountered so far. She wondered if her excessive trust in Lin Ye in this casino, and the resulting lack of survival pressure, had caused her to stop racking her brains for a way to survive.
Perhaps... that was it!
Because it was gambling, because she had capital, she didn't need to fight for her life. Even when she accepted Lin Ye's request and risked participating in the Soul-Eating Shark gamble, deep down she still felt safe, believing her life wasn't in danger.
Even when she realized midway that Lin Ye had deceived her and she could die at any moment, she chose to trust him one last time and didn't rely on her own wisdom to solve the problem.
"I need to change this, I can't rely on this man anymore."
Sophia muttered to herself.
But she didn't realize she had spoken her thoughts aloud.
"Are you sure?"
"Huh?"
Did I just say what was on my mind?
"Not relying on me is fine, but if you lose all your Ghost Coins, don't come begging me to lend you any."
Sophia smiled awkwardly. "For this Royal Casino instance, I definitely need to rely on your strength and wisdom, Zero. I have no confidence in winning against the cunning and treachery of the casino. As a weak woman, I definitely can't outsmart it."
But after this instance was over, she would revert to her original self, the strong and independent woman she was.
"I think you can give it a try, you might even do better than me."
"How is that possible? There's no way I could be better than you!"
Sophia immediately wrapped her arms around Lin Ye's arm, a gentle smile like a spring breeze on her face, her eyes sparkling with affection.
If Lin Ye decided to stop helping her, how would she earn more Ghost Coins?!
She still had her eyes on the items and Ghost Items in the exchange area!
Feeling the ample bosom pressed against him, Lin Ye decided to let this woman off the hook for the sake of those "big buns."
He had always been someone who responded better to soft tactics than hard ones, and even then, it depended on the occasion and his mood.
At the scene, the girl with the single ponytail on the stage was now excitedly standing up, unable to conceal the smile on her face.
Only the dealer looked grim, while the Pig-headed Ghost opposite her had turned pale and was trembling all over. It immediately turned and leaped, attempting to escape, its explosive movements showcasing unprecedented momentum.
Whoosh...
But an invisible barrier in the area stopped it.
"Ao ao oh..."
Its eyes bloodshot, it slammed its fist against the invisible wall. Thump, thump, thump, the heavy blows continued, but the invisible wall remained unaffected.
The next second,
The Ghost Card on the table emitted a black and purple light, and a pitch-black hand shot out, roaring as it lunged towards the Pig-headed Ghost.
This change shocked the Pig-headed Ghost, who roared and gathered all its strength.
"Ah ah ah ah!"
It was no match for the black hand of the Ghost Card. In a mere instant, it was lying on the ground, its fat body hoisted upside down.
"Hmph, hmph..."
"Casino... tricked me..."
It roared, glaring at the dealer, then looking in a certain direction.
Crack, crack...
As if some sensitive switch had been triggered, before the Pig-headed Ghost could finish its sentence, it lost its life with heart-wrenching screams. Its gray soul was forcibly absorbed and swallowed until it completely disappeared, leaving only some residue in the air.
"Ah ah ah!"
"So satisfying!"
"Tear it apart, devour it, struggle, resist, scream..."
The surrounding audience went wild;
The spectating ghosts had been anticipating this scene.
The loser accepting punishment was the most exciting part of the gamble.
They thought it would be even more exciting if the punished one were human.
Lin Ye pondered the meaning of this punishment. Was it merely to add excitement to the gamble and attract more thrill-seeking spectators?
That should be one of the reasons.
But what was the purpose of this casino?
From beginning to end, the casino aimed to obtain souls, but what were those souls used for?
Lin Ye didn't know for now, but collecting a large number of souls must be to achieve something, to fulfill some purpose. This was the reason behind the creation of this "Otherworldly Royal Casino."
He thought for a moment, but considering there were no more clues or evidence, he stopped this fruitless line of thought.
Amidst the cheers of the crowd, Lin Ye looked at the high school girl on stage.
Facing the scene of the Pig-headed Ghost being torn to pieces and devoured alive by the black hand of the Ghost Card, the girl's face was pale with fear, her heart pounding violently.
If, if she had lost, the fate of the Pig-headed Ghost would have been hers.
Xia Yun felt a wave of dizziness.
"Xia Yun,"
Suddenly, Lin Ye's voice called out. She looked up and saw Lin Ye walking over.
After the Pig-headed Ghost was executed, the "Ghost Card" game officially ended, and the invisible barrier at the scene disappeared, allowing free entry and exit.
"Mr. Zero, thank you for your help,"
Xia Yun immediately bowed to Lin Ye in gratitude.
She knew that without the strong external support provided by Lin Ye, she would never have won this gamble. If she had relied solely on luck to participate in this game, she would have been the one who lost.
"We have a contractual partnership. I provide the capital, you put in the effort, it's very fair."
But Xia Yun understood that all she had contributed was her last chance to gamble. Without Lin Ye's investment and support, she was nothing.
What she could do, anyone could do.
Xia Yun saw the green-haired gangster in the crowd at a glance. At this moment, the green-haired gangster was filled with envy!
With a stake of one hundred Ghost Coins, she won another one hundred, and after deducting the casino's commission, she still profited ninety Ghost Coins.
In just one hand, she had already won enough Ghost Coins to successfully leave the casino and return to reality.
"In any case, please accept my gratitude. If, if you are in Hang City, please give me the opportunity to treat you to a meal to express my gratitude."
An offline date?
"I appreciate your kindness."
Xia Yun's eyes dimmed slightly.
"But things aren't completely over yet."
"Huh?"
Xia Yun was puzzled, and Sophia beside Lin Ye was also confused.
What wasn't over yet? The gamble was over, the Pig-headed Ghost had been completely absorbed by the Ghost Card, what else was there?
Lin Ye walked up to Xia Yun, and under her nervous gaze, placed one hand on the face-down playing card.
"Dealer, you wouldn't want the other guests in the casino to know that this card is the Ghost Card, would you?"
His lowered voice reached the dealer's ears, every word clear.
Dealer: ???
Xia Yun: ???
Sophia: ???
Lin Ye smiled at the dealer, causing the dealer to break out in a cold sweat. It was a ghost, a being that should instill fear in humans, born from darkness, yet at this moment, it felt a sense of dread towards Lin Ye.
"Guest, you..."
"Are you sure you want me to flip it over?"
Lin Ye's voice was still soft, and the calm look in his eyes made the dealer gulp.
Could it be... that this really was the Ghost Card?
Lin Ye's calm demeanor showed his absolute confidence.
He hadn't anticipated this at first. In his opinion, even if the first two cards were both Ghost Cards, with one exposed, the other should have changed back to an Ace.
But he had casually glanced at it just now, and using his superpower to see through the card, he discovered that the face-down card was still the Ghost Card, with no sign of changing.
Even now, it showed no sign of changing.
So,
There was a bug in this casino's operation. Having the dealer reveal the card didn't turn the other card into an Ace.
And once this was exposed, the "Royal Casino's" credibility would be completely destroyed. No ghost would trust a casino that cheated, no ghost would come to this casino again.
"Please wait."
The dealer realized that this was definitely not something it could decide on its own.
It hurriedly left.
Many spectators in the outer circle were curious.
Lin Ye made a gesture to Brother Fa, who nodded.
Soon,
Many casino staff arrived at the scene, saying that they needed to tidy up the area and asking the guests to leave and play at other tables. However, Brother Fa, along with Jack and the green-haired gangster, stayed where they were and, after some negotiation, managed to keep a few ghosts at the scene.
This gave the casino a headache.
Should they force them to leave?
If they forcibly removed them, it would only further provoke them, leading to the worst possible outcome.
A moment later,
The familiar manager, J, arrived in front of Lin Ye.
"Mr. Zero, give me some face!"
"Give you face? You almost cheated us out of our souls."
Manager J also knew that Lin Ye wouldn't give him any face.
"Fifty Ghost Coins."
"I'd rather flip it over."
Lin Ye pretended to be about to flip the card. Manager J's expression changed.
"Please wait, one hundred Ghost Coins."
"One hundred per person."
Manager J looked at the three of them and nodded in agreement.
"For all of our players."
The manager looked at the three people in the outer circle and finally gritted his teeth and agreed.
"Alright, a total of seven hundred Ghost Coins, no credit."
"There are only six of you here."
"Even if Celeste isn't here, and may have even left the casino and returned to reality, the fact that she is one of our human players won't change. I'm her good friend, and I definitely need to get her share of the Ghost Coins."
Lin Ye spoke righteously, almost making people believe that Celeste was really his good friend.
Manager J pursed his lips and finally gave in with a sigh.
He had already agreed to six hundred Ghost Coins, and seven hundred was only a hundred more.
"You are the most cunning and treacherous human player I have ever met."
Seven hundred Ghost Coins, plus the previous six hundred, amounted to a total of 1300 Ghost Coins. This guy had only officially participated in two gambles, and if he were to participate in all of them, how many Ghost Coins could he accumulate?
Manager J couldn't imagine.
"Thank you for the compliment. Your bad review is the greatest compliment to me."
Manager J agreed to Lin Ye's conditions, and Lin Ye also signaled to Brother Fa, who then stopped trying to keep the ghost guests. Finally, the ghost guests were led away by the staff.
After all, with the compensation of one Ghost Coin from the staff, the ghost guests were satisfied and didn't insist on staying.
"Miss Xia Yun, this is two hundred Ghost Coins."
"Aren't you going to take a commission?"
How would we dare take a commission from your Ghost Coins?
"No, we caused you an unpleasant experience. Consider the commission as our compensation to you."
Two hundred Ghost Coins were handed to Xia Yun.
Lin Ye also received the seven hundred Ghost Coins he had "extorted."
"But Mr. Zero, aren't you afraid that our casino will turn hostile?"
"Will you?"
"No."
How could he possibly say yes?
"That's settled then. Besides, I also want to see what happens if your casino turns hostile and doesn't fear exposure. That would certainly be interesting!"
This human must be crazy!
"Will the casino officially cheating cause this glorious Royal Casino to decline and fall, becoming a thing of the past in the Otherworld, causing this Otherworldly location chosen as an 'instance' to disappear someday in the future?"
Manager J's eyes widened, feeling that this human was terrifying.
After exchanging a few pleasantries, it left.
"Mr. Zero, this is your 150 Ghost Coins."
Xia Yun handed 150 Ghost Coins to Lin Ye.
Lin Ye accepted them directly and stuffed them into his bag, which was also provided by the casino. He was now a rich man with over a thousand Ghost Coins.
"Ahem..."
Sophia coughed.
Brother Fa and the other two also came over.
"You didn't seem to do much."
Lin Ye looked at Sophia and couldn't help but tease her.
"I cheered you on, I stood by your side to be pleasing to the eye and keep you in a good mood, isn't that enough?"
"It is."
Lin Ye distributed the spoils, giving each of them fifty Ghost Coins as a reward.
Out of the seven hundred Ghost Coins, he distributed two hundred and fifty.
"Zero gege, you're too good to us, wuwuwu..."
Sophia almost wanted to give him a kiss. She thought Lin Ye would give them ten Ghost Coins each at most, but he actually gave them fifty each. His heart was definitely broad.
What a good man!
This kind of person was definitely worth relying on.
In future eerie instances, she would definitely trust Lin Ye!
Brother Fa and Jack shared the same thoughts.
"Zero gege, I don't need it..."
Xia Yun looked at the extra fifty Ghost Coins in her hand, her eyes filled with emotion.
Unlike Celeste, who had drained her dry, deceived her, and then heartlessly abandoned her, Lin Ye not only helped her out of danger but also gave her fifty Ghost Coins.
"I have a condition, of course, you can refuse, I won't force you."
"Zero gege, please tell me."
"Each player can only exchange for one item in the exchange area. I need you to exchange for an item for me."
Sophia suddenly remembered this.
At first, she thought that earning fifty Ghost Coins would be a lot. Even if she had extra Ghost Coins, she could only exchange for one item within her Ghost Coin limit and wouldn't have enough to exchange for a second item.
But now it was different. Not to mention Zero, even she had enough Ghost Coins to exchange for two items.
Unfortunately, each player could only exchange for one, the quantity was limited.
"I promise you, without you, there would be no me. It's my honor to help you."
Xia Yun agreed and pushed the fifty Ghost Coins back to Lin Ye.
"The extra Ghost Coins are useless to me, Zero gege, you keep them!"
"I never take back what I give. If you really think you don't need the Ghost Coins, you can give them to Brother Fa."
Lin Ye pointed out a way for Xia Yun.
Seeing Lin Ye say this, Brother Fa didn't hesitate. "Xia Yun, as a member of the Xia Country official personnel, let me briefly explain some things about the 'Eerie Games' to you."
He began to explain, and the only remaining newcomer, the green-haired gangster, also pricked up his ears to listen.
Although this game had already given him a taste of the difficulty of the Eerie Games, it was impossible for him to give up just like that.
This was one of his few chances to change his life and become someone of importance. In the current South Peninsula country, with its limited upward mobility, becoming a ghost player was his last chance.
After listening to Brother Fa, Xia Yun lowered her head slightly, lost in thought.
"As a member of the Xia Country official personnel, I hope you become a ghost player. Every ghost player is precious to Xia Country, and the country will provide you with all kinds of support, train you, and increase your survival rate. And you will accept the tasks assigned to you by the country and contribute to the country and the protection of the people."
This was Brother Fa is thoughts as an official.
"But as a forty-year-old father with a thirteen-year-old lovely daughter, from a father's perspective, I hope you refuse the invitation to become a player. Once you become a 'ghost player', you have one foot on the death line and could die at any moment. No one knows how long you can live, no one can be sure. And you will face hardship, eerie crises, and terror will constantly attack you."
Even he himself was the same. The moment he became a ghost player, his life and death were no longer under his control.
But Brother Fa didn't regret it. Compared to accidentally dying in an eerie incident someday in the future, he would rather choose to face the eerie directly, to create better conditions for himself and his family, so that his family could live a better life in the future.
Xia Yun clenched her fists, her eyes flickering with conflict.
"For the former option, keep your Ghost Coins for yourself. You can even sell them in the future if you want, but please give me priority. If you choose the latter, you can sell the Ghost Coins to me. The current market price is 100,000 yuan for 50 Ghost Coins, and I can give you 200,000 yuan."
Ghost Coins were currently in high demand but low supply, as almost no players chose to sell them for real-world cash.
"Two hundred thousand."
It was really a lot.
Even her homeroom teacher would have to work for a year to earn that much money.
However,
Xia Yun's heart was in turmoil.
Should she choose to become a player and face danger, or choose the latter and leave the Eerie Games, continuing her previous life?
If she chose the latter, she would lose all memories of the "Royal Casino," she would forget everything here.
The girl with the black single ponytail unconsciously looked at Lin Ye, her flickering eyes seemingly seeking his help, hoping that he could give her an answer.
"Living a peaceful and stable life is also a kind of happiness, Xia Yun. You trusted Celeste easily and were cheated out of all your Ghost Coins, and similar things will only happen more often in the future."
Lin Ye's words made Xia Yun's heart sink even further.
She really doesn't seem suited to survive in this dog-eat-dog world.
At this time, Lin Ye took a step forward and pulled the girl's lapel, holding her chin with one hand, smiling brightly, "Woman, I already know your home address, I am very interested in you, and you don't want your parents to get hurt, do you! You know what you should do, right!"
Xia Yun's eyes widened, her whole body trembled, subconsciously wanting to get away, but was caught tightly, unable to move.
Zero, is Zero this kind of person?
She couldn't believe it at all.
"Zero, this isn't how you pretend to be a villain, don't scare her."
Brother Fa said helplessly.
Lin Ye shrugged and released the girl's lapel, "Look, you can't even judge whether I'm good or evil, so how can you survive in a strange game!"
The girl blushed, as if wanting to refute, but felt that this was the reality placed in front of her.
It was meaningless for her to deny it again.
She really wasn't suited to survive in this dangerous and deceitful world!
"..."
"Brother Fa, I want to ask you something."
Lin Ye thought of something, as a member of Xia Guo's official staff, Brother Fa should have relevant information.
"You say it, as long as it doesn't involve secrets, I can tell you."
"Is it possible for a newcomer who refuses an invitation to be involved in a strange game and receive an invitation again?"
"I don't know if that kind of situation counts."
There really is?
"Once a newcomer who refuses an invitation encounters an accidental death in reality, they will be pulled into a strange game. At the same time, their lost memories will be restored. If they pass the new mission instance, they will survive and continue to live in reality as a player."
It was different from a normal invitation, but it was also an invitation.
"So the accident was really an accident?"
"According to the information we have, it is indeed an accident, not an accidental death caused by the guidance of a strange game."
Players die in strange instances, and the player will die in reality in the form of suicide, car accidents and other accidents, but relying on the country's current large database and summarized rules, it is still possible to distinguish between 'real accidents' and 'accidents caused by strange games'.
No matter how well disguised a suicide caused by a strange game is, as long as you carefully distinguish it, you can still be sure.
"Hmm."
Lin Ye responded.
At least for now, it seemed that players who chose to refuse the invitation would not be deliberately invited back by the strange game.
On the contrary, being invited again at the moment of accidental death was an extra chance to save one's life.
The strange game still seemed to be paying attention to those who refused the invitation and continued their normal lives in reality.
Lin Ye focused on memorizing this information in his mind, and after leaving the instance, he would record this information in his notebook for future unified analysis and thinking.
Lin Ye had vaguely become the center of this six-person group. Sophia and the female high school student naturally went without saying, the green-haired gangster was willing to transform into the number one loyal dog for the sake of strange coins, and the red-haired strong man Jack was the same, he would not go against strange coins either.
As for Brother Fa, who was the oldest and had an official identity, he had now also recognized Lin Ye's central position.
It was a good thing to have such a player with him to earn strange coins, and he could be happy to relax.
"Haha..."
Suddenly, Brother Fa laughed,
"I was planning to rely on my own strength to earn fifty strange coins, or even one hundred strange coins, to exchange for props, but now I'm thinking of earning more strange coins with you."
"Isn't that good?"
"Good, of course it's good."
Brother Fa said with a bright smile.
It wasn't shameful to earn strange coins with Lin Ye.
The real benefits were the real ones.
"But let me say in advance, the strange coins earned under my guidance will have to pay remuneration according to the proportion."
"No problem,"
Brother Fa agreed directly,
Jack had no objection either.
Earning strange coins by dozens and dozens, and giving half of the profit to Lin Ye, was a matter of course.
If Lin Ye was a good person and didn't need remuneration, he would think that Lin Ye was either naive to the point of stupidity, or had deeper motives.
Except for the absent Celestia, the six-person group reached a unified consensus.
Lin Ye looked at the casino and smiled.
This made the casino staff feel a chill down their spines.
"Let's go..."
The six-person group started their sweeping majestically.
"The limit is fifty strange coins?"
"So little? What else is there to play,"
Lin Ye didn't expect that the casino would lower the limit for all items.
There used to be one hundred, but now there were only fifty.
If this continued, he was afraid that there wouldn't even be fifty.
"Let's take turns!"
"Okay."
A new round began.
Five minutes later,
Sophia came out first. After experiencing another life-and-death gamble, she won 49 strange coins, of which 24 were given to Lin Ye as remuneration.
"It's all about the heartbeat."
Sophia looked at the others.
Although there was Lin Ye's off-site support, there would still be pressure under life and death.
After three rounds,
the casino unilaterally stopped the items that required 'fifty strange coins',
"Can't afford to play,"
"Not even willing to lose fifty strange coins."
...
...
Lin Ye had no choice but to take people to ordinary items.
Later,
even the limits of ordinary items were lowered,
Obviously, the casino didn't want to play with them and wanted them to leave early.
Finally,
after rounds and rounds,
all the players' gambling times had been used up.
And Lin Ye's strange coins had exceeded 1000, reaching 1057.
A big harvest.
And the second most was Sophia, who also had a full 502 strange coins.
As for the others, except for the female high school student who only had one hundred strange coins, the strange coins in the pockets of the rest had doubled.
Veteran players Jack and Brother Fa both said that it felt different to have a professional player lead the way.
As for why Lin Ye was so powerful, the two also had guesses.
Perspective,
but not a perspective skill,
the Royal Casino in the inner world prohibited the use of 'player skills', but it did not mean that other things could not be used.
In addition to 'skills', there were props, and the props used by Lin Ye were definitely not ordinary props, most likely strange objects, but excessive use of strange objects would definitely be eroded by strangeness.
According to the number of times Lin Ye had used them, if he was really using strange objects, his degree of erosion would definitely be very deep.
Therefore, after eliminating all other possibilities, what Lin Ye obtained was a blessing, only a blessing could be used without side effects.
Blessing!
That was the best thing.
There was no player who didn't want it, but very few players could get it.
Jack didn't ask, Brother Fa didn't ask,
Even Sophia, who now seemed to have a very close relationship with Lin Ye, was already tired of Lin Ye, and was occasionally taken advantage of by Lin Ye, did not ask.
Skills, strange objects, blessings and other information were all the player's own top-secret information, related to future survival, rashly asking, would only lead to disgust.
If the relationship wasn't in place, no one would ask, and even if the relationship was in place, asking would probably cause cracks in the relationship.
Therefore, not asking was the best choice.
"Let's go to the exchange area!"
After Lin Ye finished speaking, he turned around and headed towards the exchange and mortgage area,
But he saw the bunny girl he had chatted with in the hall at first glance.
Lin Ye greeted her, and the bunny girl swayed her graceful figure and came over.
"Guest, you are really amazing, now you have become the most unwelcome guest in our casino, hahaha."
The bunny girl laughed,
It was the first time she had seen a human who won until the casino's face changed.
"Thank you for the compliment."
After saying that,
Lin Ye stuffed two strange coins into the bunny girl's chest.
"Guest, you're so annoying! Just say you want to touch, don't use this method!"
"Forget it if you don't like it."
"No, I like it very much, please give me more."
"What are the precautions for the exchange, any suggestions?"
"Guest, have you won a thousand strange coins now?"
The bunny girl looked at Lin Ye's bulging waist bag and asked,
"Yes,"
"Then you go to the exchange area and directly ask the front desk to give you an admission ticket to our casino. Guests who have obtained more than 1,000 strange coins in a single time will be able to get an admission ticket to our casino."
The old players were shocked and showed envious expressions.
Admission ticket!
This was an admission ticket to actively come to the inner world!
"Can I still come here to gamble?"
"I don't think so, you have already left a legend in our casino, the casino will not welcome you,"
"You came here this time because of 'Him', the casino cannot refuse, but next time you come, the casino can refuse you."
The bunny girl continued,
Lin Ye realized that his idea of coming here to make a fortune was shattered, but his superpower perspective was about to expire, and the transformed 'perspective skill' was also afraid of failing in this casino.
So, it was better to keep his mystery and strength!
Let his legend stay in the 'Royal Casino' forever.
Maybe he could still come to threaten the casino and squeeze out some oil and water!
He couldn't help but think.