Surviving a Shounen Manga

The Queen of Goldam City

Four days later.

"Hoo…"

My heart was pounding a little as I approached the golden plate prominently displayed at the centre of the casino hall.

[Names that Blaze across Goldam].

This golden plate was the VIP list of this Goldam Casino.

• Curty Jones
• Biel Basca
• Kurino
• Uemo Cran
• Siona Dougal
• Josh

⁞

Why am I hanging around in front of it?

Of course, it's not to find my name on this golden plate.

Because right now I'm more like a rich improvident who can't take anybody else's money, let alone a current VIP.

The nicknames that have been given to me over the past four days –

Squatjaw, the first of the one-shotters.

Squatjaw, the man of flow and impulse.

Squatjaw, who never backs down from victory.

At first glance, they sound okay, but in fact, the nicknames all carry a hint of ridicule.

Even so, all I did over the past four days was to win and lose, win and lose. In the order of billions.

An idiot who goes all the way to the end, never folding even when he should.

This is my current image.

But, of course, it was all intentional.

If you keep winning from the beginning, you'll end up hurting the bottom line of the casino. Forget about this golden plate, my name might end up on the blacklist instead.

To avoid that, I deliberately repeated the act of losing all my winnings.

Fortunately, although it's uncertain whether my act has paid off or not, the casino has been very welcoming the past few days.

From the third day onwards, the hotel came free of charge, and even the manager followed me and recommended a seat whenever I came in.

In a way, it was natural. A guy who suddenly appears, attracts people's interest, raises the momentum all around him, and gets cheered up…

In fact, I was also the most talked-about person in this casino right now.

‘Well, I'm seen more as a clown.'

Anyway, all the work I've done so far, is for today.

If I want to participate in the ‘death race', it's important to win games and become a VIP, but I have to drive out the existing VIPs first.

In other words, I have to get their money out of the way.

It's hard to get them to sit at the table the first time, but after that, it's not difficult.

And last night, I got the news that every VIP on this list wants to play with me. From their point of view, I'm like a new toy. It seems that the last four days of clowning around have paid off.

So, I'm here to choose my opponent.

"Let’s see."

You have to investigate their names and faces.

I've selected a few I remember from the manga. Especially, the ones who participated in the ‘1vs5 poker'.

Curty Jones, Kurino, Siona Dougal.

Following,

"Okay, let's start with you."

I picked up one name.

Kurino.

There were several reasons for choosing him.

First, the reward for defeating this guy seemed to be quite attractive.

Kurino is a character who competes against the main character in two events in the ‘death race'.

‘1vs1 Texas Hold'em' in the 1st stage, and 1vs5 poker in the 6th stage.

Leo's first opponent, and also one of his last, other than the Queen.

In other words, the appearance of his role is quite high in contrast to others. Since he is that kind of a character, he has a lot of money, and the attention he receives is also bound to be high.

Second… Actually, nothing big. Because I just wanted to meet him once.

He was the first character to show that special abilities can be used in this casino.

In a one-on-one battle with Leo, he uses a total of two skills (special abilities), namely, ‘Clairvoyance' and ‘Duplicity'. Seeing through the opponent's hand, and tricking others about one's own hand.

To put it simply, this guy was the ‘Sharper'[1] at the Goldam Casino.

Finally, third.

Actually, I was here thanks to this Kurino. Because of him, I knew to use my special abilities here, and I was able to roughly estimate when and what kind of abilities would be needed.

Wasn't this guy the one who actually guided my path?

So, I just wanted to thank him in person. Of course, from his point of view, it would be an unfortunate event.

‘But so what? He's one of the baddies, anyway.'

Eventually, I delivered a message to him through the manager.

– Let's have a game.

Under the gaze of the dealer, Kurino and I sat facing each other.

"The game is 1v1 Texas Hold'em."

Texas Hold'em.

A type of poker, its rules are as follows.

Use 2 private ‘hole' cards, and 5 community cards on the ‘board' to complete your hand.

The hand is built the same way as 7 Card Stud.

The guy started talking as soon as he sat down.

"You’re famous these days."

"Ah, a lot of people made fun of me for being an idiot."

"That’s just what the ignorant would say. You won sincerely, and lost playfully. Still, you never went red, even when playing poker just like a game. Aren't you a monster?"

"… That's too much. My eyes aren't that good."

To be honest, I was a bit perplexed.

I thought he just came to have fun, but it looked like he'd already done some research on me. He even seemed borderline vigilant.

"Well, to be honest, I got interested and made an offer, but I didn’t know that you would really come play with me. Don't you know? Who Kurino is, in this Goldam Casino?"

"Should I know?"

"They say the eyes know, but the mouth doesn’t."

His eyes curved like half-moons.

"…"

He was a tougher guy than I'd thought.

"I'm just here to play."

"Hey, you’re not funny, my friend. I was looking forward to our chat."

Even at his provocation, I firmly shut my mouth.

When you talk to a chatterbox like this guy, you can't help but get tired. What's more, it wasn't just this guy I had to deal with today. Conserving stamina was essential.

Soon after,

"If you are ready, I will start."

The dealer began shuffling the cards.

They say that hold'em is a game where skill is more important than luck. Since there are so many open community cards, strategy establishment and probability calculation must be done moment by moment.

But the game with this guy was different. This wasn't a competition of poker skills, but more like a showdown of abilities.

This guy's abilities were ‘Clairvoyance' and ‘Duplicity'.

These two were abilities that I also possessed, but fighting fire with fire wasn't the best choice. It'd just turn to a wrestle in the mud. I had to find a way to get the upper hand.

If I were to pick out the abilities that could be used in this match… among ‘Clairvoyance', ‘Duplicity', ‘Lie Detection', and ‘Luck'?

There were so many different abilities to choose from, but I could only choose two. If you drink three or four potions simultaneously and the abilities clash with each other, you'll be done for.

And honestly, I really wanted to rather use the potions that were cheaper and easier to obtain. You can never ignore cost-effectiveness.

‘Let's go a few rounds first.'

It wouldn't hurt to have a taste of his playstyle. Anyway, I needed time to check his skills and habits.

After a while,

"What's the matter? Do you want to leave a bit early today?"

I broke into a cold sweat.

I almost went broke in just five rounds.

It wasn't that I wasn't prepared. I'd assumed that he was looking at my hand through clairvoyance, but even when I had winning hands, it didn't work.

My hand was visible, and his hand was mixed with trickery.

‘This can't go on.'

There was no time to relax. Since I couldn't keep up with him for long, I had to win the game in a single stroke. That was the only cost-effective way, and I had to have a solid strategy.

‘No big deal.'

I asked Cocoa, who had been standing next to me, for ‘orange juice' and ‘grapefruit juice'.

That is, ‘duplicity' and ‘luck' potions.

The strategy I came up with wasn't that great.

1. My duplicity neutralizes the guy's clairvoyance.

2. I'm looking for a good hand by luck.

Betting with just my hand without caring about the opponent's hand. This was actually a copy of the strategy Leo used when he defeated this guy.

Of course, they weren't exactly the same. Because I didn't have the same abilities as Leo.

The only thing Leo did in the first place was to block this guy's clairvoyance with an electric net once he realized how he was getting beaten.

But that was enough. Leo's ‘luck' was so strong that no matter what Kurino did, he couldn't overcome it.

"Is your throat burning? Two bottles?"

"A bit."

"Come to think of it, looks like you drink what you carry with you every time… every time you're behind in a game."

"It's just a matter of mood."

"Huh, really?"

"Have you been observing me that closely? You even know this."

"No, you're famous. Rumours are circulating everywhere. I wondered if there was something good in it."

At this point, it was certain that this guy also knew that I was using special abilities. And even the fact that from now on the fight was real.

"Certainly… drinking this definitely makes me feel better. I feel like my win rate is going up. Maybe I will win the next round?"

"Kikkik… that would be fun."

In fact, I never thought I would become as lucky as Leo if I just drank a luck potion. That was an overpowered[2] setting reserved only for the main character.

I didn't even think that I could completely overcome Kurino's clairvoyance with my duplicity. At best, its only function was to ‘make one object look like another'. 1 minute was the maximum time limit.

But nevertheless, I was sure of my victory.

The reason was simple, because I knew very well exactly when and at which moment this guy would fall apart.

Soon after,

Swish –.

As the dealer dealt the cards once again, I spoke.

"Shall I make a prophecy?"

"Prophecy?"

"You will lose."

"What?"

"Your opponent’s hands, which were looking sloppy so far, will no longer be readable, and no matter what you do, you will feel that your opponent’s hand is better. As if your future is barren."

"What kind of bullshit…"

"You're going to try to lure your opponent, but even if you bet on a piece of shit, he won’t get caught. As if he doesn't have any interest in anything other than his own hand. As this situation repeats, you'll start feeling frustrated and throw an irrational bet for a moment. You'll go all-in without checking his hand. You'll play the game solely for the purpose of eliciting a reaction from your opponent. Then what'll happen in the end?"

Being hasty.

This was the biggest reason behind this guy's loss in his match against Leo.

"Hey, if you want to taunt somebody, you have to do it properly. Seriously, aren't you going to play?"

Right now, he was smiling as if relaxed, but that would soon disappear. That smile on his lips, and those chips on the table.

"Oh, sorry. It’s just… because it looks like you're going to lose for some reason."

"Heh, that’s funny. Do you know? I've never lost a single match, except once against the Queen."

"Really? Then this will be the second."

I smiled, and started betting.

The manager whispered to me quietly after dealing with three other VIPs after Kurino.

"Mister, the Queen wants to see you."

"What… a queen?"

"The owner of this place."

I was finally able to smile brightly at those words.

Done.

Actually, I'd been feeling like the one racing to the death even before Leo.

The VIPs were more skilled than I'd thought, and they didn't go down as easily as in the manga. Maybe because I wasn't Leo.

The time allotted wasn't too much either, so I really had to do my best while drinking special potions like water. Even all my preparations were almost exhausted, so if I had more time, I might have had to revise the plan altogether.

"Then, would you please follow me?"

The place the manager took me to was a room on the top floor of the casino.

As I opened the door adorned with gold and all kinds of precious stones, a stunningly ornate room replete with jewels greeted me.

And in the middle of it all –

"Oh, you're here."

Stood a woman in a golden mask.

Even her dazzlingly splendid dress could not match up to her own elegance.

I looked straight at the woman with a surprisingly graceful figure.

The owner of this casino, and the Queen of Goldam City.

A main character of this arc.

And… the woman who will become Leo's third companion.

Siana.

She was the first to speak.

"I've heard a lot about you. Nice to meet you."

"It is an honour, Queen."

"You won about 20 billion gold today, right? You beat the VIPs too. Incredible."

"Nothing special."

The Queen went straight to the main point.

"Are you thinking of becoming a VIP of our casino?"

Of course, it was something I had been waiting for, but for now, I pretended not to know.

"Are there any special qualifications required to become a VIP? Is it just spending a lot of money?"

"It’s similar, but a little different. Because it requires my permission."

"Is there anything good about being a VIP? It didn't seem like there was anything special other than your name being engraved on the golden plate."

"Once you enter the casino, you don't have to spend any money other than in the games. We offer complimentary hotel access 365 days a year, free room service, and even a car and driver on request. In addition, you can use all the entertainment and amenities in the city that are affiliated with our Goldam Casino. Of course, direct access without waiting."

"Okay, there’s no reason not to."

Following,

"There is no annual fee. However, there is one duty that must be observed."

The word I was waiting for came out.

"What is it?"

"If I ask you to, you have to play a game…"

That was then.

Beep –.

Suddenly, the Queen's pager vibrated.

She asked for my pardon and received the call.

"Yes, what?"

"Queen, there is some urgent news. There's a commotion in the kitchen right now and there's a VIP…"

And at the same time,

Tiling –.

[Chapter 6 – ‘Becoming a Handyman at the Casino!' has ended]

A message was sent to the hologram window.

‘… Here it comes.'

I opened the window with a nervous look.

In fact, my entrance to this chapter was like a gamble.

The reason was simple. Aside from how hard I gambled, in Chapter 6, I didn't appear even for a second. In order to appear, you have to catch the gaze of the main character, but I had never even seen the kitchen.

The grace period for deletion originally given to me was up to Chapter 7, but even that was meaningless because I was already being evaluated for Chapter 6.

If this didn't work, my character might be deleted right this moment.

I read the message with a heartfelt prayer.

[The character evaluation of Villain 3 has been updated]

[Attracts the author's attention]

[The author's favourability has increased by 1]

[Reappearance probability has increased by 100%]

‘… Done!'

I could barely hold back my explosive joy.

[State]

• Name: Squatjaw
• Characteristics: A little strong, Bluffing, Chatterbox.
• Awareness: 41
• Author’s favourability: 1
• Reappearance probability: 100%

What I believed in, was the reappearance probability.

By becoming a VIP, I created a situation where the author had no choice but to use me unconditionally for the next chapter. I didn't know it would go up to 100% like this.

Another message arrived shortly thereafter.

[The final evaluation of the character has been calculated by the author]

[Villain 3 is the target of the next chapter]

[Character points paid 100p for the rise in author's favourability]

[Character points paid 1000p for the rise in reappearance probability]

[Additional 1000p character points paid for achieving 100% reappearance probability]

… Wow.

Looks like, I have to pay attention to the writer, not the readers!

At that moment, while I was still struggling to rein in my joy, I heard a voice speaking to me.

"About the duties of a VIP that I mentioned just now… What do you think?"

I looked at the Queen and smiled.

"Of course, it's fine."

Editor's Notes:

[1] Tazza, as explained in the notes last chapter.

[2] 먼치킨 (lit. munchkin) is popular Korean slang for overpowered fantasy characters.