Chapter 333: The Mammon's Den (2)
There atop the bright stage stood a single man. He was fairly short in terms of stature and his back was bent slightly arch, to anyone looking, his age was more than clear, especially from the gray hair and wrinkles on his face. If they had to guess, they would have guessed him to be a man in his early fifties.
He wore an elegant pure black suit, perfectly tailored to fit his body, jewelry on almost every finger on his hands and a sparkling chain around his neck. He almost looked like an old-school mafia boss.
His voice was surprisingly loud and strong. Whenever he spoke, he demanded attention and thus, everyone listened. They all might have been from very important families and rich beyond belief themselves, but, they were now in his domain and had to abide by his rules. In their heads, it would all be worth it in the end when they walk out more powerful and richer in points from when they entered…
"Allow me to introduce myself… I am simply known as "The Mammon," and I will be running the show tonight! Every single one of you had a plan in mind and an aspiration coming in here… Some of it might be personal and others more general. But, be prepared for disappointment, not everyone will walk out of here a winner! So, when you lose, don't come crying to me!"
"..." The crowd stood silent, simply staring up with serious eyes.
"Good! Now that that's out of the way! Let me explain a few general things! Like most of you know, what is happening here is illegal! The school wants you to gain points by your own merit, not by sheer luck or by playing stupid games! But, screw that! That's nothing like how life truly is! It's your money! You should be able to do whatever you want with it!!"
He took another small pause, looking at the faces of approval and the slight nods from the crowd.
"The military is forbidden from tracking what you do with your points! Thank your parents for that! And, we have all checked you with lie detectors so you should be safe in here! Before we start, I would just like to redirect your attention to this,"
He simply snapped his fingers and several crystals all around the room lit up, ones that Moby had noticed when he first entered.
"These are mana detecting crystals! They are embedded in every nook and cranny of this facility! I am very strict about cheating and want to ensure a safe, equal playing field for all! This means any type of mana manipulation is prohibited! IF ANY OF YOU are caught using a hint of mana! Things will not end well! That is all I am gonna say pertaining to that matter…" His smile grew slightly sinister before he continued speaking.
"Furthermore, the crystals will disable all communication devices on your watch or any other device, and your storage rings will also be disabled! This is all for fairness! Now, does any of you have any questions so far?"
"..."
"No? Okay, let me move on then. On the side of the room over there are a group of ATMs. By simply scanning your watch on them, you should be able to convert your points into physical currency, chips that you will use today for placing your bets! The machine will also take 25 points from your account when you first use it since that was your entry fee! As you can see all around me, there are many things you can gamble and bet on to your heart's content! But, as you notice, there is a distinct lack of slot machines since god knows that's no fun!" He slightly laughed at his own remark.
"If you run out of points and still want to go on, don't you worry! Simply head to the back desk and we can provide you with as many points as you want! However… If you don't pay it all off before you leave… You will be forced to pay us back in some way shape or form… With additional interest, of course…" The man could not help but smile as he saw the many shudders in the crowd, but to his surprise, most people stayed calm in the face of his words.
"The center arena will be closed for now. I will let you all know if there any major events going down! So… Without further ado! LET THE GAMES BEGIN!"
And with those simple words, the crowd dispersed and immediately rushed towards the ATMs. There was more than enough for everyone to have their very own but they all felt some sort of sense of urgency.
There were only a select few that simply walked their way to the other side, and Moby's group was one of them. When they got to the ATM, they withdrew every single point from all of their accounts combined. Regrit did have slight hesitation at the moment but went through with it considering how far they had already gotten.
In total, adding up all of their points and subtracting the entry fees, they were left with a staggering 655 points, mostly in coins of 10 and 100.
"Okay, now that we have all of the points, where are we going Joker? We have to make 75 points to get our money back, and that's the bare minimum! You also have to count all of this time we're wasting! I could have been training! You better know what you're doing! By the end, you better have 1000 points or more!" Regrit casually spoke to Moby who was out in front holding a bag of his own coins.
"Oh, Fox… Don't you worry… We'll be making much more than that… All you have to do is stay quiet and follow my lead… Okay…" Moby turned his head slightly to face Regrit, and his less than innocent smile greatly caught him off guard.
"You're not the boss of me! But, I'll follow your lead for now! Don't get the wrong idea!"
"Yeah, don't worry," Moby slightly chortled before he walked forward, Hikari and Regrit following close to his side.
For the next thirty minutes, they did absolutely nothing but look around at all of the events. Most of them gravitated to some sort of card games but for now, Moby did not seem too interested in them. Instead, his attention was focused elsewhere. It was like he was biding his time for something to happen. Regrit almost felt the urge to complain when suddenly, Moby finally made a move.
"Follow me… Let's go here…"
He walked through various crowds and around different groups and tables until he reached a spot at the back that Regrit did not expect for them to go to.
It was somewhere rather dense for the activity going on around it. It came to a big shock that such a thing was so popular.
There was a crowd of people huddled around a single table as two people went head to head with each other in a true champion's game…
"DRINK DRINK DRINK DRINK DRINK DRINK!!"
It was a drinking game where the more cups a person consumed without passing out was the winner.
The two people at it now, one was a man of massive statures like a rhino, and the other was a woman whose lean muscles were rather visible.
"DRINK DRINK DRINK DRINK DRINK DRINK!! YEEAAAHHHH!!"
In the end, the woman won, and the man was left foaming out of his mouth on the ground. So, the referee had to direct his attention to him and give him a certain pill that once again allowed him to breathe and stand up in a depressed mood.
Regrit and Hikari seemed to be shocked that the winner was not the man who weighed three times more, but Moby simply kept his smile. Of course, it was to be expected. He had been keeping a close eye on this certain gambling table and knew that this woman had won 10 times in a row completely uncontested.
"Y-yeah *hickup* Who's next?" The masked woman raised her fists up in victory as the crowd cheered up, hints of grumbles also being heard from those who probably bet a good amount of money on the man.
She seemed to be completely fine despite all of the alcohol she consumed other than the slight hiccups and slurs in her speech pattern. It was not too long after did the referee give her a pill that she ate, bringing her back to how she was before and removing any sign of intoxication.
"I SAID! WHO'S NEXT!" She roared once again, more vigour than before as she slammed her tanned hands on the table.
The crowd went silent at her words, a few chuckles being heard coming from them.
"Hahaha! If that behemoth can't beat her than no one will!"
"Yeah, at this point this isn't even fair… What even is the point in betting?"
"She's too good! We should just cancel this and find something else…"
That was when suddenly, a hand was raised from the crowd along with an impossibly deep voice.
"I'll do it!" Moby confidently spoke.
However, instead of being received with open arms or as an actual challenger, he was simply laughed and mocked for even attempting to challenge the champion.
"Is this kid for real!? Even the girl is more muscular than this twink!"
But, even at the face of all of that, the smile was not wiped off of his face as he stared directly into the eyes of his opponent that could not help but open her eyes wide.
"SILENCE! I will take up any challenge! It doesn't matter who! I will not stand for such ridicule! Remember when I first came up here!? You same sexist fucks started saying stuff like "how does a girl expect to out drink a guy!?" Fuck off! Now, look how it is!?" And just like that, the girl put an end to it all and left the crowd speechless, yet, their opinions still stood unmoving.
"So, boy! Come here and let's drink if you think you're up to the challenge!"
"Don't mind if I do!" Moby confidently took his first step only to be held tightly by the shoulder.
"Hey… ARE YOU AN IDIOT!? What do you think you're doing! You yourself said in an interview that you don't drink alcohol because it's not part of your diet! What makes you think you can suddenly march right in here and out drink a professional drinker?! HUH!?"
Moby could not help but chuckle at Regrit's screaming whispers as he turned his head slightly and smiled. "Don't worry about it. Just trust the process and bet all of your money on me okay?" He shook his hands off his shoulders and simply marched up to the drinking table with all eyes on him.
Regrit was losing his mind over how stupid this all was… It felt almost surreal, like it was all a dream… It had to be all a bad dream... It just had to... He felt an odd pain in his heart and an empty feeling in his stomach… Was he really about to lose all of his hard-earned points on something like this!?
"What! Wait—" He tried to reach out to Moby and grab him back before it was too late, but, that was when he felt an abnormally strong tug on his legs and a voice coming from his side.
"You should have more faith in Joker, fox… I'm certain he knows what he's doing… He would never throw himself willingly into a losing fight… That's just the kind of person he is…"
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