Do you know what it means to be too clever for your own good?

 

While counting the chips, the Red Team had over 5,000 passenger chips. In theory, the Green Team’s total chip count could not surpass the Red Team’s. However, all of the Green Team’s chips were concentrated in Xing Ye’s hands, whereas the Red Team’s chips were distributed among four people. This meant that Shao Lin’s personal chips alone could not compare to the amount Xing Ye held.

Even after Xing Ye lost 2,004 passenger chips to Lin Si, the assets he retained were still enough to gamble against Shao Lin.

But Shao Lin’s goal was not to win chips—he wanted to lose to Xing Ye.

After several encounters, Shao Lin realized that Xing Ye was an incredibly difficult opponent to deal with. Even when traps were set up, Xing Ye had ways to counterattack. Now that Shao Lin had discovered Xing Ye’s initial skill, he saw an opportunity to get rid of him.

On the first day, Shao Lin had already asked the dealer what would happen if a player died.

The dealer told Shao Lin: “If a player dies, their initial skill and QR codes are retained, but all their points are converted into chips. The casino will then host a competition, and the player who wins will receive all the chips that belonged to the deceased player. However, the casino does not allow players to use QR codes or initial skills to kill each other in private. But if a life-or-death gamble occurs at the table, the casino will not intervene.”

Xing Ye was also aware of this rule. Initially, he had worried that Shao Lin might try to eliminate players outside of gambling. This was why he had asked about the rule himself. The dealer’s answer reassured him, and it was precisely because of this rule that he devised his "Love Money Like Life" initial skill, giving Shao Lin an apparent opportunity to assassinate him through gambling.

Since Shao Lin had issued the challenge, it was up to Xing Ye to choose the game.

Shao Lin sat leisurely at the gambling table with a pile of lollipops, unafraid of whatever game Xing Ye might pick.

He had already used his "Reversal of Fortune" ability to transfer Xing Ye’s luck onto himself, so he was not worried about luck-based games. As for strategy-based games, Shao Lin was quite confident in his intelligence.

Xing Ye did not rush to choose a game. After observing Shao Lin for a while, he asked, "You have an initial skill that can alter a person’s luck, and another that can influence their thoughts, but the latter is quite weak. Once someone becomes wary of it, it’s difficult to control them again, isn’t it?"

"You figured it all out." Shao Lin smiled. "I’m not afraid of you knowing. After all, once I use these abilities, you’ll figure them out anyway, won’t you?"

Xing Ye looked at Shao Lin and also let out a faint smile. "Do you think that just because Lin Si won against me in the last round, you’ve completely gained the upper hand?"

"I wouldn’t think that," Shao Lin replied. "You are the second-strongest opponent I’ve encountered. To deal with you, I have to stay cautious at all times. I can’t afford a single misstep."

"The second strongest?" Xing Ye raised an eyebrow slightly. "That doesn’t sound like much of a compliment to me."

Shao Lin said, "Being the second strongest is already the highest level of praise. To be honest, if it weren’t for your name making me take a second look at you, I wouldn’t even have given you the title of ‘second strongest.’"

"My name?" Xing Ye recalled that Shao Lin had previously asked whether his name was real, seeming quite fixated on it.

He tentatively said, "Xing Shuo?"

Shao Lin’s expression subtly changed. "So, you know about him too? Another one of his defeated opponents? Is that why you changed your name to something so similar to his? Is it admiration, or an attempt to surpass him? That’s impossible. He’s already on his way to clearing the final level. Before he completes the game, no one can defeat him."

Xing Ye’s emotions became complicated. In his mind, his younger brother, Xing Shuo, had always been someone he needed to protect. Even after entering the game world, he had believed that Xing Shuo was being targeted, and he had even considered using others to avenge him.

But after advancing to the higher-level world and learning more about Xing Shuo, he realized that his so-called protection was just his own imagination. Xing Shuo had never needed him to protect him.

Hearing what Shao Lin said, Xing Ye chuckled softly. "Then I’ll have to work hard. If even you can’t beat him, how do you expect to defeat me?"

With that, he chose baccarat.

Baccarat is a common casino game. The dealer gives each gambler two cards, and the sum of the two card values determines the winner, using only the final digit of the sum. The dealer draws from a deck of 52 cards, where J, Q, K, and 10 all count as zero. The player whose total is closest to 9 wins.

For example, if one player has an 8 and a 6, the sum is 8 + 6 = 14, and the last digit is 4. If the opponent has an Ace and a 5, their total is 6, meaning they win. If both cards are 10s, the total is 0, which is the lowest possible score.

In baccarat, one card remains face-down until the end, while the other is revealed.

At first glance, baccarat appears to be a game of pure luck, but in reality, psychological tactics also play a role.

For example, Shao Lin’s "Reversal of Fortune" ability could shift his opponent’s luck onto himself. This ability costed 100 points per hour, lasted up to three hours, and could only be used on one person every 24 hours.

So, Shao Lin had to initiate the second round of gambling when Xing Ye’s luck was at its lowest. Only by controlling the game could he successfully kill Xing Ye.

Logically, Xing Ye should have avoided choosing another luck-based game at this moment. Yet, he still chose one. Why?

There were two possibilities:
First, Xing Ye had a way to change his luck again.
Second, he intended to use the gamble to kill Shao Lin.

In the previous round, after Lin Si won 2,000 chips from Xing Ye, he pretended to bet 4,000 chips in the second round. At that moment, Xing Ye had already made up his mind to kill Lin Si.

At the time, Xing Ye had a total of 4,152 passenger chips. Losing 2,000 left him with only 2,152, with the rest being player chips.

Currently, all of Green Team’s player chips were in Xing Ye’s hands. While Shao Lin didn’t know the exact amount, based on the rule that a high-level world required a score of at least 50,000, and each person had 50 chips, there had to be at least 200 player chips. Adding those to the 2,152 passenger chips, Lin Si’s 4,000-chip bet essentially represented Green Team’s entire fortune. Such a massive stake was enough for Xing Ye to justify a kill.

The numbers Lin Si used in both rounds were meticulously planned by Shao Lin. The 2,000 chips in the first round were meant to take away some of Xing Ye’s chips. The 4,000 chips in the second round were designed to provoke Xing Ye into using his initial skill, "Love Money Like Life," with killing intent.

Since Xing Ye had no luck left while gambling against Lin Si, who had the following Fate ability, those 4,000 chips were guaranteed to be lost. Rather than simply losing them, he might as well take the opportunity to eliminate Lin Si. This way, all of Lin Si’s chips would turn into a bounty for the casino, giving Xing Ye a chance to reclaim them.

But unexpectedly, Lin Si suddenly changed his bet to just 4 chips.

The effect of Xing Ye’s "Love Money Like Life" skill increased with the amount of money lost—4,000 chips would have been enough to kill Lin Si outright, but 4 chips only caused superficial injuries. Although Lin Si ended up with a large scar on his face, the wound wasn’t life-threatening.

This was Shao Lin’s deduction about the previous gamble. He had believed that he had completely seen through Xing Ye. However, he failed to realize that everything had actually been a trap set by Xing Ye. All of his conclusions were just what Xing Ye had led him to believe.

Seeing Xing Ye choose baccarat, Shao Lin figured that Xing Ye believed he was planning to completely drain him this round. Since he was going to lose anyway, he might as well lose everything—and take the opportunity to eliminate a strong opponent like Shao Lin.

If Shao Lin died, the chips he had just won, along with his own, would turn into a bounty for the game.

‘And in our team,’ Shao Lin thought, ‘once I die, those three idiots—Ning Xinyao, Lu Qi, and Lin Si—will never be able to defeat Xing Ye. In the end, all these chips will return to his hands. What a ruthless and clever calculation.’

Shao Lin narrowed his eyes. He was sure he had figured out why Xing Ye had chosen baccarat.

‘But too bad for you,’ Shao Lin thought as he stared at Xing Ye. ‘Your plan is exactly the same as mine. I also intend to lose chips to you—so I can kill you. And once you win my chips and die, all the chips will turn into a bounty. Yan Hebi and Song Er, those two idiots, won’t stand a chance against me. As long as you die, Red Team’s victory is guaranteed.’

After thinking everything through, Shao Lin spoke. "Choosing a luck-based game at this moment? What are you thinking?"

"You think I have no way to counter your abilities?" Xing Ye replied calmly, his expression unchanged.

‘Bluffing. Deliberately trying to lose money to me using this trick, huh?’ Shao Lin thought mockingly.

However, outwardly, he put on a serious expression, biting down hard on a lollipop to make it seem like he was trying to use his "Sweet Talk" skill to survive.

Sure enough, he heard Xing Ye sneer, "Trying to use an initial skill to make me bet less? Heh, keep dreaming."

Shao Lin smirked internally. "Good. I was afraid you wouldn’t bet big. I was worried I wouldn’t lose enough chips to kill you in one go."

The dealer began dealing the cards.

Shao Lin’s first card, his hole card, was a 6. His second card, the face-up card, was a 10. The total was 6—not too high, not too low. It wasn’t particularly lucky, nor was it unlucky.

Xing Ye’s hole card was hidden, but his face-up card was a J, meaning his visible points were 0. On the surface, both of them had 0 points.

Shao Lin only had 6 points—this didn’t seem like the luck of a following Fate Player. If he truly had that ability, he should have gotten at least 8 points to ensure victory.

Still, 6 points wasn’t bad.

In baccarat, the person with the higher face-up card gets to speak first. Since both had the same face-up value, the one who chose the game—Xing Ye—was the one who had to bet first.

Shao Lin looked at Xing Ye’s exposed 0 points and smiled confidently. "Looks like your hand isn’t great. I’ve got this in the bag. I’ll bet 2,000 passenger chips and 200 player chips."

Red Team had over 5,000 passenger chips in total. Lin Si had taken 2,000, while Ning Xinyao and Lu Qi had split another 1,000. That left Shao Lin with only 2,000 passenger chips.

As for the 200 player chips, 100 belonged to Shao Lin himself, while the remaining 100 were pooled from Liu Yi, Lin Si, Lu Qi, and Ning Xinyao.

Losing that many player chips would be a huge loss for Red Team, but that was the nature of gambling—without risk, there was no victory. As long as Xing Ye died, regaining those chips would be as easy as taking candy from a baby.

But with only 6 points… Given Xing Ye’s luck, it would be difficult for him to lose.

Xing Ye matched the bet, placing 2,000 passenger chips and 200 player chips.

Shao Lin noticed Xing Ye’s fingers repeatedly rubbing against his hole card—a sign of nervousness. After all, with so many chips on the line, anyone would feel the pressure of losing.

Though nervous, Xing Ye’s gaze remained incredibly steady—he was certain that he would lose...

Realizing this, Shao Lin gently raised his hand and touched the Lucky Star pendant around his neck, activating the skill "Celestial Shift."

Neither "Reversal of Fortune" nor "Celestial Shift" were Shao Lin’s initial skills—they were abilities of his Fated Prop. His Fated Prop, the Lucky Star, no longer had a player’s consciousness, so Shao Lin could use it freely.

"Celestial Shift" was a spatial ability that allowed him to swap the positions of two objects—or even people—within a given space. Shao Lin didn’t know which card in the dealer’s hand was worth 0 points, but judging from Xing Ye’s expression, his hand was definitely weak.

So, he used his Celestial Shift to swap his 6-point hole card with Xing Ye’s.

The moment he got Xing Ye’s original card, he flipped it over—a King.

0 points.

Shao Lin: "…"

Even after using "Reversal of Fortune," Xing Ye’s luck was unbelievably bad. Both of his cards were 0 points—wasn’t this a guaranteed loss?

But precisely because of this, Xing Ye wouldn’t hesitate to activate "Love Money Like Life" to kill.

Seeing the two 0-point cards, Shao Lin felt reassured and said to the dealer, "Reveal the cards."

Both players flipped their hands simultaneously—Xing Ye’s hole card was the 6 that Shao Lin had swapped, while Shao Lin now had 0 points.

Feigning shock, Shao Lin gasped, "Oh my god! How could it be 0 points? How is this possible?!"

The entire Red Team saw Shao Lin lose, yet none of them panicked. Instead, they smiled.

Their world’s greatest enemy—Xing Ye—was finally going to die.

Ning Xinyao even glanced at Yan Hebi, recalling last night’s five minutes and thinking, "It was worth it."

Yan Hebi: "…"

2,000 passenger chips and 200 player chips were transferred to Xing Ye’s hands.

Shao Lin watched as Xing Ye’s face displayed shock, grief, despair, and disbelief.

Unable to keep up the act any longer, Shao Lin’s lips curled into a satisfied smile.

He remembered—when Lin Si won his chips, the wound on his face appeared only after the chips were fully transferred.

That meant Xing Ye’s death was imminent.

Any moment now…

Any moment now…

But then, Xing Ye calmly placed all the chips into a box, lifted it up, and stood there—completely unscathed.

Shao Lin’s smile froze.

Xing Ye stood up and looked at him. "Do you know the saying, ‘to be too clever for your own good?"

"I can’t believe someone would actually swap cards to help their opponent win. Thanks for the chips."

 

Translator : DarNan