Who gave you the illusion that fate is fair?

On the morning of the seventh day, sure enough, Lu Qi was also eliminated.

There was no one left in the Red Team. As long as Shao Lin used a Duel Card on him, he wouldn’t be able to refuse. And when facing Shao Lin—whether it was psychological warfare, a battle of wits, or a battle of luck—he stood no chance.

By the morning of the seventh day, when chips were cleared, both the Red and Green Teams had accumulated terrifying amounts of chips.

Day 6 Settlement of the luxury Gamble Cruise:

Red Team: Players Dong San, Ning Xinyao, Lin Si, and Lu Qi were eliminated. One player remains, with a total gain of 12,080 passenger chips and a loss of 180 player chips.

Green Team: Players Liu Yi and Mu Ba were eliminated. Three players remain, with a total gain of 9,063 passenger chips and a gain of 163 player chips.

From the numbers alone, the Red Team had the advantage. Shao Lin had been working hard these past few days to earn passenger chips.

If he were to convert all those chips into points—1,000 points = 10 passenger chips—that would amount to 12.08 million points, an amount tempting even for Xing Ye. Precisely because of this, Xing Ye was more convinced than ever that players were not allowed to take those points out of the game.

On the morning of the seventh day, Shao Lin approached Xing Ye, holding a Duel Card.

Xing Ye said calmly, “You’re here to challenge me to a duel? If you’re the one initiating it, then I get to choose the game. Do you really think you can win against me?”

“Of course not,” Shao Lin replied. “I’m here to propose a cooperation.”

“What?” exclaimed Yan Hebi, stunned. He couldn’t understand it—given how tense things were between the Red and Green Teams, how could Shao Lin have the nerve to suggest working together?

Shao Lin smiled. “There are no eternal friends, nor eternal enemies. When the target of hostility changes, our choices change too.”

“So, you really do know something,” Xing Ye said as he found a quiet corner in the restaurant, sitting down with Shao Lin, Yan Hebi, and Song Er.

Upon hearing Xing Ye’s words, Shao Lin raised an eyebrow. “So you figured it out too. Of course—you would.”

Yan Hebi had been following Xing Ye these past few days and felt confident in his deductions. Among the four, only Song Er seemed completely out of the loop, looking around in confusion.

Shao Lin said, “If I were the system, I would never allow a single player to acquire this many points. Outside of this world, most points are tradeable. This amount is enough to drive any player insane.”

Xing Ye added, “The game wouldn’t have the funds to redeem this many points either.”

Shao Lin: “Exactly. That’s why I’ve spent the past few days gambling in the casino, earning passenger chips. I want to see what method the game uses to take them back.”

Xing Ye: “Today is the final day—there will definitely be some special rules introduced.”

Shao Lin: “This time, our opponent isn’t the players—it’s the casino. All the cheating methods we used before may not work. But the casino? If they cheat, we won’t even be able to tell.”

Xing Ye: “They’re going to wipe out all the chips we’ve accumulated.”

Shao Lin: “Just like the casino said—no punishment whether the Red or Green Team loses. But in truth, if the games are unfair, what we stand to lose in the casino is far more than what we’d lose in any other advanced world.”

Xing Ye: “And we’ll likely go into debt to the casino.”

Shao Lin: “Exactly. During the game, to keep the gamble going, they’ll surely find a way to get us to borrow chips—with no collateral.”

Xing Ye: “And once we’re in debt, neither team will be able to leave.”

Song Er: “…”

Yan Hebi: “…”

Song Er said blankly, “Did you two rehearse your lines together last night?”

Shao Lin laughed and said, “We’re just confirming our theories. Anyone observant can see something’s wrong with this world—naturally, we’d come to the same conclusions.”

Which was, indirectly, calling Song Er blind.

Shao Lin analyzed, “I suspect that this final gamble has strict rules. If the Red and Green Teams had been fighting each other from the very start—brutally gambling until one team completely eliminated the other—then this final gamble may not have existed. That’s what I wanted to do all along, but you stopped me. Still, now that we’re thinking the same way—how about we cooperate? Partnering with me is better than working with the dummies on your team.”

Xing Ye smiled slightly. “You’re really smart. But unfortunately, I decline.”

Shao Lin’s smile froze. “Why? You understand everything logically. You should know that now isn’t the time to be prideful—otherwise, none of us will be able to return to the real world.”

“That’s true,” Xing Ye said. “But I don’t trust you. So I won’t work with you.”

With that, he walked off with Yan Hebi and Song Er, leaving Shao Lin alone in the restaurant.

Song Er thought for a moment and suggested, “Boss, if our opponent really is the casino, then it does make sense to cooperate with Shao Lin. His ability is quite useful.”

Xing Ye replied to Song Er, “After losing to me, Shao Lin almost completely broke off with the other three members of the Red Team. But later on, who knows what he said to them—their relationship somehow improved again. As for what happens when you cooperate with Shao Lin, you’ve already seen the result.”

There was only Shao Lin left in the Red Team… Song Er fell silent.

Xing Ye said, “Sometimes, you can’t make decisions just based on someone’s persuasive words—you have to look at the outcome.”

Seeking skin from a tiger was something Xing Ye would never do. (NT: Chinese idiom meaning doing something foolish or self-destructive—like expecting mercy or cooperation from someone inherently dangerous)

After the three of them finished eating and returned to their rooms, they simultaneously received an invitation card. It read:

“Dear Player, Our casino cordially invites you to participate in the final day’s gamble aboard the cruise. The winner will receive a large number of chips. The match begins at 12:00 noon—please join us enthusiastically.

Note: Players who have completed three games today may choose not to participate. Players who haven’t will be forced to participate.”

“So that’s how it is,” Xing Ye said, holding the card. “In that case, Yan Hebi and Song Er don’t have to take part.”

In the mirror, Lu Mingze poked his head out and said, “Actually, this casino is still kind of humane. The final round is optional. As long as Red and Green Team players don’t compete against each other and instead battle within their own teams, playing three rounds a day, this situation wouldn’t arise. Everyone could just happily grind the casino for points—how nice.”

Xing Ye replied, “That will never happen. First of all, the Red and Green Teams are direct competitors. In order to win, there will inevitably be duels. Once there’s a win or a loss, the gamble continues.

“Everyone knows the saying ‘nine out of ten gamblers lose,’ so why are there still so many people who gamble their lives away and can’t stop? Because greed is human nature. Restraint sounds easy, but it’s extremely hard.

“Besides, I believe that even if there weren’t players like Shao Lin who take the initiative to attack, the system would still send dealers or croupiers to provoke us. Expecting ten complete strangers to trust each other—to say, ‘I’ll lose to you now, and then you lose back to me later’—that’s just too difficult.”

“Fair point,” Lu Mingze nodded. “Maybe even if players do what I described, the system will still make a rule saying that even those who’ve played three rounds must participate in this final game. In the end, everyone would have to take part.”

Xing Ye said, “That’s exactly why I deliberately didn’t complete three matches on certain days—to prevent that kind of situation from happening.”

Xing Ye wasn’t actually some kind of prophet. He simply prepared for all possible outcomes and chose to challenge one of the rules.

After receiving the invitation cards, Song Er and Yan Hebi came to find Xing Ye and asked whether they should participate.

Xing Ye said, “You’ve both played your three rounds each day. Whether or not to join is up to you. The final gamble starts in two hours. I’ll return your points and chips to you now, so you can stay out of it. Of course, if you prefer, you can leave your chips with me. If I win, I’ll double the amount and give them back.”

Song Er thought about it and said, “I’ll take back my chips.”

“Sure,” Xing Ye replied.

Yan Hebi said, “I’ll pass. I’ll leave them with you, Boss. My points and QR-code-exchanged chips aren’t worth much, but in a big gamble like this, more chips is better. I trust you.”

Xing Ye returned the chips to Song Er through a gambling match, even deliberately losing 300 passenger chips to him. This way, as long as nothing unexpected happened, Song Er would still walk away with a decent gain from this world.

At exactly 12:00, Xing Ye entered the casino and encountered Shao Lin.

Shao Lin frowned and asked, “You have so many teammates—none of you completed three rounds? Or were you careless during the first few days on the cruise?”

With his last teammate Lu Qi eliminated that morning, Shao Lin was unable to complete three matches on Day 7 and had no choice but to participate.

Xing Ye didn’t explain. He simply smiled and said, “This gamble is probably the final showdown. Good luck.”

Shao Lin wanted to ask Xing Ye if he would consider cooperating, but seeing that Xing Ye had no intention of doing so, he gave up.

When the clock struck 12, a dealer wearing a black-and-white mask appeared in the center of the crowd and said: “Hello everyone, I’m the dealer for today’s final gamble. This time, the duel is between me and the remaining players of the Red and Green Teams—a three-way match. Though the number of participants is unexpectedly small, it’s fine. Both players are highly skilled, and I’m sure they’ll put on a spectacular show for our audience.”

The dealer looked at Xing Ye and Shao Lin and continued: “Players, this match uses high-stakes rules. You will exchange your chips for special chips.
1 special chip = 10,000 passenger chips. The minimum bet is 2 special chips per round.

Would you like to exchange your chips now?”

Xing Ye and Shao Lin had already expected this to be an extremely dangerous high-stakes gamble. After all, this was a virtual world created by the system—money here had no real value. If real-world money were actually used to buy chips, even Xing Ye couldn’t afford to gamble here.

Shao Lin said, “I don’t have that many chips. And don’t you think this is a little unfair?”

The dealer smiled and said: “Player, you’re already in a ‘Challenging Fate’ game. Who gave you the illusion that fate is fair? The rules are set by the casino. Do you think the casino would willingly lose that many chips?”

Xing Ye remained calm and asked, “We don’t have enough chips. What should we do?”

The dealer responded: “We can lend you chips. No collateral needed—but the interest is extremely high: it doubles every hour. That means, even if you win, you might not be able to repay your debt.”

Shao Lin asked, “What if we choose not to play?”

“Then of course all your assets will be confiscated, and you’ll be asked to leave the ship,” the dealer replied. “What we want is a thrilling, high-stakes gamble that keeps players on edge at every moment. A gamble without any risk or loss—what’s the fun in that?”

 

Translator : DarNan