Chapter 73 : The Slacker Makes Money (1)

Chapter 73: The Slacker Makes Money (1)

Silver taels.

Money made of silver.

Unlike gold taels, it wasn’t too difficult to get your hands on them at least once, so long as you worked diligently.

That’s why no one was usually surprised to see silver taels.

Usually.

But right now, Kang Cheonrip was very much surprised by the sight of them.

In front of Wi Yeonho, a tower of silver taels taller than his own head was steadily rising.

"Isn’t that... going a bit too far?"

Of course, when working over a sucker, it was common sense to let them win some money first. To take a lot, you had to let them win a lot.

But even so, wasn’t that a bit too much?

At that height, those silver taels must be worth several gold taels.

Kang Cheonrip, who had lived his whole life in gambling dens, couldn’t even make the mental calculation right away. All he could do was blink blankly at the terrifying pile of silver taels before Wi Yeonho.

"Manor Lord, the salt has all been scattered!"

When Janggu came running toward him, Kang Cheonrip asked in a trembling voice.

"Janggu."

"Yes, Manor Lord."

"The way this is going, you might as well be the Manor Lord instead of me."

"Sir?"

Kang Cheonrip scowled without replying.

That bastard... how many times had he told him to change his name already? Why hadn't he?

"Hey, isn’t that way too much winning? That alone looks like it’s worth at least three gold taels."

"What? I didn’t give any order to work him over, though?"

"What?"

Kang Cheonrip’s eyes began to tremble.

"Didn’t you tell me to scatter the salt first? I figured if we started the job before the salt was down, we’d attract bad luck, so I didn’t say anything."

"Bad luck?"

"Yes. That’s what you said, so…"

Kang Cheonrip let out a hollow laugh.

"Right, you're not wrong. If you start the job before the salt’s been scattered, of course, you’d attract bad luck."

"Sir?"

"…You don’t see that?"

Janggu tilted his head, then looked to where Kang Cheonrip pointed—and his jaw dropped.

"G-Good heavens."

Kang Cheonrip let out a dry laugh, then clenched his teeth and mumbled through them.

"Go… call Dokbi! Now!"

"Yes, Manor Lord!"

Janggu dashed off in a hurry, and without even glancing back at him, Kang Cheonrip glared daggers at the back of Wi Yeonho’s head.

"How dare he take Gold Flower Pavilion lightly…"

If Wi Yeonho had heard that, he would’ve felt extremely wronged.

"My ear itches."

Wi Yeonho scratched his ear with a finger, then blew on it with a puff.

"I am sleepy too."

This chair was extremely comfortable.

So much so, he wished he could buy it with the silver taels in front of him.

Comfort was always a good thing.

Especially for someone like Wi Yeonho, for whom comfort was practically the meaning of life.

Unfortunately, the problem was that the chair was a bit too comfortable.

If something was too comfortable, it naturally made you sleepy. Wi Yeonho forced his drooping eyelids back open.

"Yaaawn!"

Letting out a loud yawn to chase away the drowsiness, Wi Yeonho lazily stared at the vessel shaking violently before his eyes.

The vessel in Dosu’s hand swirled through the air before finally settling on the table.

Thud!

With a sound that was just a little too sharp, Dosu kept his hand on the vessel and slowly raised his head.

"Your call!"

At some point, a crowd of gamblers had formed behind Wi Yeonho.

Sensing things were going beyond the norm, the gambling house had restricted further participation, but that only drew more onlookers eager to witness the arrival of a true expert.

"Hmm…"

"…The bet?"

"Everything."

Gasps burst out from all around.

"Wow!"

"Unbelievable."

"He's going all in again!"

Those watching from behind shouted in awe.

And it made sense—because the silk-clad boy before them had been going all in from the very beginning. He had started with just one silver tael, but the stakes had snowballed, and now nearly five hundred silver taels were piled in front of him.

"How much if he wins this time?"

"A thousand taels!"

"A thousand taels! Good god! That’s like ten gold taels!"

"That's a massive pot."

"This might be the biggest game I’ve ever seen here."

Sweat started to trickle down Dosu’s forehead.

‘What the hell is this guy?’

Yin-Yang was not the kind of game where one could influence the outcome through hidden tricks. If it were dice or something, technique might play a role, but Yin-Yang used tiny metal beads, and unless you had memorized the exact contents inside, manipulation was nearly impossible.

That’s why it was easy to win, but just as easy to lose.

The more rounds you played, the more your odds of losing multiplied. Those who won quickly tended to jump into the next round, only to eventually lose everything they’d earned—and more.

‘Nine rounds in a row.’

And yet, this silk-clad young man had been winning continuously for nine straight rounds, as if possessed.

If it had been any other game, Dosu might have suspected cheating, but not with Yin-Yang. That simply wasn’t possible.

‘It won’t happen again.’

Dosu’s back was already drenched in sweat. If he lost again, it would mean a fortune—equivalent to ten gold taels—vanishing in less than thirty minutes.

Dosu tried to calm himself and slowly lifted the vessel.

‘Let it be Yang!’

That bastard had bet everything on Yin. If Yang came up now, he could recover all the losses in an instant. So please...

‘Yang! Let it be Yang! Yang!’

Dosu gripped the vessel tightly and lifted it with force. At the same time, his eyes darted downward and began counting the metal beads.

‘One, two, three, four...’

But Wi Yeonho’s mouth was faster than his eyes.

“Hmm, twenty-four. Yin.”

A brief silence fell over the room.

Everyone had started counting the beads to confirm whether Wi Yeonho was right.

“Tw-Twenty-four, he's right!”

“It’s Yin! It’s Yin!”

“A thousand taels!”

“Uwaaaaahhh!”

Cheers exploded throughout the hall. Normally, people would be envious when someone else made a fortune. But in a gambling den, when a huge game unfolded, the gamblers simply enjoyed the gamble itself.

The emptiness would come later. For now, they shouted and celebrated as if the pot had become their own.

“A thousand taels!”

“He’s a gambling god! A true gambling god has appeared!”

“Ahaha! Never thought I’d get to witness a match like this!”

The entire Golden Flower Manor roared as if it might burst apart.

“Uwaaaahhh! Young Master! You won! You really won!”

Even Jin Soa had lost himself in the moment and began jumping around like mad.

Wi Yeonho watched the commotion and smiled faintly.

‘How dare they try something like this in front of me?’

Back in the days when he didn’t even know martial arts, Wi Yeonho had been able to distinguish who was approaching just by the sound of their footsteps. When it came to hearing, he had reached a level close to perfection.

That perfect hearing had bloomed to its peak under the torment of Baek Muhan.

Wi Yeonho had been forced awake by the barely-audible sound of those child-sized stone fists cutting through the air—sounds that shouldn’t be heard and shouldn't exist—just so he could roll out of the way and survive.

At first, Baek Muhan’s beatings were in the realm of “it hurts so much I might die.” But as Wi Yeonho’s martial arts improved, the beatings escalated to “even a graze might kill me.”

What was it he said?

At first it was, “You need to build up your endurance,” then it became, “You’ll die if you get stabbed anyway, so the best thing is not to get hit.” Eventually, he claimed, “If you can improve your evasion to the point that you only get half-killed, that’s a gain.” Completely insane logic.

And because, according to Baek Muhan, “Blades in the martial world don’t wait for day or night,” he would strike Wi Yeonho with those stone fists anytime, anywhere—smashing, pounding, and pummeling him even while he was asleep.

Thanks to that, Wi Yeonho became certain that humans had a sixth sense, and that as Baek Muhan had said, it was indeed possible to hear the sound of air being disturbed.

‘I never wanted to know that!’

Still, Baek Muhan’s belief that everything learned eventually proves useful wasn’t wrong. The super-senses he taught Wi Yeonho to develop fine swordsmanship and evasive maneuvers were now being put to excellent use in a completely different context.

What others couldn’t see inside the vessel, Wi Yeonho could practically feel as if he were looking directly into it.

He didn’t just guess whether the number of beads was odd or even—he could sense exactly how many were in there.

So how could he lose?

‘Making money like this is the best.’

Wi Yeonho began to wonder if he actually had a talent for gambling.

Since emerging from the cave, he had won in nearly every kind of contest with about a 90% win rate.

Of course, had Baek Muhan heard that, he would’ve spouted something predictable like, “In the martial world, even if you win ninety-nine times, one loss will cost you your head.”

Wi Yeonho leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes.

Apparently, this kind of work drained his mental energy, as he was starting to feel exhausted.

Come to think of it, today had been much more laborious than usual. Even just washing up upon waking had been a struggle—and to top it off, he had spent money to buy clothes!

Not to mention the long walk to this place. He had really suffered.

‘I should get some rest soon…’

He’d already made half of his target amount, so maybe it was time to wrap things up for the day?

‘Just one more round.’

If he won one more game here, he’d reach his goal. Doubling the pot was always a good thing. Besides, Wi Yeonho was thoroughly enjoying this unbeatable game with its ever-growing stakes.

And on top of that, he didn’t even have to lift a finger—just sit back and gamble.

Just as Wi Yeonho resolved to play one last round before standing up, the mood in the gambling den began to shift.

“It’s Kang Cheonrip!”

“That’s the Manor Lord of Golden Flower Manor!”

“Hmm?”

Wi Yeonho began to debate what to do as he heard murmurs from behind.

‘Should I turn my head?’

There was a commotion behind him, so it would’ve been proper to check. But honestly, it was too much trouble.

If someone needed to talk to him, they’d come forward anyway. If not, it had nothing to do with him, so he could just ignore it.

And as expected, Wi Yeonho’s guess was spot on.

A middle-aged man dressed in luxurious silk appeared before him and lowered his head with a clasped-hands salute.

“It is an honor to have you here. I failed to recognize such a distinguished guest.”

“I’m not really anything like that.”

“Hahaha, in a gambling den, anyone who gives us such a thrilling spectacle is a true honored guest.”

“Is that so? I didn’t find it all that exciting.”

Twitch.

Kang Cheonrip’s facial muscles twisted uncontrollably.

‘He won a thousand silver taels just sitting there, and he says it wasn’t exciting?’

This was nothing short of an insult to Golden Flower Manor.

At this point, the idea of fleecing this sucker had completely vanished from Kang Cheonrip’s mind.

“Someone of your status deserves a game of matching stature. How about it? Would you care to play a bigger game?”

“A bigger game?”

Wi Yeonho perked up and asked. Kang Cheonrip couldn’t help but break into a wide smile.

“Haha, yes! Not some small-time gamble, but a proper game! I guarantee it’ll be many times more exhilarating.”

Wi Yeonho looked up at Kang Cheonrip’s face, slightly intrigued, then replied.

“No thanks.”

Kang Cheonrip’s legs nearly gave out.

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