It must be said that the two fat men had much better mental fortitude than the man and the young man. Although they were still pale when they took turns firing, they were not as weak as the man and the young man who were almost paralyzed.
The first four shots were blanks. It wasn't until the revolver had only two bullets left that the fat brothers' expressions changed drastically. The older brother seemed to be stronger than the younger brother. Although he was also trembling, he could at least manage to fire the fifth shot. When he finally confirmed that the fifth shot was out of bullets, his once tall and fat body slid off the small chair like a noodle and sat down on the ground, wiping the sweat from his forehead with his fat hands.
In just a few minutes, he felt as if he had run 20 kilometers of cross-country with a 50-kilogram load. He was drenched in sweat, and the joy of escaping left him nearly exhausted, panting heavily and rolling his eyes. It seemed that he hadn't died from roulette, but was almost dying from asthma.
The chubby younger brother held the revolver to his forehead, his expression unreadable, neither laughing nor crying. He had missed the first five shots, and this was the sixth. The probability of a headshot was now 100%. His nerves were breaking down, and he just mumbled something unintelligible with vacant eyes. Then he closed his eyes and pulled the trigger hard.
As his obese body slumped to the ground, the older brother, a man of immense weight, immediately displayed an expression of utter despair. He scrambled to his feet, his body limp, and threw himself upon his brother, bursting into tears. His sobs were genuine and unmistakable. Ling Yun was utterly dumbfounded. If the brothers were so close, why did they play roulette? They could have easily separated and played with others. Why did these two insist on playing by themselves, only stopping when one of them died and began wailing? Were these gamblers?
Ling Yun suddenly felt that he could hardly understand the mentality of gamblers. Whether you call them gamblers or whatever, their gambling instincts had distorted their humanity, resulting in abnormal thinking and behavior. To Ling Yun, these gamblers were all crazy, and yet he insisted on gambling his life with these madmen.
Looking around, the roulette tables in the eighth gambling area were already full of people. Each table had the same style of revolver on it. If someone was shot in the head and died, staff would immediately carry the body out and reload the revolver.
After a round of roulette, most winners will take a short break. Although roulette is a short game, the mental stimulation is immense. Not everyone has the courage to shoot a revolver that could fire at any moment. Even if they win, some nervous gamblers may experience a mental breakdown after a short rest. Of course, these gamblers are always asked to leave by the staff, and no one knows where they go.
However, Ling Yun also noticed that a very small number of gamblers with strong nerves did not show the same fear as the man or the fat man. Their eyes even gleamed with excitement. Once they sat down at the round table, they would urge the other person to start, or even eagerly pick up a revolver and shoot themselves. Once they won, they would immediately sit at other round tables and wait for the second round of gambling to begin. The more bloody the scene, the more excited they seemed to be.
These people were no longer just gamblers; they possessed a bloodthirsty nature that reminded Ling Yun of vampires. Ling Yun was also surprised to find that almost every bloodthirsty gambler survived the roulette game. Only one bloodthirsty gambler unfortunately died in the first round of shooting, his opponent being a level three VIP.
The muffled gunshots rang out intermittently, accompanied by screams and shrieks. Staff members rushed around, unable to keep up with the pace of the dead. Meanwhile, the digitally synthesized female characters were continuously being scanned. Large numbers of gamblers flocked to the casino, filling the void left by the dead gamblers.
Ling Yun moved to the roulette table again. This time, the two gamblers were two boys of similar age. Their childish faces were filled with an unnatural excitement, as if they had been injected with chicken blood. The two were aiming their revolvers at each other and pretending to shoot.
After playing for a while, the two boys suddenly suggested changing the way they played roulette. Instead of the two gamblers shooting each other in the forehead, they took turns shooting each other in the forehead with a pistol. Although there was no essential difference, it gave the shooter a cruel sadistic feeling, pushing the bloodlust and excitement of roulette to a new extreme.
Two shots missed, increasing the chance of being hit to one in four. The two boys' excitement began to wane, replaced by growing fear. One boy shifted uncomfortably, clearly not wanting to participate in such a terrifying game or die. However, once gambling begins, it cannot be stopped. If someone withdraws midway, the staff has the right to kill them. Although Ling Yun changed the rule against forcing gamblers to risk their lives, this last rule remained unchanged.
One of the boys held a revolver to the head of another boy, and he seemed hesitant. If he fired, this would be the third shot. If this shot missed, the probability of hitting with the remaining three shots would be over 33%. Then, in the next round, it would be the other boy's turn to shoot, increasing his chances of being headshot by over 8%. This seemed like a bad move. Moreover, if the third and fourth shots also missed, he and the other boy would only have a 50% chance of survival. The other boy would still have a 50% chance of escaping, while the final shot would guarantee his death.
No matter how you calculate it, the boy has a lower chance of escaping than his opponent. Of course, the boy didn't consider that he fired the first shot. His opponent had already taken a one-sixth chance of being headshot, and the rest was just a probabilistic cost after taking that risk.
A fierce glint suddenly appeared on his face. Since his chances of survival were lower than his opponent's, he might as well find a way to send him straight to hell. The boy hardened his heart and suddenly pulled the trigger repeatedly. Two shots rang out, the third and fourth were blanks, and the fifth shot finally fired with a loud bang, turning the opponent's astonished eyes into a bloody red.
After killing his companion, a look of bewilderment appeared on the boy's originally innocent and handsome face. He looked at the revolver he was holding, which was still emitting blue smoke, and then at his companion's unseeing eyes. Suddenly, he shouted, threw down the revolver, and ran away.
A barrage of gunfire immediately rang out. At least eight staff members fired at him simultaneously, sending his frail body flying through the air. He collapsed to the ground covered in blood before he could even scream.
Casinos enforce extremely strict rules against those who dare to break them, and no one can argue with that. Furthermore, gamblers themselves are very protective of the rules, especially in a life-or-death situation. If the fairness of the gambling rules cannot be guaranteed, it would undoubtedly be the greatest injustice to everyone.
Ling Yun silently stepped aside again and watched three pairs of roulette players play. He had a clear idea in his mind that it was time for him to take the stage.
Ling Yun felt no regret for the boy who was eventually shot to death. If the rules could be broken simply because the other party was a child, then the fairness of others could not be guaranteed. Moreover, the boy's ferocity left a deep impression on Ling Yun. This meant that in life-or-death situations, anyone could break the rules. Therefore, it was necessary to establish rules with certain cruel methods, even the most inhumane ones, in order to have a deterrent effect. Otherwise, tragedies like the boy's would continue to occur.
Ling Yun chose to sit down at an empty round table. He was not used to provoking or taking the initiative, so he did not look for a seat where he could sit alone.
The other gamblers looked at him with strange eyes. They didn't know where this boy came from. He had changed the rules of the entire casino as a low-level gambler as soon as he appeared. Perhaps he must have very good gambling skills, but he just hadn't shown them yet. Most of the gamblers secretly guessed in their hearts, so for the time being, no one dared to provoke Ling Yun.
Although roulette seems to be all about probability and luck, a strange phenomenon has changed people's perception: some people always win at roulette, and without exception, these people become VIPs. Although statistically speaking, they should have died long ago, for some reason, they just don't die.
Ling Yun sat quietly, his expression indifferent, seemingly unconcerned about everything around him. Although the empty seats around him were all occupied, no one sat down in front of him. Ling Yun wasn't in a hurry either. As a gambler, he would eventually find an opponent; he just needed to wait patiently.
"May I sit here, sir?" A deep, gentle voice sounded beside Ling Yun.
Chapter 351 Deadly Rules
Ling Yun looked up and saw that the voice belonged to a middle-aged man in a black suit, around thirty years old. He had a refined appearance and a dignified expression. His face and skin were fair and smooth, without a single wrinkle, clearly indicating excellent skincare. His eyes weren't large, but they were bright and piercing. Looking at him, one couldn't help but be drawn in by his voice and tone. Overall, this middle-aged man possessed a lot of masculine charm and didn't seem like a gambler, but rather a cultured businessman.
“Of course, please sit down, sir.” Ling Yun nodded and said. The moment the middle-aged man sat down, his eyes suddenly narrowed. He clearly saw the small plastic badge pinned to the chest of the middle-aged man’s suit. The badge had three English letters printed in Song typeface: VIP, followed by the Arabic numeral 5.
Level 5 VIP? Ling Yun thought to himself that he was quite lucky to have encountered a VIP gambler as soon as he entered the casino.
He had just observed the gambling area and found that VIPs rarely challenge lower-level gamblers, as it was pointless. After entering VIP status, leveling up could only be achieved by challenging VIPs of the same or higher level. Therefore, even if you beat an ordinary gambler, you wouldn't level up. In fact, you might accidentally lose. There have been instances where VIPs, on a whim, challenged lower-level gamblers, only to die in an accident after several such encounters.
VIPs face challenges from opponents of the same or higher level. Although Lingyun has abolished the basic rule that lower-level gamblers must accept a VIP challenge, for VIPs, face is more important than anything else. If they dare not accept a challenge, no matter how high-level the VIP is, every gambler will look down on them. For gamblers, face is more important than life.
Of course, high-level VIPs disdain challenging low-level VIPs, including non-VIP gamblers, just as adults rarely bully children. Moreover, the highest-level VIPs rarely compete with each other. Reaching this level is extremely difficult, achieved through repeated near-death experiences. There is no need for them to risk their lives for unnecessary competition. Therefore, most of the casual gamblers Lingyun had seen in the casino were high-level VIPs.
Another task for high-level VIPs is to observe gamblers who level up too quickly or have great potential, because such gamblers are likely to become strong opponents in the future, so they must be nipped in the bud. However, it is very rare for a middle-aged VIP like this one to directly gamble against a low-level gambler who has never gambled before.
"Thank you. It is a great honor to gamble my life with you. It is truly my honor." The middle-aged man bowed politely, pulled out the back of his chair, and sat down gently, like a nobleman who understood classical etiquette.
"I wouldn't dare. You are a VIP gambler, my senior. It should be my honor." Ling Yun bowed slightly and said calmly. Although the middle-aged man was very refined and polite, Ling Yun didn't have a good impression of him. For a VIP to gamble his life against a novice gambler, no matter how polite he was, would feel like bullying the weak.
"Sir, I've observed you. You don't seem to be very good at gambling, nor do you seem like a real gambler. Why do you still participate in gambling?" The middle-aged man seemed completely oblivious to the fact that he was bullying the younger man, and he didn't seem to notice the faint sarcasm in Ling Yun's words. His expression remained unchanged, and he smiled politely as he asked softly.
“I wanted to test my abilities, so I came to gamble,” Ling Yun said.
"Oh? But the way gambling in this casino is all about risking your life. Since you're not good at gambling, aren't you afraid of losing your life? Judging from the way you changed the casino rules, you care a lot about your life. If you lose your life, how will you prove your ability? What kind of ability are you referring to?" The middle-aged man said with a smile, seemingly very interested in Ling Yun's talk of proving his ability.
Ling Yun snorted, "Sir, don't you think you're talking too much nonsense? If you're going to bet, let's hurry up. Why are you asking these questions?"
"I'm so sorry, sir, but I have a habit before I gamble: I always want to chat with my opponents to find out what they were thinking before they died." The middle-aged man gave an embarrassed smile, but his words carried a sharp edge. "So, sir, I'd also like to know what you were thinking before you died?"
His face showed a very sincere expression: "Please satisfy my little curiosity, I am really very interested in you."
Ling Yun gave him a deep look: "Sir, I have no interest in talking to someone who is about to die, because it's pointless."
"Oh...hahaha," the middle-aged man was taken aback, then burst into laughter. "Sir, you are quite an interesting person. I didn't expect you to be so confident. But I am a VIP, and you are just a novice who doesn't even know the rules of gambling. What makes you think I will lose?"
Ling Yun also revealed a faint smile: "For no reason other than that you will die if you gamble against me. You want to know what ability I need to verify? I'll tell you now, what I'm verifying is the ability that will make you die if you gamble against me."
The middle-aged man's smile froze on his face. Ling Yun's tone, though calm, was filled with an undeniable confidence, as if the ending was already predetermined, and all that was needed was the process of revealing it. He stared at Ling Yun's ordinary face and unfathomable eyes, trying to discern the source of the other's confidence. However, to the middle-aged man's disappointment, Ling Yun's behavior was too normal, so normal that he couldn't find any flaws. Although he knew there were definitely things that were abnormal about the other man, he just couldn't see them.
“Sir, you are very confident, which already possesses the basic qualities of a VIP or even a high-level VIP,” the middle-aged man said, emphasizing each word. “However, I am also very confident, and my gambling skills are superior to yours. My chances of winning are much higher, that’s a fact, isn’t it?” As he spoke, the middle-aged man couldn’t help but turn his head to look at the other gamblers watching the two of them play.
At some point, a large crowd had gathered around their game, seemingly very interested in Ling Yun and the middle-aged man. The number of onlookers even exceeded half the number of gamblers in the gambling area, so much so that the staff had to remove the nearby roulette tables to make room for the crowd. Inadvertently, Ling Yun and the middle-aged man's roulette game had become one of the biggest focal points of the entire casino.
Hearing the middle-aged man's words, many gamblers nodded in agreement. What the middle-aged man said was true. Although roulette seemed to be about luck and probability, the invisible gambling skills could greatly increase the winning probability for VIPs. This seemed mysterious and incomprehensible, but any real gambler who frequently participated in gambling understood the reason, even though no one could explain it.