Volume One: Awakening of the Dragon Soul Chapter 46: The Red Card and the Black Card

Mo Xing gazed at the cards on the table and forced a bitter smile.
“I think you’re mistaken. I’m really not some ‘Gambling Immortal.’”
“I don’t care about any of that. I just want to challenge you to a game,” said the fat man, Gulaga Slyuxiang.
“Buddy,” the skinny man, Marcus Yemeng, chimed in, “at least gamble a couple rounds in a casino, right? Otherwise, you’re just a tourist.”
Mo Xing hesitated for a moment, then smiled.
“What shall we bet? How do we play?”
“The usual—Red and Black, the mainstream rules.” The fat man stretched out his hand. “Five hundred gold coins per round.”
“What? Five hundred gold coins?” Mo Xing frowned, internally cursing. Betting so much on a single round?
“Ah, I’ve played so many ordinary games that I habitually call out five hundred gold coins,” Gulaga said, covering his forehead. “That clearly doesn’t fit your status. Let’s play a double round! Three thousand gold coins per game!”
Three thousand gold coins?
Is he serious?
He calls this a double round? It’s more like a super double!
“Alright, three thousand gold coins.” Mo Xing gritted his teeth, “Just one round.”
He’d just received a scholarship of ten thousand gold coins, and now was about to spend thirty percent of it in the blink of an eye.
“Good, one round it is.” The fat man pressed a green button beside him, and two mechanical arms emerged from the table, shuffling all the cards.
“Quite advanced,” Mo Xing thought. Of course, he couldn’t say that aloud. Otherwise, he’d be exposed—a so-called ‘Gambling Immortal’ who’s never seen a dealer shuffle and deal?
Apologies, but he really hadn’t.
He was no ‘Gambling Immortal.’
He was a student!
But there was nothing he could do. If they believed he was a ‘Gambling Immortal,’ he had to play along. Still, the thought of losing three thousand gold coins so quickly made his heart ache.
“Shuffling complete—”
A gentle female voice suddenly sounded from beneath the table, reminiscent of those online dealer ads.
Mo Xing couldn’t help but chuckle.
“What are you laughing at?” Gulaga asked, puzzled.
“I… just remembered something happy. It’s been a long time since I played cards.” Mo Xing forced a smile, nearly giving himself away.
“Let’s begin. You draw first.” The fat man pointed to the five piles of shuffled cards.
“We’re playing the mainstream rules, right?” Mo Xing asked, clueless about how cards were played in this world.
“Yes, sir. The current game is Red and Black, mainstream rules, with a wager of three thousand gold coins,” came the system’s voice from beneath the table. “Table number 26 at Uncle Mouse’s Underground Casino is at your service.”
Artificial intelligence in another world?
With built-in explanations?
Interesting!
“Ahem, lately I’ve played too many different card games and forgotten how the mainstream rules work,” Mo Xing feigned a cough and looked troubled.
“Buddy, are you kidding? How can you forget such a popular format?” Marcus asked, confused.
“No worries, important people forget things. System, explain the rules to the Gambling Immortal,” Gulaga said.
“Certainly, Mr. Gulaga Slyuxiang,” the dealer system replied. “Red and Black mainstream rules: Each player starts by drawing ten cards from any of the five piles. Then, anyone can be chosen to start the game.”
“In each round, each player can play one card, then draw one card from any pile to add to their hand. The turn passes to the next player, and this repeats until one person collects ten black cards, who then wins and the game ends.”
“Alright, I remember now,” Mo Xing nodded. So all you had to do was collect black cards? That was way too simple! Pure luck, no skill at all. He found himself missing the card games Hearthstone and Three Kingdoms Kill from his previous world.

“You draw first,” Gulaga said politely.
“Alright.” Mo Xing nodded and reached for a card from the pile.
A red card!
A card engraved with a red heart!
The fat man across drew a card as well, his greasy face breaking into a smile.
Mo Xing guessed he’d drawn a black card. He drew another card.
Still a red card!
By now, he had two red hearts in his hand.
Gulaga drew again, looking more neutral this time—probably a black heart.
Mo Xing continued drawing, alternating turns with the fat man, until he’d drawn ten cards. His hand was “optimistic”:
Ten red cards!
An entire hand of red cards!
What kind of opening was this? An “auspicious start” if nothing else!
He’d need at least ten turns to collect ten black cards!
Just let him lose with red cards and be done with it!
“Wow, buddy! Nice hand,” Marcus grinned beside Mo Xing. “How are you going to play this?”
“With my head, apparently,” Mo Xing replied wryly.
“Let’s begin. You play first,” Gulaga said.
Mo Xing casually threw out a red card and drew a card from the far left pile.
A black card!
He finally had a black card!
Gulaga played a red card and drew from the second pile, his expression serious.
Probably a red card.
Mo Xing smiled, played another red card, and drew from the fourth pile.
Another black card!
After twenty rounds, Mo Xing had luckily drawn five black cards. Now his hand was five reds and five blacks, while the fat man across sometimes smiled, sometimes frowned.
This game quickly became boring for Mo Xing. You either drew a red or a black card, and the winner was whoever got ten blacks first. Frankly, it was dull, though the gamblers seemed to enjoy it immensely.
A waiter brought over a round of drinks. Gulaga poured himself a glass, gulped it down, and burped.
“Finally, it’s my turn!”
Gulaga wiped his mouth and played a card showing two fish circling each other—
“Function card—Exchange!” the system buzzed.
“Please choose one card from your hand to exchange with one card from your opponent’s hand.”
“Hmm?” Mo Xing frowned. There were function cards, too?
Naturally, the player would pick a red card to exchange with Mo Xing.
Sure enough, Gulaga picked a red card and gave it to the mechanical arm.
“I want your sixth card—from the left to the right, the sixth!” Gulaga pointed.
“This one?”
Mo Xing pulled out the sixth card, a red heart. Gulaga couldn’t know, since cards faced the player and backs faced the others.
“No, farther right!”
Gulaga shook his head, flicking ashes from his cigarette.
“This one?” Mo Xing asked again—still a red heart.

“No, keep going right!” Gulaga insisted.
“This one?”
“No, keep going.”
“This one?”
“No, not that one.”
“We’re already at the far right; it must be this card, right?” Mo Xing said helplessly.
“Yes, yes, that’s the one.” Gulaga nodded.
Mo Xing handed over the far-right black heart. The mechanical arm swapped the cards between them.
“You could’ve just said you wanted the far-right card.”
“How would I know? I was confirming with him,” Gulaga counted his cards.
“Him? Confirming with him?”
A realization dawned on Mo Xing. He spun around to find Marcus standing behind him, wearing a mischievous grin.
“You… you’re cheating?” Mo Xing exclaimed, suddenly remembering Marcus—these two had been coordinating to trick out his black card.
“Buddy, what are you talking about?” Marcus shrugged, sneering. “I don’t understand.”
“Hey! System! They’re cheating! Aren’t you going to do something?” Mo Xing demanded angrily.
“Hello, sir,” the dealer system replied. “There has been no duplicate drawing, card swapping, or stealing detected at the table, so the system concludes that no player is cheating.”
“What? Where’s the fairness? What kind of dealer are you, declaring no cheating?” Mo Xing raged.
He’d hated cheating and covering for cheaters since childhood; it was as bad as referees ignoring blatant fouls on the field.
“That’s how a dealer does the job,” the system replied mockingly.
Mo Xing was speechless.
“Gambling Immortal, calm down,” Gulaga said, smoking and smiling. “I know you’ve fought countless battles, your fame spread far and wide, and your victories outnumber the grains of rice I’ve eaten. Losing here means nothing. There aren’t even many onlookers.”
“What, can’t handle losing?” Gulaga exhaled smoke.
“You!” Mo Xing clenched his fists. He finally understood why the campus security team had launched a ‘bandit suppression operation’—these scoundrels gathered here for illicit gambling after breaking the law.
He’d been too lenient in judging them before! They were all wanted criminals!
These villains, along with their illegal dens, truly deserved to be wiped out together!
Mo Xing bit his lip and forced a smile:
“I’m not a Gambling Immortal. My actions have nothing to do with his reputation.”
“It’s just a game of luck. I can afford to lose, but I won’t lose to someone like you!”
Gulaga was momentarily stunned, then burst into laughter.
“Hahaha, interesting.”
“I’d like to see how you win against me.” He pointed to the card pile. “Draw.”
Mo Xing took a deep breath, played a red card, drew a black card, and shielded Marcus from peeking.
Gulaga played a red card and drew from the pile.
“Oh? Function card?” Gulaga smiled. “Too bad, the game is about to end.”
“If I play this next round, the dealer will automatically give me a black card, and I’ll have ten black cards. You’ll lose.”
“Buddy, even if you draw an exchange card next round, it won’t help. You’ll need to wait another turn to swap cards with your opponent,” Marcus laughed behind him.
Mo Xing ignored him, closed his eyes, and let his fingers hover in midair, as if lost in thought.
——————— Idle chatter by the pit ———————
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