[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
Chapter 97: The Pursuer (2)
Sin City.
That's the nickna for Las Vegas.
A place filled with all sorts of pleasures and enjoynt. The na "City of Sin" suited it perfectly.
"Where are we going?"
"Regular casinos don't accept Hunters."
Martial Hunters had agility stats that granted them reaction speeds and dynamic vision surpassing ordinary people.
Even a 4 Star Hunter, soone who had "climbed the wall" once, could easily read the numbers on a rolling die just by glancing at it.
Magic-types could even alter the outco with secretly prepared magic.
"That's why there are separate casinos exclusively for Hunters."
"Aww. I wanted to try playing at a regular casino."
"It's the sa, except so of the gas have been changed to suit Hunters. The atmosphere isn't that different."
"How do you know all this?"
"I heard it sowhere."
Actually, he knew because he had done it all before returning to the past.
The group arrived at the Hunter-exclusive casino.
Yoojin handed out the dollars he had exchanged in advance to the three.
"If you lose it all, that's it."
"Oppaaaa. I brought so money too."
"Only use that much. I'll kick you out if you withdraw money with your card."
Kang Minyeong's eyes were filled with longing.
If left alone, she looked like she would beco a casino ghost.
When Yoojin glared at her, she couldn't cling to him any longer and backed down with a whimper.
"Where are you going, hyung-nim?"
"To the basent. To watch the arena."
The odds of winning money at a casino weren't high.
‘It wouldn't be bad to pull the lever for fun since they were already here, but… I don't have the hobby of playing gas where the probability of losing is 100%.'
Since he had co to the casino, shouldn't he at least win sothing before leaving?
If you went down to the basent of the Hunter-exclusive casino, a world 180 degrees different from the glamorously decorated ground floor unfolded.
Wham—!
Thud!
"Hit him one more ti!"
"Dodge! Dodge! You idiot!"
"Oh no. He just took that hit!"
Wham—!
The Hunter collapsed with a heavy sound.
He was curled up like a shrimp, the punch to his torso must have hurt quite a bit.
On the other hand, his opponent, who had landed the punch, was still full of energy.
"1, 2, 3... 9, 10!"
Ding— Ding—
"Black Jaguar down. Tiger Mask wins!"
"Bullshit!"
"The underdog's payout is so sweet!"
"Ah, why! You cat bastard! Collapsing in one hit? Get back up with a vengeance!"
As soon as the bloody battle in the ring ended, people's emotions were starkly divided.
Cheers poured out for the victor.
Resentnt, curses, and boos rained down on the loser.
A space where primal emotions writhed.
The underground arena, a world of contests where Hunters clashed with their fists.
〔How utterly vulgar.〕
'Isn't it interesting? You can see the bottom of humanity.'
〔What I want to see is the little human overcoming trials and moving forward.〕
'Don't be picky, constellation.'
Can you just look at what you want to see and pick and choose what you want to eat?
Sotis everyone has to swallow a bitter pepper they don't want to eat.
'Who should I bet on?'
The reason he confidently chose the arena was simple.
Those who made a na for themselves in the arena.
In other words, he roughly rembered the nas of the Hunters who were active for a long ti in the future, before his return.
'Tiger Mask is still active.'
The Hunter who just won with a heavy body blow.
The man in the tiger mask, 'Tiger Mask', was a figure who was active in the arena until just before Yoojin's return.
If he had co down a little earlier, he would have placed a bet.
‘Too bad.’
〔But it's strange. Don't Hunters have different stats?〕
'That's why the arena exists.'
The Hunter casino and the underground arena, like the temple built on Yeonpyeong Island, were sanctuaries imbued with the power of a specific constellation.
A being with the constellation na "ssenger of the Wind".
The one called the god of travelers, thieves, and ssengers in the Olympus cluster.
It was a gambling house run by a Hunter with Hers as their patron.
'You can't cheat with abilities here.'
Skill use was prohibited when participating in gambling-related activities.
The players who entered the ring had to swear to Hers to 'fight fairly'.
With the oath, a penalty was applied, lowering their stats.
Since they beca similar in weight class, the outco was determined by innate combat sense and experience.
〔A constellation should vouch for noble causes.〕
'Hers was never associated with nobility in the first place.'
〔He's Zeus's son, you say? His frivolity is just like his father's.〕
'Who was it that gave birth to that Zeus?'
He shut Kronos up and leisurely looked over the list of players and the match schedule.
'There are fewer familiar nas than I thought.'
He thought there would be more familiar players like Tiger Mask.
It seed he had been naive.
He hadn't expected that there wouldn't be a single familiar na among the waiting arena fighters.
〔Khahaha. Where has the future knowledge, the pride of the returnee, gone?〕
'Oh Shut up. I don't have an encyclopedic mory of every single Hunter who ever stepped into an arena.'
He paused, tapping a finger on his chin.
‘Guess I'll have to rely on the odds and those fight records after all.’
While he was lost in thought—
Yoojin's eyes lingered on one spot for more than five seconds.
'Snake Eye?'
〔Is he a morable player?〕
'Hmm. Maybe, maybe not.'
〔That's a vague statent unlike you.〕
'It's not a na I saw in the arena.'
Snake Eye.
A master tracker and a natural-born hunter.
The original aning of 'Hunter', a pronoun for Awakened, was 'hunter', but it was hard to find soone who fit the title of hunter as well as Snake Eye.
〔Oh? That's quite a high evaluation. Why do you give him such an evaluation?〕
'Because he uses a variety of weapons to respond to both close and long-range combat, and he's also skilled in tracking.'
But, he had never heard of Snake Eye fighting as an arena player.
Was this really him?
Or was it just a coincidence?
He couldn't tell at the mont.
'I'll have to check for myself.'
〔Are you going to go up to that little human and ask, "Are you the hunter who will beco famous in the future?"〕
'You need to develop a sense of humor.'
〔Then how are you going to confirm if that little human is the right one?〕
'I'll know just by looking.'
Yoojin headed to the players' waiting room.
He could see the players waiting to enter the ring through the spaces separated by iron bars.
While quickly scanning the players—
〔Is that him, Snake Eye?〕
Kronos muttered in a bewildered tone, looking at a certain man.
‘Yes. That's right. Didn't I say I'd know just by looking?’
Yoojin's cheeks twitched.
＊ ＊ ＊
His eyes were long and narrow, like a snake's.
Just making eye contact with him sent shivers down your spine. The man in his 40s sat on the bench, taking deep breaths.
Yoojin checked Snake Eye's record.
'His win rate is quite low?'
He didn't have much fun in the arena.
That's why his career as an arena fighter wasn't well known in the world before the regression.
"Snake Eye."
At Yoojin's call, a sharp light flashed across the eyes of the man who was catching his breath.
‘Huh. This was the decisive reason why he was nicknad 'Snake Eye'.’
Seeing that look in his eyes, even Yoojin was montarily startled and almost took a step back.
"Did you lose money because of too? Or are you going to—?"
"I'm soone who's going to make a hefty profit."
"Your eyes must be just for show."
"Can I give you a piece of advice?"
"It's no use asking to rig the match. We have a contract, so we have to do our best in every match."
‘Wow. He really is steeped in defeatism.’
This wasn't the Snake Eye Yoojin rembered from before the regression; it was unsettling.
Still, he had a job to do.
"Use multiple weapons."
"What?"
"Two Sword Breakers, a Broadsword, and a Shortspear would be good."
A Sword Breaker is a dagger with a saw-like blade.
A Broadsword is a long sword with a blade length of about 1 ter.
And the last weapon ntioned, a Shortspear, is a weapon with a total length of about 2.5 ters.
Weapons that have nothing in common.
The man frowned.
"If you're going to talk nonsense, get out of here."
"It's your choice to believe it or not, but you have nothing to lose. Think about it."
Leaving a sly smile, Yoojin returned to the betting area.
- Big Bear vs. Snake Eye! Can the cunning snake defeat the bear?
The comntator's excited voice bood from the arena speakers.
The Hunter registered in the arena under the na 'Snake Eye', Terence D. Smith, rose from his seat.
The man walked past the waiting players and stood at the weapon rack.
'Big Bear. One of the stars of the arena. A player who skillfully wields a heavy mace.'
As usual, the man grabbed a Broadsword.
‘The odds of winning are not high. But still… I can't give up.’
The way the underground arena fighters made money was simple.
To achieve victory in the ring.
Since his opponent was one of the stars of the arena, the chances weren't high, but he didn't want to give up.
'If there's any way to win—?'
At that mont.
The man, Terence D. Smith, unconsciously reached for the Weapon Breaker.
Why are Yoojin's words ringing in his ears at this very mont?
‘For my daughter who is suffering from illness. I have to win.'
Terence gritted his teeth and, thinking he had nothing to lose, attached two Weapon Breakers to his waist and secured a Shortspear to his back.
A mont later.
Big Bear, one of the strongest fighters in the arena, was brought to his knees by Snake Eye's unorthodox attack.
＊ ＊ ＊
○ Snake Eye
Dividend - 5.1x
Dividend - $4,970,000
He only had 1 million dollars he could use imdiately.
Exchanging it for won, he went all-in on Snake Eye—a little over a billion, to be exact.
'What? The money's multiplying?'
Yoojin stared at the payout screen in disbelief.
He had literally hit the jackpot.
‘4 Billion won…’
He let out a low whistle.
It was a staggering amount, especially compared to the ager 20 million won he'd clutched nervously just three months ago, fresh from his return to the past.
Now, with a single well-placed piece of advice and a healthy dose of courage (or was it just crazy luck?), he'd multiplied his money by a factor of two hundred.
〔Tsk. Tsk. Greed is the root cause of the downfall of small n.〕
'Then the temple should continue to live frugally.'
〔Ahem. The heart that wishes to worship is truly admirable.〕
‘Look at him changing his tune.’
〔But didn't you take over the Red Spider's business and have money coming in every month?〕
'Even excluding the Black Herb farm, 2 billion won cos in.'
〔4 billion won doesn't seem like a very large amount to .〕
'What would a constellation who's never earned a penny know?'
‘The more money, the better.’
This fact didn't change even until Yoojin's death.
'Let check my available funds and buy so corpses.'
It's inefficient to go around finding useful monster corpses one by one.
Right after returning, he had to run around because his wallet was thin, but now things were different.
He needed several powerful undead to expand and protect the Necropolis.
He had made a request to the Black Market, so there should be results soon.
〔Let ask you one thing.〕
'Are you asking if he really won by carrying multiple weapons?'
〔Indeed. I've thought about it carefully, but I can't seem to find the answer.〕
'You have to look at Snake Eye's unique trait.'
[Weapon Master]
This is Snake Eye's unique trait, an ability that increases efficiency regardless of the weapon used.
'He interpreted it only as an increase in proficiency.'
Before his awakening, he learned kendo as a hobby and decided on a longsword as his main weapon.
He said he only ever swung one weapon.
Then, by chance, he had the opportunity to use several weapons.
That's when Snake Eye realized the true way to utilize his unique trait.
〔You seem to know quite a lot about it.〕
'I employed Snake Eye once.'
Central Africa, which had turned into a demonic wilderness after the Great Cataclysm.
He once hunted a Drake, a monster that had settled in a country that was called Congo decades ago.
Snake Eye, who was able to track and respond to various situations, was the best rcenary.
'Let's go back now.'
〔Are you satisfied with just one ti?〕
'It also takes courage to stop after earning a lot.'
Now that he had received his dividend.
There were no more familiar nas, so it was ti to go back.
As he turned around to go up to the casino...
"Excuse ."
"Snake Eye?"
"I won because I listened to you. Thank you very much."
The man with the intimidating eyes.
Snake Eye, panting, sought out Yoojin.
"You don't owe anything, so go ahead. I made a lot of money thanks to you too."
"Excuse for being rude, but I have a favor to ask."
Snake Eye, with his characteristic sharp eyes distorted, bowed his head deeply.
"Please train !"
"...Huh?"
Yoojin looked down at the bowing Snake Eye with a dumbfounded expression.
[Translator - Hestia
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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