OBS Chapter 3557 Strange Luck
Chapter 3557 Strange Luck
Chapter 3557 Strange Luck
Shad pushes his deck forward for the opponent to check:
"Do you think all the people of Dela Rion are so untrustworthy? Rest assured, although I may look younger than you, I've spent most of my life playing cards."
The young man opposite him simply smiled. He didn't understand what Shad meant, and instead handed his own deck to Shad as well.
“Betting on four cards at once is a bit too exciting. Let’s bet one at a time. It’s not that I don’t trust you, but four cards are too valuable. According to local law, betting such a large stake is illegal.”
The people around laughed. This was, of course, an excuse; he was just afraid that Shad would refuse to pay up after losing four cards at once. Although Shad didn't want to linger there too long, since the other party insisted, he slightly turned to look at Claire behind him:
"Then can we go back a little later?"
Claire nodded, and Shad then addressed his opponent:
"Alright, let's do it one at a time."
"Clement Kruger, may I ask your name?"
Shad did not use the name "John Watson":
"Sherlock Holmes."
"Then it's an honor to play cards with you, Mr. Holmes. I've never encountered this surname before. Is it unique to De La Rion?"
Not everyone who comes here is willing to gamble on special cards, so although Mr. Kruger has a high win rate, his deck does not have as many special cards as Shad's deck.
Even so, there are still 24 special cards in the 54-card deck. In addition, the opponent seems to have a few special rule cards that cannot be included in the deck because of duplicate suits. The number of special rule cards this person has is truly astonishing.
This deck of cards is enough for him to buy a luxury apartment in a big city like Willendale.
After both players checked their cards, they found nothing wrong, and Shad simply treated it as a game where he could relax and unwind occasionally.
"I'm not a local, so I'm not sure what kind of games are popular in Time Wheel City. But since it's for four special rule cards, how about we play some interesting rules? Each time you draw a card, you can only stop after the fourth card or later, but if both of you bust, the winner is simply determined by the points of the last card."
Of course, if you draw the King and Queen and then overdraw, we will settle the score as if you had the King and Queen.
If the points are the same, the cards are ranked in the order of Sun, Moon, Star, Flower, with Sun being the highest and Flower the lowest. This avoids a tie. Each special card is played in best-of-three rounds until someone loses all four cards. This requires a minimum of eight rounds to end the game; there's no longer a limit. Therefore, every three rounds, all cards must be returned to the deck and shuffled.
This is not a strategy invented by Shad; this strategy of preventing draws often appears in official tournaments organized by the Prophet's Association, especially in point-based tournaments.
Both parties agreed on the rules and then agreed that the loser would immediately hand over their cards, but the winning cards could not be added to the deck temporarily. The game then officially began.
Although the rule stipulates that at least four cards must be drawn in each round, they still choose to draw cards one by one in order to comply with the rule that "the effect is activated when a card is drawn".
To prevent any accomplices from peeking at Shad's cards, Claire stood behind Shad, so she had a clear view of his draw. The four cards were the Sun 6, the Moon 11, the Sun 1, and the Flower 3, totaling 20 points.
With each player receiving four cards, this result essentially sealed the victory. However, unexpectedly, after Shad revealed his four cards, the young man opposite him turned over his first face-down card:
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty."
His King card is a special card, but there's no need to activate its special effect to make Shad discard the card with the lowest value.
Shade, however, remained expressionless, discarding all four cards and glancing at the gentleman who was enthusiastically helping with the scoring:
"Then please remember the results of the first round, let's continue."
In the second round, Shad drew the Star 13 as his first card. He had a vague feeling that he was going to bust, and as expected, he ended up with 28 points, busting on his third card. Fortunately, his last card was the Sun 10, which is a relatively large number.
Claire then saw Shad's opponent reveal his hidden card:
"19 point."
The "she" beside his ear chuckled, and Shad then turned over his bottom card, picked out the card belonging to [Ancient Fairy Tale - Snow White], and tossed it to the opponent:
"Well, it seems you're really lucky today."
The onlookers were buzzing with discussion, but none of them were surprised by the result, after all, the young Mr. Kruger had been winning all day.
Claire put her hand on Shad's shoulder, looking somewhat worried. But Shad didn't react, continuing to draw cards and starting the third round.
The first three cards were the Sun 7, the Star 7, and the Flower 7. In a normal game, Shad would have won by now. But according to the rules this time, he still had to draw a card. Claire saw that Shad's last card was the Star 3, and even the witch frowned slightly.
She knew how lucky Shad was, and losing three games in a row was truly unexpected.
Xia De was equally surprised. Although he wasn't the type to assume his opponent was guilty just because he lost, his luck had been good since the end of the year, and the temporary boost in luck after experiencing the three acts of fate hadn't disappeared.
Given the current situation, the God of Gamblers' blessing could still take effect, so losing three times in a row is not entirely impossible, but it is a low-probability event in mathematics.
He didn't think he was absolutely certain of winning, but on Fatummst Island, when it comes to things that involve luck and probability, you can never be too careful.
He revealed his hole cards, indicating that he had busted this round. With three rounds finished, both players needed to reshuffle, giving Shad time to think.
"The other party is just an ordinary person, right?"
At least for now, that's the case.
She whispered gently in Shad's ear, understanding what Shad wanted to ask:
[No abnormal elements were detected in the surrounding area. Currently, besides you and the witch Claire, there are no other ring sorcerers in this pavilion.]
A large, translucent, silver-blue book unfolded beside Xia De. This time, he only allowed himself to see the book, but it didn't mention any changes in Xia De's luck.
Xia De still had considerable faith in the "Manual of Fate." Since it wasn't a problem with his luck, and the other party hadn't used any cheating methods, then it must be a problem with the other party's luck.
"The [Cult of Misfortune] doesn't seem very good at making themselves lucky; they're only good at making others less lucky than themselves. Is it the [Society of Ten Thousand to One]? Or something else? It can't be infinite."
Xia De immediately dismissed his own idea. It wasn't that he was worried about the other person turning into a snake in front of so many people, but rather that he didn't think it was impossible for him to lose.
But regardless of whether the opponent used tricks or simply had a stroke of luck, the biggest problem Shad is currently facing is how to avoid losing all the special cards like Elder Harald did this morning.
If you lose, you can try to win it back or buy it back from the other party, but if three out of the four cards don't belong to Shad, losing someone else's cards is not a moral act.
Aside from you and the witch, there are no other superhumans here.
She whispered in Shad's ear again. Shad knew what she meant, but he still refused to cheat when playing cards with ordinary people. If he could prove the other person cheated, Shad certainly wouldn't mind using stronger methods to prove he cheated, but he wasn't sure what the current situation was.
This is not outdated; it is simply the persistence of outsiders.
After the shuffle, Shad's luck improved slightly in the fourth and fifth rounds, and he won back [Ancient Fairy Tale: Snow White]. However, he then lost rounds 6, 7, 9, and 10, not only losing his own cards but also [Power and Conquest: Recruitment Order].
During this time, both Shad and Claire were trying to discern what methods the other was using, but they couldn't see anything. Claire placed her hand on Shad's shoulder several times, implying that they should use some means to avoid losing, but Shad refused each time.
However, things can sometimes turn out unexpectedly. Starting from the 11th round, Xia De won a full 10 rounds in a row, which means he won ten consecutive games.
He not only got back the two cards he had lost, but he also won back the cards that Elder Harald had lost to young Mr. Kruger: "Modern Girl - The Girl at Afternoon Tea," "Modern Discipline - Mechanical Engineering," and "Tavern Life - The Bartender Wiping Glasses."
The three cards depict a smiling girl holding a wine glass at a cocktail party, an engineer looking down at a book in front of a large machine that is only half-drawn, and a bartender idly wiping glasses with a rag behind the bar in a lively pub background.
These three cards belong to a series that is relatively new, dating back to the last thirty years. Thanks to advancements in modern printing technology, the cards themselves are quite exquisite.
Although Shad didn't know why he had won again, he was naturally happy to have won. The young Mr. Kruger, on the other hand, looked quite puzzled. After the 15th round, when the cards were shuffled again and he had lost five rounds in a row, he frowned deeply and even suggested that he and Shad switch seats to continue the game.
When the deck was shuffled again after the 18th round, he stared at Xia De's hand as if suspecting Xia De of cheating. And in the 21st round, he finally won again with the help of Star 5 [Age of Sail - First Mate].
The special rule for that card involves flipping a coin. If you draw this card and don't bust, you can flip a coin. If it's heads, you keep any card in your hand and draw an equal number of new cards, and all special cards are invalidated. If it's tails, the total points of your hand are doubled.
This belongs to the category of rules with the highest risk.