I Became a Mythical-Tier Tamer Due To A System Error Chapter 98
Dealer Kumar.
A man from the street gambling dens of Hetarion.
From his very first year, he seized the title of Dorados Casino’s Dealer of the Year, a dazzling rookie dealer.
With his sleight of hand that deceived challengers, he earned a considerable amount of money.
“Student of Yggdrasil, are you familiar with gambling?”
When Kumar asked, Villed opened his mouth with an expressionless face.
“It’s my first time.”
“I see. The rules are simple. Spin the roulette, and if the ball lands on the designated number, you win. Each person can designate up to ten numbers, and the fewer numbers you pick, the higher the payout.”
“Begin.”
The money he placed on the table was… a single coin. The minimum bet was 100 gold.
Of course, 100 gold was not a small sum on its own.
But that was only true from the perspective of a student.
Compared to other adult gamblers, it was pitifully small.
Yet Kumar was not disappointed at all.
“Table B4. The challenger is the second son of Dedenkman. Do not make any mistakes. Treat him with the full respect due to a VIP.”
A voice no one else could hear. The magical voice of the Main Header that only the dealer could hear.
“Yggdrasil uniform and that tall height… he must be Dedenkman’s second son, right?”
“Right. Unlike the eldest son, I heard he lives a life of debauchery.”
“Don’t tell me he’s about to start throwing down thousands at a time?”
Even the murmurs of recognition spread among the crowd.
The spectators were growing in number.
…For a child of the Four Great Families to grace this place personally.
His chest pounded.
To him, thousands or tens of thousands of gold were nothing.
This 100 gold must merely be a taste of gambling, just a small amount.
‘Once he takes the first step into gambling… he’ll never escape.’
Beginner’s luck.
If he won his very first gamble, he would be addicted to the thrill, sinking deeper into the quagmire.
The bait had to be thrown.
‘I’ll let him keep winning for a while.’
If he continued to win like other nobles, eventually he would place a “big deal.”
Give him small wins, then when he revealed everything… open the hidden maw and swallow him whole.
「Challenger - 2 7 14 17 20 25 30 35 40 50」
「Dealer - 1 3 6 15 16 19 21 24 31 34」
Those were the designated roulette numbers.
‘Number 17.’
Ping—!
Kumar flicked the ball into the spinning roulette wheel.
The ball would land on the number Villed had chosen.
Rattle, roll…
The ball stopped on… number 16.
Not on the young noble’s number, but on Kumar’s.
“You’ve lost.”
Villed shrugged his shoulders and looked at Kumar.
“…It seems I’ve won. I’ll take it.”
Kumar took the single gold coin from the table.
The feeling was strange.
He had clearly manipulated the ball toward Villed’s chosen number.
‘Strange… but sometimes it happens.’
Even though Kumar’s sleight of hand was excellent, about once or twice in a hundred throws, mistakes occurred.
17 and 16 were right next to each other.
The difference of a single sheet of paper, just a tiny error.
His faith in his own skills remained firm.
“Once more.”
Villed placed another single gold coin onto the table.
‘…This time, I’ll make sure I win.’
Kumar carefully flicked the ball.
Ping, rattle, roll…
The ball spun irregularly within the roulette.
After about thirty seconds, it landed in slot number 20.
This time, the challenger’s victory.
“I’ve won.”
“Congratulations.”
The dealer slid two gold coins toward Villed.
He smiled, but it was purely a poker face.
Inside, he was unsettled.
‘…What is this? Something feels off.’
Kumar felt a pang of doubt.
He had clearly aimed the ball at 14, but it landed in 20.
It wasn’t the number he’d intended, but still, it was one of the challenger’s numbers, giving him the win.
As his head swirled in confusion…
“Once more.”
Villed, still with arms crossed, left the two gold coins on the table.
‘I think I’ve got the hang of this now.’
After playing a few rounds, I began to grasp it.
In my folded arms… I was holding Boogie’s card.
‘I thought it might be theoretically possible, but I never expected to use Boogie’s wall in this way.’
Boogie’s ability could create walls up to two meters high.
But what if it wasn’t the maximum, but the minimum wall?
Ping, rattle, roll…
It unfolded right before my eyes.
‘It can’t even be called a wall.’
Not a wall, but a minuscule one-millimeter “protrusion” could be made.
‘With this, I can control the ball.’
This gambling table was under a mana-restriction field where magic was absolutely forbidden.
But my ability had nothing to do with mana.
The creatures of the Animal Farm were not judged by mana or magic.
‘Maybe it’s because Yggdrasil and Animal Farm are separate games?’
Whatever the case.
Thanks to the mana-restriction field, the dealer would never even imagine that I was using tricks.
Every time I created a protrusion, it consumed one cost.
At maximum capacity, I could create seven protrusions.
‘The protrusion disappears instantly at the timing I want. Thanks to that, others can barely notice it.’
Unless one knew beforehand and stared intently at the same spot.
A tiny protrusion that appeared and disappeared in just 0.1 seconds could never be detected.
‘Let’s try number 43.’
I raised a protrusion on the ball’s path to adjust its speed and position.
‘In a way, it’s similar to curling.’
Curling reduced friction by sweeping the surface.
But the difference was that I raised protrusions to increase friction.
Rattle, roll…
The ball stopped on the number I expected—43.
“This round is invalid. I’ll spin again.”
Ping, rattle…
The dealer spun the ball again.
This time, I didn’t use my ability at all.
“Congratulations.”
The ball stopped on number 35.
It was determined as my victory.
‘The dealer let me win.’
Was he sacrificing flesh to gain bone?
It was bait, urging me to place a bigger bet.
‘Fine, let’s finish this.’
The auction time was near, and I had experimented enough.
I didn’t particularly like gambling.
But what I was doing now wasn’t gambling.
‘My chance of winning is 100%.’
How could a game with a 100% win rate be called gambling?
Now that I had judged I could absolutely defeat the dealer, I was certain it was time to bet everything.
“Let’s raise the stakes.”
I placed a luxury wallet on the table.
“Five thousand.”
The rumor that Dedenkman’s young master and the casino’s greatest dealer were facing off drew in a throng of spectators.
“Five thousand.”
That was the exact same amount an older man had just gone all in with earlier.
“When I watched earlier, there was someone who picked fewer numbers.”
“Yes, in that case only the challenger chooses numbers. The fewer you pick, the higher the payout, but…”
Kumar suppressed his urge to burst out laughing and calmly answered.
“If your chosen number does not win, it isn’t a void, but a loss.”
“I don’t care.”
Still the same arrogant tone.
“What number will you designate?”
When Kumar asked, Villed pointed to a spot on the roulette.
The number he pointed at was… 17.
“…”
Kumar stared at it for a while.
Villed raised a brow.
“Why the silence?”
“Ah? You’ll have to state your chosen number each time…”
“This single number will decide it.”
At Villed’s words, the spectators cried out in astonishment.
“What? Crazy!”
“That’s bold! Let’s gooo!”
Cheers, scorn, and laughter mixed together. Their reactions varied wildly.
Kumar responded with a poker face, but inwardly he was baffled.
‘Out of all these numbers… just one?’
On a roulette with fifty numbers, the chance of hitting the single number you wanted was a mere 2%.
The lowest winning odds.
If he won, the payout would be the maximum multiplier—fifty times.
A staggering 250,000 gold.
“Number 17… payout multiplier is fifty.”
The spectators roared in excitement.
But Kumar felt disappointed in Villed.
He hadn’t wanted to win in such an anticlimactic way.
‘That overconfidence is pathological.’
Infuriating.
He had let him win a few times, and now the boy looked down on him.
Occasionally, there were gamblers who bet the minimum 100 gold on just one number.
‘But 5,000 on a 2% chance?’
That baseless confidence was sickening.
Even hardcore gamblers avoided such reckless bets with hopeless odds.
‘Nobles are all insane.’
Who would be foolish enough to wager 5,000 on just a 2% chance?
And this round was under Kumar’s control.
In truth, the odds weren’t 2%… but 0%.
‘I’ll win.’
Even without tricks, his chances of winning were 98%.
Normally, Kumar enjoyed deceiving by making the ball narrowly miss the challenger’s choice.
But this time, he treated it seriously, like a lion hunting a rabbit with all its might.
No games, no mistakes—absolute certainty.
The number Kumar aimed for was… 42, the farthest from 17.
That was where he would place the ball.
“…”
Villed’s gaze made him flinch slightly.
‘I’ll crush you soon.’
Kumar regained his composure.
The possibility of losing didn’t even exist.
“Let’s begin.”
Ping—!
The ball was cast into the roulette.
Rattle, roll…
“Oh! Ohhh!”
The ball spun swiftly.
The slower its speed became, the louder the cheers of the spectators grew.
Rattle…
Before long, its speed slowed to a visible degree.
Rattle, rattle, rattle…
By the time the ball’s speed had dropped considerably.
It veered past the 42 Kumar had predicted.
It did not have the speed to make another full turn.
‘Doesn’t matter. As long as it’s not 17!’
Dealer Kumar had watched the ball spin on the roulette hundreds of thousands of times, and he knew.
At this speed, it would stop on 25… no, 22.
Rattle…
But something felt strange.
Suddenly, the ball seemed to decelerate unnaturally.
Rattle…
The ball passed number 15.
‘Th-this can’t be…?’
Kumar’s eyes widened.
Clack…
His heart thumped violently.
His arms felt paralyzed, his whole body tingled as though struck by lightning.
His eyes bulged, and it felt as though his blood would surge backward.
‘…No way? No, it can’t be?’
As the ball crossed the boundary between 16 and 17.
Kumar’s mouth gaped wide open.
The ball made no further sound.
The number it stopped on was…
At the same time, a deafening roar of shock and cheers erupted from the spectators.
Thud—! Kumar’s legs gave out, and he collapsed.
‘Why… why did I lose?’
It had been flawless.
His vision turned pure white.
Two hundred fifty thousand. A staggering two hundred fifty thousand…
Years of achievements built on deceiving others crumbled in an instant.
“Dealer, what are you doing?”
Villed rose from his seat and looked down at Kumar.
Despite having gained the immense sum of 250,000 gold, he showed not the slightest joy.
The same expressionless face from beginning to end.
“We’re pressed for time, so prepare quickly.”
Kumar bowed his head.
He dared not look up.
“Y-yes…”
He forced the heavy words from his mouth.
As he struggled to support himself with trembling hands and rise to his feet.
Villed suddenly extended his hand.
Was it a small act of mercy?
Kumar reflexively grabbed his hand, and Villed pulled him up.
The moment Kumar stood upright.
The whole world seemed to stop.
“Hey.”
With a cold gleam in his eyes, Villed whispered softly into Kumar’s ear.
“You overestimated your sleight of hand.”
“…”
Yes.
Something had felt off.
…This man had played an even more cunning trick.
Kumar froze as he realized that from the very beginning, the prey had been himself.