Chapter 97

Chapter 97: On the Correct Use of a Lucky Fish A in a Casino.

Even if it were random, it certainly wasn’t based on the actions of the two powerhouses.

Exam candidates from the same session are assigned to the same resting area; everyone else had already left, and they were just following along.

You Jinli had never had his wishes granted, and this time was no exception.

This rest area wasn’t like that old, run-down place of Chu Yue’s. Quite the opposite, it was so bustling it felt like a den of luxury.

“Whoa! Congrats, you’ve drawn one of the best rest stops around.” 078 rubbed his hands together the moment he stepped in.

You Huo wasn’t the slightest bit pleased.

There are only 5 resting points in total, and yet you say “one of them.”

On the other hand, Qin Jiu was in a rather good mood. He patted You Huo’s shoulder and pointed into the bustling distance, saying, “Look at that tower over there. What do you think it’s for?”

You Huo replied, “…A casino.”

Qin Jiu said, half-serious and half-joking, “Our chief examiner really is clever.”

You Huo: “…”

You’re serious?

The top of that tower was a quadrangular pyramid, with a lightning rod at the tip pointing straight at the sky, a string of dice threaded along it. Beneath, each of the four eaves corners was propped up by a Renminbi symbol.

Only an idiot wouldn’t be able to tell it was a casino.

But speaking of casinos…

You Huo recalled what the driver said during the Gypsy exam.

He asked Qin Jiu, “Can you draw cards in the casino? Are there things like guaranteed passes?”

Qin Jiu nodded and was about to speak when 078 interrupted, “Who told you that? Whoever said that must not have spent any time in a casino.”

You Huo turned to look at him. “You’ve spent time in one?”

078 coughed, covering his lips, and said, “This is my favorite place to rest.”

“Didn’t expect you to be a thrill-seeker?” Qin Jiu remarked.

078 couldn’t tell whether he was being serious or just teasing.

“Anyway, the casino does have good cards. Things like deferrals, exemptions, extra points… if you’re lucky, you might collect a couple. As for guaranteed advancement, don’t get your hopes up.”

078 did not meet with the other three invigilators and did not know the card-drawing situations of You Huo and Qin Jiu. He only knew that these two had notoriously bad luck.

“Think about it. If someone really had a guaranteed pass card, wouldn’t they use it immediately? It’s the top-tier trump card. Who in their right mind would exchange something so valuable for a lesser one in the casino? Only an absolute idiot would do that. Unless someone earned two draws in a single exam and pulled two guaranteed passes at once, but that’s even more impossible. There’s only one such card in a deck.” 078 spoke with exaggerated shakes of his head.

Unaware of You Huo’s expression, he said in a tone of earnest advice, “As someone who’s been around, let me remind you: don’t get addicted to the casino. Know when to stop, and especially don’t even think about chasing a guaranteed pass.”

You Huo pulled a card from his pocket, his face expressionless. “We’re not trying to collect a guaranteed pass. We’re there to sell one. How stupid is that?”

078: “……”

He gave himself a slap and then turned and ran.

Qin Jiu watched You Huo’s stern profile for a moment, then leaned against the lamppost and laughed for a long time.

“Am I funny?” The handsome guy’s tone was icy.

Qin Jiu said in a very irreverent way, “No, not at all. The way our Mr. A occasionally curses is actually quite…”

He paused for a moment.

You Huo waited for him to continue.

Qin Jiu narrowed his eyes: “Very sexy.”

You Huo was caught off guard.

He sized Qin Jiu up from head to toe before suddenly replying, “Not as sexy as you.”

Qin Jiu: “?”

He probably never imagined being rebutted like this, so he was stunned for quite a while.

When he came back to his senses, You Huo had already brushed past his shoulder and was heading across the street along the crosswalk.

* * *

This rest area was truly bustling.

This time, it was not meant sarcastically.

It’s actually possible to use the phrase “a continuous stream of traffic” here.

You Huo pointed at the passing vehicles and pedestrians and asked Qin Jiu, “Are these real people or NPCs?”

Qin Jiu replied, “Half and half.”

“Half?” You Huo was surprised. “Where did all these people come from?”

“Most domestic examinees are gathered here.”

“If I recall correctly, someone once said that within a certain period, only people from the same type of examination hall enter the same resting area?”

“That’s right, but this place is an exception.”

“Why?”

“Because of that casino.”

Qin Jiu pointed at the approaching tower and said, “Over there you can trade for a lot of things—things you can imagine, and things you can’t. Like cards. Some combinations of card faces can help examinees continuously postpone their next exam, buying more time.”

One month, two months.

One year, two years.

Houses and cars are less valuable here than good cards; they can easily be won in bets.

Once you settle here, you’ll find it’s not much different from an ordinary city.

The longer you stay, the less willing you are to risk taking the next exam.

Thus, more and more examinees accumulate here.

It’s inevitable to mix people who come from different exam rooms.

“Because the exam rooms differ, candidates here exchange information and sell exam room materials,” Qin Jiu said. “It’s also why many people choose to stay here.”

People have a psychological tendency—collecting information on 10 exam rooms makes them worry about drawing the 11th. Collecting information on 100 exam rooms makes them fear the system has 1,000 waiting for them.

Always worrying about missing something, always feeling it’s never enough.

So… this place will always be hard to leave.

“Quite absurd, isn’t it?” said Qin Jiu.

His tone was not sarcastic, just somewhat emotional.

“Understandable.” You Huo thought for a moment and said, “It all boils down to the system’s problem… Why are you looking at me?”

Qin Jiu said, “Nothing, how should I put it… Someone like you is quite rare.”

You Huo asked, “What do you mean, like me?”

Qin Jiu: “There are very few people who have been firmly convinced from beginning to end that the system is detestable; most have wavered.”

“How is that possible?”

“Of course it’s possible.” Qin Jiu said, “Don’t you think the system sometimes seems foolish and childish?”

You Huo understood what he meant.

Many people are essentially kind-hearted. They would find themselves both laughing and crying at the foolish things the system does, temporarily forgetting its cruelty.

Once or twice might be fine, but what about ten or twenty times?

Or even… hundreds or thousands of times?

Those who stay here for a long time—resident examinees and invigilators—they probably encounter such moments every day.

Not to mention, the system occasionally offers certain “preferential treatments” and “rewards.”

Gao Qi once said, “In the early days, the examiners were divided into moderates and hardliners, because the moderate examiners still retained some affection for the system.”

You Huo found it utterly unbelievable at the time.

He couldn’t comprehend why moderates existed; why there were those who sympathized with the system and believed it could still return to the right track.

Now, he understood.

It’s hard to say whether the system is deliberate or unintentional.

But it does have a slightly misleading nature.

If it was intentional, then that would really be… a bit frightening.

* * *

The expert rarely experienced such worrisome thoughts, but they only lasted for less than twenty minutes.

Because the casino was just too noisy.

As soon as he picked up his number token and walked through the door, a deafening wave of cheers washed over You Huo’s face.

In this kind of environment, communication had to be either through shouting or whispering directly into someone’s ear.

Both of them were too lazy to shout, so without a doubt, they chose the latter.

Invigilator No. 001, like a tour guide, kept explaining in You Huo’s ear: “The first two floors are the scoring area, where you use your points as chips—win and you gain points, lose and you lose points. Many people hope to raise their scores as high as possible before the exam, so that during the test, all they need to do is maintain stability.”

The wave of enthusiastic screams earlier was because someone had won 26 points.

The man vented for a moment before returning to the gambling table.

You Huo asked in confusion, “Don’t they know when to stop?”

Qin Jiu said, “It’s not that they don’t know, it’s that there are rules.”

“What rules?”

“You have to gamble three rounds in a row.”

In the next second, the one who had just won 26 points instantly lost 19 points.

After beating their chest and stamping their feet in frustration, they stood before the gambling table for the third time.

They passed through an arched door and went upstairs along the staircase.

The third floor was equally bustling, but the mood of the crowd held a subtle difference.

Qin Jiu said, “This is the cash zone.”

“Cash?”

“Not just cash in the narrow sense,” Qin Jiu explained. “This includes electronic transfers, houses, cars, and anything else in real life that represents money.”

“Money is practically useless here, so what’s the point of gambling?”

“To vent,” Qin Jiu replied. “Would you easily gamble away a house in real life? Here, you can. Bet it away in three seconds, win it back in five. It’s a kind of absurd release.”

If the points zone is about genuine extreme excitement and extreme anxiety…

…then the cash zone is pure catharsis—pleasurable but not tense.

They went up two more floors, and Qin Jiu said, “This is the card area.”

The tension level lies somewhere between points and cash.

What’s rather unique is that the number of people actually placing bets in the card zone is limited, with more just watching from the sidelines.

See who has what cards in their hands, and see what kind of people your own cards can attract.

You Huo quickly skimmed through it.

“The invigilator’s help,” “Last-minute cramming,” and “A set of cheat sheets” – such upper-middle-tier cards accounted for the vast majority.

Seven or eight tables were surrounded by two or three rings of people, all betting on top-tier cards with direct effects like “Add ten points” or “Let me copy your answers.”

Two more tables were packed with people… Qin Jiu didn’t even glance at them and said with certainty, “They must be ‘Exam Exemption’ or ‘Extension.’ In a place like this, those two are the most popular.”

“Right here?”

The semi-amnesiac Chief Examiner had all the aura of a gambler, about to step up to the table, but was caught swiftly by Qin Jiu.

“Wait, don’t rush.” Qin Jiu said.

He grabbed too quickly, catching not the wrist but the fingers instead.

You Huo glanced down, sweeping a brief look.

Qin Jiu didn’t let go immediately, nor did he withdraw his hand.

After a few seconds, their entwined fingers finally slipped apart as they naturally fell away.

You Huo rubbed the lingering warmth at his fingertips, then slipped his hand into his pocket. Glancing around briefly, he asked Qin Jiu, “Why not bet? Are there any other requirements?”

“We won’t gamble here. Let’s go up one more floor.”

“What’s on the upper level?”

“The integrated area,” Qin Jiu said. “Cards, cash, points all mixed together. We’re heading up there to catch the rats.”

Just as Qin Jiu had said, half of the liveliness in this resting area was real people, and the other half was NPCs deployed by the system—this, of course, included the gamblers in the casino.

The “rats” Qin Jiu was referring to are those NPCs fabricated by the system.

They do not participate in the exams and do not truly care about scores and cards, let alone cars or houses.

One can win cards from them without any scruples.

In the casino, those who sit directly at the tables are seasoned players.

New players usually hang back to observe for a couple of days first.

But a newbie with the surname You went upstairs right away and claimed a seat at a table. Qin Jiu followed him at a leisurely pace, leaning against the edge of the table.

The two of them were incredibly eye-catching just by their looks alone.

But you can’t bet handsomeness away.

So everyone just gathered around different gambling tables and watched from a distance, with no one planning to come over.

Only when the dealer asked, “What game are the two gentlemen playing?”

“Cards,” Qin Jiu replied.

Many people in the mixed gaming area were playing cards, but high-quality cards were extremely limited.

The flow of people pulling out “help cards” in an unbroken stream was as powerful as a rainbow; the old gamblers had long been numb to it, even to the point of sneering whenever they heard the word “card.”

And they really did sneer.

The dealer was a typical NPC, cut from the same cloth as the system and just as unpleasant.

He nodded disinterestedly, not even glancing at You Huo as he said, “The card? Announce its face and place it on the table.”

You Huo let out a “hmm,” placing that card on the table, his tone indifferent as he said, “Direct promotion.”

“Promotion to what?”

The dealer froze for two seconds, looking over with a bewildered expression.

Qin Jiu tapped his fingers lightly, repeating clearly, “A direct promotion card, one.”

The entire integrated gaming area instantly fell silent.

Everyone froze for a moment, then simultaneously craned their necks as if they were two meters long, leaning in from all directions.

Three minutes later, everyone in the entire casino knew that two incredibly handsome young men had arrived on the third floor. They were young, but crazy enough to use a “guaranteed pass” for gambling.

In an instant, all the people not currently at a gambling table flooded into the integrated gaming area. The tables where You Huo and Qin Jiu were sitting were swarmed by a dense crowd.

The dealer, seeing such a scene for the first time, was so excited that his voice trembled.

“Would you two gentlemen like to pick a game first?”

“Let’s keep it simple—betting on odd or even numbers.”

The dealer nodded and said, “In that case… which gentleman or lady would like to stand in this position?”

He gestured toward the empty seats opposite You Huo and Qin Jiu.

The next moment, all the real examinees in the entire casino charged over.

The croupier scurried over to the corner of the room and called out to You Huo from a distance, “In this situation, you have absolute authority to choose—”

Qin Jiu’s gaze swept over each person and the items in their hands.

Finally, he locked onto one individual.

That was an unmistakable rat.

Only a rat would dare to grab two good-guy cards to gamble, all while putting on a calm facade.

When Qin Jiu made his designation, the entire hall went wild.

The dealer asked in confusion, “Are you here to do charity? Among all the top cards in the hall, so many holding 20 or 30 points, you chose the worst one?”

Countless examinees around them screamed themselves hoarse, but the two handsome men remained unmoved.

The dealer took several seconds to calm down before covering the dice with the dice cup.

The ever-fearless Examiner A, exceptionally not taking the lead this time.

He said to Qin Jiu, “You go.”

Qin Jiu raised an eyebrow and asked, “Trusting me?”

You Huo replied, “No trust. Your luck isn’t much better than mine.”

Qin Jiu clicked his tongue. “Will you still allow the bet?”

You Huo lifted his chin, signaling him to proceed.

The examinees nearby, hearing their conversation, felt their hearts tremble.

The dealer shook the dice cup with a loud clatter and slammed it onto the table with a sharp “thud.”

Qin Jiu asked, “Do you think it’s odd or even?”

You Huo replied, “Even.”

Qin Jiu nodded decisively and pushed ‘Odd’ without hesitation.

You Huo: “…”

On the correct way to use the lucky fish examiner.

(Parentheses dangerous action, do not imitate parentheses end).

……

If you’re not afraid of the lucky fish taking a swing and have the confidence to coax them back, you can give it a try.