Chapter 2375: The Gambling Game
"Each distinguished guest has one chance to place a call bet. The guest who calls the bet must provide at least one mermaid. If other guests wish to follow the bet, they must increase the stakes in turn. That is, under the same follow-up conditions, the third guest must pay one more item, or one more device, or other valuable goods than the second guest."
"Of course, energy stones are also acceptable, because the Fair Dealer needs energy stones to maintain its working state."
The puppet blinked its eyes in what it thought was a playful manner, but no one behind the screens played along. Instead, a young voice urged impatiently, "Hurry up and start."
"Please don't be impatient, honored guest. Regulars also need to take care of new guests—that's the rule of the Fish Feast Building," the puppet responded.
The voice said nothing more.
The puppet then returned to the round table and clapped its hands. On the previously empty tabletop, a multi-layered turntable appeared. At first glance, it looked like a tower of incense. At the center, also the top of the turntable, was a transparent square box containing eight dice, spinning to display the numbers on each face.
The turntable itself also had numbers, from 1 to 10, arranged irregularly, extending all the way to the edge of the turntable.
The puppet quickly explained the rules.
The gameplay was simple. The numbers on the turntable were used for spinning. When the game started, the caller would release a bead from under the square box. The bead would continuously cycle around the turntable until the caller shouted stop, while the dice inside the square box would also spin.
Then came the betting. The caller would put forward the minimum stake, and the remaining seven would decide whether to follow the bet. In the same round, the first to follow would put in the smallest number of chips, and the later the follow, the more chips they would need to contribute.
Once all follow-up bets were placed, the caller would shout stop for the bead, selecting a number from the turntable. Then, the followers would, in turn, shout stop for the spinning dice in the square box. If the upward-facing number on the dice was a multiple of the turntable number, the follower won. Each follower could shout stop once. The winners could split the chips of the caller and any followers who lost or gave up.
If no follower managed to call a multiple of the turntable number in that round, the caller would take all the chips from the followers.
It was worth noting that the numbers on the turntable were not fixed. Sometimes the numbers would change positions, or repeat consecutively, or even have a certain number missing entirely... Overall, it all seemed random.
"Shouting stop is based on the very first sound made by the guest. Please pay attention to your method and timing of calling stop. However, rest assured, honored guests, the margin of error will not exceed 0.0001 seconds."
"This is the Fair Dealer's promise to you all."
"Next, please display your base chips."
The puppet stood at the high point of the round table, bowed slightly in salute, and signaled that they could begin.
The first player wearing a mermaid mask walked out from behind the screen opposite Xu Huo. Her hands and feet were bound by prop locks, and a metal sheet as thin as a cicada's wing was affixed to her forehead.
"That's a control chip," the round-faced player whispered to Xu Huo. "Provided free of charge by the Fish Feast Building. With that chip, no player can escape this room alive. But it can be removed after the gambling game ends."
People from the other screens came out one after another, all of them female. When they were pushed in, their masks had already been removed, hanging loosely around their necks or wrists, proving that they were indeed genuine "mermaids."
Besides Xu Huo, two other screens had yet to produce anyone. The puppet ignored the others and flew straight toward Xu Huo's screen, tapping it. "Honored guest, is there any difficulty?"
Hua Sisi turned back to Xu Huo and nodded, then stepped across the screen herself.
The moment she appeared on the other side, a metal sheet appeared on her forehead.
Xu Huo didn't know if her friend was among those who had already come out, but someone was dissatisfied. "A face like that can be called a mermaid?"
It was the same young voice from before, but before Xu Huo could respond, the other person continued, "Or is it that her skills are profound?"
Then came a string of nasty laughter.
Not just him, but players behind the other screens also laughed.
Hua Sisi's face turned ugly. None of the female players around the round table could escape this situation, but whether they were angry or pleading, it couldn't move the people behind the screens.
Placed on the gambling table as chips, they were nothing but stakes.
Soon, the people from the other two screens also came out. Unexpectedly, one of them was a man. Both had been beaten badly. Besides their faces, their hands, feet, chests, and abdomens were covered in bruises.
"An untamed mermaid has a unique flavor," someone else commented.
After apparently having their fill of admiring the beauty of these eight people, the gambling game quickly began. The first caller would be selected by rolling the dice. With eight dice, the person who shouted stop and got the highest number would be the first to call a bet.
Xu Huo first listened to two people call stop, then tried it himself, ultimately getting a middle-range number.
Indeed, as the Fair Dealer had said, the dice reacted very quickly. The moment the words left his mouth, they stopped.
The first caller was the young man who had spoken twice earlier. As the second follower, Xu Huo added two B-grade items.
Whether calling or following, he couldn't directly forfeit. Forfeiting meant giving up the stake, and in the first round, he might lose Hua Sisi.
In the first round, everyone followed. Then the young man called stop for the bead on the turntable, getting the number "4."
Eight dice, each with sixteen faces. Finding a multiple of 4 wasn't difficult. The tricky part was that all eight dice were spinning simultaneously, and the sum of the upward-facing numbers had to be a multiple of 4. This required not only sharp eyesight but also luck.
"The Fair Dealer will not make things difficult for anyone sitting at this table," the puppet said. "A multiple of 4 will appear every three seconds. Please feel free to call stop, honored guests."
The first follower accurately called a multiple, and then it was Xu Huo's turn.
He was no stranger to various kinds of gambling games. His eyes fixed on the rapidly spinning dice, he waited half a minute before calling stop.
"Exactly a multiple of 4! Congratulations to this guest for keeping his chips!" the puppet said with a slightly sarcastic tone.
Outside, Hua Sisi also breathed a sigh of relief. She had only come to try her luck. If she were taken away by another player, leaving might be very troublesome. Since she hadn't found her friend, being able to leave safely was naturally the best outcome.
None of the followers forfeited, but two people called the wrong numbers. In total, three players and fifteen items were lost.
These "stakes" would be split among the five winning followers.
There was no rush for this, so both the players and the items became accumulated goods.