Twelve pots later,
"....."
"....."
"....."
Everyone was sweating profusely in both anxiety and anticipation. The dealer had already dealt two cards face down, and one card face up.
Quickly, everyone checked their cards to see what they were playing with. Needless to say, everyone kept their poker face on.
Since the elven woman was dealt the lowest face-up card on the table, she was required to make the first bet.
She looked at the silver-haired boy who claimed to be from the Ethereal Academy. The boy nodded and she bit her lower lip before bringing in the chips.
"Four thousand Credits."
"Call."
The old man with the beer belly went next and dropped the same amount of chips.
"Raise," the silver-haired boy decided to heat things up by raising the bet. "Eight thousand Credits."
"Call."
Somehow suppressing a mocking scoff, I called the bet and pushed eight thousand Credits worth of chips on the table.
That was around half of all my money right now.
I started from eight hundred credits, and after winning ten out of twelve pots, I had around seventeen thousand now.
However, this was still not enough.
After the betting was over, we were again dealt one card face up each.
This time, the old man with the beer belly got the best card out of us four so he had the authority to either check, call, or fold first.
"Check."
He decided to wait and let everyone else bet first.
"Four hundred Credits."
I went next and threw two chips worth two hundred credits each on the table.
"Heh. Why don't you play with kids if that's how you're gonna play?" the silver-haired boy ridiculed before raising the bet. "I'll raise him four thousand Credits."
I rolled my eyes.
Everyone at this table was wary of me by now. They had sensed something was off since whatever they were doing to cheat earlier with Kent wasn't working now with me.
Out of the twelve pots we had played, they only won two.
They even asked the dealer to change the deck since they thought I had somehow marked the cards.
But even then, they still kept on losing.
For anyone wondering what I pulled to make it possible…
Well, I just used my Edit Pen– not on the cards but on this game table.
Item: Seven Cards Stud Table
Condition: Good
Description: A Seven Card Stud Table at the casino Royal Cards. As long as Lucas Morningstar sits on this table, he can win whenever he wishes.
Edit (Active): Make me win whenever I want.
Heh.
Genius right?
By now, it was clear to everyone that I was cheating, but since they had no proof, all they could do was shut up and play with the hope that I'll lose like the other two times.
But this guy– this boy from the Ethereal Academy– he's too dumb to see that! He probably thinks I'm just winning with luck or something.
I swear to god, rich kids are stupid.
After he raised the bet, all eyes on the table went to the elven woman.
She had a troubled look on her face before she finally spoke in a low voice, "Fold."
And just like that, she was out of the game.
"Call."
The old man threw four thousand Credits worth of chips and ended this betting round.
Another round of face-up cards was dealt.
This time, I got a King of Hearts, which was the best card on the table, so I went first with a nod.
"One thousand and six hundred Credits."
"Hah. Call."
"Call."
Both of the remaining players called my bet and we were dealt one face-up card again.
This time, the silver-haired boy had the highest card on the table, so he gave the bet.
"One thousand Credits."
"Call."
"...Fold."
I called his bet while the old man folded his hand with a defeated look while rubbing his beer belly.
For the last time, the remaining players were dealt a face-down card. Aside from me, only the silver-haired boy was left.
"One thousand," he threw the chips.
"Raise," I threw all of my remaining chips. "Five thousand."
This was it. I had no money left.
"Raise," he replied. "Ten thousand."
I shrugged signalling that's all I had. He looked at me with a mocking smirk.
"Is that all you have? And here I thought you would be rich," he scoffed before his eyes scanned me and landed on my watch. "That watch is nice."
"Hah." I let out a short chuckle. "It indeed is, but this watch will cost you more than all of your chips combined."
"Fine," he said before summoning a dozen more chips from his Ethereal Academy's smart bracelet.
"I'll raise you by fifty thousand," he said. "You don't need to call the bet for the same price. But if I win, you will get down on your knees and kiss my shoes. You'll apologize for your rudeness. If you don't like it, leave all your money and scram."
"Are you for real–"
Kent, who was about to chime in with a mix of absurd and angry look, stopped when I raised my hand in front of him.
Instead, I took my watch off my left hand and threw it on the table. "Deal."
"Lucas," Kent looked at me with concern. "You don't have to go so far– Wait, are you addicted too?"
So you're admitting you're addicted?!
"It's fine," I said with a smile. "Don't worry about me."
"...Ehehehaha! Bwahahaha! You fool!"
But suddenly when I accepted his offer, the silver-haired boy exploded in a series of hysterical laughter and discarded two of his cards before showing his hand.
Ace of Hearts.
Ace of Spades.
Ace of Clubs.
Ace of Diamonds.
Nine of Spades.
This was his hand—a Four-of-a-kind.
"You idiot! Now you'll have to kiss my foot! Arghhahahaha!"
Both the elven woman and the old man's eyes lustered. Their previous pale faces regained some color and a grin spread across their lips.
"Hmm? Why do you think I've lost?"
"It's clear," the elven woman interjected with a sympathetic chukle. "You were given two face-up King cards. King of Hearts and Clubs. Your other two face-up cards were Seven of Diamond and Two of Clubs."
"Which means, even without seeing your remaining three face-down cards, it's obvious that you don't have a Straight or Royal flush," the silver-haired boy commented in a haughty tone.
"So, at best, you can have two more Kings under you sleeves which will allow you to create a Four-of-a-kind like me. But even still, my hand will outrank yours since I have four Aces with me."
Heh. He was right.
To beat him, I needed to have a Royal flush or a Straight flush.
But my face-up cards made it obvious that I had none of those hands.
However…
"I'm Lucas Morningstar," I said while looking the boy in the eyes. "What is your name?"
"Hmph," the silver-haired boy humped while cocking his head. "If only you had shown me this respect sooner. My name is Jace Blackwood. Remember it when you get down on your knees to kiss my shoes."
I knew it.
This guy was a young master. The moment I laid my eyes on him, I knew this was the case.
The reason I provoked him earlier was that I knew he would raise my bets for something petty like making me kiss his foot for apology.
Call it my 'young master' instincts since I myself was in the body of one.
"Jace Blackwood," I said before discarding two of my cards and revealing my full hand.
Only a Straight flush or a Royal flush can beat Four-of-a-kind. However, there is one more hand that can do that.
Acquiring this hand is only possible if you're playing with Wild Cards – Jokers.
Fortunately, since we were playing with a fresh deck of cards, the Jokers weren't separated yet.
I started putting my cards on the table one after another.
That simple action of mine caused everyone present here to react in some form of shock.
Some gritted their teeth, some had their eyes falling out of their sockets, while some jumped in happiness.
A King of Hearts.
A King of Clubs.
A King of Diamonds.
A King of Spades.
And a Joker acting as the fifth King.
I had just revealed a Five-of-a-kind hand.
