So, today, I took the money we earned yesterday and went to conquer the[Holy Land of Gambling]. The dungeon was a simple dome in structure, with 5 sections inside.
Most explorers and visitors who enjoy gambling stayed in the first section, the outer ring. Then there was the second ring, which led into the narrower third. That led into the fourth ring, which led into the heart of the casino, the fifth center circle.
Unlike the other dungeons, where one would only have to look for the stairs, you would need to earn a certain amount of money or pay a large sum to move onto the next ring. Every time, the amounts get larger. It is difficult, but not impossible because the betting rate goes up the farther you go.
After getting past a ring, you can move to all of the previous ones without charge, allowing you to go back outside to earn money if you lost a fortune here. As such, a lot of rich people from the Atarakua Demon Empire and the Beast Kingdom, among many others, are almost constantly entertained here.
Meanwhile, the local badges are strictly personal, so even if others possess them, they will not work. In the first round, where everyone is allowed in - they are not needed, but to move to the second ring you must earn the bronze badge first and to move to the third, the silver badge, to the fourth, the gold badge and to the fifth, the platinum badge.
Also, the dungeon monsters that appear here are, for the most part, working as dealers or bartenders of the restaurants inside, so there is no need to fight except in the Coliseum arena. Therefore, you can even see women and children inside, and it is possible to get to the final section with enough luck; it is this kind of a place.
It is very difficult to capture this place with sheer power, and all of the gambling inside will make it a very stressful place, even without any traps.
Going inside the[Holy Land of Gambling], we were able to slip past the first two rings, going into the center third ring because of the large amount of money I had earned in the casino outside the[Holy Land of Gambling]. After storing the silver permit badge into an item box, we all headed to the slot machines.
The slots rotate in the machine at high speeds but due to our high perception, it seemed stable and we could easily keep track of them to consistently make money. It seemed like we were cheating, but it was not the case since it came from a physical ability. Because of this, the dungeon monster [Black Robes] did not see our cheating nor tried to stop us.
Even if we only played slots in the third ring, the amount of winnings made is excellent. While the bets are large, in exchange, the money income is also considerable. Having played here for 10 minutes and earning some seed money to start with, I sent the Avenger and his group to the fighting arena (Coliseum) to gamble and earn more. After wandering around with Kanami-chan to figure out what to do, I went to the roulette table.
When I went to the table, the game had already begun. A dungeon monster dealer with the appearance of a beautiful Northern European woman turned the rotating roulette disk (Wheel) on top of which spun a ball that must land in one of the 38 sections.
They were broken up into the sections numbering from 1 to 36 and painted in alternating colors of red and black, with the other two sections at the beginning numbering 0 painted in green. Since the game was already beginning, I decided to watch the bets of the other visitors (Players).
While observing for a while to understand the habits of the dealer and how the ball moved on the wheel, I bet small amounts. At this point, I was only winning double what I bet. Then, putting my bet all on one number, I safely won a large dividend of 36 times the amount.
At this point, the atmosphere around the table was wrapped in tremendous hustle and bustle, but there was nothing I could do about it. This time, I put 20 platinum chips that, due to coming straight into the third ring, was all that I had in my pocket. If I lost, it would have been necessary to leave and earn more. But since I won, I had earned 720 platinum chips.
That much money is on par with, or even superior than, the budget of the Sternbild Kingdom. Because of that, the hype that emerged was not unusual. That amount of money was uncomfortable to hold, so I exchanged almost all of the chips to black steel chips, which isn't used anywhere else except in the[Holy Land of Gambling]. After that, I was left with 20 platinum chips and 70 black steel chips.
While feeling the weight of the money in my hand, Kanami-chan and I went to Avenger and his group. Since we had earned more than enough money, we can quickly travel to the 5th ring. Fortunately, finding the Avenger's group was easy since they were in the area where the Coliseum arena-based fighting and gambling occurred.
I found them at a good moment, right when the Avenger knocked the King of the Arena out of the ring with a light blow. The king of the arena had been undefeated until this point, so the odds were stacked in his favor. Therefore, a large amount was won with the Avenger's victory, with his four teammates having placed all their money and hopes on him; they all had an overjoyed look on their faces.
I wanted to go further into the dungeon joining forces with the Avenger's group, but Kanami-chan wanted to have breakfast in one of the restaurants located in the [Holy Land of Gambling]. The dish was incredibly expensive, but a dungeon monster cooked by a dungeon chef was so delicious, it was priceless.
Suddenly, I had to order it several more times. After a little break, we moved on. We could move to the fourth ring easily since I had earned more than enough to advance a ring, so I just paid for everyone to go straight to the 5th ring.
The final (5th) ring in the deepest part of the dungeon, in comparison with the other ones, was extremely small since only a few could reach here. Because there was no need for a lot of space, it felt a little cramped. In exchange, the interior decoration could be compared to that of a palace. Furthermore, the amount of money that flowed through this place was several magnitudes higher than the budget of the Sternbild Kingdom. I was told that the equivalent of a small country's national budget could be won or lost in a single game. At such a place, the wealthy could lose an overwhelming amount of money.
At the same time, if there are those who could lose everything in just one defeat, there are also those who could become ridiculously wealthy when they were just at the brink of bankruptcy before.
Right now, I saw a well-built middle-aged raccoon beast-man desperately screaming after losing a big game, and a dragonewt in underwear flushed with excitement, giving a courageous shout of victory. Thinking of it as a very understandable reaction, we glanced at them with interest while hastily passing by.
We stopped once we reached a certain place. This was something similar to a department store. There were armor and magic potions, books and ornaments, precious jewels the size of a fist, laying carelessly on the shelves.
It was clear that these were all goods for immediate sale with the price tags attached to them, but the amount asked made it seem like such a rip-off that it's like someone's joke.
However, the quality was not a joke. The store sold armor type magic items with powerful stealth abilities, consumable medicine providing [life span increase (longevity)] or [internal magical power increase], and other incredible magic potions, a magic book (Grimoire) containing a terrible magic spell, as well as jewelry containing mysterious magic. So many wonderful treasures that it was impossible to look away.
If you look at them carefully, the prices really seemed quite reasonable. If you were to ask why there is this kind of a place in the[Holy Land of Gambling], first of all, the merchandise are all items lost by visitors. After losing too many games with the dungeon monsters, they used those items as a bet.
But anyway, there is not much use for visitors coming to the [Holy Land of Gambling] to buy anything, because honestly, the dungeon monsters will just end up winning them back. As a result, all of the items here on display are luxurious commodities, but only the conqueror of the dungeon can end up buying them.
Before, in the earlier rings, there were these places too; but, the things here should be of the highest quality. With this expectation, I took a brief look. I only took a brief look because one quick glance is enough to tell that the quality of goods is different in each section. That's why it made no sense to waste money there purposelessly.
Incidentally, for a certain period of time, the original owner has a preferential negotiating rights to buy the item wagered after it has been exhibited, where no one else can get it. So, if the last owner appears with enough money, he will be able to buy the item back. However, actually doing so is quite difficult.
The items exhibited here are things with an extremely high value in order to cover the large bets; so to buy them, you need quite a large sum. At the same time, buying back an item lost to a bet is even more of a struggle since the already high amount is marked up even further by the store.
Therefore, while looking for possible items to eat, I have no choice but to pretend to give up and sigh; but still, I keep on looking around for something good.
Gambling has lead to all these items being lost by somebody. There are those who can do nothing but stare nervously to confirm that it has not yet been bought by anyone else. If it turns out to be still there, they can only look more worried. But if not, despair appears on their face instead.
Time would be better spent making the money instead, if they have the time to worry like that. With this idea, I began to choose what would be useful here to buy. Every time I picked up an item, I would get a reaction from somebody. For one item I picked up, there was no reaction.
It was a huge gem. The gem, which had a transparent bluish color, was charged with a mysterious magical power. According to my appraisal, it seems to be [Jewel-Sealed Ability (Sealing Gem)].
Although it is a gem, it seems that if I wanted to, I can easily crush it in my hand like a balloon, and while crushing it, acquire the [Ability (Skill)] -which is quite good.
That's the most dreadful thing about the [Holy Land of Gambling]. You can play not only for gold, but anything you like, exchanging its worth for a corresponding amount of chips.
Naturally, things like armor and other personal belongings can be exchanged. However, other things can be exchanged too, including but not limited to: past memories, internal organs, the maximum value of your mana, [Jobs] and [Combat Arts], even your sense of honor or your life. However, abilities that are a disadvantage like [Weakness to Blunt Hits] or [Weakness to Cold] cannot be used as collateral since they are not beneficial and thus have no value.
If you win using the chips received, there will be no problems and the collateral will be delivered safe and sound back to the owner. But if you lose... the result will be something like this [Jewel-Sealed Ability]. It may contain [Jobs] and [Combat Arts] as well as other abilities, which have no form themselves.
Normally, there is no way to materialize something like this and transfer it to someone else. But we can assume it can be done here through the [Jewel-Sealed Ability], a unique item that can only be obtained in the[Holy Land of Gambling].
These [Jewel-Sealed Ability] are rare. But if you look around here carefully, several can be found. In other rings, there were only mediocre ones. Only on the last section was it possible to find [Jewel-Sealed Ability] of good quality. That is, it is a rare commodity.
I found one [Jewel-Sealed Ability] with a green light, containing the special ability [Demonic Insect's Natural Enemy] that could be obtained in a[Age of the Gods Dungeon].
For the purposes of the Avenger, it is a very useful ability. It allows for the application of critical damage to certain creatures. Given that this is one of the skills obtained in a[Age of the Gods Dungeon], it is very expensive. But probably, because it is a [Jewel-Sealed Ability] with a relatively low level of utility, it is classified as unpopular. Because of this, the price is slightly lower, only 3 platinum pieces.
For something of this price, I immediately bought the [Jewel-Sealed Ability] and gave it to Avenger immediately for him to use. While doing so, I thought if it would be good to find abilities that are more easily applicable or useful.
After that, Avenger was surrounded by a glow that almost immediately entered into his body. With this, he had the ability [Demonic Insect's Natural Enemy]. Thus, since we have achieved one of our goals here, I decided to look for something else for myself.
Among the exhibited products were a group of items that have stayed unsold for a long time due to their exorbitant price. In addition, among them are even a few [Jewel-Sealed Ability], which were made here from the lost bets of [Great Heroes] and even [Emperors]. Fragments of their abilities were there, emitting a radiance large enough for my eyes to pop out of their sockets.
At first, I thought to buy them, but then changed my mind, deciding that they would still be there after I conquer this place.
Since gambling relies on a luck factor though, stealing this place will not come as easily as before. So I decided I would be content with just successfully completing one of the goals for Avenger here. However, it would be disastrous if I splurge here and as a result, there is not enough money in the war chest when I need it. Though, when you win, you should do whatever you like.
With this in mind, I headed toward the center of the 5th ring, which is located in a recess that allows you to watch all the games around - the place where the [Legendary Gambler], the boss of the[Holy Land of Gambling], sat in front of me.
He had rich white hair tied back into a ponytail, with a black vest and a white shirt, upon which laid a neatly knotted butterfly bow tie. On the face of the [Legendary Gambler] appeared a fearless smile and he asked me,
"What kind of game shall we play?"
The[Holy Land of Gambling]has countless methods of gambling. The only way to beat the [Legendary Gambler] is to choose 3 types among them and win 2 out of the 3 matches. Even if I attack him, there would be no response. I cannot even touch him. Thus, I did not do something useless and chose to play the most popular roulette first.
Nodding, the [Legendary Gambler] beckoned to the roulette table rising from the floor. At the same time, music began, notifying all the visitors in the 5th ring that I have issued a challenge. As the audience gradually gathered, the [Legendary Gambler] laughed, "Actually, roulette is my greatest specialty."
[Dungeon boss [Legendary Gambler] successfully subjugated.]
[God Psalm[Holy Land of Gambling]Clearing Conditions [Excessive Victory] [Revenge] [Ultra Luck] have been met.]
[Yatendouji granted a special ability [Probability Control (Probability Oscillation)].]
[As a bonus for the first subjugation, Yatendouji will be awarded a treasure chest [Price of the Bet].]
[As a privilege for conquering, use of the Warp Gate will be enabled.]
[Please be careful when using the Warp Gate.]
[For those who have awakened the Psalms／The key figures of God's Lost Psalms, a part of the[God of Gambling]'s divine power will be granted.]
[As the collector is an important figure of a Greater God, the quality of the Divine Power collected will be inferior.]
[Portions of the Divine Power rejected by this rule will be turned into an object.]
[Yatendouji has obtained[God of Gambling's Gambling Dice].]
[By activating the unique ability [Dungeon Plunder-Howls of the Underworld], it is possible to seize [Holy Land of Gambling].]
[Would you like to steal?]
[≪ＹＥＳ≫ ≪ＮＯ≫]
Placing the received Divine treasure [God of Gambling's Gambling Dice], that radiates a golden glow, as well as 3 treasure chests into the item box, I selected "Yes".
[Special Ability[Dungeon Plunder]has been invoked. At this moment, control of the[Holy Land of Gambling]will shift from the[God of Gambling]to Yatendouji.]
[From now on, please manage the dungeon at your own discretion.]