Chereads / The Merchant / Chapter 15 - Crazy Night

Chapter 15 - Crazy Night

After playing 6 games of Black Jack, Luck was eagerly putting up all his money again to start Game 7 when Zack grabbed him.

"Aren't you bored of Black Jack, get up and let's play other games."

"No, I'm not bored at all, I want to continue."

"Let's play another game." Zack grabbed Luck and lifted him off the table.

"WTF? Zack let go of me! I'm so lucky I keep winning at Black Jack!" 

Zack pulled Luck away from the Black Jack table with a lot of effort and said, "Shut up! Are you lucky? What lucky?"

"You're like a baby who doesn't know shit! Do you think you can win that many games in a row in a casino just because you're lucky? Look around you!"

He was surrounded by people obsessively looking at the gaming tables, a few happy shouts could be heard, but most of them were bemoaning the money they had lost when the game was over.

"Don't be fooled by the glitz and glamor of this place, Luck! This place will let people win a few times to give them hope that they can win money, and then it will suck you dry to your soul!"

"Look at these people!" Zack pointed to a group of people.

One man was staring intently at the cards in his hands

"This time I will win!"

Another man, after losing a game and having no gambling chips left, got up in a hurry and started running somewhere.

"Wait for me, I'll get some gambling chips!" 

The man at another gaming table was crying his eyes out.

"I lost... I lost everything..."

Other images like this could be seen all over the casino and they all had one thing in common, after winning a few times, they kept playing, enjoying the pleasure of winning, and eventually, they became addicted.

They were like fish caught in the bait.

"See, is there a winner like you?"

Luck, not understanding what was happening, said, "No, but why..."

Zack poked the pin on Luck's lapel with his finger. "That's the whole reason!"

"What do you mean?" The question mark over Luck's head was visible.

"Luck, sometimes I can't tell if you're naive or stupid," Zack folded his hand over his face in exasperation.

"Luck, you do realize we're here to launder money, right? We gave the gold coins to Sabrina and she gave you a way to make money here."

"That horn on your collar is a signal to the croupiers! They make you win, but she said you can't play more than six games in a row."

"When did he say six games?!"

Zack sighed, "When that big guy told you not to get unlucky on the 7th..."

Luck seemed enlightened "Oh... so that's why he said that... I was wondering why he said nonsense..."

"You're really stupid... how did you live to be this old with this intelligence?"

After Luck realized what had happened, he moved from one gambling table to another for the rest of the night.

He won at poker, dice, roulette, slot machines, and even coin toss. Of course, he never played Game 7.

At the end of the night, he had a bag full of gambling chips.

10 million dollars! That's how much he won at the end of the night!

"You're lucky, aren't you?" Zack was looking at Luck with a mocking look.

"Hahaha, luck..." Luck blushed, remembering what had happened earlier.

"Thank you, Zack."

"Huh? Thank you for what?"

"I wouldn't know what to do with the gold without you."

Zack suddenly became serious "There's nothing to thank, I got my commission."

"Thanks anyway..."

"But Luck, don't get involved, they say if you look into the darkness, it will look back at you...There is no end to this."

Luck, who still had more than 300 horsemen, was thinking of asking Zack for help.

"Zack, I have a confession to make..."

"I can imagine...shut up..." Zack looked around.

"I don't know how much more gold you have, but I'm sure it's more than you gave me..."

Luck was shocked "How did you know..."

"I know you Luck, even though you're an idiot, you're a sane person and you weren't afraid of losing all that gold even though you gave it away."

Embarrassed, Luck said, "I don't know whether you're praising me or putting me down."

"Take it however you like. But don't draw attention to yourself by bringing out more gold for a while."

"What do you mean?"

Zack sighed "Luck you've got a lot of gold that doesn't come from nowhere, when this comes out people are going to wonder where it's coming from Luck, why should people who launder money get by with a little commission when they can have it all?"

The realization hit Luck like a heavy truck.

-Hello Truck-kun.

"Can people come after me?" Luck was getting scared.

Zack shook his head, "I don't think so, a few million isn't much in the eyes of these people, but the more you make, the more attention you get."

Luck's dreams of getting rich by selling the gold seemed to have been dashed. He couldn't even buy a decent house with all the money he was making now.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Luck said, "Ohh, that's a relief, I couldn't bear it if something happened to my mom or my brother."

"Anyway, don't forget to pay taxes on the money you earn or the police will be after you..."

"Taxes? How much?" Luck had completely forgotten about taxes.

Zack put his hand on his chin and pretended to think "Hmm let's see, since the tax rate on games of chance is 20%... You won 10 million then by my calculation..."

"Two million!" Zack said with a big smile on his face.

"Oh, shit."

...

Late on the Same Night

Silently entering the door of his house, Luck walked silently to his room, like a cat in pitch darkness, with heavy steps.

"I was surprised..."

Luck jumped in fright when he suddenly heard a noise.

"What the fuck?" 

"I didn't think you'd be back so late when you went out at night."

"Mom, you scared me." Luck recognized the owner of the voice, even though he couldn't see anything in the darkness.

"Where were you until this time?" 

"I was out with friends, Mommy." 

"Stop kissing ass, what's that smell?" Luck's mother's expression darkened.

"Is that alcohol? HAVE YOU BEEN DRINKING ALCOHOL?"

"No, I..." Luck faltered in fear when his mother yelled at him.

"Don't lie, I understand! What the fuck did you do!"

"Mom, I..."

"Tell me where you were with whom!"

"I was with Zack!" he blurted out.

"Zack?" her mother looked confused.

"Zack, your friend from college? The one who works at the casino?"

"Yes, that Zack."

Her mother frowned "What are you doing with him? Did you go to the casino with him? Is that why you smell like alcohol?"

"Yes, I went to the casino with him..." Luck began to speak without thinking and his mother's expression darkened as he spoke.

She tapped Luck's chest with the tip of her finger and said, "Did you gamble? Did you get spoiled when you won some money?"

"No, Mom, we... we..." he slurred, not knowing what to say.

"WHAT! TELL ME!"

"The two of us are going to start a business!" he told the first lie he could think of.