Chapter 188: The "Fair" Fate
Alice was contemplating while reading Roselle's diary.
"February 11th, today I learned a secret about the Soren family, hahaha, it made me laugh to death! Hahaha!
"Turns out, the 'Hunter' pathway they control undergoes a sex change at Sequence 4. Men remain the same, but women turn into men! No wonder none of the high-sequence powerhouses in the Soren family I know of are women. The 'Iron-Blooded Knight' is indeed a true iron-blooded man!
"Hahaha, if this secret weren't so hidden, I'd want to use it to mock Floran next time. The Soren family ancestor he resembles might have originally been a woman!
"This potion is too much of a pitfall, isn't it? I hope the 'Polymath' pathway won't have any peculiar changes at high sequences. I don't want to suddenly find out one day that I either can't advance or have to turn into a woman."
Although it seems reasonable that if there are men turning into women, there should be women turning into men, and although the 'Iron-Blooded Knight' being a true iron-blooded man also makes sense, then, assuming these two are in close sequences...
Your 'Witch' pathway's Sequence 4 called 'Desperate Witch' wouldn't be because you can't change back after drinking the potion, right?
Hmm, I don't know what Sequence 5 is called...
Alice carefully read this entire page of the diary, which was filled with a mocking tone, and silently retorted in her heart:
Oh Emperor, although you didn't turn into a woman, you did sleep with a 'Witch,' maybe more than one...
With mixed feelings, Alice turned the page and made up her mind—regardless of whether the Soren family ancestor was male or female, from today onwards, she would be female!
A new rumor was born just like that.
After destroying the evidence, Alice happily prepared to check out various bars.
Backlund had long banned gambling. Officially, card games, dice, and the like were completely prohibited. The only remaining betting activities were boxing and the rat-catching game.
However, was there really no underground casino to go to? Alice's restless heart stirred twice, but she ultimately decided not to do such a disgraceful thing.
If she really wanted to play, she could go to a city where gambling wasn't banned. Otherwise, if a "winner" got caught gambling during the ban, people would think she had gone mad with poverty...
Alice decided to observe the rat-catching game for a while.
Alice still felt a slight discomfort with the bar environment. Anyone could tell at a glance that she wasn't a regular in such places, but... who cares!
Becoming more and more carefree, Alice decided to ignore this matter. Of course, the main reason was that she had already discovered in the East District that even if she changed her outfit, it still felt off, and it was even quite obvious.
Gathering her scattered thoughts, Alice focused on the rat-catching game.
Alice certainly didn't really want to gamble; she just wanted to study the role-playing method... yes, that must be it.
The rat-catching game was similar to World Cup betting. Betting on which of the two dogs would win was straightforward, but the real high odds lay in betting on the score.
That is, betting on how many rats each dog could catch.
There were range bets, such as "less than five" or "five to ten," and specific number bets, with the latter obviously having higher odds.
Alice was briefly tempted by the significantly higher odds for zero rats.
Then she remembered she hadn't brought any money.
What a pity... wait, why was she feeling pity?
Alice immediately became alert.
Although the Brave Bar wasn't a real casino, and the rat-catching game was quite different from the gambling she remembered, the atmosphere undeniably had an impact on people's mindset.
It was like she unconsciously wanted to try her luck, after all, she was already here.
After sternly warning herself, Alice stood a bit further from the betting area and observed the main characters of the game—the two dogs on the stage.
The dog on the left was black and white, larger in size, and looked fierce, sitting there with its tongue out. For some reason, Alice felt its eyes looked a bit silly.
The dog on the right had shiny black fur, slightly smaller than the one on the left, but both were large dogs. Unlike the somewhat dazed-looking dog on the left, the one on the right had fierce eyes, looking like it had been through many battles.
These two dogs were locked in an iron cage, but from Alice's observation, the cage was quite spacious with very small mesh, obviously not to prevent the dogs from escaping—most likely to block the rats.
The real restraint on the dogs seemed to be the iron chains attached to the collars around their necks.
At this moment, as if a new game was about to start, two burly men each dragged a sack to the cage and emptied the contents.
As the densely packed, squeaking rats poured out of the sacks, Alice instinctively frowned and took two steps back.
Fortunately, she had already stepped out of the crowded inner circle and stopped in the outer circle, otherwise, she would have bumped into someone.
Alice looked back at the stage. The rats were gray-black, numbering in the dozens or even hundreds.
Regaining their freedom, they scurried around the cage, searching for an escape route.
Alice forced herself to keep her eyes fixed on the scene.
It wasn't that she was afraid of rats, but anyone would feel a bit of trypophobia seeing so many rats at once...
Alice prayed powerlessly for the game to start quickly.
With the cage door closed and the chains on the dogs released, the game finally officially began.
The black and white dog was initially stunned, then happily wagged its tail and played with the rats on the ground, seemingly unaware of the situation.
The black dog, on the other hand, acted like a trained hunter, barking and pouncing.
People around either stared intently or shouted, "Kill it! Bite it!"
Seeing one gambler shouting with a red face and thick neck, Alice pondered for a moment and casually cast a bit of misfortune on the black dog.
The fierce black dog slipped, its sharp teeth hitting the floor hard, not only failing to catch anything but also getting dizzy.
Alice was satisfied to see the gamblers who bet on the black dog start cursing angrily, especially the one shouting the loudest.
Counting the number of people whose emotions changed, Alice realized that the black dog might have a good reputation here.
The black and white dog seemed to snap out of it from the black dog's slip. It looked at the rats still playing with it, raised its paw, and slammed it down.
After a brief thought, Alice also cast a bit of misfortune on the black and white dog.
Hehe, this is fun.