The girl was puzzled, "Gamble?"
"Yes."
Ji Xun nodded, his eyes bright and confident, his voice steady and calm, "I'm betting that my reasoning is correct."
"..."
Hearing this, the girl simply couldn't understand what her teammate was thinking. His tone was so calm, there was no fear or anxiety in it. Instead, there was a sense of eager anticipation... for gambling with his life?
He wanted to gamble with the monster?
This guy wasn't afraid of death!
At this moment, only one word came to her mind: Crazy.
...
Maybe it was because of the fluorescent powder, or perhaps Ji Xun's jinxing words. They had barely stopped when a foul stench filled the air, and the dog-headed monster appeared in a flash.
Face to face, the terrifying pressure of an A-class calamity was palpable, making one's scalp tingle. The curse-type monster also brought an infinite, abyss-like terror.
However, the monster chose not Ji Xun but the girl with the mechanical arm.
Her expression changed drastically, her face darkening as she cursed, "Damn bad luck."
Among so many people, it chose her. She could only blame her luck.
Yet, even now, she wasn't entirely hopeless. The mercenaries might be helpless against this calamity, but that didn't mean she was. She had an ancient artifact capable of forcibly exiting the dimension through spatial teleportation. Once used, she could leave immediately.
The only downside was that using this treasure would mean losing everything gained in this space, including the rare [Witch's Pituitary Gland].
Missing this chance, she didn't know if she'd ever find such a suitable career material again. She didn't want to give up unless absolutely necessary.
But now, facing the monstrous dog head, it was an absolute situation.
No choice left.
She felt a pang of regret and a sense of guilt, knowing that if she left, her teammate would undoubtedly die, despite her promise to protect him. Yet, this was beyond her control.
Sigh...
Just as she was about to use the special artifact to escape, something unexpected happened.
She never imagined that she would hear a challenging question, full of provocation, "Do you dare to gamble with me?"
The girl's eyes widened in disbelief, looking at Ji Xun.
For a moment, her mind went blank.
It took her a second to realize what Ji Xun had done.
This guy...
He was provoking the monster?
He was challenging the monster!!!
Sure enough, the monster couldn't tolerate this taunt.
For a gambler, there was no such thing as a bet they wouldn't take.
The monster immediately abandoned its current target and turned to Ji Xun, a mocking smile appearing on its dog face, "Where is the Ace of Spades?"
...
This bizarre scene left the girl completely stunned.
She looked at Ji Xun, full of confusion. This guy had saved her?
Why would he do that?
They were merely cooperating, it wasn't necessary...
At this moment, the girl finally understood what he meant earlier by "we." When he said "if we get targeted," he was already prepared to face the monster.
But this...
No one had ever survived against the [Gambling Dog]. Why would he do this?
The girl couldn't comprehend and felt a complex mix of emotions towards her temporary teammate.
...
Had Ji Xun suddenly become self-sacrificing?
No!
It was absolute rationality that made him analyze the situation.
If his bodyguard teammate died, Ji Xun was certain he wouldn't survive next.
Even those well-equipped mercenaries had a slim chance of survival, let alone himself.
Any minor monster could be a fatal threat to him.
Running now would only mean surviving a bit longer, without any real meaning.
Unable to kill the dog-headed monster meant inevitable death.
Moreover, there was another crucial factor.
He needed to verify a hypothesis.
The gathered information had formed a coherent theory in his mind.
He had understood part of the "game rules" of this other-dimensional space.
This was his confidence in speaking up.
However, this verification process indeed involved a gamble.
Ji Xun felt that if he hesitated now, living like this wasn't worth it.
With only 30% of the area explored, verifying these hypotheses was his only real chance to clear this space alive.
Besides,
An eager thought had long been stirring within him.
He genuinely wanted to take a gamble.
What's more thrilling than gambling with life?
...
"I choose..."
Ji Xun wore a calm expression, deliberately stalling for time.
Seeing the girl struggling internally, he guessed she was going through a complex thought process.
But staying here wasn't wise.
He raised an eyebrow and gave a signal to leave quickly.
The girl hesitated, feeling it was ungrateful to leave after being saved.
But seeing Ji Xun's urging look, she steeled her resolve, knowing staying would be futile, and said, "Take care!"
With that, she swiftly retreated down the corridor, her figure soon disappearing.
With his teammate gone, there was no longer any factor that could cause an unexpected mishap.
Ji Xun felt a sense of ease.
At that moment, it was as if a beast within him awakened, and a thrilling excitement surged through him.
Facing the monster, he showed no fear, instead, a challenging smile curled on his lips.
Like a clown walking a tightrope, his grin grew brighter.
The monster looked at him, full of ridicule.
"I choose this one."
Ji Xun, one hand in his pocket, made his choice.
He casually picked a card and turned it over.
A miraculous scene unfolded.
The card revealed the Ace of Spades.
The gambling dog, still wearing a mocking grin, froze in shock, as if asking: How is this possible?
In an instant, the dog-headed monster seemed to realize something.
It had lost a second of memory: it had been mentally interfered with!
But rules are rules.
The established rules of the curse technique had no exceptions.
At this moment, the [Cursed Gambler], like all gamblers, tried to grasp at the last straw to survive.
But the backlash from the curse hit with overwhelming force.
Ji Xun narrowed his eyes, smiling brilliantly at the dog-headed monster, "Looks like my luck is good, I guessed right."
The monster couldn't say anything as the life drained from its eyes rapidly.
This gamble was a bet on life.
The monster lost and the curse's backfired...
Killed on the spot.
Ji Xun watched the monstrous corpse collapse before him and let out a satisfied sigh.
At this moment, the pathological pleasure from the excitement made him feel as if his soul had ascended.
...
Although Ji Xun played poker well, he wasn't arrogant enough to believe he could gamble against an A-level disaster.
Just like monsters cheat, he also used some underhanded methods.
In his pocket, he held the skill card "Witch's Gaze" obtained from hunting the Fallen Witch earlier.
When released, it could cause mental hypnosis to targets within its range.
The "Cursed Gambler" on the third floor was much more threatening than the "Fallen Witch" on the second floor.
But in terms of mental power, the latter was probably stronger.
If the target didn't resist this spell, it would result in at least one second of forced hypnosis.
When drawing cards earlier, Ji Xun used this hypnosis, not giving the dog-headed monster a chance to cheat, and directly revealed the cards.
Fortunately, he picked the right one immediately.
Even if he didn't, he would have had time to flip another card.
Sure enough, he won.
This confirmed his guess.
...
Once the disaster died, a green light slowly gathered over the monster's corpse.
Ji Xun watched the card floating within the light and confirmed his suspicion, mumbling to himself, "Just as I thought..."
"Gambler's Severed Hand"
Quality: Silver
Description: One-time mystical spell skill card; casts a curse spell on a single target below the second rank with mental power not exceeding 100% of the user's, with a 50% chance of instant death; if it fails, the curse backfires, dealing equivalent damage to the caster.
The monster dropped another skill card, the eerie life-or-death curse spell.
A forced 50% death rate, very powerful!
And very tricky!
Ji Xun carefully read the card's effects, a gleam of wisdom in his eyes.
At this moment, he finally confirmed something.
This was indeed a gamble.
But it wasn't a gamble of luck or cheating skills; it was about understanding the rules of the space.
Since brute force couldn't kill the boss, only the rules could.
This was what Ji Xun wanted to verify.
On a deeper level, he understood the mindset of the designer of this alternate dimension.
...XS12
The A-level disaster "Gambling Dog" was dead, the curse power within the monster lost control, and Ji Xun stood by the corpse, gaining insight once again.
"Cursed power out of control, suffering from pollution erosion, physique"
There was still a glowing substance in the corpse's chest, probably another extraordinary material.
But Ji Xun didn't have a magical space containment card.
Even if he extracted this material, it would be risky to handle.
Just then, a figure slowly emerged from the corridor corner not far away.
It was his teammate, with an incredulous expression.
The monster could teleport to find people, making escape meaningless.
The girl with the mechanical arm had been hiding in a nearby vent, the limit of her sensing range.
She had planned to escape once her temporary teammate's presence disappeared.
But after waiting for a moment, she didn't sense her teammate's death but instead felt the disaster's presence strangely vanish?!
Though hard to believe, the evidence was right before her eyes.
Ji Xun looked at his returning teammate and smiled gently; his teammate was still loyal.
Unable to contain her curiosity, the girl with the mechanical arm asked, "Did you...really kill the monster?"
Someone dozens of times weaker than herself had actually killed the A-level curse-type disaster alone?
How did this guy do it?!
It was really hard to understand, so she looked at Ji Xun with a subtle and complex feeling toward this temporary teammate.