The gambling hall erupted into chaos as the gamblers bolted, scattering in all directions, not even bothering to collect their chips.
"This way," someone said.
Lin Chuan also ducked his head, quickly blending into the departing crowd.
In reality, he hoped the swindler would be caught.
But in the virtual world of "Experience Life," he was the swindler, and all he wanted to do was escape.
If he were to be caught, wouldn't his "Experience Life" come to an abrupt halt?
That simply wouldn't do.
If the "Experience Life" wasn't complete, he might not even be able to take the Cheating Techniques back to reality.
Lin Chuan's card skills were terrible, he always lost to all three players when playing with friends. Learning this poker cheating technique, he didn't need to swindle, just not losing so badly would suffice.
Life was already tough enough, there was no need to rub salt in the wounds.
If he could pick up a thing or two, maybe when he got a girlfriend in the future and had to play mahjong with his mother-in-law, he wouldn't be at such a loss. Losing everything.
Cough, wishful thinking.
Lin Chuan was still a single dog, with no end in sight to his bachelorhood.
Real world.
Night rain shattered against the windowsill, blooming in a burst of fleeting flowers, the cool breeze carrying the chill of early spring, blowing into Lin Chuan's room.
The experience of "Life" continued.
Scenes after scenes, as if from a first-person point of view, projected like a movie before Lin Chuan's eyes.
Lin Chuan, a master of Cheating Techniques, could play dice, poker, mahjong, Pai Gow... Every game was his domain in the Martial World, and he seldom met his match!
Life, as fascinating as a novel.
The night rain in Anling City had stopped.
Outside Lin Chuan's window stretched a clear night sky, with moonlight faintly filtering through the clouds and the crystal-clear glass, illuminating the room.
A sweet female voice echoed in Lin Chuan's mind.
[Congratulations, your 'Swindler's Life' experience has been completed.]
A smile spread across Lin Chuan's lips.
He waited for the system's next announcement.
[You have acquired 'Cheating Techniques'.]
[Your swindler career experience has been automatically converted into the novel "Swindler".]
[Would you like to export it now?]
Lin Chuan laughed, "Export it! Export it ruthlessly!"
How to export?
It turned out that the system had installed an exporting software on Lin Chuan's computer.
As soon as the 'Experience Life' was complete, this software could automatically generate the text.
However, it required some time.
[Exporting...]
[Due to the lengthy nature of the 'Swindler's Life' experience, the novel is expected to be about 1 million words, requiring 10 hours to export.]
[Current progress: 5%.]
...
The following morning, Lin Chuan woke up.
Reflecting on last night's experience, his mind was still foggy and in a daze.
Compared to the 'Thief's Life', the 'Swindler's Life' contained much more information. Even after sleeping, Lin Chuan's temples were still throbbing.
This was clearly a sign of overusing his brain.
Lin Chuan rubbed his temples, then checked the exporting progress.
[Current progress: 80%.]
"It's not finished yet; I'll go buy a couple of decks of playing cards to try out the Cheating Techniques."
Lin Chuan quickly washed up and headed downstairs.
His rental apartment was on the sixth floor, a walk-up building without an elevator. Below was a small supermarket owned by Old Zhang, the landlord.
Today, the sun was shining bright.
Inside the small supermarket, it wasn't Old Zhang behind the counter but a rather pretty girl in a loose hoodie and gray sweatpants, sucking on a lollipop.
Lin Chuan recognized her.
She was Old Zhang's daughter, Zhang.
Lin Chuan strode into the supermarket: "Zhang, grab me a couple of decks of playing cards."
Zhang jumped up flusteredly, pulling at her sweatpants, "What do you need?"
But the tablet on the table was still on, showing a video playing softly and suggestively: 'Madam, you surely don't want to...'
Lin Chuan's eyes sharpened.
That's the new series that just came out, right?
Lin Chuan remembered very well, the series number was ************
Zhang's face flushed as she hurriedly pressed the power button on the tablet, "You just said... what do you need?"
Lin Chuan smiled, "Two decks of playing cards for me."
Zhang immediately took two decks of cards off the shelf, "That's four yuan."
"Zhang, you surely don't want to..." Lin Chuan grinned.
"Just take it, hurry up."
Still blushing, Zhang pushed the playing cards towards Lin Chuan.
Lin Chuan blinked, "Could you also give me a couple of dice?"
Zhang pursed her lips, deftly fetching the dice from a drawer.
"Where's Old Zhang?"
Lin Chuan asked casually.
"He played cards all night yesterday, and he's probably still at it," Zhang said with a sneer, "You, a novelist, why are you always prying into other people's privacy?"
"Cough cough, girls should watch less explicit stuff!"
Lin Chuan burst into laughter and then took off.
He was a long-term tenant in this neighborhood and frequented the local store for daily necessities, so he was acquainted with Old Zhang and Zhang.
As for the landlord, Old Zhang, his only job was collecting rent, and his hobby was playing cards and mahjong—often till midnight, even all night.
Sometimes when he lost too much, he'd even raise the utilities fees.
Therefore, Lin Chuan had no qualms about tricking Zhang out of the two decks of playing cards and the dice.
Lin Chuan was even considering, should he challenge Old Zhang to a couple of games and win back his rent?
No!
He'd also have to let him owe a few years' rent.
Hahaha…
Lin Chuan returned to his rented place, a one-bedroom, one-living room apartment.
The rain last night had washed away the oppressive and heavy air.
Now, the morning sun, unobstructed, barged into his room aggressively, almost filling up the entire cramped space.
Lin Chuan took a deep breath and took out his props.
First to try rolling the dice.
He found the dice cup, put three dice in it, and started shaking.
The system might have rewarded the skill, but it was just theory; he had to experiment to find out if it was real "Cheating Techniques."
The dice cup, the crisp sound reverberating inside the cup.
Clack!
The dice cup came to rest.
"Triple sixes, open!"
He opened the dice cup—three sixes!
A real triple!
Let's go again!
Clack!
Clack!
Clack!
With continuous practice, Lin Chuan's hand shaking the dice cup started blurring in the sunlight.
Every time, three sixes, triple!
"I truly am a Cheating Sect genius!"
Lin Chuan showed off his eight shiny teeth in the sunlight.
Strike while the iron's hot. If dice Cheating Techniques were no problem, it was time to test the card Cheating Techniques.
Lin Chuan immediately took out the playing cards.
The hand speed honed over twenty-four years of singledom was indeed fast.
The brand-new playing cards, in Lin Chuan's hands, were as he wished; he had any card he wanted.
This level of skill was at least that of a Cheating Sect's Righteous General with decades of experience!
"I've made it, taoist master here!"
"From now on, I'm the king of the gambling table!"
"Hahaha!"
Lin Chuan got slightly carried away, his laughter filling the small apartment.
At this moment.
The neighborhood suddenly erupted with a cacophony of noise.
As a writer used to failure but professional in spirit, Lin Chuan instinctively walked to the window and looked down to capture material from real life.
On the ground, several police cars were parked haphazardly.
A group of people, escorted by officers in blue uniforms, formed a line and got onto the police cars, while onlookers gathered around curiously.
"What's happened?"
Lin Chuan muttered curiously.
Suddenly, he saw a familiar figure in the crowd.
Landlord Old Zhang!
His daughter, Zhang, was wiping away tears ceaselessly nearby.
Yikes!
Lin Chuan inhaled sharply, immediately realizing what was happening.
Landlord Old Zhang and the others had been caught for hosting a gambling gathering.
Lin Chuan looked at the dice and playing cards in his hands; it felt like a bucket of cold water had been poured over his heart, chilling him to the core.
Gamble?
That's something you can't afford to get involved with!
Once you descend into the gambling world, life just gets more and more difficult.
Lin Chuan pursed his lips.
After much contemplation, he put away the playing cards and the dice.
"Forget it, let's see if anyone likes 'Swindler's Life'?" Lin Chuan mumbled to himself.
Gambling is never the right path.
Writing is the ultimate destination!