novelraw Chapter 149 : Guillotine Match
Chapter 149 : Guillotine Match
Chapter 149: Guillotine Match
There was something called a guillotine match.
It meant a no-retreat duel where one had to kill the other to survive.
And the man put forth by Chief Steward Bang, the one called Do-Gwi, seemed to be an expert in such matches.
The gamblers, drunkards, and courtesans in the gambling den murmured in shock just from his appearance.
With a sinister grin, he slammed down a vicious-looking blade—like a guillotine—between us.
A clear message: Try to cheat if you dare. He must’ve been well-versed in all the little tricks played during gambling.
Surrounding me with martial artists and using the infamous name of Do-Gwi and that blade to apply pressure—this was a scheme to tie my hands and rob me clean.
And to do it legally, right in front of a crowd.
If they took the money by force, it would cause an uproar. And if they could even expose me cheating mid-gamble, all the better.
“Cutting off a hand for cheating, huh… You’re wagering your own hand too, aren’t you, Do-Gwi?”
But there was something they didn’t know yet.
I had never once used sleight of hand. If anything, I merely received a little help from the ghostly Salseong-i.
“How impudent.”
My provocative words stirred the gambling den. A sharp glint sparked from deep in Do-Gwi’s sunken eyes.
He sneered at me before gesturing to the martial artists from the Man Geum Trading Post to set up the board.
Once the table was ready, Do-Gwi dropped heavily into his seat.
Meanwhile, Ilhong approached with a worried look, and I asked her,
“Hey, who exactly is this Do-Gwi guy?”
She looked at me with disbelief.
“…Boss, you challenged him without even knowing that?”
I didn’t challenge him. They blocked the exits and forced this match on me.
Seems the Goat-bearded Steward had no intention of letting me leave peacefully.
In that case, I’d take this opportunity to sever this rotten connection once and for all.
“He reeks of blood. They say he’s chopped off dozens of wrists. Some have even died. And it’s said the level he’s reached is no joke.”
Ilhong explained that he was such a notorious gambler in the field that he even had an alias.
Can I win?
I stared at my palm, now glowing red, and asked.
Salseong-i, with her slender fingers, stirred the tea in the cup, forming faint letters.
‘I… will… win…’
I let out a dry chuckle at her confidence.
Her intentions were as clear as day.
She wanted to keep showering me with victories, making me addicted to the thrill of gambling, and eventually drag me down a path of ruin.
But I already saw through her plan—what she wished for wouldn’t come to pass.
“We’ll take turns shaking the bamboo dice shaker. Let’s begin.”
With many eyes watching, they offered me the chance to shake the juk-tong for fairness.
Once everything was set, Do-Gwi slowly began shaking the two bamboo containers filled with dice.
Rattle, rattle. The sound of wood clacking echoed as the dice rolled inside.
“A-su-ra-bal-bal-ta…”
I quietly chanted as I watched the scene.
“What the hell is that chant supposed to be?”
“It’s a thing.”
I gave a brief answer to Jo Harang and watched closely as the juk-tong hit the table.
Opening one, it revealed three, three, three—my dice.
Salseong-i, like a ghost, slipped into the other container to check the result.
Three, three, two—she held up her fingers to show it was just one point short of mine.
“It’s the first round. Let’s keep the stakes light.”
I smiled confidently and slid thirty silver coins and ten gold coins forward.
Do-Gwi twisted his lips into a sneer at my bold bet.
What was that look? He seemed to have something up his sleeve.
“Then let’s reveal it.”
Do-Gwi suddenly lifted his juk-tong. A tense silence fell across the gambling den.
As his dice revealed three, three, four—one point higher than mine—the crowd began to murmur.
“Heh, Do-Gwi wins.”
“That young man lost money for the first time.”
“Even luck can’t beat Do-Gwi, huh…”
Groans spread at the first loss of the handsome young man who had been on a winning streak.
I heard whispers all around—Of course, Do-Gwi is Do-Gwi.
Chief Steward Bang, watching nearby, allowed a victorious smile to bloom on his lips.
Salseong-i… did you lie to me?
I stared accusingly at the red palm that had held up the “three, three, two” sign.
But she flared up with red light, shaking her hand left and right in denial.
No… you idiot…
She was saying that before the juk-tong was lifted, the numbers had indeed been in my favor, but the moment he raised it, the result was altered.
She drew frantic patterns in the air, claiming Do-Gwi had used some trick inside the container.
“Your turn to shake.”
Half-doubting, I shook the juk-tong and placed it down.
Opening mine revealed average numbers.
Salseong-i once again urged me to bet, claiming I’d win. I pushed a stack of gold coins forward.
“Can I open my own container?”
I narrowed my eyes at Do-Gwi’s request.
Whatever trick he was planning, I gave permission to catch it in the act.
With a grin, he lifted his juk-tong.
Yet again, contrary to Salseong-i’s prediction, the win went to Do-Gwi. By a single point, he took everything on the table.
A strange tension spread across the gambling den. I could feel the growing worry in the gazes fixed on me.
That bastard… messing with the dice… inside the container…
Salseong-i’s fingers moved urgently. Her explanation was shocking.
Right after I went all-in and just before lifting the juk-tong, he had injected a sliver of gongryeok—inner energy—to subtly shake the dice.
The fact that he could manipulate such fine energy without being noticed… this was beyond gambling. It was martial arts mastery.
So he’s a master, after all.
What Ilhong had heard was true. I was convinced after seeing him freely project his energy.
Ssshh.
I took a deep breath. No matter how perfectly Salseong-i read the dice, if the outcome flipped the moment Do-Gwi touched the container, it was meaningless.
And since we were taking turns shaking the containers, one of the two rounds would inevitably be a loss for me.
“Boss, are you really sure you can win?”
Even Ilhong began to doubt me. She went so far as to offer to hold onto my money before I lost it all.
And behind Do-Gwi, the Goat-bearded Steward was smiling even deeper.
Watching it unfold was enough to make my blood boil.
Just then, Salseong-i began writing over the tea again—a message telling me to trust her.
Seeing that, I suddenly recalled a time when she had written something in the dirt and I had casually wiped it away with my foot.
‘Can you… mess with the dice too?’
If she could stir tea or write in dirt, then that meant she could physically interfere, even if only subtly.
‘Maybe…’
Salseong-i replied that she might be able to do it—if it was just a slight shake.
Now that I seemed to be getting wiped out instead of corrupted, she was becoming unusually proactive.
‘That’s enough.’
Tap! Do-Gwi placed the juk-tong down.
With two consecutive wins, his face was already full of smug triumph.
“You talk a big game, but you’re not much after all.”
Throwing my earlier provocation right back at me.
“I’m just warming up, you see.”
“Hmph, spare me the nonsense and place your bet.”
“Yessir, yessir.”
If this worked, it’d be my chance to strike back. I had to land a big win before he noticed anything had changed.
So I shoved forward a sizable stack of gold coins for this round.
Despite the consecutive losses, my bold betting made Do-Gwi’s eyes flash with suspicion.
Was I bluffing, or did I have a trick? He scanned me with doubt but soon scoffed, seemingly unbothered.
He must’ve had great confidence in his own sleight of hand.
“That young man’s betting too much.”
“He’s up against Do-Gwi. Someone stop him.”
“What’s he thinking, betting like that?”
The crowd murmured with the same sentiment. Pitying voices rose, saying I was being reckless.
But the most dangerous moment in a gambling den… was when the gambler felt certain of their victory.
“A-su-ra… bal-bal-ta.”
I quietly chanted the spell.
As Do-Gwi sent his inner energy into the juk-tong, Salseong-i simultaneously shook the dice.
She twisted the outcome and slipped away—red fingers retreating.
Do-Gwi’s grinning face stiffened as he confidently lifted the juk-tong.
“…What the—?”
His eyes widened in disbelief.
A flash of confusion crossed his face.
“…That young man won?”
“Against Do-Gwi?”
“Haha, damn.”
The entire gambling den was thrown into shock as a young upstart triumphed over the seasoned Do-Gwi.
“Thanks for the meal.”
I smiled leisurely and raked in the coins.
Thanks to the bold bet, I recovered more than twice what I had lost.
“You bastard… what trick did you pull…?”
Do-Gwi glared with trembling eyes and demanded answers.
They were the ones who always tried to cheat first, so why get mad at me?
I just shrugged, as if I had nothing to say.
Flustered, Chief Steward Bang rushed to Do-Gwi’s side.
“What happened? You said a punk like him would be easy.”
A sharp rebuke flew at him.
“I… I’m not sure. Maybe I made a mistake.”
Do-Gwi clenched his teeth and bowed deeply.
“If it was just a mistake, can you win the next round?”
“Of course…”
He seemed thoroughly humiliated.
With eyes burning, Do-Gwi locked his gaze on me, vowing victory.
Hearing his assurance, Chief Steward Bang called the vault keeper and had even more funds brought in.
‘See that…?’
Salseong-i, perhaps exhausted from the effort, called out to me.
So much work just to corrupt me—how ironic.
‘Yeah, I saw.’
I chuckled and nodded.
She was surprisingly useful, depending on how she was used.
“Hey, let’s go another round.”
Do-Gwi slammed the juk-tong down, issuing another challenge with a sinister glint.
“Did you bring more money? Then step right up.”
Who said I was scared?
Now that the military funds were in the mix, the stakes were even higher.
A high-risk, high-reward duel with Do-Gwi’s reputation and a mountain of money on the line.
The spectators started gulping nervously on my behalf.
Rattle, rattle.
Just like the saying… the dice were cast.
‘Believe in me…’
But Cheonsalsung doesn’t play dice.
So this wasn’t a game—it was the time for a hero to bleed a money house dry.
“Bring me wine and meat!”
The dazzling Main Chamber of the Man Geum Trading Post.
Geum Hwangdo, frustrated by how everything kept going wrong, called for drinks and side dishes to console himself.
A line of graceful courtesans entered to pour him wine, but his expression remained grim.
“That damn chef… couldn’t even mix poison properly.”
Originally, his grand ambition had been to crush both the Trading Company and Escort Agency, seizing their wealth and logistics.
But thanks to that bumbling chef, the woman who should have collapsed like her father was now sending letters of protest instead.
“That shriveled little thing… now she’s a Trading Lord and has the gall to argue back.”
Grinding his teeth, Geum Hwangdo burst out in frustration.
It would’ve been easier for everyone if she had just collapsed and hovered at death’s door. He took a swig of strong liquor, entertaining such nasty thoughts.
Then, noisy footsteps echoed from outside.
Thud, thud, thud.
One of his subordinates burst in, breathing heavily and skipping all formalities.
“…What is it?!”
Why so frantic? Did that wench Eun Hwaran finally ingest the poison by mistake?
Thinking it might be the news he’d been waiting for, Geum Hwangdo perked up.
But what came out of his subordinate’s mouth wasn’t good news—it was a disastrous report he never saw coming.
“B-Bad news! The gambling hall, the gambling hall—!”
“What about the gambling hall?!”
Annoyed by the stammering, he snapped.
“It’s being wiped clean by some pretty-boy bastard! It's in shambles!”
“…What?!”
The wine cup dropped from his hand.
He knocked over the entire table and shot to his feet.
He had been waiting for the fall of Eun Hwaran and the Eunseong Trading Company, but ironically, the first to collapse was his own gambling den.
“Which bastard dares…!”