novelraw Chapter 150 : I’ll Put It to Good Use
Chapter 150 : I’ll Put It to Good Use
Chapter 150: I’ll Put It to Good Use
How did it come to this?
Bang Sobyuk retraced his past with vacant eyes.
Being despicable—that was simply how he lived. To claim the position of Chief Steward of the Man Geum Trading Post, he struck down his superiors from behind and trampled his subordinates as they climbed up.
Trust was met with betrayal, loyalty with ingratitude. It was a position he’d crawled up to, like a dog, through flattery and sycophancy. Sometimes, he’d stomp on the neighborhood beggars just to feel superior.
But now, everything he had piled up so high was about to come crashing down in an instant.
That pretty-boy bastard smirking from across the gambling table.
He had already crushed the Do-Gwi and was now about to shatter everything Bang Sobyuk possessed.
“Grrrk…”
To think he couldn’t handle a mere brat like that, and now he’d lost face—not to mention suffered a significant financial loss.
Would Geum Hwangdo, infamous for his savagery, really let this incident slide?
Not a chance. The position of Chief Steward, which he had struggled to reach, might be severed from him in a single day.
Bang Sobyuk’s mind went blank, and panic surged.
“Do-Gwi, you said before that it was just a fluke! Didn’t you say you could win?!”
He ground his teeth and lashed out at Do-Gwi, but the man looked just as stunned.
He was muttering to himself, wearing a face that screamed disbelief.
He couldn’t figure out the trick. The results of the dice had changed, as if possessed by a ghost.
“That’s all you have to say? I paid you a fortune to bring you here, and this is what you give me?!”
Bang Sobyuk’s long beard quivered as he scolded Do-Gwi harshly.
As he berated him repeatedly—demanding how he was going to clean up this mess—Do-Gwi finally clenched his teeth and spoke.
“There’s still one method left.”
“…And what would that be?”
To that, Do-Gwi pointed toward a large guillotine with a wickedly sharp blade.
“If sleight of hand has failed… then we’ll just have to force it. Overturn the table.”
Grab onto any flaw and label him a scammer, then chop off his wrist.
In other words, flip the table. A humiliating tactic for a gambler, but they were out of options.
He glared murderously at the young man who had driven him this far into a corner.
Clatter, clatter. Tap.
The bamboo dice shaker opened to reveal a high roll—six, six, and five.
To be given such good numbers—it was a trick he often used when ending a game with a one-point difference.
And now, the young man pushed forward a huge pile of money with a confident look on his face. As if he was certain of victory.
Even muttering that suspicious chant again.
“Asura Balbalta…”
Seeing that, Do-Gwi thought—
He had no idea what trick the bastard was using, but he could tell what the outcome of this round would be.
And so, he made another gamble.
“Hold it right there! Trying to pull another trick?!”
Just as the young man was about to open the final dice shaker, Do-Gwi grabbed his wrist like lightning.
Then, with a murderous glare, he shouted,
“Bring the guillotine! Today, we’ll sever the wrist of this con artist!”
The chilling guillotine was brought forth, and the fates of both men began to sway on the blade’s edge.
“What the hell is this?”
With my wrist caught, I shot him a look full of disbelief.
So, since he couldn’t beat me with skill, he was going to flip the table, huh?
“Everyone, look here! Take a good look at the dice this bastard handed me!”
He lifted my hand high and shouted for all to hear.
Pointing with his other hand at the dice showing ‘six, six, five.’
“Nice numbers. What’s the problem?”
I scoffed and questioned him.
“Hmph, exactly. Too nice. Tempting enough to make one bet a fortune. That’s why it’s obvious!”
Obvious? What was?
I looked at him like he was talking nonsense, and he puffed out a breath with confidence.
“Dice rolls are the will of the heavens. But here and now, I’m certain! Inside that shaker of his is a ‘six, six, six’!”
His voice rang out. Do-Gwi, with his reputation built in this gambling den, now invoked the heavens to accuse me of cheating.
Whispers began to ripple through the crowd, just in case.
“You want to win with a one-point difference. Isn’t that right? Such a cheap trick!”
“You’ve been babbling nonsense this whole time. Got any proof?”
“Proof? Of course. Just open that dice shaker and we’ll see!”
He pointed to the last unopened shaker. The crowd’s gaze followed.
“Then how about a bet?”
But I remembered a certain lesson I had learned about gambling.
When I suggested another bet, both Do-Gwi and Chief Steward Bang’s eyebrows twitched.
“What kind of bet?”
“I’ll bet all my money and even my wrist that it’s not ‘six, six, six.’ If you’re so confident, come on in.”
A showdown with both our fortunes and wrists on the line.
The two men flinched at the intensity in my eyes.
“If you’re scared, feel free to crawl away and die.”
When a brat like me clicked his tongue and taunted them in front of everyone, the seasoned Do-Gwi and Bang Sobyuk instantly lost their cool.
“Trying to bluff your way out of this mess, huh…?”
Their fury burned hotter after everything I had done to them.
“Fine! We’ll both take the bet. But you’ll have to chop off both your wrists…!”
They declared they’d slice off both of my wrists so I could never cheat again.
“Then let’s open it.”
As everyone’s eyes bore into me, I reached for the final shaker.
“Don’t touch the shaker!”
Do-Gwi shouted in panic and pointed to Ilhong, who stood beside me.
“Hey, you there.”
“…Me?”
“Yes, you. The one who looks like a girl despite being a man.”
“….”
So the famous gambler had a keen eye, after all.
With a smug face, he told Ilhong to open the shaker.
“You’re not allowed to touch it again.”
Whatever trick I was using, he seemed sure that cutting off my access would neutralize it.
As the shaker was opened and the inside revealed, the atmosphere in the gambling hall instantly froze.
The dice inside were not sixes—but all ones.
“Uh, it’s not sixes.”
Ilhong’s nonchalant murmur.
It was the lowest total you could roll. But right now, it was enough to beat six-six-five.
“What the hell… Why are they all ones…?”
As if its mission was complete—swoosh. The red hand returned to me.
While everyone gaped in shock at the outcome of the bet, Chief Steward Bang stared at the Gambling Ghost, his face pale as a sheet.
“What the hell is this...!? You were so confident!”
“T-this... This can’t be happening...”
The Gambling Ghost, stiff from shock, could only stammer.
“Shit, how are we supposed to fix this!? How the hell do we fix this!?”
Obviously, they couldn’t fix it. Even with the Chief Steward making a huge fuss beside him, the shock was too much for the Gambling Ghost to even open his mouth.
His trembling eyes turned to me. They seemed to say, “You bet everything on that number?”
The gazes of the others were the same, like they were looking at some mad gambler who had burned hundreds of millions on a single play.
“What are you all doing? Chief Steward Bang, Gambling Ghost. Aren’t you cutting off your wrists?”
I said this to the martial artists who stood frozen, unable to do anything while still holding the execution knife.
When it seemed they weren’t going to move, I casually walked toward the guillotine, saying I’d cut it myself.
“Damn it...! Get him! Seize that bastard!”
Chief Steward Bang, who clearly had no intention of keeping his promise from the start, began shouting at the top of his lungs to take us down.
And with that, the martial artists of the Man Geum Trading Post drew their swords and rushed toward us en masse.
“Well, I figured it’d come to this.”
For the record, weapons were strictly forbidden in this gambling den.
But there were no rules about living weapons. That’s why I had brought a peak-level tiger with me.
“You think you’re the only ones with bodyguards? Go, Tiger of Mount Sung!”
Even with just her clenched fists, this beast was terrifyingly strong.
“Rrraaaagh...!”
With a roar, the woman leaped into the fray, and chaos instantly erupted in the gambling den.
Crash!
“Anyway, that’s how I cleaned out the Man Geum Trading Post.”
In the Trading Lord’s office of the Eunseong Trading Company, filled with the sweet scent of tangwa, Eun Hwaran dropped the fan she had been holding upon hearing my sudden report about destroying the Man Geum Trading Post’s finances.
“...Are you serious? You wrecked the Man Geum Trading Post’s gambling den?”
“Yes. I really smashed it, in every way.”
It was absolutely true.
Everyone saw it—how the Man Geum Trading Post framed a guest as a swindler, and when that failed, tried to subdue them by force.
A tarnished reputation, once spread, is like spilled water—it’s not easily recovered. No one would return to that den again.
Thus, the Man Geum Trading Post suffered not only financial losses but also a massive blow to its most valuable assets: trust and reputation.
“You did all that... with the money you borrowed from me?”
Eun Hwaran asked again, as if she still couldn’t believe it.
“I put it to good use. I’ll pay you back with interest.”
“No, that’s not what I meant... Ugh. You really just strolled in and pulled that off...?”
“I didn’t stroll in, per se.”
She picked up her fan again and rubbed her throbbing temple.
“That’s not what I meant... You said you were just going to check out the gambling scene. That’s how you pitched it, at first.”
Well, the full details were confidential, per the client's request.
So I had phrased it like I just needed some funds to check out a gambling den.
By the way, our client, Peng Hogu, was extremely satisfied upon hearing of my exploits.
He even muttered “Serves them right,” and promised to bring me regular work in the future.
It seemed I had secured another reliable client, following the Tang Clan of Sichuan.
“But Mujin, were you always good at gambling too?”
“Noona, a troubleshooter’s supposed to be good at everything.”
A bit of bravado was essential in front of potential clients.
And given my track record, no one could easily deny it.
Only Salsung raised a middle finger, as if to protest that it was all thanks to him.
Then again, that kind of swearing wasn’t really appropriate for this moment. He was overdoing it.
“Looks like you’ve multiplied the borrowed money more than tenfold... Ugh, you’re my brother, but I still can’t believe it.”
She murmured with a stunned look as she glanced at the chest of money I had brought back like a war trophy after destroying the gambling den.
She looked completely overwhelmed, not even knowing where to begin being shocked.
“Mujin. So, what are you going to do with all this money? Do you have a plan?”
All of it was swindled through a rigged gamble. And it still reeked faintly of the blood from the severed wrists of the Gambling Ghost and Chief Steward Bang.
“I’m not sure.”
With this kind of money, I could live large even in a pricey place like Beijing.
We could even move the office from the outskirts to a prime location in the capital.
But every time greed tried to rise, the voice of Murong Cheongjin would whisper inside me: even if you use the Heaven-Slaying Star to gain wealth and fame, what’s the point if it eats away your soul?
“Use this money to build a facility or something.”
“...What? What kind of facility?”
Maybe it was because I’d been ‘devoured’ by that guy once—I couldn’t ignore his advice.
Taking only a small cut for myself, I pointed at the rest of the money and continued.
“You know... A shelter for homeless kids, like I used to be. A place to help them.”
A city like the imperial capital, Beijing, was full of heartless bastards more beastly than beasts.
But for the kids, I wanted to add just a little warmth.
From my days in the orphanage, I’d always thought—kids abandoned by their parents weren’t the ones to blame.
“...Mujin, are you serious?”
Caught off guard by my suggestion, Eun Hwaran went silent for a moment before asking with earnest eyes.
“Yes, I’m serious.”
At my answer, Salsung leapt up like he’d been betrayed. Far from succumbing to greed, I was building good karma—and it drove him nuts.
Seeing that just firmed my resolve. I conned like a thief, but I’d spend like a noble.
“You’re doing what even the imperial court and the Beggars’ Union couldn’t...”
Eun Hwaran’s voice was full of admiration.
Profit and gain were the principles of commerce, but for some reason, she always seemed delighted when I strayed from that path.
“Shall we name the building the Dan Mujin Shelter?”
“Let’s go with Sky Love Orphanage instead.”
A choice the bloodthirsty Heaven-Slaying Star would never make.
I felt the welling good karma from deep within, and the writhing presence of the Heaven-Slaying Star—and that’s how I answered.
The enormous karma I had built up.
To harness and stabilize it while siphoning off the Evil Star’s energy, I headed for the training ground under the night sky.
Ilhong, drenched in sweat and swinging her sword, suddenly turned to me with curiosity.
“Boss, how’d you know?”
“Know what?”
“That the guy was gonna grab your wrist and pull some shady trick.”
“I figured it was about that time.”
The perfect mood, my confident expression, an incantation no one could understand, and an enormous bet.
I had delivered what you might call a soul-infused bluff straight at the bastard.
“It was a teaching from the Split Ghost Elder.”
“Who the heck is that now?”
I brushed it off, saying it was just someone I knew.
Then, suddenly, a doll-like figure shimmered up beside me like a ghost.
“Yeah, who the hell is that, you brat?”
It was my master, Hwang Geolgae, looking at me like he couldn’t believe this crap, muttering that he was the only one who could teach me.
And then, as if Eun Hwaran had told him something, he looked straight into my eyes and asked,
“What the hell are you, anyway?”
“What do you mean?”
Seriously, this guy always started a fight the moment he saw me.
“I thought you loved money?”
“I do love money.”
Clearly, he had something he wanted to say.