Chapter 77: Shouting and Gambling
There was still some time before daybreak, and Haruko had already returned to Tanzaku Town.
Just like when he left, he didn't use the front door and climbed through the window directly into his room.
Almost the moment he landed, the "Haruko" on the bed opened his eyes.
The usually lazy gaze instantly turned sharp, but upon seeing who it was, it quickly melted into a pool of tenderness.
With a soft "poof," the white smoke dissipated, revealing Kaede's true appearance.
"You're back?"
She didn't ask about the results, but simply walked forward and, like a young wife welcoming her husband home from work, straightened Haruko's slightly messy collar.
"Yeah, everything went smoothly."
Haruko took the opportunity to embrace her directly and whispered in her ear, "You've worked hard during this time."
Kaede was a bit flustered for a moment—this was the first time Haruko had taken the initiative to be intimate with her.
She regained her composure and breathed softly into Haruko's ear, "Then this time's reward... I'll put it on your tab, and I'll collect it with interest later."
Haruko didn't answer, just gently patted her back, then let her go.
Kaede gave Haruko a coquettish look, then slithered out the door like a flexible snake, silently slipping back into her own room.
Haruko took off his coat and lay back on the bed.
The sound of Teuchi's steady breathing came from next door—but Haruko knew that the old man wasn't actually asleep.
However, neither of them spoke.
Some things are better left unsaid.
...
Sleeping until he woke up naturally, it wasn't until the sun was high that Haruko finally walked out of his room.
"It's finally over."
He stretched, the sunlight spilling onto his body, feeling warm.
"It reminds me of the days when I went on business trips—thinking I could have some fun on the side, but ending up busy from morning till night."
After washing up, Haruko greeted Teuchi and headed out alone.
He wanted to make up for all the fun he had missed out on these past few days.
As a famous gambling town in the Ninja World, Tanzaku Town's main form of entertainment was naturally gambling.
As a corporate slave in his past life, he had played Landlord, Mahjong, and Fried Golden Flower, but at most for triple-digit stakes. He had never stepped foot in such a den of vice.
In this life, he had even less opportunity; the Ninja Three Prohibitions were there, not to mention that until a year ago, he didn't have much money in his hands.
But now it was different. Since becoming a Genin, he had made a few windfalls, and Haruko was quite well-off.
"Since I'm already here and have some spare money, it wouldn't make sense not to experience it."
Playing was one thing, but before entering, Haruko still set a limit for himself: only for today, with a budget of just 10,000 ryo.
The gambling den was bustling with noise, the air filled with the smell of tobacco and alcohol.
The clattering sound was the first thing to attract Haruko's attention.
"Pachinko... It's said to be the most popular form of entertainment in the Ninja World, popular among those living the good life. Although I've heard of it, I've never tried it, so let's start with this."
Unlike the modern electronic versions where the odds are completely controlled by computers, the Ninja World still uses mechanical pachinko machines where you launch the balls by hand, which requires skill.
"Let's see if the techniques from the short videos I used to watch are useful."
The so-called technique is to find a machine with a predictable drop point, allowing the steel ball to land in a certain position relatively consistently, and then place big bets when that position pays out high multipliers.
However—
"Does this count as bullying?"
With Haruko's control over his strength, even without using Ninjutsu or Natural Energy to interfere with the steel balls to cheat, he was much more stable than an ordinary person.
After trying a few dozen shots, the machine in front of him was almost doing exactly what he wanted.
The clattering sound of the steel balls was indeed addictive, but only at the beginning.
Once he got used to it, it was just the same old thing, and playing a game he was guaranteed to win made Haruko feel bored.
"Forget it, I'm here to play, not to make money. I'll come back when I'm short on cash."
After winning a little, Haruko decisively got up, sold the steel balls to cash out, and went to play other games.
Haruko's skill had already drawn frequent glances from surrounding customers, and his decision to get up caused even more discussion—most people would choose to keep playing when they were on a winning streak.
Haruko naturally noticed it, but he didn't care.
Attracting attention with his strength was only a matter of time; if he were worried about that, he wouldn't have walked in the door in the first place.
As long as he didn't fleece them so hard that the boss got desperate, he didn't care what those gambling addicts thought.
Haruko exchanged for some more chips and wandered between the various gambling tables.
Blackjack, roulette, poker—he tried them all.
He didn't place heavy bets, just the minimum stakes each time, purely to experience the atmosphere.
He didn't care if he lost, and smiled if he won.
This calm and unhurried attitude seemed somewhat out of place in the gambling den.
Most gamblers were red-eyed, desperate to bet their entire net worth.
But Haruko was like a tourist sightseeing, incredibly calm.
"Who is that kid?"
"Don't know, first time seeing him."
"Tsk, looks like a rich kid just here for fun."
"How come that guy wins more than he loses at everything?"
"It's just beginner's luck... He'll lose everything in the end anyway."
Haruko ignored these whispers and continued to play through the gambling den's games one by one.
Finally, he stopped in front of a dice table.
The rules were simple: the dealer shakes the dice, and the gamblers bet on Ding-Han (odd or even).
Haruko stood by the table and watched a few rounds.
The dealer was a middle-aged man in his forties, with skillful movements and a steady expression.
But Haruko soon discovered something wrong.
"He's cheating. A magnet? Or something else?"
One of the dice was tampered with; after the dice cup was placed down, the dealer could adjust the points of that die, thereby manipulating the result.
Haruko had noticed cheating in other games too, but at most it was just having an advantage; it hadn't reached the level of completely manipulating the result like this.
"Well then, let's play. It's the last game anyway, play and run."
Having made up his mind, Haruko sat down at the table.
"Place your bets! Odd! Even!"
The dice cup was placed down, and everyone started betting.
"Odd!"
"Even!"
Haruko also randomly placed a bet.
Then he began to guide Natural Energy, secretly reaching into the dice cup towards the dice.
Avoiding the tampered die, Haruko made one of the normal dice change its face.
As everyone knows, the four sides of a die must be two odd and two even.
By nudging it, the final result would truly become a fifty-fifty toss-up.
Haruko didn't want to win; he wanted to change the game from pseudo-randomness manipulated by the dealer to true randomness.
"Open!"
The dealer lifted the dice cup and was slightly stunned.
The result was "Even" just as he expected, but—
That die should have been "3" facing up, why was it "5"?
The next round began.
The dealer shook the dice again.
Lifting the dice cup, this time even the result was different from what he expected.
In the following few rounds, the situation remained the same.
The dealer's forehead began to sweat.
Every time the result wasn't as expected, it wasn't because of the cheating die, but because those two normal ones weren't right.
Taking advantage of the gap while exchanging chips, the dealer quietly switched to a brand new set of dice, but the situation didn't improve at all.
After the ninth round ended, the dealer finally couldn't hold it in anymore.
He shoved the dice cup to the young man behind him: "You shake it."
"Huh? Senior, I..."
"I told you to shake it, so shake it." The middle-aged dealer lowered his voice, "My touch is a bit off today."
Haruko watched all this, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.
That's enough.
The goal had been achieved—making that cheating dealer suffer a setback, which satisfied his own "sense of justice."
This young dealer obviously didn't have that skill; he was really shaking the dice.
Haruko got up and went to the front desk, ready to exchange his chips and settle up to leave—
"Kid, your control is pretty good."
A hand suddenly rested on his shoulder.
It was a woman's hand. The fingers were slender, the skin fair, but the strength was surprisingly great; just resting on his shoulder made Haruko unable to move.
Feeling the size pressing against his arm, Haruko didn't even need to look to guess who the person was.
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