Hit by the Dice of Gambling Madness yet again, Su Baiye felt no tension whatsoever. He was so relaxed he even had time to look around.

He noticed that the Dice of Gambling Madness Fang Lin was using was clearly a higher grade. Instead of a black barrier like Tang Ruyu's, it was a translucent, pale-yellow one.

*Nice. It'll be mine in a moment...*

The die finally landed with the '2' facing up, and a crack appeared on its surface as well.

Fang Lin shook his head. "Just average luck. Only two rounds."

Tang Ruyu had been held up inside for so long that Fang Lin guessed something had gone wrong. That was why he had moved to take down Su Baiye the first chance he got.

On the other side, Wang Luo had already been robbed of 800 Points and was standing by with his head hung low.

Wang Luo had assumed Su Baiye would meet the same terrible fate as him, but from the looks of it... Tang Ruyu seemed to be in an even worse state.

Noticing Wang Luo's gaze, Tang Ruyu glared back. "What are you looking at?"

*I may not be a match for Su Baiye, but I can still handle a newcomer like you, can't I?*

"For the first round, let's play for small stakes."

Fang Lin smiled as he placed his bet. "Let's start with 2000 Points."

Although Fang Lin was stronger than Tang Ruyu, his Dice of Gambling Madness was of a higher quality, so the betting ratio between him and Su Baiye was an even one-to-one!

Fang Lin had already realized that Su Baiye not only had the 1000 Points given to newcomers but most likely all of Tang Ruyu's life savings as well.

Therefore, if Fang Lin bet 2000 Points, Su Baiye had to match it with 2000 Points.

"Why not bet a little more?"

Su Baiye was quite dissatisfied, complaining, "Fortune favors the bold, while the timid starve. With guts as small as yours, what are you doing trying to rob people? At this rate, when will you ever make it big?"

Fang Lin was taken aback for a moment, clearly not expecting Su Baiye to be so arrogant. Then, a smile spread across his face, tinged with a chilling coldness.

"I hope your luck is better than your mouth."

Since Su Baiye could beat Tang Ruyu, Fang Lin would not underestimate him. But in this game, Fang Lin was the one who held the secret to victory.

While the two were talking, the game finished loading.

The game took place within a circle, with a dividing line splitting the field in two. While the game was in progress, Players could not cross the line.

Three cards appeared before Su Baiye, representing Rock, Paper, and Scissors. The cards were made of brass and felt cool to the touch. There was a thin seam down the middle of each card, and with a little force, one could snap it in half.

In each round, a Player had to snap one card within the time limit to make their move.

Used cards would be replenished—whatever was broken would be replaced—ensuring the Player always had three cards in hand.

This was no ordinary game. Rock, Paper, and Scissors would manifest as weapons that countered each other, and the winning weapon of a round would attack the opponent.

There was only one way to win the bet—kill the opponent within the game!

Every game initiated by the Dice of Gambling Madness had to end with the death of one party. Of course, this death was subject to Revival, unless one crushed the Dice of Gambling Madness itself, activating a fight-to-the-death mode.

Tang Ruyu had already explained all of this.

Tang Ruyu had also said that higher-grade Dice of Gambling Madness could go even further, randomly replenishing cards, even leading to situations where one side had cards and the other had none!

Fortunately, Fang Lin wouldn't have something of that caliber. If he had that kind of wealth, he wouldn't be here preying on newcomers...

Fang Lin took his cards and, without even looking, casually snapped one.

A countdown appeared before Su Baiye: 5, 4, 3...

He had to play a card within the time limit, or he would be considered to have forfeited the round.

Rock? Scissors? Paper?

*'Choose Rock?'*

Su Baiye's luck was quite good; he had picked the wrong option right from the start. His soul instantly left his body, and his perspective shifted.

Su Baiye 'saw' that after he played the Rock card, a giant cloth would materialize in front of Fang Lin, while a head-sized rock would hover before him. The two would then violently collide!

The rock was enveloped by the cloth. The cloth shrank bit by bit, and the rock completely vanished!

Once the rock was gone, the cloth crossed the dividing line and lunged straight for Su Baiye's face, giving him no chance to dodge!

The cloth itself was highly corrosive. In the blink of an eye, it had corroded half of Su Baiye's head, leaving him as dead as dead could be.

The level of violent gore in this game was far greater than in the Poisonous Water game!

Su Baiye's soul returned to his body. There were 3 seconds left on the countdown!

"Scissors!"

Unaffected by the foreseen death, Su Baiye unhesitatingly chose Scissors. He waited for a second, confirming that he didn't foresee death this time before making his move.

Just like in his vision, Fang Lin had indeed chosen Paper, while Su Baiye had switched to Scissors.

A pair of arm-sized shears flew out, shredding the cloth to tatters before crossing the line and stabbing straight for Fang Lin's heart!

Wang Luo hissed, the sight triggering a bad memory. He had been pierced through the heart by those shears once—no, to be more precise... he had been sliced in half at the waist!

Even now, the memory sent a shiver down his spine.

*Clang—*

The sound of metal striking metal rang out. The expected spray of blood across three feet did not occur. Fang Lin had withstood the shears' attack!

Fang Lin's expression didn't change; he appeared completely unscathed.

It was the combination of his Grade 2 of First Rank physique, a specially made Heart-Guarding Mirror, and all his mental energy focused on slowing the shears that created the 'unscathed' appearance.

However, Fang Lin knew himself that his mental energy was being consumed, the Heart-Guarding Mirror had a durability limit, and as for his physique... if he really got stabbed by those shears, he would be injured.

"Not bad luck, kid!"

Fang Lin feigned nonchalance, picked another card from his hand, and snapped it.

From Fang Lin's perspective, Su Baiye made his next move with almost no hesitation.

*So reckless. He doesn't use his brain at all...*

Fang Lin: Paper!

Su Baiye: Scissors!

Su Baiye had won again!

Wang Luo's eyes widened. The probability of winning a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors was 1/3. The probability of winning two in a row was 1/9.

If Su Baiye won the next round, it would mean... it wasn't just good luck. He had figured out Fang Lin's pattern!

Beside them, Tang Ruyu wore a look of utter despair, not even bothering to analyze the situation.

What was there to analyze?!

This buddy was just running on pure luck!

The Poisonous Water game had already proven it. Su Baiye could choose with his eyes closed, and the water wouldn't be poisoned.

While Wang Luo was still trying to analyze every move, Tang Ruyu had already given up.

What was the point of learning from a chosen one? Just forget about it. You can't learn what he has.

Struck by the shears a second time, Fang Lin felt his qi and blood churn. A mouthful of blood rose in his throat. Even he had suffered some internal injuries this time.

*This kid... how did he do it?*

*Luck? No, impossible!*

Fang Lin stared at Su Baiye. Once could be a coincidence, but twice meant something was strange!

Until he figured out the source of this strangeness, Fang Lin did not act rashly.

This novel is available on bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

"Your pattern is so easy to read," Su Baiye remarked casually.

"You're a cautious person. Your initial attempt to act casual was just a facade. It actually exposed your true intentions. You don't dare to take risks at all!"

*Don't dare to take risks? Cautious?*

*He's judging that I'll definitely play Paper based on just those two points?*

Fang Lin frowned slightly. Su Baiye was talking a bit too much nonsense. But since Su Baiye currently had the advantage, Fang Lin simply retorted, "What you're saying is completely illogical."

Although Su Baiye's judgment was correct, it didn't mean his reasoning was sound.

"Then I'll give you a free lesson."

Su Baiye seemed to have a penchant for lecturing, completely unconcerned about the 'villain dies from talking too much' debuff. He launched into a torrent of words.

"This game seems completely random, as if the expected outcome for any choice is the same. But it's not. Each weapon has different attack properties, causing different amounts of damage to you, which leads to one result..."

Su Baiye stated with conviction, "You are afraid of Paper!"

Fang Lin was afraid of 'Paper'?

Wang Luo was completely bewildered. What did that mean? What was there to be afraid of with Paper? Besides, hadn't Fang Lin been playing Paper the whole time?

Tang Ruyu, however, was astonished. *Wait, buddy, you're not just relying on luck? You actually have skills?!*

The point Su Baiye had raised was one of Fang Lin's core secrets, something Tang Ruyu had been secretly holding onto.

After all, compared to Su Baiye, Fang Lin had a better chance of winning... so naturally, Tang Ruyu had to stand on the winning side.

Exposed, Fang Lin glared at Tang Ruyu with pure rage, grinding his teeth. "Well, well! You even dared to tell him this?!"

With that, the atmosphere suddenly became a little... awkward.

Tang Ruyu couldn't find the words to defend himself. *I really didn't say anything! Su Baiye really figured it out on his own!*

But he couldn't get the explanation out. Fang Lin was already convinced of Tang Ruyu's betrayal.

Then, Su Baiye chimed in at the perfect moment, "He didn't say anything. Don't blame him. If you have a problem, come at me!"

Hearing this only made Fang Lin even angrier!

Tang Ruyu: ...I'm tired. Let the world burn.

Su Baiye continued his analysis. "The reason you keep playing Paper is simple. Paper only loses to Scissors. Of the three weapon attacks, Paper's damage to you must be the highest, and Scissors' is the lowest. You'd much rather be attacked by Scissors..."

It wasn't hard to figure this out, because Su Baiye had personally witnessed his own gruesome death by 'Paper' corrosion twice. He understood the power of that tattered cloth better than anyone!

Su Baiye: *Nobody knows 'Paper' better than me!*

Su Baiye said slowly, "You prefer to play Paper, your second choice is Scissors, and you would never dare to play Rock. Because if you play Rock and I happen to play Paper, you'll be heavily injured or even killed when you lose! That's a price you can't afford."

Rock, Paper, Scissors. The attack power of the three weapons, in descending order, was: Paper, Rock, Scissors!

It was by seeing through this that Su Baiye had deciphered Fang Lin's pattern!

"But I'm different. Paper, Scissors, or Rock, any one of those attacks can easily kill me. It makes no difference to me, so I have no preference! This even allows me to target your pattern, and winning two rounds in a row is the best proof!"

Su Baiye tilted his head up slightly, delivering his victory speech.

"Fang Lin, this game... you've already lost!"