WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
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◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 226: Tomorrow's Fortune
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Sword cards.
The most common gambling game people enjoyed.
Pictures and numbers were drawn on thin bamboo slips, and victory was decided by the order of the cards or the strength of matching sets.
Occasionally, sham fortune-tellers used sword cards to read fortunes, but they were mostly a means of wagering money and taking it from others.
Sword cards were common even in the Martial Alliance.
Whenever four or five people gathered with nothing to do, someone would show up with coins and sword cards.
In my previous life, the Sojeong Unit had one bastard who would show up with coins and sword cards even when we had work to do. That swindler was known as One-Eyed Ghost Sword Seo Unchang.
Whenever that bastard joined a game, a fight was bound to break out.
He was always using sleight of hand, so blades would come out, and plenty of people at the table ended up seriously injured.
That ridiculous bastard even carried sword cards during the Orthodox-Demonic War.
Every night, we returned to the barracks with our bodies worn down from battle, and everyone would sink into silence as they waited to die the next day.
Then Seo Unchang would pull out his sword cards and say he would read our fortunes for tomorrow.
What kind of divine insight could someone who had spent their whole life fleecing others possibly have? Still, whenever Seo Unchang used his tricks to draw us good cards, everyone somehow slept easier that night.
Of course, no one blamed him when the person who drew a good card died the next day.
They only went back to Seo Unchang to have their fortunes read again, trying to drive away the fear brought on by the silence of the night.
As I stared at the sword cards, lost in those memories, someone called to me.
“B-Benefactor Jin... P-please save me.”
No, seriously, what were you doing here?
Beads of sweat covered Ilmyeong’s scalp, and I could only sigh.
“Are you planning to break your vows?”
“N-no, it isn’t that.”
Ilmyeong was trembling badly enough to make even me wonder.
Across both my lives, I had never seen him show such intense emotion.
“What happened?”
“W-well...”
The story went roughly like this.
He had wandered around trying to share the Buddha’s “good teachings(?),” but no one would give him the chance. People kept moving away whenever he approached, so he could not properly deliver his sermon. Yet the people sitting here had at least listened with half an ear.
Then, while he was speaking, one person left their seat. The others were about to leave too, but they said they would listen to his sermon if he took the vacant seat.
And this innocent man had eagerly taken it.
The more I heard, the more absurd it became.
“Haa... So?”
“W-well...”
“You put up the Vajra Prayer Beads as collateral?”
“That’s right...”
I tilted my head.
“Aren’t the Vajra Prayer Beads one of Shaolin Sect’s seven treasures?”
Ilmyeong’s face went pale, and he hurriedly looked around.
“B-Benefactor Jin! Don’t say that so loudly...”
It made sense that Ilmyeong’s unmoving mind had been shaken. He was about to lose such a treasure.
“Why not just subdue them and take it back?”
“...How could a Shaolin Sect disciple commit such a violent act?”
“They’re all bad people anyway. Fighting each other is routine for them.”
“...E-even so...”
For a moment, Ilmyeong stared at the prayer beads he had lost as though faced with an immense temptation. Then he came to his senses and shook his head.
“And that person isn’t such a bad person. I lost through a fair game.”
The person who had taken Ilmyeong’s Vajra Prayer Beads looked like a scholar with a gentle demeanor.
Perhaps because he knew the beads were precious, he had respectfully placed a small cloth by his feet and carefully set them on top of it.
I pointed at the beads with my chin and asked Ilmyeong, “If you lose the Vajra Prayer Beads in a gamble, you’ll go to hell. Aren’t you afraid?”
“...”
Ilmyeong’s face became genuinely serious. If I teased him any further, I might end up in hell with him.
“How much do you owe?”
“W-well... two hundred silver coins.”
“...”
Wow. He had lost quite a bit in such a short time.
I took out twenty gold coins and handed them to the scholar-like man.
“I’ll repay the debt for him. Will you return those old prayer beads?”
The scholar carefully slid the beads toward me and spoke.
“I did not accept these in place of money. I accepted them as the stake for a contest. If you wish, you may win them back.”
Would you look at that? He had clearly heard us call them sacred relics. Yet he did not care?
“I’m not much for gambling.”
I had liked gambling in my previous life too.
But after Seo Unchang died, I became the only person who could use sleight of hand to read fortunes for others. That slowly killed my interest in gambling.
Besides, if I touched the sword cards now, I felt as though I would remember the faces of all the people who had died after hearing their fortunes from me.
The scholar drew the Vajra Prayer Beads back toward himself.
“Then I cannot return them.”
“I’ll give you thirty gold coins. That means you’ll make ten gold coins in profit.”
The scholar calmly shook his head.
“I don’t feel like it.”
Pressing firmly against my temples, I spoke.
“As you just heard, those are sacred relics of Shaolin Temple. You can’t dispose of them carelessly, and you can’t take them out of this place in the first place. If necessary, I’ll subdue you by force and take them back.”
“I heard that the great hero Black Flame Dragon was quite reasonable, but perhaps that wasn’t true. Was it right to call you a divine prodigy of the Black Path after all?”
“...”
I tilted my head.
The delegation’s existence had not been made public yet. Yet this scholar spoke as though he knew not only Ilmyeong, but me as well.
Who was this person?
As I wondered about that...
“How about this?”
The scholar carefully lifted the Vajra Prayer Beads.
“No matter how much Black Flame Dragon loses, if you win two hundred silver coins from me, I will return the beads to you without charge.”
“It looks like there are four seats at this table.”
“That doesn’t matter. I’ll keep count, and if you win two hundred silver coins, I’ll give these to you, Black Flame Dragon.”
Had he wanted something from me from the beginning?
“You seem to enjoy gambling quite a lot.”
The scholar shook his head.
“More precisely, I enjoy competition. But as you can see, I’m rather frail.”
Among the Black Path martial artists who trained heavily in external martial arts, the scholar’s build looked especially slight.
Hmm. He had challenged me this directly. There was no reason to avoid it anymore.
“Fine. But keep your promise.”
A gentle smile appeared on the scholar’s lips.
“Of course.”
I spoke to Ilmyeong, whose face had gone so pale that he looked ready to become an ink-covered octopus.
“Bald Senior, wait outside.”
“A-all right. Please! Please!”
Ilmyeong looked at me with desperate, pleading eyes, as though praying to the Buddha.
Crack. Crack.
I loosened my fingers and neck before taking a seat.
How dare he speak of “competition” before the White Wolf Pavilion’s officially recognized God of Gambling.
I would make him regret it.
Dang Seohui’s uneasy voice came from beside me.
“You have to win...”
#
The growing stakes stirred the crowd.
As gold and silver coins piled up, people’s eyes widened. Gamblers began gathering like ants drawn by a sweet scent.
More and more eyes turned toward the winner.
“B-Benefactor Jin... What is this? Don’t you know how to play sword cards?”
“...Why are you sitting there trying to look so cool? You look pathetic!”
Ah, that did not mean I was winning.
“...Don’t worry. In gambling, you must first read the flow of the game.”
I pulled another banknote from my robes.
“Then why are your hands shaking?”
Huh? My hands were shaking? No way.
There had been so many times like this in my previous life that it was hard to remember every one of them.
I had lost my entire monthly wage. I had lost all my bonuses too.
Yet the person who won in the end had always been me.
“...Benefactor Jin, you’re breaking out in a cold sweat...”
Of course, people who did not know better might worry.
Sure, that could happen.
If I alone had lost twenty gold coins at this table, there would have been no way for me to win.
It would have clearly meant that I was the table’s sucker.
But three of the four people seated here had been losing to that scholar.
This was not because I was doing badly. It meant that bastard was doing well. Heh heh.
‘Ah! That doesn’t make it a good thing!’
“You’re quite skilled.”
The scholar smiled brightly. His innocent smile made even those who saw it feel good.
The more I looked at him, the more likable he seemed, aside from the way he provoked me.
“I had to use my head to make a living, so it came naturally.”
“Is that so? It seems you use your head often.”
“Most matters in the martial world are settled with strength, aren’t they? But I realized long ago that there was a limit to what I could achieve through force.”
As I spoke with the scholar, I reviewed the previous rounds that had rushed past like a storm.
Sword cards were a battle of numbers.
It was a game where each player compared the numbers on their cards to determine victory and defeat.
Because I possessed perfect memory that was close to a curse, I never forgot the cards that had appeared.
Based on them, I could calculate the likely outcome to a certain degree.
Yet I was losing this overwhelmingly...
‘This bastard is counting cards.’
It was not just a suspicion. I was certain.
There was no way I would lose this one-sidedly in any game.
I also used my memory to count cards, but if he was pushing me back this badly, his method of calculation had to be superior.
‘What do I do...?’
I had already seen enough through the earlier rounds to understand just how skilled he was at counting cards.
Even if we continued gambling like this, it would be difficult for me to beat him.
The numbers on sword cards were limited, so the possible combinations shrank as the game went on.
And because the scholar had accumulated so much experience, he was likely calculating every plausible combination based on the cards his opponents discarded.
It would be hard for me to gain an advantage through memory alone.
“Let’s lower the stakes a little. This is too brutal.”
One of the Black Path participants who was losing along with me complained.
Without even looking at them, I said, “Then leave if you don’t have money.”
“What?”
“I said, leave if you don’t have money. I have something I need to win back.”
“Listen to this bastard talk!”
The Black Path participant reacted sharply to my words. Since they were losing money, it was a perfectly natural response.
Even so, I could not stop.
I had to win back the Vajra Prayer Beads.
Still staring at the cards in my hand, I snapped at them.
“Did I say anything wrong? If you don’t have money, you shouldn’t gamble. How pathetic, asking to lower the stakes.”
Ilmyeong and Dang Seohui were startled by my attitude and tried to stop me.
“B-Benefactor Jin...”
“I-I think you should stop...”
With their face burning red, the Black Path participant threw a punch at me as if they no longer had anything to hold back.
Caught off guard by the blow, I crashed into the table beside me, overturning it and throwing the place into chaos.
The Black Path participant was still huffing in anger.
“You arrogant little brat. You sure have a filthy mouth. Come at me, bastard!”
Their pathetic provocation did not reach my ears.
Instead, after taking a punch, my muddled thoughts felt much clearer.
“If you’re done venting, get lost, you beggar bastard.”
After snapping at the Black Path participant who had punched me, I tried to sit back down.
Then they threw another punch.
Whoosh!
Tap.
“Benefactor, you have already thrown one punch. It would be best to stop now.”
“L-let go of me!”
Ilmyeong stopped them in an instant.
“We are handling something important. As Benefactor Jin said, please leave.”
The Black Path participant looked unable to understand how Ilmyeong, who was of average height, had so easily restrained their fist. Still, faced with that overwhelming strength, they snorted and left.
“Benefactor Jin, are you all right?”
“Ah, yes. I’m fine.”
Once the sword cards were gathered and dealt again, Ilmyeong and Dang Seohui, who had been checking my injuries, stepped back.
The other person who had been taking part in the game must have sensed that the mood was wrong. They gathered their money and left the table.
Now only the scholar and I remained.
The scholar checked his cards and stared at me.
“...Wouldn’t it be better to get treatment? I won’t run away.”
Was he worrying about me even now?
He really felt different from other gamblers.
It was not money he enjoyed, but gambling itself.
I shook my head.
“My body is loosened up now, and stopping here would kill the mood.”
“If you say so.”
With only the two of us playing, the rounds moved even faster.
Until now, victory and defeat had been entirely one-sided. Now that began to change.
For every three rounds the scholar won, I won one. After a little more time passed, I won one for every two rounds he won.
The problem was that the stakes were far too small in every round I won.
I needed to win two hundred silver coins from him, but I had only won thirty so far. Meanwhile, the money he had won had reached five hundred silver coins.
The people who had been crowding around to watch fell silent and began studying the match.
The scholar did not seem bothered by any of it. He dealt the sword cards and continued the game as before.
“I hear that among the martial world’s divine prodigies, Young Master Jin has the finest strategy. That is why your epithet includes the character for thought.”
“Rumors tend to be greatly exaggerated.”
“You are humble.”
The scholar smiled again.
“They say you possess the remarkable ability to never forget anything you have seen.”
“I think of it as more of a curse than an ability.”
This time, I lost again.
The scholar swept away the money in the middle.
Soon, he dealt another hand.
“If it were a curse, Young Master Jin’s name would not have become so widely known.”
“Do you truly think so?”
This time, I won.
I weakly gathered the smaller amount of money, far less than what the scholar had taken.
Without hesitation, he shuffled and dealt again.
“I do. Without that ability, I do not think either Taeul Sect or Young Master Jin could have risen so high.”
“You could see it that way.”
“That is why I became very curious about Young Master Jin. I am somewhat like you as well.”
“Do you have a good memory?”
The scholar shook his head.
“Not at all. Even when I do not wish to, I calculate.”
“Calculate... Has that not been difficult?”
“I would be lying if I said it had not. Even when I do not want to, I can predict the outcome of matters. It makes life rather dull, I suppose. Gambling like this has become my only pleasure.”
I thought this round would be my victory, but the scholar swept away the money again.
His card-counting skill really did seem superior.
“So there was a reason I was losing money.”
“Well... It is not necessarily that. Luck plays a great part in gambling, does it not?”
“Luck... The difference in money is too great to call it luck alone.”
The scholar only smiled.
Still, I won this round.
Maybe my thoughts had loosened up a little.
I was gradually evening out my win rate against him.
After becoming certain that he was counting cards, I began reducing the money I bet on the rounds I would lose.
Before long, we were both continuing the game while winning a little and losing a little.
As the stakes became smaller, people grew bored and began leaving one by one.
Then, while shuffling the sword cards, the scholar spoke.
“Did you know that some people use sword cards to divine their own fortunes?”
“I’ve done it plenty.”
Across both my lives, no one had read fortunes with sword cards more often than I had.
After dealing the cards and checking his hand, the scholar made a suggestion.
“How about we use this round to read our fortunes, and make it our final match?”
“What do you mean by final?”
“Once this round is over, regardless of the result, I will return the Vajra Prayer Beads. But if you lose, I will return the prayer beads in exchange for your Black Dragon Sword.”
I examined the scholar’s hands.
There were some calluses on both palms, but they were not the hands of someone who wielded a sword.
“You do not seem to use a sword as a weapon. Why do you need one?”
“I wish to keep it as proof.”
“Proof?”
When I asked, he looked at me and grinned.
“Proof that I defeated the Black Flame Dragon.”
“Why would you need proof that you defeated someone like me?”
“Hmm, I just think it would be nice to have.”
I looked at my cards.
Then I nodded.
“Fine.”
At that moment, Ilmyeong’s desperate sound transmission reached me.
-B-Benefactor Jin... With those cards, can you really guarantee victory?
Would you look at that? He had become a gambling expert already.
Ignoring the words of the bald gambling expert, I kept watching the scholar.
“The Black Dragon Sword is a fine weapon, but it cannot compare to the Vajra Prayer Beads. Are you sure?”
“Rather than hearing that I defeated Monk Ilmyeong, I would rather hear that I defeated the Black Flame Dragon.”
“I don’t know if I should be pleased. What am I, anyway?”
We each drew one more card and began arranging our hands.
Each time, we placed one silver coin on the table, but it was only a formality.
The true stakes of this round were the Vajra Prayer Beads and the Black Dragon Sword.
The scholar began stroking his chin.
“When I first heard rumors of the Black Flame Dragon, I trembled with surprise. I had never imagined someone like you existed.”
“Is that so?”
He slowly nodded.
“Perhaps I could relate to you all the more because I, too, carry my sect on my shoulders alone.”
“I do not carry it alone.”
“Even so, the ones carrying the heaviest burdens are ultimately...”
The scholar discarded a card marked with the number ten and drew a new one.
“People like us.”
Then the scholar grinned, showing his teeth.
“Anyway, I believe my fortune is a little better.”
What bullshit.
He had challenged me the moment he saw his first hand, and now he was talking about fortune?
“...”
“Shall we reveal them?”
The scholar placed the Vajra Prayer Beads on the table.
I also removed the Black Dragon Sword and placed it on the table.
Slowly, the scholar laid his cards down.
“Unfortunately, it seems I have won this match.”
A deep murmur of amazement spread through the area when his hand revealed Linked Swords, five consecutive numbers.
“Good heavens, when he discarded that ten card, I wondered if it could be...!”
“Linked Swords...! So that scholar won after all.”
“Of course. I have only seen that hand three times myself.”
This was ridiculous.
A Linked Swords hand had really appeared.
It was such an absurd hand that even One-Eyed Ghost Sword rarely used it when he was cheating.
And it had appeared in the final round, with the most important stakes on the line?
That meant he had predicted from the moment he received his first cards that he would make Linked Swords.
I had been struggling helplessly within his calculations.
The scholar reached for the Black Dragon Sword.
“I should boast to my fellow sect members. I will tell them that I defeated the Black Flame Dragon. Heh heh.”
With a cheerful expression, the scholar reached for the Black Dragon Sword as if he no longer cared about the Vajra Prayer Beads.
“Hold it.”
I grabbed the wrist of the scholar, who had picked up the Black Dragon Sword.
“Where do you think you’re moving your hands so freely?”
Despite the obvious difference in our martial ability, the scholar kept smiling as though he had nothing to worry about.
“Are you planning to use force after all?”
“What are you talking about?”
I did not know where things had gone wrong.
It had probably gone wrong from the moment that bald monk sat at this table.
Even so, I had not sat here confidently without a way to solve the problem.
“You haven’t even seen my hand yet.”
“Heh, even if I did...”
Tap. Tap.
I laid my cards down one by one.
“...?”
With every card I revealed, the scholar’s cheerful expression stiffened.
“W-what is this...?”
“Haven’t you heard that it isn’t over until it’s over?”
The gamblers around us widened their eyes with every card I placed down.
“Uh... Huh?! Uhh?!”
When every card was finally revealed...
Pained groans burst out all around us.
“Good heavens... I never thought I would see that.”
“Can that hand even appear?”
Four cards marked one, and one King card.
Five Heavenly Kings, the strongest hand in sword cards.
“W-why are there Five Heavenly Kings?!”
The scholar stared back and forth between me and my cards with an expression of utter disbelief.
“Looks like I got lucky.”
I grinned at him.
What, you got a problem?
Why do you think they call me the God of Gambling? Because I win somehow, no matter what.
You bastard!
Footnotes:
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