Esper Harem in the Apocalypse

“The winner of the last round, Rudy, will get to decide how many cards to distribute,” Rusher stated. “How many cards, Rudy?”

Rudy smirked from the corner of his lips and uttered, “One, of course.”

Rusher distributed one card to Rudy and Roid, and as always, Rudy didn’t bother to check.

He placed his casino card on the table and said, “I bet two million.”

“Holy shit! He bet two million in the first round!” someone from outside yelled in astonishment.

Roid had no other choice but to bet that amount as he couldn’t afford to be humiliated in a finale match of the VIP club tournament, which— just like every other finale match in the casinos all over the world— was being broadcast live worldwide.

Unknowingly, Rudy had already made his name well known in the gambling community.

Roid placed his casino card on the table and said, “Call.”

Rudy tapped on his card and uttered, “I increase it by one million.”

“….!”

“Damn! That guy is crazy! Who is that guy, again? What family does he come from?!”

“No idea. But since he is hanging out with the mafia princes of the Ross syndicate, he must be someone who holds power in the underworld.”

“But I have never heard of anyone named Rudy in the underworld.”

“I might have heard Ruby, but that’s clearly a girl’s name.”

“Maybe that guy is the soon-to-be husband of the mafia princess?”

“That has to be it!”

Maria’s face flushed as she heard that.

‘W-Wh-What are they saying! He is not my husband… yet. But… we were about to kiss back there… right?’ She placed her hand on her chest and muttered, “What if he was just teasing me?”

‘Still… I couldn’t believe I was going to kiss him. When I asked him about his love life, he said it’s complicated. I wonder what he meant by that. I wanted to ask him but was afraid to know the truth.

It must be some kind of forbidden relationship if it was complicated. Wait… what if the person he loves is actually me? And since I am a mafia and he is a normal person… our relationship would be complicated. Yeah, that has to be it!’

Maria shook her head and let out a short sigh as she muttered, “What am I talking about? This is not a romantic tv show. Such things don’t happen in real life.”

Rusher turned to Roid and asked, “What’s your move, Roid?”

Rusher tapped his finger on his casino card and said, “Call.”

‘I had three million dollars before the finale, and I just won one and half million in the last round. I now have four and half million to bet. I don’t know how much Roid has, but my plan is working perfectly,’ Rudy uttered inwardly.

“Rudy, are you going to increase the bet or reveal your cards?” Rusher asked calmly.

Rudy tapped his finger on his casino card and said, “I will increase it by five hundred thousand dollars.”

“Call!” Roid responded instantly.

‘Heh!’ Rudy smirked and uttered, “I will add two million dollars more. Making this bet worth four and a half million dollars.”

‘I have used all the money I earned today. Let’s see what Roid does now.’

After a brief silence and receiving stares from everyone, Roid quietly uttered, “Call.”

‘Look how his arrogance has shattered, and his confidence has vanished!’

“Holy crap! They are crazy!”

“No, no. Only the guy in the hoodie is crazy. The match is in his control!”

“True, true. He is holding the rope of this match!”

“What do you think he will do next?”

“I don’t know. But I think he will reveal his cards now!”

“Who knows? He is crazy. He might add another million or two.”

Maria gulped down nervously and muttered, “He has used up all the money he earned today. So now he can’t increase the bet even if he wanted to. Not to mention, if he loses, he will lose everything and be disqualified from this tournament.”

So many things were at risk, and everything was in Rudy’s hands. The betting money, the winning money, access to the underground, his plans, Maria’s dreams, and many more things.

However, Rudy was unfazed. He knew how his powers worked. He needed logical reasoning and convinced himself that something like that was possible. His faith gave birth to his powers.

Thus, he needed to have faith in his luck, and his super luck would come into existence. Sure, he had super luck so far as Maria was claiming him to be, but Rudy wasn’t convinced, and that’s why he wasn’t working at its full potential.

But now, Rudy was utterly focused on winning and depending on his super luck.

“Rudy, you are running out of time. What will you do now?”

Rudy raised his brow and wondered, ‘I can just reveal my card and end this game. But… it won’t be fun. Roid still has the will to continue the fight. Even if I won this round, he would continue in the next round.

I don’t have that much time. It’s already morning, and I am getting late for school. I also want to see, if possible, touch mom… maybe hug her, before leaving for school. But if I get late, she will go to sleep, and I will have the chance.

I have already decided to make slow moves on mom and then make big moves when the time is right. Well, putting all that aside, that won’t be possible if I don’t end this tournament in this match.

But… How do I break his will to continue fighting? I would have increased the bet, but I am out of money. Hmm, I guess I have no other choice but to pull my ace card.’

Rudy took a deep breath and placed a black card on the table.

Rusher’s eyes widened as he immediately recognized the card.

Rudy tapped the black card and uttered, “I increase the bet by ten million dollars.”

That day, Rudy gained the title of ‘Mad Gambler’ among the entire gambling community including the well renowned underworld.