Chapter 183: Dealer

—Woo Jin’s POV—

We stood near the edge of the dark forest, waiting outside the glowing rift of the C-Rank Gate.

Including us, forty different hunters had gathered in the wide field around us. Some were stretching their arms, some were polishing their long iron swords, and others were quietly talking in small groups.

Then there was our group.

I stood near the front line. But on my head, I was wearing the ususal paper lunch bag with two circular eye holes cut out in the front.

To my right, Viora was wearing her dark blue dress, standing straight with a matching paper lunch bag over her head.

To my left, Carmilla was wearing a red leather jacket and black pants, also wearing a paper lunch bag over her head.

And right beside Carmilla stood Raymond. He was wearing his neat, dark suit, looking totally calm and dignified, while wearing a brown lunch bag over his face as well.

The other thirty-six hunters in the field were staring at the four of us like we were complete lunatics.

"Hey..." a tall hunter with a huge broadsword whispered to his friend nearby. "Who are those four weirdos?"

"I don’t know, man," his friend replied, shrinking back slightly. "Are they wearing bread bags on their heads? Is that some kind of new defensive gear?"

"They look like total freaks," another hunter muttered.

I ignored their murmurs, adjusting my paper bag so my eyes lined up with the cutouts.

Raymond stepped slightly closer to me, his voice coming out muffled from inside his paper mask.

"Young Master Woo Jin," Raymond murmured politely. "Lady Elena instructed me to monitor you during this gate clearance. Please do not hesitate to ask if you require assistance."

"Thanks, Raymond," I said flatly. "Though I think people are staring at us more because of these bags, don’t they?"

"Anonymity requires small sacrifices, Young Master," Raymond replied calmly.

Before I could answer, a large man with a thick black beard and heavy plate armor stepped up to the front of the crowd. He raised his heavy iron spear high in the air, his booming voice ringing across the open field.

"Listen up, everyone!" the raid leader shouted loudly. "This is a standard C-Rank Gate! The Association assigned forty of us to clear it quickly! Maintain your formations, keep your guards up, and don’t stray off path! Move in!"

The large crowd of hunters let out a loud battle cry, rushing forward into the swirling blue light of the gate.

"Let’s go," I whispered to Viora and Carmilla.

Viora reached down, her soft fingers quickly finding my hand and interlocking her grip with mine. "I’m right behind you, Woo Jin."

We stepped together into the glowing blue portal.

The Gate behind us had vanished into thin air, leaving no exit portal behind.

We were standing in the middle of a massive forest. Giant trees with thick, twisted black trunks stretched hundreds of feet into the sky, their heavy green leaves blocking out most of the sun. The air was damp, smelling heavily of fresh pine and wet soil.

Suddenly, a translucent blue screen flared up directly in front of my vision.

[Gate Location Identified: The Lost Kingdom of Elaria]

[Gate Rank: C-Rank (Special Scenario Type)]

[Clear Condition: Unspecified.]

I narrowed my eyes behind my paper bag. ’Special Scenario Type? That means this isn’t a normal gate.’

The other hunters were all looking around in total confusion, whispering frantically as they realized the exit portal had completely disappeared.

"Where is the exit portal?!" a young hunter yelled, panicking. "Why did the gate close behind us?!"

"Quiet down!" the heavy-armored raid leader barked, stepping toward the center of the clearing.

Right in front of the leader, floating quietly in mid-air about four feet off the ground, was a golden parchment scroll. It glowed with a faint, magical yellow light, spinning slowly in place.

The raid leader slowly walked up to the scroll, reaching out his gloved hand and grabbing it.

He unrolled the golden parchment, reading the words printed across the paper.

His brow furrowed in complete confusion.

"What does it say?" one of the hunters called out nervously. "Is it a warning? Is it a boss location?"

The raid leader scratched his thick beard, reading the paper once more.

"It... it only says one thing," the leader said, his voice sounding completely baffled. "It says: Search the Gambler."

The crowd of hunters instantly broke into noisy chatter.

"Search the Gambler?" a mage hunter asked, scratching her head. "What kind of objective is that?"

"Is the Gambler a monster?" another hunter asked. "Or a hidden NPC?"

"Is this gate some kind of game?!"

While everyone was shouting and arguing, Raymond stood quietly beside me. He tilted his head slightly under his paper lunch bag, a very soft, amused sound coming from his mouth.

"The Gambler? Heh."

I turned my head toward Raymond, raising an eyebrow behind my mask. "Do you know something about this, Raymond?"

"It is an old title, Young Master," Raymond whispered back smoothly, keeping his voice low so the other hunters couldn’t hear. "In the records found in our world of the Lost Kingdom, ’The Gambler’ was a legendary rogue who managed a hidden casino realm. It seems this gate operates under specific game rules rather than something else."

Before I could ask any more questions, the raid leader raised his hand again, shutting everyone up.

"Silence!" the leader yelled. "Standing around complaining won’t get us out of here! This forest is huge! We need to split up and search for clues about this ’Gambler’!"

He pointed his iron spear around the crowd.

"We have forty people here!" the leader ordered. "We will split into eight teams of five people each! Search the surrounding forest trails and report back to this clearing in two hours if you find anything suspicious!"

The hunters quickly began grouping up into teams of five.

Since the four of us were already standing together wearing matching paper lunch bags, nobody else wanted to come near us.

Finally, a young, nervous-looking guy wearing light leather armor and holding a simple wooden bow shuffled over to us. He looked at our four paper bag masks with wide, terrified eyes.

"Umm..." the young archer stammered, rubbing his neck nervously. "Can... can I join your team? All the other groups are full..."

"Sure," I said. "I’m Brian. This is Vera, Milla, and Ray."

"I’m... I’m Tim," the young archer said, taking a step back as he looked at Carmilla’s terrifying red eyes glowing through her bag’s eye holes. "Are... are you guys really going to fight monsters with paper bags on your heads?"

"It builds character, Tim," I said deadpan. "Now let’s move."

Our five-person team took the northern dirt path, walking deep into the thick, dark forest.

The tall trees arched overhead like a massive green roof, casting long, dark shadows over the narrow trail. Strange, glowing blue mushrooms grew along the roots of the trees, lighting up the dark path with a dim, magical glow.

Tim walked at the very back of our group, his bow held tightly in his trembling hands. He kept glancing nervously at Raymond, who was walking with his hands folded neatly behind his back, looking like he was taking a peaceful stroll through a private garden while wearing a grocery bag on his head.

"So..." Tim whispered nervously, trying to break the silence. "Does anyone know what ’Search the Gambler’ actually means?"

"It means we have to find someone who likes taking risks, maybe?" Carmilla replied. "And tear his throat out."

Tim gulped loudly, shrinking back three inches. "O-Okay..."

Viora walked right beside me, her small hand firmly wrapped in mine.

"Woo Jin," Viora whispered softly, leaning her head closer to my shoulder so her paper bag lightly bumped into my arm. "The mana in this forest feels strange."

"Strange how?" I asked low.

"It doesn’t feel like wild dungeon mana," Viora explained quietly. "It feels... controlled. Like someone is sitting in a room somewhere, watching us through the trees."

CRACK.

A loud, sharp sound echoed through the quiet forest.

Tim jumped in fear, drawing an arrow onto his bowstring with a frantic gasp. "W-What was that?!"

I held up my left hand, signaling everyone to stop.

Right in the middle of the dirt path, about twenty yards ahead of us, stood a giant wooden table.

It wasn’t a normal table. It was a massive, polished mahogany card table, complete with dark green velvet cloth spread across the top, six high-backed wooden chairs, and two bright burning lanterns resting on the corners.

Sitting in the main high-backed chair at the far end of the table was a shadowy figure.

The figure wore a long, purple velvet suit coat, a wide-brimmed black hat, and a golden metallic mask that covered his entire face, shaped like a grinning playing card joker.

In his gloved hands, he was casually shuffling a deck of oversized, glowing silver cards with incredible speed.

FLIP, FLIP, FLIP, FLIP.

The sound of the silver cards snapping against each other rang clearly through the quiet forest.

The figure paused his shuffling, raising his masked head toward our group.

"Welcome, travelers," a smooth, theatrical voice echoed out from behind the golden joker mask, sounding like a mischievous performer on a stage. "Welcome to the First Table of Elaria."

Tim lowered his bow, his mouth hanging wide open. "Is... is that the Gambler?!"

"No," the masked man chuckled softly, setting the glowing deck of silver cards down on the green velvet cloth. "I am merely a humble Dealer. My Master, the Great Gambler, awaits at the center of the Lost City. But to cross my bridge and enter his city... you must play my game."

Carmilla took a step forward. "And what if we just kill you and walk past?"

The Dealer let out a loud, dramatic laugh, spreading his hands wide.

"You may certainly try, fair lady in the paper mask. But this entire forest is bound by the absolute rules of the Casino. If you attack the Dealer without playing, the forest itself will crush you into fine dust."

To prove his point, the massive black trees surrounding the clearing suddenly groaned loudly, their heavy wooden branches twisting together overhead like a giant, suffocating cage of solid wood.

I stepped forward, pulling Viora gently behind my back.

"What’s the game?" I asked.

The Dealer smiled behind his golden mask. He extended his gloved hand, tapping the green velvet table twice.

"A simple game of higher or lower," the Dealer explained cheerfully. "Five cards will be drawn. You must guess whether the next card drawn from the deck will be higher or lower in value than the current card. Win three rounds out of five, and the bridge to the city opens."

"And if we lose?" Tim asked, his voice shaking with terror.

"If you lose... one member of your team forfeits their soul to become my permanent card deck holder."

Tim let out a pathetic squeak, looking like he was about to faint on the spot.

I looked at the table, then turned my head to look at Raymond standing beside me.

"Raymond," I whispered low. "Can you read card decks?"

Raymond adjusted his brown paper lunch bag with a polite, dignified nod.

"Young Master," Raymond murmured. "Before I entered Lady Elena’s service as a butler, I spent a few months managing the underground gaming dens of the Western District. Reading a simple stacked deck is well within my operational duties."

I turned back to face the Dealer, stepping up to the mahogany table.

"Alright, Dealer," I said, my voice deadpan and completely steady. "We’ll play your game."

The Dealer let out a dark, theatrical laugh, picking up the glowing silver deck of cards.

"Excellent!" the Dealer declared, snapping his fingers. "Let the First Game begin!"