The Devil's Ante Chapter 3: Chapter 3 - The Gambler's Affliction

Read chapter 3 of The Devil's Ante by Lerion on NovelPedia.

I looked up from my prone position and witnessed a rather peculiar thing. The green feet that I saw were attached to an equally green body of - what I could only assume at that point - a goblin. His eyes were covered by dark glasses and the only real feature of his face that I could see was the smile. A very wide one filled with pointy teeth and remains of what they must have eaten previously. That fellow wasn't alone; more goblins started to surround me, all wearing the same glasses and similar clothing. The only thing that I could use to distinguish one goblin from another was their jewelry. All of them wore something different, one had a set of golden earrings, another a pair of large golden bracelets and some wore different golden necklaces. I tried getting up slowly, so as not to enrage the guy with a spear. As I was trying to lift myself up, the goblin once again stabbed the ground, this time closer to my face. "Okay my guy, I'm not going anywhere, just let me stand up." The goblin responded with some gibberish and a gale of laughter from the other goblins filled the air. I looked around for a way out, but there were goblins everywhere at this point. Suddenly, the panel from before appeared again and the laughter faded. 【HELLO KAI】 【YOU HAVE GOTTEN YOURSELF INTO TROUBLE AGAIN】 【IN THE FUTURE, PLEASE CONSIDER BEING LESS】 【P R O B L E M A T I C】 "Well sorry that you've dropped me right in the middle of their pack, you… whatever the hell you are! Can you at least help me here?" 【I AM ALEA, NOT 'WHATEVER THE HELL'.】 【NO I CANNOT HELP YOU, YOU WILL HAVE TO HELP YOURSELF】 "What do you mean I have to help myself? And how am I supposed to do that? Get up, kick them in the nuts and pray that they have nuts?" 【I CAN HOWEVER PROVIDE YOU WITH OPTIONS】 "Oh, okay, go on then, Alea." 【YOU HAVE A CLASS THAT WAS SELECTED FOR YOU BASED ON YOUR】 【P R E D I S P O S I T I O N S】 "Which predispositions? My natural beauty? My never-ending luck? My apparent talent of getting myself killed for billions of years that I didn't know about a day ago?" 【YOUR SELECTED CLASS IS】 【GAMBLER】 "That's a very fitting choice, I have to say." 【RIGHT NOW YOU HAVE ACCESS TO TWO SKILLS】 【Gambler's Strike - Every offensive action places a hidden wager. The System rolls against odds unknown to you. Win, and your damage scales with the stake. Lose, and the strike resolves without effect.】 【Max Bet - Before striking, declare a multiplier: 1x, 2x, or 3x. Win or lose, all outcomes scale accordingly. The odds don't change.】 "Okay, that looks pretty good. And that Max Bet thing? There's literally zero reason for me not to hit that 3X every single time. Let me try it out! " 【DO NOT BE SO FAST KAI, YOU HAVE TO KNOW ABOUT THE-】 "Skip, it's all good, I'll learn as I go, don't worry." 【IT IS YOUR CHOICE, I WILL NOT INTERFERE】 【GOOD LUCK KAI, YOU ARE GOING TO NEED IT】 The window dissipated yet again and I was met with the same green feet and the tip of the spear. The faded laughter got louder, but they didn't know what was about to hit them. I pushed myself from the ground and quickly landed on my feet. The goblin in front of me was surprised and as he pushed his spear into the ground, I was already standing. I clenched my fist and looked straight into his eyes behind the glasses. A little red bar appeared above his head - 6/6. I guessed that it must be his health points and for a moment I wondered where my health status could be, but it didn't matter right now. I was about to unleash a storm of punches coming right their way. I ducked a little bit to get more swing into my punch. I moved my hip first and my arm soon followed. A small text popped up in the corner of my eye that said "Gambler's Strike" and I knew it was the time to declare the bet. With a smile on my face I yelled "TIMES THREE" and a large "3X" flashed before my eyes. As the punch was cutting through the air I saw a small coin appear. It flipped and soared through the air for a brief moment before landing on so