Ho Cheon-an had already initiated a psychological game once.
It was precisely the time to place the dice.
For Ho Cheon-an and Dogwi, the number that immediately came to mind when they thought of dice was 1.
That very number had concluded the last round of the opposing dice game.
Therefore, Ho Cheon-an placed a 6.
If Ho Cheon-an were a different gambler, he would have likely placed a 1, to test Dogwi’s mixed skill with the cup and to emphasize their connection.
However, Ho Cheon-an didn’t want to engage in such pointless behavior. He believed that the competition should be taken seriously and that actions must be efficient.
‘I knew he would choose 6.’
While it might have been expected to place a number other than 1, Dogwi had accurately anticipated that Ho Cheon-an would pick 6. This was evidence that the psychology was being penetrated.
While placing the basic bet, Ho Cheon-an gazed at Dogwi.
He meticulously observed Dogwi, but could read no particular signs from him.
People reveal their psychological state through their bodies. They clench and unclench their fists, wipe the tips of their noses, or avoid eye contact.
Yet Dogwi was managing to control himself completely without revealing any such reactions. He was the embodiment of a perfected gambler, properly controlling even the most minute physical responses.
The Black Cat analyzed the psychology of the two men, who were repeatedly probing and defending, as she assessed the game situation.
‘On the surface, Dogwi shows no flaws. Even as a senior, he’s not someone who can be understood at a glance. Therefore, Ho can make only two choices.’
One was to buy time until he could grasp Dogwi’s psychological state without exposing his technique. The other was to keep Dogwi uninformed about the value of the dice, pushing the competition into the realm of luck.
Ho Cheon-an’s choice was the latter.
Ho Cheon-an’s cup began to move. The suspended cup twisted and turned, and the audience’s eyes widened.
Silence!
The dice inside that cup were surely dancing, but no sound came from the cup.
This was proof that the faces of the dice and the cup were making smooth contacts, never making any noise as they fell apart.
“Impossible..!”
In gambling, being quiet is a virtue that spectators should uphold, but even that virtue was forgotten as the gamblers were shocked. A technique that seemed absurd merely by hearing about it was being realized right before their eyes!
The cup of Ho Cheon-an, filled with the astonishment of the gamblers, finally stopped.
The gazes of the gamblers shifted back to Dogwi. Did Dogwi manage to decipher Ho Cheon-an’s hand movements?
“I bet 3 on 3.”
“I’ll put down 3 on 6. Will you go higher?”
Ho Cheon-an’s eyebrows twitched.
‘Has this guy truly caught on to the changes?’
Ho Cheon-an deliberately drew a different number from the initial one. It would have been possible to revert to the original, based on that, to clearly ascertain Dogwi’s level of skill.
However, Ho Cheon-an didn’t want to waste the opportunity to gauge Dogwi’s skill.
That would be nothing but a waste. From an efficiency standpoint, what was the point in discerning the opponent’s level? None at all. What would he do if he couldn’t penetrate the technique? Would he gradually reveal it?
“I’ll take 3. I have no intention of raising it further. Can I reveal?”
“Of course.”
Each put down 4 bets. The game was to decide the direction of a total of 8 bets. With only 8 of 156 bets at stake, it couldn’t be labeled a great game, yet the audience held their breaths, waiting for the outcome.
Victory.
Who could seize the momentum of this gambling match? That would be determined by this round.
“Six! It’s a six!”
“Unbelievable! That guy is facing that monster…!”
“I can’t believe we’re witnessing such a high-level match!”
‘Even when the senior has spread out his hand, he still lost.’
After winning two consecutive rounds against Ho Cheon-an, Dogwi solidified the momentum. The Black Cat sighed with relief, convinced that a gambler capable of competing with Ho Cheon-an had finally emerged.
‘Senior, now I can see your true qualities. That precious face… I’ll make sure to see it properly.’
The game continued.
The momentum was 4 for Ho Cheon-an and 6 for Dogwi.
The audience swallowed their saliva repeatedly. The advantage was 4 to 6…
“I bet 3 on 2.”
“I’ll take that and raise you 2 on 5.”
“I accept.”
This round was a victory for Dogwi. Watching the scene unfold, the gamblers pondered. The bets piled high before Dogwi, and his momentum and ongoing gambling behavior were as solid as a rock.
In contrast, Ho Cheon-an was fierce. He wasn’t afraid to become disheveled and did not back away from rough moves. Ho Cheon-an himself was shaking the cup so wildly that he couldn’t even guess the number on the dice, placing the same number multiple times as he threw.
To break Dogwi’s sturdiness, Ho Cheon-an unleashed his fangs and claws without reservation, and his aggressive assault continued to build momentum.
The game clearly showed Dogwi in the lead, yet no one among the audience could definitively assert Dogwi’s victory. After all, Ho Cheon-an’s frenzied onslaught seemed ready to shatter Dogwi’s solidity at any moment.
“Seven bets on 2.”
“I’ll accept that.”
Above all, gamblers couldn’t predict the course of the game because Ho Cheon-an kept increasing his bet amount. He wasn’t dragging it into the realm of luck. Instead, the basic betting amount was gradually increasing. As Ho Cheon-an raised the base amount, Dogwi had no choice but to increase his betting amount to avoid losses…
“Five to receive and six on 4.”
“I’ll take that.”
The stakes now were hitting basic units in the tens.
‘Why is this happening?’
The Black Cat was curious. Why was Ho Cheon-an making such choices? Dogwi had thoroughly analyzed Ho Cheon-an to reach this point, so it would have been textbook for Ho Cheon-an to buy time until he gathered information on Dogwi.
Yet, Ho Cheon-an chose to grow the stakes instead of taking the conventional route. This wasn’t a shallow decision to maximize gains by betting high.
The larger the game grew, the less stable it became. In the game of matching dice, both could hinder each other’s vision, holding many uncertainties.
Ho Cheon-an was deliberately crafting such a game.
On a knife-edge.
Before they knew it, the ground beneath the two gamblers had turned into a bottomless abyss. Elements that neither gambler could decipher filled the game, and a single slip could inflict fatal damage.
“I bet five on 2.”
“I’ll take that and add five more on 3.”
“I’ll also add three.”
“I’m out.”
Intense exchanges of advance and retreat took place. The tendencies of the battle had long been lost. Who places the dice and who holds the cup? Traditionally, the advantage would be clear based on their psychological insights and hand techniques, yet they were utterly indistinguishable.
Each round was muddled, but a victor and a loser are always bound to emerge and the momentum tends to tilt, and that momentum was held by Dogwi.
Ho Cheon-an’s bets had fallen below 40, while Dogwi’s grew heavier.
Yet the outcome was still uncertain.
With a game now constituted of more than twenty bets passing back and forth, anyone slipping could tip the balance of this round significantly.
“Nine on 6.”
“I’ll take that and add ten more on 4.”
“Reveal.”
Then it was Ho Cheon-an who slipped first.
“Ah…!”
Ho Cheon-an experienced two consecutive defeats. The balance, barely maintained through a series of advance and retreat, teetered precariously. Ho Cheon-an now had only twenty bets left. If the current game was maintained, it might determine the winner in the next round.
“Hm… Wasn’t it a bit too hasty to escalate the stakes?”
“Was it Dogwi? He seems to have studied that man thoroughly.”
“No matter how good he is at gambling, the process of understanding the opponent is essential…”
The gamblers expressed their disappointment. Setting aside their positions, they were deeply immersed in the battle between the two. If Ho Cheon-an had been more cautious in understanding Dogwi while gradually raising the stakes, who knows what might have happened…
The match that might be the last was about to begin.
Ho Cheon-an placed the dice while Dogwi lifted the cup.
Dogwi raised his focus to a level he had never achieved before. His heart raced, but it didn’t break the tranquility he had maintained thus far. In fact, considering all his efforts to win against Ho Cheon-an, he was strangely calm.
What dice number did Ho Cheon-an place in this moment?
As Dogwi pondered that, he contemplated how he would possibly finish this gambling match that might be his last.
No matter how extraordinary Ho Cheon-an and Dogwi were, they couldn’t entirely decipher the wild movements of the dice inside the cup by merely observing each other’s hand movements. No matter how sharp their observation and gambling skills were, the one mixing the dice also had their own level of skill.
There were moments they grasped the other’s moves, and there were times they missed them.
‘The prediction of the numbers is meaningless.’
In this moment, which could be the last, what number had Ho Cheon-an placed? Dogwi had no clues to infer Ho Cheon-an’s psychology. The Ho Cheon-an he knew was invincible. Would he really be able to anticipate the reactions that someone unaccustomed to facing a crisis might display?
Thus, Dogwi concentrated solely on mixing the cup.
In the game of matching dice, if both fail to guess the exact number, the one who guesses a close number becomes the winner. So when Ho Cheon-an bet on 2 and Dogwi on 6, if the dice showed 5, then Dogwi would win.
‘I’ll stick to my method until the end.’
While he could shake the cup in a way that even he could not grasp, Dogwi chose to maintain his flow and give it his all.
This might be the last cup of Dogwi.
“I’ll place nine on 3.”
“I’ll accept. I’ll raise ten on 2.”
Dogwi took a deep breath inwardly. Ho Cheon-an had been consistently aggressive, and Dogwi had been consistently maintaining his flow.
This had carried Dogwi to this point and was the path to victory, so Dogwi resolved to continue believing in it. Even if this round swung in Ho Cheon-an’s favor, the final victor would be him.
“I’ll accept.”
“Since I have no more bets to place, I’ll reveal right away.”
Everyone held their breath. If the dice inside the cup turned out to be a 3, this gambling match would be a victory for Dogwi. If it was a 2, then Ho Cheon-an would create an opportunity for a turnaround… making this the pivotal point of victory or defeat!
All the spectators held their breath, focusing intently on the number of the dice inside the cup.
Even the Black Cat couldn’t take her eyes off Ho Cheon-an’s reaction, staring at the cup intently. Was this the end? Or the starting point of a revival?
The cup opened, and the eyes of the dice were revealed.
