Leveling with the Gods
chapter-532

Side Story 8

"There's nothing like a ball here."

YuWon's words made Cyric's expression stiffen for a moment.

The change in his face was fleeting.

So fast that even mid-ranked players, let alone regular players, could notice the shift.

The Swindler Cyric.

That name wasn't given to him for nothing.

"What do you mean?"

"To choose a ball, there has to be a ball. You can't choose one that doesn't exist."

YuWon picked up the nearest cup.

"Look."

An empty cup.

YuWon then moved his hand to the next cup.

"Here too."

And the third.

"And here too..."

The moment YuWon picked up the fifth cup after the fourth,

"What are you doing?!"

Cyric grabbed YuWon's hand. In his heart, he wanted to break his wrist immediately.

But he couldn't predict what kind of commotion would be caused in this place if he did.

Moreover...

"Is this bastard from the Administration Bureau?"

His opponent had uncovered his trick.

It was true. Just as YuWon said, there was no ball inside these cups.

"Isn't that right?"

Faced with YuWon's irritated question, Cyric's anger flared up.

"Oh, wow! It seems it fell over here!"

One of Cyric's companions, who was promoting nearby, shouted as he raised a red ball.

"Haha, making a mistake like this. It's unlike you, Cyric-nim."

He raised his voice so everyone could hear.

The red ball in that person's hand caused the watching audience to stir.

"What? Seriously, there was no ball?"

"When did it fall?"

"Even Rankers make mistakes."

"But this seems a bit suspicious to me..."

Cyric's eyes narrowed slightly.

A change of expression so small that only YuWon, who was close, could notice.

However, unlike his displeasure, Cyric had to apologize.

"It seems I made a mistake. How can I make it up...?"

"Let's move on to the next game quickly. Anyway, it's true he found out there's no ball here."

YuWon's gaze turned to the man calming the audience.

'A team of swindlers. That guy seems to have some skills... It's a shame for his ranking and abilities.'

It was only the first floor.

Although the 100 points required to participate in this game weren't a large sum of money, it wasn't an amount that could be ignored on the first floor.

Even working like this for another month, you could easily earn around 1 million points.

Of course, that was only if no one got the "prize" they offered.

'The Swindler Cyric. I've heard of him, but it's the first time I've seen him.'

He wasn't a very well-known Ranker.

As a Ranker handling illusion-type skills, he originally specialized in combat support.

However, at some point, he was blinded by money and started swindling various Guilds.

Of course...

It wasn't a very pleasant way to describe him.

'How did he sink this low?'

Cyric's goal was clear.

He probably wanted to take advantage of the Players and residents on the first floor and then rise again.

"Is that so? Then, do you want to challenge the next game?"

The next game.

Cyric perceived YuWon's challenge as a provocation. He took another cup and another ball from his inventory and placed them in front of his eyes.

"This time, there's one more cup and one more ball. Of course, the difficulty increases more than twofold."

Ssh-.

Cyric began shuffling the cups with a mocking smile.

The cups moved several times faster than before. Cyric was determined to deceive YuWon's eyes.

'It's not a normal bet.'

With his face covered by a mask, Cyric looked at YuWon with his bright red eyes.

The man in front of him had discovered his trick.

Of course, it was nothing more than a simple sleight of hand game, but it was a level hard to detect even for a decent Ranker.

'He must have some special ability that allows him to enhance his sight.'

An evident fact was that his opponent was not a Player from the first floor.

In that case, he also had to act accordingly.

Clang-.

In a short time, his hands stopped.

"All right, choose."

Cyric withdrew his hands from the cups with a friendly expression.

"If you guess the ball positions again, this time you'll take home the Immortality Elixir made by Deva as a prize."

"The Immortality Elixir?"

"Such a thing?"

"They said if you consume it, even if you're not a Ranker, you can live forever..."

People murmured.

The second prize Cyric had put on the table, the "Immortality Elixir," was not actually an elixir that granted real immortality.

To be precise, the elixir's effect was only "Immortality (不老)."

However, even with that effect, the elixir's value was tremendous.

'I'm sure this bastard is also one of them. But anyway, he'll never get it right...'

"1, 4."

"...!"

Cyric's eyes widened.

This time, the change in his expression was one that anyone could notice.

Paying no attention to Cyric's reaction, YuWon reached out and lifted the first cup.

"You got one right."

Immediately, he reached for cup number 4.

"The other one is..."

At that moment...

['Trickster’s Trick' activated.]

[You can manipulate the memories of the designated target.]

[You can move the designated object.]

Trickster’s Trick.

The B-grade skill that had turned Cyric into what he was.

The grade itself wasn't very high, but familiarity with the skill was close to 100%.

Using the skill was as easy as moving hands and feet.

So Cyric thought about turning the situation around with this skill.

'I didn't think I would have to use it here...'

He had already had to use the skill on the first floor.

'There's nothing else to be done.'

The Immortality Elixir was an item that cost more than 100,000 points.

He couldn't let it be taken away so easily.

[Unknown force detected.]

['Trickster’s Trick' canceled.]

A question mark appeared in his mind. In the instant Cyric stopped, confused, YuWon lifted the second cup.

"You got it."

Two crimson-colored balls.

In the end, Cyric was left wide-eyed.

"T-This is a fra-"

The word "fraud" that he was about to shout choked in his throat.

That was his specialty.

If he started arguing about fraud here and now, the Administration Bureau would undoubtedly intervene.

And more importantly, right now, he couldn't use force.

On the first floor, if you used your strength against a Player or a resident, you would be sanctioned by the Tower immediately.

"Let's move on to the next one."

Faced with YuWon's words, Cyric, who had a dazed expression for a moment, hurriedly put on his mask.

With a friendly smile, Cyric opened his mouth.

"Do you really want to try it? If you fail, you'll also lose the prize for the second challenge."

"It doesn't matter."

"...Understood. Then this time."

Swoosh.

Cyric took out one more cup and one more ball from his inventory and started shuffling them again.

However.

"5, 7, 10."

[Unknown power interferes.]

['Trickster’s Trick' canceled.]

And the next.

"1, 3, 4, 6."

[Unknown power interferes.]

['Trickster’s Trick' canceled.]

And the next.

The skill kept failing.

Bang.

'This can't be.'

It was already the fourth time.

There was only one chance left.

If he could pass this last test, there would be no future for him.

'I don't know what skill he has, but that bastard has the ability to nullify my skills. His eyes are also following my hands...'

Clutching the fists he had behind his back, Cyric looked at YuWon.

'Do I have no choice but to run away?'

['Trickster’s Illusion' created.]

[Environment within a designated space is copied.]

Wooosh.

A translucent magical aura spread around Cyric.

Trickster’s Illusion.

A skill that deceives the surroundings by creating a semi-realistic form.

Cyric, who activated the skill, immediately tried to grab the items and flee.

However...

"Wait a moment."

Suddenly, a hand reached out and grabbed Cyric's wrist, preventing the activation of the skill.

"Are you crossing the line?"

['Water Spirit' interferes with 'Trickster’s Illusion'.]

['Trickster’s Illusion' dissipates.]

Whoosh.

As the translucent magic faded away, the surrounding landscape distorted for a moment.

To the eyes of the audience, Cyric's figure calmly picking up the next cup disappeared, revealing his true form being held by a handsome man.

"What?"

"Did you just see that?"

"Who is that guy? Where did he suddenly come from...?"

"It's, it's Varuna!"

A shout from a spectator who recognized the man.

With his beautiful appearance that seemed to naturally make light shine from his face, it was strange not to know him.

"I heard he descended to the first floor..."

"Why did he appear here?"

"Maybe Varuna is also interested in that item?"

"It's an item that even a High-Ranker would covet, but... this situation is a bit..."

Varuna glared at Cyric.

As expected, Cyric, who couldn't ignore his face, felt uneasy.

His expression didn't change much, but inside, he was crying.

'Why is a Deva High-Ranker here?'

He couldn't understand why a High-Ranker of that level had descended to the first floor.

However, at the same time, the situation began to make sense.

'It was Varuna who was behind this.'

As good as Cyric was, there was a limit to the opponents he could deceive with illusions.

Although Varuna was known for his beautiful appearance and had a higher reputation than other High-Rankers, he was a Ranker with enough skill to be named an executive of Deva.

Therefore, it wouldn't be that difficult for him to nullify Cyric's skill.

'It's fine. It's still fine.'

His skill left no traces.

Even with Varuna behind him, the game was not over yet.

"It seems there's some misunderstanding."

"Misunderstanding? What misunderstanding?"

"Could we leave this for a moment and talk? Varuna-nim. It hurts a bit."

Cyric trembled violently and broke out in a cold sweat, truly distressed.

To the eyes of spectators who knew nothing, it just seemed like a Deva High-Ranker barging in and disrupting a game that was going well.

"...Your performance is truly impressive."

Varuna gritted his teeth and had no choice but to release Cyric's wrist.

His initial goal was to assist in the difficult situation and gain a bit more favor with YuWon.

'At this rate, I'm just going to make a fool of myself...'

Baruna, who glanced at YuWon beside him, frowned.

YuWon wasn't looking at the intruder but elsewhere.

"Wow, this game is quite fun."

And then...

"But the one who has been shuffling for a while is really bad. Wouldn't it be better if someone else shuffled this time?"

"Who else is going to shuffle this time-?"

The moment Cyric turned his head thinking about who the other intruder might be.

Thump-.

A tall man with long white hair hit Cyric's head.

"Don't you know me?"

A voice with a mocking laugh.

Whoosh-.

Son OhGong's eyes burned fiercely, reflecting Cyric's terrified face like a mirror.

"Really?"