Although a Villain, My Wish is World Peace

It’s not like I always made such ridiculous bluffs like now. When I got bad hands, I died early, and there were times I threw away my cards in the middle after seeing the hand unravel.

But overall…

It was a win rate that could be called truly overwhelming.

—How are you this good?

‘To lie well, you need to read the other person well. You decide your words and actions based on that information. And then you figure it out. What words work, what actions can shake the other person.’

—Huh, but these are people you’re seeing for the first time today?

‘Reading untrained civilians is obvious.’

For me, who had to read other people’s minds several times when pushed into extreme situations, the environment on this table was incomparably comfortable.

They weren’t trained agents who had learned to hide their emotions, and there were quite a few people whose emotions were plainly visible on their faces.

Some maintained a decent ‘poker face’, but even so.

‘There’s something called micro-expressions. It’s an expression that momentarily appears on the face when facing a situation, and few people can capture that expression. Even if not the face, there are also things shown behaviorally.’

Texas Hold’em, where five community cards are laid in front of the dealer, is a game dominated by psychological warfare as there’s a lot of information revealed. It’s like playing poker while looking at the answer sheet, so there’s no way I can lose unless I get tired of it.

In other situations, the atmosphere might have turned ugly with an outsider sweeping up money, but fortunately, the atmosphere at this table was still good.

Though they did grumble with sullen faces asking ‘Are you really not a professional gambler?’ every time they lost money, it was thanks to Nikki who didn’t show any unpleasant signs.

Additionally, the words thrown by guild members who liked Nikki played a big role in livening up the atmosphere.

“You said you’d play the villain role, and you’re really doing it.”

“I was already being fleeced clean before the villain came.”

“Aha! The villain then was Nikki!”

“You’re all members of the guild I created, you know?”

Laughter burst out again at Nikki’s words.

—Is it okay for the atmosphere to be this friendly when they’re being fleeced by you?

‘That’s what I’m saying.’

Maybe it’s because they’re not people whose purpose is money to begin with. But I can’t stay here forever.

When the number of rounds I won started to exceed two hands, I got up from my seat. Nikki’s eyes narrowed at my action.

“What, are you going to leave after winning?”

“Yes.”

At my words, Nikki said with her lips pouted:

“You said you’d play the villain role. Shouldn’t the hero defeat the villain at the end in the usual picture?”

“That might be the case if this was a fairy tale, but you know. In reality, villains always slip away at the right time. So I’ll stop here.”

“That’s such a plausible answer, it’s ridiculous.”

“That’s right.”

Following Lia and Jude’s words, the guild members seated around the table started throwing words at me one by one.

“It was fun anyway.”

“Yeah, it’s been a while since ‘that’ Nikki got fleeced like this.”

“Haha! Right. It was so damn funny when she said let’s go to the death earlier but ended up folding.”

A guild member who burst out laughing greeted me.

“Hope we can see you again next time.”

“Though Nikki might not welcome it.”

“You’re all teasing me so excitedly!”

“Think about how you’ve been fleecing us all this time. Justin and Gerick still don’t understand poker rules!”

“I do understand.”

“Would someone who understands hold onto American Airlines and die?”

“It means our ‘villain’ until now was Nikki.”

Nikki’s lips protruded further and further as she listened to those words.

—I don’t know how we can just leave, but how those people plan to handle that karma while making such a fuss.

‘I should quickly escape before the atmosphere gets worse.’

I smiled brightly and waved my hand.

“Haha, then I’ll be going…”

“Wait a moment!”

Nikki got up from her seat with wind-like speed and grabbed my wrist. It was so fast that I could almost see afterimages for a moment.

Seeing that the bracelet didn’t light up, this was pure physical ability.

I looked at Nikki’s hand holding my wrist. Nikki quickly let go at my gaze.

“What is it?”

“Will you come here tomorrow too?”

At Nikki’s words, I rolled my eyes.

“Why are you asking that?”

“Because I really want to beat you at least once tomorrow.”

Has her competitive spirit been awakened? She doesn’t seem like the type to play games just to win originally.

It seems her desire to win was ignited because of her guild members teasing her.

“I also watched your face very carefully today.”

Nikki’s eyes thoroughly scanned my face. It wasn’t sexual interest. Her eyes were blazing with the will to beat me.

“Well, if I fleece your table again tomorrow, I feel like I’ll really become a villain…”

“If you’re worried about my friends, don’t be. They would have been fleeced by me anyway even if it wasn’t you.”

“Is that okay?”

They maintain friendships well despite being fleeced like that every time.

At my question, Nikki rolled her eyes and said:

“I’ll just reduce the tribute they have to pay to the guild next month.”

“Is it okay to run a guild like that?”

As if my words were very displeasing, Nikki frowned and ignored my question to ask me:

“Will you do it or not?”

“I don’t mind, but…”

It seems Nikki alone lost several hundred million won to me today, but she’s asking for a rematch just because she wants to beat me once.

Well, poker games are just play for them. No matter how much money is at stake.

“Let’s meet here tomorrow, after lunch.”

“Okay.”

Only after I reluctantly promised to come here again tomorrow did Nikki let me go.

I heard guild members whistling and saying something to Nikki from behind, but I deliberately pretended not to hear.

—Are you planning to fleece them again tomorrow?

‘I should.’

That money must be pocket change for successful hunters in America.

‘I should play along sincerely like with someone.’

—What’s with that sarcastic remark?

‘Maybe I’m going through puberty.’

—Isn’t it more like a midlife crisis?

‘But my body is still young.’

—Your words. So what are you dissatisfied with? Does it bother you that that woman is trying to manipulate you?

I shrugged my shoulders.

To be honest, I don’t particularly dislike types like Nikki. What reason is there to dislike people who have grasped success with their own abilities and shine brightly without trying to hide that success?

It’s just that I don’t quite like this casino space.

‘Just a few steps away from there, you find people who have dedicated their entire lives to gambling. When I see people who can view all this as play while spending dozens of times more money than them…’

It makes me think there’s something wrong with this world.

Those thoughts were brief. Standing in front of the employee, I held out my bracelet.

“Please settle the account.”

Hmm, the bracelet is so heavy I can barely lift my hand.

—It doesn’t seem like anything has changed though.

‘As I said, casinos in the past were much better.’

No matter how much money I earn, it doesn’t feel like I’m earning! I smiled at the employee looking at me with surprised eyes.

The money I earned in that short time was 1.3 billion won.

‘It’s an excessive amount for just playing poker for a while.’

* * *

Coming out of the casino, the sky dyed in sunset greeted me. I enjoyed the game without realizing how time passed.

In any case, that game was quite fun.

‘I should hang out with Nikki’s group until tomorrow, and then start acting like a mark in earnest from the day after.’

I need to spread some tasty bait around me for them to come try to hook me.

As I was moving my feet to return to my companions, a child sitting in front of the casino entrance caught my eye.

It was a Hispanic child wearing filthy clothes. He looked barely ten years old. My feet stopped the moment I saw that small back of the head.

There’s only one reason for such a young child to come to a casino. His guardian must be inside.

Since children are forbidden from entering the casino, he must be waiting out here with no choice.

From the looks of it, he seemed to have been abandoned by his guardian for quite some time.

—For such a young child…

Even Ray, who would usually scold me for meddling again, couldn’t continue speaking at the child’s appearance.

‘This is why I hate gamblers.’

They forget what’s really important to them and cling to just one thing.

In my current situation, there’s no way I can take care of that child.

I need to go back and take care of our kids right away.

That’s what reason whispered to me, but faced with the dirty child, I just couldn’t bring myself to leave.

“Haah.”

I ended up walking towards him.

“What are you doing here, kid?”

“…None of your business.”

“I do have business. If I find out a kid like you is in a place like this, you see. A regular citizen like me can’t gamble comfortably in that casino.”

“Why? You’re not related to me.”

“Because the people who are related to you aren’t doing anything.”

At my words, the kid’s face crumpled up.

“So what?”

He seems like a prideful type at a glance. The type who would choose to steal the Good Samaritan’s wallet rather than rely on their pity.

So I casually threw words at him.

“Want to do a part-time job?”

“I don’t do ‘that kind of thing’.”

Whatever he thought of my words, no, however many times he’s heard such proposals before, the kid’s eyes changed immediately.

“What?”

“I’ll scream if you come any closer, so you better know that.”

My mouth gaped open in disbelief. The child moved a couple steps away from me.

“No, you misunderstand. I absolutely don’t do that kind of thing. No, what kind of person do you take me for.”

“Ha. Ha. Such believable words.”

I was at a loss for words at the prickly reaction that was unbelievably harsh for a ten-year-old kid.

—Damn bastards. What on earth were they trying to do to this child?

‘That’s what I’m saying.’

Thanks to that, only good people like me who purely want to help the child end up in trouble.

I obediently stepped back. Trying to approach further here would only make things worse.

—So you’re planning to just leave that child like that?

‘For types like that, one warm hot dog works better than a hundred words.’

I went to a nearby food truck. I ordered two hot dogs. One with lots of jalapeños, one mild without jalapeños.

I returned with the hot dogs and sat down in front of the kid.

“What is it?”

“You see, mister has a disease where he can’t eat alone. I brought it exactly as they sell it over there, so don’t say strange things like I put something weird in it.”

It’s the food truck right in front. If you were watching me, you’d know I didn’t do anything strange.

I smiled at the hand that quickly snatched the hot dog from me.