Chapter 263: Ch 263: Casino Station
After she got separated from the group while boarding the train, we finally
found Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae at this casino station.
We could have been happy that the search had succeeded.
If she hadn’t been working as a dealer in a casino ghost story with one eye
missing.
"Assistant Ma—"
"Shh."
Agent Choi grabbed my shoulder tightly. I reflexively shut my mouth.
"..."
"Yes, Ms. Dealer. Please guide us~"
"Yesyes!"
And so, we quietly began moving, following the ghost story resident who
looked like Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae, the dealer who had started
walking ahead.
Agent Choi whispered in a low voice.
"Rather than causing a scene asking if she recognizes us, we need to find
the perfect timing and snap her back to her senses, even if only briefly. Got
it?"
I nodded.
The dealer guided us inward, passing through the run-down casino entrance
area.
We entered while quietly observing our surroundings.
...If this were the <Dark Exploration Records>, the environment that
appeared would surely have been recorded like this...
Upon passing through the casino entrance area under
the dealer’s guidance, a space appears in which three
iron doors are aligned side by side, resembling a
repurposed subway maintenance facility.
The areas accessible through each door are described
below in order.
1. Left – Red door
"This is the slot machine zone!"
When the door opened, a square space appeared, filled with fast-tempo,
low-quality instrumental music, old brass decorations, and endlessly lined
rows of slot machines.
Compared to the decorative machines at the entrance, this place felt more
systematic and persistent.
"You can enjoy a simple game by pulling the lever, and you can challenge
the jackpot with just one coin, so it’s very popularr."
Most of the slot machines were already broken, but there were countless
visitors blankly pulling the levers of the shabby machines that were still
operating.
If they had no hands, they used their feet. If they had no feet, they used their
mouths.
I even saw someone who had just won desperately grabbing whatever came
out of a winning slot machine and fleeing to a corner.
And addicts chasing that winner like mad.
It was a hair-raising sight.
"Then I’ll guide you to the next areaa."
2. Right – Blue door
"The dealer zone. This is where various table games are played. Only
parties holding 50 coins or more may enterr."
Compared to the slot machine zone, a somewhat cleaner casino space was
revealed.
However, more than half of the game tables were broken or shattered.
At the few tables that were still intact, ’dealers’ dressed similarly to
Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae stood motionless or were running games.
But their numbers were noticeably small, and there were hardly any seated
visitors...
[It feels isolated. Oh, like a run-down casino at a tourist destination no one
visits anymore.]
[Look at those people. Such shabby appearances!]
The visitors sitting in front of the dealers either had no legs, or were
missing more than half of their facial features, or had their entire bodies
covered in worn-out hoodies or padded jackets.
"..."
"How would you like to proceedd?"
"Ah, it seems like today’s a rather quiet day."
"People usually visit more on weekends than weekdayss!"
It clearly wasn’t that kind of issue, but it was only natural that realistic
conversation was difficult with contaminated people.
I gently changed the subject.
"Actually, I was a bit surprised to meet a dealer. I thought this was an
unmanned facility."
"Ah. I understandd. I heard that since subway ridership has been declining
recently, ■■ City Royal Casino has also been changing its management
policy in a new and more innovative directionn."
It was a loaded statement.
The dealer wearing Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae’s face smiled faintly
and guided us to the next room.
"But there’s also a special game you can only enjoy heree!"
The final room.
3. Center – Gold door
A rusted iron door with its gold paint completely peeled away.
Above it hung a velvet nameplate that had not yet frayed.
VIP ACCESS
"Only visitors holding 999 coins or more may enter this roomm!"
Just as she said, the iron door was firmly shut.
As if we were not allowed inside.
"This is a zone I’d strongly recommend, where you can witness the true
form of Royal Casino."
"What kind of game is played there?"
"That is something I can only tell visitors who meet the entry
requirements."
"How many people are inside right now?"
"That is something I can only tell visitors who meet the entry
requirements."
In other words, if we wanted to know anything at all about the VIP room
behind that door, we needed 999 coins.
"What I can say for sure is that it’s possible to earn an enormous amount of
coins!"
"...I see."
[Hmm. Are you curious, Friend?]
Of course, it felt ominous, but of course, that wasn’t what mattered right
now.
"...Thank you for explaining."
"You’re welcome, dear guestt!"
The dealer wearing Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae’s appearance smiled
brightly as she bowed.
I responded with a slight bow, but I couldn’t shake a certain thought.
One question kept circling in my head.
Was Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae...
...originally that tall?
"Then allow me to usher you into the dealer room firstt!"
She had definitely been more than 10 centimeters shorter than Assistant
Manager Eun Haje, but now, even at a glance, she was taller.
And she wasn’t even wearing cushioned sneakers like she usually did, just
plain dress shoes.
How was that possible?
"Would you like to play a gamee?"
Back in the second area, the dealer room, the dealer moved to the opposite
side of a shabby table and explained in a lively voice.
"It’s a simple card game. You just have to guess the identity of the card I’m
holding! You can bet a minimum of 3 coins, and you can earn up to 36
times your bet!"
Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae’s hands, as she pulled out a deck of
playing cards, moved deftly.
And I realized something else.
"Would you like to place a bet?"
The dealer with one eye met the gaze of me, who also had one eye.
"If you bet all 35 coins you’re holding, then in theory, you could obtain VIP
room access in a single game."
...
"That’s alright."
I smiled and took a small step back from the table.
"It’s our first time here. We’ll try the slot machines first, and if possible,
enjoy ourselves a bit before coming back to bet. Thank you."
"...Yesyes. Thank you!"
The dealer’s persistent gaze finally lifted, and I left the dealer room with the
others.
Only after we returned to the entrance area and confirmed that the dealer
wasn’t following us near the pawnshop did I speak.
"Grapes-ie, did you notice?"
"Yes."
I had seen the dealer’s hands while she shuffled the cards.
"Only the ring finger and middle finger had different shapes."
"Right. And the wrist and the hand too, the bone connections looked
unnatural."
And even the dealer’s height, which was strangely tall compared to
Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae.
All of it pointed to a single fact.
...
"Only the head is Assistant Manager Dolphin."
The dealer was a crude assembly of different body parts.
With Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae’s head attached.
"She kept gambling here, repeatedly selling most of her body parts and then
buying them back."
Or.
"She might have gone into debt and lost her entire body to the casino, then
got reassembled as a dealer."
Either way, one question remained.
So.
"...Can we consider her to be in a state that can still be rescued?"
...
"We have to shoot her," Agent Bronze spoke up.
"Wait—"
But he insisted again.
"Then she’ll wake up in reality. Just shoot her in the head and that’s it."
"Wait!"
Assistant Manager Eun Haje cut him off.
"Sir Highborn Civil Servant. Calm down for a second. Let’s think about it.
...Can someone with only a head really be considered themselves?"
"Hmm~ The side with the brain should count as the self, shouldn’t it? After
all, the one dreaming would be the head."
"No."
Agent Choi and Section Chief Lee Jaheon disagreed.
The two looked at each other.
"Mr. Civilian, could you explain why you think that?"
"Yes. In Darknesses, there are cases where symbolic or ritual classifications
are used instead of medical diagnoses."
"...So you’re saying the basis might not be the head but the heart? Since
there are cultures that see the heart as a more fundamental element of a
person?"
"Yes."
"Huu."
Agent Choi fell into a low hum.
If it’s not recognized that ’Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae with only a
head left’ was the real person, and she didn’t wake up in reality...
’Her consciousness might just die as it is.’
And on top of that.
"Even here, there’s no guarantee like at the previous station that ’if you die,
you’ll immediately wake up in reality,’ Sir Highborn Geezer."
"...Even so, that option is more humane than leaving her behind in a state
of complete contamination inside an unperceived annihilation-sanctioned
supernatural disaster."
"Bronze-ah."
Agent Choi’s low voice was heard.
"I told you not to quote the bureau manual like it’s your personal opinion.
Right?"
"..."
"My hoobae here is a bit rigid, that’s all. He didn’t mean any harm by it,
dear civilians."
"I know. Well, what’s been said does have a bit of a hasty generalization
problem, but it’s not entirely wrong either."
Assistant Manager Eun Haje softened her words, as if calming things down.
"We brought euthanasia drugs with us because we figured that if there was
no other way out, death was the only option anyway."
That was true.
’I did assume the gimmick probably hadn’t changed drastically.’
And besides.
"I think so too. ...Given that I’m in human form, it’s even clearer that we
entered a dream, that this isn’t reality."
"...Roe."
"So if there really is no other method, we may have to do what Agent
Bronze suggested. But for now, I’d like to look into other options first."
"..."
Agent Bronze nodded heavily. The others seemed to have reached a point of
agreement as well.
Gather as much information as possible inside the Midnight Station Casino
of Corporeity.
That was our first objective.
That said, there was someone who clearly didn’t agree.
Baek Saheon, with a face that looked like it had ’not interested’ written all
over it.
He didn’t have much personal connection to Assistant Manager Lee
Seonghae to begin with, and since the one paying the reward was Ho
Yoowon, rescue wasn’t his goal.
’He’s probably more interested in the payoff.’
And Ho Yoowon had made an unusually generous request this time.
So rather than leaving blindly, other related information could be obtained
by thoroughly exploring the stations.
And even if that wasn’t the case, a casino is the perfect place to obtain
items.
’He has his mind on other things.’
Perhaps noticing that uncooperative air, Agent Bronze shot Baek Saheon a
resentful look from behind his mask.
But that’s not how you handle this.
I grabbed Baek Saheon by the shoulder.
– For now, I’d like you to gather information about Sekwang City outside
the subway.
"Hey."
"Y-Yes, sir?"
Baek Saheon (fortunately) flinched. But this time, it was a carrot rather than
a stick.
I spoke as gently as possible.
"If this is a casino, wouldn’t the dealer know the mechanisms and products
here better than anyone?"
"Then?"
"I’m saying that if we rescue her and bring her with us, we could get some
pretty valuable information."
"..."
Perhaps he had already gathered information about Assistant Manager Lee
Seonghae’s personality, because Baek Saheon’s expression shifted slightly.
Right. He knows she isn’t the type to take help and then skip out without
paying it back.
"Think about it."
I let go of him.
’That should be enough to at least keep him from interfering.’
With that, everyone split up.
Assistant Manager Eun Haje went to observe other casino visitors, Section
Chief Lee Jaheon and Baek Saheon headed to the slot machines, and the
agents dispersed to check the body pawnshop and item exchange counters.
And as for me...
"Welcome back!"
I entered the dealer room.
Carefully borrowing those ’blood-like’ coins from Assistant Manager Eun
Haje, I met the 50-coin requirement and gained the right to play games with
the dealer.
"Yes. We meet again."
I sat across the table.
The dealer wearing Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae’s face smiled brightly.
"Would you like to place a bett?"
"...Yes."
"Alright!"
The dealer stood across the table with a cheerful expression and began
arranging the cards once again.
– Assistant Manager, could you lend me 20 coins for a moment? I won’t
spend them. I just want to enter the dealer room.
– Okay. I’ll head over soon too, so come out to meet me.
"I’ll give you a heads-up first. If you’re caught using ’cheats’, a fine will be
imposed."
"Yes. I’ll be careful."
As I carefully observed every movement, I spoke casually, as if in passing.
"Have you ever worked somewhere else before?"
"...Pardon?"
"I think I saw you at a resort."
The hand moving the cards paused for a moment.
And then...
"Ah, I worked briefly at Flower Golden Resortt. It was a really nice place!"
"...I see. That’s great."
"Thank youu."
So at least she remembered that much.
I decided to proceed with the game, both to move toward more personal,
memory-triggering questions and to learn what Assistant Manager Lee
Seonghae had gone through.
Just then.
"Then let’s start the ga— oh!"
Someone else sat down at the table.
’Who is it?’
I turned my head, wondering if Assistant Manager Eun Haje had come in
without waiting after saying she was with my group, but.
"...!"
A resident of Sekwang Special Metropolitan City, wearing a completely
worn-out padded jacket pulled down over their head, sat beside me.
"..."
"..."
’What the?’
I had a bad feeling.
I considered standing up, but for now, I stayed seated.
Cold sweat formed in my palm.
"Would you like to place a bet?"
The resident beside me nodded slowly, silently, and placed three coins on
the table.
Stained, worn coins.
"..."
I placed three coins on the table as well.
In contrast, my clean coins glinted faintly in the light...
"Yesyes. Then we’ll begin!"
The dealer collected the coins, spread the deck of playing cards face down
on the table, and asked.
"Which card would you like to choose?"
I waited.
But the one seated beside me didn’t choose a card.
A suffocating silence.
"...This one."
"Yesyess!"
And the moment I chose my card, the customer next to me pointed to the
card beside it, as if they’d been waiting.
’...What?’
Something felt off.
"Now, you just need to guess the suit or the number of the card you chose.
If you guess the suit, you get three times the payout. If you guess the
number, eight times. If you guess both, you get thirty-six times the
winnings!"
She continued with a friendly explanation that K, Q, and J were excluded,
and that A counted as 1.
[Oh, those odds only benefit the casino. How blatantly obvious.]
Yeah.
But more than the unfairness, in that strange tension, I spoke quietly.
"So it’s a probability game. The multiplier for numbers is higher than for
suits, so it seems like it’s ranked higher. Like a precious solution."
"That’s an interesting comparison, dear guest!"
It seemed casual conversation was possible up to this point. I kept probing.
"Then have you ever played the game as a visitor yourself, Ms. Dealer? I
was wondering how many coins you’ve wagered at most."
"Me?"
A flat voice answered.
"I’ve bet up to 990 coins."
...!
But before I could say anything else, the game proceeded.
"Then I’ll ask the guest who placed coins first. How will you bet?"
...
"Dear guest?"
From the seat beside me, an index finger lifted.
The hand, compulsively wrapped in bandages, was concealed so the other
fingers couldn’t be seen.
"Alright. You’ve bet on 1!"
Huu.
Now it was my turn to bet.
’For now...’
"I’ll guess the suit. Diamond."
"Confirmed!"
Then the dealer looked again at the resident beside me, and my gaze
followed...
And I realized it.
At some point, the one sitting next to me had almost completely turned their
body toward me.
Even while the dealer was announcing their bet.
"Now, we’ll check the one who bet on the number first..."
The dealer flipped the card.
"It’s the three of spades."
"..."
"Unfortunately, that’s a miss!"
The customer beside me didn’t move at all.
And then...
"Now, next..."
The card I had chosen was flipped...
Eight of diamonds.
"Congratulations. You got it right. Here are your winnings."
The dealer paid me nine coins. Mixed in were the worn, stained coins taken
from the person beside me. I swept them up and put them into my pocket.
"..."
"Congratulations. Would you like to play again?"
I felt a gaze.
The Sekwang City resident beside me, who had lost their coins, was staring
straight at me.
I couldn’t see their eyes, but it was unmistakable.
"..."
I quietly gathered my remaining coins and rose to my feet.
’Avoid them.’
I should go meet Assistant Manager Eun Haje first, then come back.
"Oh, are you getting up already?"
"I’m just going to look around somewhere else for a bit..."
And the moment I turned my body.
The casino visitor who had been seated beside me was suddenly standing
right in front of me.
"..."
"..."
They lifted their head.
The lower half of their face was revealed beneath the padded jacket.
And then...
"Mr. Roe Deer."
A familiar face.
A familiar voice.
[Good heavens!]
"Why are you here."
Go Yeongeun-ssi.
A colleague with anxious eyes was saying the words I was about to say.