Childhood Friends Without a Care

Although Nick’s words were somewhat awkward, Jos saw no reason to refuse him. In fact, gathering more heroes was something he’d always wanted to do—this was just fate handing him the perfect opportunity.

As soon as Jos agreed, the system dutifully updated his task panel.

[You have a new mission]

[Long-term Mission—Get a Card]

[Mission Description: Recruit new members for the Avengers. The more people you bring in before the plot of Avengers One begins, the greater your rewards.]

[Hero Search function temporarily enabled. For a thousand points of the Source of Self-Destruction, you can locate either a random superhero or a specific one within a ten-kilometer radius. After each use, you must successfully recruit one hero into the Avengers before searching again.]

[Side Mission—The Genuine Article: Assemble the original six members, just as in the plot of Avengers One. Heroes who joined after that storyline cannot complete this mission, though normal rewards still apply.]

[Rewards: Bringing Thor back earns 6,000 Source of Self-Destruction points. Bringing Hulk back earns 30,000 points.]

[PS: Long-term missions do not affect your ability to gain other missions.]

“A long-term mission, huh… Tch, so in other words, those rewards are out of reach for now?”

Despite a touch of disappointment, Jos didn’t dwell on it. Instead, he activated the Hero Search function and began browsing at random.

“Hm?! He’s actually nearby?” Jos arched his eyebrows in surprise; he hadn’t expected such a suitable target to be so close.

...

Seventeen minutes and forty-four seconds later, Jos stepped through the doors of the largest casino in Twisty City, right on time.

Many people harbor a misconception—that casinos are dingy, grimy little rooms filled with greasy, middle-aged men who haven’t bathed in months, shouting and spitting everywhere. Amid the sweat, foot odor, and musk, there’s the cloying scent of cheap perfume worn by aging women hustling for a living, all blending into what they imagine as the “casino atmosphere.”

But the reality in a place like Twisty City’s legitimate casinos is quite different: bright, immaculate halls, advanced gaming tables glimmering in every color.

Even the staff, regardless of gender, are all strikingly attractive.

It was still afternoon, not the busiest time, so Jos couldn’t openly start raking in money. He knew that a big casino like this was nothing like the shady, privately-run joints. In a real casino, there’s no such thing as holding someone captive just because they’re winning—it’s bad for business. If you did that, who would ever come back to play? Only idiots and fictional villains would resort to such stupidity.

That was Jos’ reasoning for causing trouble here!

Of course, he also had power as his backup.

Not long ago, Jos had acquired an ability called Childhood Friends. Its description was: [Whenever you engage in any game of high or low, if you don’t make a guess, both sides will be very low.]

At first, the wording made little sense, but after some thought, Jos realized it was practically a cheat for gambling.

Put simply, if he played Sic Bo—the classic high-low dice game—so long as he didn’t guess, the result would always be “low”!

He’d worried whether the ability worked as he imagined, but after some experimentation, he confirmed that whenever he activated the skill, no matter what he played, the numbers always came up at the lowest possible.

However, in games where the minimum isn’t clear—those with four or five possible minimum outcomes—the skill simply picked one at random, which made things less reliable.

And games where the house sweeps the pot with certain outcomes were even riskier; if Jos used his ability, the house would win every time with a dead number.

All things considered, Jos found that the best fit was simply betting high or low.

His goal wasn’t to win money, but he needed his actions to catch the attention of the casino’s management—to lure his true target.

After testing things out, Jos returned to the high-low table. Without so much as a glance at the board, he tossed two ten-dollar chips onto “Low.”

There were plenty of people playing, but Jos’ twenty-dollar bet hardly attracted any attention.

The dealer glanced up to confirm, then pressed the button to start the dice (in big casinos, cards, dice, and roulette are handled by machines; there’s none of that movie-style dealer manipulation). The dice spun, paused, the cover lifted, and the dealer—whose features were as lovely as her smile—announced sweetly, “Two, one, four. Seven, low.”

In high-low, the three dice add up to less than ten for a “low,” and Jos could control two of them to always show low numbers. Winning was child’s play.

With the ability mastered, Jos relaxed. He marched to the casino restaurant, ordered a top-tier meal worth over nine hundred dollars, and brought it back to eat at the gaming table.

It wasn’t his money, so there was no need for restraint!

His behavior annoyed some of those nearby, but Jos didn’t care. For many Americans, the casino is a social hub, but Jos had zero interest in mingling.

He’d come alone, and Blackie wasn’t the type for small talk in this setting. As for flirting, he’d rather grind mobile games.

Still, thanks to his order of the casino’s most expensive meal, both the dealer and the other patrons pretended not to notice his antics.

Damn, how infuriating—this guy’s eating the priciest thing here as if it were street food! Such a meal should be savored at a fine table with elegant cutlery, not gobbled down like fast food!

Most people couldn’t help but think this.

Not that Jos cared, or even noticed. He casually pulled about four or five thousand dollars in chips from his pocket and placed them all on “Low.”

“Hey, buddy, do you only ever bet on low?” Suddenly, the man seated beside Jos leaned in, speaking just loud enough for Jos to hear.