"If you can win, I'll admit defeat!" — Joe, the newly minted philosopher

“Bored of dice? Why don’t we each draw a card and see whose is higher?”

“Uh...?”

At Joss’s suggestion, the Card King was clearly taken aback. Most gambling duels favored the most complex games possible, giving ample opportunity for switching and sleight of hand. Yet Joss’s proposal stripped the contest down to its barest bones—with only one card each, there was little room for manipulation. And there was an even more serious problem.

The Card King hesitated for less than a second before asking, “If that’s the case—”

“You’re wondering what happens if both cards are Kings, right?” Joss interrupted, voicing the very question on the Card King’s mind. “I’ve thought of that. We can tweak the rules a bit.”

As he spoke, Joss raised a finger toward the Card King. “First, if you manage to draw a high card, you win.”

Before he’d finished, a second finger went up. “Second, do whatever you like, but if I come near the table even once, I lose.”

Suddenly, as if struck by something amusing, Joss grinned widely. “Third, we keep going until you admit defeat. Of course, only today—I have no interest in keeping a man company all night.”

After stating these three rules, Joss didn’t bother to glance at the Card King or Gray to see their reactions. He merely shrugged and said, “Yes, these are all restrictions for me. That’s what makes it fun. So, do you dare accept?”

As Joss lowered his hand, the Card King remained silent. The three conditions Joss had set were too strange—and all of them were to his own advantage. The Card King was more baffled than ever.

Was this man truly so strong, or just putting on a show?

During the brief pause while the room was being prepared earlier, the Card King had discreetly sent someone to inquire about Joss’s background.

He hadn’t expected much, but thanks to Joss’s recent exploits and his status as a member of the Avengers, his basic information was readily available through the casino’s network.

The findings only left the Card King more bewildered.

In terms of combat prowess, this man could probably demolish the entire casino—of that, there was no doubt. But from what he’d seen that day, and according to the Avengers’ public records, Joss had no gambling skills to speak of.

No, even if he were a master of secret tricks, what could he possibly do without ever touching the table? Even the greatest sleight of hand couldn’t work under such constraints.

And what was this about endlessly playing until he admitted defeat? Did Joss think the Card King’s title was a joke?

The Card King briefly considered the possibility that Joss possessed some power to alter the structure of matter, or perhaps something even more fearsome, like the ability to manipulate causality itself. Once the outcome was set, it couldn’t be changed; a mere thought could turn any card into the desired one.

But then he dismissed the idea. Anyone with a power of that magnitude would hardly bother with such trivial games in a casino.

Regrettably, the Card King brushed right past the correct answer—never imagining that Joss truly was wielding an ability that interfered with causality.

After a few seconds’ thought, the Card King still couldn’t fathom what Joss was up to.

Yet faced with rules so obviously tilted in his favor, how could he, as the challenger, possibly refuse?

With that, he nodded. “As you wish. Gray, if you’d be so kind, deal the cards.”

“No trouble at all,” Gray replied with a smile—he was the dealer for the pair. He produced a fresh deck, unwrapped it, placed it in the shuffling machine, and dealt the cards with professional ease. These days, most casino tasks were handled by machines, so he didn’t need to “personally” intervene at all.

With the game so simple, just one card each, Gray acted as Joss’s proxy, revealing his card since Joss refused to even approach the table.

“Hearts Ace, value one,” Gray announced, his expression unchanged. Both he and Joss turned their gaze to the Card King across the table.

“Heh, looks like Lady Luck isn’t on your side, even in a game of pure chance,” the Card King sneered. After receiving his card, he’d swiftly switched it for a King of Clubs. But upon seeing Joss’s card, he scoffed at his own wasted effort.

“Enough talk—just flip your card,” Joss said, utterly unfazed by the taunt. He nonchalantly picked his nose, urging the Card King to proceed.

With a sharp slap of the table, the Card King turned over his card, declaring proudly, “Hmph! I’ll show you my King of... Ace of Clubs?”

“How is this possible?!”

He stared in disbelief at the card. It had been a King of Clubs from the moment he held it—when had it become an Ace?

“Both cards are Aces—draw,” Gray announced coolly, oblivious to the Card King’s inner turmoil. He began shuffling again.

“Both cards are Aces—draw,” Gray said with mild surprise after the fourth round, and shuffled once more.

“Both cards are Aces—draw,” he murmured, voice growing hoarse by the sixty-second round, his fingers trembling as he shuffled.

...

“Both cards are Aces... a draw...” By the three hundred seventy-seventh round, Gray’s tone had become mechanical as he silently began shuffling again.

Opposite him, the Card King looked utterly haggard. Over the past five hours, he had exhausted every trick he’d ever learned, even secretly using his mutant ability, but never once had he managed to change the outcome.

No matter how the cards were shuffled, both players always ended up with an Ace.

As for Joss, he had started out watching the Card King’s performance with interest, but eventually pulled out his phone and began playing games, not even bothering to glance up.

In the end, it was Gray—the only ordinary man present—who first succumbed to exhaustion, escaping under the pretense of a bathroom break. Joss, ever generous, let the Card King shuffle and deal himself—which, for a master of sleight of hand, was practically cheating with impunity.

And yet, despite all this, he still couldn’t win!