Chapter 878: Talk with Gambler
Sam endured the exhaustion and tried his best to survive through this and at the end of the second month which almost felt like a couple of years, he was finally out of this warping thing.
He is standing in the middle of a room. A similar setup to the point shop. But instead of Ling Tian, a man wearing complete black is sitting with his feet on the table.
When Sam saw his face, he almost had a heart attack on the spot.
Because the face of the man is an exact copy of his face. He shivered a bit before trying his best to calm himself down and sit across him.
"Sam, nice to finally meet you. I wanted to meet you for a long time, but I couldn't you know. I am a busy man. Not as busy as you though. You are making waves before you even reached the Consummate stage.
My choice is not bad."
Sam expressionlessly looked at the same familiar face he saw over and over again for almost three decades.
The expression, the voice everything is similar to himself. If only the aura was also copied. He could clearly tell the difference. As long as anyone who knew Sam both of them together, they wouldn't mistake them at all.
"Is there a chance for us to fight?"
This is the first thing Sam asked as soon as he opened his mouth.
Gambler raised his eyebrow as he looked at Sam with a surprised yet amused expression.
"I made a bet with Monkey king that you would demand answers from me as soon as we met and here you are asking for a fight. I am losing a lot because of my own player. This is bad."
"It is never a wise choice to gamble on someone else, particularly when you are not aware of that one's particular choices. If by any chance things go out of hands, you wouldn't even be able to bear the consequences."
"First proper meeting and you are throwing veiled threats? Another bet is gone now and it is with Kartikeya. Both of those muscle heads would never let me hear the end of it."
"Well, it is not much of a threat and more of a fact. The two bets you lost today are the proof. Anyway, you didn't answer my question, Are we going to have a fight?"
"No, not really. We are not fighting today and certainly not anytime soon. And can you put that weird fetish of fighting me aside for a second and talk with me? I am really here in good faith you know? I want to maintain a proper relationship with you.
After all, you guys are halfway through the whole game and I only get to interact with you now.
Let's talk about the face, why are you not surprised when I came here like this?"
"What is the point of this fake face if identifying you is already a given. No one with the right mind and knowledge of me will believe you. I am pretty sure my friends would have already started attacking you if it was outside."
"It seems like you have great friends. I would like to meet them."
"Not possible. You might have to wait for me to get to your place."
"I am the only one asking questions why don't you ask some as well?"
"Why are you guys so eager to kill us all?"
"Wow, I would have lost another bet, It seems like I don't really understand you at all. I thought you would be asking some questions like why I picked you? What is this game? or something like that.
It seems like Stella's wishes really did come true. You are asking something that is clearly related to something bigger than yourself. It seems like you can empathize now Sam, you find yourself being a part of a group and you are thinking of a collective problem of your group, like the climate change groups or animal rights group back in your home.
Do you feel that? I wanted to make a bet with Stella on this one, but she really doesn't have anything else other than her soul with her, If I had bet with that too and by any chance, I won…."
Sam closed his eyes took a deep breath before calming himself down and asked.
"Well, I am pretty sure you are not going to answer them, so why bother asking?"
"Why did you get to that conclusion?"
"There are many reasons and I can't explain them all, but I am pretty sure when the day comes for keeping my legs on the table, you would be answering every question of mine."
"Why do you have so much resentment? Think of me as a father figure you never had."
The discussion and went on like this and soon it reached from the laugh to him being the only person.
Sam still didn't show any expression and let the gambler talk as he wanted.
"No wonder the gods are having a good time in the Palace of inheritance, no one really likes to lose this feeling. But all good things must come to an end.
But before that, let me just give you, your special blessing exclusive to you."
With that, there is a bright light falling on him which made him feel lighter and also made him go through the same process as Arman before. His body seemed to have been reconstructed from the core. He felt like a re-forged sword with all the nicks and rust completely gone, a brand new blade that could slice through anything like a knife through butter.
After that, it came to Sam's prizes.
The main prize of the Palace of inheritance, the beast Sam asked.
It looked like it is a football-sized grasshopper and its skin is semitransparent.
This is the beast he was waiting for. The beast is called the Void hopper. The very beast is supposed to have a great grasp on space without even its knowledge. But from the looks of it, the appearance of the current beast in his hands is not exactly the same as before.
Along with that, there are many transference scrolls other small stuff along with it. The points are around a million once again. Sam once again gathered the most points with the most killings of the beasts.
Apart from that, there is nothing much Sam wanted to speak to Gambler about. He is really satisfied with this.
He really didn't like this Gambler a guy who is hiding his face from the very soul he abducted for fun. If he doesn't even have the guts to show his face off like this, then what kind of person is he, or what kind of god is he.
"Come on, speak to me more. Are you sure you want to just leave like this? I mean, you might not be able to meet me for a century or two."
Sam didn't answer instantly, he is clearly hesitating.
"You are like my mentor in this whole game, right?"
"Yes."
"So, how should I proceed in the future?"
The gambler was clearly surprised. From the start, he knew that Sam doesn't have any good impression of him and he didn't expect him to have and doesn't care what kind of impression he could have.
All he needs is a capable player to play the game for him and win.
"I am really surprised. I am very sure that you won't rip my face off completely and pull my tongue if you get a chance and you are still asking me how you should proceed? I didn't expect that. You are way beyond my expectations in all aspects.
As for the question, keep going the same way you are going. There is something the other players are ignoring now which couldn't be revealed at the moment, but you accidentally got a hold of it. That is also one of the reasons that the rest of the gods hate you. I am in no position to reveal exactly what it is. So, just proceed the way you are."
Sam nodded and replied.
"Then I am done, you can take me back to the rest of the players."
Both of them disappeared from the spot and reappeared in the main hall. Gambler is standing beside Ling Tian and his face changed back to obscurity without any face showing at all.
Sam looked around to check the players and he was surprised to find out Kumar is indeed injured.
He ran to him quickly and checked his injuries. He is laying on the ground extremely helpless with the players trying to feed the potions and medicines to him.
He seemed to be poisoned by an extremely potent one.
Sam looked at Ling Tian and asked.
"Why didn't you heal him?"
"There are no more safety nets Sam. You are responsible for your own life."
Sam cursed them under his breath and took out the heavenly wine as well as got ready to suck the poison out. But Kumar stopped him and smiled.
"I have waited for too long. If only you came a bit earlier. I am actually waiting for you. But that gave him time to think, what is the point of living like this? Being tied up with strings that are not even visible and felt.
The past few minutes are the moments that I felt most alive in this second life.
Just leave me be."
Sam gritted his teeth at those words. It seems like the deaths are affecting him more than he thought.