Whoever lost the gamble would be utterly erased by the power of the Fire Thief.
Guan Tong suddenly increased his stake, and the Life-Hunting Demon seemed completely unprepared, momentarily speechless.
[The two sides' stakes are unequal]
Only the Fire Thief's prompt remained as calm as ever.
[Life-Hunting Demon must add new stakes]
"...Human, have you thought this through?" the Life-Hunting Demon hesitated, "For a gamble, are you willing to give up your life?"
Guan Tong sneered, "So this so-called Life-Hunting? This is all the courage you have? What, you—the master of this Gambling Space—won't bet your life when you can't cheat?"
Even earlier, from the Life-Hunting Demon's behavior, Guan Tong had already suspected that if this thing were human, it would be nothing but a despicable scoundrel.
The only difference between it and a despicable scoundrel was that it held the power of the Gambling Space and could read the memories of human participants.
Strip off that cloak of power, and in essence this demon was no real strong being—there was none of the confidence a true powerhouse should have.
"You think I won't bet my life?" the Life-Hunting Demon said darkly, "One short, lowly human life—how could it possibly equal the value of my long existence!"
A hand emerged from the darkness and pressed on the contract scroll, just as Guan Tong had.
"Listen up, human, and learn how cheap your life truly is."
[The two sides' stakes are unequal]
The Life-Hunting Demon sneered: human...
Before it could finish, the Fire Thief shattered its psychological defense.
[Life-Hunting Demon must add new stakes]
"What?!"
The Life-Hunting Demon completely broke down, nearly roaring.
"My life is worth less than a base human's?!"
Even Guan Tong was quite shocked now.
When he first saw the prompt "the two sides' stakes are unequal," he assumed his own stake was insufficient.
After all, despite the Life-Hunting Demon's odious nature, it truly possessed terrible power far beyond human reach, so the weight of two lives could indeed differ.
He hadn't expected that, in the Fire Thief's judgment, his life might actually be considered more valuable than the Life-Hunting Demon's.
The Life-Hunting Demon's roar was useless; the Fire Thief simply did not reply. After its anger flared, it could only add to its stakes.
"...It seems I underestimated you, human. Fair enough, since you could obtain that book, your life really is different from ordinary humans."
Guan Tong felt eyes in the darkness fixed on him. He shifted and asked, "You know information about this book. What do you mean it hasn't truly opened?"
"You want to know?" the Life-Hunting Demon mused. "Then my new stake is the information I know about your Wordless Book."
After this stake was placed, the prompt sounded.
[The stakes are of equal value, the gamble may commence]
Guan Tong thought: If a single piece of information can erase the disparity between two lives, then this information must be very important in the Fire Thief's valuation.
That was exactly what he wanted. If he could win and have the Life-Hunting Demon erased, that would be satisfying, but apart from the other's already-staked "primal blood," he would gain nothing else.
Now that this additional stake existed, it was unquestionably beneficial.
Compared to the uncertain effects of the primal blood, he was far more eager to learn the secrets of the Wordless Book in his hands.
"Now we can start the gamble, right, human?"
The Life-Hunting Demon asked with guarded malice, worried Guan Tong might pull another stunt.
Guan Tong inhaled deeply. "Begin."
As his words fell, the scroll carrying the stake contract automatically merged.
Staked and relinquished, non-redeemable.
One human and one demon, two lives both standing on the brink of annihilation, waiting for the gamble to end, at which point one would be ruthlessly erased by the Fire Thief.
The wide round gambling table then vanished, replaced by a flash of golden light. A golden coin appeared, standing upright and suspended in the air, spinning rapidly.
One side of its pattern resembled a galaxy; the other looked like a black hole.
"You should feel honored, human."
After the golden coin appeared, the Life-Hunting Demon's voice carried an odd pride.
"This coin symbolizes the fate of the Ancient Gamble. You are the first human fortunate enough to see it."
Guan Tong looked up at the golden coin. Fate coin? What ancient gamble did it represent?
Although restrained by the Fire Thief's aura that prevented lying and cheating, the Life-Hunting Demon still held certain informational advantages in this ancient gamble.
But in a truly fair gamble, information advantage alone is rarely decisive.
Like drawing a random playing card and comparing values—no matter who the gambling master is, if the other party doesn't even know the card values, that doesn't change the result chance decides.
"This Ancient Gamble has no name, no origin, only this Fate Coin," the Life-Hunting Demon said with a tone of nostalgia mixed with reverence. More than explaining to Guan Tong, it sounded like speaking to itself.
Guan Tong sensed that the Life-Hunting Demon itself had not activated the Ancient Gamble or seen this Fate Coin in a long time.
"The Fate Coin has two faces. One stands for 'Existence'; the other stands for 'Nothingness.'"
"By the rules of the Ancient Gamble, the person who opens the gamble is the 'Receiver.' The other party is the 'Thrower.'"
"The Thrower must, at the moment of tossing the Fate Coin, choose in their heart either the 'Existence' side or the 'Nothingness' side."
"The Receiver must decide whether to catch the coin when it falls."
Hearing this, Guan Tong thought the rules were peculiar.
He had assumed the Ancient Gamble was simply guessing a coin's faces—simple, but plausibly ancient, since the earliest human gambles relied on guessing faces.
But now it seemed quite different from what he had imagined.
The Life-Hunting Demon continued, "When the Fate Coin falls, if the Receiver catches it, then regardless of which side the Thrower chose, the Receiver wins, and the Thrower's chosen effect activates."
"If the Receiver does not catch the falling Fate Coin, then the effect of the face chosen by the Thrower becomes permanently effective within the Gambling Space."
Guan Tong frowned deeply at this point.
If the rules were like that, then wouldn't the Receiver simply always catch the coin and never lose, making the Thrower's choice meaningless?
As if seeing through his thoughts, the Life-Hunting Demon gave a low, triumphant chuckle.
"Foolish human. Do you really think you can beat me in a fair gamble? Ridiculous... As the opener of the gamble, I am the Receiver, and you are the Thrower."
At that moment the Fate Coin automatically fell and lay quietly in Guan Tong's palm.
"Once you've decided which face to choose, you may toss it," the Life-Hunting Demon said. "You can delay a while to savor your brief life. After all, when you toss the coin, this gamble will end in my victory, hahahahaha..."
Guan Tong ignored the Life-Hunting Demon's taunts. He examined the golden coin in his palm and told himself not to despair, to calm down and think clearly.
Since the gamble had the Fire Thief's approval and the Life-Hunting Demon spoke of it with reverence as an Ancient Gamble, it certainly could not be a one-sided guaranteed win.
If a gamble allowed one side to always win, what purpose would it serve—and what right to be called 'ancient'?
From the Life-Hunting Demon's attitude, it already believed that as the Receiver it would surely win. Was that based on experience, or on a rigid prejudice?
Guan Tong leaned toward the latter. The way the Life-Hunting Demon mentioned the Ancient Gamble suggested it had not opened it often.
Perhaps it had only initiated the Ancient Gamble a few times—and in those rare instances it had won—so it assumed that being the Receiver meant certain victory.
But Guan Tong refused to accept this as a dead end.
So where was the key?
He turned the coin over in his palm: one side galaxy, one side black hole, representing "Existence" and "Nothingness" respectively.
If the Receiver always chose to catch the falling coin, then what meaning did the Thrower's choice hold?
And even if the Receiver did not catch it and the coin fell to the ground, whether "Existence" or "Nothingness," its effect would apply only to the Thrower.
From the surface, the Receiver catching the coin means an assured win. If the Receiver lets it fall, the Thrower gains either "Existence" or "Nothingness," while the Receiver remains unaffected.
These two outcomes...
"Human, haven't you had your fill of savoring?" Perhaps Guan Tong had thought too long, the Life-Hunting Demon grew impatient and urged him on.
"Toss the coin already. Delaying won't change the fact you'll be erased if you lose."
Guan Tong paid no heed and continued thinking.
He had no clue for the moment, so he closed his eyes and started over, recalling from the time the Doomsday Rules were released and when he entered the Gambling Space, cataloging everything that had happened to him.
His own gambles, the gambles he had seen others play...
The Life-Hunting Demon avatars, the Life-Hunting Demon itself...
The gambit traps they designed—the way they plunder life force was itself a denial of participants' existence...
Their greed, and...their fear.
Guan Tong remembered insisting on betting his life and demanding the Life-Hunting Demon stake its life too, and the fear that showed in the other's wrong step.
Indeed, this demon that pretends and manipulates to harvest participants' life force would still feel fear when faced with a fair life-or-death gamble initiated by someone else.
Because of the fear of failure, it would insist on being the Receiver, the one who supposedly never loses.
If that was the case...
All these pieces of information coalesced like lightning in Guan Tong's mind—he had an idea!
"Human...are you testing my patience?" the Life-Hunting Demon urged once more.
Guan Tong opened his eyes and looked at the Fate Coin in his palm.
He placed the coin on his thumbnail, bent his finger, and flicked it upward with force.
The golden Fate Coin, flashing with light, launched into the air.