Jeong's Office Rep: Ishmael's Story

The presence of observers in a gambling den does not guarantee that games played there will be completely fair and just. It's not even a moral obligation.

Sometimes, the rule itself may state that one may freely cheat as long as they manage to avoid the eyes of us observers-or that even if we were to recognize certain sleights-of-hand, as long as no one else on the table calls it out, we're not necessarily obligated to intervene.

The rules we were called today to observe were…

Hah! 8 Kkeut! That's 8 points for me!

Oh, dammit! That beats mine by 2 points!

… "One-Hundred Flowers' Swirl."

We were called to observe games of Hwatu - an all-out war of flowers like its namesake, if you will - a battlefield wherein the blossoming chaos of sundry petals hides the poison-kissed weeds from plain sight.

So, while we overlook those who know their place and keep their underhanded tactics low-key…

*snap*

The hell?!

… if a poisonous flower blooms too large and elaborate, drawing the ire of other flowers… we cut it off by its roots.

…?! O-observer? I-is there anything we can help you with…?

"Behave yourselves. Overplay your tricks, and we'll catch you."

Remember? I'm sure I shared that rule with everyone before today's games began.

D-dammit, I knew it! I knew that piece of shit's been cheating all night long!

Hot damn! Gold tier sure is on another level! Silver-tier games didn't have these keen-eyed observers to catch them cheaters!

… These casinos run on a… membership system.

The said membership system is multi-tiered from Silver to Diamond; of course, higher tiers provide additional benefits to the guests of J Corp.'s gambling dens, but what matters more is…

… that climbing the ladder grants access to seats in higher-tier games.

With higher-tier memberships come higher stakes, higher rollers, and higher levels of security against the ever-present cheaters and tricksters in gambling dens.

So, the gamblers always dream of advancing their placement in the membership tier system.

Silver-tier games rarely ever hire us observers. We don't come cheap, of course, but the Silver-tier games' smaller scale doesn't really warrant the scrutiny anyway.

Gold is where people like us start showing up. We are hired to observe these professional-level games, and catch participants with particularly sticky hands... like this one.

Come on, man. I know I've been on a roll tonight, but cheating? Really? You're breaking my heart here.

You'd better have ironclad evidence to hit the brakes.

And you must be new here. Do you really think your Silver-tier attitude'll fly here? You think you're still at some dingy den where you can get off scot-free from scrutiny by being the loudest person in the room?

Listen. I can't just sit here and watch you use wishpower to blatantly flip one game after another in your favor, okay?

Really, wishpower? You little -

Seriously, man? Are you talking about this tattoo on my arm? This ain't anything special, it's just a tattoo of a centipede! What, too icky for you?

Hm. That's a funny-looking "centipede" you've got there. Poor thing's only got 10 legs. Seems hardly enough to crawl about, given its size.

I knew it! It had more legs earlier!

W-what are you suggest -

Oh boy. Look at him go, spilling water all over his arm.

Alrighty! Take a good look at this. If it were a wishpower tattoo sticker, scrubbing it like so... would've erased it, yeah? But -

I suppose that excuse has worked for you before in Silver-tier games.

But anyone who's been in the game for long enough knows about procedures that actually tattoo wishpowers to your skin.

I-I...!

Heh, serves you right. That's what you get for disrespectin' the observer's presence -

What are you babbling on about, cheater?

Uh...?

Let's see... where did I sense the strongest ripples...?

It's thanks to him that I managed to snag that wishpower-user, too.

Ah, bingo.

You've placed a chip inside that Hwatu card, didn't you? That way, you can tell what card it is even with its face down.

I'm sorry, I don't -

Listen up, people.

We're in J Corp. The origin of both wishpower and the Singularity capable of "locking anything safely."

I know it's gotten a bit cheaper to lock little things like cards nowadays, but...

*crack*

... storing chips inside cards... this is such an obvious cheat, man. I see this exact trick at least twice a week.

N-no way... But... but they said these locks are literally impossible to open...?

You've got some nerve thinking that a professional observer like myself wouldn't carry an F Corp. All-purpose Unlocker Fairy with me...

Anyways, as per the rules stipulated, both of you are to give up your hands. Arms out, please -

... O...

... Oh, fuck it!!!

*sigh* Are these people ever going to accept the consequences of their actions?

Just admit they got caught cheating, lose their hands, big deal. Why make a mess and end up writhing around with their entrails splayed across the floor?

Nice try...

Ngh, that bullet cost me a damn fortune...

... but I hope you weren't counting on beating us observers.

Slice the runner from his right shoulder down to his left hip...

... as for the pipe gun-toting fool, chop off his arms, then cut him horizontally by his abdomen.

Oh, neat. That's Bright (光) shaped.

Ironic. This is what they've been chasing all night, huh? I guess they found it.

We apologize for the disturbance, everyone. The trouble has been taken care of, so please return to your games.

And... they're legging it.

Oh, well. I suppose I shouldn't expect Gold-tier gamblers to have the guts to return to their games after that.

Yeah... I'd really like to observe a Diamond-tier game one day.

That was quite impressive.

...?

What...? How long has this guy been sitting here?

Excuse me, were you playing a game as well?

Why, yes. Everyone seemed to be using the J Corp. Singularity and its variations with such abandon that... I thought this was simply the kind of game they were playing.

"One-Hundred Flowers' Swirl" rule, was it? I'd decided to cool off and hide, given how it seemed to be getting a little too hot for my tastes.

You hid...?

Well, I only stopped by to see how Gold-tier games are played nowadays... I see very little has changed.

So, you're the Representative of Jeong's Office, yes?

…….

You still have more techniques to learn to recognize, but... you've got good intuition.

But what really stood out to me is how you managed to clean up the mess afterward.

Very intriguing.

Uh, hold on. What are you -

A sudden thought flashed through my head, just as I was about to stop the silvered gentleman from leaving.

I should've been able to notice him despite the chaos, but I never picked up on his presence even when he stood right in front of me. There's no other explanation. It's gotta be...

The "Veil"...?

Isn't that perception-locking tech exorbitantly expensive...?

If he was sauntering about with that tech like it's some overcoat, then...

He's gotta be in the Diamond tier... Or even Blue Diamond...

This is at once an opportunity and a warning.

Opportunity, in that I've unknowingly managed to give a positive impression to a high-tier player, possibly expanding our clientele...

... and a warning, in that if I couldn't pick up on those "more techniques to learn to recognize," I'd never survive as an observer in the high-rollers' games.

... Well, well. Now that's something not even money can buy.

There's no other way to put it. Looks like the biggest winner in today's games...

... is me.