*
-This makes no sense...!
Greed fell into despair.
In a game it had thought it would, of course, win, losing over and over, well, that was enough to drive anyone to despair.
A simple game of probability.
If it was a fight to see who had better luck, there was absolutely no way I would lose.
Crushing with absolute value?
That kind of trick doesn't work on me either.
Because, I can see it.
"Hidden trait 'Golden Grace' is being manifested."
"Odd 36.1% / Even 63.9%"
The odds.
No matter how much you dazzle the eyes and try to hide it, Golden Grace pinpoints the probability.
It might not be 100%, but with an accuracy like this, it was more than enough.
"You have bet 5,000 value on Even."
"Result, Even."
"The value you possess has reached 37,000."
I started at 7,000, and before I knew it, I was at thirty-seven thousand.
Even if you just counted it as coins, that was worth three hundred seventy million Gold.
-... I will change the game.
Greed raised the white flag. It had realized that with odd–even, it could never win.
A wise choice, if you wanted to call it wise.
But the next game was not much different either.
-Next is high or low. Guess whether the Gold I grab is above or below a certain amount.
After odd–even comes up-and-down, huh.
Is this guy actually a golden goblin in the truest sense?
If this place were a casino, it would have tried to make me use tricks or commit fraud. But Greed was aiming for pure gambling in the strictest sense.
Only a style of crushing with overwhelming gold and value.
Of course, even then it wasn't 100%, so I still couldn't be completely at ease.
Clatter, clatter!
An enormous amount of gold coins floated up into the air from the treasure heap.
Far more than when we'd been doing up-and-down.
-Now, place your bet. I will give you 5 seconds.
"All in."
-...?
Hold on. All in?
Greed doubted its own ears.
'What is this bastard doing?'
It wasn't as if I'd been winning nonstop.
Alternating wins and losses in a delicate balance, I had been steadily taking profit.
Greed had thought I was a gambler who only aimed for safe games within safe bounds.
All in?
-Think carefully. The moment you lose all of your value, the only thing left will be that pathetic body of yours!
Only those who lose everything, or those who have everything, can leave this place.
And Greed had not once, in its own domain, lost everything.
Because this was a game where, no matter how lucky you are, a single mistake could make you lose it all.
"All in."
I spoke with finality.
As if I had no intention of changing my mind.
Greed smiled faintly.
'Got you.'
The first game had just been a warm-up.
Would this guy really be able to guess this one?
Rumble! Ruuumble!
Even more gold coins floated up into the air.
A number no living being, human or otherwise, could possibly count in full.
-1 billion Gold. Higher, or lower? I will give you 10 seconds.
You'll have to think carefully before you answer.
But, if you really think it through, the answer was absurdly obvious.
The value Greed had at the start was around two hundred thousand.
Of that, the Golden Essence and the Jar of Greed together were sixty thousand.
On top of that, the value I'd taken in the bets so far was thirty thousand.
That made a total of ninety thousand, so if you only looked at the Gold on hand, of course it was 'lower' than 1 billion Gold.
We had been playing this game purely with raw Gold, not the other treasures.
-10, 9...
"It's neither higher nor lower."
Greed's brows twitched together.
-... Neither higher nor lower? What do you mean by that?
"It means it's exactly 1 billion Gold."
Greed was secretly flustered.
'How did he know?'
Observation-type skills could not be used in front of it.
Which meant you would have to count them one by one, but it was, of course, impossible for a human to count 1 billion gold coins in 10 seconds.
No, it would be impossible for anyone.
Not a million, not ten million, not a hundred million, but a billion.
How on earth was he supposed to count that in ten seconds!
-Are you certain?
"I'm certain."
-I will give you one last chance to change your answer.
"Your tongue is really long."
-…Correct...
It couldn't understand it.
But what was clear was that in any game where 'numbers' were assigned, it could absolutely never beat this guy.
-Let us play the next, the next game.
It seemed a far more complex, difficult game would be necessary.
*
"You have bet 37,000 value on 1 billion Gold."
"Result, 1 billion Gold."
"The value you possess has reached 74,000."
Sweet.
So sweet it felt like my teeth were going to rot.
'Golden Essence.'
At last, the crafting material for unique-grade equipment was in my hands.
All that was left to rip away from it now was the Jar of Greed.
The labyrinth exploration had already been wiped from my mind.
That wasn't what mattered right now.
Bleeding this sucker dry in front of me was far more important.
'I don't just have Golden Grace. I also have the Great Sage.'
Along with the hidden trait Golden Grace, I also had the Great Sage.
A function that, together with probability, presented precise information.
Simple observation-type skills were blocked, but no matter how great Greed was, it could not seal a hidden trait.
Unlike odd–even, the up-and-down game had been played without hiding anything, and there, the function of the Great Sage had been absolute.
Because the exact figure, 1 billion Gold, had been displayed right in front of my eyes.
-Ah, aaah...!
In the end, Greed dropped to its knees.
"The value you possess has reached 237,000."
Because I had sucked Greed dry down to its very last scrap.
Greed's treasure vault was already empty.
The Golden Essence and the Jar of Greed, all the gold coins and treasures.
I had swept every last one of them into my possession.
But I was not the sort to be satisfied with just this.
-M-my treasures...!
"You still have one more thing you can stake."
-What is it that I still have?
"Your body."
The body of the golden goblin named Greed was still left.
At that, Greed stared at me as if it couldn't believe what it was hearing.
-...
As if to say, what kind of greed-ridden bastard are you supposed to be.
Sword of Stars vs Sword of Stars
Greed thought.
It had only been flustered because it had never been pushed this far, that was all, but wasn't there still one thing left?
The thing that held the greatest value.
Everything it possessed had had value placed upon it, but there was still one and only thing that had yet to be priced.
That was Greed itself.
Even if you piled up all the treasures in this place together, they could not compare to its own 'value'.
Peace returned to Greed's face.
It wasn't over until it was over.
-That won't be enough.
"What is it that's not enough?"
-With the value you possess, you cannot play a game with me.
"Even 237,000 isn't enough?"
Two hundred thirty-seven thousand.
That was worth two billion three hundred seventy million Gold.
At the very least.
An amount with which you could buy a small city and still have money left, and that was not enough?
Greed nodded.
-I will stake my everything. But then, you will likewise have to stake your everything.
"You're saying we each stake everything and do what?"
-Value!
It was still talking about value.
But the moment it dismissed the 237,000 value, it was obvious it was referring to a new phase of 'value'.
-Let us wager on your value itself and mine.
"You want to bet on whose value is higher, yours or mine?"
-Precisely. Whether your value is greater, or mine is greater! The side with the higher value will be the victor. It is only natural that one with higher value subjugates one with lesser value!
Greed was confident.
This was a bet it could not lose.
To have driven it this far, that was impressive. Praise-worthy, even.
Out of all the challengers, this was the first time.
Among those who had reached the Golden Abyss, this one could be said to be the most outstanding.
'But your string of victories ends here.'
But that too would end now.
Ruler of the Golden Abyss.
That title alone carried a tremendous value.
For eons untold, there had been only one golden goblin named 'Greed'.
Among the countless golden goblins in the abyss, none but it possessed this name.
Why do you think that is?
Because it had that much value.
Because it had that much worthiness.
It was only possible because it had coveted and gathered all treasures, and because it had faced everything with pure, undiluted 'desire'.
It had become one with the abyss, ruled the abyss itself, and so came to seize the name of Greed. How could such a being ever be assigned a value lower than some mere human?
It had never once measured its own value.
'It is I who am the king of all gold.'
From the beginning of time, gold had been treated as the treasure with the highest value.
As the king of that gold, its value could only be the highest in the world.
"How exactly are our values going to be assessed? What is the standard?"
-Do not worry. My authority grasps the value of all things objectively. Even if that thing were a god, I can judge it.
It did not cheat.
A game of pure desire.
Only luck, instinct, and resolve were put to the test.
'So accept it.'
Just as you always have until now.
Go on, accept it with confidence.
But no matter how lucky you are, in this 'value game' it would not work.
Only your own value would be the criterion of judgment.
No luck, no tricks could find any room in this game.
It was a different game from the ones up to now.
Would I really be able to accept it?
"Hmm..."
-Are you afraid? I understand. But you're the one who said to stake everything. If you do not accept, everything you've won up until now will turn to foam.
Greed was the one who suggested the type of game, but the one who had proposed gambling itself was the human.
The words telling it to stake its body had been the trigger.
So I could not back down.
The moment I retreated, I would lose everything I had gained through these games so far.
Whether I accepted or not, it was the same.
Greed was very pleased with this setup.
'It's a tough call.'
... And watching Greed's attitude, I, too, was contemplating.
Of course, its overconfident attitude had been there from the very start, so that in itself didn't really bother me.
I was simply curious about the clear basis for judging 'one's own value'.
'Value assessment changes depending on what standard you set.'
Depending on what you take as the standard, the value will naturally change.
Just like how in all the games until now, value had been based on 'gold'.
In that case, it could set the same criterion this time as well.
For example, if it were based on something like 'the amount of gold you can earn in your lifetime', then obviously I would be at a disadvantage.
Greed would never die, and I would someday die.
Of course the ever-earning Greed would hold the overwhelming advantage.
'…Greed has been gambling with a startlingly pure approach.'
I shifted my thinking.
In any ordinary casino, people would use techniques.
Blinding the eyes, cheating, intimidating, those were common ploys.
But Greed really was gambling by the book.
At least when it came to its desire for gambling itself, it was extremely pure.
It might take a favorable position, but it would not cheat. Simply having more money and picking the game however it likes did not amount to cheating.
It had been that way until now, so should I trust it to be that way this time as well?
'The rulers of the abyss had their minds ossified over long ages. That never changes.'
No, I chose to trust my own judgment.
All the rulers of the abyss I had seen had rigid ways of thinking.
They had existed in the abyss for so long that their minds had hardened over that time and would never grow flexible again.
Once they decided on something, they pushed it through to the end — stubbornness, obstinacy.
I could see that same thing in Greed.
It wouldn't pull anything cheap.
I made my decision.
"Fine. Let's proceed."
-Kuhahahaha! Good, let us settle this with a true battle of value! A battle of true value I have not had even once in countless ages! Rejoice, exult, have confidence in yourself!
Its tongue really was needlessly long.
...Is this guy also from the Serengeti line or something?
*
Gracia rolled his neck once.
'That damned bitch...'
Saintess Seah.
He had not expected that woman to suddenly attack him.
Even with his intuition, Seah's intent to attack had not been read.
Smooth as flowing water, without the slightest killing intent, she had tried to kill him.
If he hadn't been on guard from the start, it could have been dangerous.
'I don't know why Saintess Seah is alive, but she's not normal.'
He had intended to kill her, but left her alive out of lingering misgivings.
Personally killing a Saintess with his own hands was troublesome in many ways.
Besides, if left alive, Seah would on her own get in the way of the other challengers of the labyrinth.
"... Here it is."
Hunting the event monster with a thousand swords, Gracia swept up all the tickets.
When he had gathered a thousand tickets, a path opened, and at last he arrived at the door where 'Sword of Stars Riley' was waiting.