In the game lobby.
After leading everyone inside, Bai Liu immediately looks for Charles. Mu Ke had already explained everything from start to finish, but Bai Liu wanted to meet the remarkable fifth guild leader in person.
Inside the Gambler's Guild.
Charles, seated behind his desk, raised an eyebrow in surprise. He lifted his hand to stop his servant from pouring tea for Bai Liu, and repeated Bai Liu's words with curiosity: "You want to join The League this year?"
"Isn't that what you planned, Mister Charles?" Bai Liu asked calmly.
"Of course not," Charles replied without hesitation. "Even though you are the horse I've placed my bet on, normally, horses need at least a year of training before entering a race."
Charles scrutinized Bai Liu from head to toe with a slightly picky gaze, then shrugged regretfully. "Bai Liu, you are not yet at the pinnacle status of a horse. Hiding your capabilities for now is the best decision. I don't mind raising you for a year—and in truth, your audience wouldn't mind either."
"Raising?" Bai Liu raised a brow. "So all the likes and favorites are just preparation for the massive game called The League?"
Charles nodded approvingly. "Correct. Brilliant, Bai Liu."
He rose with the elegance of a crane and strolled behind Bai Liu. "All players in this game exist to earn more points. In the Gambler's Guild's eyes, there are two ways to earn more: one is being a [gambler], the other is being a [horse]."
"The horse is the one being bet on. You rely on training in games and earning points from the bets placed on you. It's a straightforward way to pursue your goals—but there is a more exciting, riskier path with higher returns."
Charles's lips curved into a sly smile. He twirled his fingers, and a strange bargaining chip materialized between his forefinger and middle finger. Leaning forward, he placed it in Bai Liu's hand.
"—We call this the gambler."
"As a gambler, we select our horses, invest points into them, and promote them so they gain popularity. When the annual league arrives, we put all our fortunes on them—"
Charles stared intently at Bai Liu, seated across from him. "If you win, we double our investment. If you lose, we lose everything. That is the relationship between gambler and horse."
Bai Liu lifted his head slightly, then looked down at the chip in his hand—a green chip with a golden outline and the number six. He remembered that such a number didn't exist in any real casino; it was most likely unique to the game.
"Essentially, the league is a gamble. For gamblers like you, your benefit comes from players investing in the game. A high-risk game like this can't have all players join—odds are too high." Bai Liu asked plainly, "There must be someone providing the base funds, right?"
"Correct," Charles said. His smile widened. "That would be the system. When people gamble in The League, the system provides each team with base funds—"
Charles held up five fingers. "—five times the sum of points invested by the team."
"In other words, the more points both opposing teams invest, the larger the base funds in their gambling pools." Bai Liu fell into deep thought. "Which means if our team wins, the players who bet on us have a higher chance of earning much more."
"And these base funds don't include points added later. In the end, the points in the losing team's gambling pool are distributed to the winning bettors."
Charles continued with an example. "Suppose you're playing against the King's Guild in The League. The King's Guild team invested 10 million points, and your team invested 1 million. The base fund for both gambling pools would be 55 million points."
"Then, if the King's Guild invested an additional 50 million points, and your side only invested 100,000, their gambling pool would be 150 million, while yours would be 55.1 million."
"If the King's Guild wins, points from your pool are distributed to the players who bet on them."
"For example, if I bet 25 million of the 50 million points invested in King's Guild—50% of the total—I would receive 50% of your 55.1 million pool, which is 27.55 million. That's a 110% profit."
"A very high rate," Bai Liu commented objectively.
Charles's eyes twinkled as he met Bai Liu's gaze. "Exactly. It's an excellent business—but it's not gambling."
Bai Liu looked up at Charles as the guild leader reached to touch his curved lips and continued, "From another angle—if you were the one who defeated the King's Guild in this competition, and the one million points in your gambling pool came from me?"
"Then I could earn a hundred million from just a million. The rate of profit would be 1005."
Charles opened his arms and smiled at Bai Liu. "Baby, this is gambling."
"—Welcome to the Gambler's Guild."
Bai Liu lifted his eyes to meet Charles's. "So, according to what you're saying, the higher the risk for our team, the more people will watch. The more divided the bets, and the less likely we are to win, the higher the return. Isn't this the perfect time to participate in The League this year?"
Charles paused, surprise flickering across his face, then he smiled. "It seems I've met a gambler crazier than me."
He leaned back in his chair, spun slightly, and tapped the floor twice with his cane, clearly excited. "I like your idea. This is the perfect time for a publicity stunt. I won't even have to worry about keeping everyone talking about you until the next League."
Charles's gaze locked onto Bai Liu. "You're attracting a lot of attention right now. If you lose miserably in The League, you'll be worthless from then on. Are you sure you want to participate this year? If so, I'll prepare reinforcements and backup for you."
"I'm sure," Bai Liu said calmly.
Charles took Bai Liu's hand lightly, lowering his head to place a kiss on his knuckles. "As you wish, my prince charming."
Bai Liu: "…"
His investor was… kind of gross.
But it was alright. He was an adult and could endure this for some cash.
After leaving the Gambler's Guild, Bai Liu immediately returned to the Scavenger Zombie Guild.
Charles had reminded him that participating in The League required preparation—player appearances, guild name compatibility with the team, even the guild icon. These were all details Bai Liu needed to consider.
Once he arrived at the guild, he asked for the members' opinions and quickly changed the guild's name to Wandering Circus. Then they announced the plans for joining The League.
A commotion broke out among the members.
Though Bai Liu didn't force them to contribute items like other guilds might, nor did he make them join dangerous games to obtain useful materials, he also didn't make them pay to expand the team—Charles handled all of that. Despite being a little eccentric, Charles's resources were excellent.
An event as huge as joining The League would normally require the full guild's input. But Bai Liu had already dealt with everything himself—he was merely informing them.
The members felt like deer caught in headlights. But seeing Bai Liu remain calm while handling such a monumental matter, they remembered what he had been through and gradually calmed down.
If it were President Bai handling things, victory wasn't impossible…
At this moment, they gained a better understanding of this unusual guild.
It seemed they really didn't have to sacrifice anything. Even for something as important as joining The League, their president never once made them worry—he simply allowed them to grow safely within the community.
"Is there anything we can do, President Bai?" someone asked cautiously. "It's the support season now. Do you want us to help with something, like advertising?"
"Of course, we need advertising. Please spread the news that I'm participating in The League." Bai Liu smiled slightly. "And talk badly about me. Tell everyone that we have no chance of winning. Expose every weakness in our team. Better yet, say you don't even support our participation, but I insisted on joining recklessly. That's the idea for the advertisement. Thank you, everyone."
Guild members: "..."
Guild members: "?????"
What was this brand-new approach to advertising?!
Wang Shun, who had been listening on the side, was already puzzled when Bai Liu announced he was going to participate in The League. But after hearing Bai Liu explain his plan to gain support, this veteran member of the King's Guild—someone who had competed in The League multiple times—felt like he had lost all his brain cells.
He had never seen a method of self-advertising like this before!
"…Wait, no! Bai Liu, what are you doing?!" Wang Shun jogged after him, eyes wide. "Why on earth would you make them talk badly about you? The support rate of other players directly affects your chances of obtaining the Death-Exemption Medal…"
"We probably won't get it in the early game anyway," Bai Liu said, calmly weighing the situation. "Compared to securing a high support rate to earn the Death-Exemption Medal, making ourselves infamous has a higher cost-performance ratio for me."
Wang Shun saw stars spinning in circles. "What cost-performance ratio?!"
Bai Liu gave him a small smile, a glint of mischief in his eyes. "I'm going to increase the rate of compensation and then bet on Wandering Circus. I just learned this game has a hidden Poker Table. How interesting."
Wang Shun: "!!!"
He held his head in pain. "You talked to Charles, didn't you?"
He knew that when these two troublemakers got together, chaos was guaranteed.