An Impure Casino 26

Happy New Year Y’all

“Don’t say such things, Xie Wei. We went through something big in Hong Kong together. In a way, we’re comrades who overcame danger together.”

“What comrades.”

In the first place, the only one who’d been in danger at the time was himself. Ray Jun, who’d entered the party hall properly, had no problems at all. Rather, he’d even endured the unexpected situation of a kiss to help him.

“But Xie Wei, about what we talked about back then…”

Ray Jun’s voice lowered. It seemed he was going to discuss something confidential.

Having a vague idea of what topic it was, Kang Siwon also looked around. Fortunately, perhaps because it was a remote location, the two of them remained the only ones in the restaurant.

“You know how it is? Something that didn’t bother you before, but once you start seeing something strange, it keeps catching your eye.”

“…Yeah, I know. I know what you mean.”

He’d been the same way.

At first, he’d just followed the Baeksa Faction’s instructions without thinking, but after learning that casino chips were used for tax evasion, information that had seemed meaningless started becoming visible again.

“That’s how I’ve been lately. Once I noticed, things I didn’t see before keep showing up.”

“…”

“Actually, there’s something I happened to see…”

“Wait, Ray Jun. Is it okay to talk about that here? We don’t know who might come.”

Sensing the topic was more sensitive than expected, Kang Siwon hastily stopped Ray Jun. Even if there were no people around, there were CCTVs, and there was no telling how conversations might leak out.

But Ray Jun tilted his head slightly with a puzzled expression.

“Why not? We haven’t done anything wrong.”

“Well, that’s true, but…”

“And no one’s going to come up. I rented it out.”

“Huh?”

“I wanted to eat quietly, so I reserved all the tables. So don’t worry.”

Only then did Kang Siwon understand why the staff had immediately asked “Are you with Mr. Ray Jun’s party?” as soon as he entered the restaurant. It was because Ray Jun’s party was the only customer coming.

“Why would you rent out an entire restaurant? Even if you have a lot of money, that must have been expensive. Are you perhaps a chaebol? And being a casino dealer is just a hobby?”

“Wow, you’re perceptive.”

Ray Jun responded cheekily. He couldn’t gauge whether it was true or not. What was certain was that the statement about having more money than he thought wasn’t a lie.

“Now, with that quick perception, try to guess. Why would the same person’s name appear twice on the VIP settlement statement? Same day, same time period, but different amounts.”

“I don’t know either. …But how do you even know that?”

A VIP settlement statement—he’d only vaguely heard during training that such a thing existed. Even as cage staff managing the casino’s assets, it was difficult to directly access such important information. Maybe if you were manager level, but for a newcomer like himself who hadn’t even been there a year, it was impossible. Let alone for Ray Jun, who was a dealer.

“I had a chance to access the internal server.”

“How did you… No, rather, aren’t you mistaken about something?”

“That’s possible. So I tested it.”

Ray Jun continued with an enigmatic smile.

“A few days ago when I was working in a private room, I deliberately entered the number of chips I distributed to a VIP differently from the actual amount. On purpose.”

“You’re crazy… Hey, if you do that, it just makes trouble for the cage staff!”

“Haha, you don’t need to worry about that. In the settlement server, the numbers were adjusted based on the original quantity, different from what I entered. That means someone’s checking the real numbers behind the scenes.”

“…”

“So what dealers input is meaningless data, and the settlement is calculated separately and processed.”

It was a bigger scale story than expected. Kang Siwon’s throat went dry and he gulped down water.

Ray Jun was now saying that double books might exist at Sovereign. Honestly, even if that were true, Kang Siwon wouldn’t be surprised. Rather, it would be more surprising if Sovereign’s accounting was clean.

He understood what Ray Jun was trying to say, but at the same time, some parts didn’t make sense. Why was Ray Jun sharing such sensitive information with him?

“Ray Jun… Are you perhaps a journalist?”

“What? Hahaha, what are you suddenly talking about?”

“No, I don’t understand, I just don’t. Why are you, a dealer, digging into such problems? And the fact that you had a chance to access the internal server.”

He didn’t ask about the detailed method since he didn’t particularly want to know, but this was also suspicious. Had he really accessed that internal server through normal channels? Kang Siwon thought not.

“I just wanted to know, so I looked into it. Isn’t that a sufficient answer?”

“…”

“I might not have known, but how can I ignore it when I keep seeing strange things? Close my eyes and pretend I didn’t see anything? I can’t do that by nature.”

As if asking what about you, Ray Jun sent him a look. Kang Siwon unconsciously turned his head away, avoiding that gaze.

He was reluctant to readily agree. Though he’d also risked danger to tail Ju Xiang, what kind of life had Ray Jun lived to not hesitate at such choices? Wariness crept up slightly, wondering if he might be a dangerous type who enjoyed such precarious situations.

“Ray Jun.”

“Yeah?”

“Be careful. You might not live to see your natural lifespan like that.”

“Are you worried something might happen to me? Well, they do say beautiful people die young.”

Ray Jun brushed it off like a joke. But for Kang Siwon, it had been sincere advice. Though it did seem like Ray Jun could smoothly get through any crisis he faced.

“Sorry, that was an appetite-killing topic while eating something delicious. But if not you, I have no one else to talk about this with.”

“It’s fine. The sea bass isn’t the type to lose flavor over something like this.”

As if to prove his words, Kang Siwon swallowed a bite of grilled sea bass in one gulp. He’d deliberately eaten more deliciously, wanting to escape from this uncomfortable topic. Watching that scene contentedly, Ray Jun picked up his wine glass.

“Try the wine too. It goes well with sea bass.”

“The wine’s fine.”

“You didn’t drink last time either. Back then it was because you weren’t in the mood to drink wine. Is it the same today?”

Ray Jun said as he lightly swirled the wine glass in his hand. Thanks to that, the fresh wine aroma wafted all the way to Kang Siwon.

“I don’t like alcohol.”

“Why? Don’t like the bitter taste? This one isn’t that bitter.”

“No, just…”

There were plenty of excuses, like being weak to alcohol or having medication that prevented drinking. However, for some reason Kang Siwon didn’t want to make up more excuses.

Was it because Ray Jun trusted him? Though he still questioned what about him Ray Jun saw to trust, he wanted to tell him the parts he could speak honestly about.

“…There was an alcoholic in my family.”

Come to think of it, this was the first time revealing such personal circumstances to someone else. It wasn’t that he’d tried to hide it particularly, but it had ended up that way because there was no one worth telling.

“You know what? Addiction is hereditary too. If parents are alcoholics, their children also have a high probability of being vulnerable to alcohol addiction.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard.”

“Once I knew that, I couldn’t bring myself to put alcohol in my mouth. …I don’t want to become like that.”

Ray Jun listening to the story had a subtle expression. Kang Siwon thought that was fortunate. If he had shown any sign of pitying him, it would have felt a bit pathetic.

After a brief silence, Ray Jun opened his mouth.

“That’s amazing, Xie Wei.”

“What is?”

“You made constant efforts not to resemble someone with flaws. That’s really amazing.”

“…”

“Our parents are human too, so they have many flaws, but I’ve never once thought I shouldn’t become like that. The way I see it, you’re already a more upright and better person than anyone.”

Kang Siwon listened to those words while holding his breath.

Hearing such good words at an unexpected moment, his body had frozen instead.

It was a perspective he’d never once considered. Kang Siwon staying away from alcohol, cigarettes, and gambling was, in a way, a sense of duty. A sense of duty not to ruin the life given to him.

Or it might have been like a heavenly punishment. Just as he’d inherited his father’s debt, he’d also inherited genes vulnerable to addiction. He’d always thought it natural to be more careful than others since it had been determined that way from birth. But…

“You don’t have to try so hard, Xie Wei.”

Ray Jun’s comfort made his shoulders feel lighter. There had always been an invisible burden placed on them, and he hadn’t even known it was heavy, but it seemed it had actually been difficult.