I’m Not Doing This With A Friend Chapter 77.1

 

Our teleported escape was to the opposite building from where Carson and I were.

 

We walked down the hallway as if nothing had happened.

 

“Anne, what’s that thing in your hand anyway?”

 

“Oh, this, I got it from there. I didn’t get to throw the other one, but it’s a point, right?”

 

“If you wanted the doll, do you think I should go and get it now?”

 

“…That’s stealing, and I’ve gotten my revenge, so no thanks.”

 

I smirked and shoved a stuffed puppy into Carson’s hand.

 

“This is a gift.”

 

“Uh…?”

 

“I brought this doll on purpose because I thought it looked like you.”

 

Carson took the puppy with a dumbfounded look on his face.

 

He didn’t react for a long moment, and I lowered my eyebrows in mock disbelief.

 

“You don’t like it?”

 

Carson shook his head quickly as if coming to his senses.

 

“You gave it to me, how could I not like it… I was just wondering if this was a dream.”

 

I felt a twinge of mischief in my stomach as he lowered his head and stared at the doll with a blank stare.

 

“How did you know? You’re right, it’s not real, it’s just a dream that shows you what you’ve been wishing for.”

 

Carson’s head snapped up at my serious tone. There was a hint of anticipation in his eyes.

 

“Then can we hold hands? It’s a dream.”

 

What an opportunist…?

 

He knew damn well it wasn’t a dream.

 

Hmm… Now that I think about it, a hand seems like an innocent request.

 

Besides, it’s not like he grabbed me by the throat, and he’s asking for a polite request.

 

I tilted my head lazily and said, “Why, you’d rather ask for a kiss, wouldn’t you?”

 

Carson’s eyes widened at the unconventional statement, and his face slowly flushed.

 

And then, eventually…

 

Poof—!

 

Ah, it exploded.  

 

He stammered, dazed from the explosion.

 

“Are you… going to… give me?”

 

“No. I was joking.”

 

I stuck my tongue out at him, adding a wedge to the joke, and he looked oddly relieved.

 

“…You’re the usual Anne.”

 

“You’re not disappointed?”

 

I asked, curious that he’d given up so easily, but Carson’s eyes sparkled and shone again.

 

“If I say disappointed, will you do it?”

 

“No.”

 

“…Too bad.”

 

With that, Carson walked away with a big smile on his face.

 

In the meantime, he clutched the stuffed dog in his hand. For a moment, it looked like a stuffed animal he had been carrying around for ten years.

 

I reassured Carson and continued to browse the booths.

 

I’d been looking around for a while when someone caught my eye…

 

“Hans?”

 

I stopped in my tracks and looked over to where Hans was.

 

He was holding a deck of cards in a very dark booth.

 

It looks like he’s playing poker with a group of people.

 

It’s worth noting… Hans’s eyes were half-shut.

 

“You want to get your ass kicked? Screw you.”

 

At his opponent’s taunt, Hans smacks his forehead with the card he’s holding and lets out a mean laugh.

 

Then he flips over the stack of coins in front of him.

 

“All in.”

 

“Huh.”

 

His move elicited gasps from all around.

 

As I look around, I realize that no one has ever won more coins than Hans.

I’m guessing that’s because he’s betting all of his mountain of coins.

 

Some players seemed genuinely intimidated by him, and one by one they put down their cards and quit the game.

 

Eventually, there were only two players left, including Hans.

 

“Hey, you think I’m going to fall for your lame trick? I’ll take it!”

 

The opponent also bet all his coins and received Hans’ betting number.

 

It was then. A grin of delight spread across Hans’s face.

 

His smile was like a fisherman’s when he catches a big fish.

 

As I witnessed it, I rolled my eyes and thought to myself.

 

Hans must be the winner, I thought.

 

“Okay, both of you, please reveal your cards at the same time.”

 

The student acting as the dealer calmly announced the reveal, and the two players put their cards down.

 

It was Hans’s opponent who jumped to his feet first.

 

“This is ridiculous! A full house here? We need to search this guy’s body right now!”

 

Whether his opponent doubted him or not, Hans opened his arms as if to bask in victory, embracing the mountain of coins.

 

I nudged Carson next to me and asked in a low voice.

 

“Sion, did Hans do something just now?”

 

“Uhuh. No magic, just fast hands. Good technique.”

 

“Wow.”

 

So much for stealing from someone else’s place of business.

 

After a while, when Hans had turned all the low coins into high coins, he counted them intently, then abruptly tore off half of them and scattered them in the air.

 

“I only take half of everything.”

 

He was really getting into the role of the chic gambler.

 

I wonder if that’s who he was supposed to be…

 

In fact, there was only one prize Hans could take with the other coins.

 

It doesn’t matter how many coins you have. Since it wasn’t really gambling, the rules were obvious.

 

That’s probably why he was able to scatter the coins so freely.

 

I wondered if I should warn Jane again to stay away from Hans.

 

The dealer, who’d been watching Hans’s stack, spoke up.

 

“The remaining coins are not transferable to the other party.”

 

“…Right.”

 

I shook my head in disbelief as Hans immediately crouched down and started picking up the coins.