The noonday sun shone down on the few who dared test its wrath. The joggers and weekend workers sweated under the heat, but I stood my ground with confidence. Because this time, I remembered to wear deodorant to my interview.

Goldshanks’ casino stood in the distance. I looked forth defiantly, having put aside what had happened earlier that day, ready to face what I was sure would be my greatest challenge yet. Before I could make it to the crosswalk, I was interrupted by a grimy hand on my arm.

“Got any spare change?”

“Huh? Oh sure,” I said absentmindedly. I pulled out a fiver from my pocket and turned around to see Sam.

“Damn, generous as ever, Mike!” the vagrant exclaimed. “And you took my advice about Goldshanks!”

“Oh hey!” I said back. “Your tip about him paid off. He’s the real deal and I’ve got an interview with him right now. I really owe you for that.”

Sam took the bill from my hand and pocketed it with a smile. “There, your debt has been paid. But I won’t need the charity for much longer, because that lady from the other night hired me!”

My face twisted into a look of horror. “At the sex dungeon?!”

“They have one of those?!” Sam broke out into a fit of laughter. “Haha! No, I said I was never going to step into a casino again after what happened to me at Victoria’s Garden. That place was just… but anyway, Kozakov just has me managing his spies around town.”

“Spies? You mean the BDSM addicts?”

“So that’s what their deal was…” Sam trailed off. “But yeah, I just give them instructions and report their progress. Don’t know or care what they do, but I should be able to afford a place to stay soon!”

I wanted to say something, pop a hole in the balloon that was carrying him out of his hole by reminding him he was helping an evil man, but I stopped myself. Seeing the genuine look of hope on his face made me reconsider that. Maybe not my views on Kozakov, but on culpability; I couldn’t blame him.

I placed a hand on the vagrant’s shoulder. “I’m happy for you.” I meant it.

“Yeah, thanks. I wouldn’t have gotten the job if you didn’t bring that lady my way,” he shrugged.

“No problem,” I nodded back. Despite my acceptance of Sam’s new job, the concept of evil casino owners wouldn’t leave my mind. “By the way, what happened at Victoria’s Garden anyway? You make it sound like there was something about that place that was worse than the others. And that’s saying something.”

“Yeah, exactly.” Sam began to look sullen.

“Oh shit, you don’t have to say if it’s bothering you.”

“No, no, it’s fine. Someone should hear this story.” He took a drawn out breath. “I went in there one day planning to blow a hundred for some weekend fun, but then the owner got pissed off about me leaving so soon, and she told me to spend more money. There was something about her words, they were like ecstasy. I spent all of the money I had with me, maxed out my credit card then and there, and even withdrew everything from my bank account! But that wasn’t enough. She had me take out a loan on the spot for everything I was worth, and I had to give up everything to pay it back.”

I stared at the broken man before me. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry. But couldn’t you have fought against the loan or something? Declared bankruptcy, I don’t know.”

“Ha! Maybe if it was a normal loan, but it was issued by the mob! They’re the reason why I’m on the streets!”

“And the owner just lets them operate in her casino?!”

“Of course, she’s one of them! It’s the only way!” Sam all but shouted. He took a second to regain his composure before continuing. “They’ve gotta be hand in glove, I’m telling you.”

Memories of my old landlady came to mind as I looked the man in the eyes and nodded. “I believe you.”

He nodded back. “Thanks. At least my ex-wife was able to sell the house and get away with our kid before the mob could collect. I just hope they’re safe, wherever she ran.”

I remained silent, I didn’t know how to respond.

“But at least the mob’s leaving me alone now!” Sam let out a dry chuckle. “I think Victoria just wanted to take everything from me. She’s had her fun and now I’m free.”

I didn’t think as I drew the vagrant into a tight hug. We stood there for several seconds before he patted me on the back and slowly eased his way out of my grip.

“Heh, that actually feels pretty nice, thanks. But I really shouldn’t be keeping you any longer. You’ve got an interview to ace, after all. Hope I didn’t bring you down too much.”

“Nah, you just reminded me why I’m here in the first place. Thank you.”

Sam let out one last laugh and turned around. I waited until he rounded the corner before I started towards Goldshanks’ casino.

I took a deep breath as I opened the door to the building. Something from me smelled a bit musty, a lot like the vagrant. My lips curled downwards. “So much for the deodorant.”

The inside of the casino was just as I remembered it from the day before. With no apparent windows, the place looked exactly the same, as if untouched by time. The only difference was the size of the crowd, which was slightly smaller on account of it being midday rather than at night. Still, the throngs of tourists padded the casino floor enough that I had trouble making my way to the front desk.

The same woman as before stood there. She gave me a plastic smile that looked even more forced than yesterday and handed me a letter.

“This is for your interview,” she said. “The instructions are enclosed inside. Normally I’d say something like ‘break a leg’, so good luck.”

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“Uh, thanks.” I nodded at her and opened up the envelope.

Inside was a note written on a typewriter and signed by pen. I read it.

“Dear Mr. Smith,

Welcome to your interview! There is currently a cheater present in the casino and it is your job to not just figure out who they are, but how they’re cheating, along with possible co-conspirators. Upon discovery of this information, please approach the front counter and tell Kamila that you have a meeting with me. She will let you into my office where you can fill me in on your discoveries. You have one hour to complete this task, starting from when you open this letter. All the best.

Your’s Truly,

Damian Goldshanks”

I put the letter in my pocket and looked out towards the crowd with a frown. I could barely make out individual people with how close they were together and how much they were moving around. How was anyone supposed to pass this test?

My brows creased as I began to think. With [Detect Cheating]’s passive form out of the picture, what was I supposed to do? The next best thing was its active form, but that only gave me peoples’ names. Nothing useful.

My eyes lit up. They gave me nothing useful so far. But what if I could coax another level up? Maybe I’d get a Skill perk that gave me better information? It was worth a shot.

Detect Cheating (lv 5)

Target

Chad Polk

Nope. The man was just pawing at the pager in his pocket for a call, probably from his mistress.

Detect Cheating (lv 5)

Target

Methuselah Honeysuckle

Nuh uh. He looked pretty anxious with how his eyes kept darting around the room, but he was likely on the lookout for someone he knew, not security.

Detect Cheating (lv 5)

Target

Winona Park

Hmm. Nothing. She seemed clean.

Three people, and no level up. I’d probably have to keep this up for who knows how long to get a level up, and they’re supposed to be coming in fast! But something was odd about the scans just now.

I opened my eyes wide in realization. Taking another look at Chad, I could barely see anything bulging in his pockets, so how was I able to tell he had a pager? There was some kind of hidden perk attached to the Skill that wasn’t listed in the description, and that would be how I was going to find the cheater!

I let [Detect Cheating] activate and fill my vision with text. My eyes sorted through the various names and followed wherever the Skill dragged them. To pockets, handbags, and hands. What little I saw filled my mind with everyone’s intentions, and left me feeling confident whenever I crossed someone off the list.

Time lost meaning as I made thorough work of the people before me. I’d made it through about half of the crowd when a massive hand clasped my shoulder.

“Hey, Mike,” came a deep voice from behind me. I looked up to see a hulking man in a tight suit wearing a nametag with the casino’s logo. “Time’s almost up. You’ve got ten minutes left.”

“Wait, what?!” I shouted. “There’s no way it’s already been that long!”

I looked at my watch and froze.

The bouncer looked at me with soft eyes. “Hey man, I heard you did really well at that initial interview, so I’m rooting for you. Good luck.” He patted me on the shoulder and walked off.

“Fuck me,” I whispered. My face twisted from a terrible snarl, to weepy frown, and finally to just blank. I always hated finishing late back in school, but I had a trick that always made things a little bit better. If I was going to get fucked, I’d might as well say “fuck it” and try any and all hail marys I could think of. I couldn’t even begin to count how many grades that strategy had saved.

“[Detect Cheating] isn’t my only Skill, so let’s see what else I can do. Open System”

I closed my eyes and began to focus on each of my listed Skills one-by-one.

Second on the list was [Revenge]. I tried to turn it on, but it gave me a feeling as if my activation was incomplete. It needed something else. A target. But who the hell was I supposed to pick? I didn’t really hate anyone here, though that attendant wasn’t too fond of me.

I looked towards her as I tried activating the Skill. The result was my muscles tensing and a light frustration beginning to bubble in my stomach. The crowd appeared the exact same to all of my senses, so that was a bust.

Before I deactivated the Skill, I tried using the [Minor Inconvenience]. I focused intently on the attendant and let the Perk fly. I was hoping for the cheater to do something to reveal themselves, but all I got was the attendant grabbing their stomach while bending over.

A second later, she ripped a massive fart that caught the attention of half the casino. With cheeks as red as a tomato, the woman ran over to the bathroom and out of the public eye. Honestly, I didn’t even laugh. That wasn’t funny, it just felt mean. As I deactivated the Skill, I felt much of my tension vanish, but not the blow to my conscience.

There was no point feeling guilty when I had only a few minutes remaining, I could always make it up to her once I got hired. I looked back at the list and saw that I was at the end. My third and final Skill was [Tinker]. What the hell was I supposed to do with that?

Well, I was out of options, might as well give it a shot. I called forth the Skill and tried focusing it on the crowd before me. There weren’t many advanced technological gadgets, it being 1980 and there being no computers around, but it was still hard to get a feel for what was there.

One more try. I activated the Perk, [Diagnose Problem], and let my eyes haphazardly run through everyone.

Tinker (lv 3): Diagnose Problem

Device

Pager

Issue

Bad signal

Tinker (lv 3): Diagnose Problem

Device

Credit Card

Issue

Magnetic strip worn out

Tinker (lv 3): Diagnose Problem

Device

Hidden Earphones

Issue

Improperly tuned to channel

What the hell was that?

I looked over to where I got the last message, and saw a man sitting at the poker table. He was staring intently at his hand, and not even bothering to look at the others whenever something happened.

So there he was, my cheater. With seven minutes left, I could’ve just turned him in and been done with this interview, but that wouldn’t cut it. I took out the letter and reread it. Goldshanks specifically asked for several pieces of information, so that was what he was grading me by. I couldn’t just turn my test in with only a third of the answers filled! I might as well have tried to do what I could in the time I had left.

[Skill Level Up! Detect Cheating lv 5 -> 6]