It was the big day, dozens of men and women would be coming together to fight for the chance at millions of dollars. Dreams would be fulfilled and crushed, and I would be standing above them all, the wielder of their fates.
“So you gonna take a look at the place?” asked a bouncer as he tapped my shoulder. “We’ve looked over everything, but you’re the expert, so you should probably take a quick peek.”
I flinched in pain before I turned my head and leered at the man for having touched a particularly sensitive spot… and interrupted my internal megalomaniacal monologue.
He paled in response.
“Yeah, you’re right. Thanks,” I said with a sigh, making my way around the play area.
With five minutes until the tournament started, there wasn’t much for me to do. Especially since [Detect Cheating] didn’t work when there wasn’t any actual cheating going on.
Eventually, the remaining time passed and the ceiling lights began to dim.
At the side of the building were several men and women standing together and facing one in particular. One of them operated a large camera mounted on a rotating platform, while another gripped a large, fuzzy microphone suspended from a long rod, and the last of them simply stood in front of the group with a gorgeous smile plastered across his face.
“Alright boss, get ready,” said the lady operating the camera to the man standing in front of it. “We’re live in 3, 2, 1…”
“Hello ladies and gentlemen!” cooed the man in a rich and silky voice. “We’re coming to you live from the World Poker Series Invitational Tournament! I’m your host, Jerry Chetman with the National Poker Network, and this is the Goldshanks Casino in Atlantic City! Today is the first day of the biggest Poker event of the year, and hundreds of professionals have gathered here this week for a chance to walk away with a portion of the ten million dollar prize pool! And what better day to kick things off than the start of Ultarian Festival Week!”
I regarded the trio with raised eyebrows. I wasn’t exactly much of a poker fan, so why not let the TV crew give me the info dump? I deserved some kind of break after my morning.
The anchorman, Jerry Chetman, continued. “Since this is only the first day, the attendants present here were selected out of those who only barely qualified, so they’re going to be spending today proving their mettle to see if they have what it takes to compete with the very best! So get ready, ladies and gentlemen, as we see for ourselves which one of these wannabe pros has what it takes to play in the big leagues!”
Soon after the announcer finished his speech, the tournament finally began in earnest. Dealers began shuffling and distributing cards, players put on their best poker faces, and chips began flying between hands. As I stood in my little corner of the room, I regarded them all, trying to make out any suspicious behavior or any other telltale sign of cheating.
[Skill Level Up! Situational Awareness lv 1 -> 2]
Hold on, shouldn’t I have gotten a level up in [Detect Cheating] instead? Wait…
I slapped my hand against my forehead as I realized the obvious and activated the Skill. Seriously, you’d think my high Intelligence would let me remember such a simple detail. But on the other hand, it was probably better that my attributes didn’t run passively. I knew what they were like when they had their way. I didn’t need something like that to autopilot my brain.
Immediately, my vision filled up with rows upon rows of tables as wave after wave of notifications competed for my attention. It felt overwhelming at first and I could’ve sworn I was about to get a nosebleed from the mental assault, but I was able to tune out the worst of it and focused the Skill on the individual players in front of me.
That was apparently new, kind of like a lesser version of [Detect Cheating]’s passive version, but entirely useless since I couldn’t actually make out what any of the tables were saying or who it was pointing towards when there were so many.
As my eyes jumped between each player in a clear and focused pattern, individual menu boxes popped up in my vision. Names, methods, it all flew past me, but most of it wasn’t exactly relevant.
Detect Cheating (lv 7)
Target
Archie Parker
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Method
Lie about time work ends for secret rendezvous
Sounded like he was cheating on his spouse or whatever, not cheating at cards. Alright, onto the next player.
Detect Cheating (lv 7)
Target
Lucy Martin
Method
Steamy phone calls while husband was out
[Skill Level Up! Detect Cheating lv 7 -> 8]
Alright, more of the same, nothing interesting. But that was a really fast level up, what was up with that? Maybe it was because the Skill was finally telling me how they were doing it instead of just a yes or no? I only got level ups beforehand when I was able to figure out the method of cheating, so maybe this perk was doing that for me? It felt kind of like cheating though… or just poor design. Though to be fair, this entire System was poorly designed.
Detect Cheating (lv 8)
Target
Kaia Suarez
Method
N/A
Oh would you look at that! Someone clean.
Detect Cheating (lv 8)
Target
Gauge Levine
Method
Hires a babysitter to make time
Ok, now that was just irresponsible! How was their kid going to feel when they found out that daddy would rather spend time with his mistress instead? ‘Hey sport, you want me to play catch with you? I’d love to, but I’d rather catch some pussy!’
I shook my head in frustration. This was ridiculous! How was I supposed to find someone who was cheating at cards when almost everyone was lighting up under my skill?
Growing frustrated, my gaze began to wander away from the casino floor and towards the guest seats off to the side. Most were still relatively empty, but my eyes locked in on one viewer in particular. It was a man that seemed to be in his mid thirties, with a look on his face halfway between a scowl and a snarky grin. But that wasn’t what caught my attention. It was his clothes.
He wore a suit and pants made entirely of a gaudy red velvet that made looking at him feel like staring into the sun. My brain just couldn’t comprehend how someone could simultaneously look like a pimp, a businessman, and ready to go to sleep.
The man’s eyebrows shot up and he turned his head to directly face me. I immediately turned back to the casino floor and winced, and somehow, my gaze landed right onto a man’s sleeve. There was something sticking out of it, a piece of blue cardstock, opposed to the red cards the casino was using.
I swore at the man in red, cursing him for making me almost miss this cheater.
Detect Cheating (lv 8)
Target
Royce Kirby
Method
Cards up his sleeve
Bingo!
I casually made my way to one of the bouncers and pointed out the man in question, which earned me a light nod and a front row to the action. The hulking gentleman I’d informed, who wore a sharp black suit with the casino’s logo on a plastic tag on his lapel, casually made his way to the guilty party and gently tapped his shoulder.
After whispering something into his ear, Royce slowly got up with a slump. Before the cheater could turn towards the exit, he quickly contorted his torso to deliver a sucker punch. Luckily, the bouncer saw it coming and nimbly dodged out of the way, letting the blue cards stuffed inside the man’s sleeve to go flying across the floor.
That was all the excuse the other security guards needed to run at the man and tackle him to the ground, the small audience gasping in surprise at the uncouth behavior before them, as the rest of the players at the table disregarded their now-disqualified competitor. I didn’t blame them, one less competitor meant a better chance for each of them to win.
[Skill Level Up! Detect Cheating lv 8 -> 9]
“Would you look at that, ladies and gentlemen!” exclaimed Jerry Chetman directly into the camera. “It looks like there was a cheater hiding amongst the competitors! It’s a darn shame that he had to sully the good name of professional poker with a move like that. And with the wrong brand of cards, no less! He’s not just a shame to poker, he’s a shame to cheaters! And cheaters are already a shame to society, so what does that make him?” He let out a soft chuckle.
I looked at the announcer with a cocked eyebrow.
Detect Cheating (lv 9)
Target
Jerry Chetman
Method
Empty news van at night for rendezvous
Yeah, just making sure. It was always the loudest ones, wasn’t it?