Day 2 of Goldshanks’ tournament continued as it had started. Everything was bigger and harder than yesterday, from its competitors and their abilities, to the audience, and even the catering. And most importantly for me… yeah, it was the catering.
But more importantly for my boss, it was the balls on these cheaters. I’d already caught one who was hiding counterfeit chips in their pocket under a fake flap of fabric, but just barely. And I knew that this was only the start.
“Alright, let’s play some more wack-a-cheat, then,” I whispered to myself as I activated [Detect Cheating] and honed it in on the competitors.
Detect Cheating (lv 14)
Target
Nicholas Jones
Method
Rendezvous during business trips
Not what I needed.
Detect Cheating (lv 14)
Target
Ishaan Shiv
Method
N/A
Clean. If this was going to become a pattern, then I could expect the next person to be…
Detect Cheating (lv 14)
Target
Jaylin Fischer
Method
Radio communication
Guilty!
I looked at the man in question, Jaylin Fischer, and saw that he was wearing what Mike Smith’s memories informed me was a hearing aid. It consisted of a bulky box hanging on his torso with a set of ear plugs coming out of them, which was apparently exactly what hearing aids from the 1980s looked like. Of course, I could tell they weren’t what was advertised on the cover.
Tinker (lv 7): Diagnose Problem
Device
Radio Transmitter
Issue
Underpowered
That made things complicated. He probably had the device cleared by event security before the tournament so any attempts at asking him to remove it would be met with a lot of trouble, and not just from the cheater. I doubted Mr. Goldshanks wanted to attract the ire of whatever disability association would be up his ass for asking Jaylin to remove his “hearing aid.”
Hold on, if his gear was a radio receiver, then I could solve the problem by finding who was feeding the info to him! I grinned. It was just like my interview, and with how my Skills had leveled up since then, this would be a piece of cake.
My eyes suddenly went wide as a wave of knowledge exploded into my consciousness. It took the form of bits and pieces, little scraps of information that added up to a mostly whole sum. It was nothing like an entire textbook’s worth of knowledge, thankfully, as something like that would’ve had me screaming in pain on the floor.
But instead, I was able to make out the basics of how a short-range radio transmitter worked, and one fact got my attention in particular. The source had to be nearby, and heavily powered. Once again, nothing extreme, but it at least needed a briefcase-sized battery or to be plugged into the wall.
So, whoever was supplying this cheater information had to be in a position to actually see everyone’s cards and relay the info across, just like last time I encountered a radio transmitter. But unlike last time, I could discount whoever was in the security room. Alright, so it had to be someone in the room with me, and they needed to have electricity.
I started by looking towards the audience. Everyone stood still, their hands either at their sides or in their pockets. Could one of them have been using a transmitter to send over morse code? [Situational Awareness] didn’t think so, as I saw no twitching in their arms from continuously mashing a button. More so, I didn’t see anything that resembled a battery, or any wires leading to a power outlet. No power meant they were clean, then.
So if it wasn’t them, maybe it was someone who had a really good view of the cards? The only other people left were the pair of news crews. Jerry Chetman’s group and another single videographer. The lone man stood partially crouched over a fancy tripod-mounted camera with a headset and mic over his ears, entirely focused on his task. If it weren’t for the press pass around his neck and the logo of the local “New Jersey News” station on his shirt, I would’ve considered him the prime suspect.
I sighed in frustration as I continued scanning the room, intent on not being outdone. My eyes went across the casino floor for the possibility of finding additional cameras that weren’t there before, hoping [Situational Awareness] would help me suss them out. Eventually, my weary eyes settled on the large poster on one of the far off walls that advertised the event.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
It was pretty, something colorful and static that was much easier to stare at rather than the throng of people below. The poster held the logo of Goldshanks’ casino right underneath the name of the tournament printed in large letters. Further below those were the names of the sponsors. None of which were doing much anything to make my job easier, the greedy bastards. I could recognize various casinos, a card manufacturer, the National Poker Network TV channel that Jerry belonged to, Jersey Connect News, and… wait, Jersey Connect News?
I quickly turned back to the lone videographer and looked at his shirt again. New Jersey News. Why the hell was someone from a news station that didn’t sponsor the event here when the actual sponsor wasn’t? I focused my Skills at the man and revealed the truth.
Detect Cheating (lv 14)
Target
Jonah Baxter
Method
Relaying card information
And there we go! Now that the Skill was activate and focused on the man, I could make out a series of slight lip movements from him. He was no doubt relaying the competitions’ hands via the headset’s microphone, and using the camera to zoom in and get a better view.
I nudged one of the bouncers and filled him in. He looked at me with surprise at the familiarity of such a setup, but nodded and called another compatriot to head over to both the cheater and his accomplice.
I watched with pride as one bouncer ripped the headset off of the videographer and shouted into the microphone, making the cheater at the table recoil in pain as an audible static ringing reverberated through the room. Everyone froze, including the bigwigs in the audience. Goldshanks himself, who was watching from his own little corner, finally let out a bellowing guffaw, easing tension in the room. The bouncers laughed alongside him as they forcefully ejected the cheaters.
And there went my hardest challenger so far.
[Skill Level Up! Situational Awareness lv 5 -> 6]
And it looked like I wasn’t the only one who thought so too! With what was definitely the biggest challenge I’d face for the day out of the way, I walked on over to the catering table to grab myself another cup of coffee and a danish. It was well past noon at this point, and we wouldn’t break for lunch until the current round was over. Besides, I deserved this.
As I munched on the pastry and sipped at my lukewarm brew, I decided to let [Situational Awareness] idly run, not wanting to take the extra effort to focus [Detect Cheating] after I’d already swept through the room so thoroughly.
And yet, something about the Skill slowly pulled my attention towards the stands.
Detect Cheating (lv 14)
Target
Ash___ McMahon
Method
N/A
What was up with that name? Were those underscores actually part of it?
Detect Cheating (lv 14)
Target
Lucius Jones
Method
N/A
Detect Cheating (lv 14)
Target
Artyom Choi
Method
N/A
And to my surprise, none of that random sampling had any cheaters! That was probably the first time something like that had happened! But something about them grabbed the Skill’s attention, and even if it wasn’t because they were cheating, I knew it had to be something.
I looked into their eyes and saw a mix of boredom, entertainment, and tension. As well as how they were all looking in the same direction. My eyes followed them to the tables, and something there immediately caught my attention.
One of the players, a young man, was utterly dominating the game and wasn’t afraid of boasting it in their displays of bravado. Well, I knew what that meant…
Detect Cheating (lv 14)
Target
Scout Mazzocco
Method
Magic
Hold on, was I reading that right? Magic? Maybe it was just sleight of hand and the System decided to be fancy about it. I honed in on him using the remaining power of [Detect Cheating] along with [Situational Awareness] to see if any of that was going on, but to my perplexion, I couldn’t find anything to suggest that. No cards up his sleeves, nothing in his pockets, not even any signs of secret compartments!
What my Skills did point out to me, however, was the bracelet the cheater was wearing. It was a solid weave made out of thick copper strands, with a large sapphire embedded into it that almost looked like it was glowing. As the next round of cards were dealt, I could’ve sworn that it really did for a second.
Ok, maybe that bracelet of his really was magical? I mean, I had the System myself so it wasn’t too far-fetched of an idea. Too bad none of the bouncers would ever consider the same. If I was going to get rid of this guy or his source of “magic”, I had to do it discreetly.
And by sheer providence, the half-time bathroom break started! The magic man, Scout, made his way into the bathroom, and I followed at a distance. And I wasn’t stalking him, because all of that coffee I’d drunk was starting to get to me. As I entered the men’s room, I saw the cheater making his way into a toilet stall and hearing him lock the door. On the sink, hanging around the faucet, was exactly what I was looking for. The magic bracelet.
It couldn’t be this easy, could it? I put the bracelet into my dress pants pocket, making sure that my suit covered the small bulge, and walked out of the bathroom with the look of someone who’d taken a very refreshing dump.
Yup, it really was that easy.
Taking my place again, I waited for everyone to get back. Apparently, Scout took quite a while finishing up in the bathroom and returned looking quite flustered. Who knew why? As his game started back up, his previous winning streak was dead in the water, and it wasn’t long before he lost and was booted from the game.
It honestly didn’t feel as satisfying as seeing him being thrown out by the bouncers, but I still took pleasure in seeing someone who threatened my workplace take such a brutal loss.
[Skill Level Up! Revenge 5 -> 6]