The casino buzzed with life. Lights danced over the gaming tables, and the clatter of coins spilling from slot machines mingled with laughter and murmurs.

  Leonar stood in a corner, watching quietly.

  People played with gusto—some shouting in excitement, others cursing their rotten luck.

  The place was swanky, with walls draped in red velvet and golden chandeliers dangling from the ceiling.

  Everyone was dressed to impress: crisp suits, elegant dresses, shoes polished to a mirror shine.

  Everyone, that is, except him.

  Leonar looked like he’d wandered into the wrong story. His brown suit was wrinkled and stained, with smudges he hadn’t had time to scrub out. His chestnut hair was a mess, and his brown eyes scanned the room with a weary glint.

  The women passing by shot him disdainful looks, wrinkling their noses as if they’d caught a whiff of something foul.

  Some paused to whisper among themselves, throwing glances his way.

  “Who let this guy in?” said a girl in a blue dress, her hair pinned up in a flawless bun. Her voice was loud, making sure everyone nearby caught her words.

  She stood with two friends near a roulette table, clutching a glass of something sparkly.

  “Probably sneaked in through the back door,” replied another, a redhead with a necklace that gleamed under the lights.

  The three giggled, covering their mouths with their hands, but their eyes stayed locked on Leonar.

  Leonar ignored them, his gaze fixed on the gaming tables.

  His eyes burned, like he’d forgotten how to blink.

  ‘Alright… let’s try this again,’ he thought, taking a deep breath.

  He closed his eyes for a second, steadying himself. When he opened them, his ability kicked in.

  Some of the tables and machines around him seemed to glow. A few had a green aura, others a dull red.

  Leonar cracked a smile and headed toward the slot machines, where the lights were brighter and the noise louder.

  Several machines stood out with a vivid green glow, and he approached one of them. As he fished a coin from his pocket, he noticed the green flicker slightly to red before snapping back to its bright hue.

  Leonar frowned but didn’t dwell on it. He slipped the coin in with a quick flick.

  At that moment, the girl in the blue dress sidled up to a security guard near the entrance.

  He was a burly man in a black suit, with a badge that read “Security.”

  She pointed at Leonar with an exaggerated flourish.

  “That guy over there,” she said, lowering her voice but loud enough for her friends to hear. “He’s giving us creepy vibes. I think he’s stalking us. It’s super awkward.”

  “Seriously?” said the redhead, clutching her chest like she’d been personally offended. “What a creep. They should kick him out.”

  “Yeah, I don’t know how they let him in,” added the third, a girl in a silver dress. “Look at him—he probably hasn’t showered in weeks.”

  The guard listened with a serious expression, though his eyes betrayed a hint of boredom.

  “I hear you, ladies. I’ll handle it,” he said, adjusting the earpiece in his ear.

  Meanwhile, the machine in front of Leonar came alive.

  The lights flashed, and a cascade of coins poured into the tray with a metallic ching, ching, ching!

  Leonar had won.

  The screen showed his bet had doubled: his ten-thousand-dollar coin had netted him twice that.

  In this casino, coins were special.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  There were five kinds: one-dollar, ten-dollar, hundred-dollar, thousand-dollar, and ten-thousand-dollar coins.

  The girls, standing a few yards away, gaped.

  The redhead crossed her arms, scowling.

  “What a fluke,” she muttered, her voice dripping with envy. “No way that guy knows what he’s doing. Just dumb luck.”

  Leonar didn’t spare them a glance. He scooped up his coins and moved to another machine, one glowing with that same intense green.

  He slid in another ten-thousand-dollar coin, the machine whirred, the lights flickered, and again—ching, ching, ching!

  This time, the payout was quadruple: forty thousand dollars.

  The screen flashed a bright “x4.”

  “What the hell?” said the girl in the blue dress, stepping forward. “This isn’t normal. Nobody wins twice in a row.”

  “He’s gotta be cheating,” said the girl in the silver dress, glaring at the guard. “Aren’t you gonna do something? It’s obvious he’s rigging the machines!”

  The guard sighed but nodded.

  “Alright, I’ll talk to him,” he said, starting toward Leonar.

  Leonar, meanwhile, was already at another machine.

  This time, luck wasn’t on his side.

  The machine stopped, and nothing came out.

  At the last second, just before he’d pulled the lever, the machine’s glow had shifted to red.

  “Damn it…” Leonar muttered, but he didn’t stop.

  He moved to a fourth machine, one glowing with a green so bright it almost hurt to look at. He inserted another coin, and before he could blink, the machine erupted in lights and sounds.

  Ching, ching, ching!

  The screen flashed “x10.”

  A hundred thousand dollars from a single coin.

  The tray overflowed with coins.

  The girls were dumbfounded.

  The redhead clenched her fists.

  “This is absurd!” she snapped. “Nobody’s that lucky! He’s a cheat, a dirty hunter here to scam us!”

  “Yeah,” added the girl in the blue dress. “Hunters always pull weird stuff with their mana. That’s why they shouldn’t let them in here. He should be out in a portal hunting, like a man, not here stealing!”

  The guard reached Leonar, who was calmly collecting his coins.

  “Excuse me,” the guard said, crossing his arms. “Are you a hunter?”

  Leonar looked up, surprised.

  “No,” he replied, stuffing the coins into a small sack. “I passed the screening when I came in. I’m clean.”

  The guard eyed him up and down, clearly skeptical.

  “Just to be safe, I’m gonna need you to come with me. We need to check a few things.”

  “No problem,” Leonar said, shrugging.

  He followed the guard, ignoring the girls’ stares, but as they walked, he overheard their murmurs.

  “Cheater,” the redhead hissed. “Don’t you have any shame? Real hunters risk their lives in portals, not scam casinos.”

  “Yeah, look at you,” added the girl in the silver dress. “Can’t even afford decent clothes.”

  Leonar kept his head high and let out a short chuckle.

  The guard led him to a room at the back of the casino.

  It was far less glamorous—gray walls, tables cluttered with devices. Other guards were there, some monitoring screens, others talking on radios.

  One of them, a man with short hair, looked up.

  “What’s this about?” he asked, nodding at Leonar.

  “This guy won big on the slots,” the first guard explained. “Might be a hunter cheating.”

  The guard frowned.

  “Sit,” he told Leonar, pointing to a chair.

  He grabbed a device that looked like a black wand, designed to detect mana.

  But as he waved it over Leonar, it stayed silent.

  “Why’d you bring him if he’s not a hunter?” the guard asked, glaring at his colleague.

  “Because he won four times,” the other replied. “Doubled, quadrupled, and ten times his bet. That’s suspicious.”

  The guard sighed and grabbed another device, a pulse monitor that measured mana instead of heartbeats. He clipped it to Leonar’s finger.

  The screen flickered and displayed:

  [Negative.]

  “See?” Leonar said, crossing his arms. “Not a hunter.”

  “One last test,” the guard said, pulling out a syringe. “We need a blood sample.”

  Leonar rolled up his sleeve.

  His arm was dotted with tiny needle marks. The guard raised an eyebrow.

  “What’s with all the scars?” he asked.

  “Not my first rodeo,” Leonar said, shrugging. “Take what you need.”

  The guard carefully drew a small vial of blood and inserted it into a tablet-like device.

  After a few seconds, a robotic voice announced:

  “Standard human blood type: Non-hunter.”

  The guards exchanged looks.

  “He’s clean,” said the one testing Leonar, clearly annoyed at the wasted time.

  “I want to cash out all my winnings in physical currency,” Leonar said, standing up.

  The first guard frowned.

  “You’ll need to talk to the manager for that,” he said. “Follow me.”

  Leonar trailed him through a long hallway, up a set of stairs, and into a much fancier room.

  The walls were lined with polished wood, and a large desk sat in the center. Behind it was the manager, a thin man with gray hair and glasses.

  He was fiddling with his phone but paused his game when Leonar entered, eyeing him sternly.

  “What’s going on?” he asked, adjusting his glasses.

  “This guy won big on the slots,” the guard explained. “Doubled, quadrupled, and ten times his bet. Wants to cash out and leave.”

  The manager raised an eyebrow, studying Leonar.

  ‘This guy?’ he thought. ‘In those grimy clothes with that tired face, he won that much?’

  He couldn’t believe it, but flukes like this happened sometimes. Still…

  “You confirmed he’s not a hunter?” he asked the guard quietly, trying to be discreet.

  “Yes, sir,” the guard replied. “Passed every test. No mana.”

  “And how much are we talking?”

  “$150,000.”

  The manager cursed inwardly.

  ‘Damn it, of all the nights,’ he thought.

  The casino was short on cash—thanks to the owner blowing a fortune on two rental properties—and their reserves were dangerously low.

  If this guy walked out with everything, they’d be in deep trouble.

  “Hey, kid, I’ve got an offer for you…” the manager said, forcing a smile. “You don’t need to take all that cash right now. We’ve got a treasury with some valuable items, you know? Some worth millions. Wanna take a look?”

  Leonar raised an eyebrow.

  “No,” he said flatly. “I want my money.”

  The manager leaned forward, pressing.

  “Come on, kid, think about it. The stuff in our treasury is one-of-a-kind. You could walk away with something life-changing.”

  ‘Oh, crap,’ Leonar thought, catching on. ‘I probably just won a fortune from a casino that’s flat broke.’