Before the holidays, my old house was demolished by the government, so I received a settlement of almost five million dollars.

The next morning, Lawrence Gellar, one of my buddies who hailed from the same village, invited me to a game of poker.

Unexpectedly, not only did I lose five million dollars overnight, but I had also written an IOU note to Lawrence, claiming that I still owed him more than a million dollars.

Dad rushed all the way from home just to deliver the money that was meant for his treatment. But he relapsed into his sickly condition due to exhaustion, which resulted in his death.

Later on, Lawrence kept splashing red paint onto my home and caused a ruckus at my workplace every day. I couldn't handle his harassment at all, so I chose to commit suicide.

When I open my eyes again, I see Lawrence sitting right in front of me while yelling, "Why did I lose again? Since you're on a lucky streak, you have to play a few more rounds!"

Lawrence Gellar swung the dice back and forth in front of my face. "Come on, man. You're not planning to take the money and run, are you? That’s a shitty move!"

I jolted back to myself and stared at him. "What? Who won?"

The other two people laughed, shoved me, and pointed at the dice in front of me. "Quit playing dumb. You rolled five sixes. That's the best hand on the table. You just cleaned all three of us out."

I stared blankly at the dice cup in front of me, my mind racing.

It looked like I had been reborn.

Before I could process this, Lawrence tossed the chips toward me with obvious reluctance.

He then swept the dice back into the cup with a crisp rattle and said, "I refuse to believe my luck is this pathetic tonight. How about we raise the stakes and make this a little more interesting?"

As he spoke, he gave me a sleazy grin.

In my previous life, I had repeatedly dissected every second of this game in my head. Despite that, I couldn't fathom how a casual two-dollar buy-in had wound up costing me over six million dollars.

It wasn't until much later that I finally realized Lawrence was the one who had been egging me on to double down.

The more I thought about it, the more suspicious it felt.

When I finally confronted him, he didn't even bother to deny it. He patted my cheek and grinned mockingly. "What about it? You hit the jackpot, and suddenly you're a big shot looking down on everyone. I didn't like your attitude, so I had a couple of guys set you up.

"But was that really all my fault? You got a few million dollars in your pocket and let it go straight to your head. You were the one who kept playing because you couldn't stand losing. How is that on me?"

I had broken down crying, screaming that he had gotten my dad killed. Instead, he laughed even harder. "You have no idea how funny your dad looked when he came begging me to let you off. Too bad you missed it!"

I was so furious that I punched him to the ground, but Lawrene called the police, accusing me of assault. That landed me in a cell for seven days.

After that, not only did Lawrence show up at my place every day to vandalize it and demand repayment, but he also made a scene at my workplace, resulting in my suspension.

Only then did I realize what a vicious snake my best friend was.

But by then, it was too late.

I had no proof of the scam, and my signature was all over those IOUs for over a million dollars.

Now, I wouldn't make the same mistake twice.

By the time I snapped back to myself, Lawrence had stepped in front of me, his lips curling into a mocking grin. "I'm not inviting you next time. You're way too timid and boring."

The memory of him bleeding me dry, of him indirectly causing Dad's death, and of him eventually killing me made my body tremble despite myself.

I glared at him, hatred flickering in my gaze, and slapped his hand away.

Lawrence shifted, clearly unnerved by the look in my eyes. He waved a dismissive hand. "Look, if you're too scared to play, just say so. We won't hold it against you. Why are you glaring at me like that?"

The other two at the table chimed in, "Cut him some slack, Lawrence. He finally got rich, so of course, he's going to guard that money like it's sacred."

"Exactly. It's the first time he's ever had a full pocket. Let him be a coward if he wants."

I let out a cold laugh.

These two were Lawrence's accomplices. Without them, he never would've been able to rig the game.

I slammed the dice back into the cup and smiled. "Who said I wasn't playing?"

The moment the words left my mouth, Lawrence immediately sat back down, the three of them trading looks of excitement.

"My bad," he said, feigning an apologetic tone. "I should've known better. We've been friends for a long time. I knew you weren't a coward."

I waved a hand with feigned bravado and casually toyed with the chips I had just won. "Actually, two bucks a chip is pocket change. How about 100 dollars a chip with no limit?"

Lawrence froze.

In my previous life, they were the ones who had pushed for this.

His face broke into a wide grin, flashing a row of yellowed teeth. "Not bad, Sebastian. It looks like your luck has turned. You're feeling brave tonight, aren't you?"

"It's just a game," I said, casually swirling the dice in my cup. "Win or lose, it doesn't matter as long as everyone's having fun."

Lawrence rubbed his hands together. "We're still just comparing rolls, right? Since you're new to this, we won't make it hard for you."

I nodded.

That was exactly what I wanted. I needed to see how they were rigging the game.

I had won the last round, so I was the shooter this time. After I rolled the dice, I didn't rush to check my own numbers. Instead, I quietly looked up and watched the three of them.

I noticed Lawrence sniffing, then casually brushing the tip of his nose. Right after that, Peter Warner, who sat beside him, touched his earlobe.

They had often made these little gestures in my previous life, too. Each movement lasted a fraction of a second, so for now, I still couldn't tell what they meant.

Lawrence looked at me, urging, "Place your bet."

After a brief pause, I said, "100 dollars. No limit."

The others froze and immediately turned to me. "You're calling the limit right away? You haven't even looked at your dice yet! That's a blind call, and it plays double."

I nodded. "I know. I'm just testing my luck. All you have to do is tell me whether you're in."

A few of them frowned, but they ultimately tossed their hands up and folded. Only Lawrence and Peter stayed in.

Lawrence smiled and said, "I'm in."

When the dice were revealed, I had a pair of fours. Lawrence had a pair of sixes, and Peter had a pair of fives. Both of them happened to rank above me, so Lawrence won the round.

Because it was a blind call, I lost nearly a thousand dollars on that round alone.

Lawrence flashed me a sheepish grin. "Man, I was just trying to keep you company. I had no idea a pair of sixes would actually take it."

For the second round, I pretended to be nervous and set the dice cup down on the table before shaking it. Then, I made another blind bet.

Peter started to lose his patience. "Come on, man. You're blind calling every round. That's kind of disrespectful to the rest of us."

Lawrence waved him off. "He's still learning the ropes, alright? Cut the guy some slack and shut up."

I gave them a bashful nod and tilted my cup just enough to peek. To my surprise, I had three sixes and two fives. It was a full house.

But I was certain of one thing.

I hadn't actually shaken my dice cup just now. That meant that the problem was with the cup itself.

They were handing me a monster hand to bait me into staying in.

Just then, I caught Lawrence touching his nose again, while the other men casually touched their earlobes.

Lawrence looked at me, smiling. "I'll take a page from Sebastian's book, then. 100 dollars. Let's make it exciting."

The ones who had touched their ear followed suit.

By then, I roughly understood that those gestures were signals for whether to play or fold. The more people that stayed in the round, the higher the payout would climb.

When it was my turn, I played right into their trap and pretended to get cocky. "I'm in, too."

The cups went up, revealing that Lawrence had rolled four fives. His four of a kind beat me by a hair.

But how exactly were they doing it?

Picking up on my silence, Lawrence shot me a look. "Why don't we call it a night? Look at that, one hand just wiped out your last few wins."

I shook my head, grinning. "What does it matter? It's only a few grand. I'm sitting on millions from the relocation compensation."

I caught the flicker of pure irritation that crossed his face, but he masked it quickly behind a smile.

"I'm just looking out for you, man. Doesn't your dad still need money for his medical bills? I really think you should stop. Keep that money to find yourself a wife or pay for your dad's treatment."

Lawrence and I had known each other for almost 20 years.

In all those years, we were best friends. He knew me inside and out, especially how much I valued my pride, so he was deliberately using my own ego to bait me into playing.

Winning that last hand was just his way of testing the waters.

But the mention of Dad made my blood boil. In this life, I vowed to make him repay every cent and every life he owed me, with interest.

I waved a hand and put on a stubborn, unconvinced expression. "I almost had that last round. Keep going! Anyone who walks away now is a coward!"

The men couldn't help but laugh.

I kept my expression neutral, wondering if they'd still be laughing after that night.

Over the next few rounds, I kept blind calling. I lost small and won big, but of course, all of that had to be within their control.

They had to feed me a few sweet wins to keep me on the hook, after all.

I did the math. By that point, I was the only person at the table who was over 20 thousand dollars ahead.

The rest of the table groaned in mock frustration. "Sebastian, your luck is ridiculous tonight. Of all the people in the village, your family gets the biggest payout from your roadside property, and now you're even crushing it at the table. I can't believe you're blind calling and winning!"

Just as things were getting lively, my phone suddenly rang.

Before I could react, Lawrence rejected it and pouted. "What a buzzkill. Sebastian, you just started winning. You can't walk away from a streak like that."

The others laughed along to smooth things over.

"They always say the ones who don't know how to play have the best luck. Tell you what, let's play until midnight, alright? If I walk away now, I'll never make back what I lost!"

One man's expression darkened as he interrupted, his tone dripping with disdain, "I don't buy it. Nobody wins every single hand. Luck runs dry, and I'm not leaving until I get back every single cent I lost tonight! I say we raise the stakes. 100 dollars is pocket change. Let's make it a thousand dollars a pop. How about that?"

In my previous life, all the flattery and the goading were exactly what pushed me over the deep end. I had watched my entire inheritance vanish before I ended up owing them money I didn't have.

For now, I forced myself to keep my emotions under control.

When I didn't speak, the taunts started.

"What's the matter? No stomach for the big leagues? I told you he doesn't have the nerve to play for real money. He's all talk."

I paused for a moment before looking up, an icy grin curling at the edges of my lips. "Who says I'm out? A thousand dollars it is. But I've got a rule that will make things a lot more interesting. That is… if you've got the spine for it."

Lawrence tried his best to mask the mockery in his eyes as he stroked his chin thoughtfully. "A rule? Let's hear it."

I pointed at the dice cups. "Everyone calls blind. One roll, winner takes all."

One of them couldn't hold back a snicker. I knew what they were thinking. Even calling blind, they still controlled the dice. To them, this was a sure win.

I swept my gaze around the table, taunting, "Didn't you say we were just having fun? What's the matter? Are you scared?"

Lawrence feigned a look of surprise before looking away. "Well, if Sebastian wants to go big, I suppose I can play along."

As he spoke, he reached up and brushed the tip of his nose again.

Right on cue, the rest of them chimed in, "Fine by me. It's just blind calling. Let's do it."

When they all agreed, I let out a breath of relief. This was the very moment I had been waiting for after being reborn.