Endless Evolution: Last Star

"By the way, I understand this isn't the first time you've played at a casino, right?" Adam asked, looking at Alexia, who was thinking about which color to bet on this time.

Alexia nodded lazily.

"Yep, like I said, I like to win. Gambling doesn't give you the same adrenaline rush as defeating a monster, but it's pretty decent, you know?"

Realizing that he wouldn't get a straight answer from Alexia, Adam turned his attention to Louis.

"What about you? Can you give me a hint as to how much money Alexia has already lost?"

Alexia frowned. "What kind of question is that? Why are you only asking about how much I've lost? Can't you imagine that I might win as well?"

Silvana, who was sitting nearby, awkwardly scratched her cheek.

"Well... Alexia, you yourself admitted that you haven't won in two hours. So... It's logical to assume that you've lost more than you've won today."

Louis sighed deeply, slowly shaking his head.

"At this point, Alexia has lost 1.5 million credits."

Adam and Silvana's eyes widened in disbelief. If they could, their jaws would have dropped to the floor.

"What... What did you say?" Adam stared at Louis. "We came here with 10,000 credits, and I consider it a problem that we've already lost 500 of them."

Louis shrugged.

"Well, even though Alexia has lost such a large amount, our current loss is only 150K."

"Agh? But how is that possible?" Adam was puzzled.

Louis glanced at the frowning Alexia and shrugged.

"It just so happens that I'm really good at poker. Basically, most of what Alexia loses, I win back in poker or blackjack. Although I prefer the latter less, because skill has less influence than luck."

"Hah, so Alexia, you lose and make your Operator win it back for you? Aren't you ashamed?" Adam smirked, crossing his arms over his chest.

Alexia puffed out her cheeks. She had nothing to say because it was true.

Even though she was a talented Phantom whose progress could be compared to someone like Adam, gambling was definitely not her strong suit.

Unlike Louis and other experienced players, she didn't understand that the most important thing was to quit while you're ahead.

In fact, even people who played games of pure chance, such as slot machines, had a good chance of coming out slightly ahead or at least breaking even.

All they had to do was, after a small win, usually 5-10%, take their winnings and leave the casino or move on to another game.

This worked not because the casino's formulas were miscalculated, but because this tactic took into account people's greed and impatience.

If the casino planned to make a 20% profit from one person, there was no need to drive people to the point where they lost 90% to 100% of their money, essentially everything they had.

The casino was not to blame for this. If everything had worked perfectly, most people who came in with 10,000 credits would have left with 8,000, as the casino planned to get its 20% from their visit.

However, since most people were like Alexia and not like Louis, Adam, or Silvana, they left with not 80% but 10% or even nothing.

Thus, the fact that some people stopped in time and earned a little money on top of what they came to the casino with was not a loss for the casino, as they still received enough money from those who lost everything.

In general, both the casino and ordinary people made money from those who lacked patience, those who believed that if they tried a few more times, they would definitely hit the jackpot.

Sure, sometimes such people were right, and a few people out of a million earned hundreds of thousands or even more. But even if they were very lucky, they were still doomed to fail in the future.

They would believe in their luck and, hoping to win even more, would lose everything they had already won and everything they had in the first place.

Only those who came to the casino for entertainment and knew that after a few wins, they had to lower their bets or leave, never faced big losses.

The only exception was poker.

After all, even though it was a game of chance, it was a game that was played in tournaments. Many people played poker well enough to beat more people than they were beaten by on average.

Alexia was just one of many people who couldn't control their gambling, but she was lucky because she had someone like Louis on her side — a person with a cold, calculating mind who was willing to do anything for Alexia.

"Tsk, you're right about me losing a lot, but you're wrong about something." Alexia grinned like a child hiding an important secret.

"Hmm? What are you talking about?" Adam raised an eyebrow, puzzled.

Alexia glanced at Louis.

"Show them. They may be on the same level as us, but in some ways, they are far behind us!"

Then, Alexia and Louis held out their hands, which were adorned with wedding rings made of silver-like metal with exquisite engravings.

Adam and Silvana's eyes widened.

They knew very well that Alexia and Louis were not the most ordinary couple, but they were perfect for each other.

However, they could not imagine that they would already be married!

"WHAT?!" Silvana exclaimed, leaning forward and staring intently at Alexia's ring. "How could I not have noticed this right away?!"

Adam gulped. He couldn't believe it either.

Only recently had he and Silvana taken their relationship to the next level. After last night, they had decided to think about moving in together, but marriage?

That wasn't something Adam was ready to consider in the near future. He had hardly even thought about such an important step as that!

Alexia smirked. She enjoyed seeing their confused faces as she saw that neither Adam nor Silvana had wedding rings.

"It happened a month and a half ago, so we're kind of on an extended honeymoon!"