A Gambling Man

*Albert POV*

*Location: Brockton Bay, Massachusetts*

*Date: December 29th, 1990*

When I used to live near Las Vegas, they did New Year's Eve right; they had a big celebration, lots of gambling, entertainment, oh, you name it. This place though, well its not like nobody sold party supplies or stuff like that but if we're being honest, not a whole lot of exictment, might be because of some idiots calling themselves the Empire Eighty-Eight, or as I have come to call them, sore losers since they're bascially Nazis or trying to emulate them at least. 

I mean that's not exactly what I called them, I called them something I would rather not repeat even in my head. Yeah I might not be the strongest guy you see in a parking lot but when a skinhead starts trying to pitch you Nazi propaganda, well you punch them, regardless of the danger I possibly put myself in. That was another difference between us, I might not work out as often as I should, but I at least had about twenty pounds on the skinny fuck.

It was still a surprise that he was knocked out in one punch, must be the [Valor A-Rank] kicking in with that extra damage. I suppose I should use a bit more cash and hope that I get some amazing martial arts techniques, I mean, don't get me wrong regular stuff would probably work fine, but if we're being honest this system would probably give me soem amazing stuff, although when it came to weapons/items of that sort i'd probably have a diffuclt time using them.

Take a spear, for example, its basic usage is easy enough to use alongside a sword, maybe a little easier, but in the end, difficult to master. Alongside that, you have magic and superpowers, so it may not be worth it to use in the end, well, regular ones anyway, but who knows what monstrous items this system was hiding? Anyone, my new little skill wasn't the only thing that was useful today, [Golden Rule - A Rank] smiled upon me today as well as the guy had, well, a golden swastika on him, didn't know if it was real, but it was probably worth something.

After I liberated it from him, I shoved the thing into my backpack and began walking around the city a bit more, trying to find a nearby pawnshop. Honestly speaking, though, I was going to be walking around a while, mostly because I was walking around the outskirts of the city, after all, finding a good and decent pawnshop is like finding a needle in a haystack. That was why I was looking at the outside of the inner-city, the more predatory places would probably thrive in the most inner parts of it, but near the places where the slums were, so to speak. 

So I thought i'd look for the more less-traveled ones, probably wouldn't et a good deal on them still but it would probably be closer to the original price of the damn thing if anything. However, they would be more honest about it and a bit more upfront about how little they could probably give me. That was mostly what I was after, the honesty a rarity amongst pawnshop owners. 

That was what I hoped to find in, well, not an old building, but well-lived in if I was being perfectly honest. It had a nice retro, or would it still be considered retro, considering I found out it was 1990, currently about to become 1991, so...yeah, by the time 2025 hit, I was going to be old. Honestly, it made me tempted to try my hand at investing in companies still on the rise, but one problem came with that. 

I couldn't find any of them anywhere, nor any sign that they were going to actually become a thing. So that ideas on the back burner till I can figure out which parts of the world were similiar to my original, so it would take a bit of know-how to figure out which company would be a safe bet to invest in, aka like my old reality. Which was a form of gambling in itself, but not the kind I was really into. No, I was more of the immediate thrills type. 

Anyway, entering the pawnshop, I could tell that whoever owned it was doing about medium in terms of business, not poor, but not one of the upper ones as well. Perfect little middle ground, as pawnshops that were newly opened or doing poorly would be more inclined to cheat you out, same as the opposite end, which was why they were doing well. Honestly, though, this was all a personal theory of mind, and right now I was taking a 'gamble' doing business at this particular location. 

Either way, I'd used the profits to help shift the gears in my future landlord's decision whether or not to rent out an apartment to me. I mean, if they accepted some 'extra' deposit money well who would care, besides the people it screwed over but *shrugs* I neede a place to live and was deseprate to settle down. That and having a safe place to put all the cash I was currently carrying on my back. 

Was it safe? Hell no, it was the exact opposite, I mean even if my valor skill gave me increased damage, I wasn't bulletproof or resistant, nor was my boyd tough enough to take a knife head-on. Which was why my little tussle with the skinhead was a disaster in the making if they reported it to their boss, and why I was looking on the outskirts of the city, far away from where I saw them. Helped give me some wiggle room to sell it and make some quick cash to fuel my living expenses.

...That and give me another spin on that wheel, I mean, come on, this was who I was, I was a gamblign addict and knew how to limit my spending. Heck, even if it gave a regualr item, I'd stopped myself from doing it again...probably, maybe, I was still an addict no matter what, it's just I had a bit more control over myself than regular ones, at least I like to think so. 

Anyway, as I approached the counter, I rang the bell and waited for whoever ran this place to answer. Soon enough, an old man came shuffling out of his office, using a beautiful, ornate cane that had a falcon at the top of it, with silver lines running through it. The old man himself didn't look like he was over fifty, honestly, but I could tell he was probably a bit older, mostly due to his hunched back, nearly all white stubble beard. 

He approached the counter slowly, and I was able to get a good look at his attire. He wore a black vest with a white undershirt and some black pants to match. He had a permanent scar on his face alongside a permanently blind eye on his right side, mostly due to a large burn scar. 

"What can I do for you, young man?" He said with a monotone voice, like he's tired of it all and is just waiting until he dies.

It was a little sad/morbid, but what can you do? I didn't know why he was like that, and I don't think I could help him even if I could. That more or less required professional help that I was extremmly unqualified for, I mean, would I still be gamblign if I sought out a therapist or something like that. 

"Well, if you have any mask, I'd like to pay for that, but I was hoping you could take out whatever you give me for this piece of valuable hunk of metal." I said getting the swastika thing out, odds were it wasn't really metal, but I could probably still get something out of it. 

He immediately snatched it out of my hands and got a little examining tool to study it up close, and got a few extra tools out, examining it thoroughly. 

"Young man, you're not part of the Empire, are you?" He said with a malicious tone in his voice. Which could mean he was either A part of the Jewish faith, or well, a WWII survivor (hint hint), or B lost something or someone important to him via the Empire. 

"Hell no I knocked the asshole who had this on him out, seemed a little too valauble to someone like him so, bing bang boom and here we are." I said, not wanting to press him as we had just met, and that was his business.

I mean, sure, something horrible probably happened to him, but like I said, we just met, and if he wanted to tell his story to a random stranger, well, I would be worried about that and less interested in the story itself. 

"Alright then, I suppose I can offer about two thousand for this, just from basic observation, the thing looks real, and passed my more physical test, but it would need further testing to properly identify it. Any idea who you got this off of, young man?" 

I just shook my head no as he nodded his head, setting the piece to the side, a bit hidden so that if any Empire thugs came in here, they couldn't find it easily. He then proceeded to grab a weird hockey mask, only it was a bit thinner at the bottom and mostly gray, with two large eyeholes to see wth and a nice little area for you to breathe properly whilst wearing it. 

"I'll throw this mask in for free, for teaching one of those idiots a lesson, just consider it an old man's kindness, and young man, be careful, please, this city is changing and I don't think it's for the better." He said as he grabbed the swastika and went to the back room, for what I had no idea. 

I stuffed the cash into my backpack and wrapped it over my shoulder, going outside now fully prepared to hunt for a decent apartment not in Empire territory...well, not yet anyway, maybe if I was a little stronger, just to troll them a bit.