I Activated Cheat Mode in a Bizarre Game

We shoved the scattered chips into our pockets in a hurry and left the shattered remains of the monsters behind us.
Other guests briefly glanced in our direction, but when their eyes met mine, they quickly returned their focus to their games.
It seemed that watching a masked monster meet its end like that wasn’t exactly a common sight here.

"Hah… I was so tense, my hands are literally sweating."
Han Sora let out a long breath and stared at her palms.
Then she reached over and patted my back.

"...You’re our lucky charm, okay? You’re not allowed to transfer to another team."
"Haha…"
There was no need to worry about that.

Transferring to an upper-tier team? Just thinking about the kind of monsters they probably deal with made me want to scream.
I valued my life way too much for that.
I’d rather quit.

"It’s not that you can’t go—it’s that we won’t let you go."
Seo Jihyun said, fixing her gaze on me.
There was something oddly intimidating about the way she said it, and I ended up turning my head to avoid her eyes.

“Won’t let me go”? What exactly does that mean…?
We gathered near a slightly quieter corner of the casino, next to the rows of slot machines, and took a moment to catch our breath.
We still had three games left to play.

But after what just happened, going back to the poker tables seemed… unwise.
If another masked monster showed up, we’d have to fight again.
"And because of what I read earlier in the rules… we can’t just walk out, either."
I spoke in a low voice and explained Rules 4 and 5 to the others—what I had read alone earlier.

That if we left without spending or exchanging all of our chips, we could be forcibly summoned back.
And if we ran out of chips, we’d be sent to the Pawn Shop—where we’d have to offer our belongings… or even our body parts as collateral.
"Forced to come back…? That means you’d have to play another 10 games, right?"
Sora’s face went pale.

Park Cheolwoo and Seo Jihyun both went stiff at the implications.
In the worst-case scenario, we’d have to finish the ten games and throw away our chips just to safely exit.
That’s when it happened.

"...I’m picking up a strong item signal over here."
Team Leader Park Cheolwoo looked at his detection equipment and pointed.
He indicated a particularly flashy and noisy part of the casino near the outer edge.

We exchanged glances, then carefully made our way over.
"An auction… ‘Today’s Item Preview’?"
It was indeed an auction.

A large hall decorated with red velvet curtains and ornate chandeliers.
On stage, the auctioneer was passionately explaining something, while a crowd of wealthy-looking guests sat watching the stage intently.
We lingered near the back, observing from a distance.

"And now, introducing our second item!"
Masked monsters appeared and began wheeling a glass case onto the stage.
The auctioneer gestured smoothly toward the transparent box and launched into his presentation.

"This next item is the ‘Whispering Fountain Pen’! Said to dramatically enhance the owner’s writing ability—and sometimes even offer moments of divine inspiration! Starting bid is 300 chips!"
The crowd murmured.
"Is that...?"

"Yes. That’s an item."
Items were being auctioned.
"What do you mean, that can't be real…?"

"Well, these things don’t lie, at least..."
Those unfamiliar with items expressed doubt.
While those who instinctively recognized it as a true item were already whispering about spending everything they had to win it.

Then, we were hit with a moment of shock.
"And now, a special listing! A slave with fresh youth and just a dash of talent! Starting bid, just 500 chips! Please note, this item will be available in our evening auction!"
A young woman—shaking in fear—was dragged onstage.

They were auctioning off not just items, but people.
As we stood there, staring in horror, a quest prompt appeared before me.
[Obtain one of the ‘items’ or ‘humans’ presented at the auction.]

"...Goddamn it."
I cursed under my breath.
Of course a quest would pop up now.

Which meant—we had no choice but to act.
Quest rewards usually included stat increases or new skills.
And in this increasingly hellish survival game, I needed both.

"What do we do…?"
Team Leader Park asked, visibly rattled.
Between the chips we had earned and the ones we had taken from the monsters, we had a decent sum.

But I couldn’t just recklessly jump into bidding.
"Masked monsters were the ones moving the items..."
"If we get caught, won’t they come for us again? Maybe we should just back off."

Ignoring the quest wasn’t an option.
And thanks to Rule 4, we had to spend the chips anyway.
I hesitated only briefly before whispering to the others:
"Let’s aim to win as many of the afternoon auction items as we can. We have to burn the chips regardless."

The others wavered for a moment—but soon nodded.
But I wasn’t planning to stop there.
"And while that’s happening, I’ll sneak into the back and steal whatever items are lined up for the evening auction."

"Minjun, that’s a violation of the rules… Ah."
"I already broke the rules."
Park tried to stop me, but I cut him off.

I had already damaged property.
I’d already destroyed monsters and turned them into chips.
"It’s dangerous. Maybe it’s better to lay low and give up on the items…"
"I can do it without getting caught."

"But still…"
There were two reasons I was going this far.
First, the masked monsters weren’t a threat to me.

You could call it overconfidence, but after our fight earlier, I was sure of it.
They weren’t stronger than me.
And most importantly—

They weren’t scary.
They looked like people—just with masks.
Even for someone as jumpy as me, they didn’t inspire fear.

Honestly, the grotesque black hand from the Pawn Shop was way more disturbing.
Second—and even more motivating—was the bonus payout.
I remembered the sweet bonus from the previous item retrieval mission.

I’ve got to earn every last coin—for Leo’s sake.
My teammates saw the look in my eyes, and didn’t argue further.
Maybe it was because they had watched me take down the masked monsters earlier.

The plan was simple: the team would win as many items as possible during the afternoon auction to burn our chips, while I snuck backstage to steal the rest of the merchandise.
"Alright… let’s hit the slots and finish our required games first."
Before the auction began in earnest, we decided to quickly wrap up the last three games.

Slot machines were perfect for that—fast and easy.
We headed to a row of machines and took seats.
Each of us pulled the lever.

With loud clinks, some chips were lost, and occasionally, someone gained a small payout.
No one cared about the results—we were just focused on completing the ten-game requirement.
I too sat down in front of an empty machine, inserted a chip, and stared at the spinning images.

Colorful fruits and numbers whirled by.
To a normal person, it would be a pure game of chance.
But—

I can see it.
As I focused, the motion of the spinning reels began to slow—almost like I could read their rhythm.
The position and order of each image became clear to me.

Apparently, even here, my boosted stats made a difference.
If I can just time it right…
I held my breath and tracked the pattern.

It took two tries to get the timing down.
On my third spin, I pressed the button exactly as the image I wanted reached the middle.
[Watermelon – Watermelon – Watermelon]

Three of a kind.
Chips burst out with loud, celebratory sounds.
...If I’d known, I should’ve gone for 7-7-7.

"Ooh! Minjun hit the jackpot!"
Han Sora cheered, eyes wide.
I blinked, surprised, and gathered the pile of chips.

It was more than enough to secure a successful bid in the auction.
We had now completed our ten-game requirement.
[Game requirement met: 10 games completed. You may now exit at any time.]

Creak—
As soon as the requirement was met, we heard the distant sound of a door opening somewhere far from the casino floor.
Apparently, it wasn’t just me—everyone turned their heads toward the direction we had # Nоvеlight # entered from.

We exchanged glances and nodded.
"I wasn’t the only one who heard that, right?"
"I heard it too."

Now, all that remained was to deal with the chips—and we could leave whenever we wanted.
We slowly made our way back to the auction hall.
I gathered all the chips I’d just won—along with everything we had collected earlier—and handed them to Team Leader Park Cheolwoo.

"Team Leader, please use all of this to win as many auction items as possible."
He nodded solemnly.
"Don’t worry about us. Just be careful out there."

Just then, the auctioneer’s voice rang out—accompanied by dimmed lights that signaled the afternoon auction was about to begin.
"Thank you for waiting! Let us now begin the afternoon session! Our first item is the one previously introduced—"
All eyes turned toward the stage.

This was my chance.
I gave my teammates a signal, and quickly slipped into the shadows behind the seating area.
I made my way toward a hallway labeled with faint letters: STAFF ONLY.

My next target: the storage room holding the auction goods.
While my team bid on the afternoon items, I would sneak in and take the ones slated for the evening auction.
The layout was unfamiliar—but to me, it was already clear as day.

I could see every corridor.
I even saw how many monsters were stationed along those paths—and where.
Fuu…

I took a deep breath and tapped the side of my scabbard.
Click.
Shiiiing—

The return blade emerged slightly from its sheath.
It was time for my stealth skills to shine.