And as the second round finally drew to a close—Tao taking the last silver, and me reluctantly choosing the final bronze—the score remained tilted in his favor: ten to eight.

  Tick tock.

  The final round is approaching soon.

  Is he cheating?

  Of course he is. There’s no possibility, absolutely none, that he’s outplaying me normally. The very thought is absurd. There is absolutely no-

  It’s that awful ego of yours dragging you down again.

  My ego?

  You’re the one who assumed everything was proceeding according to your grand plan. Because you’ve always been accustomed to seeing yourself as intelligent, it felt natural when things aligned with your expectations. And the instant you realized you were being outplayed, led along like a clueless fool, you panicked. And you despised the sensation of it, the humiliation of being the one who’d been manipulated all along.

  Most of all, you hated appearing foolish in front of everyone.

  And that is what enrages me. Over and over, you preach about freedom—how you refuse to be ruled by the eyes and judgments of others—yet here you sit, despairing only because you’re losing in front of them.

  You need to choose a side.

  The occasional clink of Tao’s cup echoed softly as he swirled it in his hand.

  “You and I, Beric,” Tao began, “are similar.”

  Oh?

  I slowly looked up at him.

  “We share the intelligence required to climb to this point. And we share the fragile confidence that makes us overthink every tiny move.” His gaze lowered.

  “But you didn't realize that until now. I, on the other hand, have known it for a long time—this strength, and this weakness.” He paused, eyes narrowing with memory. “All my life, I’ve wondered why some people stand above the rest. What separates them from those who kneel beneath? Is it money? Looks? Power? What divine hand determined their elevated status while others rot in the dust?”

  Tao closed his eyes gently.

  He was remembering something.

  A scene, perhaps, of a young child huddled in a ramshackle home, forced to survive on scraps while a noble family paraded down the street, draped in luxury, laughing with careless ease as they waved the poor aside.

  A scene sharp enough to carve doubt into anyone’s heart.

  He chuckled softly before opening his eyes. “It took years of observing them, the rulers and the servants, before I finally found my answer.” He looked straight at me. “Do you know what it is?”

  I didn’t respond.

  His lips curved into a small smile. “It’s the acceptance of chance. The acceptance that things simply happen. That we are born into positions we cannot choose. Your strength, your intellect, and your drive are all already determined before you even draw your first breath. And from that foundation your future is shaped. In essence, pure luck is what dictates our place in this world.”

  His smile vanished. “And those who lack such luck blame everything on it. Instead of seizing their own future, they surrender. They choose to follow the path laid before them. But such a pitiful lifestyle always creates a variable. Eventually, a boy appears, one who refuses to accept it, one who questions all of it. He begins to wonder why they must accept that this is the way.”

  He lifted his arms toward the silent onlookers. “Is that all we can do? Are we bound to a pitiful life dictated by chance? Must we live with no say in the matter?”

  His voice sharpened. “No. And I will tell you, just as the boy learned: luck, talent, success—these are unpredictable forces. You cannot control them. But you can prevent them from controlling you. In this world, the only thing you can rely on is yourself. Only you can carve a path through this world. Only you decide how you live and how you die. Only you determine the influence luck has on your fate.”

  He slammed his palms onto the table. Cups rattled. “Do you understand? Accept the world as it is, then bend it to work for you. Luck is nothing but an unaccounted variable. Everything else—your plans, your allies, your life—is subject to the sole mind directing it.”

  He pointed to himself. “That is why I refuse to follow the rules of those too ignorant to understand this. That’s why I created a game granting me profit while forming connections with idiotic nobles seeking amusement. That’s why I challenge anyone, even clueless children like you whom I can extort with ease. That is why you lost.”

  He leaned forward. “That is the difference between us.”

  The tavern quieted even further, an invisible weight settling over the stunned spectators. Adam began gathering the cups into his tray with careful hands.

  “Now then, Beric,” Tao said. “Go on. Choose your side of the coin.”

  “Tao, now isn’t—” Adam attempted.

  “Let the boy decide. I grant him this courtesy. I hold no fear of a foolish child who has no choice but to surrender to luck.”

  Luck.

  The Corrupted Voice let out a roaring laugh.

  Aw, Beric, he’s torn you apart! Everything he said? Absolutely true. He knows for certain that you don’t even trust yourself anymore. Your math? Your intelligence? It’s all useless here! What do they matter when he surpasses you in every way?

  What else do you have left but luck?

  ……….

  Pick a side, Beric.

  No.

  Hm?

  I’m not doing it.

  Why not?

  I’m not leaving it all to luck. I can still think. If I calm down and focus, clear my mind, I can still-

  How long will you keep pretending? Accept it already.

  You’re outclassed.

  Shut up. No, I’m not.

  Oh? But he’s been demolishing you from the very beginning. Just accept it and slink away—

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  He has been. You’re right. And you’re also right about how I wanted to impress them. You’re right about my hypocrisy, all of it.

  You’re right. Happy now?

  I am.

  But I refuse to accept it. I refuse to hear you say, even as a possibility, that he’s smarter. I refuse to hear any of it.

  I am better than him. I’m better than some scum who needs to cheat to win a children’s game. I’m so much better. I’m nothing like him, which is why I don’t need cheating or luck. I can outsmart him.

  I am smarter than him.

  ………Hah!

  The Corrupted Voice laughed again.

  What a massive ego!

  Ignore him. Think. If Tao’s giving me the choice, then I—

  But you know, doesn’t it feel good?

  Doesn’t it feel relieving to finally admit it? To admit your ego and your flaws. To admit the real reason behind your anger?

  It’d feel even better if I could win.

  Oh, but you can!

  ........How?

  Stop it all.

  Stop what?

  He sighed.

  Your whole reason for being here is to impress them, right?

  It is.

  But that’s exactly why the idea of losing froze your mind.

  ……..Oh.

  You see it now, right?

  How you’ve let them restrict you?

  ………

  But it can all be fixed.

  How?

  Stop pretending.

  Pretending?

  Why do you think your ego is so strong? Why does it cling to you even now? Why does it still exist?

  I—I don’t—

  Yes, you do.

  I—

  Say it.

  ……..It’s an ego I carried over.

  Correct. And that should tell you everything.

  You can’t change.

  I said nothing.

  Just because I was silent for a while doesn’t mean anything changed. You’re still that selfish, arrogant fool you always were. A new life changes nothing, especially for someone like you. If a second chance was all you needed to change, then you wouldn’t be here.

  ………

  So tell me, Beric, why are you still deluding yourself?

  …….How can—no, that—……

  What am I even supposed to do?

  End it. End your impossible dream so your original one survives.

  The dream of changing.

  But that would mean—

  Exactly. Abandon it all. Abandon them. Here and now, cast off the chains of the spectators. Play for yourself.

  Play to prove your intelligence, your dominance, and your ego.

  Play for your position.

  ……Will it work?

  It will.

  When you abandon them, you’ll remember. You’ll remember what it means to live by your own terms.

  And you will feel more free than ever.

  Can I ever go back?

  Of course. You always do. That tiny hope never dies in you. Even after this, you’ll chase it again.

  And as such, so will I.

  ………Okay.

  I inhaled deeply.

  Then I looked up at Tao.

  Remember how to win. To do whatever it takes and use whatever means. Power, fame, money, all of it varies. But one thing remains constant throughout every victor:

  The fact that they won.

  I can still come back.

  “I choose heads.”

  Tao’s eyes widened ever so slightly, and surprise flickered across his face.

  I wonder why.

  If I had to guess, perhaps he sensed it.

  That I accepted his words.

  That something inside me stirred while listening.

  That somewhere, in another time, another life, I had once spoken similar words myself.

  We’re not so different after all, Tao.

  “Coming through!”

  Sarah returned with her pitcher, smiling brightly.

  Tao froze momentarily, then snapped back into motion, raising his cup. “Thank you,” he said, handing her yet another coin.

  “No, thank you!” Sarah replied with a playful wink.

  Adam busied himself adjusting the cups.

  “Are you okay, Beric?” Sarah asked, worry clouding her expression.

  “I’m fine,” I said.

  In this small moment of time that I have, I need to think.

  But, let’s go back first.

  When did things start going wrong?

  From the very beginning, when Tao claimed he had already read me?

  Was that true? Or was it a lie he invented later, piecing me together as the game continued?

  No. Focus.

  What was I originally thinking? Was I ever close to figuring him out? If he truly predicted my every move, was there any moment where he panicked?

  Besides when he said Sarah’s name, the moment everything inside me cracked, there was nothing—

  Wait.

  That’s it.

  Sure, he said it to mess me up.

  But what if I was close right then?

  What if he said it to make me focus on him and not her?

  If that’s true, then I was right.

  It is you, Sarah.

  But nothing about her looks suspicious. No marks. No strange movements. Nothing—

  Unless……..

  If he needed my eyes off her, then the cheating likely occurred during that distraction.

  Which means-

  The cheating doesn’t happen during the rounds.

  It happens in the brief break before each round begins.

  It’s happening right now.

  My eyes combed the scene: the table, Tao, Sarah, the chairs, the cups—

  “Oh, here, I’ll help!” Sarah said, picking up my cup and wiping it clean.

  “Hey, Sarah! Clean mine too!” a spectator shouted.

  “Okay, okay!” She caught the tossed cup, polished it, then threw it back. “That’ll be a few bronze coins!”

  I eyed my cup.

  I hadn’t really been drinking from it. I only used it once at the very beginning.

  I lifted it.

  Nothing unusual.

  Just the starberry drink, the expected residue—juice is sugary, after all. The glass didn’t look—

  Huh.

  Strange.

  Even if juice dirties glass quickly, would it really need cleaning this often?

  And she uses magic to clean them. Polishing magic isn’t low-tier magic—

  Polishing.

  She’s been polishing them. Not actually cleaning but polishing. She’s making them shine.

  If she’s cleaning them, why are they still smudged?

  Is her magic too weak?

  Or-

  Is she intentionally not cleaning them properly?

  But she’s supposed to be a clean freak. That’s her whole thing. She makes everything shine.

  Unless she isn’t a clean freak at all.

  But why lie about being a clean freak………..unless it’s a cover for something.

  She’s hiding something.

  Think.

  What else has she been “cleaning”? Besides the cups, there’s the tray. Adam’s tray. The surfaces she passes by—

  Huh. Polishing magic is strong. But if it really is, why would such strong magic leave smudges?

  Unless it is strong, but in a very precise way.

  A way that helps them cheat.

  To let Sarah see everything.

  To allow her to signal Tao secretly.

  Something so subtle enough that I and everyone else would overlook.

  A way that’s been right in front of me the whole time.

  ………I got it.