Hong Kong x Reader~Snake Eyes Olivine~ 2

Chapter 2: Erroneous

When Leon arrived home, he threw up. The sour, acidic bile that had ruptured from his stomach stung his throat and filled his mouth with a vile taste, but he felt better after expelling the remaining contents of his last meal.

His first compelling thought that came into his head told him to go to bed, but he couldn't do that anymore. One month. Leon had one short, miserable month to find something that didn't even exist. What. Were these people crazy? There was no such thing as the Snake Eyes Olivine! It was an online hype created by some random forum that exploded into a net-based wildfire. If things sounded too good to be real, that's because it was most likely true.

But what did Leon know about programming? He had only picked up some things from the streets and run-of-the-mill bars. He didn't even drink.

A stinging pain ran down the length of Leon's spine. By reflex, he slapped his neck with his hand and began to feel around. A bump. Goddammit, they bugged him. And they injected it right above his spinal chord. If he did something they didn't like, they would know. Say goodbye to his existence because they could send an electric shock through his nerves and fry his brains.

Leon shivered. There was a chill in the air.

"It's dark in here," he whispered aloud. He quick searched for the on-switch to his apartment's light and flicked it on. Immediately, the cold vanished as his black walls were bathed in electric light. Now he could get some sleep.

-----

A month to find something that doesn't even exist, Leon thought bitterly. How, like, demanding can they get?  

Since he was really going in blind with the search, he decided to pay a visit to one of his most trusted friends, an insider.

"Let's see…" Leon mumbled as he dug through some of his crumpled pieces of fortune cookie fortunes in his other jacket. Every time he went out with his friend, he was always treated for a meal. Every time they finished their meal, they were presented with fortune cookies with a paper fortune. His friend would then write down the number of his next temporary cell phone on his fortune—every time.

When he found the number he didn't recognize, Leon grabbed his own temporary cell phone and began to punch in the number on the back.

After exactly three rings from the other end, someone at the other line picked up. He could hear the mechanical chimes of slot machines and people talking in the background.

"Every flower blooms…"

"…in its own sweet time," Leon sighed reading the back of the fortune cookie before his newest one. "Do I really, like, have to do this each time?"

"It's just a precaution," a friendly voice on the line laughed.

"Whatever. Look, I've gotten myself into some deep trouble. I need us to meet up somewhere."

"Great! I was getting hungry, anyway," the insider said in a voice that sounded like he was smiling. "How does the Lucky Rabbit sound?"

What is this? Some kind of omen?

"Fine," Leon sighed. "I'll meet up with you in half an hour."

"Done." The other line hung up. Leon hung up, too.

-----

Business was bustling. That was good. Then no one would be able to overhear their conversation.

Cheng Wang sipped some of his tea before speaking.

"So what's this all about with your 'deep trouble?'" he asked after setting down his cup.

A slight grove formed between Leon's eyebrows. He had unnaturally thick eyebrows compared to the rest of the inner circle. "I've been bugged."

Cheng frowned. "That's not all, is it?" He stated that in more of a statement than a question.

Leon shook his head. "I don't even know what happened. They didn't tell me who they were, but whoever they were, they found me."

This got the insider's attention. "They did, did they?"

"They did," Leon replied. He combed his front bangs with his fingers. "But that's not the most unbelievable part. Get this: like, they wanted me to find the Snake Eyes."

"You mean the Olivine ones," Cheng added.

"Yeah."

There was a pause between the two parties. A waitress came and gave them some soup. They ate. For yet another few minutes, there was more silence as the two friends ate. When Cheng had finished his helping, he took a sip of his tea before pouring himself some more. Then he adjusted his glasses. He did that when he was trying to get his mind working.

"Let's start from the beginning, Leon," he said. "What do you know about the Snake Eyes?"

"I've always thought it was a gambler's fantasy," Leon answered. "A programmers' myth made a reality, but I suppose not everyone thinks it's made-up."

"And…" Cheng urged his friend to continue. That meant he wanted him to be more thorough.

Leon crossed his arms. "According to the things I've picked up, the Snake Eyes are supposed to be a set of die that, when played, can determine the outcome of any game before it's even been played." He furrowed his unnaturally thick eyebrows. "It doesn't make sense though. Even Yong Soo and I can't do that. We have to be in the game before we can determine the results."

"But that's different," Cheng pointed out. "The only way you two are able to determine the results in the first place is because you know how to win. From what you are saying, the Snake Eyes don't generally have to let their user win all of the time—they can make others win, too."

"That's another thing I've heard," Leon said. "But why would anyone want to make something like that?"

Cheng smiled. He could be a mysterious fellow when he wasn't cheerful. "You never know, Leon. You know it's not about winning—it's about making the others lose."

"Damn right," Leon grumbled.

"That couldn't be all."

"It's not," Leon said. "They've got this program inside of them that allows everyone in entire casinos to join in all of the winnings."

Cheng folded his hands and brought them to his chin so they could support it. "By that you mean…"

"You can program machines and effect the die of other players within the Snake Eyes' vicinity," Leon clarified.

"I've heard of that," Cheng said. "Well, it's a start. So the die can practically bankrupt any casino and make a lot of gamblers happy."

"I suppose," Leon mumbled. His food arrived. He stopped talking to eat. Cheng did, too. They ate the entire time.

When the fortune cookies arrived, Cheng took out his pen and cracked open his fortune to read it.

"I don't get it," Leon frowned. "They don't even have things like this from the place this restaurant is based off of. These aren't even fortunes."

"They're still fun, aren't they?" Cheng smiled as he scribbled some numbers on his fortune. "What did yours say?"

Leon gobbled up his cracked cookie and read his fortune aloud, "Smile if you like this cookie." There was a printed image of a happy face printed at the right of the imperative sentence, the kind you could get by typing in a colon and an end-parentheses on a keyboard.  

"That's not a fortune," Cheng said.

"No, shit," Leon frowned. He tucked the fortune inside his pocket and took a few sips of his water to wash out the salty-sweet chemicals that these sorts of restaurants enjoyed using out of his mouth.

Cheng chuckled. "I know you don't believe in fortunes, Leon, but you could at least try to enjoy them. Did you at least enjoy your fortune cookie?"

"I wasn't thinking about it when I ate it," Leon admitted.

This made Cheng laugh. "They why did you eat it? You know it's not going to make you any fuller."

"Because it was there."

"Because it was there…" Cheng repeated in an amused murmur. "Well, my friend, just give me until tomorrow, and I'll see if I can dig up any information for you."

"I appreciate it, Cheng." Leon didn't sound appreciative, but that was because he wasn't good at expressing his appreciation. Cheng knew that.

"Anything for my friend," his friend smiled. He smiled a lot. Then, he took out his wallet to go pay for the meal. After he paid, he rejoined Leon outside of the restaurant.

"Is something the matter, Leon? You don't look so good." Leave it to Cheng to be able to tell what he was feeling when Leon didn't know it, himself.

"I don't knew where I went wrong, Cheng," Leon sighed. "Like, how did they find me? Even Yao and Yong Soo don't know where I live. I know it's none of your business to get into mine, either."

Cheng shrugged casually. "They found you. You shouldn't have to think about how or why at this point. Just stick to achieving your goal."

"Cheng, if I don't find the Snake Eyes by the end of this month, they said they're going to kill the inner circle."

"Will they, now?" Cheng pulled his fan from out of his long sleeve and opened it up with a quick flick of his wrist.

"Yeah."

"Hmm. And this happened yesterday?"

"Yeah."

"A month…"

"A month," Leon repeated.

"You should tell the others," Cheng suggested. "They deserve to know. After all, you told me, and nothing happened."

"I told you because I know you can take care of yourself," Leon corrected his friend. "I mean, Yong Soo can take care of himself. Teacher always has things up his sleeves. But the others…"

"They would never have seen this coming." Those words haunted Leon's memories. How could they—those being in the inner circle—have anything take them by surprise? Perhaps Cheng was right. They deserved to know, but he wouldn't be the one to tell them.

"I want you to get our messenger to tell the others," he said. "I don't know if they can listen or not, but it's better to be safe than sorry, I suppose."

"Alright, Leon," Cheng smiled. "That can be done."

"Thanks," Leon thanked his friend.

"Where are you going to now?"

"Teacher's," Leon answered. "I'm going to tell him personally."

"Then I'll be seeing you around," Cheng said as he bid farewell to his friend. Leon turned to leave. "Oh, Leon." Leon turned around.

"Yeah?"

"Smile sometimes. It's easier than it looks."

At this, Leon smirked out of reflex at his own amusement.

"That doesn't count," Cheng laughed.

Leon continued to smirk. "I wasn't smiling for you."

"I know you weren't," Cheng continued to laugh.

-----

There was no such thing as God. If there was, where was He when people needed him the most? He certainly didn't come when the gamblers played their last savings hoping to hit that lucky number, hoping to land those straight cherries, hoping to make it to that jackpot that would never happen. It was all rigged.

In a way, the system the casinos set up was like the belief system that Leon didn't believe in. There were the believers who were the remorseful gamblers, the angels who were the bouncers and Eyes, and the god (or gods depending on how many people there were) who was/were the casino owner(s).

Someone had told him that the one thing that separated the gods from the mortals was the fact that no matter how they tried, whatever the gods did was never considered to be a mistake—only mortals could make those. In a sense, whatever the gods did was absolute; they never made mistakes—they made miracles.

Some believers or gamblers or whatever lay in between conjured up hope in these systems. The gods needed people to believe in them to continue existing. The believers needed to gods to exist to have something to believe in to have hope. It was an endless circle that the two parties could never get out of.

So what am I? Leon had often wondered. The devil? Nah. That sounded offense to himself and the devil. He was no fallen angel. He had started from the bottom and scraped his way to the top—even beyond the gods. He was superior. This was something he could afford to be arrogant about. He didn't need the gods and their inabilities to exist without the belief of their followers. He didn't even need to worry about making mistakes. Whatever he did was what happened.

At least…so he thought. The gods had had enough of his little antics in his high chair. They dragged him down and threw him into limbo. He was one of their pawns now…for reasons that he didn't even understand. If he didn't do what he was told, he would die. As simple as that.

Actually, no. It wasn't that simple. If he failed, he would drag others down with him.

Leon wasn't particularly close to anyone in the inner circle so much so that he would call any single one of them family—even though a handful of them shared the same surnames, but that was only because they had none to begin with. Still, it was the least he could do to make sure he didn't make any more mistakes along the way for his sake, for the sake of the inner circle.  

He wasn't above the gods anymore.