John thought for a while and said “Your father ”

[Dear user ,you have lost 10 points because of dishonesty. Be careful next time]

“What?” Luke’s expression became livid on the other side.

“Yes, I am your real dad. You are my illegitimate son born from a poor mother.” John seemed like he got the hang of his character .

[Dear user ,you have lost 10 points because of dishonesty. Be careful next time]

John didn’t care about the system any longer . He needed a way out of the situation other wise he would die anyway. He could not simply say it was wrong number since it was his second time dialing a number. People would get suspicious and moreover he felt like it was a God sent opportunity to went out his pent up frustration on Luke.

Luke was shocked senseless” Who are you? How did you get my number “

John said calmly “Son, I am very sorry to leave on a garbage bin. What can I do ? You were ugly and disgusting . Your poor mother wanted to throw you dogs but I consoled her and gave you ray of hope. How are you son? Do you remember your handsome dad?”

[Dear user ,you have lost 10 points because of dishonesty. Be careful next time]

Luke on the other side vomited whatever he ate on the morning. His breathing got rapid and he tightly held his phone with rage . He wanted to scream ‘ Mother fucker’ but before he could even say anything.

John said hurriedly “Don’t worry son, wherever you are, daddy has arranged everything for you . Take care son and one more thing I have seen you eating dog shit from street ,please refrain yourself . I care for your health . I hope that you will forgive your handsome ,charming father.” and disconnected the call.

[Dear user ,you have lost 10 points because of dishonesty. Be careful next time]

Luke on the other hand had no idea what happened ,he simply stood in his office for a long time looking at his phone .

Crowd around John got the overall picture of John’s personal life. They even started sympathizing at John’s ‘son’.

John looked at the last number Boss3 and preyed in his heart ‘let it be either Carl or Erin.’ He dialed….

“Hello…” A sweet voice came back which made John’s heart suddenly skip a beat. He clenched his fist tightly and screamed in his mind ‘Finally……finally…..thank God its Erika. I still have some hope.’

“Hello sweetheart .Its me John . Listen to me first . I am actually in the black market .It might be my last call to you so hear me well. I had given you a file yesterday remember...I need you to send that ‘encrypted file’ named ‘techniques to become gambling God’ to the email….”

[Dear user ,you have lost 10 points because of dishonesty. Be careful next time]

John looked at the Burly man who had bid 1 crore. Burly man understood and quickly said his email address. Erika on the other side grasped the situation quickly .Although she was slow with respect to emotions .She was extremely intelligent when it came to practical intelligence.

She endured calmly when John brazenly called her sweetheart .If it was any other situation ,she would have ripped John’s mouth into pieces. She hurriedly took a pen to note down the email address.

John repeated the email address to Erin and continued “Honey, along with the ‘file’ send your account number too. I want you to look after my ill Mom in case I don’t make it. Actually I don’t know if I get a chance to say it ….so let me say …’I love you’ …….take care.”

[Dear user ,you have gained 10 points for your courage .Eva hopes that user will continue to work hard]

Erika on the other side only said “Give me five minutes”

John didn’t understand her words immediately but somehow knew that he needed to delay as long as possible till Erika make some adjustments for him.

There was dead silence in the crowd .Even the burly man felt sad for John .But he was more excited to receive the legendary ‘technique’. Although many people felt sad they were gamblers at the end of the day. They quickly adjusted their mind and felt jealous by looking at old man’s ‘fortune’.

Old man didn’t bother about his safety in the black market since he had his own network . He started refreshing his email happily .He was already in his own fantasy world .He couldn’t control his laughter any any longer .He was grinning ear to ear without any restraint.

Many people new the background of the burly man so they gave up snatching the ‘technique’ from him. ‘Technique ‘ was precious but their life was more precious.

John waited patiently . He had no choice other than believing in Erika . When he said he loved her .He was speaking from his heart . By frequently meeting Erika and interacting with her ,not only Erika even John developed some feelings . His heart beat would quicken whenever he heard her voice .So he decided to confess without any reservation today.

In the mean time he opened his display

[ User :John

Character :…………………exp (10/1000)

Note: If user’s experience goes negative ,Eva will self destruct]

John was instantly shocked .’Shit, I can’t believe I have already lost so many points . If I say two more lies I am pretty sure I would die. Seems like my virtual master has predicted that some situations would force me to say lie. That’s why he has created some loophole in the system . As long as I have sufficient points I could use the points to avoid the trouble . But to not to depend on the loophole too much, he had created a threshold zero . If my points go blow the threshold I would die.’

‘Eva ,will my level go back to level-0 when my points go below zero.’

[Negative, instead Eva has to self destruct]

John cursed internally ‘Just as I thought.’

John analyzed the system while he waited for Erika’s reply. Suddenly he saw burly man jump like a monkey. ‘It seems like she sent an email.’

Burly man opened the email and saw an account number and a pdf file . Without any hesitation he opened the pdf first. Many people came near burly man to take a quick peek. How can burly man allow others to free load. He quickly ordered his men to surround him. His men who were dispersed in the crowd followed his order .

Crowd couldn’t help but shudder at the sight of sturdy men carrying high end guns. Crowd scrambled away like flies who saw fire. John was also astonished at the resourcefulness of the burly man.

Burly man saw first page ’ Introduction to become Gambling God .’ but he couldn’t see anything .He tried everything but it was showing ‘file was locked’

Burly man was furious. He looked at john viciously .He never planned on giving actual money .After getting the file he planned to simply leave ,dusting off his butt. But he didn’t think that the kid was so smart.

John understood the situation instantly .He only smiled in response as if telling ‘Do you think I am a fool?’. Burly man couldn’t possibly attack him before getting the file .So John didn’t fear him .

Burly man thought of cracking the file with some research but immediately gave up on that thought . He completely believed that the kid in front him would have made arrangements for all possible scenarios.

Unfortunately burly man fell for Erika’s trick without even realizing. How can Erika had time to make a secure file within 5 minutes? She only used some cheap trick to create a feeling of helplessness.

If burly man knew that the file he was looking at could be opened by any random IT guy he would be furious but if he somehow came to know that his precious file only contained a heading he just saw ….it was difficult to picture his reaction.

Burly man garnished his teeth and proceeded to pay 1 crore . Crowd didn’t know that an invisible battle had already taken place between John and burly man in terms of wit where John emerged as final winner.

Burly man’s heart ached as his account balance decreased by 1 crore in an instant. He was no doubt rich but rich enough to spend 1 crore randomly.

“Its done , now you can tell the password .” he didn’t beat around the bush anymore .

John nodded calmly but in his mind started asking ‘Which password? ‘.He calmly said “For your own good ,I will type it. Give me your phone.”

Burly man followed suit . He suddenly felt John was pleasing to his eyes. John typed some random numbers and said solemnly “Remember you get only one chance to open the file .If you screw up don’t blame me later. I have set the file in such a way that others can’t access it .You understand right?”

John looked at the crowd and said in a low voice . Burly man appreciated the kids precautions. By now he completely believed John and even if John said he was a pig he would nod in response. He decided to calmly use the ‘password’ when he went home.

[Dear user ,you have lost 10 points for dishonesty .WARNING Eva has detected that user’s points have reached minimum possible limit]

John wanted to cry but didn’t had any tears. He was literally trapped between his lies and reality .John casually tried to walk way from the crowd as if everything was over. But how could they let him leave?

“Kid where are you going? Seems like you forgot .You need to still play the game.” Someone in the crowd said loudly.

John cursed the anonymous motherfucker” Oh sorry. Lets start then.”

Organizers who were watching the entire show suddenly became nervous .Depending on the John’s luck their entire organization’s future might end or rejuvenate .

Crowd observed every action of John carefully .John casually placed his Rs.10 lakh bet on number 17 this time. He could have simply placed Rs.100 on this bet for namesake but that would irritate the people.

People normally feel safe when other people take the same risk as them . John was in a perilous situation and one single mistake may lead to his death . Mob lynching was not uncommon .There was no law to prevent it at that moment . They would go scat free whether they did lynched him openly or in black market.

The moment John placed his bet, people rushed to counter like waves. They placed their entire saving on number 17 without any doubt this time. Organizers felt their heart on their mouth. They haven’t experienced such situation in a long time.

John understood that it was now or never . He clenched his fist and threw a punch on a stranger who was rushing to the counter. Stranger didn’t know that it was john and he instantly became furious .He punched his surrounding people like a mad man yelling “Which bastard punched me? come out if you dare.”

Suddenly crowd became rowdy. John cleverly maneuvered his body and tried to find an exit . Organizers started shooting bullets in the air to control the mob .It further escalated the tension. John suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder .

He cursed inside ‘Fuck ..looks like I am dead this time.’