Yu-Gi-Oh!: This card wants to go to you.

The moon high in the sky trembled slightly.

The girl's words startled the gods.

Chapter 707 Turning Off the Lights

My name is Luo Bai, and I'm the manager of Sanbai Chess and Card Room.

I grew up without parents; I was raised by a decrepit old man.

There's also a fat cat.

I have suffered from a strange condition since childhood—congenital analgesia.

It's a very troublesome and torturous disease.

The fear of death is essentially the fear of pain.

Other people's children, when they see a snake or a mad dog, will automatically back away and avoid it.

Because they have been bitten by something before, or bit themselves, they are afraid of the stinging pain of being bitten. They will be afraid and resist it.

But I won't.

I've bitten myself countless times, and I don't feel anything at all.

I am naturally unafraid of these dangers, and even have a fatal curiosity about them.

What exactly is pain?

That's how it's always portrayed on TV; when characters get stabbed, they scream in pain.

Their facial expressions perfectly matched my understanding of pain.

I thought to myself, this must hurt.

That day, I was only seven years old. I went into the kitchen and picked up a kitchen knife.

Gently lift up her clothes, and with a kitchen knife, make a light cut from her chest to her navel, leaving a bloody mark.

But I still didn't feel anything.

I didn't feel the urge to scream like I do on TV.

I think it might be because the needle wasn't inserted deep enough.

I stopped slashing downwards and used the tip of the knife to slowly stab myself in the stomach.

When I regained consciousness, I was lying on a familiar hospital bed, surrounded by the familiar smell of disinfectant.

The Sanbai Chess and Card Room is the place I'm most familiar with, and the second most familiar is the hospital.

I've lost count of how many times I've been to the hospital.

However, this time it was serious; the old man scolded me for an entire afternoon.

I actually know I'm wrong.

Like other children, after realizing my mistake, I obediently reached out my hand, ready to receive a slap.

But the old man never hit my hand.

Because it's useless to hit it.

Other people's children are afraid of being hit on the hand and afraid of pain, so they will instinctively avoid this next time.

But I don't know how.

The old man always said I was a troublesome child. At three, I would bang my head on the ground; at four, I liked to bang my head against the wall; at five, I could pick up a hot pot lid with my bare hands; and at six, I kept company with snakes.

At seven years old, he became even more remarkable, starting to stab himself with a knife.

Sometimes I feel that it was only right for me to be an abandoned baby; what couple could afford to treat me like this?

Fortunately, he picked up Yu-Gi-Oh! at the age of eight and became much more well-behaved.

This is a very addictive game with so many deck building options; it's a whole new world for me.

My thoughts gradually evolved from "What exactly is pain?" to "I want to build an invincible deck!"

Despite repeated defeats, they persevered.

Full of energy.

Because I discovered that I can't beat my fat cat at home.

Can this be tolerated?

Because of the duel, I gradually became like an ordinary child.

I'm no longer so withdrawn; I've made some "card-playing buddies," even though their methods are extremely cruel.

But it was a happy time overall.

Unfortunately, the good times didn't last long. When I was ten years old, my father fell seriously ill and was hospitalized.

The old man coughed badly and often clutched his chest, saying that his chest felt tight and painful and that he had difficulty breathing.

The doctor said it was coronary heart disease, with blocked blood vessels in the heart, and that he needed coronary artery bypass surgery, otherwise his life would be in danger at any time.

The surgery will cost 150,000 yuan, which is an astronomical figure for a card and chess room.

We have no relatives.

Nobody can lend us money.

Most of my savings were used for my medical treatment.

Now that my husband is sick, I can't afford to pay for his treatment.

I panicked and didn't know what to do.

The old man refused the surgery and left on his own. There was no pain on his face, but rather a sense of relief.

He left me a phone number and told me to call it if I was in trouble, and to pretend to be a kid from the Sanbai Chess and Card Room, and that the other person would understand.

But what I want isn't a phone number...

Birth, aging, sickness, and death—the old man hadn't made it through yet.

My only relative has passed away.

The card room suddenly became deserted, leaving only Tony and me.

The old man who used to watch anime all the time is gone.

The first time I experienced true pain was when I felt a dull ache in my heart and difficulty breathing.

It's a very uncomfortable and unpleasant feeling.

Life has lost its meaning. I went back into the kitchen and picked up a cleaver.

Teacher Tony jumped onto the stage, and with some unknown strength, swatted the kitchen knife away with one paw and breathed on me.

I softened immediately.

What will Tony do if I'm not around? He's so fat, it wouldn't be good if he got caught.

Life goes on, even if you grit your teeth.

I dialed the number the old man had left, and the person who answered sounded like an auntie.

But the old man didn't say who she was, and I didn't know how to address her. I just said in a tearful voice, "I'm a child from the Sanbai Chess and Card Room. The old man is gone..."

There was a long silence on the other end of the phone, then a slightly hoarse voice said, "I understand."

After saying that, she hung up the phone.

From that day on, I received a sum of money every month, the amount varied, sometimes one or two thousand, sometimes three or four thousand, and more often in the months when tuition was due.

With income from school, social welfare, and the card room, the money is enough.

But the thugs around were a nuisance. They knew there were no adults in our house, so they would come over from time to time to harass us and extort money. If we didn't pay, they would cause damage.

Several thugs with dyed yellow hair, cigarettes dangling from their lips, skillfully pried open the roller shutter door of the card room.

One thug kicked over the signboard by the door, while another swept the cards on the table to the ground and stomped on them several times. Yet another thug, holding an iron bar, repeatedly smashed the glass counter, making a piercing sound.

Another person grabbed my collar, searched my pockets for money, and threatened me not to call the police.

They said if I dared to call the police, they would beat me to death after they finished their shift.

Nobody can help me.

Society's love is finite.

I could only do as they told me to; I thought that paying some money would settle things.

But I was too naive. They started by charging a few dozen or a couple hundred yuan, but later they started asking for exorbitant amounts, often over a thousand.

"Is this all the money you've got? Who are you trying to fool?" The blond thug snatched the money I had saved, stuffed it into his pocket without even counting it, and spat disdainfully.

He grabbed my treasured deck, skillfully cut open the box, and pulled out a few foil cards.

"Oh, it's a foil card? How much is it worth?"

As he spoke, he crumpled the cards into a ball and threw them into the trash can in the corner like garbage.

"Little brat, what are you doing playing cards? Hurry up and take out your money to give to your grandpas!"

The other thugs roared with laughter, mimicking the blond-haired guy's actions, kicking the scattered cards around like a football.

"Grandpa..." When I heard those two words, I lost control of my emotions.

I rushed into the kitchen and picked up the cleaver again, but this time I didn't stab myself.

I'm going to fight them to the death!

But when I returned to the hall, a strange scene appeared before my eyes.

The arrogance of the blond thugs vanished instantly, replaced by boundless fear.

Their eyes widened, their breathing became rapid, and they pointed behind me, shouting incoherently, "Evil...demon!"

"There's...there's a ghost!"

"No...don't kill me..."