Top Star By Luck [EN]: Chapter 178

178. Gambling

Gambling drives people into a corner.

Gambling robs people of their judgment.

Gambling paralyzes the human brain.

‘If I just do well this one time, I’ll make it big.’

Captain Byun Young-guk, a gambling addict, was exactly that kind of person.

Years ago, while out on the open sea, with nothing to do, he started playing Go-Stop [a Korean card game similar to poker], belatedly discovering the allure of gambling.

[Hey, why are you backing out? We’re not asking you to do anything bad. We have nothing to do, so just try it for a bit, huh? Hey, it’s on me! I’ll pretend I didn’t see it if you lose once!]

He gave in, pretending he couldn’t win. He really only intended to play one round and quit.

But then he came to his senses.

‘I made 500 in one day.’

He couldn’t believe it.

A new world was unfolding before his eyes.

The money he could save after working diligently for months was rolling into his pocket in just a day, no, a few hours.

His eyes were bloodshot, and his heart was pounding; wouldn’t that be normal?

Could he control the taste of a life-changing jackpot he realized at a late age?

That day, Captain Byun Young-guk felt like he was reborn.

[Poker is my God. I only need poker.]

Gambling robs people of their judgment.

After all, how much money would he have left if he continued living as a sailor for 10 or 20 years? Of course, he would have some left. But it wouldn’t be a fortune that would change his life.

Gambling was different.

[Save for a month, spend it in a day. It’s the same as scratching a lottery ticket every month. No, with my luck, it’s even better than the lottery.]

He made 500 on the first day. With this much luck and skill, who knows how much more he could make in the future.

The adult comics he read when he was bored egged him on.

*Is there a separate person who will become a professional gambler? I’ll just become one myself.*

But reality was a bit different.

[Honey, let’s break up.]

When he came to his senses, he had already been abandoned even by his family.

[Are you going to look at me like a weird person too?]

[You are a weird person. Who else takes their daughter’s wedding money to a gambling den?]

[I was going to win it all back and return it double.]

[See, you’re making those kinds of judgments. You’re not in your right mind right now.]

Pathetic.

He lost the wealth he had accumulated, and even more than that, he lost his humanity. But even after coming this far, Captain Byun Young-guk didn’t know how to change.

It was only natural.

Gambling had already become a part of him, so if he denied gambling, what would become of his past few years?

Why do people who grit their teeth for gambling rehabilitation eventually return?

‘I just need to win one more time. I’ll earn money properly and go back.’

He had nothing to lose.

Captain Byun Young-guk, his eyes bloodshot as if he were crazy about gambling, gripped the knife in his hand tightly.

‘They’re just people who make movies; they probably haven’t really tasted the bitterness of life. They have a lot of money, so if I threaten them properly, they’ll obediently open their wallets and try to protect themselves.’

The Maiar Pictures crew in front of him became his target.

When they came with a small number of people for preliminary scouting, Captain Byun Young-guk even felt a sense of salvation. He thought that heaven hadn’t abandoned him yet.

Hallelujah.

They look weak at first glance.

Lee Min-ki, that guy looks particularly sturdy, but he’s probably just built that body by going to a gym or something. It’s nothing compared to someone with venom in their heart.

‘If I stab him, it’s all flesh; he’s not some kind of dragon bone.’

Captain Byun Young-guk said with a bitter smile.

“If you get a scratch on your face, can you still be an actor? You’re a valuable person, so why don’t we just part ways nicely?”

“……”

“I’m not planning to get too rough either. Believe it or not, I’m quite a gentleman. Just give me this, and I’ll let you go.”

A gentleman, he says.

From Lee Min-ki’s perspective, it was a statement that could only elicit a hollow laugh.

‘My life is dynamic.’

I’ve been too lucky all this time.

Sometimes, an incident like this needs to happen to make my life feel like my own.

Lee Min-ki looked down at the ground. Did Byun Young-guk judge that he was scared or had given up? Captain Byun Young-guk clicked his tongue like a third-rate villain and said in a voice that was even more triumphant than before.

“How about this? I’ll treat you well and give you a bonus. I’ll gratefully take the money and live quietly in the future. It would be nice if we never met again. Let’s just forget about each other cleanly.”

“Excuse me.”

“Think carefully.”

Lee Min-ki scoffed inwardly.

*Committing such a crime, and still thinking of living a normal life in the future?*

But unfortunately.

Unfortunately, there was one thing that the other side hadn’t noticed.

‘Ugh, if you were going to threaten me, you should have done it 10 minutes earlier.’

Whether they threatened them and took their money or not, that captain’s life had ended about a minute ago.

Why?

“Excuse me, sorry to interrupt, but we’re filming all of this.”

That’s right, they were filming. Lee Min-ki continued with an awkward expression.

“I’ve had an app running on my phone since earlier.”

“Delete it.”

“I can’t delete it; it’s a live broadcast.”

That’s right.

Lee Min-ki had been filming a video to upload to his SNS [Social Networking Service] in real-time since he got on the ship.

“For a daily vlog . For publicity. It’s live right now.”

“……Are you kidding me right now? What kind of ridiculous trick is this?”

“No, I’m serious. Look.”

Lee Min-ki raised his phone and turned the screen towards Captain Byun Young-guk.

On that screen.

[Current viewers: 31,580]

Over 30,000 viewers were sharing Lee Min-ki’s screen.

It was only natural. He came to work to film a movie, so why wouldn’t he share it with the viewers?

Lee Min-ki was the kind of person who would do anything for publicity.

[What’s going on???]

Thanks to that, the chat window had been fiercely burning since a while ago.

[I heard the captain is threatening Min-ki?????]

[Is this real?]

[Isn’t this staged?]

[Isn’t this a movie set?]

[This work isn’t a thriller, is it?]

[Even if Hwang Ui-sung participates in a musical, it can become a thriller ㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

[The god of viral marketing, Lee Min-ki]

[It seems like a real situation?? Look at the atmosphere, it’s serious]

The situation was over for that captain to get away quietly.

The situation became extremely chaotic.

‘Hmm, it would be nice if I could just give them some cash and get through this.’

Unfortunately, he didn’t have any cash. He didn’t have any valuables either.

Lee Min-ki himself wasn’t interested in luxury goods, so the only things he usually carried around were his bare body and a card.

Still, if he gave them some money, he might be able to smooth things over for the time being, so let’s try something.

Lee Min-ki opened his mouth with that thought.

“Do you not accept card payments? Director, do you have anything on you?”

“Yes, yes? About a few tens of thousands of won [Korean currency, roughly equivalent to a few US dollars] in cash. Joo-yeon manages almost all the money……”

“Oh, you’re married.”

“No, even before I got married. I’m a heavy spender.”

“Then we’re broke.”

Lee Min-ki’s phone banking app had a transfer limit of 10 million won [approximately $7,500 USD]. It was a matter strongly recommended by his agency.

*You never know when your phone might be stolen, and a celebrity’s personal information is an easy target, so always be careful.*

*If you need to make a large transaction, go to the bank and do it formally.*

In short, the only thing Lee Min-ki could give right now was the clothes he was wearing.

‘That guy’s life is really ruined.’

Lee Min-ki burst into a hollow laugh.

*To look like a pirate and try to act like a real pirate.*

A moment’s misjudgment leads to this. Bad luck. I guess I’m a bit unlucky too, being threatened while coming to film a movie.

“Sigh.”

Life.

Lee Min-ki sighed and said.

“Excuse me. That’s how it is for now.”

“……”

“I think it would be better to settle things here for now; put down what you’re holding in your hand. It’s dangerous, so why don’t we talk slowly?”

*Let’s stay calm.*

It was the moment he started persuading with that thought.

Captain Byun Young-guk gnashed his yellowed teeth and said.

“……Are you trying to teach me?”

Again, gambling robs people of their judgment.

Captain Byun Young-guk shouted in a voice filled with venom.

“I get it now. You were planning this from the start, weren’t you?”

“Pardon?”

“Interesting, let’s see who has the bigger guts.”

Captain Byun Young-guk thought that Lee Min-ki was using his acting skills to the fullest to carry out a deception operation.

He was deceiving him in order to get out of this situation somehow.

That couldn’t be.

But his judgment was no longer within the normal range.

‘What the hell, what are you going to do.’

He was just thinking that if it didn’t work out, he would grab Lee Min-ki and threaten him, then escape overseas.

It was all or nothing.

Whether he remained in Korea and was charged with attempted murder, or somehow made a fortune as a kidnapper and went abroad.

“First, you, Lee Min-ki, come here.”

Captain Byun Young-guk was about to rush towards Lee Min-ki.

“Oops.”

Lee Min-ki turned to the side as if to escape from his movement.

It was a subtle direction. The place where Captain Byun Young-guk’s invisible eye was located, the left. It was a good place to get out of sight.

It was also a point where it was easy to become careless.

“Where are you going!”

Clatter.

On the floor where he stepped to chase Lee Min-ki, there happened to be a wet plastic bag.

The moment Captain Byun Young-guk’s wet rubber boots touched the plastic bag.

“Huh?”

His body flew into the air.

“Uh, uh, uh?”

Right in front of his nose as he was about to fall.

‘Oh.’

There was a bucket.

That is, the bucket that Son Hee-jeong had just freshly vomited into.

Crash!

The knife he dropped coincidentally flew in a beautiful parabola over the sea and fell with a splash.

Clatter!

The bucket that fell on the deck at a movie-like timing sang a song.

* * *

He didn’t do anything.

But a few tens of minutes later, when the situation was resolved in a very subtle way, Director Shim Sung-bo looked at Lee Min-ki with a dubious gaze and said.

“I’ve been feeling this often lately, but I’m realizing it even more deeply today. I don’t know if I should say that the actor is lucky or unlucky.”

“Haha……”

It was a story about luck.

That’s right. I never imagined it would turn out like this either.

Lee Min-ki scratched the back of his head and laughed.

‘The guy fainted in one go.’

The situation was quickly resolved.

Captain Byun Young-guk, who had fallen over, lost consciousness for a while, and when he regained consciousness, he had lost everything.

The Coast Guard soon arrived and arrested him.

It was said that they were gathered nearby to conduct joint training in preparation for a marine accident, quite by chance.

‘Did they get a freebie?’

Captain Byun Young-guk was the opposite. He seemed to have dreamed of reversing his life, but in reality, he would live as a national actor’s threatener.

‘Is he unlucky?’

No.

Lee Min-ki soon shook his head.

There may be luck in crime, but if he hadn’t committed a crime in the first place, he wouldn’t have faced such bad luck. In the end, it’s his own fault.

But thanks to that, Lee Min-ki gained one thing.

“You’ve hit number one in search rankings.”

“Well, I guess so.”

The situation had spread to all sorts of communities.

“It’s funny. Lee Min-ki threatened by sea pirates while filming a new movie. Are they filming One Piece [a popular Japanese manga and anime series]? Pirates, gloriously suppressed by the navy. The navy is strong. It can be seen as a grand festival of drips [internet slang for humorous or sarcastic comments].”

“It seems like it will be a fun issue for netizens [internet citizens].”

It wasn’t intentional, but all sorts of portals and communities were actively spreading the word about this situation.

‘I don’t think I need to promote this movie separately.’

Since it was pre-produced, I wondered if there would be a way to market it until I found a distributor, but it turned into a really ridiculous marketing campaign.

Well, marketing is good. But did the marketing have to be this way?

Lee Min-ki burst into a hollow laugh and said.

“Director, the whole nation is going to know about this.”

“Lucky……”

“It’s not good.”

“Yes, let’s just say the result was good.”

“I admit the result.”

But there are not only good things.

A very terrible misfortune also followed.

‘Hmm, what should I do with that.’

It was Son Hee-jeong.

Korea’s leading composer, a middle-aged man who has lived a comfortable life for the past few decades. He was threatened with his life on the very day he followed the movie set, even though he was skinny just by looking at his body.

Although it’s something that might happen once in a lifetime, I wonder if he’ll even have the courage to go to the filming site where even young actors are physically limited.

‘If it were me, I’d give up.’

It seemed difficult to endure even seasickness.

“Mr. Composer.”

So, it was the moment when Lee Min-ki tried to step up and say something.

“This is the set.”

“Yes?”

“It seems like there’s an input that you can never fill when you’re only in the studio, ugh, I think.”

Son Hee-jeong said in a tired voice, somewhere with a slightly excited voice.

“Where to next? What else awaits?”

Something.

I think he misunderstood something.

Today is weird.