52 THE DRUNK AND HIS DONKEY (2/2)

”My ears weren't hearing things, or did that dimwit really say he wanted the donkey to bet for him?”

”He surely did.”

”A donkey becoming a bettor like us? How insulting!”

”Yeah, this is a joke. I'm sure that stupid ass is just as drunk as its master if not more, haha.”

”Yeah, this drunken fool's taking things too far.”

Booboo gaze shifted toward the men who had just spoken about him. ”Are you lot laughing at me?” His words alerted those men into holding their laughter back; however, Booboo's next gesture truly confused them, for he gracefully bowed a little, ”It's a pleasure to be laughed at, too.” As he was rising back, he stumbled and fell to his front. Luckily, Jehez caught him before he crashed into the ground.

”Geez, man, you're a mess,” Jehez made him stand straight. ”Are you sure you want to participate in the test like this?”

”Sure? Yeah, sure as death—of this one, hic,” Booboo's thumb pointed toward the donkey as he stepped past Jehez and wobbled on his way toward the Cat Ring.

”'Sure as death' he says,” some men among the crowd snorted, letting derision detail their expressions. ”I bet a silver that he hasn't a clue on how hard this test could get. Before taking part in any deck test, the least an entry could do is devise a plan, however stupid it may seem, but I doubt if this dunce even has one.”

”Haha, we should be somewhat thankful to him though, guys. After all, we can be sure that we have a loser this time around.”

”Yeah, it's time for our pockets to finally profit.”

”Kekeke.” The words of the crowd were icicles of scorn—slung right at their common target. Having lost a lot of money in the last few rounds, it didn't take much for the crowds to gather their disdain and direct it at the contestant through all means that came to their minds.

”Planning before participation huh… hic,” Booboo just entered the ring and seemed unbothered by the cold spells the crowd cast at him without cessation. ”What's the big deal? Putting the fear of Booboo into a pussy should be a piece of piss.” Booboo's voice was if wine continually bubbled at the back of his throat.

Jehez's heartbeat spiked as he gave a secret glance at Gon, but upon seeing Gon stand rooted to the ground with subdued ire shaping his expression, the stiffness in Jehez's facial muscles lightened to some degree.

”Wasted on wine and as drunk as a skunk,” Lirzod opined, one of his eyes closed, as he watched Booboo, ”It'd be a shocker if he gets through the test somehow.”

”I too highly doubt that he can win,” the long-nosed man, who still stood beside Lirzod, said in a hurry. His nose was longer than any of his fingers. ”Look, many people are already betting against him because it's too obvious. I wouldn't be surprised even if most people are willing to bet a silver or two.”

Sariyu was all ears, and she took a glimpse of Burton who stood like a rock at a distance. She shifted her gaze in the direction of a cat that Lirzod previously sent flying away with a kick. Currently, that cat was chasing after the baby crow which was hovering in the skies while sticking close to the ceiling. The cat fearlessly jumped on people's shoulders, heads, and all other surfaces it could make use of as it desperately stretched the duration of its hunt, not wanting to face the failure at the end of it.

The baby crow came flying in Lirzod's direction and excreted as it hovered past him.

Lirzod heard a faint sound and felt a strange sensation but didn't bother much about it; however, the long-nosed guy took a step away from Lirzod and shut his nose without delay. ”Ew!”

”Mm? What's wrong?” Lirzod glanced at him, and immediately, his eyes enlarged, and his hands clutched the nose. ”I knew it! Who emitted wind down their bottom?” He looked around, and his gaze eventually stopped at Sariyu.

Sariyu gave back a deathly stare. ”Do you want to die?”

”I-I never said it was you,” Lirzod turned his head back toward the long-nosed man. ”Was it you?”

”No,” the long-nosed man cried out.

”Then who was it? Who was that foul fellow?” Lirzod's voice held a sense of urgency.

”It was a bird.”

”B-Bird?” Lirzod knitted his brows. ”What the heck are you talking about?”

”Just look at your shoulder—there's something on it that none would be pleased to see.”

”My shoulder?” the moment Lirzod's eyes took notice of the nasty stuff on his shoulder, his expression darkened, and a second of recollection was all it took for him to recognize the culprit, and rage overtook his face as he glared directly toward the ceiling. ”Which damn bird had the heart to shed its weight on me! If I don't beat some dread its guts, then—” However, the moment his eyes lay on the baby crow, all the tightness in his face loosened just as fast as it had formed. ”Wait, that chick… Is it the one from the—library?” He couldn't help but remember the time when he met a baby crow in the unauthorized library on the tenth deck. After reminiscing the past, Lirzod's gaze sharpened again as he darted his eyes at the baby crow, ”I gave you a nut for free, yet this is how you repay that kindness.” He clenched his fists, and a vein popped out in his neck, ”Thankless chicks are always on my list.”

”Bwuff,” Sariyu could barely control her laughter.

”What's so funny?” Lirzod's took a gander at her, his voice—sharp and stony.

”I could totally imagine why it gifted you the way it did,” Sariyu replied, still covering her mouth with her hand. ”I'm sure you must have given a spoiled nut to that bird. No wonder, it came looking for you because it held a grudge against you.” Her words ignited animosity in Lirzod's stomach, brought forth a distaste up into his mouth which further reflected through the flicker of hatred in his eyes.

”Spoiled?” A vein in Lirzod's forehead protruded through the skin as he controlled himself from lashing out his tongue. ”Yeah, as per human standards, you can consider it that, but as per crow standards, it still was as toothsome as any nuts a crow could find.”

”Uh,” the long-nosed man scratched his jaw as he voiced his mind, ”crows don't have teeth, do they?”

Lirzod slowly turned his head and gave an icy glance toward the long nose of the man, ”If you speak again, I might do unspeakable things to your nose out of frustration.”

Lirzod's voice was a cold blade that threatened to cut through the long-nosed man's habit of mind, and it made him spontaneously cover the nose with his hands. ”Please don't do that. If this nose is gone, then I'm gone,” he said, but the very next moment, his eyes bulged. ”Sorry, I won't speak again.” He shut his mouth with one hand while the other hand took care of the nose.

Lirzod felt a burning desire to at least pinch his nose, but another urge took over its pace, making him shift his attention back to the baby crow which seemed to have almost emptied its energy tank and would land at any moment, but the cat also appeared to be waiting just for that.

Just as the baby crow plummeted down for landing, the cat sprang in the direction of the fall, but Lirzod also dashed straight toward the spot. ”Wait, you shitty cat! That bird's mine. The only one who should be bothering the chick is me!”

However, he was a bit too late to react, and the cat successfully caught the crow by its mouth in midair. With a few hops, it separated from the crowd and went off toward to secluded spot, startling both Lirzod and the assistant referee who had been trying to catch the cat all this while. But because the test for Booboo was about to start, the assistant referee couldn't chase the cat anymore. Lirzod, on the other hand, went after the cat as if he was another hungry cat himself.

Tens of seconds later.

Inside the Cat Ring, Booboo and the white cat had been eyeing each other with half-closed eyes. After receiving enough bettings, Jehez closed the bettings and signaled the start with a meow.

For the first half a minute, there was nothing but a simple stare off between Booboo and the white cat.

”Hehe, he's so drunk that he didn't even bother to take any food. Now, the cat will, without a hitch, worst him.” A chorus of delirium spread throughout the hall as well as the anticipation reflected in the eyes of many bettors. ”This is our win.”

With the leaden cloud that forecasted a loss as it hung in the skies above Booboo, it seemed as if he'd succumb to the heartless harrying done by most of the audiences. Though it was a customary illusion the crowd always cast, it still worked wonders against the weak-willed contestants. Even if the cloud just leaked out a drizzle, an already hypnotized contestant would consider it as a downpour, and only few could go further in the contest with the storm cloud.

Booboo lifted his arm and swayed it slowly and smoothly in the air, puzzling many audiences, but the slurred words that came out of his mouth next added up to a distinctive ditty which truly dumbfounded and dismayed them all.

”Sleepy cat, sleepy cat

Shut your eyes, shut your mouth

Just go to your sleep mode

Shitty cat, shitty cat

Open your eyes, open your mouth

Just come at me clawing out

Do either of those

Or I shit you not

I'll f*** you out.”