He skimmed silently, observing the ethereal light casting its brilliance upon his face, lighting it as if he were an angel cast away from the heavens. Until—
"Where's Eliza?" he asked, not looking up.
Vladimir paused for a moment before smirking, like a man as desperate as one clinging to the edges of his definite fate, yet still, despite being on the brink of vanishing from existence, hoping for a better life.
He couldn't hold it long; a small chuckle broke out unintentionally from his lips.
"She's at the sandy beaches of Hawaii. Probably enjoying cocktails in hand. Living the life she always wanted."
Xin closed his eyes briefly—a nonverbal command loud enough to shatter glass.
"You want me to call her back?" Vladimir asked, a grin leaking through his words like blood from a cracked lip. "Tell her she's got a first-class ticket to hell?"
Xin nodded lazily, not bothering to answer his unending questions. It was simply too tiring. "Phone."
Vladimir fished into his coat and produced a beat-to-shit burner, one of those ancient gray Nokias that could survive a goddamn apocalypse. He flipped it open, dialed, and pressed the call button.
Brrrrrrr.
Brrrrrrr.
Before the third ring, a sharp click — connection made — and a hurricane of a pissed-off woman exploded through the speaker:
"Which one of you cockroaches thought it was a good fucking idea to call me with a goddamn burner?! I'm on VACATION, you absolute fuckers! I swear to fucking GOD, if you ask me on a date again I will put a bullet straight through your fuc—"
Xin calmly lifted the phone to his ear, giving a long, meaningful look toward Vladimir, who whistled while looking away.
He had quite the history of giving Eliza trauma from a mere phone—once pulling a prank on her.
Quite the achievement, if Xin had to say so himself.
"Hello."
Instant silence.
Absolute silence. Where was that chattering bird who seemed to complain and whine at every damn order given to her?
Vladimir tilted his chin, silently pondering how discipline could have such a drastic effect on women.
It was one of the seven wonders of the world.
Only the muted purr of the SUV and the strangled snickers of Vladimir behind his massive hand were left.
On the line, Eliza sucked in a breath like she was about to drown in a never-ending ocean.
"B-Boss?! Y-you need me...?" Her voice cracked. Gone was the rage, replaced by the trembling fear of someone who realized they'd just screamed at a thunderstorm.
Xin hummed, flipping through another bloody page of contractor reports.
"W-what's the problem, Boss? I-I just arrived at Hawa—"
"Come to Italy."
Flat. Icy. And... bored?
There was a heartbeat's pause. Then the sound of something precious shattering. Her dreams? Perhaps her sanity? Bah, who could tell.
"N-no! Boss! I'm on vacation! I barely got a sunburn—"
"Eliza."
One word.
She folded like wet toilet paper.
"S-sure! Be there tomorrow! First flight out! Haha! Love it! Love working! Yay, me!"
Xin grunted in approval. "Good."
He was about to hang up when he remembered.
"Oh. After this job, two weeks, wherever you want."
Silence.
Then shrieking glee on the other end—her voice like someone who just found a suitcase of cash buried under their porch.
"R-really?! Thank you, Boss! Best boss ever!"
He hung up before she could get emotional, flipping the phone shut with a mechanical snap.
Without a word, Xin gestured to the driver. A worn wooden chessboard slid from the front seat into Xin's lap. He nodded at Vladimir, who huffed and shifted his giant frame to make room.
Xin placed the board between them. He picked up a white pawn, rolling it between two fingers before setting it down with a soft click.
Vladimir grinned. "You're on, Boss."
Outside, the storm howled louder. Something in it felt... wrong. Xin's instincts—the ones that had kept him breathing this long—twisted in warning.
He watched the swirling madness beyond the glass for a long moment.
"It seems the wind is howling," he muttered, voice low.
"And the sky is weeping."
The SUV swallowed them into the night, disappearing into the white void. Ahead of them, Italy waited.
And in Italy?
Blood would no doubt flow in rivers.
The black SUV rumbled forward through the snow-covered streets, the low hum of the engine blending with the sound of icy wind lashing against the windows.
Inside, Xin and Vladimir sat in the backseat without seatbelts, their chessboard replaced with a deck of well-worn playing cards.
The warm air and light inside the vehicle was a stark contrast to the frozen tundra outside. The soft shuffle of the deck, the flick of a card—there was no rush at all.
Xin flicked a card onto the seat between them, his expression calm and unreadable, maintaining a poker face.
"Move, Vladimir."
Vladimir studied his hand carefully—it had an ace, a queen, a king, a joker, and a nine of spades—before chuckling and placing his own cards down.
His hands trembled slightly as he laid down a pair of cards, hoping to make a mistake on purpose. He couldn't lose to Xin again. Not after the last 344 games.
"It's just a game, right?"
Vladimir's emotionless face was crumbling, trying to play it off, but his hands were shaking too much to hide it.
"Sir Xin, I must admit, your poker face is terrifying," Vladimir stated, his voice dripping with hidden arrogance, as he expected to win a match against his unsuspecting boss.
Xin nodded slightly in concord, not denying his statement. He held a cigarette between his fingers—never lighting it. "It's just a game, Vladimir. However, keep in mind that even one game can change a person's life—for better or worse."
Xin fell silent for a moment before slowly raising his eyes to Vladimir.
"Never gamble, Vladimir, for there are three types of gamblers, I suppose. The first type is an ignorant and stupid man, for he knows not the value of money. The second is a filthy rich man, for he has the luxury to spend as much as he pleases without wasting much."
Xin held up two fingers, staring at Vladimir, who put his thumb to his chin, deeply pondering the words of his boss before deciding to speak up.
"And the third?" he inquired, a profound curiosity swirling in his eyes.
Xin closed his eyes for a moment before slowly opening them and showing Vladimir a third finger, shaking it with unspoken magnificence.
"The third is one where an individual such as you should never get involved with—a crazy individual."
He continued, his words unfolding as if he'd warped the knowledge of the world around his fingers.
"Because a crazy man will do anything to win; he has nothing to lose, even if it costs him everything he has, I suppose," Xin said, as he laid down his cards—revealing a perfect royal flush, not leaving room for argument.
"However... if you are forced to gamble and have no choice," Xin continued, his words trailing off. His eyes widened, staring into Vladimir's blue ocean eyes as if gazing into his soul—leaving him exposed, darker than the depth of the Mariana Trench, as if conveying the weight of his message.
"Then hedge bet," he concluded.
Vladimir shivered.
Oh, fuck. I thought he would expose me for playing easy on him. Fuck, man...
(A/N: Psychological information dump starts from here so skip until the point I write 'skip until here')
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The concept of a hedge betting in general, when it is examined, taps into the deepest parts of human decision-making and risk management.
In that sense, it becomes a paradoxical, it is simply impossible to truly lose.
When a person places a regular bet, they engage in an emotional experience.
Whether it's the thrill of the gamble or the dread of potential loss, emotions drive the process of decision making.
The brain evaluates potential outcomes based on a combination of desire, fear, and probability.
Most of us, driven by cognitive biases, which technically tends to overweight the risk of loss, which makes losing feel like a catastrophic event.
A hedge bet, however, shifts this dynamic. It's not about a single wager but two interconnected bets with each one calculated to offset the other.
Psychologically, this alleviates the fear of loss because the individual knows that no matter the outcome, the hedging bet will make sure of a financial return or at least neutralizing the losses.
Now, now, how does this affect the mind?
The mind no longer experiences the emotional rush of pure risk. Instead, it is simply comforted by the certainty that, regardless of the result, the system is designed to prevent any true loss.
This approach feeds into cognitive dissonance, where a person experiences mental discomfort when faced with conflicting beliefs.
A gambler who bets recklessly might feel the tension between the desire to win and the fear of losing. A hedge bet resolves that tension by balancing the competing emotional forces, ensuring the person never feels as if they're at a total loss.
There's no conflict between the two bets because, by design, they counteract each other; they remove the vulnerabilities of each other.
Additionally, the concept of control plays a huge role.
In traditional gambling, the outcomes are left to chance, something outside the bettor's influence.
This can create feelings of helplessness, which contribute to the anxiety surrounding the gamble.
A hedge bet, on the other hand, is a controlled environment.
The bettor has structured the situation in such a way that their financial position will never deteriorate significantly, no matter how the events unfold.
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(Skip until here)
Vladimir swallowed hard, his heart pounding in his chest. He wasn't sure which category he belonged to, but judging by the way his hands wouldn't stop shaking, he was starting to feel like all three.