Blissful morning

After the game had finished, Noah had eagerly taken the bag of chips that he had almost lost everything for, the speed was because he had wanted to get out of that area as soon as he could.

Despite what most would say about him being a generally cold-hearted person, he still didn't want to watch another man break down into tears and cry in front of him, it was pathetic in his eyes but he still didn't like seeing it.

Though even though the tears were a dampener on the mood Noah felt like he was riding a truly ultimate high, his dopamine levels were on levels that went even further beyond anything else he had felt before.

Though the monetary reward wasn't at the levels that he had obtained when he was professionally gambling, it still felt like a king's ransoms worth with Noah now being 10000 chips richer.

There was no telling why the Elves had bet that much knowing that he would never be able to pay that amount if they won, in Noah's eyes they had put too much at stake for the risk involved, not understanding that the elves had hated him enough to not care about such matters.

"*sigh* That was really exhausting to watch you know" Julie was walking behind him as they both exited the elven gambling area that they clearly weren't welcome in anymore.

The stares Noah was given as he walked down the aisle were the kind that he had never seen before, there was just pure hatred behind them, possibly for humiliating another of their kin.

"I can imagine how exhausting it was to watch, I feel like sleeping the entire day away now" Noah was actively debating on whether or not to reign himself in and just sleep for the rest of the day.

He was done with gambling, for now, the entire debacle had stripped him of any and all energy that he had to put towards betting.

"That's no good, what will I do if you're sleeping?"

"Just do some betting on your own, shouldn't be too hard right?"

Julie responded by pouting for a few seconds, then walking off with her arms planted firmly in front of her chest as if she were a cartoon character ready to beat someone to a pulp.

Although he had told her that he was too tired to do anything and that he was going to go to bed, he didn't actually feel like going to sleep yet, there was still a lot of the casino to explore and he would prefer to do it by himself if he could.

So he waited for Julie to be well outside of his field of vision before walking back, he didn't want her following him for whatever reasons she may have.

After she had been sufficiently consumed by the mass of players that had started flowing into the hall Noah made his way to leave, bumping into several people that were entering as he made his way to the exit.

Some had been downright terrifying, looking more like they belonged in a Lovecraft story than in a casino that tried to cater to every race, but they were also entitled to their own chance at great wealth.

And maybe it was him who was the weird one to everything around him, he just didn't know with this place.

Checking the time he realised the reason why so many had been entering the hall at this time specifically, it was 10 am which was the time when you had been able to do everything else in the morning and get a good night's rest while training yourself for whatever game.

Noah still hadn't eaten anything since stepping foot in the IDC a day ago, but strangely enough, he didn't feel hungry, just a bit groggy from the adrenaline overload earlier.

This fact wouldn't stop him from going for a bite to eat at the food courts, if anything other than a gambler, he was a food critic through and through, only accepting certain foods into his life.

And of course, when he said certain foods, he meant all food, for he had never been a picky eater, not even when he was a child, while everyone else threw their vegetables away he was asking for more.

His mind was set on visiting the food court, and that's exactly where he headed when he exited the gambling hall, seeing that out of all the options of locations, it was possibly the least popular at this time.

`Wonder why it's so unpopular`, but all he could do was wonder, he had no idea why that might be, the most likely possibility being that most people had already eaten by now and were on their way to gamble.

Whatever the reason was there was one thing that Noah definitely knew, fewer people meant that the lines would be practically non-existent.

Noah's mouth started drooling at the thought, `It must be my lucky day today, get a payday, and get food in no time at all`

Stepping through the large oak door would bring a huge waft of delicious smells to Noah's nose, many familiar to him, such as those of hamburgers and the like, but many unfamiliar such as the smell of burning bugs that Noah had never smelt before.

The smell of burnt bugs wasn't enough to completely ruin the experience of the food court for him, but it certainly wasn't something that he wanted to be smelling anytime in the near future, though it seemed as if he would have to every time he wanted to purchase food.

`Nevermind that, let's see what we can find to eat`

There was a large variety of stores to eat at, many serving breakfasty items, and many more selling lunch and tea items such as steaks and chips, some Chinese-styled dumplings and noodle vendors were strewn all across the plaza.

Noah found where the burnt bug smell was coming from, it was from a stand selling large arachnid-looking legs, as grotesque as they looked they seemed to be incredibly popular, especially with the elves, with there being around seven or eight gorging on the abominations.

Noah just wanted to get away from that area entirely in great haste, basically running away from it drawing a few curious glances from the patrons as he sprinted past.

The difficulty that Noah was finding with this area wasn't finding somewhere good to eat, that was actually incredibly easy, it was deciding where to eat that was the main problem.

Eventually, he gave up and decided on a breakfast joint that had a massive billboard outside promoting their homemade pancakes and other breakfast goods, they had elected not to say what those other breakfast goods were.

But the place seemed to be popular enough, and the photos outside certainly looked appetising, so Noah gave it a shot, if it wasn't good, no big deal, the place was on the cheaper side after all, with a breakfast platter costing only a hundred chips.

There was no line leading into the restaurant so Noah walked in and sat himself down, which seemed to be the way to do things here.

The menus were already on the table, there being 2 on Noah's, since there were no singular tables available he had taken up a full double table by himself, making him feel a little bit greedy but there was very little foot traffic so he didn't feel that bad.

"Hi there, what would you like to order?"

The waiter who came to take his order was dressed in a full black suit and tie, which was awfully formal for this sort of place, but fit the man very well.

"I'll just take the breakfast platter please"

He had been scolded by his mother when he was young for not saying please after asking for something from service staff, and it had become a habit to him ever since.

"Right away sir"

And with that, his menu was taken from him and he was left waiting for food with just his thoughts, `Wait a minute, he didn't even ask if I wanted a drink`

It's not like he was angry about this though, just some playful anger inside of his mind that would allow him to have a little bit of fun while he waited, he wasn't that thirsty and didn't care for much besides water and beer.

They were his two lifelines, the ying and yan that kept him sane, whilst stopping him from suffering too much when he happened to overindulge.

After a remarkably short wait time his food was served, and it looked about as American as a breakfast could get, it was bacon inside a pancake drizzled with maple syrup, a tasty combination as he found out eating it, but not something he would have everyday.

It took him twelve minutes to finish his meal, by which point he was ready to go back to his room and relax a bit.

When he got back, he spent most of his time reading before he could be bothered to leave his room again.