Ирина Одарчук Паули роман Игрок перевод на английс

Prologue
1. How to ask the psychology of the Player
Alex didn't just play, he felt the game.
As a child, watching his father play solitaire, he noticed that the cards were not subject to chance, but to a hidden order. As he grew older, he transferred this understanding to life.
For him, the psychology of the Player is:
- Willingness to take risks, but not blindly, but carefully, like a chess player sacrificing a pawn for checkmate.
- The ability to lose without losing face. Defeat is just feedback, not a death sentence.
- The thirst for control, but with irony. Because absolute control is an illusion, and a real Player knows when to let go.
He learned to read people: a trembling finger, a fleeting smile, a glance that was too long. It was his language.

2. How to play and what?
Games can be obvious or hidden.
Explicit:
- Poker - where bluffing becomes a high art.
- The stock market is where the stake is on someone else's greed.
- Street chess - where partners change within an hour, and the style of play reveals their past.
Hidden:
- A conversation with the boss - where a promotion depends on a well-placed pause.
- The first date is where gestures, not words, tell the truth.
- Life is the most difficult game, because the rules are written as you go, and the stake is you.
Alex played everything. But his greatest discovery was: the only thing that matters is what you believe in as a game.

3. Philosophy of the game
One day in the rain, having lost a lot, he asked an old Greek in an underground casino:
- What's the point?
He, without raising his eyes from the cards, answered:
— In understanding whether you are at the table or on the table.
Since then, Alex has divided the world into three categories:
1. Those who place bets are free, but lonely.
2. Those who are afraid to play are safe, but not alive.
3. Those who become a game are either saints or monsters.
His choice was obvious. 
Rain pounded the roof when Alex first realized the cost of his choice. On the table in front of him were two things: a deck of cards and a gun. Both were tools. Both were extensions of his hand.
"Let's begin," he thought.

Chapter 1. Start of the game
Rain pounded the windowsill of a cheap room near the station, which smelled of damp and old cigarettes. Alex ran his finger along the edge of the table, feeling the roughness of the wood. In front of him lay a deck of cards, battered, with dog-eared corners, familiar down to every scratch.
"Five players. Three amateurs, one professional, and me," he noted mentally, looking at his opponents through the cigarette smoke.
First distribution.
The cards fell before him with a soft rustle. Two spades, a seven and a queen. Nothing special, but enough to start a bluff.
"I'll make it fifty," Alex said, throwing his chips into the center of the table. His voice was calm, almost lazy, but his fingers were tapping lightly on the cards, the only sign of tension.
The young guy in the leather jacket (amateur, nervous, touching his face) shifted in his chair and folded his cards. The girl with red hair (professional, but too confident) raised an eyebrow:
— I'll raise it to a hundred.
Alex felt a familiar fire ignite in his chest. The game had begun.
Second circle.
The community cards were laid out on the table: the jack of diamonds, the ten of hearts, and the two of clubs.
“I’m checking,” muttered the gray-haired man (an amateur, playing out of habit).
Alex pretended to think about it, although he already knew his move. He saw the girl lean forward slightly, which meant she had something. But what? Maybe a pair. Maybe just an attempt to intimidate.
“I’m going all in,” he said suddenly, moving all his chips forward.
There was silence in the room. Even the rain outside seemed to have stopped.
The finale.
“Are you serious?” the redhead snorted, but her fingers squeezed the cards a little tighter.
Alex just shrugged:
— Isn't that why we're here?
One after another, the opponents threw down their cards. The last one to retreat was the girl, cursing.
"Show me what you had!" the guy in the jacket demanded.
Alex slowly turned over his cards. Seven and Queen of Spades - nothing.
- Bluff?!
"No," Alex collected his winnings. "The first note in the symphony."
After the game.
Outside, the rain had turned to a drizzle. Alex turned into an alley, clutching a wad of cash in his pocket. He knew that today's win was a fluke. Luck? No. He was simply prepared to lose more than they were.
An old man emerged from the darkness – the same Greek from the casino.
“I started small,” he chuckled hoarsely. “But you’ll soon realize: the real game isn’t in the cards.”
- And in what?
— In not noticing how you yourself became a chip.
The lantern flickered and the old man disappeared into the darkness. Alex clenched his fists. This was only the beginning.

Chapter 2. Debts
"Victory teaches less than defeat"
The smell of burnt coffee hit Alex's nose as soon as he stepped over the threshold of the private club "Staircase." There were no bright neon signs, only subdued sconces and heavy velvet curtains that absorbed unnecessary sounds. But there were tables with green cloth where destinies were decided, and people who knew how to keep secrets.
Alex chose a table in the corner - the same one where he had won his first big pot a week ago. Today, Lev Borisovich was sitting at that same table.
Steely gaze, expensive suit, gold ring with ruby on the little finger. Boss.
“Sit down,” Lev Borisovich nodded, without even looking. “I heard you’re lucky.”
“I just like the game,” Alex warmed up his fingers, feeling a slight tingling at the tips.
First distribution.
The cards fell softly, like autumn leaves. Alex had a king and a nine of hearts. Not bad.
- The stake? - Lev Borisovich exhaled smoke from his cigar.
“A thousand,” Alex said.
- A bit weak. Two.
“He’s checking,” flashed through my mind.
Alex nodded.
Flop.
The following cards were laid on the table: the jack of hearts, the seven of diamonds, and the three of clubs.
“I see a thousand,” Alex put down the chips.
Lev Borisovich smiled:
- And I see. And I raise it to five.
"A bluff? Or does he already have something serious in store?"
Alex felt a chill run down his spine for the first time in a long time.
Thorn.
The fourth card is the Queen of Spades.
“I’m checking,” Alex said, trying to keep his voice from shaking.
Lev Borisovich stretched his shoulders:
— That's it. All in.
Alex's heart stopped for a second.
"If I quit, I'll save face. If I accept, I could lose everything."
“I’m coming,” he pushed the chips forward.
River.
The last card is the ace of hearts.
“Show me,” Alex whispered.
Lev Borisovich slowly turned over the cards: a pair of jacks.
Alex laughed - he had a flush draw! He reached for his winnings...
- Wait a minute, - Lev Borisovich raised his finger. - You forgot to look at this.
He took another jack out of his pocket.
- Trips, baby.
Silence.
Alex lost for the first time in a long time. And not just lost - he was in debt.
After the game.
- You're good, - Lev Borisovich poured him some cognac. - But you're too confident. The debt is ten thousand. Until Friday.
- What if I can't?
- Then we will find another way to come to an agreement.
It was snowing outside. Alex clenched his fists, not out of anger, but out of realization.
"It's more than a duty. It's a lesson."

Chapter 3. The Shadow Behind the Counter
"Debts must either be repaid or turned into allies"
The smell of over-roasted coffee beans clung to the wooden counter of the Zero Bar, the only place in the area that still served Alex drinks without paying up front. He sat there, twirling his empty glass in his fingers, mentally running through his options: robbery (too cliche), escape (too cowardly), another game (too dangerous).
- Do you want a top-up? - The voice was low, hoarse, but clearly feminine.
Alex looked up. The redhead from his first game was standing behind the counter, only now without the playful smirk. Instead of a shiny dress, she was wearing a black T-shirt with a faded skull, her hair pulled back into a messy bun.
“You...” he began.
- Marta. And yes, I remember you, - she poured whiskey without asking. - I heard that you got yourself into deep trouble with Lev Borisovich.
The glass clinked against the counter louder than necessary.
- How would you know?
Martha smirked just enough to let him know she wasn't just a bartender.
— Because I used to be his best swindler. Until I decided that girls get tired of being chips, too.
She pulled out a drawer and threw a deck of cards on the counter—the same one, battered, with a scratch on the shirt in the shape of a snake.
- Sound familiar?
Alex froze. It was his first deck, lost a month ago.
- How is she with you...
"Lev Borisovich loves souvenirs from losers," Marta tore the ace card in half. "But sometimes I steal them back."
Silence.
“Why?” Alex finally squeezed out.
"Because you're an overconfident idiot," she poured herself some whiskey. "And people like that are either broken or taken into the team."
A siren wailed outside.
"You have 48 hours to decide," Marta thrust a piece of paper with an address into his hand. "Come without money. But with brains."
When the door closed behind him, Alex opened his hand. Along with the address, there was half an ace - his half.

Chapter 4. Address
"Some doors are best left unopened. But behind them lies the real game."
The address turned out to be the old Rubin movie theater, the same one where Alex had watched action movies with his father as a child. Only now the posters were torn, and the letters on the sign barely glowed, as if ashamed of their decline.
Alex ran his fingers along the rusty door handle, feeling goosebumps run under his skin. "Why here?"
The door opened by itself, as if he had been expected.
Inside there was a smell of dust and old wood.
The screen was covered with black cloth, and instead of chairs there was a poker table surrounded by five shadows.
“Seven minutes late,” Martha’s voice came from the darkness.
She walked out into the beam of the only working spotlight, holding that very half ace in her hands.
- What is this, a quest? - Alex deliberately slowly pulled out his half of the map.
“No,” she threw the card on the table, where it landed exactly between two chips. “Auction.”
The other players leaned forward, and the light caught their faces:
1. "The Doctor" - a man with thick glasses who always knew when you were bluffing.
2. "The Jester" is a guy in a clown jacket, but without a single smile.
3. "Shadow" - a woman whose face seemed blurred even when you looked at it.
4. Lev Borisovich.
Alex stopped breathing.
“Don’t be afraid, he’s here as a spectator,” Martha whispered. “For now.”
"What's going on?" Alex asked, feeling the air grow thicker.
“Me,” Martha answered. “My help. My connections. My freedom.”
Lev Borisovich laughed, and the sound spread throughout the hall like oil.
"She wants you to win it," he said. "But the stake is your debts."
The rules are simple:
- If Alex loses, his debt doubles.
- If he wins, Marta becomes his partner, and the debt is frozen.
“What if I refuse?” Alex clenched his fists.
“Then you’ve already lost,” Shadow said for the first time, and her voice sounded like the grinding of iron.
Alex looked at Martha.
She was already looking at him.
"Deal out the cards," he said.
The game has begun.
Why it works:
- The cinema is a symbol of Alex's past, which bursts into the present.
- Lev Borisovich in the role of a spectator - he controls everything, even when he is not playing.
- Martha puts herself on the line - but who is she really?

Chapter 5. Mirror Player
"In each of us there lives someone who is ready to lose everything. Even himself."
Lev Borisovich did not go underground. He remained above, watching through a two-way mirror as Alex stood before his double.
"You think he's just the boss of this place?" Martha whispered, pressing herself against the wall. "He's the first one to lose to himself."
Alex didn't answer. He looked into the eyes of his reflection - into those golden pupils that burned like two melted gold coins.
“The rules are simple,” the double said. His voice sounded like Alex’s, but with an echo, as if from a well. “One game. You against me. The stake is your name.”
- My name?
- If I win, you stay here. If you win, you leave. But you take something with you.
Martha squeezed his hand:
- Don't agree. It's a trap.
But Alex was already reaching for the deck.
Game
The cards in his hands were cold as blades.
Distribution.
- Alex has the king and queen of hearts.
- The double has an ace and a seven of spades.
Flop.
- Jack of hearts, nine of diamonds, two of clubs.
Alex felt dizzy. He had seen this hand before - in a dream, a week ago.
“You’re hesitating,” the double chuckled. “Are you afraid that I know your thoughts?”
“I know yours,” Alex replied.
Thorn.
- Ten of hearts.
Now Alex has a flush draw. The double has a possible straight.
“All in,” said the double, without looking at the cards.
Alex closed his eyes.
"If I win, I'll take something with me. But what?"
- I accept.
River.
- Three of spades.
The double turned over the cards: he had nothing.
Alex won.
But instead of relief, he was overcome with horror.
Because Lev Borisovich laughed.
The role of Lev Borisovich
"Congratulations," he said as he came down. "You just freed me."
Alex didn't understand.
- You thought I was the master? - Lev Borisovich spread his arms, and his shadow turned into a spider on the wall. - I was the last one to win his double. And I became the new "master". And now... now it's your turn.
Martha recoiled.
- What have you done?
Alex looked at the mirror.
His reflection was no longer a double.
Now he himself stood there.
And the real Alex slowly began to disappear.
What does it mean?

Chapter 6. Reverse
"To win this game, you must first learn to lose."
Alex felt reality disintegrate.
His skin shimmered like an old TV with a broken screen. The mirror double had almost completely taken his place - he stood in the middle of an underground casino, and the real Alex became a ghost, a transparent shadow that no one could see.
Lev Borisovich smiled.
"Welcome to the club," he said, adjusting his ruby ring. "You are now a House."
Martha looked at her double, and there was something more than horror in her eyes.
“You knew,” Alex whispered, but his voice no longer sounded in this world.
She didn't hear.
Reboot Rules
Alex was left alone in the intermediate space - between mirrors, between bets, between life and the game.
There was no time here.
But there were cards.
One deck lying in the center of the void.
He took it in his hands and saw that all the cards... were empty.
Except for one.
Ace of hearts.
"Crossed out by a dagger."
And then he understood.
The Last Bluff
Alex is back.
Not where his double celebrated his victory. Not underground.
He went back to the very beginning.
At that very moment when I first sat down at the table opposite Lev Borisovich.
Only now did he know what to do.
“All in,” Alex said, throwing his cards on the table BEFORE he saw the deal.
Lev Borisovich froze.
- You didn't even look.
“No need,” Alex smiled. “I’ve already lost.”
Silence.
Then Lev Borisovich burst into laughter - real, almost human.
"Finally," he whispered. "Someone understands."
What has changed?
1. Alex broke the cycle. He lost voluntarily, and the system crashed.
2. Lev Borisovich is no longer "Dom". His shadow is no longer a spider, and the ruby ring has cracked.
3. The double in the mirror disappeared.
But Martha...
She looked at Alex as if she was seeing him for the first time.
"You shouldn't have done that," she said. "Now Rubin will die."
The finale?
The walls shook.
The cells swung open.
And from under the floor emerged those who had lost earlier - the Greek, the "Doctor", and dozens of others.
They were walking towards Alex.
Not to attack.
To say thank you.

Chapter 7. The Creator of "Ruby"
"Casinos are not built - they grow like mushrooms after rain, on rotting desires."
"Rubin" was dying.
The walls were cracking, the mirrors were clouding, and long, sticky threads were crawling out of the cracks in the floor, like a spider web that someone was hastily rolling up.
Martha stood at the entrance, clutching the half ace in her hand, and watched as the freed players disappeared into the fog one by one.
“You woke him up,” she said without turning around.
- Who? - Alex raised his head.
- The one who made the rules.
Merchant
In the depths of the collapsing hall, a light suddenly flashed.
Not electric - golden, trembling like a candle flame.
And then Alex saw him.
An old man in a faded frock coat, with a face too smooth for his age, sat at a table, playing solitaire with dice - not cards, but real ones.
"Ah, newbie," he said without even looking. "Sit down. We have a game until dawn."
Alex didn't move.
- You... created this place?
The old man laughed - the sound was like the rustling of dry leaves.
— I just gave people what they wanted. A place to bet everything. Even what they don't have.
He raised his hand, and Alex saw that his fingers were... like cards.
Literally.
Each joint is a card: hearts, spades, diamonds, clubs.
"My name is Merchant," he said. "And this is my shop."
These are the rules
1. "Rubin" is not a casino. It is a trap for those who have forgotten that a game is just a game.
2. Mirror doubles are the losers. Those who got too attached to the excitement and gave away their humanity.
3. Lev Borisovich was a guard. His job was to find new players so that the Merchant wouldn't fall asleep.
“And now you’ve woken me up,” the old man sighed. “Then it’s time to get ready.”
He took out from under the table an old suitcase covered with scraps of newspapers with missing persons notices.
Last bet
"Do you want to leave?" asked the Merchant. "Let's play."
“No,” Alex threw the cards away. “The game is over.”
The old man froze.
- Are you refusing?
- Yes.
Then, for the first time, the Merchant looked confused.
- But... you can't do that.
“You can,” Martha said, coming up. “Because you broke the rules yourself.”
She tore apart her half of the ace.
The suitcase slammed shut.
The end of Rubin
The building rocked like a ship in a storm.
The merchant shouted something, but his voice was drowned out by the roar of collapsing walls.
Alex grabbed Martha by the hand and ran out into the street.
The last thing he saw:
In place of the Rubin there was an empty lot overgrown with weeds.
And one single object in the middle of the grass:
Ace of Hearts card.
Whole.

Chapter 8. The Disappearance of Lev Borisovich
"Some losses are actually victories. It just takes time to realize that."
The morning after the destruction of Rubin greeted Alex and Marta with a cold but clear light. The wasteland where the cinema had stood yesterday was now breathing silence. Only a lonely ace of hearts lay in the grass, as if waiting for them.
Marta picked up the card, turned it over in her fingers—and suddenly froze.
- Look.
On the back, in tiny letters, was written:
"Look for me by the river. L.B."
By the river
Lev Borisovich sat on a rusty bench, looking at the water.
But he was no longer the same person.
No ruby ring. No spider shadow. Just a tired face and trembling hands clutching a battered wallet.
“I thought you would disappear like Rubin,” Alex said.
“I disappeared,” Lev Borisovich smiled for the first time truly. “The one I was no longer exists.”
He opened his wallet and inside was a photograph of a girl with red hair.
"Martha..." He handed the photo to her. "You were right. I lost you before I realized the game was already underway."
Marta didn't take the photograph. But her eyes softened.
- Where are you going now?
“Learn to live without bets,” he stood up. “If I can.”
And he left, leaving his former luck on the bench - the king of spades card.
What's up with Alex and Martha now?
They stood by the water, and neither of them knew what to say.
“Do you still want to play?” Martha finally asked.
Alex looked at the ace in her hand, then at the river where Lev Borisovich had disappeared.
- Only in something that can be lost without consequences.
- For example?
— In love.
Martha laughed and the card fell into the water, but no one rushed to catch it.

Epilogue
A year later, a small coffee shop appeared on the vacant lot.
There was no alcohol on the menu, but there was a "Boozy Cherry Latte."
And on the wall hung a single card - a crossed-out ace of hearts in a frame.
Below it is the inscription:
"Play it safe. Sometimes you are the bet."
Sometimes a man without a ruby ring would come in. He would drink tea and smile as he watched the red-haired landlady argue with the tall guy at the counter.
But no one knew his name.
What does it mean?
1. Lev Borisovich freed himself from the role of "watchman" and began a new life.
2. Alex and Martha are no longer gamblers - they have found something that cannot be gambled.
3. The ace on the wall is a reminder that the game never ends, the rules just change.
The finale? No.
Just a break between games.