Apocalypse: I'm Bound to a Mobile Lottery Shop

Chapter 33: Chapter 33: Leo Colby

After refusing, he came to Rodington City and found a small courtyard to live in between Hope Base and Rebirth Base.

He had originally been a free spirit his whole life, but after inexplicably taking in a child, he was forced to embark on the grueling journey of killing zombies for supplies.

After experiencing the hardships of raising a child, he now sought stability and thought that killing zombies for scratch-off tickets was a pretty good deal. But now, a massive opportunity had just fallen into his lap.

He’d been offered a convenience store. How could he possibly refuse? How could he even bring himself to say no?

Frost Shaw nodded hastily. "I accept."

Lily Hart: ?

Bouncing her leg, she added, "I haven’t even told you the rest of the conditions yet."

Frost Shaw said seriously, "Whatever the conditions are, I accept."

’As long as Boss Hart provides the products for the store and pays me on time, what’s there to refuse!’

Frost Shaw agreed a million times over. If not for having to maintain his image and the fact that there were people around, he wanted nothing more than to raise both his hands and feet in the air.

Lily Hart stopped bouncing her leg and, with a flick of her wrist, produced a contract. "Then let’s sign it. Don’t think contracts don’t matter just because it’s the apocalypse. This one is a life-and-death agreement."

He took it and read through it line by line. The terms were clear, stating that—

Lily Hart would provide the products to be sold in the convenience store, Frost Shaw would be responsible for its operation, and the profits would be split 80/20.

’That’s right, she had changed it to an 80/20 split at the last minute. Lily Hart felt that a 70/30 split was letting Frost Shaw off too easy. She was providing the products and the convenience store, after all.’

’All he had to do was work the register and stock shelves, and he’d get a thirty-percent cut? Lily Hart was having none of that!’

The contract also detailed Frost Shaw’s work hours, his number of days off per month, and that failure to comply would result in deductions from his share of the profits.

It also mentioned that Frost Shaw could continue to play the scratch-off game, and any prizes he won could be sold in the convenience store, with those profits being split 50/50.

After a quick read-through, Frost Shaw flipped to the last page and signed his full name.

The next moment, a red line appeared on the inside of his left wrist. This was the life-and-death contract he had signed with the system.

Unless Lily Hart chose to terminate the contract, Frost Shaw would have to work at the convenience store for the rest of his life.

Frost Shaw knew this but didn’t care. Working for Boss Hart was far better than working for Central Command.

The latter could cost him his life.

With this important matter settled, Lily Hart’s smile grew even wider, her dimples becoming more pronounced.

She asked with a grin, "So, when do you plan to redeem the prize?"

"Later. I’ll come find you," Frost Shaw said, getting up to leave.

The prizes won by the people after him were all rather unremarkable—at least, when compared to Frost Shaw’s convenience store prize.

’She just couldn’t figure it out. How could a single Level 1 Crystal Core have won him the second-place prize?!’

’How was that any different from someone in the 21st century spending twenty bucks to win a million? They were both just ridiculously lucky.’

Time whooshed by as she stayed busy. Seeing it was getting late, Lily Hart decided to pack up her stall.

But then, the man from last night showed up again. He had the same calm eyes, an unruffled expression, and a very neat buzz cut.

Lily Hart gave him a lazy glance, but her eyes were then involuntarily glued to him.

’It really was a perfect face, even more handsome than any male celebrity from the 21st century.’

He had long arms and legs and excellent proportions. Even simple clothes looked extraordinary on him.

By now, the long table at stall E4 was empty, and the surrounding vendors were also packing up to go home.

With the convenience store on her mind, Lily Hart hurried him along. "Hurry it up, will ya? I’m getting ready to close."

He hadn’t just come to buy scratch-off tickets this time; he was also here to redeem his prizes. He took the tickets he’d bought last time out of his storage space and placed them on the table.

Then, he slowly began to sort them into winning and losing piles. Lily Hart grew anxious just watching him.

She strode over, crossed her arms, and stood beside him, silently urging him on.

But he was completely unaffected. After slowly finishing his sorting, he stuffed the stack of winning tickets into Fortune’s mouth.

In an equally unhurried voice, Fortune announced, "Congratulations to Mr. Leo Colby on winning..."

The rewards were all fairly ordinary, but Lily Hart noted with a quick glance that his win rate was quite high.

He had bought a total of thirteen tickets that day, and eight of them were winners. One was even a voucher for an all-you-can-eat burger buffet.

’He really lucked out.’

Leo Colby swept his hand over the table, and the prizes vanished into his storage space. With another sweep, he collected all the remaining scratch-off tickets for the day.

Lily Hart zoned out for a second. When she looked again, only the Crystal Cores were left on the table. She did a quick count, and the number was spot on.

’This guy is a little mysterious. He comes and goes without a trace, and only ever for the scratch-off tickets.’

’So single-minded. Impressively so!’

But she saw people like him every day, so she wasn’t surprised. She only spared him a few extra glances because he was handsome.

Lily Hart swept the long table, Lucky Cat, and everything else into her system’s inventory, then picked up Lily and headed back.

Forrest Finch had shown her the way at noon, and her memory was decent. Fifteen minutes later, she spotted the RV.

Frost Shaw was standing not far from the RV, hands in his pockets, gazing up at the sky at a 45-degree angle.

He looked quite melancholic. Lily Hart walked up, punched him in the arm, and scoffed, "What are you doing? Playing the part of some broody prince?"

Frost Shaw snapped out of it, feeling inexplicably awkward. ’Broody prince? He was just watching some wild geese fly overhead.’

Lily Hart opened the door to the RV and placed Lily inside. She couldn’t help but smile as she watched the little thing happily trot over to eat some cat food.

"Alright, give me the voucher." Lily Hart held out her hand, her expression impatient.

Frost Shaw obediently took the voucher out of his pocket. His palms were sweaty, slightly dampening a corner of the card.

Lily Hart noticed, her gaze darkening for a moment. Without a word, she took the Lucky Cat out of her backpack and stuffed the voucher inside.

Then, both pairs of eyes turned to Fortune in unison, filled with anticipation.

FWUMP... Fortune’s mouth opened wide, very wide—nearly as large as Lily Hart’s upper body, looking as if it could swallow her whole in one gulp.

The sight was a bit terrifying, so Lily Hart stopped cradling the cat in her palms and set it on the ground.

Fortune’s mouth continued to stretch, forming a lopsided circle. Then, after a series of CRACKLES and POPS...

BANG! With the sound of a party popper, Frost Shaw watched as countless colorful streamers appeared out of thin air, dazzling and brilliant.

The streamers floated in the air, then slowly spun as they descended, with Boss Hart right at the center.

Lily Hart was also looking up, a faint smile playing on her lips and making her dimples clearly visible.

Frost Shaw’s gaze followed the streamers downward, landing on Lily Hart’s face—on her smile, which was even more radiant than the colorful ribbons.

He stared, momentarily stunned, until a flash of white light brought him back. A rectangular, ultra-modern glass building had appeared before them.

Only then did Frost Shaw snap back to his senses and carefully examine the convenience store that had materialized before him. Five of its sides were made entirely of glass.

You could see clearly inside from the outside, though it was completely empty for now. Everything was waiting to be built from the ground up.

It didn’t even have a sign over the entrance; it was just a simple glass box, looking a bit plain.

Lily Hart walked up to one of the glass walls. As if triggered by an infrared sensor, a seam appeared down the middle of the glass, and the two halves slid open to the sides.

The door opened without a sound—it was perfectly smooth and responsive. ’So this is the main entrance,’ Frost Shaw thought, looking around curiously.