Apocalypse: I'm Bound to a Mobile Lottery Shop

Chapter 43: Chapter 43: Super Lotto

Frost Shaw had arrived at some point and was standing behind the crowd. He looked up at the double-decker RV, a sudden sense of inferiority welling up inside him.

Time ticked by as everyone discussed. At nine o’clock sharp, Lily Hart pressed a button.

The upper half of the RV’s four sides vanished, replaced by an exceptionally sturdy tabletop extending sixty centimeters inward.

Lily Hart hadn’t expected so many people this early in the morning. She quickly went to the mall, buying twenty "Big 7" books and five books each of the other three types.

After setting them out, she bought a card-making machine from the mall. It came with a scanner that could record a customer’s information just by pointing it at them and making a BEEP.

The "Lily Hart’s Lottery Shop" software would then appear on the customer’s Light Brain, allowing them to top up their points.

But then she discovered something new—a new game mode? It was called "Super Lotto."

She was all too familiar with this. After all, back in the 21st century, a single ticket cost just two bucks, but it could win you a life-changing grand prize.

Lily Hart immediately clicked on it. The gameplay was somewhat similar to what she knew—it was all about picking numbers.

You pick six numbers between 1 and 31. If your numbers match the winning numbers, you win the Grand Prize.

If only five numbers match, that’s the First Prize; four matching numbers gets you Second Prize, and three gets you Third Prize.

Anything less than that was a non-winner.

Her interest piqued, she immediately pulled out a small whiteboard, wrote down the rules, and listed the prizes.

Grand Prize: five hundred Level 1 Crystal Cores. First Prize: three hundred. Second Prize: one hundred.

Finally, there were one hundred spots for Third Prize, with a prize of five Crystal Cores.

As for who was providing the Crystal Cores, that would naturally be the system. It was footing the bill since it had introduced the game, and it would also be taking a cut.

As for the price? One Level 1 Crystal Core per entry.

SCRIBBLE SCRIBBLE SCRIBBLE. After writing it all down, Lily Hart took the whiteboard out and secured it in place.

Someone sharp-eyed spotted it and immediately pushed through the crowd to get a look. They read it over silently but still didn’t get it.

They had to pull someone else over to look with them. The two of them muttered quietly, trying to figure it out. Lily Hart, who had been keeping an eye on them, walked over.

She placed both hands on the tabletop, leaned forward slightly, and two small dimples bloomed on her face as she smiled.

She asked in a friendly tone, "What’s wrong? Is there something you don’t understand? Feel free to ask!"

The person hurriedly waved their hands. "No, no, it’s nothing! I’d just like to buy an entry and give it a try."

Lily Hart’s eyes lit up. She hadn’t expected to make her first sale so quickly. She promptly placed an order in the mall for a Super Lotto machine.

After reaching Level 4, the mall no longer had restrictions on using points.

When the machine appeared, the crowd was stunned once again. One look was enough to tell it was exquisite and high-end. They knew Boss Hart was loaded, but did she have to be *this* loaded?

In the entire base, only the research institute and the core area had access to electricity, and even that was on a time limit. Who else could be as extravagant as Boss Hart?

Lily Hart examined the machine for a moment, then waved them over. "Alright, come on, pick your numbers."

The person thought for a moment before solemnly reciting six numbers, which Lily Hart keyed in one by one.

A moment later, the machine started making a WHIRRING, CLICKING sound. They abruptly took a step back, panicked. "It’s not going to explode, is it?"

Lily Hart rolled her eyes at them. "Don’t jinx it!" she said, pulling a small slip of paper from the side of the machine and handing it to the person.

The person took it, glanced at it, and breathed a sigh of relief. Turns out, it was just the sound of the machine printing.

At the top, it read "Lily Hart’s Lottery Shop · Super Lotto." Below that were the numbers they had chosen, and further down were the betting time and the drawing time.

Lily Hart reminded them, "Remember to bring your ticket back to claim your prize."

Hearing that, the person immediately tucked the ticket away somewhere safe. ’If I win but lose the ticket,’ they thought, ’I’d wake up in the middle of the night just to slap myself twice. I’d be kicking myself forever.’

As soon as they left, several others pushed forward, clamoring, "Boss Hart, we want to buy too!"

Lily Hart quickly said, "One at a time, there’s plenty for everyone! Just have your Crystal Cores ready and think of your numbers beforehand. Don’t come up here and waste time hemming and hawing."

Everyone knew Boss Hart was generally good-tempered; she just had very little patience.

One Crystal Core per entry wasn’t expensive. Anyone who could afford daily scratch-offs had some savings, and even if they didn’t, in this day and age, even ordinary people had the guts to kill zombies.

You wouldn’t have survived to the tenth year of the apocalypse without a few tricks up your sleeve. Who didn’t have a few Crystal Cores on hand?

Frost Shaw quietly walked over and got in line at the very back. The person in front of him happened to turn around and met his utterly cold expression. They shivered and said, "Great Hero Shaw, please, you go first."

He shook his head, refusing. He couldn’t cut in line; Boss Hart hated line-cutters more than anyone.

Speak of the devil. Frost Shaw’s sharp eyes spotted a small, skinny man taking advantage of the chaos. Using his small frame, he squeezed into the line in the blink of an eye.

The people in front of and behind the man were a little unsure if he had been in the line before.

With a grim expression, Frost Shaw strode forward, grabbed the man by the scruff of his neck, and started dragging him out of the line. The man was about to cry out, but one look back and he didn’t dare make a sound, instantly burying his head like an ostrich.

"You can either stand here and catch anyone else who tries to cut in line, or you can become an ice sculpture. Your choice," Frost Shaw said without a trace of mercy.

The skinny man quickly pressed his palms together, begging for mercy. "The first one, the first one! Great Hero Shaw, I was wrong!"

Frost Shaw nodded in agreement, then walked back to the end of the line to queue up again. He kept a watchful eye on his convenience store; he had bought two extra shelves and stocked up on a lot of goods today, so it would be fine for a few hours.

When it was finally Frost Shaw’s turn, Lily Hart saw him and called out, "What are you doing in line? You could have just bought one when you came for lunch."

Frost Shaw: ’I’ve been careless.’

Lily Hart glanced behind him. "Where are your kids? You didn’t bring them?"

Frost Shaw looked toward the convenience store, a rare trace of softness coloring his cold gaze. "They’re helping at the store."

"Alright, bring them over for lunch," Lily Hart said casually as she expertly keyed in the numbers he recited. She handed him the ticket and repeated the same line she had said dozens of times that morning.

"Don’t lose the ticket. You’ll need it to claim your prize," Lily Hart reminded him again.

Frost Shaw stored the small slip of paper in his personal space. ’That way, it definitely won’t get lost,’ he thought. He strode back to the convenience store, where Easton was stocking bottles of mineral water on a shelf.

Diana Sharp was sitting by the entrance, a Lucky Cat placed on a high stool beside her. She wasn’t old, but her gaze was sharp as she stared down everyone who came to top up their points, making sure they didn’t try anything funny.

Today, Frost Shaw had only brought Easton and Diana Sharp, afraid that Boss Hart would get annoyed if he brought too many people.

Lily Hart was so busy all morning she barely had a moment’s rest. She had to enter customer information, give brief explanations, input numbers for the Super Lotto buyers, and give detailed reminders.

She was so, so tired. It was only when the crowd of customers thinned out a bit near noon that she could finally catch her breath.

She slumped weakly onto the tabletop, not even wanting to lift a hand. When Frost Shaw arrived with Easton and Diana Sharp, Lily Hart only managed to lift her eyes, weakly greeting them, "Sit wherever."

Diana Sharp suddenly grew nervous. She looked at the magnificent, high-end RV, then glanced down at her own washed-out clothes, her hands anxiously twisting the hem of her shirt.