Apocalypse: I'm Bound to a Mobile Lottery Shop

Chapter 46: Chapter 46: The Black-Hearted Lottery Shop

"Let me see just what you’ve swallowed! Damn it, a lottery machine? Why didn’t you tell me this was in the rewards! I had to go and buy a second-hand one!"

"For crying out loud, a scratch-off machine too? Unbelievable! System, are you mute or are you deliberately trying to make my life difficult?!"

Lily Hart felt like she was going crazy. She hurriedly took out the two machines, and two brand-new units appeared before her.

The system tried to do some damage control. [Host, please don’t be angry. I didn’t mean to, it’s just instinct, instinct...]

The scratch-off machine was an upright model, like a refrigerator, with a large touchscreen for making purchases.

Below the screen, from left to right, were a round slot for inserting Crystal Cores, a rectangular slot that dispensed the scratch-offs, and an infrared scanner for redeeming prizes.

It was incredibly convenient; a single machine could do the work of two people.

The only manual part was loading the tickets. You just had to open the back panel and neatly stack the scratch-offs inside, and the machine would dispense them one by one.

Lily Hart thought whoever invented this machine was an absolute genius!

If she ever had to relocate her base, she could just leave a few machines behind. All she’d have to do is lie in bed while the points rolled in endlessly.

The thought alone made Lily Hart feel amazing.

The system promptly rained on her parade. "Host, the prerequisite for leaving a machine behind is that your income at this base must reach one hundred thousand points~"

Lily Hart scoffed, "A hundred thousand? That’s nothing. Worst case, I’ll just stay a few extra days."

But the income from a machine left behind would be a continuous stream!

Who doesn’t love scratch-offs? Who doesn’t love fresh fruit, delicious meals, and powerful weapons?

Lily Hart absolutely loved them, okay!

Her fantasy ended, and it was back to reality. Lily Hart unwrapped a few books of "Big 7" scratch-offs, opened the machine’s back panel, and loaded them according to the instructions.

As the shop owner, she wasn’t allowed to play the scratch-offs herself, so she had no choice but to call Diana Sharp over to test it.

"That’s right, tap this, then this, and insert the Crystal Core!" Lily Hart guided her from the side.

Diana Sharp followed her instructions step-by-step, and soon, a "Big 7" ticket slid out from the dispenser slot.

Lily Hart took it out and let Diana Sharp scratch it off to the side. The Crystal Core inserted into the machine was converted into points, adding to the cold, hard numbers in her account.

"This is so convenient!" Lily Hart marveled, discovering that you could not only insert Crystal Cores but also use your Light Brain.

As long as you were a member who had registered at the lottery shop and had points in your account, you could just scan your Light Brain—BEEP!—and make a purchase.

It seemed they had thought of everything. The only drawback was probably that you couldn’t choose your ticket—it was all pure luck.

Lily Hart couldn’t help but laugh. ’Isn’t this Frost Shaw’s natural enemy?’

She was itching to drag Frost Shaw over and have him try it. She wanted to see if his luck was truly as good as it always seemed.

"Get your Boss Hart out here!" A furious roar snapped Lily Hart out of her thoughts.

She turned around impatiently. The man had a vicious look on his face, with a terrifying scar running from the tail of his left eyebrow down to the corner of his mouth.

He stood before the lottery machine, glaring menacingly at Diana Sharp. He was clutching several lottery tickets, apparently demanding an explanation.

His other burly hand reached over the machine, trying to grab Diana Sharp. She shot up from her seat and scrambled back until she bumped into Lily Hart.

Lily Hart steadied her by the shoulders, patting her head reassuringly, and pulled out a chair for her to sit on.

Then, without a trace of fear, she walked over, folded her arms, and rested them on the machine. "What’s the problem?" she asked, frowning.

She glanced at the customer information displayed on the machine. ’Myer Nash? A big guy like that has such a cute name?’

Myer Nash said fiercely, "Boss Hart, you owe me an explanation. I bought ten lottery tickets, and one of them was printed with the wrong numbers! How are you going to fix this!"

"Can’t we just print you a new one?" Lily Hart raised an eyebrow. ’This is what he’s making a fuss about?’

Myer Nash shook his head, looking at her as if she were an idiot. "I had a fortune-teller do a reading for me," he said haughtily. "At a very specific hour, minute, and second this afternoon, I’m supposed to make a huge fortune!"

"These are all my hand-picked lucky numbers, they were guaranteed to win! But now she’s gone and ruined my good fortune! What if I don’t win the prize now?!"

He got so worked up he started hopping mad. ’A huge guy like this is actually stomping his feet?’

Lily Hart was speechless. ’It’s the apocalypse, and this guy still believes in fortune-telling? If it’s so real, how come you didn’t predict the end of the world and that you’d end up in this state?’

She couldn’t be bothered with his nonsense. It was utterly unreasonable. She stood up straight and ordered, "Just print him another one."

Myer Nash was not happy to hear that. His anger getting the better of him, he slammed both hands down hard on top of the machine.

The machine immediately let out an electrical ZZZZTT, as if it were about to overload and shut down at any moment.

Lily Hart’s eyes widened. She threw her arms around the machine. "You’re not going anywhere—"

Before she could finish, the machine in her arms fell apart, collapsing into a pile of pieces.

As if switching masks in an opera, the faint smile on Lily Hart’s face vanished. Her expression turned grim as she stared at Myer Nash.

The other customers stopped what they were doing and backed away several meters, leaving the stage clear for the two of them.

Diana Sharp sat frozen in her chair, at a complete loss. ’I think... I think I messed up...’

"Pay up." Lily Hart bit out the two words, her entire demeanor the calm before a storm.

Myer Nash stubbornly retorted, "You’re the ones who made the mistake! Is this how you run a business? Don’t you have any respect for your customers?!"

"Right now, you’re the one in debt, and I’m the one collecting. What kind of damn customer are you?" Lily Hart shot back, not holding back her anger.

’I’ve had just about enough of you!’

Myer Nash pointed at her, shrieking, "You... you—" He spun around and shouted to the crowd, "Everyone, come and see this!"

"This crooked lottery shop prints the wrong ticket, refuses to apologize, and is even trying to make me pay for their machine! Those were my grand prize-winning numbers! She’s ruined it all!"

Despite all his shouting, not a single person in the crowd backed him up. They all just stared at him as if he were a fool.

Lily Hart leaned on the counter, a satisfied smirk on her face. ’These are my loyal customers, after all. Did he really think they’d turn on me for him?’

"Pay up! Pay up!"

"I’m a witness! The young lady didn’t do anything wrong!"

"I was playing scratch-offs right here! I heard you give those exact numbers, and now you’re blaming the girl for messing up! You’re shameless!"

"Pay up! Pay up! Pay Boss Hart for the machine right now! How are the rest of us supposed to buy our tickets?!"

In an instant, a chorus of "Pay up!" erupted from the crowd. The shouts quickly synchronized into a unified, deafening chant that seemed to shake the very sky.

The commotion startled Frost Shaw, who was restocking the convenience store. He immediately dashed out and ran toward the noise, his mind flashing with at least a hundred different scenarios of Boss Hart in trouble.

But he quickly dismissed those thoughts. ’How could someone as proud and decisive as her get bullied?’ He relaxed slightly.

It was only a ten-meter run, and Frost Shaw arrived in no time. His eyes instinctively searched for Lily Hart.

She was standing perfectly fine inside the RV, a composed look on her face, the corners of her eyes tilted up. ’Is she... enjoying this shouting?’

The troublemaker was easy to spot, too. He stood in the clearing the crowd had made in front of the RV, weathering a storm of insults from all sides.

He did his best to stand up straight, but his trembling hands betrayed his inner terror.

Myer Nash covered his ears and screamed, "Stop talking! It’s not my fault!"

"Then let’s watch the replay," Lily Hart said. She was fiercely protective of her people. ’Besides,’ she thought, ’printing one wrong ticket isn’t some mortal sin. We could have just printed a new one.’

She glanced down, swiped her finger across her Light Brain, and in an instant, a massive screen materialized in mid-air.