Apocalypse: I'm Bound to a Mobile Lottery Shop

Chapter 8: Chapter 8: Hayden Donovan

First in line was Chester Carter. He couldn’t wait to speak. "Boss, can you please skip the afternoon naps from now on? Do you have any idea how agonizing this wait has been for us!"

Second in line was another familiar face—one of the people from the group that showed up after Luna Corbin’s trio.

’When did my reputation get so big?’ Lily Hart wondered.

Indeed. In the few short hours Lily Hart had spent eating hot pot, watching a variety show, and even taking a light nap... word that an RV at the base entrance was selling scratch-off tickets—tickets that could win you food and weapons—had already spread throughout the entire base.

Most importantly, the owner was incredibly strong, providing a guarantee of safety for her customers. It wasn’t like other places, where you’d get robbed the moment you stepped away.

This was practically bombshell news! In all their years since the apocalypse began, they had never seen such an outrageous superpower.

That’s right. After rounds and rounds of discussion, they had concluded it must be an extremely rare superpower.

Lily Hart wanted to offer a rebuttal, but seeing the bustling crowd outside, she felt she was being derelict in her duty. Instead, she sped up, arranging the scratch-off tickets neatly.

She then placed the Lucky Cat on the counter before finally pulling out a megaphone and shouting, "Get in groups of three, and have your Crystal Cores ready!"

With Harrison Donovan’s case from the morning serving as an example, everyone was exceptionally obedient, lining up in an orderly fashion.

But there were always a few hotheads who thought they were the greatest in the world and insisted on cutting the line, shouting all the while.

Lily Hart was swamped up front. Some were first-timers who didn’t get it and kept asking questions, forcing her to explain while also trying to serve other customers.

Thankfully, she had the Lucky Cat. Customers only needed to feed it a Crystal Core, and she would announce their name and points. Then, the customer just had to pick a scratch-off ticket.

The process itself was simple. The hard part was that some people insisted on having every single detail explained, giving Lily Hart a massive headache.

She decided that after this wave of people left, she’d post a sign with the rules. ’And for anyone who still asks,’ she thought, ’I’ll just gouge out their eyeballs and glue them to the sign.’

The first ten or so customers all scratched to reveal ordinary items. Not a single one got food, though a few weapons did appear.

Most people were here for the food. They were dying to know what the juicy dumplings Luna Corbin had described tasted like, or the fragrant, crisp apple that Kane Ward had raved about!

Lily Hart hadn’t expected the drop rate for food to be so low, either. She’d thought it was quite high when Luna Corbin won her prize that morning.

Then again, it made sense. Food was a precious commodity in the post-apocalyptic world. Scarcity created value. If it were that easy to win, things would get out of hand.

Some people scratched one ticket, saw they didn’t get what they wanted, and left. These were the more rational ones.

Others, however, refused to give up. Determined to win their desired prize, they kept scratching and scratching until their pockets were empty of Crystal Cores.

As the twentieth person in line approached, they, for a change, didn’t ask a single question. They walked up, expertly fed a Crystal Core to the cat, and casually grabbed a scratch-off ticket.

Lily Hart felt a sense of relief and paid him no mind. But just as she turned her head, a scratch-off ticket was poked against her arm.

She took it, glanced at it, and immediately brought the megaphone to her lips. "Congratulations to this gentleman for winning a pear!" she boomed.

The entire crowd erupted into a frenzy. You really could win fruit—plump, juicy fruit!

Nearly a hundred pairs of eyes were fixed on the window, but Lily Hart wasn’t the least bit intimidated. She calmly stuffed the winning ticket into the cat’s mouth.

An instant later, a plump pear, radiating a sweet fragrance, emerged. The man scrambled to catch it, not letting it touch the counter.

Someone, their eyes red with envy, lunged to snatch it. But the moment their hand touched the pear, they were flung backward. Lily Hart’s eyes curved into crescents as she smiled, revealing faint dimples on her cheeks.

She reassured him, "Eat it here. I’ll protect you."

The man, reassured, immediately started chomping down on it. It was bursting with juice, sweet and delicious. He even remembered to cup his hand underneath to catch the dripping nectar.

Then, without even sparing the core, he stuffed it into his mouth and chewed it to bits. Finally, he licked his palm clean of the collected juice, not letting a single drop go to waste.

Everyone in the surrounding line, regardless of what they were doing, stopped in their tracks.

They paid the pear the highest form of respect: an unbroken, reverent gaze from start to finish.

Lily Hart watched, dumbfounded. ’Well, that saves me a napkin,’ she thought.

The people around them weren’t surprised in the least. This was fruit, after all. Anyone who dared to waste even a sliver of peel would get beaten to a pulp!

Spurred on by this example, the crowd’s enthusiasm surged. Seeing this, Lily Hart immediately grabbed her megaphone. "Groups of five! Line up in groups of five!"

It had been groups of three before, and now it was five. This meant five people would have to huddle over the small counter to scratch their tickets, which was bound to feel cramped.

But it was the only way to improve efficiency.

Later, another person—a young woman—won a bowl of beef noodle soup. She wept uncontrollably as she ate, simultaneously crying and slurping, all while trying to keep her tears from falling into the bowl.

Lily Hart found it a bit hard to watch. She passed a napkin over and said comfortingly, "What’s there to cry about? If you want more, you can just come back and try your luck again."

That seemed to open the floodgates. "I don’t want to kill zombies," the woman sobbed. "It’s too hard... living is so exhausting... I don’t want to live anymore..."

It was a wave of pure despair. Lily Hart was at a loss, but finally said, "Well, you can’t eat delicious beef noodle soup like this if you’re dead."

The young woman immediately fell silent, her wails turning into quiet sobs. Her eating pace didn’t slow one bit. She devoured every last morsel, leaving the bowl so clean it looked as if it had never held food.

"Thank you, Boss! I’ll be back tomorrow to try again! I’m going to go kill some zombies right now!" The woman was now brimming with fighting spirit.

All for the chance to play scratch-offs every day, to eat delicious food every day!

Lily Hart gave an encouraging smile, then turned to serve other customers.

Seeing that food was truly winnable, the crowd’s excitement reached its peak. Before nightfall, all two hundred scratch-off tickets from the ten booklets Lily Hart had bought the day before were gone.

She did a quick mental calculation. ’Ten thousand points in one day! I can eat so, so many hot pot meals with this.’

The line in front of the window had dwindled, leaving only a few who were extremely reluctant to give up, desperate to win some food.

Each of them held a ticket in hand—the very last ones for the day. Lily Hart, too, was waiting for a miracle.

Of course, no miracle occurred. They walked away dejectedly, but not without asking, "Boss, will you be back tomorrow?"

Lily Hart nodded. "Of course. Why wouldn’t I?" ’The lambs here are just too easy to fleece,’ she thought. ’One flock after another. Once I’m done shearing this lot, I’ll just find a new pasture.’

Those few left, still unwilling to give up. Lily Hart decided it was time to pack up and close for the day. ’In this new life, I refuse to work overtime!’

"Just a moment." Suddenly, a voice traveled from afar, growing closer until it reached Lily Hart’s ears.

She looked up but saw no one, only the guards standing watch at the base entrance. They looked utterly bored, some even yawning.

Lily Hart figured she must be hearing things. She swiftly scooped the Lucky Cat into her arms and was about to pull down the service window shutter when a pebble came flying—

It struck the Lucky Cat right on its porcelain eyeball. In an instant, the eye shattered, its pieces scattering. Lily Hart stared blankly, completely stunned.

When she snapped out of it, Lily Hart was furious. She planted her hands on her hips and roared, "Who did that?! Get the hell out here now!"

A figure appeared before Lily Hart with incredible speed. She squinted, and the person looked a bit like that ’fire man,’ Harrison Donovan.