So-Called Luck

At eight that evening, Sato arrived alone at Goldenrod City's largest and most famous Silph Game Corner. Before he even entered, he could already hear the deafening clamor from outside.

Silph Game Corner stood in the very heart of the city, where every inch of land was worth a fortune, yet it covered an area as large as two football fields. The main reason it drew so many people was the exceptionally generous rewards it offered.

At the top of the exchange list were Larvitar and Dratini, larval forms of pseudo-legendary Pokémon! There were also plenty of other rare Pokémon, valuable items, multifunctional Poké Balls, high-tech equipment, and more.

But when Sato saw the string of zeros after Dratini's exchange price, he could not even be bothered to count them. In any case, ever since the Game Corner had opened, he had never heard of any lucky person obtaining a pseudo-legendary larval form.

Pulling his gaze away, Sato exchanged 100 Game Coins at the front desk, spending a total of one hundred thousand Pokemon Coins. That exchange rate alone scared off most ordinary people, and it also showed just how prosperous Goldenrod City was.

Tossing a rather heavy bag of Game Coins in his hand, Sato looked like a little kid seeing the world for the first time, glancing around with interest at everything.

Sato's behavior did not attract any attention in the Game Corner. Truly wealthy people used VIP cards to play, while children carrying bags of Game Coins were usually just cash-strapped walk-in customers.

So after wandering around for a while, Sato found that not a single attendant had thought to come over and serve him.

"Perfect."

Sato muttered as he strolled toward an inconspicuous corner. There was a row of virtual horse-racing machines there, except the "horses" were all Pokémon that could be used as mounts.

He casually chose a rather stylish Rapidash and got on, then inserted two Game Coins. As a road appeared on the display screen before him, Sato began "galloping" on Rapidash.

Ten Minutes later, Sato got off the mount Still Wanting More. The game was expensive, but it was thrilling. Though it was only the simplest obstacle-dodging game, Rapidash's realistic body heat, the changes in its muscles as it moved, and even the faint jolt from stepping on a stone were all clearly conveyed to Sato.

Instead of playing another round, Sato continued to wander around lazily. Most of his attention appeared to be on the various games, making him look like a cash-strapped child carefully deciding which one to play.

But the remaining inconspicuous glances were all used by Sato to scout the layout, personnel arrangements, and so on.

Having been reincarnated for so long, Sato had gradually begun to adapt to using the advantage of his age to disguise himself, and the results were quite obvious.

Whether it was his opponents underestimating him in previous battles or the security personnel ignoring him now, both had opened the way for him.

"Found it!"

Sato wandered over to the most popular game. Each machine had only three reels and a lever. As long as the images on all three reels matched, players could receive different multipliers of Game Coins depending on the image.

It was simple, straightforward, and Game Coins moved quickly. For people who liked things simple and direct, this game was highly appealing.

Sato quietly glanced at a picture on the very edge of the row of machines, then naturally withdrew his gaze and sat down at a random machine.

"Click!"

"Ding!" "Ding!" "Ding!"

"Crashing Sound..."

"Hm?"

Sato watched as the coin slot spat out over a hundred Game Coins all at once with a crashing sound, and for the first time, he felt a little dumbfounded.

The three reels all displayed the same image—a cute Jigglypuff, which even blinked adorably in unison.

Even in such a noisy environment, the sound of more than a hundred Pokemon Coins rolling out at once instantly drew a large crowd of nearby players.

After freezing for a second, Sato immediately put on an excited expression and inserted another two Game Coins.

"Ding!" "Ding!" "Ding!"

"Crashing Sound..."

Before Sato's hand had even left the lever, three cute Pikachu appeared alongside an even greater flood of Game Coins and chirped at him twice.

After hitting the jackpot twice in a row, the people around him could no longer sit still. They crowded around Sato and saw that the box he had specifically brought to catch the Game Coins and keep them from bouncing away already held a substantial layer.

Once was a coincidence, but twice? Sato looked helplessly at the gathering crowd, thought for a moment, then grabbed another two Game Coins, inserted them, and pulled the lever.

"Ding!" "Ding!" "Beep..."

When he saw that he had not won again, Sato quietly let out a sigh of relief. The spectators around him, however, were disappointed. They had thought this Little Boy had some secret technique for winning.

He inserted two more Game Coins and pulled the lever. When three completely different images appeared on the reels, the people around him became convinced that Sato had merely been lucky and began to leave.

Sato relaxed and casually inserted two Game Coins.

"Click!"

"Ding!" "Ding!" "Ding!"

"Crashing Sound..."

The people who had turned away instantly spun back around. One person even twisted his neck from excitement.

Sato looked down at the madly pouring Game Coins, then raised his head to confirm the three bright red sevens on the reels. When he turned around, everyone standing half-turned in a circle stared at him dumbfounded.

"This seems to be the grand prize, right?"

"Yeah!"

Someone timidly voiced the question, and everyone around them, still maintaining their half-turned postures, nodded with difficulty.

"Crashing Sound..."

Before the sound of the Game Coins had even faded, Sato came back to his senses and smiled shyly.

"Wow, I'm so lucky!"

In an instant, everyone crowded around again. From children not even as old as Sato to White-haired old men who could barely speak clearly, all of them stared at him excitedly.

"I... really am just lucky."

"Yeah, we know!" everyone said in unison, though their eyes blatantly said, Who are you trying to fool? "Click!"

"Click!"

"Click!"

Three times in a row, Sato failed to win anything, but the boxes that were nearly piling up drew more and more people over to watch.

Sato gave a wry smile. I didn't even know I was this lucky!

Ten times, twenty times... Sato kept going until he had played fifty times in a row. Even after using up all one hundred Game Coins he had won the first time, he still hadn't hit a prize. Only then did the crowd begin to leave, their feelings complicated.

"Ding!" "Ding!" "Ding!"

"Ding!"

The fourth ding came from Sato's heart dropping. The crowd behind him stirred restlessly.

After hitting three red sevens again, Sato looked at the wolfish gazes around him. Even someone as battle-hardened as him was starting to feel overwhelmed.

Forget it, forget it. Sato shook his head frantically. There was no way he could keep scouting things out today. Momo called over a Staff Member and found a sack as big as a bucket.

Sato carried all the Game Coins he had won on his shoulder to the exchange area, drawing One Hundred Percent head-turns Along the Way.

"Sir, you have obtained a total of 2,438 Game Coins. What would you like to exchange them for?" The Staff Member in charge of exchanges was much more composed.

It was not as if people with absurdly good luck like Sato had never appeared before, so the Staff Members remained fairly calm.

Sato Glanced At the exchange list. These two thousand-plus Game Coins could actually be traded for quite a few things!

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