Four hundred thousand?
Four lottery draws?
This wasn't scientific.
Lake stared at the final amount available for recharge and blinked, feeling as though he hadn't woken up yet.
What happened to the guaranteed ten-pull?
How had six hundred thousand disappeared just like that?
This wasn't scientific.
Lake widened his eyes and took out another sheet of paper, planning to calculate everything again from scratch. In the end, not only had the number failed to increase, it had dropped by another twenty thousand.
What the fuck!
Lake sucked in a cold breath, seemingly realizing where he had gone wrong.
He had forgotten about the twenty-percent money-laundering fee.
...Forget it.
At worst, he could find an opportunity to sell the Continental Hotel coins in his account. If he sold them at an eighty-percent discount, he could recover enough to make three more draws.
Lake sighed.
He directly recharged four hundred thousand from his overseas bank account.
What a rip-off.
If Lake hadn't felt that preserving the Continental Hotel was better than wiping it out, the twenty-percent money-laundering fee alone would have made him want to storm over and demand his hard-earned wages.
This was his hard-earned money.
Very soon.
After the cheat successfully recharged four hundred thousand, Lake looked at the number of available draws displayed on it and immediately suppressed his urge to storm over and demand his wages, at least for the time being.
He took a shower.
He burned incense.
Lake had originally wondered whether he should invite statues of Buddha, the Jade Emperor, God, Jesus, and the like into his home to increase his odds of becoming the Chosen One. However, after hearing an East Countryman say that inviting gods from America to the East Country required paying a fee, he simply abandoned the idea.
Lake didn't believe in God or Jesus.
So...
He gave up on inviting a god.
"Start!"
"Give me four draws. Explode, explode, explode!"
Lake's eyes widened as he stared at the interface only he could see. In his heart, like a true gambler, he let out that very cry.
Very soon.
Ding!
Draw successful. First-stage draws remaining: 487!
Tracking Card *1: Item, B-rank, Technology-type. After use, it can locate a person's position and track them in real time. Duration: two hours.
Copy Card *1: Item, B-rank, Infinity-type. Select an item card you own to copy.
Clone: Skill, SR-class, Magic-type. Creates a clone. The clone cannot use skills that the main body is incapable of controlling. The clone automatically disappears upon death. There is no cooldown. Only one clone may be summoned at a time. Alternatively, an additional clone can be purchased for one hundred thousand dollars. The second clone costs one hundred thousand, the third two hundred thousand, the fourth four hundred thousand...
Angel Diamond: Cash, D-rank, Nature-type. As you can see, this is a diamond—and a rare one at that. It is exceptionally rare in this world and extremely valuable.
"..."
What was all this supposed to be?
Where was his SSR?
He was only missing one S. They wouldn't even give him that?
Four draws, and not a single one?
A transcendent bloodline.
A divine nature.
Even a growable Divine Kingdom would have been fine.
The corner of Lake's mouth twitched violently as he stared at the four things he had drawn after spending four hundred thousand. He seriously suspected that the cheat was rigging the results, just like those lottery companies that stubbornly refused to give out the grand prize.
Of the four things, Lake felt that only the SR-class clone could be considered worth the price. The other three were practically no different from receiving a "Thank you for participating" in a roulette draw.
And then there was that diamond with its glittering heart.
It was quite pretty.
If he sold it, he could at least buy something worth over two million. But this wasn't something he could simply sell. Even if he could, the cheat had already sealed that loophole.
None of the items obtained from the cheat's lottery could be sold through any means to obtain cash.
None of them...
Lake wasn't a woman, nor did he possess the bloodline of a dragon. He wasn't the least bit interested in a diamond whose only function was to sparkle.
"I don't want to draw anymore. Give me my money back."
"..."
Clearly, he was dreaming. Never mind that the cheat wasn't intelligent—even if it were, it absolutely wouldn't agree.
Lake sprawled across his computer desk, looking exactly like an old gambler who had lost and was asking whether he could surrender and lose only half.
Immediately afterward.
Lake's gaze fell on the six hundred thousand in the Continental Hotel's own backend system.
Should he...
Withdraw it and take another shot, doing a ten-pull? Maybe that would finally give him a Golden Legend?
"Slap!"
The thought had barely arisen when Lake came to his senses and smacked himself hard across the face.
I'm not a gambler.
Lake took deep breaths, suppressing the powerful urge in his heart to go all in. This six hundred thousand was waiting to be laundered, used to pay various expenses, and then invested to make more money.
Using it now would feel good for a moment, but when he needed money later, he would suffer.
But...
He couldn't accept this!
Lake wailed inwardly. He had expected that, at the very least, he would draw a Golden Legend this time. Instead, without a doubt, he had once again drawn absolutely nothing.
He had clearly felt that he would draw a Golden Legend before starting.
So...
It had been another illusion.
Lake patted his handsome face, sighed, and, with his eyes closed, unplugged the USB drive. Then he tossed it back into the drawer without opening his eyes.
He opened his eyes.
"Ah."
"So you really were pretending to be sick."
"..."
Lake blinked and looked up at his girlfriend, Maureen, who had appeared at the study door at some unknown point and was leaning against the frame with her arms crossed. He blinked again. "When did you get here?"
Maureen said, "When you closed the drawer."
As she spoke, Maureen walked in and looked at Lake's perfectly intact right arm. "Yesterday, I fed you, helped you bathe, and even took the initiative, only for you to turn out to have been pretending to be sick. You planned this all along, huh?"
Lake shook his head. "No."
If he had known that pretending to be injured would earn him the treatment he received last night, Lake guaranteed he would have pretended once a week. After all, he was a police officer, and getting injured in a shootout with criminals was perfectly normal.
But last night definitely hadn't been premeditated.
Maureen laughed angrily. "If Joe hadn't secretly told me today, how long were you planning to keep pretending to be sick? Or should I ask how many more times you wanted me to wait on you?"
"That damn traitor!"
"What?"
"Nothing."
Lake shook his head. This was why he liked working alone. Other people couldn't be relied upon. Look at Joe—he had clearly promised to keep his mouth shut, but what happened? It hadn't even been twenty-four hours, and he had already sold him out completely.
I shouldn't have saved you back then.
Lake gritted his teeth. Fortunately, George's assignment would be over in a few days. By then, Joe would be transferred to George's unit.
Maureen looked at Lake's flickering eyes and called out to him again.
Lake looked up. "Huh?"
Maureen laughed angrily. "Tell me, how many times were you planning to make me wait on you before you'd tell me that you were pretending to be sick?"
Lake looked at the cold, beautiful Maureen and cautiously suggested, "One more time?"
The moment the words left his mouth.
Maureen directly threw the scarf around her neck at Lake. Lake's words had thoroughly amused her despite herself. "Then go play with yourself once."
Lake: "..."
Before you continue