Lucky Draw

Baron Hamilton was fretting over money, while Renard had finished studying the map and was lounging on the sofa, leisurely puffing on a cigar.

All his lackeys had been sent out on errands, and with no one around to flatter him, he found himself feeling a little unaccustomed to it. "How's the sewer-clearing job coming along?"

Selina was carefully polishing the porcelain on the bookshelf. She replied nonchalantly, "Very quickly. It'll be cleared in another two days, and then most of the city's flooding problems will be solved."

After speaking, she turned to look at her young master, a smile appearing on her face. "The townspeople have been praising you quite a bit lately, young master."

Praise? Renard curled his lip, looking disdainful. He felt that these people were just rotten to the core.

When a good person did something wrong, people would seize on it and make a big deal of it, saying, "See? I told you he wasn't a good person. The fox's tail is showing now, isn't it?"

When a bad person did something good, people would be grateful and even praise him for having some goodness left in him.

Human nature was such a contradictory thing.

This didn't make Renard happy at all. He frowned and said, "Tell the lackeys to pick up the pace. I don't want to keep a bunch of freeloaders."

"Yes, young master." Seeing his displeasure, Selina couldn't help shrinking her neck. She wisely said no more and continued carefully polishing the porcelain in front of her.

If the lackeys heard that, they'd cough up three liters of blood. How could a sewer that had been clogged for months be cleared so easily?

Just as Renard was growing dissatisfied with his lackeys for slacking off, the system's notification rang out of the blue.

"Ding! Bounty mission completed: Clear the garbage dump in the slums of Saint Brieuc Fortress. Reward: eighty dinars."

"Ding! For exceeding the mission requirements, one bonus random draw has been awarded."

A random draw? Renard immediately perked up. If the system hadn't kindly reminded him, he would have nearly forgotten about it.

He opened the system menu, then the draw interface, and saw a rusty wheel appear before him.

"Damaged Lucky Draw Compass. Due to its low grade, it can only draw low-priced items from the system. Remaining draws: two."

Renard's eye twitched. The wheel was huge—very huge, nearly twice his height. It listed all sorts of things, but the most eye-catching feature was the phrase "Better luck next time," which took up a quarter of the wheel.

He took a deep breath and asked, half amused and half exasperated, "It can't be this rigged, can it?"

The system actually replied for once. "The host need not worry. Drawing 'Better luck next time' increases the odds of obtaining valuable items. Once you collect four 'Better luck next time' results, you may choose one item from the corresponding shop."

The system's explanation eased Renard's worries a little. So it wasn't quite that rigged after all.

It still had a conscience. It still had a conscience!

Since he had two draws, there was no reason not to use them. He clicked the draw button below, and the wheel immediately began spinning at a steady pace.

About ten seconds later, the wheel stopped abruptly. Renard's heart felt as if someone had given it a hard squeeze. The pointer was clearly aimed at the words "Better luck next time."

He held it in for a long while, then finally blurted out, "Damn it!"

He knew things wouldn't go as nicely as he'd hoped. Expecting a lousy system to suddenly grow a conscience was like believing pigs could climb trees.

Of course, the system had made the rules. No matter how bad his temper got, there was nowhere to vent it.

Renard suppressed his anger and clicked the draw button again.

The wheel began spinning steadily once more. Ten seconds later, it stopped again. Before he could see what he'd drawn, the wheel had already returned to its original position.

The system's notification rang out at the same time. "Congratulations, host. You've drawn a Beginner Bloody Knight Ring."

A Beginner Bloody Knight Ring? Renard froze for a moment. His first reaction wasn't to inspect the ring in his hand, but to type Beginner Bloody Knight Ring into the search bar in the system shop.

Beginner Bloody Knight Ring: A magical summoning item that summons a Beginner Bloody Knight. The summoned creature has the strength of a Beginner Qi Warrior. Price: two thousand dinars.

When he saw the price, Renard nearly fainted from happiness. Two thousand dinars was equivalent to twenty gleaming gold coins, the total tax revenue of Saint Brieuc Fortress for one month.

Had the system gotten more generous? No!

Renard immediately grew suspicious. He narrowed his eyes and looked at the note below: The Bloody Knight remained for two minutes. After use, it required forty-eight hours to recharge before it could be used again.

"Damn it!" He counted it out on his fingers. It had a cooldown of forty-eight hours, but the summoned creature only lasted two minutes?

"Talk about a rip-off!" He knew the system wouldn't be so generous. Sure enough, there was a catch.

Still, it was a Magic Item worth two thousand dinars, and it could summon a Bloody Knight with the strength of a Beginner Qi Warrior. It might save his life in a pinch.

Thinking of that, Renard was immediately satisfied. After all, those who were content were always happy.

Besides his two draws, he still had one hundred and forty-eight dinars left to spend. Since he'd soon be heading out on a killing mission, he figured it was time to prepare a weapon that suited him.

He opened the system shop's section for magical swords, and a cold prompt immediately sounded.

"Based on the host's physical attributes, this system has automatically filtered out the 274 types of swords best suited to the host."

"Two hundred and seventy-four?" Renard couldn't help gaping. Hadn't it been twenty-six last time?

He pondered for a while, then slowly figured it out. Could the recommendations be based on how much money he had?

The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed. He secretly flipped the system off. "You're always looking for ways to rip me off."

A rip-off it might be, but it did save Renard quite a bit of time.

After browsing through the choices, he finally settled on an Enchanted Longsword worth three hundred dinars. He had to throw in a gold coin and fifty-two silver coins as well.

"Fine Steel Longsword (Magic-grade). Hilt length: 24 centimeters. Blade length: 66 centimeters. Suitable for close combat. Added attributes: Sharpness, Durability, Maiming. Sharpness increases the weapon's cutting edge; Durability increases its sturdiness; Maiming slightly weakens the opponent."

All three attributes were very useful, and the price was within his means.

While Selina wasn't looking, Renard took the weapon out of the shop and kept turning it over in his hands, his eyes filled with delight.

He also chuckled to himself. Although the weapon cost three hundred dinars, enchanted weapons were extremely rare in a place like the Barren Land, so it could sell for three hundred and fifty dinars.

In other words, if he didn't need it anymore and sold it later, he wouldn't lose money. He might even make a little profit.

As a veteran gamer, he knew every game had bugs, and this was the first one he'd found.