Wu Dahai confidently smoothed down his broom-like hair, then swaggered over to the slot machine as though making a dazzling entrance.
"Ten coins each, which means ten points. Five minutes of play. Huang, you keep time. Down to the second."
"Sure." Officer Wu took out his phone and opened the stopwatch.
"The rules are simple. Whoever scores more within five minutes wins." Wu Dahai looked at Gaoyang. "Any questions?"
"No."
"Good! I'll go first!" Wu Dahai sat down at the slot machine, deftly inserted ten coins, and started playing.
Gaoyang stood behind him and watched, refreshing his childhood memories of watching other people play slot machines.
This was the most common model on the market, with eight possible prizes: apple (5x payout), orange (10x), papaya (15x), bell (20x), watermelon (20x), double stars (30x), double sevens (40x), and BAR (100x).
The odds of winning were inversely proportional to the payout. The top prize, BAR, was the hardest to hit; it might not appear even once in a hundred spins. Apples, oranges, and papayas were easier to hit, but paid less.
Wu Dahai started with ten points. He spent three on his first round, betting one each on apple, orange, and papaya.
Five seconds later, he hit apple. He won five points, bringing his total to twelve.
On the second round, Wu Dahai bet two points each on orange, papaya, and bell.
Five seconds later, he hit orange. He won twenty points, bringing his total to twenty-six.
For the first eight or nine rounds, Wu Dahai spread his bets wide and picked up small wins, accumulating over eighty points. He lost several times along the way, but his score generally kept climbing.
Wu Dahai looked extremely pleased with himself. "Sure, slots are a game of luck, but there are patterns. They can't be truly random. I can't really explain those patterns, but after playing tens of thousands of rounds, you develop a vague intuition. Usually, when I predict the next prize, I get it right about once in three tries."
"What do you call that..." Wu Dahai continued placing his bets, saying smugly, "Read three hundred Tang deaths, and even if you can't court death, you can recite it."
"It's 'poems,' not 'deaths,'" Gaoyang couldn't help correcting his pronunciation.
Called out, Wu Dahai turned around and glared at him.
"One minute left," Officer Huang reminded him.
"Plenty!"
Wu Dahai closed his eyes and muttered with great solemnity, "I can feel double sevens calling to me!"
The instant he opened his eyes, he bet twenty points on double sevens.
The result came up papaya instead.
The unexpected result didn't shake Wu Dahai. He bet another twenty points on double sevens.
The result was watermelon.
He now had only forty-odd points left, but still didn't hesitate. He bet another twenty points on double sevens.
This time, he hit double sevens!
The entire slot machine flashed a festive red, and frenzied music and a mechanical electronic voice echoed through the room. "Congratulations! Congratulations! Congratulations!"
Twenty points multiplied by forty meant eight hundred points!
The credit display instantly shot up to 820!
Wu Dahai stood up and stretched. There were still thirty seconds left, but he wasn't planning to do anything else.
"Time's up," Officer Huang announced.
Wu Dahai's final score was 820.
A minute later, the slot machine was reset, and Gaoyang began his turn. He thought for a moment, took a deep breath, and started betting.
At first, he copied Wu Dahai's strategy, spreading his bets and collecting small wins. He stuck to the same old trio of apples, papayas, and oranges, working away like a diligent fruit farmer. After three minutes, he had harvested sixty-one points, but that was worlds away from Wu Dahai's 820.
Next came the big bets, but Gaoyang had no idea where to start. Double stars, double sevens, and BAR all felt unfamiliar.
Finally, he steeled himself and decided to bet on the biggest prize: BAR!
Six bets, ten points each. Just one hit would give me a thousand points!
Aren't I lucky? Maybe I really can hit it!
Gaoyang bet ten points on BAR.
Behind him, Wu Dahai laughed mockingly. "Buddy, you're grasping at straws! You've only played a handful of rounds, and you're already hoping to hit BAR? I can play all night without seeing it once!"
"Beep beep beep beep beeeep-click!" The result came up. Sure enough, he missed.
Gaoyang bet another ten points.
Five seconds later, the result came up. Another miss.
Soon, Gaoyang had only one chance left. On an impulse, he slammed the button with all his strength!
"Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beeeep-" Gaoyang sensed he might have a shot. This spin seemed to last a full two seconds longer than the others.
"Click!"
He missed. The result was nowhere near BAR.
"Hahahahaha, you missed... you lost!" Wu Dahai laughed gleefully. "Bro, you're ten thousand years too early to beat me at slots! Practice some other games, and maybe you'll have a chance. Come challenge me again next month."
Gaoyang looked at his score: 1.
It wasn't time to give up yet.
"How much time is left?" Gaoyang turned to Officer Huang.
Officer Huang checked his phone. "Thirty seconds... twenty-nine..."
Gaoyang glanced at the slot machine's buttons, his gaze settling on the two marked big and small.
To hell with it!
Gaoyang closed his eyes and hit the "big" button ten times in a row!
"Thump thump thump thump..." The credit display jumped from one to two, from two to four, from four to eight, from eight to sixteen... in the blink of an eye, it reached 624!
The whole process took less than ten seconds.
Wu Dahai was dumbfounded. Few slot players dared to bet on big or small. Winning doubled your points; losing wiped them out.
It looked incredibly tempting, but if you dared to play, you were practically guaranteed to lose. Especially when your score got too high, the machine would most likely swallow all your points, whether you bet big or small.
Yet Gaoyang had bet big ten times in a row and won every single time! What were the odds? With luck like that, shouldn't he be buying lottery tickets?!
Officer Huang watched with his heart in his throat, continuing his countdown. "Eight seconds left."
Gaoyang was stunned himself. Is this the boost from my Fortune Talent? Whatever. One more!
Gaoyang steadied his trembling arm and slammed the "big" button!
"Thump!" His score jumped from 624 to 1,248!
I won!
"Time's up!"
Wu Dahai stared in disbelief. He had played slots his whole life and had never seen anything like this. Could the machine be broken? He stepped forward and pressed "big" again.
"Thump!" In an instant, the score dropped to zero.
Wu Dahai accepted his defeat wholeheartedly. Today, he had finally seen what a true king of luck looked like.
"You won. You passed the test," Wu Dahai said.
"Finally," Officer Huang said, overflowing with joy. "It's been almost half a year. I can finally join the organization."
"Hey, hold on! Don't get the wrong idea. This was only the organization's first test," Wu Dahai said. "There's a second one."
"What?" Officer Huang looked somewhat startled. "There's more?"
Gaoyang wasn't surprised at all. What organization would recruit Awakened by testing their gaming skills? They weren't recruiting an esports team for professional tournaments.
"Huang, you didn't seriously think winning a game would get you into our organization, did you? The first test was just a warm-up. Now we get down to business."
Wu Dahai raised his hand and snapped his fingers. In an instant, every arcade machine in the room shut down, and the ceiling fan stopped too.
Standing in the darkness, Gaoyang and Officer Huang exchanged a glance without speaking.
Wu Dahai really wasn't as simple as he looked. His Talent was very likely Electric Element, and in any game, movie, or TV show, people who wielded electricity were powerful fighters.
He really is a big shot, hiding his strength and playing harmless in front of rookies like us. If he'd actually taken issue with Qingling earlier, she might not have been a match for him.
"Come on. Let's talk outside." With both hands in his pockets, Wu Dahai sauntered out of the game room.
Before you continue