Heartbeat Roulette

The shop was closed for the weekend, so Mu You hadn't set an alarm. For the first time in a week, he enjoyed the rare luxury of sleeping until he woke naturally.

When he opened his eyes the next day, it was already two in the afternoon.

He got up and saw the American Shorthair sprawled shamelessly on the other side of his bed, mouth slightly open, tongue sticking out, all four legs curled up to expose a snowy white belly. The cat looked dead to the world.

"Cola, wake up!"

Mu You patted the cat's face. No response.

He rubbed the cat's belly with both hands for a while, only to make the snoring even louder.

"Just how deeply are you sleeping?"

Mu You was speechless.

The cat really must have been exhausted. After wandering outside for more than ten days, the poor thing probably hadn't enjoyed a single peaceful night's sleep, remaining constantly on edge. Now that there was finally a safe place to rest, all that accumulated exhaustion had come crashing down, leaving the cat sleeping like a log.

Mu You stopped disturbing the cat. He got up and went downstairs, where he found that the food bowl he'd filled yesterday was now completely empty.

"You really cleaned that out..."

The corner of Mu You's eye twitched. He poured out another bowl of cat food, went out for lunch, then returned and finally started cleaning the shop.

Although the shop was closed today, there was no such thing as a day off when running a pet shop. Taking care of the animals' food, water, and bathroom needs was an essential daily routine.

He cleaned up the droppings as usual and fed the little animals one by one. By the time he finished all his work, it was already seven in the evening.

Mu You went upstairs to check his room and was left speechless. "Still asleep..."

The American Shorthair was still lying on the bed, all four paws curled up and belly exposed in the same position as before, utterly oblivious to the world.

"Come to think of it, I haven't used up today's game stamina yet..."

Mu You left the cat alone. Remembering that he'd been busy all night and hadn't had a chance to play today, he went over to his desk, dug out his phone, and launched "Fool"!

Once the game loaded, his character was still outside the blacksmith's shop.

A notification popped up at the bottom of the screen. The Night Watch Duty he'd completed last night had earned him another year of lifespan, bringing his remaining lifespan to 49 years.

Mu You guided his character away from the blacksmith's shop and back to the village entrance.

As usual, his first stop was to mess with Scarecrow!

With a cheerful smile, Mu You walked up to Scarecrow. But when he tapped Scarecrow's text as usual, a notification appeared instead: [Scarecrow is sulking and says it doesn't want to talk to you!]

"Huh?"

Mu You froze. Thinking he'd misread it, he hurriedly tapped Scarecrow twice more, only to get...

[Scarecrow is sulking and says it doesn't want to talk to you!]

[Scarecrow is sulking and says it doesn't want to talk to you!]

"Damn, what's going on? Why's it suddenly sulking...? Did Scarecrow realize I've been freeloading off it and decide to go on strike?"

Unwilling to give up, Mu You tapped Scarecrow more than a dozen times in succession, but the result was always the same. Scarecrow seemed determined not to speak to him.

Left with no choice, Mu You temporarily abandoned Scarecrow and turned into the Owl Shop instead.

Fortunately, the shop wasn't on strike.

[You entered the Owl Shop. Delighted to see a returning customer, the old cat shopkeeper enthusiastically showed you the three items for sale today.]

[Layers of Mist: An intermediate interference spell that creates a bank of mist within a ten-li radius, blocking sight, hearing, and smell. The blocking effect does not affect the caster. Price: 500 years of lifespan.]

[Exorcism Round Shield: As its name suggests, this is a shield that can reflect magical effects. Price: 140 years of lifespan.]

[Heartbeat Roulette: This month's special promotion! This roulette wheel contains countless prizes, ranging from worthless junk to priceless treasures! Spend 10 years of lifespan for one spin. (Limited to one spin per person.)]

"Oho!"

Mu You's eyes lit up. As usual, he couldn't afford the first two, so he skipped straight to the third.

"This shopkeeper has all kinds of tricks. There's even a prize draw!"

These mild forms of gambling-capsule toys, mystery boxes, prize wheels, and the like-had long since been done to death by unscrupulous merchants on Earth. Thinking rationally, the average expected return from each draw was certainly lower than the value of the prizes inside.

Simply put, with a large enough sample size, some people might come out slightly ahead once or twice, but the owner would never lose!

-Provided, of course, that the owner didn't encounter a walking exploit like Mu You.

As soon as he read the promotion's description, Mu You couldn't stop smiling. Here was another perfect opportunity to put the Time Pocket Watch to work!

Mu You immediately tapped "Heartbeat Roulette."

[You selected Heartbeat Roulette. Please note that the rewards are completely random, and the chance of winning the grand prize is less than one in a thousand. Confirm purchase? A friendly reminder from the old cat shopkeeper: spinning carries risks. Purchase with caution.]

This shopkeeper is pretty decent...

That was Mu You's thought as he read the final warning, then quietly tapped "Confirm."

[Successfully purchased one spin. Lifespan -10. Remaining lifespan: 39 years.]

[You stepped forward and spun the wheel. It slowed down gradually before finally stopping at a particular spot.]

[You received the consolation prize "Kobold Droppings": An unremarkable lump of dried dung. Perhaps you could use it as fuel.]

"Damn! What the hell is this? Rewind, rewind!"

Mu You silently cursed his rotten luck. A lump of crap on his very first draw-was this thing trying to mess with him?

[Time flowed backward. You returned to before the choice and spun the wheel again.]

[...The wheel slowed down gradually before finally stopping at a particular spot.]

[You received the consolation prize "Discount Coupon": Choose any one item in this shop and purchase it at 20% off.]

Mu You was utterly speechless. A gift voucher was a little better than dog crap, but it was still just another classic piece of trendy junk. He rewound again.

[You received the consolation prize "A Rusty Knife"...]

"Again!"

[You received the consolation prize...]

Mu You had dug in his heels against this wheel, pressing the Pocket Watch over and over.

After more than two hundred rounds of "classic trendy junk," he finally landed something that wasn't a consolation prize for the first time!

[The wheel stopped. You received the second prize, "Doppelganger Wand"!]

[Doppelganger Wand: A Magic Wand inscribed with a duplication spell. When used, it creates a doppelganger identical to the user that lasts for one hour.]

"It makes a doppelganger!"

Reading the description, Mu You felt a surge of desire. He wanted to claim the reward immediately.

In the end, though, he restrained the impulse.

"No rush. This is only second prize. First prize has to be even more incredible!"

He'd already spun hundreds of times. If he didn't get first prize now, how could he do his Pocket Watch justice?

"Rewind!"

Mu You decisively rewound time and kept drawing.

He'd thought that starting over would mean enduring another long, sanity-eroding stretch of "drawing junk."

To his surprise, the very next spin after the rewind landed him the grand prize outright!

[Congratulations, chosen one! You have won the ultimate grand prize of this Heartbeat Roulette: the Heartlock Unseal Scroll!]