Chapter 28 A Bit of Confidence
In Dream Come True Entertainment City, the sound of coins and steel balls pouring continuously filled the lower hall of the third floor. Amidst this clattering, a faint sound of a copper coin being tossed into the air was heard.
“Clink—!”
Would this uncle win this round? Heads, he would; tails, he wouldn’t.
Luxianbei fixed her gaze on the Blessing God Copper Coin while silently reciting in her heart. At the moment a premonition flashed through her mind, she reached out and caught the descending coin.
Will he win?
Luxianbei slightly furrowed her brows, shifting her focus to the middle-aged uncle, whose eyes were narrowed, quietly awaiting the results.
Thirty seconds later, the slot machine emitted a losing game signal.
Seeing this, Luxianbei frowned and spat, “Tch! As expected…”
She had been observing this middle-aged uncle, who seemed to have almost no spirit energy fluctuation and appeared somewhat kind, for over thirty minutes. She had tossed the copper coin for divination more than a dozen times, finally concluding that trying to win the game through the copper coin divination was futile!
The results of those dozen divinations were sometimes right, sometimes wrong, as though some force were interfering with the copper coin, causing it to temporarily lose its magical power.
Thinking it through, that made sense.
Dream Come True Entertainment City, as a casino run by former destroyers, hosted many powerful spiritual ability users and urban legends among its guests.
If, here, one could easily win chips relying solely on a low-level spirit energy item, what would be the difference from charity?
Luxianbei thought, turning her gaze to the slot machine in front of the middle-aged uncle, concentrating her mind and squinting her eyes; the next moment a premonition flickered through her mind.
[Two oranges and a gold coin]
Immediately after, the middle-aged uncle placed his bet and pulled the lever; the patterns in the three glass frames began to roll rapidly.
Watching the uncle bet on three sevens, Luxianbei gently shook her head, murmuring, “So greedy, he’s going to lose.”
The middle-aged uncle glanced at Luxianbei from the corner of his eye, an annoyed expression flickering on his brow.
When he shifted his attention back to the three glass frames, the rolling patterns came to a halt.
One orange, one crown, one gold coin.
Seeing this, Luxianbei’s brow furrowed slightly, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes.
Just now, the patterns in the glass frames had nearly stopped on two oranges and a gold coin, but at the last moment, the middle section seemed to sense something and continued rolling, altering the result.
Even my predictions can’t be 100% accurate?
However…
In her musings, she refocused her attention on the three glass frames of the slot machine and made another prediction.
[Three gold coins]
As the premonition flashed through her mind, Luxianbei quickly tossed the Blessing God Copper Coin from her hand.
Whether my prediction for the first glass frame is accurate—heads correct, tails incorrect.
“Clink—!”
With a soft sound, the coin flew into the air. Luxianbei followed the coin with her gaze, and her mind conjured the premonition.
Accurate!
In the moment she caught the coin, she turned to look at the glass frames on the slot machine, excitement flickering in her eyes.
One gold coin, one watermelon, one gold coin.
NICE, it seems only that middle glass frame, under the influence of some mysterious force, was unable to be accurately predicted? This anti-cheating mechanism seems rather unintelligent!
In this way, with both the copper coin and prediction as guarantees, she could still achieve a steady small win.
After all, for a slot machine, one only needed to guess one pattern correctly, and if luck strikes with three identical patterns, that would be even better! Luxianbei thought excitedly.
Even though she had entrusted the burden of winning enough chips to go to the upper floors to Ahua and was simply playing for fun, she still wanted to win a little.
After all, how many people in this world truly don’t like making some pocket money?
Moreover, these chips were far more valuable than money.
She had already asked at the casino’s chip exchange; these chips, one denomination, represented the average value a regular adult male could create in an hour.
Although the concept was somewhat vague, roughly estimated at a 1:20 ratio, after seeing what could be exchanged for the chips, Luxianbei was determined to win.
Here, one could even exchange for the extremely rare Bai Xiaohua misprinted figure!
Although it was a misprint, it had exceptional quality and was circulated in the market through only a few special channels—there were less than ten.
It was a legendary figure referred to by fans as the [Flower of Chaotic Parallel Time and Space].
For Luxianbei, it was a priceless treasure but could be exchanged for only five thousand chips.
However, despite being tempted, she had no intention of using her time to exchange for chips, as the method of exchanging chips at the casino was peculiar.
That staff member who extracted time looked like a Dementor; who knows what strange problems might arise if it sucked her brain?
Not willing to let the Dementor s*ck her head, she could only rely on her pitifully few chips to win.
Back then, Chen Daozi could turn 20 into 37 million; couldn’t I, Luxianbei, win two or three thousand with seventeen chips?
I’m determining to get the [Flower of Chaotic Parallel Time and Space] today; no one can stop me!
But before that…
Luxianbei thought hard and turned her gaze back to the middle-aged uncle playing the slot machine, squinting her eyes.
Before that, I need to gather more data to ensure my earlier judgment was correct.
So, for the next thirty minutes, the nameless middle-aged uncle was continuously “harassed.”
As he was gambling, a little girl was stealthily standing behind him, her pair of clear eyes seemingly having some kind of magic that could pierce through his shell and see his soul.
There was no escaping!
She sometimes looked back at the crowd, sometimes shot him sidelong glances, and even appeared in the gaps between the two machines.
Like a ghost, making him feel uneasy.
To make matters worse, ever since being targeted by that little girl, he felt like he had been cursed; he hadn’t won a single time, which frustrated him immensely!
Although this frustration carried a hint of the rage of losing money…
But it was akin to many people losing a game, unwilling to admit their poor skills, blaming the onlookers for affecting their performance instead.
Eventually, after enduring the long torment of the ghostly gaze, the middle-aged uncle exploded.
“d*mn it, waiter! Waiter! Come here!”
With the middle-aged uncle’s loud calls, a bunny girl in black quickly approached, smiling as she bowed slightly to him.
“This guest, how can I assist you?”
The middle-aged uncle stood up, pointing at Luxianbei with indignation, “Her, she’s standing behind me and affecting me, aren’t you going to do something about it?”
“Uh…” The bunny girl paused, glancing at Luxianbei, and smiled, “Miss, did you really affect this gentleman?”
Luxianbei blinked her big, innocent eyes, “I didn’t, why would you say that?”
Upon hearing this, the bunny girl bowed to the middle-aged uncle again, “Sir, she says she hasn’t affected you, what do you think…”
“Shut up! I’ve changed places several times, and she just keeps following and looking!” the middle-aged uncle shouted angrily.
If it weren’t for her delicate appearance, which made him think she would cry for a long time with one punch, and the fact that violence wasn’t allowed in the casino, he would have already lashed out.
“Then…” The bunny girl turned to Luxianbei, “Miss, why did you keep following this gentleman?”
“I didn’t!” Luxianbei replied earnestly, “It’s probably just a coincidence? It’s my first time here, just wandering around and making cautious bets, that’s reasonable, right?”
“If I accidentally affected this uncle, then I can only say I’m sorry.”
“That’s indeed a reasonable explanation.” The bunny girl smiled at Luxianbei and looked back at the middle-aged uncle, bowing again.
“Sir, in my opinion, this lady’s actions do not violate any rules of the entertainment city, and I cannot restrict her.”
“Is there anything else I can help you with?”
“I…” The middle-aged uncle looked at the bunny girl, then at Luxianbei, speechless for a moment before huffing, “Hmph! I can’t afford to provoke her, can’t I avoid her?”
Saying this, he picked up the box containing coins and slipped away as if fleeing.
Luxianbei watched the sample that helped her collect data disappear from view, sighed silently, turned to find a slot machine, sat down, and pulled out the few chips she had, throwing most of them in and concentrating.
[Two cherries and a gold coin]
As the premonition flickered through her mind, Luxianbei thought little and directly bought cherries, then quickly pulled down the lever.
Then…
As the patterns in the glass frames stopped rolling, the first glass frame landed on cherries, allowing her 10 chips to double in less than two minutes.
By betting half of each total, preventing unexpected situations, as long as one stayed disciplined, it would not take long to accumulate over ten thousand chips.
Then she would first find Jiang Li, and then go exchange for the [Flower of Chaotic Parallel Time and Space].
Very good, keep going!
Luxianbei mused, unhesitatingly throwing half of her total chips back into the slot machine.
Accompanied by the pleasant sound of chips pouring out, two hours later, Luxianbei successfully drained one machine, and the chips in front of her had accumulated to twelve hundred.
Just as she expected, she had not encountered three identical patterns even once in half an hour; she was just steadily winning small amounts.
With her eyes fixated intently on the slot machine, Luxianbei made another prediction.
[One BAR and two bells]
A BAR? This is my first time encountering it, I’ve finally turned my luck around after playing for so long!
The BAR’s multiplier is twenty-five, and once this ends, the chips will exceed ten thousand, allowing her to reach the middle third floor.
It’s time for a big bet!
Luxianbei thought, directly betting the limit of one thousand, completing her bet, and pulled down the lever hard.
Thus, the patterns in the three glass frames began to roll, and a few seconds later, they stopped. Looking at the patterns in the glass frames, Luxianbei’s pupils slightly trembled.
One double star, two bells…
————
On the other side, in a private room on the third floor, a mahjong game was continuing.
“Two bamboo.” Ahua gently placed a tile on the table, and immediately the face of an elderly woman with white hair and a youthful appearance lit up with joy.
“Hu! A pure hand win, pay up!”
Seeing this, Ahua bit her lip and took out eighty chips to hand to the elderly woman, then continued drawing and playing, clearly more anxious.
In the past three hours, with the chips Luxianbei had given her and some skills learned from Jiang Li, she had managed to double her chips count.
However, even after doubling, it still hadn’t reached three figures.
At this rate, she didn’t know how long it would take to accumulate enough for ten thousand chips.
The longer the time passed, the less likely she would see Jiang Li, and Ahua’s anxiety began to overwhelm her.
However, impatience is the enemy of all card games.
Ever since her mood had turned anxious, her win rate had dropped significantly; although she hadn’t lost, the speed at which she was accumulating chips had noticeably declined.
With the decrease in the speed of accumulating chips, Ahua’s mood became even more anxious, and the more anxious she got, the slower her chip accumulation became.
It felt like she was dragged into a quagmire, trapped in a terrible vicious cycle.
She had lost three rounds in a row, and most of the chips she had won earlier were gone; if she lost another four or five rounds, her hours of effort would all go to waste.
What to do?
At this rate, she didn’t know when she would meet the young lady.
She had to think of a way. Ahua thought anxiously, and just then, a knock on the door interrupted her thoughts.
After the knock, a bunny girl entered, coming over to Ahua’s side, gently asking, “Miss Ahua, do you know Miss Wang Buliu?”
“Yes, I know her, why?”
Ahua didn’t lift her head as she spoke, her eyes slightly bloodshot, fixated intently on the mahjong tiles in front of her.
“She’s waiting for you outside, saying she needs to discuss something important with you.”
“……”
Ahua frowned and fell silent for a moment, putting down the mahjong tiles in her hand, she stood up and walked toward the door with an annoyed mumble, “d*mn Luxianbei, not helping at a time like this, and causing trouble? Seriously!”
————
In the elegantly decorated corridor.
A girl in a red and white contrasting windbreaker was leisurely looking around.
Suddenly, she heard someone calling her name from behind the door of a nearby private room, and she couldn’t help but frown.
What’s going on?
Did Ahua let something slip?
Is she planning to confront me?
Just as Luxianbei was musing, Ahua, guided by the bunny girl, exited the door. Upon seeing Ahua’s expression, Luxianbei immediately understood why she had suddenly revealed her name.
At this moment, Ahua’s brows were tightly locked, her slightly fatigued eyes tinged with bl**d, beads of sweat soaking the hair at her temples, clinging to her cheek. Her slightly parted nostrils and lips were breathing short, hurried breaths that fogged up her glasses.
She seemed to have panicked from losing…
Ahua approached Luxianbei, crossed her arms and coldly said, “Speak! What’s the important matter?”
“Uh, actually…” Staring at Ahua’s fierce demeanor, Luxianbei hesitated, and after a slight pause, mimicked Liu Banxian’s tone, “Could you support me with some chips?”
“Trust me, it was just bad luck earlier; I can definitely turn things around!”
“You!” Ahua’s eyes widened as she looked at Luxianbei, annoyed, “Is this what you call an important matter? At a critical moment, can’t you do something serious?”
“If you don’t have any chips and want to gamble, then use your life or something else to trade for it!”
“If there’s nothing else, I’m going back in to continue!”
With that, Ahua turned angrily and walked back into the private room.
It seems that finding enough chips to go upstairs to find the young lady still rests on me… Luxianbei thought.
Just then, the sound of high heels clicking against the marble floor approached from afar, and a bunny girl, holding half of the misprinted figure called [Flower of Chaotic Time and Space] by many fans, walked over and stopped at Luxianbei’s side, bowing slightly.
“Miss Wang Buliu, here’s the figure you exchanged for, and here’s the large sum of chips you’ve redeemed. Now you qualify to go to the middle third floor. Would you like me to help arrange that?”
Hearing the bunny girl’s words, Ahua’s body stiffened; she suddenly turned around and looked at Luxianbei as if she were a monster, “You’ve already got over ten thousand chips? Then what were you doing earlier…”
Luxianbei scratched her head awkwardly, “Uh, it was a whim, just a joke. I didn’t expect you would really get angry.”
After receiving Luxianbei’s affirmative answer, Ahua sighed, “How did you accomplish that? It’s only been a bit over three hours!”
As she spoke, her gaze towards Luxianbei grew increasingly peculiar, as if she were looking at a monster.
In gambling, if there are no other external factors interfering, over the long run, the win rate should be slightly less than fifty percent.
Certain individuals who are skilled in calculations or possess exceptional skills can push their win rate to about sixty percent.
Unless cheating, it is impossible to achieve 100% victory.
In the three floors of the entertainment city, it usually takes a long process for someone with a small capital and limited betting amounts to reach ten thousand chips.
Even someone as remarkable as Jiang Li took a day and a half to grow his chips from a single-digit number to a little over ten thousand, yet Luxianbei managed to do it in just over three hours.
Could it be she has some method of cheating that wouldn’t be found out by the entertainment city?
Just like certain folks upstairs… Ahua thought.
Luxianbei looked at Ahua, who was filled with questions, and shrugged, “It’s simple, a bit of luck and a bit of confidence.”
Mainly, I’m very confident about how lucky I am… Luxianbei secretly added to herself.
Ahua, “…”
————
Ten minutes ago.
As Luxianbei predicted that the first glass frame of the slot machine would display the highest multiplier BAR, just as she was about to place her bet, she suddenly felt something was off and stared at the machine, narrowing her puzzled eyes.
Normally, with my luck, it would be impossible to hit such a high-multiplier pattern.
Unless…
Unless the anti-cheating location had changed!
After a brief moment of thought, she altered her choice to bells right before placing her bet.
Thus, at the moment the patterns in the glass frame rolled to a stop, a huge amount of chips poured out of the machine with a pleasant and melodious sound, filling the metallic frame that held the chips.
Bells×2, twenty times multiplier.
