Chapter 446: Loyal Dog

Chapter 446: Chapter 446: Loyal Dog

"Oh dear..." Lily Hart and the customer sighed at the same time.

Lily Hart’s competitive spirit was sparked. "Again!" She dropped in another Game Coin.

After three consecutive failures, Lily Hart couldn’t believe it. She inserted her last Game Coin.

Persistence pays off. This time, the claw didn’t shake loose or go slack.

It gripped the small stuffed dog tightly, weaving its way over to the prize chute, and dropped it with a CLATTER.

Lily Hart pumped her fist in excitement. "Oh yeah!"

She then crouched down and pulled out the stuffed dog. It was fluffy in her hands and so fun to squish!

She hugged the stuffed dog, swayed it from side to side a couple of times, and praised its little face, "You’re so cute!"

But soon, Lily Hart discovered a line of text on the dog’s belly.

[Collect three of me for a surprise!]

When her hand brushed over the line, the text vanished as if it had never been there.

Lily Hart wondered silently, ’Collect three stuffed dogs... what kind of surprise could it be?’

All she could think of was that she would just end up with three identical stuffed dogs. But what would she do with so many? Lily Hart felt it wasn’t that simple.

’The system said there would be a surprise, so it must be a *big* surprise!’

Her curiosity was suddenly piqued. The machine’s owner even walked a full circle around it but didn’t find anything out of the ordinary.

"Again!" Lily Hart cheered herself on.

The machine’s owner was also itching to try, which Lily Hart noticed. She told him bluntly, "You’re the owner. You probably can’t play." ℯ

"Huh?" Hearing this, the machine’s owner’s face fell. But watching Boss Hart play was so much fun, and he wanted to try it himself.

Lily Hart comforted him, "It’s fine. You can watch me play!"

There was nothing he could do but accept it. He watched as Lily Hart inserted two more Crystal Cores, receiving ten Game Coins in return, which she weighed in her hand.

Apparently feeling that wasn’t enough, she inserted another five Crystal Cores.

She got another twenty-five Game Coins. It was no problem that she couldn’t hold them all; there was a stack of small baskets next to the machine just for holding Game Coins.

Lily Hart held the small basket in one hand and tucked the stuffed dog under her arm, full of fighting spirit. She was determined to collect all three!

She had completely forgotten her previous thoughts about the claw machine.

Since they were within the safe zone of the RV, where the temperature was as pleasant as spring year-round, other customers continuously gathered around to watch quietly.

Lily Hart inserted five Game Coins in a row, but after five consecutive attempts, she still hadn’t caught anything. She was getting angry. ’What a piece of junk machine!’

The machine’s owner encouraged her from the side, "Don’t rush it. There’s probably a set probability."

’Of course I know that,’ she fumed internally, ’but watching the claw inexplicably loosen is just infuriating! Damn it! Another day of no skill, just money.’

She kept inserting coins and kept trying to grab one. The stuffed dog fell time and time again, making everyone’s hearts leap into their throats.

On the ninth try, the stuffed dog was finally hers!

Lily Hart found the same line of text on this stuffed dog’s belly as well.

This fueled her passion even more. She enthusiastically continued playing until she had used up all the Game Coins in her hand, but she still hadn’t caught the last one.

The machine’s owner glanced at his Light Brain. There was already an app named [Lily Hart]. He opened it and saw a balance of 300 displayed in the top right corner.

’This is great! I can earn my own money!’ It seemed he earned a commission whenever someone played the claw machine.

’But there’s only one machine. How am I supposed to make big money like this?’ While Boss Hart was engrossed in the claw machine, the owner studied the app for a bit.

He discovered that he could buy more claw machines, but he had to reach a certain revenue in points on the first machine to unlock them.

Meanwhile, Lily Hart had finally caught the last stuffed dog! She let out a huge sigh of relief. It had cost her nearly ten Crystal Cores!

’If there isn’t a big surprise, I’m going to be seriously angry!’

Following the instructions, she stuffed the three stuffed dogs into a slot and then waited quietly.

The others didn’t understand what was happening. They all found it strange. Why would she stuff them back in after winning them?

Suddenly, a flash of white light shot out, and a stuffed dog half a person’s height appeared before everyone. Lily Hart was speechless for a moment. ’So you’re making me play a synthesis game?!’

The three small stuffed dogs had combined into one big one!

Ugh, how ridiculous! The absurdity of it made Lily Hart laugh in exasperation.

The owner looked like he wanted to say something but held back. He could feel Lily Hart’s anger seemingly growing. On impulse, he picked up the large stuffed dog and thrust it into her arms.

"Things aren’t always what they seem on the surface," the owner said soothingly.

"Then what am I supposed to look at?" Lily Hart said through gritted teeth. She turned the stuffed dog over and over, examining it from top to bottom, but found nothing out of the ordinary.

It had just gotten bigger, and it was dead heavy to hold. She seriously suspected this was all a scam!

She examined it again and again, finally finding a line of small text under its ear: [Please feed me a Crystal Core.]

Lily Hart was fuming, but her body was still honest. She pulled a Crystal Core from her storage space and stuffed it into the large dog’s mouth. The amazing thing was, the instant it touched the dog’s tongue...

The Crystal Core vanished.

"WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF!"

Lily Hart was speechless, watching as the large stuffed dog turned into a real dog! It looked exactly like the toy! Those big, dark, glistening eyes! It was adorable!

A line of text floated above the large dog’s head.

[Loyal Hound. Combat Power: Ten Stars. Obeys all commands. Pledges undying loyalty to its master!]

’I already have several dogs,’ Lily Hart thought. ’Do I really need another one?’

’Oh well, it must be fate. It was decided the moment I won that first stuffed dog. It’ll be nice to have it around like a toy to pet.’

’As for fighting, it probably won’t even get its turn. I already have so many dogs around me; they could take down an enemy just by each taking one bite.’

The large dog was pure white with a thick coat, much like a Samoyed. Its smile was so healing and cute that she decided to name it on the spot: Jay-Jay~.

"Jay-Jay, come here~" Lily Hart beckoned to it. The dog immediately came running and hopping over, circling around her.

Just watching it was enough to lift one’s spirits. As for the ten Crystal Cores, Lily Hart decided not to dwell on it.

The owner asked curiously, "So, three stuffed toys can be exchanged for a real dog? But what’s the use of that?"

Lily Hart read aloud the line of text from above Jay-Jay’s head, "Loyal Hound. Combat Power: Ten Stars. Obeys all commands. Pledges undying loyalty to its master!"

She recalled that Roman Rowe had also won a stuffed toy from a scratch-off before, and it was a pretty good fighter. ’How many stars was it again? In any case, it was less than five.’

So she added, "Its combat power should be comparable to a Fifth or Sixth Rank superpower user."

This statement was only moderately appealing to Lily Hart, but for ordinary people, its value was immense!

Living in the apocalypse, they already spent every day on edge, terrified and anxious. If they could have a person or animal with high combat power and absolute loyalty to protect them, that would be incredible!

’Hooray! We’re saved!’

Lily Hart could see that every single one of them had eyes shining with excitement, so she immediately led Jay-Jay away to make room.

The owner also very responsibly stepped forward to tell them how to operate the machine, how to exchange for Game Coins, and so on.

Inside, there weren’t just animal plushies, but also plant and fruit plushies.