Chapter 347: A Dose of Confidence

In the lower three floors of Dream Come True Entertainment City, the clinking of coins and steel balls was incessant. Amidst this cacophony, the faint sound of a copper coin being tossed into the air could be heard.

“Ding-!”

Will this uncle win this round? Heads means yes, tails means no.

Lu Yibei kept her eyes fixed on the Fortune Deity Coin, silently chanting in her mind. As the thought of prediction flashed through her mind, she reached out and caught the falling coin.

Will he win?

Lu Yibei furrowed her brows slightly, her gaze shifting to the middle-aged uncle, squinting her eyes as she quietly awaited the result.

Thirty seconds later, the slot machine emitted a sound indicating a loss.

Seeing this, Lu Yibei furrowed her brows and clicked her tongue, “Tsk! As expected…”

She had been observing this middle-aged uncle, who seemed to have almost no psychic energy fluctuation and appeared quite amiable, for over thirty minutes. She had tossed the copper coin for divination more than a dozen times, finally reaching a conclusion-trying to win the game through copper coin divination was futile!

The results of these dozen divinations were sometimes right and sometimes wrong, as if some force was interfering with the coin, temporarily stripping it of its magical power.

Upon reflection, this made sense.

Dream Come True Entertainment City, being a casino run by an Eldritch Destroyer, attracted many powerful psychics and hauntings.

If one could easily win chips here with just a low-level psychic artifact, it would be no different from charity.

Lu Yibei thought, turning her gaze to the slot machine in front of the middle-aged uncle. She focused her mind, squinting her eyes, and the thought of prediction flashed through her mind.

[Two oranges and a gold coin]

The middle-aged uncle completed his bet, pulled the lever, and the images in the three glass frames began to spin rapidly.

Watching the uncle bet on three sevens, Lu Yibei shook her head gently, murmuring, “So greedy, he’s going to lose.”

The middle-aged uncle glanced at Lu Yibei out of the corner of his eye, a hint of annoyance in his expression.

When he refocused on the three glass frames, the spinning images came to a halt.

An orange, a crown, and a gold coin.

Seeing this, Lu Yibei furrowed her brows slightly, a trace of surprise flashing in her eyes.

The images in the glass frames had almost stopped at two oranges and a gold coin, but at the last moment, the middle frame seemed to sense something and spun again, changing the result.

Even my predictions can’t be one hundred percent accurate?

However…

While grumbling inwardly, she refocused on the three glass frames of the slot machine, making another prediction.

[Three gold coins]

As the thought of prediction flashed through her mind, Lu Yibei quickly tossed the Fortune Deity Coin in her hand.

Will my prediction for the first glass frame be accurate? Heads for yes, tails for no.

“Ding-!”

With a soft sound, the coin flew into the air, and Lu Yibei’s gaze followed its movement. Soon, the thought of prediction appeared in her mind.

Accurate!

As she caught the coin, she turned her head to look at the glass frames on the slot machine, a hint of excitement flashing in her eyes.

A gold coin, a watermelon, a gold coin.

Nice, it seems that only the middle glass frame, under the influence of some mysterious force, cannot be accurately predicted? This anti-cheat mechanism doesn’t seem very smart!

In that case, with the double assurance of the coin and prediction, she could still achieve a situation of continuous small wins.

After all, with a slot machine, you only need to match one image. If luck is on your side and you get three of the same image, that’s even better! Lu Yibei thought excitedly.

Although she had entrusted the task of winning enough chips to reach the upper floors to Ah-Hua, and was just playing casually herself, she still wanted to win a little if possible.

After all, who in this world truly dislikes a bit of extra money?

Moreover, these chips were more valuable than money.

She had already asked at the Entertainment City’s chip exchange counter; these chips, with a face value of one, represented the average value a normal adult male could create in an hour.

Although this concept was somewhat vague, roughly estimated at a 1:20 ratio, after seeing what the chips could be exchanged for, Lu Yibei was determined to win.

Here, one could exchange for the extremely rare, misprinted Bai Xiaohua figurine!

Although it was a misprint, the quality was exceptionally high, and it circulated in the market through special channels, with fewer than ten available.

It was a legendary figurine known to fans as [The Flower of Chaotic Parallel Timelines].

For Lu Yibei, it was priceless, yet it only required five thousand chips to exchange.

However, despite her desire, she had no intention of exchanging her time for chips. The method of exchanging chips at the Entertainment City was bizarre.

The staff who extracted time looked like a Dementor, and she didn’t know if having her head sucked by it would cause any strange problems in her mind.

Unwilling to let a Dementor suck her head, she could only rely on the few chips she had to win.

Back in the day, Chen could win 37 million with 20 yuan; can’t I, Lu Yibei, win twenty or thirty thousand with seventeen chips?

[The Flower of Chaotic Parallel Timelines] is mine today, and no one can stop me!

But before that…

Lu Yibei thought fiercely, once again casting her gaze towards the middle-aged uncle playing the slot machine not far away, squinting her eyes.

Before that, more data needed to be collected to ensure the previous judgment was correct.

Thus, over the next thirty minutes, an unknown middle-aged uncle was subjected to continuous “harassment.”

As he gambled, a young girl stood behind him, sneaking glances. Her clear eyes seemed to possess a certain magic, as if they could see through his shell to his soul.

He couldn’t escape!

She occasionally glanced back through the crowd, sometimes casting sidelong glances, and even appeared in the gap between two machines.

Like a ghost, she made him feel uneasy.

What was even more infuriating was that ever since the young girl started watching him, he hadn’t won a single game, which made him very unhappy!

Although this unhappiness was tinged with the impotent rage of losing money…

But it was like many people who lose a game and refuse to admit their lack of skill, instead blaming the spectators for affecting their performance.

Finally, the middle-aged man, after enduring the long torment of furtive glances, erupted.

“Damn it, waiter! Waiter! Come here!”

Accompanied by the loud shout of the middle-aged man, a bunny girl dressed in black quickly walked over, smiling as she bowed slightly to him.

“Dear guest, is there anything I can assist you with?”

The middle-aged man stood up, pointed at Lu Yibei, and said angrily, “She, she’s been standing behind me, affecting my game. Aren’t you going to do something about it?”

“Uh…” The bunny girl was momentarily stunned, then looked at Lu Yibei and smiled, “Miss, have you really been affecting this gentleman?”

Lu Yibei blinked her large, innocent eyes, “I haven’t, why would you say that?”

Upon hearing this, the bunny girl bowed slightly to the middle-aged man, “Sir, she claims she hasn’t been affecting you. You see…”

“Bullshit! I’ve changed places several times, and she just keeps following and watching!” the middle-aged man fumed.

If it weren’t for her delicate appearance, which suggested she might cry for a long time if hit, and the fact that violence was not allowed in the Entertainment City, the middle-aged man would have already resorted to hitting her.

“Then…” The bunny girl turned to Lu Yibei, “Miss, why have you been following this gentleman?”

“I haven’t!” Lu Yibei replied earnestly, “Maybe it’s just a coincidence? It’s my first time here, I’m just exploring and placing cautious bets. Seems reasonable, right?”

“If I accidentally affected this gentleman, then all I can say is sorry.”

“That’s indeed a reasonable explanation.” The bunny girl smiled at Lu Yibei, then turned to the middle-aged man and bowed slightly.

“Sir, in my opinion, this miss’s behavior doesn’t violate any rules of the Entertainment City, so I can’t restrict her.”

“Is there anything else I can assist you with?”

“I…” The middle-aged man looked at the bunny girl, then at Lu Yibei, unable to speak for a moment, before finally letting out a cold snort, “Hmph! If I can’t provoke her, I can at least avoid her!”

With that, he picked up the small box of coins and hurriedly left as if fleeing.

Lu Yibei watched as the man, who had inadvertently helped her obtain the sample data, disappeared from view. She sighed silently, turned around, found a slot machine, sat down, and pulled out the few chips she had left, putting most of them in and focusing her mind.

[Two cherries, one gold coin]

As the premonition flashed through her mind, Lu Yibei didn’t hesitate to bet everything on cherries, then pulled the lever.

And then…

As the images in the glass frame stopped spinning, the first frame landed on a cherry. With the odds, the 10 chips Lu Yibei had put in doubled to 20 in less than two minutes.

Betting half of the total each time to prevent unexpected situations, as long as she wasn’t greedy, it wouldn’t take long to accumulate over ten thousand chips.

Then she could find Jiang Li and exchange them for The Flower of Chaotic Parallel Timelines.

Great, let’s continue!

Lu Yibei thought to herself, unhesitatingly putting half of her total chips back into the slot machine.

Accompanied by the pleasant sound of chips pouring in, two hours later, Lu Yibei successfully drained a machine, accumulating twelve hundred chips in front of her.

As she expected, within half an hour, she hadn’t encountered three identical images at once, just steadily winning small amounts.

Her eyes focused intently on the slot machine in front of her, Lu Yibei made another prediction.

[One BAR, two wind chimes]

A BAR? It’s the first time I’ve encountered this. After playing for so long, am I finally getting lucky?

The BAR has a 25x multiplier, so after this round, the chips will exceed ten thousand, allowing her to go to the middle three floors.

It’s time for a big play!

Thinking this, Lu Yibei directly placed the maximum bet of 1000, completed the wager, and pulled the lever with force.

And so, the images in the three glass frames began to spin, stopping a few seconds later. As she looked at the images, Lu Yibei’s pupils trembled slightly.

A double star, two wind chimes…

Meanwhile, in a private room on the third floor, a Mahjong game was ongoing.

“Two of circles.” Ah-Hua placed a tile gently on the table, and the elderly woman with youthful features sitting opposite her immediately showed a look of joy.

“Mahjong! All of one suit, give me the money!”

Seeing this, Ah-Hua gritted her teeth, took out eighty chips, and handed them to the elderly woman, then continued to draw and play tiles, a noticeable hint of anxiety in her expression.

Over the past three hours, using the chips Lu Yibei had given her and the skills she had learned from Jiang Li, she had won more than she lost, successfully doubling the number of chips.

However, even after doubling, she still hadn’t reached three figures.

At this rate, who knows when she’ll accumulate enough chips to reach ten thousand.

The longer it takes, the less likely she’ll be to see Jiang Li, and Ah-Hua’s emotions became uncontrollably anxious.

However, impatience is the bane of all games.

Since her emotions began to fray, her win rate had dropped significantly. Although she hadn’t lost, the rate of chip accumulation had noticeably slowed.

The slower the chip accumulation, the more anxious Ah-Hua became, and the more anxious she became, the slower the chip accumulation.

Her mind felt as if it had been dragged into a quagmire, sinking into a terrifying vicious cycle.

She had already lost three rounds in a row; more than half of the chips she won earlier had been lost again. If she lost another four or five rounds, all her efforts of the past few hours would go to waste.

What should she do?

At this rate, who knows how many years it would take to finally see the miss.

She had to come up with something, and fast. Ah-Hua thought anxiously, just as a knock on the door interrupted her thoughts.

As the knocking faded, a bunny girl pushed open the door and came over to Ah-Hua, asking softly, “Miss Ah-Hua, may I ask if you know Miss Wang Buliuxing?”

“Yeah, I know her. Why?”

Without even lifting her head as she spoke, Ah-Hua’s bloodshot eyes remained fixed on the Mahjong tiles in front of her.

“She’s waiting for you outside. She said she has something urgent to discuss with you.”

“…”

Ah-Hua frowned and fell silent for a moment, then put down the Mahjong tiles in her hands, got up, and walked toward the door, grumbling angrily under her breath, “Damn Lu Yibei, if you’re not helping at a time like this, at least don’t make trouble! Seriously!”

In the elegantly decorated corridor.

A girl dressed in a striking red-and-white tactical jacket was leisurely looking around.

Suddenly, she heard her name called from behind the door of a nearby private room, and couldn’t help but frown slightly.

What’s going on?

Did Ah-Hua let something slip?

Is she planning to come clean with me?

While Lu Yibei was silently complaining in her heart, Ah-Hua, led by the bunny girl, came out through the door. Seeing Ah-Hua’s state, Lu Yibei immediately understood why she had suddenly blurted out her name.

Ah-Hua at the moment had tightly furrowed brows, her tired eyes streaked with red, sweat soaking the hair at her temples and sticking to the side of her face. Her nostrils and lips were slightly parted, breathing short and fast, leaving foggy patches on her glasses.

She seemed to have lost her cool from losing…

Ah-Hua walked up to Lu Yibei, folded her arms, and said coldly, “Speak! What’s so urgent?”

“Uh, actually…” Staring at the fierce Ah-Hua, Lu Yibei hesitated, then, imitating Liu Seer’s tone, said, “Can you spare me some chips?”

“Trust me, I was just unlucky earlier. I’ll definitely make a comeback!”

“You!” Ah-Hua widened her eyes at Lu Yibei, snapping, “That’s your urgent business? Can’t you do something proper at a critical moment?”

“No chips for you. If you still want to gamble, use your lifespan or something else to exchange!”

“If there’s nothing else, I’m going back in!”

With that, Ah-Hua spun around and stormed back into the private room.

Looks like, if I want to win enough chips to go upstairs and find the miss, I’ll still have to rely on myself… Ah-Hua grumbled inwardly.

Just then, the crisp sound of high heels striking marble echoed from afar. A bunny girl, holding in her arms a half-body error figurine known by many fans as The Flower of Chaotic Parallel Timelines, walked over gracefully and stopped next to Lu Yibei, bowing slightly.

“Miss Wang Buliuxing, here is the figurine you exchanged for, and these are the high-value chips I brought you. You now qualify to enter the middle three floors. Would you like me to make arrangements for you?”

Upon hearing the bunny girl’s words, Ah-Hua froze, then whipped around, staring at Lu Yibei as if she were a monster, “You already have more than ten thousand chips? Then just now you…”

Lu Yibei scratched the back of her head, embarrassed, “Uh, I was just joking on a whim. Didn’t expect you’d actually get mad.”

After receiving Lu Yibei’s confirmation, Ah-Hua let out a light breath. “How did you do it? It’s only been just over three hours!”

As she spoke, her gaze at Lu Yibei grew stranger, as if she were looking at a monster.

With gambling, if there are no external factors, the long-term win rate should be slightly below fifty percent.

Some people skilled at calculations or with outstanding techniques could push the win rate up to around sixty percent.

Unless one cheats, it’s impossible to guarantee a hundred percent victory.

In the three floors of the Entertainment City, if someone starts with very few chips and is limited in how much they can bet, reaching ten thousand chips is usually a long grind.

Even someone as strong as Jiang Li once took a day and a half to win her chips from single digits up to just over ten thousand, and yet Lu Yibei had managed it in just over three hours.

Could it be that she had some kind of cheating method undetectable by the Entertainment City?

Just like those guys upstairs… Ah-Hua thought.

Lu Yibei shrugged at Ah-Hua’s look of deep suspicion, “Simple: a bit of luck, and a bit of confidence.”

Mainly, I’m extremely confident in just how bad my own luck is… Lu Yibei secretly added in her heart.

Ah-Hua: “…”

Ten minutes earlier.

When Lu Yibei anticipated that the highest-multiplier BAR would appear in the first glass window of the slot machine, just as she was about to place her bet, she suddenly felt something was off. Staring at the machine in front of her, she narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

Logically speaking, with my luck, I couldn’t possibly hit such a high-multiplier icon.

Unless…

Unless the anti-cheat position has changed!

After a brief thought, just before betting, she switched her choice to wind chime.

So, the moment the glass window stopped spinning, a flood of chips poured out of the machine, filling the metal tray with a crisp, pleasant sound.

Wind chime ×2, twenty times payout.