The yuan-ti woman approached with a sweet smile and said, "Honoured guest, you truly are favored by the Goddess of Fortune. Would you care for another?"
Feitian Nüwu clutched her staff timidly, torn with indecision.
She gave her pouch a little shake and found exactly five gold coins left inside.
As a wizard player, her consumption of scrolls and spell components was astronomical. On top of that, she rarely took on commissions from the Magic Agency, so even with the backing of a major guild like Magic Coin, she found it hard to save any money.
*My luck does always seem pretty good, though.*
*Maybe... I really can hit back-to-back?*
In the end, she gritted her teeth softly and said, "Then give me one more."
The attendant was just about to have the ogres bring over a chest when she heard Feitian Nüwu speak up in a small voice: "This time... may I choose it myself?"
She wanted to vindicate her guild leader and help him stand tall with his dignity restored—Charlotte's method wasn't wrong!
The yuan-ti woman replied patiently, "Be my guest."
Feitian Nüwu browsed the shelves, picking and choosing, before finally offering an embarrassed smile and pointing at a chest at random.
"This one?"
"Yes."
Her hand trembled slightly as she handed the gold coins to the yuan-ti.
The instant the money left her fingers, she felt a pang of regret. Hitting once was already an absurd stroke of fortune; expecting another prize was verging on greed. Not to mention, the burning, eager stares from the crowd around her made her distinctly uncomfortable.
Farther off, Charlotte watched in silence. He deftly lit a magical cigarette, popped it between his lips, and sat on the ground with a world-weary smile. "Sigh, why bother...?"
The metal lid slowly creaked open.
Hundreds of pairs of eyes locked onto the chest as everyone held their breath.
"Can she hit again?"
"No way someone hits twice in a row, right?!"
With a metallic clatter, blinding blue light spilled from the gap once more.
"Whoa—!"
The watching players let out a collective gasp.
A double hit!
A cloak adorned with white feathers lay quietly inside the chest.
***
**Winged Cloak**
**Rarity:** Rare
**Item Description:** While wearing this cloak, you can speak its command word, "Fly like a bird!" This transforms the cloak into a pair of avian wings upon your back. Magical feathers continuously fall away during flight until none remain, bringing the flight to an end.
*"You think I'm an angel? No, just an old geezer who likes wandering around!" —Albert, Planeswalker currently residing on Mount Celestia.*
***
Even the spectators were left utterly dumbfounded. A stunned silence gripped the crowd, followed by an explosive roar.
"Holy crap! A miracle on a single pull?!"
"What, do miracles come in wholesale batches at your house?!"
"Give me that luck, rub off on me!"
"Let me touch her! I'm ready to go all-in!"
The looks they gave Feitian Nüwu shifted from envy to sheer awe.
This wasn't just good luck; this was divine favor!
To their eyes, rings of radiant halos seemed to hover around her, with the gilded characters for "European King" practically stamped across her forehead.
Even Cassius, observing from the shadows, clicked his tongue in disbelief. He hadn't put many good items in the pool to begin with, and even the rare gear consisted of white elephants handpicked from his hoarded junk. For this player to pull two of them back-to-back was astonishing.
"How is that possible...?"
Charlotte stared blankly at the scene, his mind reeling as the cigarette tumbled from his lips to the ground.
The memory of boasting boldly, pulling twenty blanks in a row, and collapsing to the ground coughing up blood replayed through his mind like a carousel lantern—looping again the moment it ended, while the world around him seemed to drain into monochrome.
Still oblivious, Feitian Nüwu clutched the cloak she had just obtained and rushed over to his side, thoroughly excited.
"Guild Leader, look!"
"I proved it for you! You were right all along—picking them yourself really does give higher odds!"
Her words were the final straw that broke the camel's back, shattering Charlotte's last line of defense and grinding his heart to dust.
"Huh?"
"Guild Leader, what's wrong?"
"Wake up!"
Ah, youth—collapsing into unconsciousness at the drop of a hat.
Charlotte could no longer hear a thing. Everything around him looked like a silent, black-and-white film, and the agonizing memory of those twenty consecutive losses continued to torment his brain.
***
"Miracles on single pulls!"
"Who says luck gods don't exist in this world?!"
"All in!"
"No kid cries every day, and no gambler loses every time! Charge, brothers!"
"Empty the pockets, go all in!"
Feitian Nüwu's miraculous back-to-back pulls ignited the players' gambling frenzy.
Taking her as their beacon of hope, crowds of players rubbed their hands together and launched into a full-blown all-in frenzy, trampling over one another to stuff gold coins into Cassius's pockets, each dreaming of becoming the next lucky winner.
Along the way, occasional players did manage to pull gear. Every burst of blue light made the crowd green with envy, driving even more people to throw themselves into the fray.
Surrounded by his guildmates, Bazhe stroked his chin.
"How about we do a hundred-pull?"
"These chests are limited, after all."
"Wait, Guild Leader, don't act rashly. Let's wait and see before deciding."
The major guilds were participating in the lottery as well, but none had sunk excessive funds into it.
At first, Bazhe, guild leader of Wangquan, had wanted to spend extravagantly and buy a hundred chests as guild assets. However, his vice guild leader, Fengyun, held him back, suggesting they observe other players' drop rates first.
After observing hundreds of openings and running the numbers, Fengyun made a startling discovery: the chests were an enormous pitfall. The more you bought, the more you lost. The most cost-effective move was simply buying up the pulled gear from other players.
After all, casual players had no idea of high-tier gear's true market value. Bludgeoning them with raw gold coins was far more profitable, and might even recruit them into the guild.
In the end, under the slightly disappointed gaze of the crowd, Bazhe only bought ten chests to join in the fun. He pulled an uncommon green helmet, which just barely broke even.
Cassius noticed the game forums had also exploded into a frenzy.
*"Epic Event! Server-Close Grand Lottery!"*
*"Does anyone actually pull good stuff in this game?"*
*"The Feitian Nüwu Miracle: Two Single Pulls, Two Miracles!"*
*"That Time I Casually Opened a Box and Pulled a Rare Greatsword..."*
*"So annoying. I'm just a casual player admiring the scenery—how did I end up with a Rare Greataxe? I can't even lift it!"*
The lucky "European" players who scored rare gear flaunted their winnings triumphantly across the forums, sparking sheer jealousy among the unlucky masses in the comments.
*"Enjoy your good food while you can, burning your lifespan on gacha pulls!"*
*"Eat my spear, European dog!"*
*"I'm inhaling all that luck right now—*slurp*!"*
*"Content caused intense discomfort. Reported."*
*"Wangquan Guild is purchasing rare equipment at high prices. Please contact us via the administration office."*
They beat their chests and stamped their feet, bemoaning why they weren't the ones to win, comforting themselves that this was just a fluke, and secretly resolving to strike gold next time so they could rub it in everyone's faces on the forums.
*Heh, that's it. Players' vanity knows no bounds.*
*Come on, be good little sheep and send me your money—*
Inside the grand royal palace, Cassius browsed the forums with relish, a sinister smile spreading across his snout as his wings trembled with delight.
Tinia, sprawled nearby, curled into a ball in sheer terror, thinking she had done something to anger the mighty red dragon again.
Yet at the thought of potentially being pinned to the chilly palace floor and ruthlessly trampled, she felt a faint prickle of anticipation. Inexplicably energized, her scales bristled from head to tail.
"Awoo?"
"..."
Only then did Cassius notice the excited look on Tinia's face.
He stared at the white dragon as if looking at an absolute idiot, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly. He couldn't help thinking that this foolish dragon was probably far past saving.
Chapter 224