Chapter 86: First Prize
Lily Hart had just woken up from her afternoon nap when she heard a roaring from the sky. A glance outside told her everything.
Well now, several helicopters were flying into Nutwood Base. Who knew what sort of bloody mess they were about to kick up.
But Lily Hart felt her mission here was likely over. What happened next was out of her hands.
So she didn’t pay it much mind. Just then, a few of the residents who had fled Nutwood Base came wandering back.
They leaned on the counter and chatted with Lily Hart. "Boss, can you win a house or something from these scratch-offs?"
"Yeah, we have nowhere else to go, and we definitely don’t want to go back to that shithole Nutwood Base!"
"Jason Lynch is a total bastard! He even skims from everyone’s supplies. We’re supposed to get 50ml of water a day, but he only gives out 40ml!"
Listening to their complaints, Lily Hart pulled out some scratch-off tickets. "Come on, come on! One to change your life, two to change your fate! It all comes down to this!"
The slogan was surprisingly persuasive. They all chimed in, "Let’s scratch! Let’s see if we can change our fates!"
Leo Colby arrived silently. Seeing the crowd on one side, he moved to the other and waited quietly.
Lily Hart tossed a few books of scratch-off tickets to him to let him choose, and Leo Colby took them without complaint.
He liked scratch-offs. The truth was, he just enjoyed the feeling of opening a mystery box—the unknown, the thrill.
But he didn’t like crowded places, and he especially disliked scratching tickets in front of so many people.
Leo Colby watched the expectant looks on their faces as they gathered and buzzed with excitement, discussing what prizes they might win.
’They seem... happy?’
He casually picked one up and started scratching. When he was done, he looked it over. ’Huh, I’ve never seen this symbol before. What is it?’
Seeing that Lily Hart was busy, he found the Lucky Cat and stuck the ticket in its mouth. It quickly spat out a small card.
The card held three simple lines, which Leo Colby read one by one.
Congratulations, Mr. Leo Colby, on winning a "Hotel."
This is the first prize for this batch of lucky charms!
You may redeem your prize with the shop owner at any time.
He raised an eyebrow, dredging up fragmented memories of what a "hotel" was.
’You can live in them? And shower? What else was there...?’
He couldn’t remember anything else, so he went to ask Lily Hart, handing her the card directly. "Redeeming this."
Lily Hart casually took the card and glanced at it, but her eyes suddenly shot wide open. She stared at the card, then back at Leo Colby’s earnest face.
She asked her system in her head, ’Is this for real?’
The system replied patiently, *Host, tilt it a little. You should see a reflection of light, and the faint words ’Lily Hart’, right?*
Lily Hart held the card and tilted it slightly left and right. Sure enough, at just the right angle and in the right light...
...she could see the words "Lily Hart" shimmering with a rainbow-like luster, just like a watermark. ’Now there’s no way to fake them!’
She felt like her world was collapsing all over again. ’How could such an incredible prize get snatched up by someone else?!’
With the corners of her mouth turned down, Lily Hart unenthusiastically stuffed the card into the Lucky Cat’s mouth.
The next second, she suddenly remembered something. She grabbed the Lucky Cat, scrambled out of the RV, and aimed it at the empty lot nearby.
KER-CHUNK. KER-CHUNK. KER-CHUNK...
After a series of mechanical clicks, a brilliant white light flashed. A two-story building materialized before everyone’s eyes.
It had the style of a guesthouse, not a cold, impersonal hotel where you’d just rent a room by the hour, get your business done, and leave.
Instead, it was inviting, giving one the feeling of coming home amidst the apocalypse. It felt warm and welcoming.
"Whoa, what is that?"
"You can get a prize like this from a scratch-off too?"
"That’s insane!"
"I heard the convenience store over there was also from a scratch-off."
"Oh, dear gods, I’ll trade all my luck in my next life for a prize just like that!"
"Such a schemer!"
Leo Colby stared, slightly stunned, at the small building before him. ’This is a... hotel? How many people can it even house?’
’And a prize this big, this good... belongs to me?’ Leo Colby couldn’t believe it.
There’s no such thing as a free lunch. Although he had paid a Crystal Core, the return was so enormous that he could hardly believe it...
He couldn’t help but ask, "Mine?"
Lily Hart had already accepted it. ’Either way, he’ll be working for me, so what’s not to like?’
She grinned and nodded. "Yep, it’s yours." When Leo Colby saw her beaming smile, a strange feeling flickered through him.
Sure enough, Lily Hart leaned in close to him and added, "But... the hotel can’t be more than ten meters away from the RV."
The faint, clean scent from her body was like an invisible kitten brushing against his cheek. Leo Colby frowned.
He turned his head to the side, focusing on her words. "Also, I get a share. I take an eighty-percent cut of all profits."
Leo Colby stared at her in astonishment. Two words slipped out before he could stop them. "Rip-off artist."
Lily Hart cracked a smile. "Hehe, I’ll take that as a compliment."
’Was I... complimenting her?’ Leo Colby found himself reflecting. ’I was obviously insulting her...’
"Can I refuse?" Leo Colby asked.
He knew Frost Shaw’s convenience store had also been a scratch-off prize. He didn’t know what percentage Lily Hart took...
...but he was sure it wasn’t low. He also didn’t know if Lily Hart was the one supplying the goods.
The only thing he could be sure of was that it made money. Otherwise, a shrewd operator like Frost Shaw would never agree to work for someone for nothing.
But once you were bound to it, you lost your freedom, stuck in the convenience store day after day.
Working from sunrise to sunset.
Leo Colby froze. ’Wait... isn’t this exactly the kind of life everyone longs for right now? To not have to risk your life hunting for Crystal Cores?’
Lily Hart had no idea he’d had so many thoughts in just a few seconds. She, too, was busy asking her system.
"Do they have the right to refuse?"
*Of course not. The fact that they won the grand prize means this was part of their destiny. They are fated to have their lives tied to yours.*
"Huh? So if I die...?"
*They will die, too.*
’Whoa,’ Lily Hart thought, shocked. ’I’m that powerful? I’m unintentionally affecting other people’s lives? That feels... a little unethical.’
The moment the prize was revealed, the two of them had been silently bound together.
Now that she understood this, Lily Hart shook her head at him, a faint smile on her face. "Nope, you can’t."
"..." Just as Leo Colby was about to say something, his heart began to pound erratically. A thread of consciousness that wasn’t his own had appeared within his Sea of Consciousness.
All superpower users possessed a Sea of Consciousness. It was the equivalent of a zombie’s Crystal Core and was used to store their most refined energy.
It was a superpower user’s most vital asset. But now, someone else’s consciousness had appeared within it.
This was a grave taboo!
Leo Colby calmed himself and focused inward. The thread of consciousness floated above his Sea of Consciousness; it was gentle, without a hint of malice.
He couldn’t expel it no matter how he tried. It was as if it intended to take root right there. A chill ran through him.
When he looked up at Lily Hart again, a strange new emotion stirred within him, replacing his previous calm detachment.
It was an indescribable feeling, as if a bridge now connected his mind to hers, forging the deepest of bonds.