Chapter 159 - 156: Lottery Draw, Preparing the Fish of the Old Pond

Chapter 159: Chapter 156: Lottery Draw, Preparing the Fish of the Old Pond

After a short chat, Chen Yuan called out and headed upstairs to get busy.

He first grabbed a change of clothes for a quick shower. Then, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, he sat down at his computer desk. Instead of rushing to plan the grand opening, he summoned the system.

With the fishing ground’s upgrade and the Old Pond’s activation, the system panel had changed significantly. Chen Yuan had already tinkered with it on his way back and figured most of it out, leaving only the lottery page unexplored.

’First, I’ll check the lottery rules.’

Chen Yuan scrolled to the lottery page. There was a symbol on the pointer in the middle of a large wheel. Clicking it opened a box displaying the number 100, followed by a "Confirm" button and, after that, some explanatory notes.

"Whoa, one hundred points per spin."

Chen Yuan exclaimed in surprise.

The price and the interface felt rather familiar, much like upgrading the Fish King’s usage rate. The price was identical, but one hundred points had a purchasing power of five hundred.

’What kind of prize could possibly be worth that many points?’

Chen Yuan continued to read the notes.

"All items in the System Store can be obtained through the lottery."

’How should I put this?’

’There’s definitely good stuff in the System Store, but there’s also plenty of cheap junk. If I spend a hundred points just to get a life jacket or a mosquito coil, wouldn’t that be a huge loss?’

’And look at these odds.’

The wheel was composed of seven different colored sections. The largest, the purple section, took up fifty percent of the area and corresponded to "Thanks for Playing."

The second-largest, the blue section, took up twenty-five percent of the area, for items valued at one hundred points or less.

The third-largest, the cyan section, took up fifteen percent, for items valued up to five hundred points.

Green, yellow, orange, and red took up five, three, one-point-five, and zero-point-five percent of the space, respectively. The corresponding item values increased to one thousand, three thousand, five thousand, and ten thousand points.

The final, ten-thousand-point tier had no upper limit.

’No upper limit...’

Chen Yuan grew excited at this.

Ten thousand points were equivalent to fifty thousand in cash. If he could win such a prize with just one hundred points, it would be a complete reversal from a terrible loss to a massive profit.

’And if there’s no upper limit... the value would be unimaginable.’

’But the zero-point-five percent chance of winning is just too small.’

Chen Yuan hesitated.

In this life and his last, he’d never been a fan of things like lotteries. He’d never touched a lottery ticket, not even a single scratch-off.

He was a firm believer in probability—the house always wins. On this lottery page, the system was the house, and it was trying to lure away his points.

’If I land on the blue section, it’s not much of a loss. But if I hit the red, orange, yellow, green, or cyan sections, it’s a win. That’s a twenty-five percent chance to make a huge profit.’

As he pondered the odds of a massive profit, Chen Yuan ultimately couldn’t resist and clicked the "Confirm" button.

As the saying goes: with a fifty-percent chance, you should be bold and go for it. With a forty-percent chance, you can give it a try. And with a thirty-percent chance, it’s still worth taking a gamble.

’Even though the chance of a massive profit wasn’t even thirty percent... well, that’s life. No guts, no glory, right?~’

WHIRRR~

The stationary wheel began to turn, slowly at first, then faster and faster. The whirlwind of seven colors made Chen Yuan’s head feel fuzzy.

The feeling didn’t last long, however. After two or three seconds, the wheel’s rotation slowed dramatically. When it finally came to a steady halt, Chen Yuan’s face turned purple.

The exact same color as the section the pointer had landed on.

"Thanks for jack-shit!"

Seeing the three words "Thanks for Playing," Chen Yuan was so furious he wanted to scream.

’As expected, this damn system never stops causing trouble. It must have created this lottery page because it’s after my points. And just like that, it devoured one hundred of them.’

’Damn it~’

’Logically, since I’m a beginner, shouldn’t you have increased my odds of winning? You even took my hundred points. Aren’t you being a little too shameless? You’re going to lose a gambler like me if you keep this up~’

Chen Yuan really was starting to feel like a gambler. He figured a beginner should have some good luck to keep them hooked. Otherwise, if the system pissed him off, he’d just ignore the lottery page entirely. It could forget about ever getting another single point from him.

With that, Chen Yuan entered another hundred points.

’Just this once, you hear? One more "Thanks," and I’m done with this for good~’

He meant it as a threat. Then he clicked "Confirm."

The wheel began to spin again. A few seconds later...

"Holy shit!"

Chen Yuan shot to his feet. Another fucking "Thanks for Playing." It had now eaten two hundred of his points.

He finally seemed to understand why purple meant "Thanks for Playing." It was clearly designed to match the color of his face right now—a truly ugly, purplish shade.

’Bad things come in threes. I’ll trust you one last time. Otherwise, I, Mr. Chen, will jump from this very spot, never summon the system again, and absolutely will not glance at this lottery page ever again~’

Fuming, Chen Yuan once again entered one hundred points and clicked "Confirm."

’Three strikes and you’re out.’

’Mr. Chen is a man of his word.’

He was already prepared to dismiss the system for good.

But a few seconds later, he was on his feet again. This time, he didn’t curse. Instead, he let out an excited yell, his booming laughter echoing from the room and audible even from the courtyard outside.

"What is he doing? Did he win the lottery or something?"

In the kitchen, a busy Tang Ying and Chen Jun were startled by the excited yell. They looked up curiously, and Tang Ying even ran outside to shout upstairs.

"Haha, I did win the lottery!"

Chen Yuan’s laughter drifted downstairs.

Of course, Tang Ying didn’t believe him, but she didn’t press the issue. She just reminded him to keep his voice down, saying there was no need to be so loud and startling late at night.

But Chen Yuan hadn’t really been lying. He had won a prize—the highest one, red, with a guaranteed minimum value of ten thousand points. The excitement of such a complete reversal was beyond words.

He only wanted to say one thing.

’This lottery page is awesome!~’

It seemed no one could escape the law of eating one’s words.

’I wonder what prize I’ll get.’