The Gambler's Abyss
The way the Cheonma hummed that tune was... how should I put it?
It wasn't one of those common, trendy melodies we’re used to. It was more like... a Sijo from the Joseon era? It had that classic, old-school rhythm typical of those Chinese martial arts ballads.
?
Wait, humming in front of a guy who belongs to the "Nation of Excitement"?
Ah, hearing that humming suddenly makes me crave karaoke. Those cheap, impulsive clubs were the best. They seemed to have everything.
Ah...
Does karaoke not come out of the Gacha?
Listening to Cheonma’s humming, I suddenly found myself wishing karaoke would pop out of the machine.
But seriously...
How dare she!
In front of the sacred Gacha...
Without a shred of desperation...
Trying to pull something for free...?
And doing it while humming some baseless tune?
Not a chance. I’ll bet 500 of my coins that this cheeky Cheonma gets absolutely nothing.
"Cheonma. Just use 500 coins. I need to think about what to do with the remaining 500."
"...Tch... fineee."
Fineee...?
This girl...?
She’s actually adding a cute little suffix to her sentence.
Judging by the feel of it...
The Gacha probably doesn't have high odds, and if no effect appeared, she’d definitely lose her mind, and if one did appear, she’d also lose her mind. Since she was clearly going to trap me in a "no-win" situation regardless, I crossed my arms and watched her back as she operated the machine, racking my brain for how to handle her.
Man... but seriously, that back view is top-tier.
Cheonma inserted the coins into the machine, wiggling her hips in excitement as she pulled the lever... but the screen didn't show that little girl with stars in her eyes—the one who looked like she’d be great at being a messgaki—which had appeared during my turn. Instead, only the item screen showed up.
..
...
ITEM LIST
Stamina Potion
Elixir 1
☞ Soju x2
Item Enhancement Ticket
Elixir 2
Mana Potion
...
...
"..."
Cheonma stared blankly at the machine for a moment without a word.
Eh... that’s what I thought. It’s a bust, right?
It wouldn't make sense if she actually got something.
Cheonma.
Remember this.
Overwhelming martial arts? Not needed.
The skill of Gacha is purely luck.
Just Lucky.
I wanted to whisper that to her, but...
If I touch her now... she’s going to explode, right?
I have to wait until she sorts out her own head and accepts reality...
Reality is a cruel thing...
Hurry up and pull yourself together... we’ve got a long way to go...
Just then, Merlin, who had climbed up to the machine at some point, pointed at the screen and said,
"Oh? What’s this? Cheonma’s turn ended with nothing?"
And with that, she touched Cheonma’s reverse scale.
You, you idiot!
I was holding back even though I wanted to say it too!
You’re stealing my line?
And that’s a forbidden word to a Gacha-addict!
She’s so oblivious!
Startled by Merlin’s remark, I looked at Cheonma.
And Cheonma... as expected, she went berserk.
Kwah-kah-kah-kah-kah-kah-boom!
"This is a scam!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Cheonma unleashed her internal energy throughout her body, shouting with a voice filled with rage.
Then, she glared at me with a face full of fury.
?
What.
Is it my fault you didn't get anything?
I... I knew it would be like this...
Did it look easy when I pulled something?
Did you think you’d pull it right away too?
Did you think Gacha was that easy?
Not a chance.
It’s a total whiff!
For a second,
I had the urge to brag to Cheonma, who was angry at me...
But remembering the advice of a junior soldier—"Take good care of someone addicted to gambling. Then you’ll hit the jackpot"—I suppressed that urge with all my might for the sake of the future.
Oops...
I shouldn't tease her now.
The mark I’ve already hooked will run away!
I have to take care of her! Care!
"Oh! Cheonma. It’s okay, it’s okay. You can still spin it 50 more times. You still have 500 coins left!"
"Th-that’s right... I’ll get it if I just fill up the 100 spins..."
"Yeah, yeah! Come on, let’s spin it again."
Just as I was calming Cheonma’s rage with hopeful words and leading her back to the Gacha,
"Wait a minute. Why is Cheonma the only one spinning? I want to do it too."
"Me... too..."
"Yeah, me too! I won't forgive Cheonma for doing it alone!"
"I won't tolerate a monopoly! Move aside, Cheonma!"
"Young master! I want to do it too..."
The rest of the heroes surrounding the machine were chirping like chicks, noisily clamoring to spin the Gacha.
Well, I guess... after seeing that effect... they couldn't just sit still, could they?
They’d be wiggling their hips just like Cheonma...
Anyway... I only have 500 Gacha coins... and since there are 6 of them, they can't all spin 10 times... what do I do... should I let them try their beginner's luck too?
For the sake of dramatic tension...
Let’s stir up some conflict first...
"I think you guys need to choose..."
"Huh? Us? Choose what?"
"Yeah. There are only 500 coins... so only 5 people can spin 10 times each."
"Then obviously Cheonma should be the one to drop out."
"What? Why me! Why take away my share!"
"You already spun!"
"No!"
Watching Cheonma and Arthur look like they were about to grab each other by the hair and fight over the Gacha, I was overjoyed at the growing number of recruits for my "sucker" collection.
Voluntary suckers...
What a beautiful phrase.
"You should be the one to drop out!"
"No! I’m going to spin more!"
"You... why are you so selfish?"
"I want to pull that effect with my own hands too."
"Then do it next time! You already did it 50 times and didn't pull anything!"
"..Grrr-!"
If this keeps up, they’re going to tear each other apart again...
It’s time to mediate.
"Alright, alright... stop fighting. For now... let’s try to multiply the coins with these 500... If that doesn't work, how about we set a safety line and spin 5 times each when we’re down to 300 coins?"
".. Safe-what? Just let Cheonma give up...!"
"Stop! I’ll keep 20 coins for myself, and you each take 80 coins to play the game. Let’s be fair. And if you fight anymore, I won't give you any more Gacha chances."
"... Fine."
Gacha taming...
Very successful...
Arthur backed down, yielding to my threat(?).
Having barely managed to silence the heroes' complaints, I cheered inwardly and made a V-sign for victory, then turned the lever to switch to "Rock-Paper-Scissors" mode.
Clunk-
"Alright, who wants to go first? You can each play 80 times. And whoever pulls the coins gets to keep them all. Whether they share them or not is up to them."
He who pulls the coins keeps the coins.
Usually... there are those who have high Gacha luck...
Let’s see...
Well... let’s see who’s lucky.
"I’ll go first! For this Cheonma to get nothing! That’s absurd!"
Cheonma stepped forward first to make up for it.
Clunk-
As Cheonma pulled the lever, images of scissors, rock, and paper appeared in the center of the screen, cycling rapidly.
A moment later, with a beep, the screen changed and started a countdown.
Beeep-
10
9
...
2
1
!
Rock!
Paper!
Scissors!
Slap-!
As soon as the machine’s voice ended, Cheonma slammed the "Scissors" button with a face full of fury.
Me : Scissors VS Rock-Paper-Scissors : Rock
LOSE
Lost~
"..."
"..."
Cheonma, who had stepped up with such fury, displayed a "Loss" screen from the very start.
And...
Before that shock could even fade, a wicked, devilish voice flowed from the machine, shattering Cheonma’s mentality like a cookie.
Boing~
You lost, so what are you doing~
Hurry up and make up for what you lost!
I’ll be your opponent!
Grrr-
Cheonma, grinding her teeth, shouted as if her pupils were literally spewing fire, and mindlessly shoved coins into the slot.
"I.... am Cheonma!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
..
...
Despite that shout... having lost 80 coins in a flash due to a losing streak, Cheonma stared at the machine’s screen with dead eyes.
Ding-!
?
Ding-?
Are you watching this in real-time?
I wondered if it was my imagination that the machine was using words that perfectly fit the current situation.
"Ha, is it my turn next?"
And Arthur, who pushed Cheonma aside with an arrogant attitude to claim her turn...
..
...
Ding-!
Just like Cheonma, she lost 80 coins in an instant.
Crunch-
As Arthur clenched her fist and glared at the machine as if she were about to punch it, Merlin quickly stepped forward.
"Ha-! It’s my turn this time. Watch closely! The greatness of magic! I’ll show you the magic I developed to read the future of objects!"
? You read the future of objects? What... does that mean you see things falling or something?
Showing the same arrogance as Arthur, Merlin pressed the machine’s button to proceed with the game.
..
...
Ding-!
"..."
What did you say?
Magic that reads the future of objects?
What a load of nonsense. Kekekekekeke.
Merlin had lost 80 coins in a losing streak, just like the others.
Man... 3 out of 6 heroes have no Gacha luck...
That means the remaining 3 have high odds...
Who will have their Gacha luck potential explode?
Or... maybe no one...?
In my plan, I needed at least one hero who could pull off a "lucky brag."
Who among the remaining 3 will become the King of Bragging...!