The Unexpected Jackpot
Pat, pat...
Watching Judang hang off my arm and whine, I decided I really needed to mix her a proper somaek later. I reached out and patted her short, black hair.
This isn't exactly babysitting a younger sister... Good grief.
Zzzzt—
?
Huh???
I felt like someone was glaring at me, so I turned my head. On the other side, Lancelot was staring at me intently with a strange expression.
"..."
"..."
Feeling awkward, I quickly pulled my hand away from Judang’s head, picked up the coin from the joystick, and handed it to Lancelot.
"Here, Lancelot. Now, seriously... you’re my only hope. The others here are already a lost cause..."
"..."
Lancelot took the coin, stared at it for a moment, then looked up to meet my eyes before opening her mouth.
"...Fool... I... have... question."
"...Ha! Sure, call me a fool. Why? What are you curious about?"
"..."
"...?"
After a moment of hesitation, the question that came out of Lancelot’s mouth was completely outside the realm of what I’d expected.
"...Shield... what... thinking... instead... blocked...?"
"The shield...? Ah~ you mean why I stepped in to block the Legion Commander’s attack for you earlier?"
Nod.
I asked to confirm if I’d understood her correctly, and Lancelot nodded.
"Why did I block it for you... I don't really know myself, honestly. It’s just... in that situation, I thought if I missed the shield, both of us would get hurt... so my body just moved on its own..."
"...Men... weak! ...I... strong... that much...!"
That’s strange. I’ve seen this pattern somewhere before.
Ah.
...Isn't this that flag?
The typical... self-centered character pattern?
Isn't this one of those romance flags where if you just humble yourself a little and stroke their ego, they fall for you?
...
"That... blocked... don't... show off."
Show off, huh.
Ha... I have absolutely no intention of stroking her ego.
"You being strong and me blocking that are two different things. Didn't I say it before? The world I came from is different from yours. I wanted to survive, and my body moved unconsciously to protect us. I have no intention of showing off to you... Did you call me over just to argue about that? If so, you’ve got the wrong idea. Let’s just spin the Gacha and finish the settlement. I want to rest. Okay?"
Show off? To hell with romance flags.
I just want to finish this quickly and get some sleep, so let’s burn through these coins and wrap it up, Lancelot.
Despite my words, Lancelot didn't look like she had any intention of putting the coin in the machine’s slot.
"...? What are you doing? Hurry up."
"...Why... only Judang... head... pat...?"
"...?"
?
What is she saying?
"I... like... shield... blocked... not?"
"What?"
What is she saying right now?
Ah... did she mistake my actions for liking her?
...Wait a second.
The fact that I blocked it for her...
She thinks I blocked it... because I like her...?
No way...
Because of that misunderstanding...
And because I patted Judang’s head... she’s jealous...?
Misunderstanding plus jealousy?
Shit...!
Gulp—
Judang, who had been whining, was watching me and Lancelot with an intrigued look. If she had popcorn in her hands, she’d be stuffing it into her mouth as fast as a hamster, going *crunch-crunch-crunch* right next to us.
Anyway, Lancelot has a huge misunderstanding about me, doesn't she?
Romance... I haven't even thought about dating yet, have I?
My attempt to survive has caused a massive misunderstanding...
"Lancelot... listen to me carefully."
"U...uh..."
"I think you’ve had a huge misunderstanding about my actions."
"..."
"Stop with the misunderstandings... and please, just proceed."
"Misunderstanding...?"
After labeling it a misunderstanding, I looked at the screen.
Let’s just get on with it.
...
However, after a minute passed and Lancelot still hadn't moved, my irritation flared up. I turned my head to look at her.
Drip...
No, why are you crying...
Are you really using the "woman's tears" weapon at a time like this...?
Tears were welling up in Lancelot’s sapphire-like blue eyes—the same as Arthur’s—before they rolled down her cheeks.
"Ah! Young Master! To make Lancelot cry! That is quite a feat!"
Judang immediately seized the moment, shouting loudly as if to make sure the other heroes heard, framing me as the one who made Lancelot cry.
Seriously, she’s throwing me under the bus like this?
Judang... forget the somaek, you’re getting straight soju, you hear me?
Anyway... I made her cry... they’re definitely not going to let this slide, right?
The voices of Arthur and Merlin reached my restless ears.
"...She made Lancelot cry...? That’s impressive..."
"Quite something... the way she seduces and shakes them up is no joke."
?
What is that supposed to mean... "Impressive"? "Quite something"...?
What did I seduce, and who did I seduce...
Usually, if a man makes a woman cry, he’s a piece of sh—
Ah.
This is a gender-reversed world.
Does that mean, usually, women make men cry...?
I really can’t get used to this... I really can’t.
Poke—
Judang shoved her head under my chest.
?
What is she...
"Hurry! Hurry, just like before! Pat my head, Young Master!"
"..."
Where did she sell her Buddha-nature, leaving only an erotic-delusional monk behind...
Sigh—
As I sighed and went to pat Judang’s head, I saw Lancelot glaring at her with eyes wide like saucers.
Wow... is she the incarnation of jealousy?
I couldn't shake the feeling that these two heroes were like a cat and a dog.
"My... build... up... stolen?"
"..."
A build-up?
A romance build-up...
...Man, it’s complicated.
Thinking in a different world is truly dizzying...
Without a word, I reached out, passed over Judang’s head, and wiped the tears from Lancelot’s eyes, which she had left uncleaned.
"..!"
"...Young Masteeer!"
Lancelot flinched at my action.
"Lancelot?"
"Yes..."
"Comrades shouldn't do things like that."
"...Huh?"
"Romantic feelings or things like that should be approached with sincerity... that’s how it should be. Testing each other... probing with 'build-ups'... that’s not right. Even if it’s a joke...
Coming from a different world, I take things differently and end up misunderstanding. But... thinking about it from your perspective... I guess that could happen... Thanks for telling me."
"...Ah. Sorry... I, I mean... it’s not... a misunderstanding..."
"It’s fine. Now, let’s stop this and hurry up. Everyone is waiting downstairs."
"...O, okay... y-yes..."
Having barely managed to smooth over this "situation," I urged Lancelot again.
I want to check my Gacha results right now...
I’m dying of curiosity...
Romance lines... I’ve never even thought about them...
Because that wasn't even a possibility...
...
Lancelot nodded and inserted the coin she had been holding so preciously into the machine’s slot.
Ugh... seriously, it’s so hard to get them to spend a coin...
Exhausted in body and mind, and having learned from the previous antics of the other heroes, I didn't have any high expectations for Lancelot’s turn.
Click—
As Lancelot pulled the lever, images of rock, paper, and scissors began to cycle rapidly in the center of the screen.
A moment later, with a beep, the screen changed and began a countdown.
Beeep—
10
9
...
2
1
!
Rock!
Paper!
Scissors!
Thwack—!
Just as the machine’s voice finished, Lancelot’s eyes lit up, and she slammed the "Rock" button.
Me: Rock VS RPS: Scissors
WINLOSE
I won!
Oh ho?
She won on the first try?
Lancelot... was it you? The one with the high Gacha luck?
※ ROCK PAPER SCISSORS ※
Pull the lever to earn a large amount of coins!
Clunk—
Lancelot, perhaps happy that she had won on her first try, smiled and pulled the lever.
※ ROCK PAPER SCISSORS ※
Coin Reward
--------------------
.. 100 50
☞ 3000
1000 10 ..
--------------------
..
...Lies... lieslieslieslieslieslieslieslieslieslieslieslieslieslieslieslieslieslieslieslieslieslieslieslieslieslies
You hit the 3,000 coin jackpot...
This luck isn't human...
A dejected sound flowed from the machine as I stared at the incredible result on the screen.
And Lancelot raised both arms in a victory pose, shouting with a voice full of pure happiness.
"I... HIT IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT, SHE HIT IT!!!!!!!!!"
"SHE ACTUALLY HIT IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Of course, both Judang and I shouted in joy right after her.
Thanks to Lancelot’s actions, there was chaos above the machine, and chaos below it.
"Wha... what!? She, she hit it!? How many!? How many did she hit!? My share is in there, right!?" - Cheonma
"...Lancelot actually did it... Wait, but Cheonma, why are you looking for your share?" - Arthur
"...How many should I ask for? To think we can challenge it again... I’m so excited!" - Merlin
"That’s amazing... thanks to this, if things go well, we might be able to challenge it one more time!" - Hwaryeon
Listening closely, everyone was counting their chickens before they hatched, not even considering the person who actually provided the rice cake.