Carrying the Pig-driving Spear, Lin Luyao walked inside. The merchandise on the shelves, which had been impossible to see clearly through the outer glass, instantly became clear.
They were small boxes packed tightly together, arranged neatly across rows of shelves.
Stepping closer, Lin Luyao was startled to discover that they were actually small, square gachapon machines.
Some gachapon machines listed the specific items that could possibly be won inside, with prices generally ranging from 30 to over 300 credits.
As for the other gachapon machines that only listed general categories, prices started at 5 credits.
For a split second, Lin Luyao felt her heart sink.
Ever since she was a child, her luck had never seemed very good.
One need only look at how her father managed to bankrupt a restaurant that had smoothly passed down through four generations in just half a year, leaving behind a mountain of debt before jumping straight from a building to escape responsibility, forcing her—a newly graduated, solitary sprout—to shoulder the debt all by herself.
When a qualified habitually unlucky person encounters a challenge proposed by a black-hearted gaming corporation, what she will naturally do is—
Take up the challenge!
You have to understand, the unluckier a person is, the less they believe in fate!
Not to mention that in the human sector, the ingredients listed in some of the gachapon machines were completely and utterly her absolute favorites.
From rice, flour, and cooking oil to lobsters, crabs, pork, beef, and mutton, even all kinds of spices were available.
Just looking at the variety of goods displayed on the gachapon machine panel, Lin Luyao felt that no matter how unlucky she was, it was simply impossible for her to draw anything bad.
...As if.
Looking at the ten 500-milliliter bottles of mineral water placed before her, Lin Luyao's eyes were filled with bewilderment and doubt.
Her first reaction wasn't even to re-verify her identity as chronically unlucky; instead, she rushed over to that 5-credit-per-draw gachapon machine and carefully examined the list of possible items she could win.
That list kept scrolling down as her gaze moved, featuring a full 500 types of ingredients, yet it stubbornly yielded nothing more than the guaranteed mineral water.
Although mineral water was indeed an essential source of drinking water for survival, getting ten consecutive draws of only the basic mineral water guarantee was a bit ridiculous!
In an instant, Lin Luyao suddenly realized why so many players were trading mineral water for supplies last night.
She had thought mineral water was a fixed resource inside the exploration mystery bags last night, but now she suspected they had also come to the rest area.
Although Lin Luyao was unclear what kind of opportunities they had to earn universal points and arrive at the exclusive rest area ahead of time before nightfall, it was clear that plenty of people shared her terrible luck.
Lin Luyao paused in silence for a moment, then suddenly stood up and looked at Zhaocaimi, who was still sitting by the counter enjoying the spectacle.
Meeting her gaze, Zhaocaimi showed no fear, only slightly raising its chin, managing to project a hint of haughtiness from its overly cartoonish face.
"What?"
With a burning gaze, Lin Luyao took a few steps closer to the stout Zhaocaimi.
Zhaocaimi's body instantly tensed up, as it readied itself for combat.
"I..." Lin Luyao said, her face full of anticipation, "can I pet you?"
Leaving aside the fact that the NPCs Lin Luyao had encountered so far could all be considered amiable, no amount of cuteness was too much when faced with delicious food.
Not to mention the name "Zhaocaimi"—as a "mafioso" who habitually and frequently relied on external help in attempts to alter her unlucky fate, Lin Luyao found it truly difficult to resist the temptation to rub against some good fortune.
Zhaocaimi's motion of preparing to dodge the attack paused, turning into a distorted, tactical lean backward.
Its hunting eyes, which had turned into vertical slits, also rounded out upon hearing this rather creepy question.
For a split second, the air seemed abruptly stuffed with an invisible gas called awkwardness.
After nearly a full minute of silence, Zhaocaimi tilted its head up again and let out an unfathomable, light snort.
As a member of the stray cat neutering coalition, how could Lin Luyao possibly be unfamiliar with the signals emitted by a cat acting coy?
Seizing the opportunity right away, she scampered eagerly to the counter, rubbed her hands together cautiously to ensure her palms were clean, and then carefully patted Zhaocaimi's head several times.
Zhaocaimi's round eyes squinted, and a faint purring sound emanated from its chest.
Half an hour later, Lin Luyao was sitting on the floor.
In front of her was that gachapon machine priced at 5 universal points per draw.
In her arms, Zhaocaimi was contentedly kneading Lin Luyao's thigh with its paws.
And Lin Luyao, using her other hand to gently stroke Zhaocaimi's head, cautiously reached out the hand that had received Zhaocaimi's luck bonus once again and turned the dial of the gachapon machine.
With a crisp click, another gachapon capsule rolled out.
This time, the capsule opened automatically upon hitting the ground, revealing a large iron pot measuring at least 60 centimeters across.
"Wow!" Lin Luyao made no effort to hide her joy and excitement at transforming from an unlucky person into a lucky favorite.
"Ami, you are seriously—I could cry! You're amazing! Simply amazing!" Lin Luyao pressed fervent kisses to the top of Zhaocaimi's head twice.
After half an hour of getting along, the human and the cat had achieved harmonious coexistence.
Ever since Lin Luyao unhesitatingly took the large lobster she had won right after her first time petting the cat's head, neatly butchered it, and offered the fresh, springy lobster meat right to Zhaocaimi's mouth, the human and the cat had become unbreakable allies.
"Meow!"
Zhaocaimi stopped kneading with its paws, sat up straight in Lin Luyao's arms, puffed out its little chest, and vividly portrayed pride and complacency on its cartoonish cat face.
Lin Luyao originally wanted to press her advantage, but unfortunately, this time when she reached out to twist the switch of the gachapon machine, she received a system prompt.
[Warning: Player balance is insufficient to cover this consumption. Would you like to use carried supplies as a deduction?]
Lin Luyao hastily chose to cancel.
After all, this kind of deduction was random; if the system directly dismantled one of her cart wheels, she would take a massive loss.
Even though she had enjoyed a solid streak of supreme luck, she must never get carried away!
Knowing when to quit while she was ahead, Lin Luyao began to sort through the supplies she had won.
After buying the Pig-driving Spear, her credits had dropped to 115, but after hosting a customer last night, she received another 172 credits, which was enough for her to make over fifty draws.
Her first ten draws had gotten off to an unfavorable start, consisting entirely of the mineral water guarantee rewards.
The remaining dozens of draws, backed by Zhaocaimi's luck bonus, yielded a truly bountiful harvest.
A large iron pot, a thick-handled spoon, two sealed jars, a cutting board, and even a medium-sized flamethrower.
In an emergency, it could even be used as a weapon.
In addition to those, there were bowls, plates, chopsticks, and other tableware in various quantities, successfully filling out all the kitchen utensils she was lacking.
Besides those, there were the various ingredients she had won from the other gachapon machine.
5kg of flour, 5kg of rice, 20 eggs, a live chicken, a live fish, and the large lobster that Zhaocaimi had instantly fallen in love with, all encapsulated in palm-sized bubbles, along with a large Chinese cabbage that reached up to her calf...
The one that suited Lin Luyao's heart the most was a bundled gift set of spices and seasonings, which included garlic, star anise, soy sauce, and everything else fully equipped.
There was a wide variety of items, though the quantities were somewhat small.
Each compartment estimatedly held no more than 100 grams or 200 milliliters.
And what made Lin Luyao the happiest was that she had actually managed to draw seeds from the human sector's gachapon machine.