abcnovels
Chapter 11: Scratch Card (Gum Included)
Chapter 11: Scratch Card (Gum Included)
Chapter 11: Scratch Card (Gum Included)
A few days passed and my dagashi shop leveled-up again.
It seems that the level increases are related to my sales, but I don’t keep any kind of ledgers, so I don’t know the details.
However, it seems that if I sell more, my dagashi shop will upgrade.
In any case, restocking was done and new products were added.
The new product seems to be the typical scratch card.
Product name: Scratch Card
Description: Status Bonus when the same pattern is matched (Lasts for half a day). Depending on the pattern, strength, speed, magic or other stats will increase. There’s also a possibility of winning a voucher worth 200 rims. Stat stacking doesn’t work. Comes with a free gum.
Price: 30 rims
My first experience with gambling was at a dagashi shop.
When I think about it again, dagashi shops are full of items that really feel like gambling.
Even the dagashi shop I went to as a child had these voucher sheets on a piece of cardboard, and the maximum amount you could win from them was 200 yen.
I was often disappointed, but when I had some money to spare, I would try them out.
If the effect of the status boost lasted only half a day, this would be a product that should be sold in the morning.
The number of people diving in the dungeon at night isn’t really zero, but they were few.
With the nature of this thing though, I have to be careful not to let Merle get too heated on this.
These days, there are times when Merle won’t stop even when she eats a calming mini cola.
[Heeeey!]
[Good morning, Garm.]
.
The first customer of the day was the young adventurer who once promoted curry crackers to his friends.
He was one of the first regulars in my shop after Merle and Mira.
[Arehh? There’s something new huh.]
I quickly explained what the Scratch Lottery is to him.
[Heehhh…… That looks interesting. If it’s just 30 rims, I guess I’ll try my luck.]
[Pick one that you’d like.]
At my words, Garm detached a card from the cardboard.
[So, what am I gonna do now?]
[You scrape off the silver circles with a coin.]
He took out a 10-rim copper coin from his pocket.
[Let’s see…… Oh, there’s a drawing behind it.]
The pattern drawn is the symbol of a sword.
[When you get all three with that symbol, you get a strength status boost.]
[Okay……]
Garm scraped the second scratch-off coating with expectant eyes.
He is a warrior after all, so an increase in strength status would be useful to him.
The pattern that came out was……
[Alright! I got the second one!]
Two sword patterns lined up.
However, the first two scratch-offs matching is a common occurrence.
The question is whether he’d get the same results in the last scratch-off……
Keeping himself from speaking, Garm scraped off the last scratch-off.
In the meantime, his friends also came over and watched him over his shoulder.
[Oh…… Ohhhh!]
The pattern that came out was the same sword.
The moment the three patterns were aligned, the card glowed brightly, and the red light was sucked into Garm’s chest.
[Whooaaa!? What is this!? I can feel my power surging!]
It seems that the effect of the card has been felt immediately.
[Keep in mind that the effect only lasts half a day, okay? Well, I guess it will continue while you’re diving in the dungeon.]
[Oh, give me a scratch card too!]
[Me too! And a cola candy too!]
Dagashi Yahagi is thriving today too.
This would allow me to buy all sorts of necessities that I wanted.
Bag, comb, I have all sorts of stuff I need.
[What’s this!? It looks like the fun items have increased!]
Merle and Mira arrived.
[It’s a new product, Scratch Lottery.]
[Hehh, 30 rims huh. In that case, let’s immediately……]
[Wait a moment. Merle should eat a mini cola before playing.]
[Uuuu…… Alright, alright. Here, satisfied?]
Merle popped a hard candy into her mouth from the bottle she carries with her at all times.
[I’m saying this now, but this one also got lots of fail draws too. In that case, all you’ll get is a piece of gum that doesn’t have any effect.]
[That’s exactly what scratches my urges……]
Merle took her time to select her card, and then expressly taking out a 1000-rim silver coin, she began scraping off.
[With this silver coin in my hand, I feel my luck increasing!]
Here you can see a gambling occult whose mentality doesn’t have any basis.
The silver scratch-off was scraped and the first pattern turned out to be a wand.
If she got a full line-up of this pattern, it would boost one’s magic.
However, her dream was shattered by the second pattern.
The second pattern was a boot, a pattern indicating speed.
[Kuh…… D*mn it……]
No, no, you can’t say that.
In any case, as one would expect from Merle, the patterns that came out were all different: a wand, a boot, and a crown.
(T/N: Author wrote sword, wand, and crown here, even though it was not stated that Merle drew another card, so I changed it to wand, boot, and crown.)
Most of the time, people could at least draw out two same patterns.
[If you got a full set of crowns, all of your abilities would have been improved.]
[O- One more……]
Merle, chewing on his consolation gum, reached for a new scratch card.
[That’s enough with that.]
[But you see, it seems like the witch being in the lower-leveled floors for the past few days isn’t a rumor. Even if it’s just a bit, I would like my abilities to be increased.]
The witch is in the lower-leveled floors?
[I thought the witch lived deep underground in the dungeon?]
[That’s the thing. There seemed to be a sighting of her yesterday on the 3rd Underground Floor. The top team hit her with a poisoned arrow, but in the end, she escaped.]
[Hmmm. By the way, what does the witch look like? It seems like everyone knows who she is, but was there like, some description about her?]
[A wanted poster was posted in the plaza in front of the royal palace. Also, as a reaction to the curse she placed on the king, the witch’s body ended up being liked by Flower Sonobugs.]
[Flower Sonobugs?]
[They’re insects that live in dungeons. Even though they don’t usually cry, only when the witch is nearby do they make this “riii riii” sound.]
It’s like a bell cricket.
[Low-ranked adventurers like us try to run away when the Flower Sonobugs start to chirp.]
[Hmmm, in that case, can you catch me one of those Flower Sonobugs?]
[Why?]
[I mean, you know, if I have a Flower Sonobug, I’ll know if that witch is nearby. If it starts chirping, I’ll run away.]
[You’re so cowardly. Anyhow, I don’t think you need to worry. I heard that the witch don’t come out of the dungeon.]
Is that true?
Even that witch would need to get food and snacks, right?
[Besides, Flower Sonobugs can only live deep in the dungeon.]
[is that so?]
[Unnn. In fact, Flower Sonobugs live below the 2nd Underground Floor.]
Thinking about it again, I guess the witch might never attack a dagashi shopowner.
The only person that witch should hate is the King.
No, with everyone chasing after her, I guess it’s not impossible that she has turned her animosity against the entire human race……
I think I’ll take a walk after my morning business is done and look at that wanted poster.
Translator’s Notes:
Scratch Card. Can’t see the IRL base, so here’s the image from the manga.