Free Web NovelChapter 186: Chapter 177: The Dwarves’ Competitive Passion
"Master Bane, Master Bane, when are you going to have the best luck in the clan?"
In Furnace Castle, several young Dwarves circled around Bane Furnace, asking him the same question.
Usually, Bane would put on a serious face and say, "What do you mean? I’ve always had the best luck in the clan."
Then the children would burst out laughing and make up all sorts of rhymes to tease the old Dwarf.
Bane would then pretend to get angry, threatening to chase the little rascals away.
He’d mutter strange things under his breath like, "Isn’t failing to get anything after 3,000 pulls its own kind of good luck?" and "I don’t get drops so I can balance out the probability. That makes it easier for everyone else."
The more flustered he acted, the happier the young Dwarves were.
Of course, Bane really was angry, but he had to make it look like he was *pretending* to be angry.
That way, the other clan members would think he wasn’t actually angry, just teasing the children.
It was also a good opportunity to vent his frustration.
It wasn’t easy being him.
As a Furnace Master, he had an image to uphold. He made great efforts and sacrifices to maintain his reputation as a respected yet approachable figure.
But today was different.
The young Dwarves hopped around him for several laps, but Bane didn’t react at all.
They instantly lost interest and quieted down.
The best way to deal with rowdy children is to simply ignore them. When they crave attention, you give them none.
Still, the wait for them to finally quiet down was a bit of an ordeal.
Just as the band of young Dwarves tired of their jumping, and, finding no more fun to be had with Bane, prepared to leave, he let out a soft chuckle. freeweɓnøvel.com
"Heh."
It was a chuckle that gave him the air of a detached master.
Then, stroking his beard, he said with feigned indifference, "Today is the day."
"Whoa!"
The children gasped.
"What does ’Today is the day’ mean?" one of them whispered to a friend.
"I don’t know," his friend replied blankly, "but it sounded really cool."
「Furnace Castle Game Store」
The Auto Chess anniversary event was about to end. A large crowd of Dwarves had gathered in the shop for one last, thrilling round of card pulls before it was over.
The season had been running for several months, and aside from the few who were still trying to climb the ranks, most people had stopped playing. They were just waiting for the next update.
’Playing the actual game? Where’s the fun in that? Pulling cards is way more exciting!’
Dwarves were especially enthusiastic when it came to watching others pull cards.
The whole thing was magical to them. It was obvious you could never come out ahead—it was just a matter of losing a lot versus losing a little. The Zog Group was the only real winner.
But when the pull animation burst into a brilliant golden light, it brought the same joy as winning a huge gamble.
It had gotten to the point where game stores for Dwarves were the only ones with dedicated gacha machines.
Any card pulls made on these machines, regardless of the game, were broadcast onto a large screen on the wall.
This was for the entertainment of the Dwarves, who loved to watch the spectacle.
Furthermore, the store had no windows or clocks, a deliberate choice to make them lose all track of time amidst the endless pack-opening animations.
"Golden, golden!" shouted the Dwarf currently at the machine, his face flushed.
This was his last ten-pull, and he was shouting as if screaming loud enough could actually conjure a Golden Legendary.
"AHHHHHHH—awww..."
His hoarse scream suddenly deflated. He had seen the "soul-cleansing" blue and white color scheme.
"You’re terrible at this. Move, it’s my turn," the Dwarf next to him urged. "With your kind of luck, there’s no way you’d pull anything good."
"As if your luck is any better," he shot back, unconvinced.
"I *do* have good luck! I dug up a Ruby in the mines just yesterday!"
"That wasn’t a Ruby. You dug up the molted shell of a rust monster and thought it was a treasure."
The Dwarf, still salty from his bad pulls, had no qualms about exposing the other’s embarrassing secret.
"Nonsense!"
"Then go get it appraised!"
"Even if it is a rust monster’s shell, it’s still treasure! What’s that word... a biological fossil!"
This was a new side hustle for the Dwarves. Scholars from the research academy often came to the mining district to purchase the petrified remains of ancient creatures they dug up.
If it was a rare specimen, the price could be just as high as a top-quality gemstone.
"Keep dreaming. They buy *ancient* ones. Your shell is from last week, at best."
It looked like the two Dwarves were about to engage in a "cordial and friendly" exchange of fists.
"Everyone, step aside!" Bane boomed.
"Who do you... Oh, it’s Master Bane," said one of the Dwarves who’d been about to fight. "What brings you here to pull cards today? Didn’t you say you were quitting for good after last time?"
After failing to get a single decent drop from three thousand pulls last time, Bane had loudly proclaimed he was quitting and leaving the heartbreaking world of Auto Chess behind.
"Hmph."
Bane Furnace cleared his throat, and his resonant voice echoed throughout the game store.
"Today, not only will I pull the Dwarf King, I’m going to pull every single legendary in this event."
The moment he finished speaking, everyone in the shop looked as if they’d just heard something outrageous.
Even those in the middle of a game stopped playing. Today, there was going to be a real show.
’What game could be more entertaining than watching Master Bane have a meltdown?’
Everyone just assumed this would end with him having another meltdown.
Bane sat down grandly in front of the machine and logged into his account.
The home screen was covered in red notification dots; it was a miracle he’d resisted the urge to click them.
He made a show of cracking his neck and wrists, then entered the card-pulling screen.
"Today is the day, today is the day..."
The same little rascals from before had followed him. They now surrounded Bane, chanting the bold declaration he had made.
"What’s this ’Today is the day’ business?" one of the spectating Dwarves asked another, confused.
