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The serpent lady flashed a charming, almost electric smile at this rare high-paying customer, speaking in a sweet, melodic voice:

“Of course, dear guest.”

She was about to instruct the ogres to bring over the boxes when Charlotte interrupted.

“No, I don’t want the ones you’re picking. Can I choose the boxes myself?”

“Huh?”

The serpent lady looked puzzled, but kept her courtesy. “No problem, though I doubt it makes any difference.”

“It makes a huge difference!”

Charlotte dramatically adjusted his glasses, exuding confidence. “Ha! According to the official lore, since these are ‘Cassius’s Gifts,’ there must be valuable items hidden within.”

“But knowing the damn devs, would they make it easy for you to get something good? What if the best items were already taken by earlier buyers, and what’s left is trash?”

He pointed to the boxes, a glint of certainty in his eyes, speaking loudly.

“So, clearly, the boxes are meant to fleece us first, recoup costs, then finally let some of us score something worthwhile. But they couldn’t predict I’d choose to draw from the very bottom!”

“Watch and learn, everyone, as I outplay the system!”

Hearing Charlotte’s reasoning, the gathered players nodded in agreement.

“Damn, no wonder he’s the leader of a big guild. He knows his stuff.”

“Makes sense. I might follow his lead.”

“The guy’s a legend—he’s figured out the entire system. No wonder no one was getting any good pulls before.”

Cassius, observing all this from his palace, chuckled in disbelief, “You’re overthinking it. I didn’t rig anything. Just buy it normally, and you’d get the prize.”

“Come on, where’s my legendary item hiding?”

Charlotte walked to the far end of the shop, surveying the identical boxes, pretending to ponder deeply, before carefully choosing one.

“Heh, looks like the first rare gear is about to come out.”

Under the expectant gaze of the crowd, Charlotte opened the box with a flourish, revealing a white light.

“Swish—”

【Ogre’s Beast-hide Armor】

Rarity: None

Item Description: A crude coat made from the hide of a warg, worn by ogres for years. It reeks with a stench that could potentially ward off annoying neighbors.

The hopeful gazes around him all fell on the fly-infested beast hide. Silence followed, broken by a few scattered boos.

“How could this be?”

Charlotte’s eyes widened, disbelief written all over his face.

Glancing around at the skeptical crowd, he coughed awkwardly and explained, “Even I can’t hit the jackpot every time. This is a game of probability, after all. But I’ve got nine more boxes! Just watch!”

He picked another box, one that seemed to call to him.

The box opened.

The crowd craned their necks to see.

【Lackman Noble’s Whip】

Rarity: None

Discovered in the dungeons of an old castle, this whip silently tells of the cruelty the Lackman family inflicted on their people.

Charlotte’s face darkened. Noticing the amused glances from the crowd, he forced a feeble smile.

“Cough, cough, another fluke. But I’ve still got eight more.”

One by one, eight more boxes were opened.

【Goblin’s Stinky Shoe】, 【Kobold Trader’s Green Bandana】, 【Lizardman’s Old Bone Staff】, 【Orc’s Underpants】...

“How is this even possible—?”

Charlotte stood there, stunned, feeling the urge to cough up blood.

He had pulled eight pieces of utter junk. Not even beggars in Northwind Fortress would take them, yet he’d spent a whole fifty gold coins!

The crowd murmured, incredulous at his bad luck.

“You must be cursed with bad luck from Africa.”

Some were blunt, drawing laughter from the crowd.

Being ridiculed by hundreds of people was a blow to Charlotte’s pride. Flushing red, he snapped back, “You just don’t understand! This is data collection! By analyzing this, I’m calculating the game’s odds and the algorithm behind it. Once I crack it, I’ll know how to game the system!”

Hearing his confident explanation, the crowd almost believed him.

But soon, someone loudly questioned, “Then why don’t you just get a good item now to prove it?!”

“Yeah, show us!”

“Buy another one and show us!”

The crowd clamored for more, eager for entertainment.

Charlotte, now beet red, breathing heavily, finally made up his mind.

“Smack!”

He slapped down fifty gold coins, dumping them on the counter and shouted, “Another ten boxes!”

“I’ve figured out the algorithm. Single pulls aren’t guaranteed, so I’ll go for a ten-pull!”

“Damn, he’s really rich!”

“Only he could pull this off.”

Ten carefully selected boxes were brought over by the ogres, and at Charlotte’s command, they were all opened at once, an impressive sight that made many players exclaim.

“To all the spellcasters from the past to the present, how many of you have ascended? Either way, I humbly pray to you—please, let me score big this time!”

Charlotte muttered this fervent prayer in his heart.

However, what came next was even more unbelievable—ten beams of white light shone simultaneously, reflecting on Charlotte’s glasses, making his face look ghastly pale.

Underpants, coats, bandanas, cloaks—these white-tier items could practically form a complete set for a stylish beggar.

“How is this possible?! How could there be nothing—not even a green item?!”

His legs gave out, and he slumped to the floor, muttering:

“My entire year’s savings…”

The serpent lady, full of concern, leaned over to support him, whispering a “kind” offer into his ear: “Dear guest, if you wish, we offer a loan service here as well.”

“For you, due to your outstanding contributions, only a five percent annual interest rate.”

“You gotta be kidding me…”

Charlotte, sitting on the floor, was almost ready to pass out from rage.

The crowd either sighed or laughed at his misfortune, some even felt relieved.

“Thank goodness I didn’t buy anything; this is too much of a scam.”

“Right? Cassius’s ‘treasures’ seem more like trash heaps. Even buying twenty boxes didn’t get him anything good.”

“Charlotte took one for the team. We appreciate your sacrifice, man.”

Cassius, observing, started to grow worried: “Is this carefully planned event about to flop?”

“This guy is just too unlucky! Even if it’s random, there’s no way he opened twenty boxes and got absolutely nothing!”

He almost wanted to step in and slap some sense into him, telling him that opening boxes normally would’ve yielded a rare item.

After all, Cassius had planned this out thoughtfully; even a money-grabbing scheme needs sustainability, a long-term strategy.

If players were scared away in the first attempt, their enthusiasm would be lost.

So Cassius had even ensured there were a dozen decent rare items to draw, hoping to draw players back when the official game launched.

Once these beta testers flaunted their good pulls on the forums, like “I got a blue-tier item for just five gold!” it would definitely make the new players envious and eager to try.

Thus, endless waves of players would jump into this pit willingly.

But Charlotte’s rotten luck was beyond expectation, leaving Cassius questioning his own plans.

Several more players tried after that, but under Charlotte’s misguided advice, they all randomly picked boxes, and without exception, all got white-tier items.

“This is such a scam.”

“Learn from our tears, don’t buy.”

Watching the shiny boxes, “Flying Witch” felt her fingers itch. She loved collecting quirky items to brew her grotesque potions.

She hesitated for a moment, coins in hand, but decided to buy one.

“You know, you have to try everything once. It’s just for the experience—even if it doesn’t work, maybe it’ll cheer up our dear guild master. Poor guy, he’s got it rough.”

She didn’t have high expectations, just wanted to join the fun.

The serpent lady asked, “Miss, would you like to choose a box yourself, like the others?”

Flying Witch giggled, “Nah, just pick one for me. I’m just here for fun.”

“Here you go. Five gold, exact.”

Though it was only five gold, she winced a little, reluctant to part with it.

The serpent lady chuckled, taking the coins and signaling the ogres to bring over a box.

It so happened that the box meant for Charlotte was brought to Flying Witch.

She casually opened the box.

“Whirr—”

A clear sound echoed, and brilliant blue light shone from the box.

A luxurious wand inlaid with seven different-colored crystals lay quietly, exuding a potent magical aura.

【Wand of Wonders】

Rarity: Rare

Item Description: This wand contains seven charges. While holding it, you can make a target perform magic. The target can be a creature, object, or point in space.

The spell effects are random, ranging from 【Slow】, 【Stinking Cloud】, to strange effects like “turning skin bright blue” or “shooting a stream of gemstones.”

“Aren’t you surprised? Isn’t it exciting? This is magic—endless wonders and surprises!” — Archmage Trenard, after studying the Sea of Chaos.

“Huh?”

Flying Witch’s jaw dropped in shock.

The crowd was stunned silent for a moment, then erupted. They had been expecting a joke, but now someone actually got something!

“Damn, someone got it!”

“A rare! It’s a rare item! And it’s the most valuable—a wand like that must be worth over a thousand gold!”

“Screw you, lucky Europeans!”

“Faith won’t change your fate, but cash can surely keep you unlucky!”

Charlotte, sulking at a distance, glanced over and saw the blue-tier wand before Flying Witch—the box that should have been his.

“Oh, heavens, why have you forsaken me?!”

Charlotte felt as though he were about to cough up blood, wanting nothing more than to lie down and let life end.

Flying Witch, feeling the crowd’s intense gaze, blushed.

She quickly noticed Charlotte nearby and cheerfully waved to him, wanting to share the happy news with her guild master who had always helped her level up.

“Guild Master! Over here, I got something!”

“Don’t call me Guild Master anymore…”

“Call me Chieftain instead, you shameful lucky ones. There’s now a great divide between you and us unlucky folks—a wall of sorrow. Farewell, forever.”

Charlotte collapsed to the ground, utterly drained.

He slowly closed his eyes, seemingly passing out, ready to embrace the darkness.

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