Wu Dahai slicked back his broom-head hair with supreme confidence and swaggered, in full show-off mode, to the slot machine.

  "Ten tokens each—ten points. Five-minute limit. Old Huang, you keep time for us. I want it down to the second."

  "Got it." Officer Huang pulled out his phone and opened the stopwatch.

  "Rules are simple: whoever has more points after five minutes wins." Wu looked at Skyler. "Any questions?"

  "None."

  "Great! I'll go first." Wu plopped onto the stool and, with practiced ease, fed ten coins into the slot.

  Skyler stood behind him observing, dredging up childhood memories of watching other people play and refreshing the basics.

  The cabinet was a standard model with eight payout symbols: Apple ×5, Orange ×10, Papaya ×15, Bell ×20, Watermelon ×20, Double-Star ×30, Double Seven ×40, and BAR ×100.

  Naturally, the odds ran inverse to the payouts: the top prize BAR was almost impossible—maybe once in a hundred spins—while low-tier fruits hit often but paid little.

  Starting with ten points, Wu spent three—one each on Apple, Orange, and Papaya.

  Five seconds later he hit Apple—five points gained, total 12.

  Round 2: he staked two points each on Orange, Papaya, and Bell.

  Five seconds—Orange hit. Twenty points more; running total 26.

  …

  Over the next eight or nine rounds, Wu used the scatter-shot "small-fish net" approach and built his score past eighty despite several misses; overall, the tally kept climbing.

  Feeling smug, Wu lectured: "Slots may be luck-based, but they're not perfectly random. Play ten thousand rounds and you develop a fuzzy intuition. I usually nail one out of every three predictions for the next symbol."

  "Know what that's called?" he bragged while tapping wagers. " ‘If you've memorized three hundred poems, you'll spit out lines even if you can't compose'—same principle!"

  "It's poems, not corpses," Skyler couldn't resist correcting his mispronunciation.

  Wu, exposed, shot him a glare.

  "One minute left," Officer Huang reminded.

  "Plenty!"

  Wu closed his eyes theatrically. "I can feel the Double-Seven calling me!"

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  He snapped his eyes open and dropped twenty points on Double-Seven.

  Spin—Papaya showed instead.

  Unfazed, he placed another twenty on Double-Seven.

  Result: Watermelon.

  With just forty-odd points left, he again staked twenty on Double-Seven without hesitation.

  Spin—Double-Seven hit!

  The machine erupted in festive red lights and pumped out manic electronic fanfare: "Cong-ra-tu-la-tions!"

  Twenty points times forty equals eight hundred!

  The credit counter rocketed to 820.

  Wu rose and stretched; with thirty seconds left, he planned no further bets.

  "Time," announced Huang.

  Final score: Wu Dahai, 820 points.

  One minute later the machine reset to zero, and Skyler's turn began.

  He paused to think, drew a deep breath, and placed his bets.

  At first he copied Wu's "scatter-net" strategy—small stakes on Apple, Papaya, and Orange, the dependable trio. Like a diligent fruit farmer, he toiled away; after three minutes he'd harvested 61 points—still worlds away from Wu's 820.

  Now he had to shoot for big payouts, yet his mind was blank; Double-Star, Double-Seven, BAR—all felt alien.

  At last he clenched his teeth: go for broke—bet on the biggest, BAR!

  Six attempts, ten points each—hit once and it's a thousand!

  I've got high Luck, right? Maybe it'll land!

  Skyler staked ten on BAR.

  Behind him Wu cackled: "Talk about desperate! You've spun what, a handful of times, and want BAR? I play all night and rarely see one!"

  Dee-dee-dee-dee-BEEP—clack! Spin results: no BAR.

  Skyler laid down another ten.

  Five seconds—missed again.

  …

  Soon only one chance remained. He steeled himself and slammed the button!

  Dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-BEEP— It felt longer than before; maybe this time…

  Clack!

  Miss—nowhere near BAR.

  "Hahahaha—bust! You're done!" Wu gloated. "Buddy, beating me at slots? Try in ten thousand years. Go practice the other games; maybe next month."

  Skyler stared at his remaining credit: 1.

  Not time to quit.

  "How long left?" he asked Officer Huang.

  Huang glanced at the phone: "Thirty seconds… twenty-nine…"

  Skyler's eyes locked on the Hi-Lo buttons for double-or-nothing.

  Screw it!

  Eyes shut, he hammered the "High" button ten times in a row!

  Thunk-thunk-thunk-thunk… Credits leapt: 1→2→4→8→16… in a blink they hit 624!

  All in under ten seconds.

  Wu was petrified. Few slot players dared the Hi-Lo gamble—one win doubles, one loss wipes you.

  It looked tempting, but odds were stacked to claw back credits, especially high totals; choose High or Low, the house devoured you.

  Yet Skyler hit "High" ten straight times and won every one! What odds were those? He should buy lottery tickets!

  Officer Huang's heart pounded. "Eight seconds left!"

  Skyler was stunned himself—so this is my Luck stat? One more!

  Suppressing shaking arms, he smashed "High" again!

  Thunk! 624 doubled to 1248!

  Victory!

  "Time!"

  Wu stood agape. A lifetime of slots and he'd never seen this. Machine broken? He pressed "High" himself.

  Thunk! Credits erased to zero.

  Totally convinced, Wu murmured, "So this is what a real luck-god looks like."

  "You win. First test cleared," he conceded.

  "About time!" Huang exulted. "After half a year I finally get into the organization!"

  "Hey, hold up," Wu cut in. "That was only Stage One. There's a second trial."

  "What?" Huang blurted. "More?"

  Skyler wasn't surprised; what legit group recruits Awakened based on arcade scores?

  "Old Huang, you didn't honestly think one little game gets you in? That was a warm-up. Now we get serious."

  Wu snapped his fingers. Instantly every cabinet went dark; the ceiling fan halted.

  Skyler and Huang exchanged a silent glance in the sudden gloom.

  So Wu Dahai truly wasn't simple—very likely an "electric element" gift. In every game or movie, lightning users are OP.

  Definitely a boss, toying with rookies. If he'd taken Lynn seriously earlier, she might not have matched him.

  "Let's talk outside," Wu said lazily, hands in pockets, sauntering out of the arcade.

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