I Thought It Was a Healing Farming Game - Chapter 97

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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I thought it was supposed to be a healing farming game.
Chapter 97

He took my shoulder lightly, escorting me forward to the machine like a gentleman.
“Bet as much as you like. When three matching symbols or numbers come up in a row, the fortune belongs to you, Princess.”
I poured the chips from a trembling hand into the empty box before the machine, then carefully drew out one.
As I was about to insert the chip and spin, Kaies offered a comment from beside me.
“Such a timid bet won’t do.”
“But… that’s expensive…!”
I looked up at him with watering eyes, and he gave a shrug.
“It’s not your money, is it? I’m not asking you to repay it.”
“Why? Why not?”
“That’s how people usually start — borrowing from someone else.”
“I-I-I still…”
As I trembled, at a loss, he casually urged me on.
“Once you’ve started, you have to see it through.”
Looking at the heap of chips and making a miserable face, I finally picked up a few more.
I pushed in ten chips, took a deep breath, and pressed the button.
“Eeeek!”
I covered my eyes with both hands, overdramatic in my alarm.
Whirrrrrr—
The machine spun with a loud clatter.
Ding, ding, ding—!
I peeked through my fingers with barely open eyes.
Three peach symbols appeared in a row.
Chips cascaded down from below the machine with a glittering effect. Kaies exhaled an unmoved exclamation beside me.
“Oh, triple.”
Hearing that, I withdrew the chips from the machine and confirmed—it truly was triple.
I’d put in ten and gotten back thirty.
‘So that means I gained twenty more…’
When each chip was worth 100 Gold?
It felt like I’d taken a hammer blow to the back of the head.
The more I calculated, the more my mind felt like it was shutting down.
It didn’t feel real that this was Gold. It felt like a game of numbers.
A thrilling current shot through my extremities and wrapped around my entire body.
“Ah… ah…”
“Congratulations, Princess.”
Kaies spoke in a dry tone.
What… was this feeling?
The Gold I’d earned through blood and sweat had multiplied absurdly with a single gesture of his hand.
My heart hammered in my chest. But as the thrill faded, an ominous shadow crept in to replace it.
That’s when I found myself looking back and forth between the remaining chips and the Slot Machine.

‘What are you doing there, Miel!’

A thunderous rebuke—something I’d heard from Grandmother long ago—jolted me awake. Startled by the phantom voice, I lifted my head with a gasp.

‘Did you follow Mr. Kim there? Don’t you dare set foot in such places! At first they make it look like they’re giving you money, but later they take everything you have.’
‘Everything?’
‘That’s right. Once you taste the flavor of easy money, the money you earned through sweat becomes a joke. Do you think you only lose money? You lose yourself too!’

“Gambling…”
I whispered Grandmother’s words as if repeating a prayer.
And suddenly, the chips in my hand began to feel like a sinister curse I shouldn’t be holding.
“I… I don’t want to do this.”
“What?”
I swept the chips hurriedly into the square box and thrust it into Kaies’s arms.
It felt as though I’d been yanked from a nightmare and hurled into reality.
I seized his arm and looked up at him desperately.
“Kaies. Let’s get out of here.”
Gripping his collar like a rope, I spoke—and his pupils widened.
But then, as if nothing had happened, they settled into calm.
“Well, I suppose I did.”
Kaies gave my cheek a light pinch.
“I told you not to go in.”
“I’m sorry…….”
Kaies led me away, subdued as I was, back toward the entrance.
“Put it back.”
He handed the box to an attendant and led me up the stairs.
Behind us, cheers and gasps still tangled together in dizzying chaos.
Hearing that sound, my grip on Kaies’s arm tightened of its own accord.
“I won’t go in again.”
As I spoke with a tremor in my voice, he let out a soft snort and took the final step.
“Curiosity has a way of devouring people.”
“Ugh…… It’s just that when you won’t let me go, I get even more curious…….”
I glanced sideways at Kaies, and he shrugged.
“You don’t need to explain yourself to me. I’ve no intention of controlling you, princess.”
That surprised me. I’d expected him to scold me for not listening.

Kaies’s Affinity +30

‘What…… why?’
Why would his Affinity go up in a situation like this?
I’d disobeyed him once and snuck in anyway—shouldn’t his Affinity have dropped from disappointment?
Pondering Kaies’s incomprehensible heart, I followed him obediently.
As we entered the Office, Kaies handed me cool water to calm myself. After a few sips, I asked him.
“……But what kind of place is that?”
“You saw it yourself.”
“They bet chips…….”
“It’s gambling.”
“Gambling…….”
It seemed quite different from any game I knew.
Even in the games I’d played, I’d never visited a place like that.
“We haven’t had that place for long. It used to be something they’d do among themselves…….”
Kaies trailed off and flopped onto the sofa. Curious, I pressed on.
“And then?”
“When they’d hold games anywhere and everywhere, it turned into complete chaos. So I gathered them all in one place to manage it properly.”
“I see…….”
There was a reason behind everything, it seemed.
“So you’re the one managing it?”
“I handle all the village administration. It’s just a matter of who I station where.”
“You must be exhausted.”
“Don’t even say it.”
I too leaned back against the sofa and, following Kaies’s lead, stretched out languidly. Somehow, all my energy had drained away.
“But this is pretty comfortable, actually.”
“Isn’t it?”
There was something oddly uncomfortable about sprawling out like this in a public space like the Office, though.
“Right—Kaies, you don’t have a birthday party?”
“Too much trouble.”
“But your birthday’s coming soon!”
“Not interested.”
“So you’ll just stay in the Office on your birthday?”
“Assuming I have nothing else scheduled, probably.”
“What about a Gift? Is there anything you want?”
“You sure do chirp on and on all day long, princess.”
At Kaies’s words, I felt a pang and thrust out my lower lip.
‘I was only asking so I could do something special for you.’
I lay silent with my mouth closed, and for a while, quiet settled between us. It was some time before Kaies finally answered.
“I don’t need a gift.”
“But it’s your birthday. I want to do something for you!”
“What do you mean, do something for me. It’s just another day, no different from any other. Don’t worry about it.”
“I understand…….”
After he’d said so much, I couldn’t push the matter further.
I’d have to figure out what to give him on my own. Not giving him anything was never an option in the first place.
“Doesn’t all that constant fussing get tiring?”
The moment I heard Kaies murmur to himself, I was quick to deny it.
“Not at all! I enjoy thinking about what to give you, and imagining what kind of reaction you’ll have when you receive it is fun too.”
“Hmm…….”
Kaies lay there looking utterly bewildered, his expression apathetic, but he turned his head to look at me.
“When is your birthday?”
“Mine is in spring! March sixth.”
“Spring…… that’s still far away.”
“Will you come if I throw a birthday party later?”
I sat up on the sofa with a start, my eyes bright with hope as I looked at him.
He stretched out on the sofa like a cat, giving me a look that said he found me ridiculous.
“Do you really think I’ll still be here then?”
“What?”
“I might not be.”
“But you might be, right?”
When I shot back confidently, he fell quiet for a moment in thought. Then he sat up and nodded.
“Fair point. If I’m here then, I’ll wish you a happy birthday.”
“You promised, didn’t you? I like that.”
In truth, I too couldn’t know what lay ahead because of the Hidden Quest.
‘If the surgery failed, even if I return to reality, I might not be in good shape.’
I could only hope that the secret hidden at the end of this quest turned out to be nothing serious.
That way, I could spend a little longer here in Node with him.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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