-102- Gambling on Eggs! (Please Subscribe!) (1/10)

“Come, come, come... Big batch here! Everyone, come take a look...”

From a distance, Toji heard the shout from a certain vendor. Compared to other stalls, this one had a noticeably larger crowd gathered in front.

Curious, Toji approached and saw a few customers selecting Pokémon eggs.

“Over there! You idiot!”

Seeing one customer about to make a choice, Toji felt an urge to scold him for being so clueless. Of course, his voice was low, so the customer didn’t hear.

After the customer picked up the egg and it was scanned by a machine, it turned out to be a stone.

Indeed, the biggest pitfall in gambling eggs was those fake eggs.

They imitated Pokémon eggs so perfectly that even the weight was identical. The seller mass-produced these counterfeits and mixed them in with the real eggs, letting customers pick blindly.

The egg you choose might not be genuine; there was a high chance it was a fake.

That’s the essence of gambling eggs.

If all the eggs were genuine, the gambling egg shop would be losing money big time.

Unless all eggs were of average quality, otherwise, how could they stay in business?

They relied on these fake eggs.

Toji noticed the craftsmanship on these fakes was exquisite, lifelike, and indistinguishable from real eggs.

That customer had just touched a fake egg, and Toji had several times wanted to warn him.

Next to that fake egg was an ordinary-quality Wooper egg.

Although Wooper eggs weren’t very valuable on the market, an ordinary-quality one costing fifty thousand alliance coins wasn’t a bad deal.

It’s worth noting that prices in the gambling egg market varied.

Basic eggs cost fifty thousand alliance coins per try, with a maximum quality of “Superior.”

Intermediate eggs cost two hundred thousand per try, reaching up to “Hallmaster” quality.

Advanced eggs cost five hundred thousand per try, starting at ordinary quality, topping out at Hallmaster quality, and guaranteed with no fake eggs mixed in.

In other words, if you spent five hundred thousand alliance coins on gambling eggs, you were guaranteed a genuine Pokémon egg.

Most gamblers played the basic eggs, while wealthier players went for the advanced ones. The fewest players gambled on intermediate eggs.

The customer who had just lost fifty thousand alliance coins on a fake stone egg patted his head in frustration.

Then, several more customers tried their luck.

Originally, Toji thought there wouldn’t be many gamblers here.

After all, if you actually won a Pokémon egg, you'd be responsible for it. If not, you'd lose a lot of money.

But judging by these customers, they seemed to not care about losing money—they were here for the thrill and adrenaline rush.

After several rounds, one customer hit two superior-quality Pokémon eggs from the basic batch.

This instantly piqued the interest of many onlookers.

Seeing this, Toji smirked, understanding what was going on.

Shills!

They were all shills!

At first, they pretended to get fake stones, and then suddenly started pulling out superior-quality eggs one after another.

There was even a customer who now had a Hallmaster-quality egg.

Keep in mind, this entire stall only had two Hallmaster-quality eggs.

There was no way he could have gotten it by chance.

Toji didn’t believe it.

Unless he had some kind of cheat like Toji’s scanning eye.

Sure enough, after two superior-quality eggs and one Hallmaster-quality egg were revealed in quick succession, the onlookers grew restless.

Some volunteers from the crowd immediately stepped forward to gamble.

And sure enough, every time they gambled, a superior-quality egg popped out.

Toji couldn’t help but clap.

What a performance!

Even the onlookers were shills?

A customer with a child swallowed nervously, couldn’t resist, and tried his luck.

“Hah! Sorry, sir, this one is a fake egg.”

The vendor laughed heartily.

“Fake egg? Why do they all have such high success rates, but I always get fakes... Ugh!”

The customer scratched his head in frustration.

Fifty thousand alliance coins just gone—how would he explain this to his wife?

“Brother, you’re lucky you have a child with you. I came alone—imagine how I’ll explain this at home.”

Another customer who had also gotten a fake egg looked grim, shivering at the thought of going home.

The man with the child saw his expression and felt a small wave of relief. At least his wife wouldn’t jump to conclusions.

“Never thought the gambling egg market was so shady. Looks like I have to teach them a lesson.”

Toji approached the stall, ready to gamble.

“Oh, young trainer, you don’t look very old. Must be a rookie, huh?”

Though masked, the vendor could tell Toji was young.

“Cut the crap. I want to gamble.”

Toji was tired of chatting. The more he said, the more his true information might slip.

“Alright! Straightforward!”

The vendor was not angry; he was delighted.

“Another fresh kid to make money off.”

“So, which eggs you wanna try?”

The vendor pointed to the sign:

Basic Eggs: 50,000 Coins

Intermediate Eggs: 200,000 Coins

Advanced Eggs: 500,000 Coins

Note: Pay first, then gamble. No refunds once payment is made.

...

“Five basic eggs, please.”

Toji glanced and saw five superior-quality eggs in the basic batch.

He planned to take them all.

“Great! Generous!”

The vendor chuckled at this fool willing to do five tries.

Such a sucker!

Toji transferred the money directly, and the vendor’s notification sound rang: 250,000 alliance coins received.

Hearing this, the vendor smiled broadly, signaling Toji to choose freely.

Toji propped his chin on his hand, acting like a seasoned veteran, but didn’t pick immediately.

“Hey, kid, hurry up and choose.”

“Want me to pick for you? I have a great eye.”

“Get lost. You’ve already hit three fakes; don’t mislead the kid.”

“...”

The onlookers began bickering.

Under his mask, Toji’s lips curled slightly. These shills had no shame. Aside from the marked eggs, they couldn’t even tell which were real or fake, yet dared to help others choose?

“Kid, you ready? There are others waiting behind you!”

The vendor grew anxious seeing Toji hesitate.

“Alright!”

Toji reached out for a fake egg.

The vendor beamed with delight.

He wasn’t sure which eggs were real or fake; those fakes were just too convincing.

But the one Toji picked was definitely a fake, marked deliberately so the shills could pick it.

“Fifty thousand in the bag~”

The vendor felt pleased.

But just then, Toji’s hand shifted slightly, moving to an unmarked superior-quality Pokémon egg next to the marked one.

The vendor’s eyes flickered in confusion.

Why the change?

He distinctly remembered that egg was a superior-quality one.

He had deliberately placed the fake and superior egg side by side so the shills could choose correctly.

“I’ll take this one.”

Toji picked up the superior-quality egg.

“Sure you don’t want to switch, kid?”

The vendor was sweating bullets.

“Of course not. As the saying goes, once the deal is done, no regrets. This one it is!”

The vendor froze, almost falling over.

No! A superior-quality egg just slipped away!

... (To be continued)