Slots

(I made a slight revision to the first chapter of this arc regarding the Iron Golem spawn installation.)

Alright, we've solved our labor shortage and Feni the phoenix has hatched, so now I'm thinking about improving the inn. As for the dungeon… that can wait. The Puzzle Area is still holding up fine, after all.

So, I've been thinking about what our inn, [Dancing Doll's Pavilion], is lacking.

I'm proud to say our food and sleep are at a level you won't find anywhere else.

For reasons to visit the inn, there's the dungeon. And for relaxation, the hot springs. A wonderful lineup.

… But there's still something missing.

Entertainment.

I don't mean anything lewd. That kind of thing might become necessary eventually, but I'd like to avoid it since we have kids here. The owner is who she is, and Haku-san might kill me for being a bad influence on her upbringing.

So, what I want to add is basically a game corner. Hot spring inns usually have those, right?

Honestly, thinking about hot spring inns, I'd love to set up table tennis, but I decided to postpone it since I can't seem to prepare ping-pong balls without using DP. If it can be made entirely with materials available in this world, I'll put it in.

So, a game corner… Well, there's no way I can set up video games, so gambling it is. First up is a slot machine. For the appearance, it's a wooden box with spinning display panels… drum reels, I think they're called. I'll make those with golems and attach them, plus install a lever to generate the spinning force.

The internal structure is pretty rough. I mainly just focused on the mechanism that makes it spin when you pull the lever down. Rather than converting it directly into rotational power, the key is that it stores up force like a flick of the finger and releases it all at once once the lever passes a certain point.

Determining when to stop and whether the symbols are lined up, that's the drum reel golem's job.

The golem also handles paying out money when you win.

Even if someone takes it apart and asks "How does this thing work?", I can just wave off the vague parts with "It's a magic tool." How convenient.

About the drum reels: they stop on their own when the rotation weakens, or stop when you press the button in front. And I've also adjusted it so that when it's about to hit the jackpot, there's a pretty high chance it'll slip past. I do let it pay out occasionally, but I've basically designed it so the house profits.

… Unfair? Rigged? This isn't charity work. This much is only natural.

Anyway, the prototype is done, so I called Ichika over.

Since we have the chance, let's have the newbies handle reception. Not that we'll get any customers anyway.

"So, this is a slot machine. Ichika, give it a test play. Here, five hundred copper coins."

"Ooh! So this is slots! Leave it to me, I'll double it and pay ya back!"

Yeah, even if you double it, that money still belongs to this dungeon's funds, you know?

"I see, I see. So ya put coins in this hole and pull the lever down…"

Clink, clink, clink. She put in three copper coins and pulled down the lever with a clunk.

Whirrrr. The drum reels spun vigorously.

"Ooh, it's spinnin', it's spinnin'. Huh, so… ya press this button to stop it."

Click, click, click. When she pressed the buttons, the drum reels stopped.

"Ooh～… Huh, what's this mean?"

"That's a loss. Keep going."

"Mm, got it～"

Ichika put in more coins and spun again. Hmm, it's kind of bland. Maybe I should think more about the presentation?

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

"Uoooooh! Come on, come on, come onnnn! Gh—! Aaaaargh! So close!"

One hour later. She'd been getting small wins repeatedly, and at one point early on she'd gone over her starting five hundred coins, but now she was down to less than fifty remaining.

She was so into it she might smash the slot machine. Guess presentation isn't necessary yet then. I'll add some when people start getting bored.

… Oh, maybe I should remake the main body out of iron. The part Ichika's clinging to is creaking.

"Ichika. That's about enough."

"N-no way! I-I still have money left! I'm gonna turn it around from here! Look, just now I was one step away from the thousand copper jackpot, right? Next time for sure!"

Yeah, she's a lost cause. A textbook example of a no-good person who tries to pay off gambling debts with more gambling. The fact that she hasn't learned her lesson even after falling into slavery shows she's the real deal.

"Yeah, unfortunately that's impossible. I didn't make it so that could happen."

"Wha… t…?"

Ichika slumped down with a look of utter despair. Man, I didn't think I'd see such an extreme reaction over four hundred fifty-six copper.

"… In practice, it's probably not good to squeeze people this blatantly. I'll adjust it to pay out a bit more. That was helpful, thanks."

"Kuh… I was dancing in Goshujin-sama's palm all along…? Damn iiit…"

"Don't worry, I'm not going to put what you spent on your tab or anything. I would like you to return what's left though."

"Aaaah…! Kuh, c-can't be helped…!"

Man, she really got hooked. Ichika might be a special case, but this seems promising enough to prepare about three more machines and put them in a new game room.

But having only slot machines in the game room would be pretty dull. Maybe I should make some other things too.

"Come to think of it, what other kinds of gambling are there?"

"Hmm, ya know about dice? A Hero supposedly made 'em. These square things with faces numbered one to six… games using those are the mainstream."

I see. Dice, huh. Those would be easy to reproduce. Incidentally, since paper exists, I asked if they have playing cards, but apparently the printing technology is too crude and the paper quality in this world isn't good enough to make them work. There are some made from metal plates, apparently… but they're extremely rare and expensive. Doesn't seem very popular.

"So basically everything's a game of pure luck. Are there any that focus on strategy and bluffing?"

"There's the arena, and horse racing too."

Hmm, that'd be hard to reproduce here… Actually, wait. Could we do races with rats? Might be a good use for the rats I've completely neglected since making them my subordinates. Nowadays they're just working as surveillance cameras around the dungeon outskirts.

… Ah, but with our current customer count, holding a race would be difficult. I'll put that on hold.

In this world with so little entertainment, proper playing cards would probably catch on if mass-produced. Why not just make them a dungeon drop? I'm already claiming we found the massage chair in the dungeon. I plan to say the same for the slot machines.

Alright, let's put playing cards in treasure chests. To make them popular, I'll need to spread them around a bit, after all. Then I can use them in the game room under the pretense of "I found these in the dungeon."

I'll prepare a table with something like felt stretched over it. If people play on that, it should look the part.

By the way, I asked what kind of dice gambling there is.

Tower & Dice:

"The rules are simple. Ya roll the dice and stack chips equal to the number ya rolled. Everyone takes turns doing that three times, and whoever put out the most chips total wins."

Big Small:

"First, the players put out as many chips as they want. The dealer has the right not to accept. Like if they can't afford to pay out, they don't have to take the bet. Once they accept, the dealer rolls the dice. That's the first roll. Then ya bet on whether the second roll will be higher or lower. Get it right and ya double yer money, get it wrong and ya get nothin' back. If it's the same number, the bet carries over, but only when it's a six; same number on a six means the dealer takes everything."

"So it's basically all luck, huh."

There's also Cee-lo and Cho-Han, apparently.

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