Chapter 120: Get Rich Quick (1)
In the lucid dream that I was getting used to, I looked at the girl in black sitting across from me.
Estelle.
The girl who always greeted me in the lucid dream that came whenever I forgot.
She was someone I would miss if I didn’t see her, since we had met face to face many times.
As I played chess with Estelle, a thought suddenly came to my mind.
It was a simple but fun idea.
It was also close to an experimental idea.
I moved the piece in my hand and looked at Estelle’s face across from me.
“Did you come up with a good move?”
“I did come up with an interesting idea.”
Thud.
I moved the queen and knocked down Estelle’s bishop.
Estelle’s slender finger took out the fallen bishop from the chessboard.
This made the number of pieces I had slightly more than Estelle’s.
She seemed to not care about the advantage or disadvantage of the game from the beginning.
She asked me with an interested face as she heard my story.
“What kind of idea is it?”
“An idea that could turn someone’s life upside down.”
“It doesn’t seem like an idea that anyone can have.”
“It’s an idea that only someone like me can have.”
What came to my mind was simple curiosity.
It was the kind of curiosity that could only be satisfied by winning the game.
I was in a favorable situation in the chess game as well.
If I won the game like this, I planned to ask Estelle the question that was in my mind.
She kept giving vague answers, and she clenched her jaw and clicked the piece in her hand.
“Are you going to tell me if you win the game?”
“Even if I lose, if you use your question to ask me, I’ll have no choice but to know.”
The idea that came to my mind was simple.
Estelle in front of me was a convenience of my subconscious created by my dream.
So the answer she gave me was nothing more than what came out of my mind.
If I asked her something I didn’t know, what kind of answer would Estelle give me?
Would she be able to give me a normal answer then?
Or would she make up nonsense stories and try to dodge it?
Either way, there was no doubt that an interesting answer would come back.
“You’re mean today. You’re basically asking me to lose, aren’t you?”
Estelle put down the piece she was holding and grabbed the last rook and said.
It was useless if I didn’t win anyway.
I secretly hoped that she would lose easily, and started to think about the next move.
“I’d appreciate it if you did.”
“Sorry, but playing properly is also a rule, so it’s hard to lose on purpose.”
“I don’t know why we have so many strict rules between us.”
I muttered with a disappointed feeling at Estelle’s words.
Why was she so difficult in my mind?
It would be enough to just talk without playing games for such a simple story.
It was regrettable that even trivial stories had to be exchanged through games.
I didn’t hate playing games with Estelle though.
“I’m sorry. But someday we’ll be able to talk freely without any strict rules.”
“Yeah? Check.”
“This is just a process of getting used to each other.”
Estelle, who was cornered, moved her king back.
But this move was predicted and prepared by me.
Thud.
The bishop I had prepared moved and pressured Estelle’s king again.
Swoosh.
The two hands on the chessboard moved alternately.
How many times did they exchange moves after the first check?
The white pieces that kept pushing Estelle to the corner put out their last move.
“Checkmate. It seems like it’s over.”
“I can’t move anymore. Too bad.”
“Phew… I’m glad I won.”
I declared checkmate and finished the game, leaning back on my chair and sighing.
I wasn’t very good at chess, so I was worried if I could win, but luckily I won easily against Estelle.
The online chess I played briefly in the past seemed to help unexpectedly.
As I stretched and loosened my body to wake up from the drowsiness, Estelle picked up her parasol and got up from her seat.
Click. Click.
She stopped in front of me with light footsteps and looked at me and asked.
“So, what question did you want to ask by winning?”
The question I wanted to ask Estelle who lost the game.
And if Estelle’s answer was true, even though I didn’t know it, it would be very helpful.
It was about lottery tickets.
I asked her with a curious face, urging Estelle for the information I wanted so much.
“Lottery winning numbers.”
“What?”
“Tell me the lottery winning numbers.”
“Really… That’s an original idea.”
Estelle looked at me with narrowed eyes and said.
Thud.
The end of Estelle’s parasol went on my toe that was sitting on the seat.
She leaned her upper body on the parasol that was placed on her toe and put some strength into it.
In an instant, a strong pain attacked my thumb toe that had weight on it.
“Ouch…!”
“I’m sorry, but this is the only time I’ll answer this kind of question.”
“Only this time?”
“It means I won’t give a stupid answer to the same kind of question ever again. Do you understand?”
Estelle lifted a finger and brought it to my lips and asked.
Her eyes that were like deep abysses stared at me and demanded an answer.
This was the last time this kind of question was possible.
I realized that and nodded to Estelle’s question.
I added one strict condition to the question.
“I’d appreciate it if you could give me the first prize winning numbers.”
“Hoo… Okay. I’ll tell you.”
Estelle sat on the desk next to her and clicked her parasol.
Right after that, a clear voice started to flow slowly from Estelle’s mouth.
“2.”
“Oh, okay. Number 2.”
She started to tell me the lottery numbers honestly from her mouth.
As soon as I heard Estelle’s voice, I made a piece of paper and a pen on the table.
And I wrote down the numbers Estelle called one by one on the paper.
She seemed to not tell me again if I said I didn’t hear it, judging by her attitude.
“11.”
“Number 11. Good.”
“15.”
“Number 15.”
“21.”
“Number 21. Four so far.”
The numbers on the paper I was holding increased in an instant.
The numbers that increased one by one became five, and the sixth number came out of Estelle’s mouth.
As soon as all six lottery numbers came out of Estelle’s mouth,
The world where Estelle and I were sitting collapsed, and bright light poured in from all sides.
It was time for this lucid dream to end slowly.
“That’s it for today, I guess.”
“Yeah. 2. 11. 15. 21. 27…”
“I won’t lose so easily next time we meet. Stay healthy until then.”
“Yeah. You too. 2. 11. 15. 21…”
I repeated Estelle’s lottery numbers in my mouth to not forget them.
The memory in the dream was more volatile than other memories.
Estelle looked at me with a troubled eye, but the lottery numbers were important for everyone.