I became Hokage in Tokyo

Chapters 158 and 160: King of the Swamp

"Splash—!"

The pachinko machine's LED frame flashed with dazzling light and shadow effects, while passionate music blared from the speakers. On the slot machine screen, AKB idol Miyamae Anmi, dressed scantily and with her breasts partially exposed, smiled charmingly.

The prize dispenser spewed out an astonishing number of small steel balls with overwhelming force!

In the interplay of light and shadow, the face wearing sunglasses sitting in front of the pachinko machine flickers between light and shadow, while behind him on the ground are boxes filled with small steel balls, with "Big Victory" labels stuck on them.

The girl in the cheongsam, who had been kneeling on the ground and serving attentively, now looked as if she had seen a ghost.

How is this possible?!

She had personally witnessed how this spoiled brat staged a miraculous comeback from a desperate situation using only two or three small steel balls left.

Naruto Uchiha fired several more small steel balls, each one landing precisely in the hidden winning area.

The small steel balls rolled out of the prize outlet like a flash flood, so much so that they couldn't even fit in the slot and started rolling outwards.

It landed on the gleaming floor tiles, making a crisp, ping-pong sound.

"Guest, guest, the steel ball has fallen out!"

The girl in the cheongsam kept reminding him, but seeing the customer's indifferent expression, she could only kneel down on the ground with a pained expression and pick it up.

One pill costs 100 yen.

At this point, Naruto Uchiha also lost some interest.

It was quite interesting at first, but when he started cheating using Magnet Release, the repetitive, mechanical actions, although he won repeatedly, the results were always predictable, and it started to get boring.

He had a strong sense of déjà vu while playing pachinko, and the more he played, the more it felt like a gacha game.

Like card draws in mobile games, winning in pachinko is controlled by the system backend. However, pachinko requires players to operate a joystick to hit the steel ball, just like clicking the interface with their fingers when drawing cards. This allows players to participate and creates the illusion that winning (getting the item) depends on themselves.

The special animation that flashes on the screen before a pachinko machine wins is almost identical to the golden and colorful light effects that spin before a mobile game delivers a winning item.

The five colors blind the eye, the five sounds deafen the ear, the five flavors dull the palate, galloping and hunting drive the mind mad, and rare goods lead to wrongdoing. Therefore, the sage focuses on the inner self, not the outward appearance, thus rejecting the latter and choosing the former.

The pachinko machine's dazzling light pollution and noisy sound effects stimulate the constant release of bardoxin, making it difficult for players to think rationally. They can only be obsessed and keep throwing small steel balls into the pachinko machine.

Even if you win temporarily, it won't be easy to escape.

Because the pachinko machine is deliberately designed so that the probability of winning again after winning is incredibly high, why not try again?

Nine out of ten pachinko games end in a loss; ultimately, the odds of winning are controlled by the back-end system.

Win, win, win, and in the end, lose everything.

Pachinko, introduced from England, has a history of over a hundred years in Japan. It remained popular from the Taisho to the Reiwa era, and its design can be said to have a keen understanding of the weaknesses and darkness of human nature.

Pachinko machines are like swamps beneath the grass; they may seem harmless, but once you step on one, you can't escape and are eventually swallowed up, skin and bones.

The girl in the cheongsam lay on the ground, revealing her well-developed bust, and picked up the small steel balls scattered on the ground and put them in a small box.

"Huh, what's this steel ball?"

Naruto Uchiha casually grabbed a handful of steel balls from the small box held by the girl's hands. He noticed something was off about the feel of the balls, and when he loosened his grip, they spilled out between his fingers, leaving only one.

Kneading this small steel ball, it was a size larger than a regular small steel ball.

Most importantly, Naruto Uchiha's Magnet Release had a much weaker attraction to the small steel ball.

"Is it copper?"

The girl in the cheongsam took the small steel ball, examined it carefully for a while, turning it over and over, before repeatedly bowing and apologizing.

"Excuse me, sir! I must have accidentally mixed in the swamp king's special marbles when I was picking up the small steel balls from the ground."

"The King of the Swamp?"

Uchiha Naruto asked with great interest.

Guided by the girl in the cheongsam, Uchiha Naruto discovered a machine three or four times larger than a regular pachinko machine, with an exaggerated appearance, resembling a demon with its mouth wide open.

This is a pachinko machine with no upper limit on the prize. Each pachinko chip costs 4000 yen, which is terrifying. The prize money is equally exciting, reaching a whopping 5 million yen!

It's an astronomical figure that an ordinary person couldn't earn in several lifetimes.

Moreover, the small steel balls in the jackpot accumulated by the Swamp King were all thrown in by previous players. These small steel balls, worth 5 million, have caused countless people to lose their fortunes and swallowed countless lives. It can be said that every ball is stained with blood and tears.

"These marbles are made of copper, probably to prevent cheating with magnets. Even for me, it would take some effort to get the marbles through the bottom three spinning wheels and into the prize pool."

Naruto Uchiha tossed the specially made bullet in his hand, thinking to himself without making a sound.

"Although the Swamp King is nominally not controlled by the computer, I don't believe that the casino would really not cheat."

Seeing Uchiha Naruto's gaze linger on the monstrous pachinko machine, the girl in the cheongsam showed a hint of struggle on her face. Seeing that no one was around, she whispered a word of advice:

"Guest, you've had enough luck tonight. You should know when to quit while you're ahead. That Swamp King is truly terrifying; I've seen several people devoured by it, leaving not even bones behind."

Uchiha Naruto was slightly surprised. Shouldn't these girls who provide entertainment entice their clients to become addicted until they lose all their wealth?

She even kindly reminded me; it seems this girl isn't a bad person.

"Alright, I've had my fun, let's call it a day, Pachinko."

Naruto Uchiha stretched and stood up from his seat.

"Please wait a moment, I'll take you to exchange these small steel balls for chips."

The girl in the cheongsam waved, and immediately several bunny girl waitresses came over.

"You can use the chips you exchanged at other gaming tables, or exchange them for cash and take them with you."

"These beads are for you."

Naruto Uchiha nodded slightly, then got up and walked outside.

"Eh—!!!"

The girl in the cheongsam couldn't help but cover her mouth.

This customer won more than a dozen boxes of small steel balls. Although they haven't been weighed and counted yet, each box is worth more than one million yen, which adds up to more than ten million yen.

Even in the extravagant Elysium Casino, this is not a small amount. Is this customer so careless that he doesn't care about more than ten million yen?

Naruto Uchiha casually took a glass of whiskey from the waitress carrying the silver tray and took a sip.

This was the first time in his life he had ever drunk alcohol, and as the alcohol went down his throat, Naruto Uchiha began to get excited.

(End of this chapter)