Chapter 335 - 335. The Mysterious Prize

"I swear. All of you have some crazy hidden skills when it comes to arcade games." Asher couldn't help but trying to think through all of the skills everyone had. Jane and Cara were the only two normal ones other than him. 

"I don't think you can talk Asher. Cara and I both watched you get the record for highest score at the ring toss." Jane was shaking her head with a slight smirk. She was definitely impressed but at the same time was not sure how Asher was missing the fact that he was also full of odd talent thanks to his luck super power. 

"Heheehe, I got us all snacks!" Laura had not waited for anyone else and ran up with the extra tickets. She had managed to get the staff member to set up small bags of candy for everyone. "I wanted everyone to have the same stuff, but we can trade!" 

No one was really unhappy seeing the snacks. It was a much better use of the extra tickets then just leaving them behind.. "Well, now that we have that taken care of, let's go get that mystery box prize." Asher disregarded the crazy skills everyone had and the fact that Jane had also called his luck out. 

"I have wanted to know since I saw it. Look, it's the size of a large duffle bag. It could be anything." Louis found the curiosity eating away at him. Yet, when he looked at everyone else he found that they were also staring at the box with wide eyes. 

"Excuse me, we are here for the mystery prize!" Sammy's voice rang out grabbing the attention of a staff member. The woman walked over with a bright smile on her face to stand before the group. 

"We are sorry. The mystery prize is not something we display. It wakes a full million tickets to win before we show it." The staff member thought that the group was like many others and just trying ti get a sneak peek of what the famed mystery prize was. This was an every day occurrence and it would happen so many times that whenever the prize was mentioned they would automatically reply with this phrase. 

"Oh, no. We have the tickets. Here is the ticket machine slip." Cara handed over the slip and the staff member stood there. 

"Ummm, miss? Are you alright?" Jackson saw the wooden worry blooming on the staff members' face. She had never heard of anyone ever getting the prize and was not sure what to do. This was not covered in her training in all the years she had been there. 

After another moment of the group looking at her with their own worried faces, the woman had a brilliant idea. "I'm sorry, I just need to call the manager. I need their permission to inveil the prize. Please hold this slip and I will return soon." The staff member rushed away through a door to the back room.

"Anyone else worried that we just broke the staff members? She looked like we had just told her something crazy." Everyone felt the same way as Art. He had summed up the strangeness that their encounter had brought. 

"I have a bad feeling that they don't actually have a prize in there…" 

"Really Louis? Please don't jinx us like that." Asher wanted everyone to stay positive but he realized the irony as Laura smirked. 

"Says the guy with a super power that can control jinxes or good luck." Laura was not wrong but Asher didn't want to throw it out there like that. 

"And now the staff members are all disappearing behind that door. We might have activated some hidden boss mission." Sammy was repeating one of the common phrases that she had seen Louis and Art use when they were playing video games. Naturally, the two turned slightly red and embarrassed since they knew they were being teased directly. 

The sudden slamming of the back room door brought the attention of every single guest at the ticket counter. The man that walked out was wearing a gold name tag that said manager. He was taller than the other staff members and looked like he was ready to send the group away. "Please show me your slip so I can scan it on the computer. The staff members have notified me that we may have a false slip here." 

"So that's your move. Lie to everyone that the slip is false so that no one will realize that there was never a mystery prize in the first place." Jane was not having this at all. She was going to call the bluff and make sure that everyone heard it. Her loud voice had brought many families around who all were excited to see someone win the mystery prize. And since they had heard that the manager was accusing the group of faking the ticket before even looking at it, they sided with the group. 

"Well? Are you really going to play it this way? My friends and I worked hard and used all of our talents and skills to get these tickets. Now you are going back on your word as an arcade? No, as an amusement park for everyone to come and experience joy? What a day you have ruined." Cara and Sammy feigned crying. 

"Wait, isn't that the group of people from the Riktor tournament? My son wants to be a hero just like them. They finally got him to do his math homework." 

"Oooh, you're right. That is them. That shifter girl helped my daughter accept my husband's crocodile shifting super power."

"Look mommy, it's the girl who grabbed the dragons' tail!" 

The crowd that gathered to try and see the mystery prize began to call out and tell others who the group were. It only took a few minutes and the group was the center spotlight. Even some of the staff members were sneakily pulling up videos to show the others. The manager was now in a corner. 

"Ehm, I believe you misunderstood me. This is all protocol from my training. I need to follow the steps in open views of the security cameras so that you all receive the prize our park director placed within the box. Please allow me to openly scan your slip." The manager did the only thing he could. He fell back on a non existant protocol. On top of that, he pulled the hidden card called; park director. It was the highest boss they had here. 

The crowd was all supportive of this ruse and the group watched with smug smiles as the manager scanned the slip and the computer made a small beep sound. The number of remaining tickets showed exactly one million and the entire place clapped at the accomplishment. 

"Congratulations. This group of young ones had worked hard gathered enough tickets. This is a first time occurrence and I am sure they will want to take some pictures. Please, everyone, make room for their photo next to the computer display and later the prize that the park director placed in the mystery box." 

The manager was holding true to the act. He was never sure what was actually in the box since it had been there since before he was a manager. But it was also a rule not to look in to it, however, it was pretty common of a belief that it was completely empty.

"Wow, it's so light." The staff members had moved the box in front of the group as they posed for a picture. Many of the crowd that gathered was taking their pictures for them with their phones. After the photos had subsided the group all grabbed a hold on one piece of the box to pull it open. 

"On three?" Asher looked around at everyones' approval. The crowd watched silently in anticipation. "One...two...three!" They all pulled on the box and it tore open revealing a glint of gold. 

"It's just a gold coin?!" The shout was echoed by multiple people over and over. It was just too much of a shock. The bog duffle bag sized box had something so mall in it. 

"Wait, there is a piece of paper with instructions." Jane picked it up and handed both the coin and the instructions to Asher. "Read it out loud." Jane was letting Asher keep the lead. 

"It reads; take this to the Ferris wheel and ride it to the top. Place the coin in to the slot at the evening and experience the true wonder of the park. The staff members will alert the other guests of what is to come." That was all and everyone was left with even more mystery than before. 

"But what does it do!?" The staff had no idea either but had seen the stamp of the park owner on the paper. This was the same as the park owner walking there and telling them this themselves. "It appears my staff members have a lot of work to do. Please follow the instructions" The manager was gone just like that leaving everyone curious.