We stepped out of the boat and into the venue. Our gondola was parked at an area reminiscent of that vallet area at a hotel and as we got out, the water levels began receding again. The gondolier slowly faded from view as the three of us started towards the front door.

I was immediately overwhelmed by the extravagant country music, as the building was so well insulated that I did not even hear it at all from behind the door. They didn’t let anyone in the playing zone until we had gotten the signal, so it was quite hard to see over everyone else in the crowded waiting area. Trying our best to look over others’ heads, the place seemed like a traditional casino venue, though every slot machine game instead being themed around taxes and bureaucracy rather than fantastical prizes.

I looked around the room for any potential threats. Obviously Olivia was at the forefront of my thoughts, but there could possibly be other dangers lurking in the shadows.

After examining the surroundings, I didn’t notice anything that would suggest a powerful sweepstaker. The crowd gave the impression that they were all elite nobles and nothing more, not a threat to someone like myself. Sally looked tense for some reason though; I wondered why, but didn’t care enough to ask. Other than Olivia, the surroundings suggested an easy victory.

“Okay, it seems like everybody is here, so it’s time to begin,” a voice over some sort of rudimentary speaker system began talking, “I offer my thanks to everyone in the audience for being here, I trust you all had a pleasant journey.” 

One of the walls suddenly collapsed, almost crushing several people. Though the crowd was in a frenzy, I knew that this type of thing was normal in elite sweepstaking. Many hosts employ bomb threats or straight up terrorism to weed out the weaker contestants who were unlucky enough to stand near the blast site in competitions. A good host ensures that luck is the sole factor in determining who lives or dies.

Unfortunately though, nobody died. A clear sign of a poor host. Or maybe, a nice one. It was too early to say. As the audience rushed out, the smoke cleared. Standing on a stage suspended in midair was the little girl I’d met the day before.

“Welcome, everyone, to the 999th bimonthly Loser Lottery! For those unfamiliar, the way this works is that winning any individual contest disqualifies you from winning the event! Only the least lucky can emerge victorious in this extreme test of control and restraint. This time, we’re doing bingo.”

Most of the crowd had left the venue by now. Only a handful of what were probably self-proclaimed experienced sweepstakes remained. They wouldn’t be a problem though, as an entrant has to be at least that good to reliably survive the cleaning phase.

“The slot machines and other games you see are reserved for future events. At this time, please make your way to the front table, and exchange your tickets for any bingo card of your choosing. If you have multiple tickets, you have a safety net in getting eliminated, and you will only be disqualified once your final card wins.”

All of the contestants, excluding Olivia and I, rushed to exchange their tickets. Most had several, and some had more than a dozen. It didn’t matter though. That wouldn’t actually increase their odds at winning, seeing as the winner would be determined solely by manipulation of the drawing process, and it would likely come down to every single possible roll being drawn before a victor had been decided.

Finding out what Olivia’s card had was critical. Knowing what she had meant that I could manipulate the rolls into giving her a win, thereby disqualifying her. Olivia was probably thinking the same thing though, and she’d be trying to see what was on my card as well. Secrecy was the name of the game here.

After we exchanged our tickets, it was time for business. We were expected to have all of our cards flat on the table, and so the objective was to conceal each other’s line of sight as best as possible. Sally and I chose the table farthest from the action, in the very corner of the room, as I would be able to tell what the roll was without needing to see it directly. Olivia, analyzing our move, chose the table directly adjacent to ours. Neither of us bothered to look at any of the other contestants’ cards, which they had laid plain to see for any peering eyes. Such a foolish move was typical of amateurs, who probably had no idea that it was possible to consciously manipulate randomness through the power of luck.

Before the start of the event, in order to prevent Olivia’s perverted gaze from violating our card once it was required to make it visible, I had Sally walk over and blindfold her with his hands. A staff member went over to stop him, but he tripped while he was walking over and was knocked out. The other moderators did not dare come near.

Olivia, though, was unphased. She didn’t even acknowledge Sally’s presence. For the first time in years, I didn’t know what my opponent was planning. If she truly was an equal sweepstaker to myself, she could find out what was on my card in an infinite number of ways. The only thing that had stopped her from doing so was my luck, which cancelled hers via a force similar to a destructive interference. Winning this might take more than just luck.

I called over to Sally and asked him to tell me what was on her card. He was close enough that I hoped my luck would prevent Olivia from using hers to stop him. Just as Sally was about to start, Olivia grinned aggressively. 

“Oh! Looks like we have quite the storm brewing in the back here!” It was very perceptive for the young lady hosting the contest to catch on to what was happening between Olivia and I. It felt like all of the eyes in the world came upon us at this moment, and Olivia’s smile only grew.

“Sally, what’s the hold up. Spill it!” I couldn’t understand why he wasn’t cooperating.

“I’m sorry, I just can’t, there’s just too much pressure, what with everyone watching me and all…”

And then I saw it. One of the vents directly above us had cracked and was leaking rats. Thousands, perhaps. They climbed up onto Sally and started attacking him.

He was down in moments. Thankfully, before the rats could get to me, the crystal chandelier on the ceiling crashed down onto the ground, instantly killing every combatant other than Olivia and I. Its falling sparked a fire that made quick work of the rats, as well. It seemed that Sally’s clothes had a flame retardant property and he was saved just moments before the rats would have killed him. He was in bad condition though, and certainly not usable. I had to take matters into my own hands if I wanted to have any shot at victory.

I could only laugh. It had been a long time since I’d had competition like this. It reminded me of why I got into sweepstaking in the first place.