Chloe raised an eyebrow as she watched Maluck zone out. Maybe he was still recovering from his tragic attempt at drinking and talking at the same time. He had that vacant, thousand-yard stare, the kind of look people got when they realized they left the oven on at home… or when they’d just embarrassed themselves in front of a sarcastic goth girl.

  Maluck snapped back to reality, blinking. He probably looked like a malfunctioning NPC. Time to recover.

  “So, Chloe, you like bets, right?” he asked.

  Chloe gave him a what the hell kind of question is that look. “Yeah? What about it?”

  He leaned forward, grinning. “I bet you I’ll find your hidden potential in under two days. A thousand bucks.”

  She snorted. “Oh yeah? And would my hidden potential happen to be something sexual?”

  “No, no, no! Absolutely not!” Maluck waved his hands defensively, nearly knocking over his beer again.

  Though, in his head, he couldn’t completely rule it out. He had no idea what her potential was. ‘Maybe it was sexual? Hehehe.’

  His mind nearly exploded at that possibility.

  But that wasn’t the point. The point was, he wanted to accomplish his System Task. And a thousand bucks? He had over four thousand bucks in lottery scratchers on him right now.

  As their meal and beers came to an end, Maluck leaned back, patting his stomach. “Alright, let’s go check if that shop’s open.”

  Chloe was already grabbing her jacket. “Hell yeah. I need to collect my hundred bucks and rub your smug face in it.”

  On their way back, Maluck spotted an open 7-24 and abruptly stopped. “Hey, mind if we pop in here real quick?”

  Chloe shrugged. “Sure, why not?”

  Inside, he casually strolled up to the counter and slid a $250 winning scratcher across like he did this every day. The cashier barely reacted, just processing it like it was any other transaction, but Chloe? Her eyes widened like he had just pulled a live rabbit out of his pocket.

  “What the hell,” she muttered. “People actually win those?”

  Maluck pocketed the cash, smirking. “Yeah, it happens.”

  Chloe shook her head. “Nah, nah, I mean more than, like, five bucks. You got more of those?”

  Instead of answering, Maluck flashed the stack of winners in his pocket.

  “What the actual fuck?” Chloe whispered, staring at him like he was a wizard.

  Maluck grinned. “Told you I could see hidden potential.”

  The second those words left his mouth, a sharp ding rang in his head.

  [System Response] Warning. You can’t tell people about your powers and show them things like that. 5 LP deducted.

  Maluck’s eye twitched. ‘What the hell?!’ He mentally screamed at the System. ‘That’s not fair!’

  The System, of course, didn’t respond. It didn’t need to. He got the message loud and clear.

  Keep your mouth shut, or lose more points.

  Taking a deep breath, he forced a casual shrug. “I just got lucky.”

  Chloe kept staring at him, suspicious. “Yeah. Sure. Lucky.”

  She didn’t seem convinced, but at least she didn’t press the issue.

  Lesson learned.

  Dave’s Sports Memorabilia Store was open, and they walked in, the bell above the door chiming as they stepped inside. The smell of freshly cleaned leather and old vinyl hit Maluck’s nose, along with the faint scent of dust. The shelves were lined with jerseys, vintage baseball bats, signed basketballs, and stacks of memorabilia that looked like they’d been collected over decades.

  Maluck was struck by how everything looked so pristine yet ancient at the same time. It felt like stepping into a time capsule of sports history. He ran his fingers along a display case filled with rare, autographed footballs.

  “Can I help you?” a voice called from behind the counter.

  “Dave,” Chloe said. “I’ve got a customer here for you.”

  Dave glanced up from the counter. “Oh?”

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  “He thinks this baseball we sold in the pawn shop is worth way more than a buck.”

  He shook his head. “You still sell stuff for a buck?”

  Chloe smirked. “Hey, it actually saves us money. Otherwise, we’d have to pay to throw it in a dumpster.”

  Dave scoffed. “Man, that owner of yours is cheap.”

  “Tell me about it,” Chloe muttered.

  Dave leaned forward. “Alright, PawnStar, let’s see this super valuable baseball of yours.”

  Maluck pulled the ball from the bag he’d gotten at the pawn shop. “Here it is.”

  Dave took it, turning it over in his hands before pulling out a magnifying glass. He squinted at the smeared signature, tracing the faded ink with a fingertip.

  “Well, this is definitely an authentic Babe Roofed baseball,” he said finally.

  Chloe blinked. “What?”

  Dave chuckled. “I’m surprised that cheap-ass owner of yours didn’t bring it in for an appraisal.”

  Chloe rolled her eyes. “Well, ever since you started charging Ron for every appraisal, he only brings in stuff he thinks is worth something.”

  Dave shrugged. “Had to. He was bringing in boxes of garbage, and I still have a business to run.”

  ““Fair enough,” Chloe admitted. “So… how much is this baseball actually worth?”

  Dave leaned in, squinting through the magnifying glass as he examined the signature. He ran a gloved hand over the scuffed leather, frowning in concentration. The old, worn baseball had clearly seen better days—its once-white stitching was yellowed, and the leather had faded, but there was something about the way Dave handled it that made Maluck think there was more to it.

  Maluck and Chloe watched in silence, eyes locked on Dave as he meticulously examined the ball. The hum of the store’s fluorescent lights filled the quiet, as if the entire room was waiting for Dave’s verdict.

  “Bet it’s worth a fortune,” Maluck muttered under his breath, leaning forward slightly.

  Dave chuckled, shaking his head. “Yeah, yeah, don’t get too cocky yet, PawnStar.” He tapped the ball lightly with his finger, his brow furrowing as he inspected the signature one more time. “The signature’s faded and smudged, which knocks the value down a bit, but even in this condition…” He exhaled through his nose, clearly trying to weigh the possibilities.

  “You might be sitting on a couple grand here,” Dave finally said, leaning back, wiping his glasses with a cloth.

  Chloe’s eyes widened. “A couple grand? For this thing?” She looked at the ball again, as if it had suddenly gained a new, mysterious aura.

  Maluck smirked. “Told you it was valuable. You just needed the right expert.”

  Dave gave him a side-eye. “Don’t go getting too excited now, kid. A couple grand’s still a long way from a fortune—but hey, it’s not bad for a scuffed-up relic.”

  Maluck’s smirk froze. “A couple grand?”

  Maluck, still processing, let out a slow whistle. “So… if it weren’t smudged?”

  Dave scratched his chin. “If it were pristine? We’d be talking tens of thousands, easy. Babe Roofed memorabilia is always in demand. But as it is? I’d say—eh, maybe a thousand if you find the right buyer.”

  Chloe whistled. “Damn, PawnStar. You just turned a buck into a grand. That’s some next-level pawn shop flipping.”

  Maluck grinned. “I am pretty lucky.”

  Dave smirked. “Yeah? Then you’re lucky I don’t charge you for appraisals too.”

  Maluck laughed. “So… any chance you’d buy it?”

  Dave shook his head. “Not my wheelhouse. I mostly deal in modern sports merch. But I can hook you up with a collector who might be interested.”

  Chloe crossed her arms. “So what you’re saying is… Maluck’s got a $1,000 baseball, and I lost the bet.”

  “Sorry Chloe, but if your bet was about whether that baseball was real? Yeah you definitely lost,”

  Maluck leaned on the counter. “Well, if I get a thousand bucks for this ball, that’d be awesome. So why don’t I consign it to you, and you sell it to a collector?”

  Dave grinned. “Works for me. We take 30% on consignment sales.”

  Maluck let out a low whistle. “Damn, that’s a hefty cut.”

  Dave shrugged. “You bought the ball for a buck.”

  “…Fair enough.” Maluck handed it over.

  Chloe, however, was not amused. She crossed her arms, scowling. “Great. So I closed the shop early, probably gonna get chewed out by my Ron, and I still didn’t get my hundred bucks.”

  She checked her phone. The next guy wasn’t coming in until five. If she didn’t hustle back, she’d miss the shift change entirely.

  “Yeah, I gotta go,” she grumbled.

  Maluck, still feeling pretty good about his sudden potential payday, gave her an easy grin. “Hey, don’t be mad. Look at it this way—you almost won a hundred bucks.”

  Chloe shot him a flat look. “Maluck?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Shut up.”

  And with that, she turned and marched out of the store.

  Following behind her, Maluck had a big, shit-eating grin. “Look at that, I made $700, just like that.”

  Chloe ignored him.

  “Hey, don’t ignore me,” Maluck said. “Don’t forget, you could win a thousand bucks in two days if you take my bet.”

  Her annoyed, fast-paced walking slowed just a bit. She glanced at him. “You’re serious, right?”

  Maluck held up a handful of cash and fanned it out. “As serious as these dollar bills.”

  Chloe crossed her arms. “And again, nothing sexual or weird, right? And I mean it. No taking pictures of my feet. No asking me to sit on cakes.”

  Maluck blinked. “People ask you to do that?”

  Chloe let out a humorless laugh. “You have no idea the kind of creeps we get in a pawn shop.”

  Maluck raised an eyebrow. “Then why do you keep working there?”

  She shrugged. “Girl’s gotta eat. And it pays better than minimum wage.”

  “Fair enough.”

  He hesitated for a second before adding, “Tell you what. The original bet was about finding your hidden talent for a thousand bucks, right?”

  Chloe nodded, still skeptical.

  “I’ll make it guaranteed for you. Since you’ll be taking time off work, I’ll pay you the thousand dollars just to find your talent over the next two days.”

  Chloe narrowed her eyes. “And once again, nothing sexual, right?”

  “What, you want a contract?” Maluck joked.

  Chloe actually thought about it for a second. Maybe. But that’d be a weird thing to ask for.

  “Nah,” she finally said. “I know you’ve got the cash.”

  After all, she had just watched him casually win $1,250—between the scratcher and flipping that baseball. Even if this whole thing turned out to be nonsense, at least she’d get paid.

  “Alright, sounds great,” Maluck said. “Why don’t we meet up tomorrow and—” He hesitated. “—start our experiments?”

  Chloe gave him a deadpan look.

  Even he cringed internally. ‘Jesus, even I know I sound creepy right now.’

  “Okay, adventure. Let’s call it an adventure,” he corrected.

  Chloe smirked. “Much better.”

  She handed him her number.

  Maluck, now riding the high of actually securing this ridiculous deal, drove back to his hotel, feeling like a king.

  He was going to extend his stay for another two nights.

  Because why the hell not?

  The place was great, he had no real obligations back in Edmonton, and if he could pull this off and complete his System Task?

  Fantastic.

  What wasn’t so fantastic, though, was the fresh pile of dog shit he stepped in on the way into the hotel.

  ***