A Man Who Became A Pachipro

My name is Masao Toyama, a 50-year-old single man who lives with my parents in Saitama Prefecture and works at a construction site.

With no qualifications or academic background, and coming from a poor family, I started working at a construction site right after graduating from high school.

Until this age, I have never accomplished anything nor have I ever thought of accomplishing anything in the future.

The people who do this job, including me, are all hopeless.

And when such people get together, the only topics of conversation are mostly about gambling and women.

Like the other day, I went to a super cheap pin salon and a 70-year-old grandma showed up, or I lost 30,000 JPY at pachinko, that's all we talk about.

However, entertainment like pachinko seems to suit people like us, and almost all the employees played it.

Especially for someone like me, who lives with my parents and has no hobbies or family to support, there was nothing else to spend my money on except pachinko.

Still, if you keep losing, you will run out of money. I didn't borrow money, but I was always broke and had no savings.

"You always play at the pachinko parlor in front of the station, but why don't you go to Tokyo sometimes? The store I went to the other day was huge, and there were a lot of customers!"

"Oh."

The person who is talking to me now is Mr. Gen, a pachinko heavy user in his 60s.

"That day was the grand opening, but I won 60,000 JPY, and many other people were winning too!"

(I wonder if that's true. People tend to exaggerate when they win at pachinko, so I don't think I can trust it...)

"Well, but I'm fine. If there are too many people, I might not be able to play at my favorite station..."

"Is that so...?"

"Yes..."

(Anyway, pachinko is designed for the house to win, so it's better to play at a less crowded place and play at my favorite station leisurely...)

Next holiday

I was at a pachinko parlor on my day off.

"Damn it! I got done again! What the heck! It's not working at all! I'm losing the most today out of this whole month!"

My regular pachinko parlor is always empty. That's why I can play new machines leisurely.

On the other hand, the pachinko pins are tightly squeezed, so it's hard to win.

To be honest, I'm starting to worry that the parlor will go out of business.

(If I play at a store with more customers, maybe I can win... No, no, it doesn't matter where you play pachinko, you're going to lose anyway, so choosing a store shouldn't be a big deal... But wait a minute... Maybe I should try to find out more...)

When I got home, I searched for various stores on the internet.

Oh, this store is newly opened... Oh, this store is under renovation...

What?... People are tweeting all kinds of things on SNS...

I won 200,000 JPY with only 1,000 JPY in the "Oki Nami Monogatari", and I won 100,000 JPY in "Winter Sonata"?

Oh, everyone is winning.

But most of these stories are probably lies. You can't win that much...

Idiots lie so easily these days.

It's convenient that you can check each store's payout information on the net these days.

Hey, this store has an in-store payout rate of 110%!?

I wonder if that's true...

Let's see...

Oh, it's not a complete lie. But if this is true, the store is in the red...

That's nice... I wonder if I can win too...

Do events and the quality of the store make such a difference in payouts?

Hmm.

Hey, the pachinko parlor in the next town is having a grand opening event for the next three days starting tomorrow.

It goes against my principles, but I want to get back some of my losses...

Okay! I'll go there tomorrow since it's my day off!

The next day

And at 6 a.m. the next morning, I arrived at the store.

(Wow, there are already so many people...)

There was a line in front of the store, and I was overwhelmed by the enthusiasm...

I thought it would be better to come early, but there were already more than 80 people in line...

It said the drawing deadline was 300 people, and if I had come at the last minute, I definitely wouldn't have been able to enter.

But with this many people, I probably won't be able to draw a good number...

In that case, it would be difficult for me to play at my favorite station...

Damn...

That's why I don't like crowded stores...

And three hours later, it was finally time to draw.

"Now, please push this button."

"Yes..."

I pushed the button...

Then...

"What? Number 8? Even though there were so many people lined up? Thank you..."

(Okay, with this number, I might be able to play at my favorite station...)

Opening

It's finally opening time.

I was able to find a seat at the machine I always play.

(Wow, it spins smoothly...)

As expected of the grand opening, to be honest, I don't know how to read the pins at all, but the movement of the balls is different from usual.

(Something's different. Usually, it doesn't spin even 10 times with 1,000 JPY, but it's comfortable...)

Three hours after I started playing, I kept getting jackpots and chains, and I kept increasing my payouts.

Today is an open day.

I don't really want to hit that much, but I don't feel like I'm going to lose at all...

It's been a long time since I felt stable while playing pachinko.

And I kept playing until just before the store closed, and that day I won 100,000 JPY.

"Yes! It's been a long time since I had a big win!"

Tomorrow, I'll take a special day off from work and play at this store again tomorrow!

Now, is there any good accommodation?

Maybe Manga Cafe is a good idea, as it's cheaper than a business hotel...

"Oh, this hotel is cheap!"

I found a hotel that costs 2,000 JPY per night.

(It's cheaper than the night pack at the manga cafe. Okay! I'll stay here tonight.)

The next day...

(Wow, it's 130! As I expected, I couldn't draw a good number for two days in a row... With this number, I probably won't be able to sit at my favorite station...)

Well, I can't help it...

I came all the way here, so I'll just sit at a station that looks good...

When I entered, I sat at a station that I didn't understand at all. I've never played it before, and it doesn't seem fun...

(Wow, this station spins too. It's not as good as the one I played yesterday, but it doesn't seem that bad...)

But today's spins are good too. I think I'm going to hit the jackpot...

6 hours later…

As I continued to play, I hit the jackpot. It's a chain fever for two days in a row!

"Yes! I'm lucky today too!"

In this way, I kept playing for about 6 hours and won 80,000 JPY.

That's 180,000 JPY for two days!

That's amazing!

I got back about half of what I had lost so far!

Even though it was such an uninteresting machine, I ended up playing it and having fun.

Of course, it's more fun to win at pachinko.

I used to think that I couldn't win at pachinko anyway, and if I couldn't win, I should just play at my favorite station. But my way of thinking has changed in these two days.

If I can increase my winning percentage by going to the next town or researching events, that's better.

I'll stop playing with the assumption that I'll lose.

From the next holiday, I'll look for events and go.

I'll go anywhere I can get to by train!

The next day at the company

"Hey Toyama! Let's go pachinko together on the next holiday!"

"Oh, Mr. Tasaki, I'm sorry. I'm going to Tokyo on the next holiday."

"What? Are you going to Tokyo to play pachinko?"

"Yes, there's a store that's having a grand opening that day..."

"I see... That's amazing..."

So I started to aim for grand openings and event days.

I'm always searching on SNS every day.

And on my day off.

I came to Tokyo early in the morning.

"Oh, there's a line...

Okay, I was able to sit at the machine I was aiming for.

This event is hot! Lately, I've been able to read the pins quite a bit, and I've also investigated which stations are likely to hit the jackpot.

"Oh, it's starting to spin nicely..."

In the end, I played until the store closed, and I won 120,000 JPY.

My pachinko life has changed without me noticing.

I started to earn as much as 500,000 JPY a month.

The road to Pachipro

I decided to live my only life with no regrets.

I quit my job by submitting a letter of resignation to my boss, and decided to live as a Pachipro.

"Okay! Today's destination is Chiba Prefecture!"

I immediately bought a car and started going to pachinko parlors by car.

There are always many events held in the metropolitan area.

On busy days, I started going out almost every day.

My goal for this month is 1,000,000 JPY!

From now on, I'll do my best as a Pachipro!