Not a detective

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It's as if you can see the detective's smug smile through her silhouette:

"Want to know why? Because in the last round, I didn't drop the handkerchief within a minute, but three seconds before that. I saw it clearly then; your shoulder twitched slightly. You must have noticed my handkerchief-dropping motion through 'some means.' You're a seasoned cheater, so you shouldn't have given such a basic hint. Your acting should be excellent; even if you noticed, you should have remained calm. It's just that you didn't expect me to drop the handkerchief 'ahead of time,' so you were momentarily stunned."

"You were probably at a loss at that moment, looking at the clock. It hadn't even been a minute yet, so turning back was definitely not an option. But you wanted to secure a point advantage, so you had to check before the 30-second mark. You considered checking back at the very moment the timer started [second 0], but that would expose your cheating, it would be too obvious. So you hesitated for a moment and chose to check at [second 1]. It was a reasonable strategy, but your thoughts were already under my control."

"You said that the essence of this game is gambling, and I agree with that. Compared to Fujiwara's mine-jumping staircase game, this game is much more random. There's no way to think about it; it's just a pure gamble of courage. But you turned around without hesitation in the very first second, which makes me suspicious. You said you used psychological analysis to figure out my actions, but conversely, the challenger in the second round could also have deliberately held onto the handkerchief to trick you into checking it and being eliminated in order to turn the tables."

"This kind of psychological game is inherently plausible from both sides. As long as you make far-fetched interpretations after the fact, you can use different explanations based on the outcome. That's your disguise. If I drop the handkerchief, you say the challenger likes to imitate your tactics to catch up. If I don't drop it, you say the challenger likes to take a gamble and check the possibility of failure. It's as meaningless as choosing rock-paper-scissors. The only people who are truly fearless at the gambling table, besides the house with unlimited chips, are of course cheaters."

As Shinonome Suetsuki launched her barrage of sarcastic remarks, Class President Kato finally couldn't hold back any longer:

"I...I didn't!"

"Timeout."

At the same time, Asakawa Riku coldly announced, and at that moment, Class President Kato stared in astonishment.

Yes, Asakawa Riku understood Suetsuki's intention the moment she began to speak.

She deliberately slowed down her speech, delivering long, drawn-out monologues, all to attract Kato's attention and make her forget that they were still in the middle of a round.

However, Squad Leader Kato couldn't ignore it, because those words were very targeted and sharp, accusing her of cheating.

"Oh, you're really obedient. If it were me, I would have dropped the handkerchief the moment the challenger started speaking."

Dongyun Suezuki turned around slowly, a confident smile on her face.

At that very moment, she happened to see the handkerchief that had just floated down from Kato's hand and landed perfectly.

If Squad Leader Kato wanted to refute her or follow her line of thought, she had already lost...!

"According to the rules, if the standing team does not drop the handkerchief within 60 seconds and continues to hold it after the time limit has passed, it is considered a victory for the sitting team, and the time score is accumulated."

Asakawa Riku calculated, "So, we have 60 points and you have 0 points, a difference of 60 points, right, class monitor?"

A sudden reversal!

Unbelievable...!

Of course, Class President Kato realized she had made a foolish mistake and suffered the consequences, but she clearly didn't care about the score anymore; she just blushed and argued:

"What's this about me cheating...? I didn't...!"

Actually, even without her asking, Asakawa Riku was also very curious.

Were those words just now just a trick by Shinonome Suetsuki to deceive people about time and attack their psychology, or did she really think that Kato Class President was cheating?

Speaking of cheating... what methods are available for cheating?

Asakawa Riku watched the whole thing from inside the room, and he saw the trembling of the shoulders, but he didn't think about it at the time. Maybe it was just a shiver from the autumn chill.

Apart from that, he didn't notice anything wrong with Kato's actions, such as secretly turning around to peek. Such things would definitely not escape his eyes.

There was no mirror or anything like that in front of the chair, and her glasses and frames probably weren't reflective enough to be able to see the handkerchief directly behind her.

Moreover, before the game started, Shinonome Suetsuki checked the room's furnishings, including the material of the handkerchiefs and the accuracy of the wall clock; she even changed the chair.

Under these circumstances, the detective himself said, "I haven't found any evidence yet, nor have I figured out a way to do it"... Is it really just a bluff?

"Stop now... The match is over. If you want to accuse me of cheating, then provide evidence. I will concede defeat voluntarily; otherwise, you will have to apologize for the damage to my reputation!"

As expected, Squad Leader Kato also questioned him aggressively.

Asakawa Riku was immediately worried. He knew how sharp-tongued and wicked Shinonome Suetsuki was, and that talking nonsense to win was perfectly in line with her style.

But Class President Kato isn't a bad person. It wouldn't be good to wrong her and cause a misunderstanding. Although we're rivals now, this is just a game in school.

It shouldn't have escalated to such a serious level.

Just as Asakawa Riku stepped forward with a helpless smile, ready to smooth things over, Shinonome Suetsuki unexpectedly bent down and picked up the handkerchief from the ground.

She reached over her shoulder and walked to the seat behind the chair—

"It's okay, cheating is okay, I won't ask the game to be stopped."

A chilling smile graced his face.

"Because only cheating opponents are interesting enough, aren't they?"

Zashiki-warashi no Aki: Chapter 18 Sound

[Round 4]

Currently: Kato Mio 30 points, Shinonome Suetsuki 61 points.

...

Shinonome Suetsuki was in charge of dropping the handkerchief, while Kato Mio sat in the chair.

She seemed to be receiving an invisible punishment, her hands resting on her knees, the silent weight deafening, beads of sweat trickling down her cheeks...

On the contrary, Mo Yue was extremely relaxed. She twirled the handkerchief between her fingertips, as if trying to spin it, but she was clumsy and failed at all.

Asakawa Riku watched, even worried that she might accidentally fall.

If he was still unsure whether Kato had cheated and was hesitant just now, he is now almost 80% certain.

He may not be able to see through people's hearts or see through lies, but his observation of the human body is extremely meticulous. The reactions of people when they lie are very obvious, such as breathing, heartbeat, and body temperature.

These subtle changes can unconsciously manifest in various actions, making them difficult to control. A highly skilled actor or politician might be able to train themselves to lie without any visible reaction. But Class Monitor Kato clearly wasn't up to that; her reaction was too obvious, even exaggerated. It was unexpected that simply being questioned would elicit such a flustered response…

So now the question becomes: why did Class President Kato cheat... and how did he cheat...?

And Shinonome Suetsuki, knowing that her opponent was cheating, why did she continue the trial? Wasn't she afraid of losing?

He didn't have much time to think it over; time flew by.

Click.

The second hand swept past the starting point, and the countdown began.

...

Kato Mio closed her eyes—

No one noticed that every time she sat down, she didn't look at the wall clock, even though that was the most crucial countdown timer.

She simply sensed the darkness behind her, and waited quietly for everything in that space to unfold.

But something broke the silence.

Suddenly, a loud noise came from behind, like the sound of shoes hitting the ground. It was very loud, like being hit by a hammer!

"...Don't make a sound! Asakawa-kun!"

She was startled and couldn't help but shout.

"It wasn't him, it was me."

However, a woman's voice came from behind.

It turned out that the stomping was made by Higashion Suetsuki from behind. She really put in a lot of effort to imitate Asakawa Riku's strength.

It felt like she was relying on her abilities and didn't care even if she broke her leg, which is why she made such a loud noise.

"I see... It's [sound]."

The moment she said those words, you could see that Kato Mio's back twitched as if she had been electrocuted.

Shinonome Suetsuki continued:

"I found it strange when you were explaining the rules. Why did you keep emphasizing that Asakawa Riku couldn't make a sound and had to be absolutely silent? Of course, I understand the reason of preventing him from colluding with me to use secret signals, but usually saying 'no secret signals, no hand gestures, no eye contact' would be enough. The repeated emphasis on sound makes me think that sound is very important to you. Especially since you specifically brought us to this [soundproofed] conference room, even though this game can be played outside with just a chair."

"Let me guess, you have excellent hearing, right? You can even hear the sound of a handkerchief falling to the ground."

"Do you know what is called 'mosquito sound'? It refers to a sound with a very short wavelength, similar to the sound made when an old appliance is turned on. This sound has a high frequency and is usually only audible to young people under 25, because as people age, the hair cells in their inner ear gradually age and die, and they can no longer hear it."

"Of course, this is just an example. The sound of a handkerchief falling to the ground is not a very high frequency, otherwise Asakawa Riku and I would have been able to hear it. This example is just to illustrate that some people have the ability to hear sounds that others cannot hear. It is understandable to regard it as a superpower. Kondo, you have such an ability. As long as the surrounding environment is quiet enough, you can even detect and distinguish the extremely faint sound of a handkerchief falling to the ground. Therefore, you used this special ability to create this 'drop the handkerchief' challenge."

"Of course, you can only cheat when you're seated. When you're standing, hearing is useless; you can only drop your handkerchief like a normal person. But that doesn't matter, since standing people aren't at risk of being eliminated. Dropping your handkerchief is always safe, and the rules are tailor-made for you. As long as you're seated and always make the right time to turn around and check, you can accumulate enough points to maintain your winning position. That's probably why your game has a 0% success rate."

"Let me guess, you're probably keeping your eyes closed right now, because you can tell the time just by listening to the second hand... To use this cheating method, you need to keep the environment quiet, so you chose this conference room and told the bystander, Asakawa Riku, to shut up, in order to isolate external influences. When the two contestants are thinking about the game, they will subconsciously keep quiet. You didn't expect that there would be a challenger as talkative as me, did you? Next time, you should set a rule that you can't talk at the start of the game, but that would be too obvious."

"You think I'm annoying, right? But I'm not going to stop. As long as I keep talking, you won't know if I'm secretly dropping my handkerchief, will you?"

Dongyun Moyue smiled slyly.

She usually seems lazy and quiet, so this is the first time I've seen her so "talkative".

Perhaps it's only at times like this that I talk so much.

She insisted on revealing everything she had seen through.

In contrast to the smug detective, Class President Kato was literally sitting on pins and needles.

She felt tormented; those words were like needles piercing her ears, drawing blood and becoming unbearable.

"Stop talking...stop talking...!"

Yes, Shinonome Suetsuki's reasoning is completely correct.

Kato Mio did indeed cheat using the "super hearing" method. She was almost invincible in the student council using this game, but she never expected to be exposed today.

In quieter environments, one can perceive even more subtle sounds, exceeding the frequency range that the human ear can hear. While this power may be useless in ordinary life, it is a complete advantage for this specially designed game. As long as she listens carefully, she can tell when the "station" behind her dropped the handkerchief and then turn around instantly.

But... today is completely different! She has been driven to such a desperate situation!

Zashiki-warashi no Aki: Chapter Nineteen: The Trap

Kato Mio concentrated intently, straining to sense the sounds behind her, trying to discern the sound of the handkerchief falling to the ground from the cacophony of words.

But no matter what I did, I couldn't do it.

Reason told her that Miss Dongfeng had said so much on purpose to cover up the sound of her secretly dropping the handkerchief, and that she had probably already dropped it and was just stalling for time.

Can we win simply by turning back?

However, that Miss Dongfeng is very clever, and it's possible that she grasped this logic and deliberately tricked her into turning back. Failing the inspection means losing, which is unacceptable!

To turn back or not to turn back! A decision must be made immediately!

What should we do?! Both are possible... Which one is it?!

The endless nesting logic tormented Kato Mio. She had relied too much on the definite information from her hearing before, and for the first time, she felt the struggle of this game.

"Should we drag this out until the time is up...? But that would be so boring."

As if sensing her hesitation, the female voice behind her continued to slowly approach.

Kato Mio trembled slightly: "What...what are you going to do?"

"Open your eyes."

……ah?

The voice was coming from right in front of her. Kato Mio opened her eyes in shock and was surprised to find that Shinonome Suetsuki had actually walked up to her.

"How...how did you get here? You're from the [station side], you should be standing behind my chair, that's right!"

“The rules don’t say that the person standing has to stand behind the chair, right? It just says to quietly drop the handkerchief. As long as you don’t get caught, it’s fine, isn’t it? I can talk, so I can move around freely.” Dongyun Sueyue smiled. Her memorization of the rules and her ability to exploit loopholes reached an astonishing level: “As long as the rules don’t prohibit it, you can do it.”

"But...you, you!"

Kato Mio was completely flustered. She didn't know how to deal with this situation. In all the games she had played, this was the first time someone had come up to her chair.

Isn't "Drop the Handkerchief" just a game where you drop it from behind? Who would walk to the center of the circle? Did this guy not have a childhood? That's common sense!

Even the organizer, who set the rules, didn't know how to answer.

"Because I saw through your cheating method, which makes the game unfair, so to make it up to you, I've decided to show you my hands—"

Higashino Suetsuki smiled and squatted down in front of her, instantly bringing them to the same height.

Then Moyue slightly pulled up her sleeve, revealing her long, slender hands, which were fair, clean, and without a trace of impurity; she could easily be a hand model.

"You don't have a handkerchief, right? Actually, I left it behind. Do you want to turn around and check?"

Her movements and words were just like those of a magician confirming something for the audience.

"You are lying!"

Kato Mio gritted her teeth, determined not to be fooled so easily: "You can hide in—"

"Hidden in your pocket, right?"