Not a detective

Page 164

Asakawa Riku was genuinely taken aback; he hadn't expected this incident to be related to Hoshino.

It was exactly a year ago. At that time, he thought the student council's handling of school bullying was quite good. It turned out to be the result of an acquaintance's push.

But he quickly frowned and said:

"So... you also sent out the notice to disband the mystery club? You should know I'm also in the mystery club, right? Why would you do that?"

That being said, the student council almost disbanded the mystery club back then, and he has always harbored resentment about it, but he hasn't forgotten it.

To everyone's surprise, Xingyu covered her mouth and laughed:

"It was intentional."

"why?"

"I find it annoying that Asakawa-kun is whispering to me with his senior in the mystery club."

Hoshino blinked: "If the mystery club were disbanded, you wouldn't be so close to Kazamatsuri-senpai anymore. Although I didn't tell anyone, that's what I thought at the time."

Asakawa Riku was stunned for a moment: "What..."

He never expected it to be for this reason. He remembered that a year ago, he and Xingyu weren't very close; at most, they were just colleagues in the same agency.

But she said with absolute certainty:

"Asakawa-kun, don't underestimate a girl's jealousy. She's capable of anything because of it."

Asakawa Riku sighed: "You're only making me hate you..."

Hoshino smiled slyly: "So in the end I didn't do that, I regretted it, and I even gave you guys the biggest club award, isn't that great?"

That's all they've said, it's absolutely flawless. This guy really does have the talent to be the student council president.

"But, but what about it?"

She paused for a moment, then suddenly said:

"The Asakawa-kun of today, although he's no longer all lovey-dovey with Kazamatsuri-senpai, he's gotten quite close to Miss. They usually play games and joke around in the office, and today they were doing a challenge together. They must have had a lot of fun. Even though we've been through so much together, and we came back from the sea, I still can't get your attention. I'm a little resentful."

“Hoshino…” Asakawa Riku felt that she was acting a little strange today. Normally she wouldn’t speak so directly. Was it an outburst after suppressing her emotions?

Xingyu didn't reply, but simply stared at them and stated the conditions for the final challenge:

"This is the final stage of the 'Summit War.' How about we increase the stakes? If you win, you'll not only get the right to use and operate the campus altar, but it will also belong to your class next year. For the next two years, the student council will do its best to support your booth and help with promotion and attracting customers, ensuring it becomes the most bustling place on campus."

“However, if you lose, I’m sorry, Miss, Asakawa-kun, I hope you will separate from today.”

A cold wind blew across the rooftop, and as darkness fell, the sky grew slightly more biting.

Zashiki-warashi no Autumn: Chapter Thirty-Eight - Playing Cards Hide and Seek

"The name of my game is 'Hide and Seek with Poker'."

"The rules are taken from the common games of tag and hide-and-seek, where one person plays the [ghost] and the other plays the [human], and they take turns, with each turn counting as one round."

"Of course, the ghost isn't looking for people, but for [playing cards]. Here's a deck that's just been opened; remove the Joker, and there are 52 cards left. You can check it out."

"Each round consists of two phases: the first is 'Hide,' and the second is 'Search.' Each phase has a time limit of five minutes, for a total of ten minutes. The location is limited to this school building. At the start of the round, each player blindly draws a card from their deck, then leaves the rooftop and goes downstairs to hide the playing card. During this time, the ghost cannot follow or peek; it must remain on the rooftop and wait. Places that are off-limits, such as toilets and classrooms, as well as dangerous windows or places where the playing card could be blown away or fallen, are all off-limits. Everything else is allowed to be hidden."

"In the next stage, the search time is also ten minutes. People return here to exchange, and they must stay on the rooftop and are not allowed to go downstairs to interfere with the search process. The ghost needs to use these ten minutes to find the playing cards hidden in the school building. If it finds them, they are considered as 'hand cards' and can be put away. If it doesn't find them, it can only return to the rooftop."

"Once you accumulate five cards in your hand, you are considered to have met the conditions to reveal your hand. Once you declare that you are revealing your hand, your hand is fixed."

"This hand will be ranked according to the rules of Texas Hold'em, which are: Royal Flush > Straight Flush > Four of a Kind > Full House > Flush > Straight > Three of a Kind > Two Pairs > One Pair > High Card. In the case of equal hands, suits are not distinguished; in the comparison of the same type, four of a kind is compared by the fifth card, full houses are compared by the three of a kind, and if three of a kind are the same, pairs are compared; in the comparison of the same type, if two pairs are the same, the kicker is compared; for high cards, the rank is determined by the card value, with Ace being the highest and 2 the lowest."

"Of course, if the five cards are drawn randomly, they may not form a winning hand, or the hand may be weak and you may not be able to win. So you can choose not to reveal the five cards and choose to wait. After both players wait, the game continues, and you can continue to accumulate cards until you have a satisfactory five cards in your hand."

"However, once one side chooses to reveal their cards, the other side must also [force them to reveal their cards] in the next round. Generally, the person who reveals their cards will play the role of the joker in the next round, while the side that is forced to reveal their cards will play the role of the human in the next round and will have the opportunity to play one last card. Whether the result is good or bad, they have to come out and compete."

"So you probably guessed it by now. The key to this game is when to reveal your cards, what hand you need to accumulate to be considered a winning hand, and how to corner your opponent."

...

Hoshino's explanation of the rules was simple and easy to understand, and Asakawa Riku quickly grasped how to play the game.

Simply put, it combines the gameplay of Texas Hold'em and hide-and-seek. One person hides the playing cards, and the other person searches for them to form a hand.

However, he still had one question:

"The game area is the entire school building? Isn't that too big? Besides, she's not a student at this school, so she probably isn't very familiar with the school building. It doesn't seem fair."

"Asakawa-kun, you're being a little biased."

Xingyu pursed her lips and emphasized, "Don't forget what abilities Miss has. With just a glance, she can memorize the entire school building's spatial map. As for the classrooms, they're all locked and inaccessible areas. The only places where you can actually hide the cards are the objects in the corridors and stairwells. If you're talking about unfairness, it's actually unfair to me."

This is true.

Asakawa Riku glanced at Shinonome Suetsuki and, seeing that she had not expressed any opinion, it seemed that she was confident.

With her incredible memory, she might know more about the place after just a short walk than I, a student who's been at school for a year.

Since that was the case, Asakawa Riku had no other opinions. He used his phone to look up the rules of Texas Hold'em. To be honest, he hadn't played much, so he was still a bit unfamiliar with the hand rankings.

Royal Flush: A flush with a highest score of Ace (one point).

Straight Flush: A sequence of cards of the same suit.

Four of a Kind: Four cards of the same rank.

Full House: Three cards of the same rank plus a pair of cards of a different rank.

Flush: Five cards of the same suit.

Straight: Five cards in a row.

Three of a kind: Three cards of the same rank.

Two Pairs: Two cards of the same rank, plus two other cards of the same rank.

A pair: Two cards of the same rank.

High card: A hand that does not conform to any of the above hand types. It consists of single cards that are not consecutive and of different suits, and its value is determined by its point value.

From top to bottom, that's the size of the card combination.

Asakawa Riku didn't have such a good memory; he kept the webpage open, ready to cheat at any time.

But the next second, Mo Yue said, "I'll take on this one."

Are you alright? Why don't you rest a little longer?

Asakawa Riku looked at her. Just a moment ago she looked weak and in pain, but now she seemed to have recovered almost completely. She stretched and relaxed her body, revealing her beautiful curves.

Mo Yue reopened her eyes, her beautiful pupils radiating a brilliance no less than that of Xing Yu. The two smiled at each other, locked in a standoff.

"After all, a girl's relationship is something you have to protect yourself, so I can't let go of it."

“Miss, that’s what I’m thinking. I would be very sad if Asakawa-kun were to fight on your side.”

Hoshino replied.

It seems she had already decided that her opponent this time would be Shinonome Suetsuki, regardless of whether he was a student at this school or not.

In fact, this trial of the "Summit War" was merely an excuse and an opportunity.

"Okay, have fun, just don't use me as a bet. I won't do what you say."

Asakawa Riku sighed helplessly. He didn't know how he had gotten involved. Oh well, he'd just consider it a quarrel between the master and servant.

If all else fails... try to comfort her after this is over.

He stepped back, now relegated to the position of referee: "Shall we begin?"

Shinonome Suetsuki didn't finish speaking, and continued:

"As I said before, if you win, you have to separate me from Lu. In return, I want to add a clause: if I win—"

"You want me to separate from Asakawa-kun? That's fair, no problem. Today was meant to be a decisive battle."

"No, that's not right. If I win, I'll let you date him, it's that simple."

Zashiki-warashi no Aki: Chapter Thirty-Nine - Air Poker

"...Wha, what!"

Xingyu was stunned for a moment, and the serious expression on her face disappeared without a trace, replaced by a blush.

She stammered, "Why...why are these rules set up? What good will it do you?"

"Can't figure it out?" Mo Yue still smiled and said, "Xing Yu, you're still the same. You're easily swayed by emotions when making judgments. That won't defeat me."

"……hateful!"

Xingyu took two steps back, waved her hand and shook her head, forcing herself to calm down, and frowned as she said:

"I understand... You're trying to bribe me so I'll deliberately lose to you. Unfortunately, that won't work, Miss. I have to win on my own."

The detective's move was very clever. Although it was an off-field tactic, the best strategy is to attack the mind and kill the game directly outside of the game itself. It is the most effective and powerful weapon.

Unfortunately, it seems that for Hoshino, separating Miss and Asakawa Riku was more important than dating Asakawa Riku herself, so it didn't work.

She gritted her teeth and said:

"Don't pity me! I'll pay the bet myself, and if I lose, I'll leave Asakawa-kun on my own!"

"At least ask for my opinion."

Asakawa Riku was quite helpless. He felt that the two of them were out of their minds and wouldn't listen to anything right now.

It seems that even if it's just fooling around, we have to wait until it's over: "Fine, when does it start?"

"Isn't playing poker like this a bit too simple? How about using the rules of 'Air Poker'?"

Moyue continued her one-on-one conversation with Xingyu.

Xingyu blinked: "【Air Poker】... I really miss it. Yes, this deck of cards was originally prepared for ordinary challengers. It seems that no other students will be able to make it here today. Since you are the opponent, Miss, I think 【Air Poker】 is more suitable. Only this is appropriate for our duel. It's settled then."

"Wait... what is 'air poker'?"

Asakawa Riku was completely bewildered.

"You didn't know? That's perfect then." Mo Yue said with delight, "Then we don't need to generate random numbers. Let's ask him for help."

"Okay." Xingyu walked over and stuffed the playing cards back into his hand.

Riku Asakawa frowned:

"What do I need to do? Deal the cards?"

Hoshino laughed: "No need. The so-called 'air poker' has nothing to do with physical playing cards. You can put it away now. Asakawa-kun, you carry paper and pen with you, right?"

Asakawa Riku nodded. He had been doing this since last year. Although his notebook was lost in the shipwreck, he had now replaced it with a new one.

This book hasn't been opened much yet; it's all brand new, blank pages.

"Please tear off ten sheets, trying to avoid obvious tears or marks, so that they are not visible from the outside."

"Ok."

Asakawa Riku did it; anyone could do it by simply scratching it with their fingernail beforehand.

Xingyu nodded in satisfaction: "Then, please write a random number on each one."

"Random? How random?"

"Between 6 and 64."

Shinonome Suetsuki took over, but this explanation only confused him more.

"I thought it was really random."

"Wait, that's not right."

Xingyu frowned, then suddenly turned to Moyue: "If he really doesn't know anything, it's very likely that an 'unconventional' number will appear in the end."

"That's what makes it interesting—to know absolutely nothing."

Mo Yue smiled and said, "It's okay. The numbers that are not in accordance with the rules are like landmines. Whoever steps on one is doomed. This is also part of the game."

Xingyu pondered for a moment, then nodded: "Alright then. I agree."

Seeing that they had reached an agreement, Asakawa Riku took out a pen:

"...I wrote it, okay?"