Warm-up Mini-Game

Soon, Kazehara Tetsu found his target in the System Store.

[Skill: International Chess Master Level]
[Effect: Grants the host the chess prowess, tactical reserves, and on-the-spot psychological quality of a world-class International Chess master.]
[Price: 80 Points.]

The price wasn't too steep, but his gaze drifted downward to another option with absurdly high cost-performance.

[Skill: Grandmaster of All Chess]
[Effect: Grants the host master-level proficiency in all board games (including but not limited to International Chess, Go, Shogi, etc.).]
[Price: 250 Points.]

250 points for top-tier skill in every board game—this was practically a giveaway. Not only could he use it now, but in the future, facing other games, he'd have it at his disposal.

But here came the problem: his current account balance was 223 points.

So the situation formed an amusing loop. He needed to win matches to earn points, but he needed points to buy the skill to win matches, and he needed the skill to win matches... an endless cycle.

He had to "earn" the starting capital from Sakayanagi Arisu before the actual chess game began.

The expression on Kazehara Tetsu's face didn't change at all, still that relaxed, carefree smile.

He looked at Sakayanagi Arisu but didn't immediately accept her challenge.

Because the system's task had loopholes he could exploit. The task was to beat Sakayanagi Arisu, but it never specified what kind of contest or method.

Kazehara Tetsu's mind raced, and a plan quickly took shape.

He turned to Sakayanagi Arisu. "But before we actually play chess, Classmate Sakayanagi, would you be interested in a simple little logic game first? Consider it a warm-up."

"Oh?"

Sakayanagi Arisu was clearly intrigued. "Do tell."

Kazehara Tetsu borrowed a white pawn and a black pawn from the senpai sitting nearby, held them in both hands behind his back, then extended both fists in front of Sakayanagi Arisu.

"The game is simple. Here are two chess pieces, one white, one black. I'll put them behind my back, randomly swap their positions or not. Then you just have to guess which hand holds the white piece. Guess right, you win; guess wrong, I win."

The rules sounded extremely simple, even a bit childish.

But Sakayanagi Arisu showed no contempt. "How many rounds?"

"One round to decide the winner would rely too much on luck."

Kazehara Tetsu smiled. "Let's play ten rounds. After ten rounds, whoever has more correct guesses wins. How about it?"

Sakayanagi Arisu stared into Kazehara Tetsu's eyes, as if trying to read something from them.

She was silent for a few seconds, then said, "Interesting. I accept."

She didn't think this game was complicated—just a matter of probability and psychological warfare, and she was confident she wouldn't lose in either area.

"Then, the game begins."

Kazehara Tetsu put his hands behind his back. After a faint clatter of chess pieces, he extended both fists in front of Sakayanagi Arisu again.

His expression was calm and unreadable, betraying nothing.

Sakayanagi Arisu carefully observed Kazehara Tetsu's expression and the subtle movements of his arm muscles, but found nothing. After a moment's thought, she chose his left hand.

Kazehara Tetsu opened his left hand—black piece.

"First round, I win." Kazehara Tetsu smiled.

Second round, Sakayanagi Arisu chose his right hand—black piece.

Third round, left hand—white piece. Sakayanagi Arisu won one back.

After the first five rounds, Sakayanagi Arisu had guessed correctly three times and wrong twice, slightly ahead.

But her brow furrowed slightly.

She noticed that Kazehara Tetsu's expression and movements had almost no tells. Her choices felt more like random guesses—50% probability, and the current score was entirely within expectations.

Sixth round, Sakayanagi Arisu chose his right hand—black piece.

Seventh round, left hand—black piece.

Eighth round, right hand—white piece.

Ninth round, left hand—black piece.

After nine rounds, Sakayanagi Arisu had guessed correctly four times and wrong five times. She was one round behind.

Sakayanagi Arisu began to feel something was off.

Logically, in this kind of pure probability game, both sides' win rates should be very close. But Sakayanagi Arisu felt like something was always just slightly missing.

Last round, the decisive round.

Kazehara Tetsu put his hands behind his back again. This time, his movements seemed to take a little longer than before.

When both fists extended again, Sakayanagi Arisu's gaze swept over his two clenched hands.

She fell into a brief silence.

She quickly reviewed the previous nine rounds in her mind, trying to find any habits Kazehara Tetsu might have, but found nothing—his randomness was executed too perfectly.

In the end, relying on a sliver of intuition, she chose the right hand.

"Are you sure, Classmate Sakayanagi?"

"I'm sure." Sakayanagi Arisu's tone brooked no argument.

Kazehara Tetsu slowly opened his right hand—a black pawn lay quietly in his palm.

Black piece.

Four to six. Sakayanagi Arisu had lost.

Sakayanagi Arisu didn't speak immediately. She simply stared at the black piece, then lifted her gaze to Kazehara Tetsu, her expression complicated.

"I see. I really did lose," she admitted calmly. "You exploited a loophole in the rules."

Kazehara Tetsu smiled, a hint of cunning triumph in his expression: "As expected of Classmate Sakayanagi, catching on so quickly. The rule I stated was: 'You only need to guess which hand holds the white piece.' I never specified that each exchange behind my back had to be 'one hand holding white, the other black.'"

He opened his left hand, which had been clenched tight—his palm was empty. That white piece had never been in his left hand from the very start! It had been tucked inside his right sleeve!

In other words, in the final round—and possibly more than just the final round—

The motion of his hands behind his back wasn't about swapping pieces; it could have been placing both pieces in one hand, leaving the other empty!

That way, no matter which hand Sakayanagi Arisu chose, as long as he showed the empty hand and declared she was wrong (since she was guessing "which hand has the white piece," and an empty hand naturally had no white piece), he was guaranteed victory.

He only needed to use this trick in two or three key rounds out of ten to secure the win.

Indeed, the rules only said to guess which hand held the white piece; they never explicitly stated that both hands had to hold one piece each!

It was a linguistic trap, a carefully disguised logical loophole!

After a long moment, Sakayanagi Arisu suddenly let out a soft laugh.

This laughter didn't stem from anger, but from admiration for Kazehara Tetsu's clever exploitation of the rules to secure victory.

Not only did she not resent this seemingly less-than-honorable tactic, but she actually showed more fondness for this win-at-all-costs approach.

[Ding! Detected host defeating key figure Sakayanagi Arisu in a game of wits. Reward issued: 500 Points.]

The notification sounded in his mind—Points had arrived! Kazehara Tetsu's heart steadied. The first step of the plan was perfectly accomplished.

"You yield, Classmate Sakayanagi."