"Hey, upperclassman, want to hear about the Kouiku Sports Lottery? Guaranteed profits!"
Having spotted a business opportunity, Ying started pitching the Kouiku Sports Lottery to the upperclassmen watching the match. To make sure the betting was fair, he even asked the mild-mannered upperclassman to bring over the club's faculty advisor as a witness.
"You can bet on the winner, the number of wins and losses, or both. Let me explain how things stand. For the winner bet, Sakayanagi's odds are a whopping 31, while Senior Miyamura's are 1.033. I recommend putting 10,000 on Sakayanagi and 100,000 on Senior Miyamura for a guaranteed profit. The win-loss bets are a bit more complicated, so I recommend focusing on 3:2 and 3:1..."
After Ying had talked the upperclassman's ear off, he joined in on the betting, too. The Chess Club members had complete faith that their vice president, Miyamura, would win. As a result, only Ying and a few more cautious upperclassmen bet on Sakayanagi. Almost everyone who knew them got in on the bet.
Miyamura's pool now held a whopping four million personal points, while Sakayanagi's had a mere 450,000. For the record, Ying bet 200,000 personal points on Sakayanagi winning 3:0. At the thought of the incredible profit he'd soon make, Ying couldn't hold back his giggling.
"So, what did you bet on, underclassman?" The mild-mannered upperclassman returned after pitching the lottery and asked Ying what he'd chosen.
"Senior, I don't know chess, so I can't tell which of them is stronger. In the end, I played it safe and put 10,000 on Sakayanagi and 90,000 on you." Ying laughed it off.
"Underclassman, you don't get it. Sakayanagi's odds are a whopping 9.89. If you bet like that, you won't make much at all," the upperclassman said with a smile.
"At least I won't lose money. A little bet, a little profit," Ying replied with a smile.
"You're being way too cautious. You don't seem like the kind of person who'd come up with a betting event like this. Hahaha!"
"Please stop teasing me, Senior. Haha..." Ying thought to himself, You won't be laughing for long. Hehehe.
After three games, everyone in the club learned that Sakayanagi had beaten Senior Miyamura 3:0. They were all crushed.
"Damn it! I bet 300,000 points. How am I supposed to live this month?" one upperclassman cried, clutching his head.
"Don't even ask. I bet 500,000." Another upperclassman's eyes had gone dull, and it was hard not to worry he might do something desperate.
"Um, small bets hurt your body, big bets hurt your soul. Don't panic. I have a few points left—I can lend you some later. Don't do anything rash." The upperclassman who'd bet 300,000 tried to comfort the one who'd bet 500,000.
"I can't believe Junior Sakayanagi won. I've lost everything! You're better off than I am, Junior Ying." The mild-mannered upperclassman came over to Ying with a long face.
"Don't remind me, Senior. With the way I bet, I'd never win. I'd only end up with less and less. But gambling's all about the atmosphere, anyway." Ying's mouth kept twitching upward.
"Junior Ying, you really do have a good head on your shoulders."
"Heh, it seems none of you had a clear idea of how good I am. Have you learned your lesson now? What a shame. If the players themselves were allowed to bet, I'd have put it all on myself. With 200,000 points, I'd have made a net profit of 4.25 million." Sakayanagi spoke with effortless confidence, as if she didn't take anyone in the Chess Club seriously.
"Let me have a match with her." A mature, steady voice came from the club entrance.
"It's the club president! He's finally here!" one of the members exclaimed.
"I heard from a long way off that a first-year had come to challenge the club. You've even beaten several of our top players. You must be pretty good. Have you considered joining the Chess Club?" The president smiled at Sakayanagi, clearly confident in his own abilities.
"Heh, what stray kitten is this, yowling so loudly?" Sakayanagi taunted him with a smile.
"Hey, first-year! Show some respect. You may be good, but that doesn't mean you can look down on the president," Senior Yamada said.
Yamada raised a hand to stop his classmate from continuing. He looked up, no longer composed, his expression tinged with displeasure. "All right, let's have a match. If I win, you'll join the Chess Club and apologize to everyone you've provoked. If you win, then we'll all apologize to you instead."
"Heh, sounds interesting. I don't need an apology from weaklings. Just transfer me your personal points."
"Fine. If you win, I'll transfer you one million personal points on behalf of the Chess Club."
"Deal."
As the match began, Ying started pitching the Kouiku Lottery again. But the upperclassmen had learned their lesson last time. Though they all thought the president would win, they didn't bet tens or hundreds of thousands of points like before. By the end, the president's pool held only 800,000 personal points, while Sakayanagi's had just the 100,000 Ying had bet. Someone even started questioning who would distrust the president and bet on Sakayanagi. Ying broke out in a cold sweat. Had these fanatics learned nothing from what happened before?
The match ended quickly. No need to guess—Sakayanagi beat the president with ease.
After getting her points, Sakayanagi slowly left the club with help from her Class A classmates. Ying also took the points from the faculty advisor and hurried out of the lifeless Chess Club. Along the way, he heard people saying that a chess prodigy had appeared among the first-years and had beaten everyone in the Chess Club so badly they didn't know what hit them. He also heard someone say that a student had kept betting on the first-year to win and had ended up making a fortune. Ying could only keep his head down and walk quickly, afraid someone would notice him.
Back in his dorm, Ying opened his terminal and burst out laughing. I'm a genius at making money!
The terminal showed that Ying had a total of 6.05 million personal points.
Just as Ayanokoji returned to his room, he heard someone laughing to himself in Room 402. He decided he'd report the dorm's poor soundproofing to the resident supervisor later.
After coming into a large number of personal points, what did Ying decide to do with them? Obviously, our Ying had no idea either. So, over the course of a week, he bought everything in the shopping district that caught his eye. Things like an automatic floor-mopping robot, a rice cooker that could double as a microwave, and shoes that automatically put on shoe inserts...
"Hey, Byakuya, what are you spacing out for? Hurry up and get changed." Kanzaki, already in his swimsuit, stared at Ying, exasperated.
Ying was still wondering how to use the washing machine he'd bought yesterday that could also be used for taking a bath.
"Don't you know we have swimming class?" Kanzaki reminded Ying again, who still hadn't come to.
"Oh, right, right, right. I know." With that, Ying started changing.
"Ying, I just heard from some guys in the other classes in our soccer club. They said we're holding a competition during swimming class later. Want to battle? Battle?" Shibata said excitedly.
"A competition!?" Ying was a little surprised. Right, how had he forgotten about that?
"Heh, hehehe..."
"Byakuya, why are you laughing so ominously? Don't tell me you're thinking about Ichinose in her swimsuit?" Hamaguchi said.
"Hamaguchi, don't go saying your thoughts out loud," Beppu teased.
"I'm not!" Hamaguchi blushed.
"Hold on, everyone." Ying interrupted their chatter. Resting a hand against his forehead, he put on a mysterious air. "I have a proposal. Want to hear it?"
Kanzaki sensed something was off. "No."
"Come place your bets in the Kouiku Sports Lottery. Guaranteed profits!"
Before you continue