Victory

"Then, the first round: Free Rock-Paper-Scissors. Begin!"

"Rock, paper, scissors!"

Star Color: Gun. Manabu Horikita: Gun.

Because of the noun [Gun], just hearing it carried a sense of pressure. To gather information and confirm its effect, Manabu Horikita chose Gun for his first move.

Manabu Horikita clearly knew the effect of his own [Clock], but he had no idea what Star Color's [Gun] did. How to use the relationships between the four gestures to defeat Gun became the primary objective for intel.

[Clock] versus [Gun]—which was stronger? If [Gun] was stronger than [Clock], Manabu Horikita would use [Clock]'s effect. So this was now a phase of mutual psychological warfare.

"Draw. Beginning the second round."

Star Color played Scissors, while Manabu Horikita played Gun.

Manabu Horikita gained information: Scissors could defeat Gun. Though he still didn't know [Gun]'s effect, this was undoubtedly advantageous to him. He looked at Star Color's vacant expression—it seemed this guy hadn't gotten serious yet. Compared to the killing intent from before, he now looked like an animal that could be trampled at any moment.

[Clock]'s effect still enveloped Star Color. The contest between [Clock] and [Gun] wasn't over yet.

"Second round."

Star Color was Clock, and Manabu Horikita was Scissors.

Manabu Horikita scored one point.

Star Color stared at the still-calm Manabu Horikita.

"A pathetically weak gesture. Clock being beaten by Scissors is just ridiculous."

Manabu Horikita coldly gazed at Star Color.

"Third round."

Star Color played Rock, while Manabu Horikita slowly played Paper after Star Color.

Star Color was dumbfounded, looking at Nagumo Miyabi.

"Isn't this cheating?"

"Senpai Horikita is within the rules—no problem at all."

Nagumo Miyabi watched Star Color with a gloating expression.

Star Color lowered his head, thinking about something, one hand gripping his arm as a light laugh escaped him.

The fourth round began.

Star Color played Clock, and Manabu Horikita played Gun.

Both sides drew.

At this point, both Manabu Horikita and Star Color realized something.

Both of their gestures were [Weak] gestures—in other words, [Empty Gestures].

Manabu Horikita discovered that he had been misled by the noun [Gun]. Perhaps Gun was an empty gesture with no effect—a so-called blank bullet—a psychological deterrent set up by Star Color. And as long as the opponent used it, it was a gun that couldn't fire. The rules banned overly strong gestures, but didn't ban overly weak ones.

So [Gun] was Star Color's tool for psychological deception. Truly a guy whose appearance and inner self were completely inconsistent, with a nasty personality.

But Manabu Horikita's [Clock] effect was still unknown to Star Color, so the initiative remained with Manabu Horikita.

Manabu Horikita adjusted his glasses.

Fourth round, second bout.

Star Color played Paper, while Manabu Horikita leisurely played Scissors.

Manabu Horikita scored three consecutive points, while Star Color had only one. If Star Color lost one more round, he would lose 520,000 points, forfeiting the efforts of these four days.

But...

How could Star Color, who had always lived in the abyss, possibly lose? 520,000 was just a small sum to him. Every gamble he'd played before had been staked on his life.

Star Color had already seen the conditions for victory, and he also understood the [effect] of Manabu Horikita's Clock.

"The Clock effect really is powerful, Senpai Horikita. After you use the Clock gesture yourself, the opponent gets the effect of [acting later]. Quite a malicious special effect. Senpai Horikita, you were baiting me into using Clock, weren't you? To gain information in this game, you have to use gestures, and you cleverly exploited that to corner me."

Every time Star Color used Clock, it was equivalent to a negative payoff of [Empty Hand] plus [Acting First]. Within the game, anyone would try to probe the opponent's [gesture]—that was Manabu Horikita's perfect [effect] strategy for taking two points in a row.

Star Color laughed. As expected, his luck was abysmal, and Manabu Horikita's ability wasn't weak either.

"You think you can still turn this around?"

"Maybe."

Star Color smiled.

"Next up, my fortune's going to be great misfortune."

Even pushed to the edge of the cliff, Star Color still smiled calmly.

Now both sides knew each other's [Original Gestures], and it instantly reverted to the most basic Rock-Paper-Scissors contest.

Manabu Horikita never believed in any game of luck; everything was probability and logical deduction. He had once read in a psychology book about a surefire way to win at Rock-Paper-Scissors.

The moment a person swung their arm down, most people's fists showed signs of what they would throw—if it was Rock, they'd keep clenching. Manabu Horikita, trained in karate for years, had honed his dynamic vision to an extraordinary degree. [Unthinking, reflex-based Rock-Paper-Scissors] was as easy for him to catch as an opponent throwing a punch.

Up to now, Manabu Horikita had observed Star Color's habits when throwing gestures.

[Gun], [Scissors], [Clock], [Rock], [Clock], [Paper]. This was the record of Star Color's gestures.

When throwing [Rock], the hand would clench tightly, maintaining the original fist shape. When throwing [Scissors] or [Paper], the fist would loosen slightly, and the fingers would extend halfway through the swing.

So this was a boring game. Manabu Horikita believed victory was already a foregone conclusion.

"Fifth round."

Star Color's fist loosened slightly. Manabu Horikita caught this information—was it Scissors or Paper?

He confirmed the safe zone. If Star Color threw Paper, then Manabu Horikita would win. Even if Star Color threw Scissors, it would just be a draw.

Manabu Horikita saw Star Color's middle and index fingers protrude slightly forward. He immediately changed his thinking and threw Rock.

Star Color threw Paper.

"Even with glasses on, you have surprisingly good eyesight, Horikita-senpai."

"You noticed? My observation?"

Manabu Horikita was slightly startled but quickly calmed down.

"That's right."

Star Color had noticed from the very beginning that Manabu Horikita was observing his gestures and habits. Fortunately, he had already looked into Manabu Horikita's abilities beforehand, so he played along and turned the tables on him.

Free rock-paper-scissors was a game of information warfare. Since Manabu Horikita could use the characteristics of gestures to toy with Star Color, then Star Color could also plant false information in advance to toy with Manabu Horikita.

"Now we're tied, Horikita-senpai. It's a good thing you didn't trust your luck in the end. Because I don't trust my own luck at all."

Star Color revealed an eerie smile, picked up the teacup whose tea had gone cold, and took a sip.

"It's still a bit hot."

He said this while blowing on the tea.

"Let's continue, Nagumo-senpai."

"Sixth round."

Manabu Horikita would no longer trust Star Color. This guy had played him too.

Manabu Horikita had three wins, Star Color had two.

Nagumo Miyabi looked at the person before him, curious whether this woman could catch up or even win.

Manabu Horikita realized that [Original Gestures] had already been deduced by Star Color, and [The Tactic of Catching Habits] was just a landmine Star Color had deliberately left behind. What followed was a pure test of luck.

"Rock, paper, scissors."

Star Color threw: Gun. Manabu Horikita threw: Rock.

Star Color raised the Gun and aimed it at Manabu Horikita's heart. Why would Star Color use a [Blank Gun] meant to deceive an opponent?

Impossible. Why would Star Color choose [Gun]? Did it have some special effect? An effect that only appeared in the last two rounds? No, the rules stated that gestures with changing strength were prohibited. What exactly was the effect?

He stared in disbelief at the mastermind before him, Star Color. What kind of gesture had he created? He couldn't understand it at all. At this moment, the concept of the [Gun] gesture began to blur again.

Star Color won.

Manabu Horikita had three wins, Star Color had three wins.

The two were tied.

Akane Tachibana voiced her confusion at this moment.

"Nagumo, it's [Gun] against [Rock]. How could [Gun] possibly win?"

"No, Tachibana-senpai, Gun does win."

Nagumo Miyabi revealed a thought-provoking smile.

"A special effect? How troublesome. Laying a trap for me here, Star Color."

"Think what you will, Horikita-senpai."

Star Color smiled without showing his teeth, like a lucky cat figurine.

"Last round, Horikita-senpai. What they call the 'deciding round.'"

"Seventh round."

"Rock, paper, scissors."

Manabu Horikita thought. The first time he dealt with [Gun], he used [Scissors]. But was that really the case? Could it be a trap? His initial strategy had already been overturned by Star Color. Throwing [Scissors] outright was dangerous.

So first, stall for time. Throw [Gun]! Then think of a countermeasure. Manabu Horikita's plan was to buy time...

That's how Japanese people were. Everyone had this common flaw. [Escape]—whenever a critical moment came, they chose to delay or wait, even when there was no retreat left.

Star Color: Gun. Manabu Horikita: Gun.

Nagumo Miyabi laughed at this moment and announced the final result.

"This interesting freshman has won."