Control B, Report AD

"This rule is truly unfriendly to us in Class A."

Machida Koji shuffled his nine cards, placed them one by one into the card slots, and pressed down on one of the white cards.

"Eh? Could there be some special rule that affects the outcome?"

Shiranami Chihiro mimicked his shuffling motion and likewise selected a white card.

"It is indeed unfriendly. Whether it's the rule where a four-way tie resets the score to zero, or the rule that Class A is defaulted to go first, neither is favorable to Class A."

The former meant Class A's 2,000,000 points were effectively thrown down the drain, while the latter placed the party who played first at a natural disadvantage.

The first few rounds meant nothing to me; I just needed to throw away points.

If possible, I could try to force a tie to control the turn order.

I selected a white 1.

"It's true that going later offers a huge advantage, except for the first round."

Hasebe hesitated before choosing a black card.

"Results: Hasebe Haruka wins. Machida Koji and Sima Zhenglong tie. The scores for Classes A, B, C, and D are 0:0:0:1. Class D is in the lead. Machida Koji will lead the next round."

Just as I thought. Class A wanted to offload the first-move disadvantage in the opening round, so they played a 1. Judging by the pained look on Shiranami's face, she must have played a white card of 5 or higher, only to be eaten by Hasebe's 6 or 8.

"What a coincidence, Sima-kun. You actually thought the same thing as me."

Machida pressed down a black card.

"Is it mandatory to say something every time you play a card?"

Shiranami couldn't grasp the point of the conversation between Machida and me, but she could roughly guess that we had both discarded low-value white cards.

Shiranami pressed down a black card.

"Yeah, what a coincidence."

I also pressed down a black card with a value of 2. Honestly, if this were a one-on-one match, a black 2 might have some utility, but in a four-way battle, it was useless. With Class A's 1 already played, a black 2 couldn't score points. Its only function was to force a tie to adjust the turn order; holding onto it was pointless.

"Three black cards?"

Hasebe had gained about as much information as Shiranami in the first round, but she was under the most pressure now. To play it safe, she couldn't follow up with another black card because she was currently in the lead and couldn't afford to gamble on the special rules.

Therefore, Hasebe chose a white card that guaranteed a win.

"Results: Hasebe Haruka wins. Machida Koji, Sima Zhenglong, and Shiranami Chihiro tie. The scores for Classes A, B, C, and D are 0:0:0:2. Class D is in the lead. Machida Koji will lead the next round."

"Is this necessary? There are only nine rounds total, and Class D has already taken two points."

This time, Machida chose a white 5. He wanted the others to think he had played a 9, so that Classes B and C, who were also trailing, wouldn't challenge him.

Since Class D was in the lead, if they still held a white 9 and a black 8, playing the white 9 to take the third round would be the best move.

Because if they did that, there would only be 6 points left in total, and Class D would never end up in last place. As long as they held onto the black 8 and avoided clashing with the white 9, their chances of finishing in the top two would be very high.

If Class D had already played their white 9 in the previous round, then this fake white 9 of his would be incredibly useful. Not only could he use his real white 9 to eat Class D's black 8, but he could also try to steal a point in this round.

"Isn't it bad to deliberately target Class D?"

Shiranami believed Machida and chose to discard her white 1.

"You're not just trying to trick us into targeting Class D, are you? You're also planning to use a white 9 to bait points, right?"

My only task in this round was to make Class A and Class D have the same score, and for Class C to either tie with them or for Class C to directly beat Class B. Sakayanagi had given me 2,000,000 personal points, so I had to get the job done, right?

I helped Machida mislead Hasebe, assisting him in his successful bluff.

I chose a white 3.

"I only managed to get two points by relying on a black 8 and a white 9. The rest is up to the duels between you all."

Hasebe also left herself some room, claiming her black 6 was a black 8. After all, playing an 8 and a 9 back-to-back to secure points and avoid last place was a very convincing strategy.

"Results: Machida Koji wins. Shiranami Chihiro and Hasebe Haruka tie. The scores for Classes A, B, C, and D are 1:0:0:2. Class D is in the lead. Machida Koji will lead the next round."

"These cards are really hard to play."

Machida chose a white 3. He was now certain that Hasebe didn't have a white 9, but he wasn't sure if she still had the black 8. Shiranami already believed he didn't have a white 9, so he could only play a small card now, hoping I would cancel out Shiranami's white 9.

"One point each. It's my turn."

Shiranami decisively pressed down her white 9.

"I hope the card you played is really a 9."

If my calculations were correct, Shiranami must have lost a white 5 or 7 in the first round, the black 2 in the second, and the white 1 in the third. So, the cards she was missing were 1, 2, 5, and 9, or 1, 2, 5, and 7.

I currently held 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. By canceling out the 9 in this round, the cards missing would be 1, 2, 3, and 9. Regardless of whether Shiranami played a 5 or 7 in the first round, I could ensure I stayed ahead of her.

I had to cancel the 9. I couldn't control Hasebe, and if she forced a tie later, I might not get any points. Keeping Class B at zero was the best strategy.

I chose a white 9, clashing with Class B.

"With this, it's 1:1:0:2. The next round will be 1:1:1:2."

Hasebe calculated the situation ahead. She anticipated that Classes A, B, and C would each use a 9 to score a point over the next three rounds, and then start playing their 8s.

As long as their 8s and 9s were exhausted, the 8 in her hand would guarantee her another point to take first place.

"The results are in: Shiranami Chihiro and Sima Zhenglong have tied. The scores for Classes A, B, C, and D are 1:0:0:2. Class D is in the lead. Machida Koji will now lead the next round."

After the results of the fourth round were announced, Shiranami looked at me in utter shock, her eyes questioning why I would betray her like this.

"Is there such a stroke of luck? Surely Student Sima wouldn't intentionally collide with my 8?"

Machida feigned great delight and chose Black 4.

"I don't believe you'll dare to play an 8 this time."

Shiranami was completely numb. With her White 9 already countered, her current situation was dire. The only way she could think to save herself was to trick the next two players into playing 8s and gamble that the card Machida played was also an 8; if she could trigger the mechanism that way, she might still have a glimmer of hope.

Shiranami chose Black 8.

"No matter what you play, my card is an 8."

This was the truth. Regardless of what Shiranami played this time, I would play an 8, because Machida saying he wasn't playing an 8 was the code we had agreed upon before stepping onto the stage.

Hasebe said nothing during this round, simply choosing White 3 in silence.

She had deduced from the current situation that Sima Zhenglong and Machida Koji were working together, but it had nothing to do with her. Since Sima Zhenglong had helped her before, she had no intention of exposing them.

In Hasebe's eyes, Shiranami and Ichinose were the ones who had stolen Airi's friendship. Ichinose was fine, at least—she was genuinely good to Airi—but Hasebe did not approve of Shiranami.

Because she could read in Shiranami's eyes that the girl was very much like her; Shiranami's feelings for Ichinose were remarkably similar to her own feelings for Airi!

When rivals meet, a clash is inevitable.