Mahjong at the End of the World

"ORYAHHH!!! Honitsu, Toitoi, Dora 1!"

"Tsumo! Riichi, Pinfu, Dora 4!"

I thought it was supposed to be a 'leisurely' conversation over a friendly game of mahjong, but things became heated almost immediately.

According to Kami-sama, it was a chance to 'get to know' the other two, who were once people that had been sent to other worlds. Although in the case of Diesel, he apparently went around different worlds as an agent doing the isekai-ing himself. It started off as a light conversation about how the Snazzy and Diesel helped the big man with his job. But then, everyone got way into the game.

With that, my attention was now focused on how to defeat my newfound companions in this strange place between worlds.

"Ron! Tanyao, Dora 1!"

I flipped over my tiles for everyone to see, sealing my win for the round.

"Awwww! There you go again, wrecking my nice hand!" Snazzy said, shaking a bundled mass of feelers like a balled fist.

The little sea creature that magically floated in the air gave me a look of annoyance. He was probably on the verge of a win with a single suit. He had no trouble wrapping his feelers around the small tiles and dramatically slamming them down whenever he got excited. It was like something out of a popular mahjong anime.

"No matter how good your hand is, a Tanyao will end it," Diesel said amusingly, the tiles before him seeming to be blown around and shuffled by a mysterious force.

I wondered how a truck could even handle the tiles in the first place; at least the jellyfish had limbs. But Kami-sama filled me in on how it was done.

"Diesel has an app installed to his dashboard. All he has to do is digitally input the commands and divine forces will do the rest," he said, pulling out a phone that displayed 'Mahjong Spirit'. Of course, there were anime-style deities on the splash page.

Given how the entire place materialized with a single thought from me and a wave of Kami-sama's hand, there was no need to dwell upon how ridiculous this all seemed.

Regardless, the point totals kept bouncing back and forth between the three of us, until eventually, the conversation switched mainly to crushing the others in dramatic fashion.

However, I noticed something as we continued to play. My senses perked up as I realized that there were some things that could only be conveyed through one's actions. I had heard that one could tell a lot about another person by how they approached mahjong. With so many different combinations of Yaku for scoring, a person's character tended to favor which ones to go for.

The bombastic jellyfish named Snazzy sought out big risks and big rewards, lavishing in those exciting moments. It was no wonder that he was apparently some kind of content streamer in his previous life.

That translated to him going for hands that were flashy and impactful, too stubborn to change even when it took him ages to get there. He would flaunt and dare us to keep passing him more pieces to complete his hand. But I could tell, that was all an act to make sure things remained exciting.

As for Diesel, it was difficult to get a read on a truck that showed no emotions. Not to mention, he kept his hand closed most of the time, building what he could from drawn tiles. Naturally, that meant that he went for Riichi on most hands. Upon getting Ron, the value of his hand would fluctuate wildly depending on what Dora were revealed underneath.

"Tsumo! Tanyao!" I shouted as I went out again.

"Gyahh!!! Again with the itty-bitty plain hands! Where's the excitement in that?!" Snazzy complained.

"Plain, huh? I guess that's just how I roll."

I smirked at the flustered jellyfish as I stomped over the nice hand he probably had. In his eyes, I was just barely staying afloat with small wins, doing whatever a simpleton could to scrape up points. My point total continued to trend downward from the large hands that I lost to, as my wins could hardly compensate against those.

Regardless, I remained undaunted. Being called plain no longer bothered me one bit. My time as an Electi had taught me over and over that the little things mattered. Everyone started somewhere, doing whatever they could to get into the groove. I could appreciate all the little steps that I had made on my journey. Without them, I would have never succeeded.

"Kan!" I called out, but as I picked up the next tile, I smiled. "Tsumo!" Slowly, I revealed my tiles, as they were in for a nasty surprise.

"Rinshan, Tanyao, Pinfu, Chinitsu, Dora 2!"

Snazzy's jaw dropped, and Diesel's wipers swung once. If it was any time to be flustered, this was it. The number of Yaku my hand was worth slowly registered.

"Sanbaiman!"

In an instant, our positions had reversed. What started off as a 'plain' method to get Tanyao had morphed into something greater as I continued to rack up tiles of the same suit in my closed hand. One could argue that the stars aligned and that luck blessed me, but I could clearly tell that the other two had underestimated me.

Since I was always going for the low point value hands, they had stopped paying attention to my discards. If they had, they would have noticed that I barely discarded a certain suit. The two of them just took their time building nice hands of their own, allowing plenty of time for me to work with much more than 'just Tanyao'.

Mahjong was much like what I did in life – using normal methods to break through at a crucial moment. Reversing the tide with a critical blow – I had learned to hold onto hope until the very end. That was something that even a 'normal' person could manage. All one needed was courage.

"Ohoho, excellently played, my boy." Kami-sama sat across from me, clapping his hands. He was rather amused that I had given the other two the run around.

But then, he clasped his hands together, giving off an ominous aura.

"However, there is still one more round to play…."

I arched my brow at Kami-sama, suddenly realizing that I had ignored his plays. He hadn't called for any tiles and hadn't won a single hand, so his point total was chipped all the way down to near zero.

"How about we make things interesting since the scores of you three have become close again? I will grant you one request, anything you want, for the winner."

Snazzy popped out of his seat, and Diesel's horn blared.

"You mean, I can be a 'real boy' so that I can finally enjoy my harem?!"

Snazzy's outburst caused me to choke on air. I didn't think I'd encounter another Koujiro in another world.

"You know, having a human body wouldn't be so bad. I certainly feel out of place when I get called somewhere primitive where a truck feels completely out of place."

Flashes of a semi-truck tearing through an army of knights flashed before my mind. I had Lamps to blame for that fiasco. But then again… whatever happened to that semi-truck I cut down?

The two of them had already rushed right into starting the next round, eager to come out on top. As for me… I knew exactly what I wanted to request.

The only thing that I really wanted was to go back to my own world and be with my friends a little bit sooner. Given that, a bit of divine magic to fix the cores of the planets would be highest on the list. And even if that wasn't possible, some aid in expediting what we had already done would be grateful.

The air became tense as every drawn tile and every discard mattered. Since I was ahead in points, I could end it with a swift Tanyao. Meanwhile, the other two had to build a better hand to leap out into first place.

But then, I looked ahead at Kami-sama smiling and blurted out what I suddenly thought.

"Wait… what happens if you win?" I pointed to him.

He was so behind in points that a comeback seemed unlikely, but for some reason, I felt a chilling vibe. It was the same prickly sensation I got whenever something just didn't feel right. Not to mention, he was the dealer currently.

Kami-sama waved his hands dismissively, despite holding onto that devious smirk.

"What do you mean? I haven't been playing. I've just been sitting here to chat and have some tea."

A red flag hit me so hard that it stopped my next action. My hand was frozen as the drawn tile slipped out of my grasp and landed in the discard. I stared at a set of tiles in front of the god that had obviously been played. However, the old man had not once touched the tiles himself.

The fallen tile revealed itself to be the Green Dragon, which had the symbol for luck carved upon it.

"Ah! Ron!" a feminine voice spoke as a ghostly hand reached right through Kami-sama to grab the Green Dragon tile that was discarded.

My blood turned to ice.

I knew that voice. I knew that hand. This was the last place that I had expected for her to show up.

I couldn't tear my eyes away as a figure popped out in front of Kami-sama and went to reveal her tiles.

That platinum hair, those red eyes, the gentle but firm hand that reached out to claim what was hers.

"What was this called again? I can't wrap my head around such difficult words to score a simple game. Koku-, Kokushi something?"

Kami-sama backed away, revealing the true fourth player in this game of mahjong, Eryn. And as I looked down at what she won with, my eyes bugged out.

'Kokushi Musou – thirteen orphans'

A legendary hand that required having the worst luck possible, as if divine intervention was needed to make it happen. It had been constructed in a 13-tile wait that was worth 'Double Yakuman'. And I had given her the tile needed to complete it.