Challenge

Shogo's face transitioned from a smug, confident expression to one of embarrassment as the truth set in - Takashi had outwitted him with an elementary trick. Raucous laughter erupted throughout the room, fanning the flames of Shogo's growing anger as his true emotions began to reveal themselves. He shot a fiery glare across the table at Takashi, who remained seated with an infuriating, taunting smile.

"Everyone here is laughing it up, haha," Shogo sneered, his voice laced with venom. "But I'll ask you all this - were you laughing when you lost every damn penny to me?" His eyes bored holes into Takashi. "And you're next in line."

Kusho leaned forward, murmuring under his breath, "Jeez, the game hasn't even kicked off yet, and the tension is already out of control. I wonder if Takashi really has what it takes to pull this off."

A man seated nearby overheard Kusho's musings. "Hey, do you know who Shogo's opponent is?" the man inquired of Kusho in a hushed tone.

"Well, Takashi and I just met maybe ten minutes ago," Kusho replied with a nonchalant shrug.

The man's gaze drifted back to the two adversaries, his expression solemn. "Rest in peace, that poor bastard."

Kusho furrowed his brow in confusion as he looked at the man. "What do you mean by that?"

"It doesn't matter how smart your buddy is," the man said gravely. "He's going to lose to that monster over there."

Shogo took a few calming breaths, visibly reining in his anger before addressing Takashi directly.

"So how much are you willing to wager on this game?" he asked, his voice even but with an undercurrent of menace. "Because of your foolish actions, I won't accept anything less than 50,000 yen."

Takashi didn't flinch. "Well, that won't be a problem," he replied coolly. "I'll put 500,000 yen on the table."

A sly smile crept across Shogo's face. "Ah, I see what you're doing now. You tried to pass yourself off as some brash, arrogant fool at first to goad me into accepting your challenge. Then you pulled that cheap paper trick to get under my skin."

He leaned back, running a hand through his neatly coiffed hair. "And now you've named an outrageously high wager, knowing I'll have to accept or else look like a coward refusing the game. Very clever...for an amateur."

Shogo chuckled dryly. "But let me explain something to you. Just because you can divide some decimals or scribble on a napkin doesn't make you an unbeatable savant. When you were writing during my rules explanation, I naturally assumed you were taking notes. But after that pathetic math stunt, I have to wonder what else you might have been up to behind that facade of innocence."

Takashi's expression remained impassive, utterly unfazed by Shogo's blustering speech. He simply made a circle with his thumb and index finger, holding it up to his eye as if looking through a viewfinder.

"I can already see your loss," Takashi said coolly with a slight smile. "Now accept the wager and let's play already."

As Kusho observed the tense exchange, the realization of Takashi's strategy dawned on him. "I think I get what Takashi is doing now. He deliberately provoked and enraged Shogo right from the start. By getting under his skin like that, he's guaranteed Shogo will accept the crazy bet amount - because refusing would make Shogo look weak after all his boasting."

Kusho felt a surge of admiration for his new acquaintance's cunning tactics. "Takashi is using Shogo's overinflated pride and ego against him, manipulating him into a game he can't refuse without losing face. I really lucked out getting paired with someone so clever."

The dealer deftly shuffled and dealt the cards, Shogo and Takashi each receiving two to start the round. Shogo glanced at his opening hand - a lowly 2 of spades and a 5 of spades, hardly an auspicious start. But his eyes narrowed as he studied the patterns on the backs of Takashi's cards, quickly deducing they were an ace of spades and a jack of hearts.

A knowing smirk played across Shogo's lips as he decided Takashi must be attempting some transparent bluff. This didn't concern the skilled gambler in the slightest. In fact, the prospect of demolishing his overly-confident opponent filled him with delicious anticipation.

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Undaunted by his modest opening hand, Shogo confidently raised the stakes by 50,000 yen. Takashi calmly met the new wager, his face betraying not a flicker of emotion.

Shogo couldn't resist taunting his opponent. "Why don't you just fold now and save yourself the humiliation?" He let out a derisive chuckle. "You might have gotten lucky with your little mathematical parlor trick earlier, but there's no way you can bluff your way past a master like me."

Rather than respond directly, Takashi posed a question of his own. "Before, when you saw the card, did you understand what it said?" His placid expression gave no hint as to his intentions in referencing the trick with the slip of paper.

Shogo scoffed. "No, but it doesn't matter. Your pathetic mind games won't work." He appraised his modest starting hand with a resigned shrug. "Even if I only have a 2% chance of getting the rank of three for my goal, you've got just a 4% shot at landing the suit you need. Most likely this round will come down to a war, which is a 50/50 toss-up."

To Shogo's surprise, Takashi simply smiled and called his bet without further comment. An uneasy silence fell over the table as the dealer burned a card before revealing the first drew - the 5 of hearts.

While outwardly projecting an air of unruffled confidence, Shogo's mind raced as he reevaluated his zealous declarations from moments before. Could Takashi's bizarre query about the paper trick have been an attempt to slyly accuse him of cheating? Had he somehow discerned Shogo's methods and was simply baiting him?