3 Of A Kind

What? A debt? Are you joking? It's a punishment tile? Damn it! My 10 Million vanished in a flash! Don't worry! As long as I still have this Royal Straights hand, I won't lose! I can't lose!

The heavens are on my side today! Don't need to worry!

"All right! Let's move on to the Discard Phase."

Once again, no one discarded anything. As I expected, they don't have any choice but to stick with the hand that they've got right now.

"Since no one's going to discard anything. We're now going to the showdown."

We formed a circle again like earlier and had our hand-inspected by the dealers. Really, what's the purpose of this? It's not like we'll change our hands. It will be the same as before so why? To prevent cheating?

"Again, Araragi Hideki won! With that, he's going to advance 6 steps more."

So I'm going to step to the 24th tile. I counted all the tiles at the monitor and confirmed that there are 100 tiles. It's only 100 tiles, so why make the game 30 Rounds?

With the current pacing I've got, I'd say that I can reach the 100th tile in just 15 Rounds.

"Araragi Hideki, stepped to the 24th tile. The tile was... a punishment tile."

Another punishment tile?!

"You will be forced to discard 2 of your cards."

2!? 2 of them!? If I discard 2, then... my Royal Straights would be gone! My hand is going to be a 3 Of A Kind! According to the chart, A 3 Of A Kind only has 2 Steps! Even if you're 3 Of A Hand is composed by Aces, It's still considered as a 3 Of A Kind! But I don't care about that! What I'm worried about is the fact that even one of them could hold a hand much stronger than the 3 Of A Kind!

"Okay, all of you! It's already the Discard Phase."

I walked towards the Discard Box and dropped two of my cards there. The King and the Hearts Of Ace. I only have 3 Aces here.

"Excuse me? Can I buy a card? How much is it anyway?"

"1 Million yen a card."

What? 1 Million Yen? Are you joking? 1 Million Yen for a card!? I didn't complain anything and just clicked my tongue because of the irritation. That leaves me with 2 Million Yen. That's okay. I earned it in just a short time so It can vanish in a short time.

The dealers left for a minute then came back with a weird gacha machine. What? At the gacha machine, there are balls inside.

"Well, you're just going to out 1 Million Yen at that machine and the machine will release a ball. That ball contains a random card. Just like a gachapon."

I took my 1 Million from the table and put it at the Gacha Machine. I can feel the stares from my fellow players but I don't care about that now. In a split second, a ball was released from the machine.

I immediately grabbed it and opened it to check the card. I took the card and flipped so I can see the card... and It was a 3 Of Spades. Damn!

If I've got another card like that, my hand will remain a 3 Of A Kind. I took another 1 Million and put it at the Gacha Machine. It released another ball and I immediately grabbed it like earlier.

I opened it without having a second thought. The moment I saw the card, I immediately threw the ball to the ground out of frustration. The card I've got was... 7 Of Clubs.

+++++

That makes my hand a 3 Of A Kind. If someone in this 10 people has a hand stronger than 3 Of A Kind, then... I'm screwed!

"We'll go the showdown now! Form a circle again and have your cards inspected by a dealer."

We did as he said and our cards were inspected by the dealer. This is the first showdown that I actually felt nervous.

"The winner of this showdown was... Nejime Seikyou!"

At that time, I lost. My reign of having a huge amount of luck was ended in one fell swoop. In this game, I can't do anything, the moment that I lost. I can buy some balls but there's no guarantee that I could get a card enough to beat his hand!

In short, all I can do is ask for a miracle! Yup! The luck sided to me before, I'm sure It's going to come back to me!

The guy who won the showdown, Nejime Seikyou, moved 5 Steps from the starting line. The hands that have 5 Steps are Full House, Straight, and a Four Of A Kind. It either one of those three, huh?

I'm sure somewhere along the line. you're going to step into a punishment tile. I'm sure of that! When that time comes, I'll snatch the crown again from you! After that, I'll gain that fortune again! Just watch!

END OF CHAPTER 43