Zhou Lin

At 2:10 in the morning, a mahjong game, which can be called the pinnacle game of the entire "highest game", kicked off.

For Ryunosuke and Eric, if they can defeat each other in this "grudge game", they will not only have a great chance to become the final winner of tonight's party, but also have a great influence on the future relationship between the two. More duels that may occur during the period will have a certain psychological impact - as long as they can get the upper hand here and come out on top, then the winning side will naturally have a psychological advantage when they face off on other occasions in the outside world.

For Sakaki and Hopkins, this is a fight to the death with no way out.

Because they are gamblers.

There is no first place in writing, and there is no second place in gambling. In a competition between gamblers, there must be a winner, the winner is the king, and the loser is the vassal.

"Invincible", "Invincible", "King of Gambling", "Legend"... the more people are given these titles, the less room they have for losing; those who fall from the altar into the abyss are better off than those who fall from the ground. The person fell even more miserably.

In the world of gambling, your goal is always to be the strongest. As long as there is someone who is stronger than you and can beat you, you may lose everything at any time.

…………

In the east game, the card game unfolded in a solemn atmosphere.

Since all the automatic mahjong tables are used in this cabin, Sakaki's "Fei Yanqi", which can be played directly with his hands, can't be used.

As for techniques such as "changing cards with left-hand skills" and "transferring flowers and trees", although Sakaki can do it, there is no doubt that... Hopkins can also do it.

Gamblers at their level would not use these techniques on such occasions; because they all know that as long as they use these techniques, the other party will immediately expose them. Even if your actions are too fast to be caught on the spot, the other party can prove that you are cheating by "explaining your methods in detail, and then asking the supervisory personnel to retrieve the surveillance video for verification."

This is also one of the rules of "experts". In a place with surveillance, if the tricks you use are "seen through", you lose.

Of course, the condition for this rule to be established is that you must first "see through" your opponent's tricks with the naked eye and describe them accurately, and then what appears in the surveillance video is consistent with what you described, and then it counts.

If you don't see through your opponent's tactics at all and just talk nonsense, then even if you find out that your opponent is really cheating when you finally watch the video, it is you who will be regarded as cheating, not the opponent.

When he was at Ryunosuke's mansion, Sakaki could actually use this rule to deal with Okawachi and Takagi, but he didn't like to do that - he would rather use ridicule to expose the other party's tactics, and then use one hand to "see the other party" "I don't know what's going on." Feiyanqie convinced his opponents and did not want to use the "video verification" method to solve them before the first two rounds were played.

Although he was under pressure to owe tens of millions of gambling debts, he still did not choose the path of guaranteed victory, but chose a way of winning that he thought was more "interesting".

This kind of person... is undoubtedly a type of lunatic who is rare among top gamblers. They have already seen through the essence of "gambling" and are willing to walk in the dark abyss and taste the most delicious feast of chaos in the world.

"What a fool! Ping Hu, treasure card one, 2000 points."

During the ninth round, when Eric was already upright, Sakaki deduced the cards that Ryunosuke played through several circuitous cards played by Ryunosuke, and decisively sent him away; although Ryunosuke only messed up 2000 It was a small card, but it successfully blocked the double-listed hand that had a chance to "grand slam" in Eric's hand.

In this mahjong game, cooperation like this "sending Hu" is very important. If used properly, it can not only curb the opponent's big cards, but also help the partner win a higher ranking.

"Ha..." When the mahjong table shuffled the cards automatically, Hopkins, who was sitting on Ryunosuke's right hand, laughed out loud. "Brother Sakaki, you seem to be interested in this kind of 'two versus two mahjong' gameplay." It’s quite familiar.”

Everyone could tell that he was testing, but Sakaki didn't seem to care about it: "Ah... I played this kind of mahjong when I first entered the industry, so... this is a special skill."

"Oh?" Hopkins heard this and pushed up the sunglasses on the bridge of his nose, "So, the one who 'led you on the road'... was a sparrow?"

To others, Hopkins' question may seem a bit out of context, but "experts" all know the logic behind it.

The day a professional gambler officially "enters the industry" is not the day he starts gambling, but the day a certain "expert" "brings him into the industry" - the day that brings you into this dark world. People are your "guides".

The guide will tell you the rules among experts, teach you some skills, and take responsibility for some of your actions before you can become independent... However, the guide is not and will never be your "master".

Gamblers do not pay attention to the relationship between master and apprentice. In this world where everyone is pursuing the "strongest", things like "seniority" are considered to be superfluous constraints.

Most of the leaders will become partners with the newcomers they are optimistic about, and they will cooperate in a relationship of both teachers and friends until "the day when we can no longer cooperate"; Sakaki's situation is no exception, so "two versus two mahjong" , can be said to be the starting point of his entire gambler career and the area he is best at.

"Heh... let me ask one more question..." I don't know what Hopkins was thinking. He suddenly sneered and asked, "Sakaki-kun, who is your leader?"

"Just a bad old man named Tachikawa, not worth mentioning." Sakaki said, took a puff of cigarette and replied in a very casual tone.

"Ha!" Hopkins laughed immediately after hearing the word "Tachikawa", "I see... the young man who was once recognized as the strongest warrior in Sakura Mansion and was known as 'Tachikawa' was brought out by him. .”

"What? Do you know that old man?" Sakaki continued.

"Of course we know each other." Hopkins smiled. "Not only do we know each other, I also played half a dozen mahjong games with him..." He paused and then added, "After playing, I even watched him with my own eyes. His eyes were gouged out, his thumbs were removed from his hands and feet, and he was finally thrown into a jackal cage."

After hearing this, Sakaki's smoking movement paused for a second. A second later, he continued in a very calm tone: "Oh, that's it... for him, it is an expected ending. "

Seeing this, the smile on Hopkins' lips became even wider. His eyes under his sunglasses were fixed on Sakaki, and he asked aggressively: "Don't you ask...why he ended up like that? "

"Nothing to ask." Sakaki continued, "I said, this is to be expected; a gambler who has 'lost his luck'... if he goes to the gambling table again, he will probably end up like this."

"Hmph..." Hopkins snorted coldly, "'Loss of luck'..." He repeated the sentence, and then asked, "Is this the reason why you broke up with him?"

"I have no comment." When Sakaki responded, the automatic mahjong table had already shuffled the cards.

The conversation between the two came to an end temporarily due to the start of the second game in the East.

In fact, even if the card game hadn't started, Sakaki didn't plan to talk to him anymore...

Although he called each other a "bad old man", Sakaki always respected Tachikawa in his heart; the reason why the two of them broke up was not that Sakaki abandoned Tachikawa, but that Tachikawa took the initiative to leave Sakaki.

A gambler like Tachikawa can feel when his career will end... He was no longer favored by the goddess of luck, so he chose to leave without saying goodbye in order not to drag Sakaki down.

Sakaki was vaguely aware of these things, so he did not go looking for Tachikawa.

However, one thing was clear to Sakaki... Tachikawa, who had already retired, could not take the initiative to gamble with others. If what Hopkins said just now was not a lie, then Tachikawa must have been forced to sit on the seat for some reason. He entered the gambling table and died there.

"Richichi." On the sixth patrol, Hopkins suddenly dropped his baton and declared "richichi."

Immediately afterwards, Eric on his right immediately sent Hu, so... he made a straight shot, broken a unit, and a treasure card, and he suddenly made a "slam".

"Ha..." As soon as Hopkins' card was revealed, Eric smiled at Ryuzosuke and said, "Don't think that you are the only ones who can cooperate."

"Tch..." Ryuzosuke spat, without any verbal dispute with him.

But at this moment, some kind of ominous premonition has sprouted in Ryunosuke's heart.

His hunch was correct... In this mahjong game, the combination of him and Sakaki had a big disadvantage - the two had never practiced together.

Looking back at the combination of Eric and Hopkins, they had practiced together for a long time before the "Supreme Game"; whether it was mahjong, baccarat, stud, or Texas Hold'em, they had played together. Even if the two of them can't be called a "perfect match", they still know some basic codes and each other's habits... In terms of tacit understanding, they are obviously far better than Ryunosuke and Sakaki, who have only met for less than eight hours.

Take mahjong as an example. They use secret codes to confirm whether their teammates have the tiles they heard, and then one party will stand upright and the other party will directly send Hu at the next home position. This routine is already familiar to them.

As for Ryunosuke and Sakaki... they didn't discuss or write down any secret codes in advance, so they had no way of knowing what cards their partners had in their hands. Even if they wanted to use their opponent's tactics, they couldn't do it. At most... it would be like what Higashikata did in the game, with Sakaki unilaterally guessing Ryunosuke's hand and sending out dangerous cards that the latter might listen to.

However, compared to opponents who can send weapons to each other, this method of sending weapons in one direction is much inferior.

In the "two to two mahjong" in front of us, at the end of each half banker, the rules are as follows: "First place is 50,000 points," "Second place is 20,000 points," "Third place is 10,000 points," "Fourth place is 10,000 points," According to the "zero point" rule, these bonus points are added to the original point stick, and then the two sides' point sticks are used to compete.

For example, if there are two pairs of combinations AB and CD, during settlement, A takes the first place, B takes the fourth place, C takes the second place, and D takes the third place; the final score of the AB combination is The sum of the points and sticks held by the two of them plus a bonus of 50,000 points, and the final score of the CD combination is the sum of the points and sticks held by the two of them, plus a bonus of 30,000 points.

In other words, as long as one of the two grabs the first place, he will get at least 20,000 more points than the other party at the time of settlement.

Under this rule, the party that knows the secret code and can send tricks to each other can not only help its own team fight for first place more efficiently, but also have a double opportunity to destroy when the opponent wants to cheat a certain big card; and there is no secret code. , the party that can only rely on experts to guide the laymen will naturally have fewer choices.

It seems like "two versus two", but from Sakaki and Ryunosuke's perspective, it's basically "two versus one" - very disadvantageous.

…………

In the second game of the South, Ryunosuke's premonition has become a reality.

Eric and Hopkins, who can exchange codes, have absolute dominance. In addition to sending husks to each other, they can also use methods such as sending "eats" and "bumps", gathering listeners, gathering big cards, protecting one's side's banker, breaking the opponent's banker, etc... Even if these are not 100% successful. , but compared to Ryunosuke, who was at a loss and became more and more impatient as he played, the two of them played mahjong much more calmly.

Although Sakaki also used a few fast-attack small cards to break the opponent's banker within his own capabilities, he and Ryunosuke were lagging behind and the situation was passive and the situation still did not improve.

By the time this round was played, Ryunosuke and Sakaki were ranked third and fourth respectively, and Hopkins, who was in first place, was nearly 20,000 points ahead of Ryunosuke (the rules of this game were the starting (Twenty-five thousand per person), this is the result achieved under the premise that Sakaki gave Ryuunosuke a gift...

Completely, there is no hope of a comeback.

If this situation continues, by the time this semi-banker is over, the point difference between the two parties is likely to reach more than 100,000; according to the default "1000 to 1" odds of this card table, Ryuzosuke will have to pay out more than 100 Points cards... this level of ebb and flow is tantamount to handing over the throne of "winner" to someone else.

"Mr. Arai." Just as Ryunosuke's cold sweat ran down his temples, Sakaki suddenly spoke again, "You're too nervous." As he spoke, he lit a new cigarette for himself and said lightly , "It's just that I'm a little behind on the bat, so there's no need to be so cautious."

To others, these words might be seen as useless comfort, but when they come out of Sakaki's mouth, they can't help but make people think too much.

"What do you mean?" Ryunosuke immediately thought in his mind, "'Don't play so cautiously'... You want me not to be afraid of using the gun, and to play cards boldly and confidently? But if I am directly hit by the opponent, the difference between the point and the stick will Isn't it..." Suddenly, he had an idea, "Huh? Wait, Sakaki and I are currently third and fourth. Even if I lose a few thousand points now, it will just be a ranking swap with Sakaki. At the final settlement, our reward points are still 10,000..." Thinking of this, he glanced at Sakaki, and immediately got a look of affirmation, "I understand... Sakaki means that in this situation, No matter how bad it is, it won't be much worse; whether you lose 100,000 or 110,000, you will still 'lose the chance to win the game'... With such a big gap, only by burning the boat can you have a chance to recover. Rather than looking forward and looking back, Instead of playing the safe card, we might as well just ignore the risks and go for it..."

Snapped--

After thinking about it, Ryunosuke took a shot of a super dangerous card that he had been holding back for a long time.

Hopkins and Eric both showed a little surprise when they saw this card, but in the end, this card did not fire...

As a result, Ryunosuke's confidence increased sharply, and he played two more dangerous cards in the next two rounds, and both passed safely.

Risks are always accompanied by opportunities.

Ryuunosuke, who had been on the verge of danger twice, could be said to have risked his life and survived. He successfully made a big three-sided card and disrupted his opponent's judgment of his hand.

After the first round, Eric fired, and Ryunosuke used a "double full" trick, instantly reversing the difference between the two; although there was still a gap between him and Hopkins, who was first, the second and third The conversion of rankings has reduced the reward point difference generated during settlement from 60,000 (50,000+20,000 vs. 10,000+0) to 40,000 (50,000+10,000 vs. 20,000+0). In addition to the point stick won back by itself, ten thousand The expected difference of about 10,000 yuan was directly reduced by one-third.

"Hmph...it's just good luck for a while, don't be complacent." After lighting the cannon, Eric was not willing to accept it, so he muttered in a very unhappy tone.

However, Sakaki actually took over this nonsense and corrected him: "No, this is not a 'momentary' good luck."

"What did you say?" Eric raised his eyebrows and looked at Sakaki with a look of disdain, "Oh, it's not 'for a moment', how can it be 'for a lifetime'?"

"If by 'one moment' you mean one round, Mr. Arai's good luck will have to last at least 'two more moments.'" Sakaki responded seriously again.

"Huh?" Since the cards were being shuffled at the moment, Eric didn't mind chatting with him. "You kid... do you know what you are talking about? Heh... I think you should stop calling yourself Sakaki and change your name to God." Forget about the stick."

"F—if you don't believe it, just ask the gambling king of Xing County next to you." Sakaki leaned back in his chair and blew out the smoke.

When he said this, Eric was really shaken.

Just when Eric frowned and was about to turn his head to look at Hopkins, Hopkins laughed: "Haha...hahahaha..." He laughed so loudly that his shoulders were shaking. After five seconds, he slightly suppressed his smile and said, "You want to say... after the game just now, the 'luck' has been guided to your side, right?"

"Ah." Sakaki did not deny it, "Although your style of play can greatly increase the probability of winning, your style of play that abandons 'individuals' for 'situation' cannot lead to 'luck'; even if Even if luck turns to your side, it will be shattered by your actions."

"Haha... Tachikawa also said this theory of yours." Hopkins responded calmly, "And his fate... you already know." He paused, "You gamblers from the East Disciple, even if you become an 'expert', you will generally fall in favor of the latter in the face of probability and metaphysics. This tendency of ignoring rationality that seems to be dissolved in your blood really makes me find it extremely ridiculous..."

At this point, he waved his arm and pointed at Sakaki's face and said: "Stop joking! Sakaki Wuhuan! You said you would use 'strength' to defeat me, but now you are talking to me about 'luck'? Then Are you going to talk to me about zodiac signs and blood types next?" Without waiting for Sakaki's answer, he continued, "Stop acting, Sakaki-kun, I can see...you are not the kind of person who believes in luck. , what you are saying now is just a bluff..." He slowly retracted his raised arm and clenched his fingers into a fist, "If I am not wrong...you are trying to distract me and wait for an opportunity. A thousand dollars, right?"

squeak--

Before he finished speaking, the automatic shuffling was completed.

Along with a burst of mechanical rhythm, four rows of cards and cards were sent to the four people.

The moment he opened his hand, even though Ryunosuke tried his best to restrain himself, his expression still changed...

He didn't know whether the cards in front of him were destiny after crossing a certain boundary, or whether Sakaki was secretly moving his hands and feet. He only knew... This was the first time in his life that he got the starting hand of three secretly carved and contained " The opening of "center" and "fa".