Bullet 4: The Dice Are Cast

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MARCH 31, 2022 ~ FROZZENDETH

Cast-Off table.

　On a sunny summer’s day, when most students are outside enjoying a healthy lifestyle in the middle of summer vacation… we are having an unhealthy gambling tournament in an air-conditioned room.

　And the cost of the bet was one’s own clothes, which was also quite unhealthy.

　-The scene in Riko’s room, where I am now, can only be described as bizarre.

　First of all… is the room itself.
It is filled with a collection of games, game machines, and more, from all over the world.

　There are sparring tables, billiard tables, roulette and darts boards, and so on, making you feel like you’re in a casino.

　Riko, who spares no energy for play, is very thorough in her collection.

　What was even more bizzare was that there were girls hanging around who had lost the game, been forced to wear only their underwear, and retire.

“It’s getting a little hot.
I’ll turn up the air conditioning.
Do you have any cold milk or something else to drink?”

　First, Aria, who was beaten in Mahjong.

　Her childish underwear, which was made of pure white fabric with a polkadot style playing card pattern printed on it, was in full view.

　It’s not easy for me to look around right now as I’m sitting on the couch with my head down.

　Because, if I casually avert my gaze so as to not look at Aria…

“Well, the rule book says “drinks from the fridge are available”… is this the fridge? Oh, there are drinks of all kinds.”

　After making a series of mistakes in billiards, Shirayuki, who was only wearing lingerie, was making me troubled by what I saw.

　She’s a high school student, and her underwear is black for some reason.

　It was a very expensive pair of underwear for adult women, made with precise stitching.

　It is too stimulating to see even a hint of skin peeking through under the thin fabric that seems to be silk.

“Okay, Yuki-chan, let’s have all of them! Let’s take a break before we decide on the next game!”

　The person who is organizing this crazy game tournament is Riko, who is giving a weird salute with both of her hands.

　She has already retired too, and is wandering around the room in her honey gold lace underwear.

　Not too long ago, Riko had been raging like a biting monkey, refusing to admit defeat in the “Himetetsu” game, but for some reason, only at times like this, after being hit with a double dropkick, 2 person lariat, and other 2 person techniques by Aria and Shirayuki, who are acting in perfect harmony, she has become quiet… at least, she should be, but it seems she has recovered and she’s back to being the energetic troublemaker Riko-san.

　Or rather, she has become more active since she started wearing only her underwear.

　Maybe Riko is an exhibitionist, but if she was I wouldn’t be surprised.

“-I’ll have an iced coffee with a little bit of syrup, please.” (TL Note: does not mention what kind of syrup, just syrup.)

　Jeanne, who has the most bizarre appearance out of everyone here, requested an iced coffee.

　In this undressing game tournmanet, “Cast-Off Table”, the losers take off their clothes piece by piece, but there is no rule about the order in which they take them off.

　Therefore, common sense dictates that the girls should take off their ribbon first, then their left and right sock, then their blouse, and finally their skirts, but this is Tokyo Butei High, which is a den of the insane.
The selected representative of the insane, Jeanne, took off her blouse first.

　Therefore, on her upper body is a white modest bra with a ribbon necklace… She still has her skirt but her socks are gone too.

　Even if it was part of your strategy to win at billiard’s if you look past that you are a pervert.
Or the female version at least.

(Though I… of all people can’t really call you that right now.)

　I can’t look at myself since I am myself, but I’m probably the one who looks the most like a pervert right now.

　I still have all my clothes except for my vest, but it’s what is on my head right now that makes me a pervert.

　Even though it’s a brightly lit room, I’m wearing “transillumination goggles” that look like night vision goggles, making me look like Cyclops from the X-Men series.

　Moreover, these goggles, which make only the girl’s body get covered in bright light, are not functioning at all right now.

　So right now, my vision is clear.

　Well, this is a product of Hiraga-san, who is famous for her ability to make such crazy items, but also for her products’ frequent failures.
I can’t help the fact that it is broken.

　The bigger problem was that I’d already seen the girls in their undressed state.

　In addition to that, the fact is that right now the girls are only brazenly exposing their underwear in front of me believing that “Kinji cannot see you!”

　For example, let’s say that right now I said,

“Oh no.
I’m sorry, I think my goggles are broken.
I can see your underwear.”

　If I said this…

　If these were ordinary high school girls (ordinary high school girls do not have such crazy tournaments in the first place),

“Kya! Iya! Hentai!” (TL Note: I left “Hentai!” in because I could and I’m guessing most people know what it means.
For those who don’t, it doesn’t just mean “art” but also pervert.)

　That is what would happen.

　But this is Tokyo Butei High School.
It is a school where the most dangerous high school girls in Japan gather, and they are required to carry guns and swords.

　Therefore, after the “Kya! Iya! Hentai!”, there will the sounds “Bang! Gusaaa!” which is the sounds of bullets flying and the sound of blades piercing the human body.

　-so no matter what I cannot say it.

　I have to keep silent about the goggles and keep fighting.

　Then I will escape this room before they realize that these goggles are malfunctioning.

　This is the only way to leave this place alive.

　But… the time to cross that road is short.

　It would only be another 16 minutes before the Hysteria Wiseman state ends.

　After 16 minutes… like a cobra coming out of a jar upon hearing the sound of a whistle… my normal hysteria mode will return.
I don’t want to admit it because of how young I am…

　-But if I enter hysteria mode here, it will be far more serious than being caught with the broken goggles.

　If I turned into that womanizer and did something crazy with the 7 beatiful girls here, that something will for sure something that can’t be taken back…! (TL Note: last bit was difficult to figure out what it meant, the word “ridiculous” is there but didnt make sense in how it was used, basically if he hysterizes something will happen that is ridiculous/can’t be taken back.)

　In other words, as a Kinji warrior this is the worst situation for me.
Riko may call this a harem ending, but in my opinion, it’s the worst possible bad ending.
(TL Note: VN terms)

　After that I would be subjected to a concentrated attack by the “Tohyama Kinji Victims Association” that the girls will establish.
And all its members are armed.

　No matter what it takes, I have 16 minutes to quickly take out all the remaining players…

　I have no choice but to end this game tournament, the Cast-Off Table.

　Riko said that I, who won in the previous game “Kaguya Himetetsu”, could choose the next game, so I looked around the room.

　There is a short time limit, so the game must be settled quickly.

　However, it is disadvantageous if there is someone who is good at it like there was in billiards.

　Therefore, I have to look for something that does not make a difference in terms of individual skills…

　I found it.
Good.

“-Dice.
We will play with these.”

　I picked up the dice that were on the table and turned around with my goggles still on…

　Riko – “Panpan!” Jumped while clapping her hands.

　The boys at Butei High secretly say that despite Rikos petite stature and loli face, she has large breasts, and right now both her disproportionate breasts on her petite body are swinging in tandem.

“Nice Ki-kun! Dice is interesting! It’s the royalty of gambling!”

　And Riko, who ran to the back of the room with her arms outstretched like an airplane…

　She came back with a large, flat box.

“What’s this? Looks like a beehive.”

“…”

“No, it looks like a jewel box.”

“It looks like a case for sorting screws and nuts.”

“Is this a box for holding herbal medicine?”

　I, Reki, Jeanne, Hiraga-san, and Fuma took a guess with what came to mind and looked at the box with our heads close to each other.

　The box is made of wood and is divided into small rooms for rings and necklaces.

　The small lids lined up in 10 rows and 10 columns.
It is separated into 100 small rooms and it is unknown what is in each small room.

“This is Riko’s dice collection! There are cute dice, dice made of unusual materials, and some Loaded Dice! This will make the game more interesting!” (TL Note: loaded dice are cheat dice such as weighted dice.)

　… and Riko said it.
Loaded Dice.

　Loaded Dice is a gambling term for cheating dice.

　So that is what is in that box.

“However, there are also regular dice in the rooms for those who are unlucky! From now on, the survivors, Ki-kun, Rekyu, Jeanne, Aya, and Ninnin-chan, will each be asked to open a room.
However you each will get only 5 chances, and once you use all 5, you will have to fight with all the dice even if you don’t like them!”

　With Riko’s high tension conversation…

　Somehow, I think I’m starting to get the hang of this dice game at the Cast-Off table.

　In the first place, cheating is ‘allowed’ in this game tournament.

　But this dice game was different.

　It’s a system that is “predicated” on the use of the Loaded Dice rolls… cheating.

　I’m going to have to proceed strategically, not just with luck.

“Incidentally, there are small rooms with several dice in it.
Let’s see! Open it in the back so that other players can’t see you, and go get the dice that will share your fate! Let’s start with Ki-kun!”

　-There are so many different types of dice.

　The most common one here is “loaded”.
At first glance, they look like ordinary dice, but they have a weight inside of them that makes it easier to get a certain roll.

　Bevels, which have slightly rounded corners for uneven rolls, flats which look like cubes but are subtly rectangular in shape, and magnetic dice, which have magnets that stick to the steel table so that the desired side appears.

(You can’t see what’s inside the dice box… as long as you can’t see it, you’ll have to use your intuition to open it.)

　And I’m going to open five rooms at random.

　As a result – along with a piece of paper with the words “normal dice” written in Riko’s annoyingly round characters, there really was normal dice that could be sold for 10 yen cthat ame out of my first 4 rooms.

　However, two sets of “Cut Edge” came out of the last small room I opened.

　It is a cheating dice with three of the twelve sides of the cube cut off.

　The edges are rounded off to the point where you can’t see them at a glance, but… when they come in contact with the table, they roll better than usual.
This means that the stakes are uneven.

　In fact, when I rolled the dice a few times behind the vase, I had about an 80% chance of getting a 4, 5, or 6 on both dice.

　I’m grateful for these dice.
If someone caught me cheating and pointed it out, I’d be stripped naked in one shot, but with these dice it wouldn’t be an obvious six, and according to the rulebook I wasn’t allowed to touch or come within 30 centimeteres of anyone’s dice.
This should be a no-brainer win.
Even I can barely see the roundness of the dice or feel it by touching the edges with my fingers.

　Thus, we each got our own dice, hidden from the other player’s view.

“Okay, everybody! You’ve got your dice, right? Both regular dice and cheat dice can only be used once per game.
When someone takes off a piece of clothing, I’ll collect all the dice used in that game.
If you run out, you can open the box again!”

　Riko said, jingling the box of her dice collection.

　The survivors at this point… are me, Reki, HIraga-san, Jeanne, and Fuuma.

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　I have a total of four pieces of clothing: my shirt, pants, and left and right socks.

　Reki and Hiraga-san have three pieces: a ribbon, a blouse, and a skirt.

　Jeanne only has two pieces: a ribbon and a skirt.

　My henchman, Fuuma, is the most trapped and is only wearing her blouse.

　Here we go.
Round 4 of the Cast-Off table.

　We roll with our fate – in a dice game.

　Riko, in her golden underwear, continues to host the event without a care in the world, and reads out the rule book to the five people at the table.

“umm-, let’s review the basic rules.
The dice must be rolled by hand.
Also, in case something happens, the number that points towards the ceiling is the number that comes up!”

　That’s obvious.

　Just get on with it.
I only have 15 minutes left of Wiseman.

“In addition, the dice game has a “Preliminary and Final Round” as well as “Ant Hell”!” (TL Note: Think the den that an ant lion makes, will be explained later.)

“Preliminary, Final round…? Ant Hell…?”

　When I complained about the time-consuming rules, Riko tapped the table with her rule book.

“In this dice game, we’ll have a preliminary round.
We’ll pick two losers in the preliminaries, and then the two of you will fight in a final, decisive battle! If you lose in that decisive battle, you take off one piece of clothing!”

　Damn it.
That’s a rule that leads to a longer game.

　A dice game can be settled in a few seconds, depending on the rules.
That’s why I chose this one, but Riko, who wants to make the game purely entertaining, has created a mechanism to make it more exciting in its own way.

　But whatever… dice is dice.
It’ll go faster than the other games.

“And then there is the “Ant Hell” rule! Whoever loses the deciding game will be forced to play the deciding game in the next game without qualifying! In other words, if you don’t win the deciding game, you won’t be able to escape the danger of taking off your clothes!” (TL Note: as I look at the term, I think this is also a jab at Aria.
Original is Ari (katakana like Aria’s name) hell.
This might also be a jab at Aria since she was stuck in a similar situation in Mahjong, forced to fight on the defensive as she was slowly losing clothes.)

　I dont know what is so fun about watching a girl take off her clothes, but Riko is very excited and is spreading out the rule book.

(“Ant Hell” huh… thank goodness for this rule.)

　-In other words, I should think of this as a concentrated attack rule.

　In other words, if someone is caught in the ant hell, there is a high probability that they will be stripped down to their underwear.
The more you scramble, the deeper you fall, just like an ant hell.

　According to RIko, who continued to give explanations in a manic state, only the first game such as Cho-Han, Cee-lo, and Sic Bo would be chosen by her, and the rest would be decided by the top qualifier.
(TL Note: these are all different rule sets for dice games.
Feel free to google if you are curious.)

“So, what’s the first thing we do?”

　When I asked her about it, wanting to get the game started as quickly as possible, Riko…

“Well, let’s just start with a simple roll game to get used to it! Let’s use two dice each so that there are few ties! The two players with the least value on their two dice combined will advance to the deciding game!”

　She declared to us with a devilish smile.

　-The first game is played with two dice.

　For that qualifying round… we gather around a smooth round table and each grab our dice.

　No matter what the result is, the dice will be collected by Riko when the round is over.
Therefore, it is necessary to have a strategy such as whether to use the Cheat dice right away, which dice is appropriate to use, or whether to pretend to use them and challenge with normal dice.

　I thought about it, and decided to…

(Let’s use the regular dice here.)

　I’ll save the cheat dice.

　There are two reasons, both of which are relatively simple and straightforward.

　The first and most obvious reason is that I don’t have a lot of cheat dice on hand.

　It would be a shame to use it out of the blue in the first game, and in the qualifiers.
Cut edge should be used as a trump card.

　Another reason is that this game has two levels: “Preliminary round” and “decisive round”.

　In other words, even if I lose here, it’s a system that allows you to come back.

　Even if you lose in the qualifying round, you can still win the deciding round and come out alive.

“Yes! Let the first round, the preliminaries, begin then!”

　Riko, with a happy face, distributed glass jars in front of each person with Aria and Shirayuki helping.

　The clear jar was aboutt he size of a mug with a narrow mouth.

　I see.
So this is how you plan to prevent cheating with your fingertips.

　”Put two dice in each of these jars! Lets-go!”

　Riko blew a whistle that she had taken out from somewhere, and we each dropped two dice into the jar.

　…rokoroko…

　I rolled both of my dice…

　The total value was 12 for Fuuma, 7 for Jeanne, and 5 for Hiraga-san.

　Reki was… 3.

　And for me… two 1’s for a total of 2.

(…shit!)

　Why is my inate bad luck skill activating here…!

“-and that’s it! And now, let’s go to Ki-kun and Rekyu! Congratulations on advancing to the final round!”

　Pa-Fu-pa-fu!

　Riko, who has just blown a horn taken out from somewhere, looks like a devil.

　The only saving grace is that the next round arrives in an instant, just as I thought, which saves me time.

(Then again, I didn’t expect Reki to enter the final round.)

　Reki had used her cheat abilities in Mahjong, billiards, and Himetetsu, but she was no match for… this glass jar.

“We were allies in Mahjong, but now we are enemies.”

　-I prepare my Cut Edge.

　I said that to Reki while secretly holding the cheating dice that had a high probability of coming up with 4, 5, or a 6.

“Yes, we were.”

　It seems that the dice that Reki took out in response are not… normal dice either.

　From here on, it’s no longer a game of chance or luck.

“Well then! Let’s begin the final battle!”

　Riko, pretending to be a referee, makes me and Reki stand on either side of the table.

　Reki and I, now facing each other, take the empty glass from Shirayuki and Aria respectively – and place them on the table.

(…?)

　Reki put the jar a little farther away from her, didn’t she?

　Something tells me that she has a plan.

“In the final battle, the dice must be thrown in one at a time, in order! First up, Ki-kun!”

“Ok.”

　I quickly throw the first cut edge into the jar.

　The dice rolled in the glass jar with a “Karakarakaran”, and the result was…

　6.
Well done.

　I got lucky here.
80% x 1/3 chance, but i got the best one.
(TL Note: based on Kinji’s testing, there is an 80% chance that he would get a 4, 5, or 6, and of that he got 6.
If my math is right, he had a 26% chance of a 6.)

　Oh, and the gallery is subtly getting excited.

“Next, Rekyu! Come on up!”

　She saw me roll a six, but she remained completely calm.

　Reki, Fuwa.

　She released the die, almost hitting the ceiling.

(…?)

　The dice are…

　They are made of sponge.

　Fuyo, fuyo, fuyoyo…

　It was also a very low-density sponge, judging from the fact that it drifted through the air like a balloon for a long time.

　Moreover, it seems that the die is hollow and as light as a feather.

　In other words, very light dice.

　Reki seemed to have pulled it out of Riko’s collection.

(It seems that the only thing different about that set is… the material rather than the rolls.)

　The die came down, spinning in an unstable trajectory like a jellyfish in water.

　The die then fell into the glass jar that Reki had placed a short distance away from her.

　Then, the die landed on the bottom and the throw was over.

　The die… also landed a 6.

　WOAH-!

　Everyone cheered.

“ohhh, it’s a tie! This is going to be an interesting game!”

　Riko is bouncing along with her breasts, presenting us with a play-by-play.

　This girl… the situation just got a lot worse.
For me, that is.

　Reki doesn’t say anything but it’s safe to say… that 6 was not a coincidence and was intentionally done.

　But how did she do it?

“… it’s Kinji’s turn next.”

　And then Reki…

　…!

　She got another one of the same sponge die.

　Did that special die also come in sets of two?

(That’s not good…!)

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　The expected stakes for my cut edge are 4-6.

　If Reki can get an intentional 6, there’s a good chance you’ll lose.

(I need to read her hand…!)

　I stare at Reki’s glass jar.

　That die is made out of sponge.

　So, for example… if you soak the die with water, you may be able to manipulate the stakes to a certain extent.
(TL Note: for those who might be confused, if you soak the face of the die with the “6” with a little bit of water, should the die land on that face, it won’t bounce.)

　I looked through with my goggles to see if I could see anything out of the ordinary, but I saw nothing.

　In the first place, the feeling I got watching the die drifting through the air earlier was not that the die was wet.

　-No.
It’s not water.

　Reki took advantage of the lightness of the die in some other way to roll a 6.

“Okay! Ki-Kun! Throw in your second die, please!”

“-Good luck, Kin-chan! Do your best!”

　Shirayuki noticed my pained expression (all she can see right now is from the bottom of my nose) and cheers me on from the side.
She is, as expected, still wearing black lingerie.

　However, being cheered on does not change the outcome of the dice.

　There’s no way I’m going to do my best.

　Aria, who seemed to share my opinion,

“You fool.
There is no way to do your best in a dice game.”

　She folded her arms in front of her flat chest and “tsked” at Shirayuki on my behalf.

“Aria, shut up! -I’m not afraid to blow up those dice!”

　I don’t know why she is so pissed off.
She’s so annoying.

　With that in mind, I…

　Leaving my luck to the heavens, I put my die in the jar…

　The result is… 5.

“…tsu…!”

　The total of my two dice is 11.

　If Reki can deliberately manipulate the dice, it’s certain that I will lose.

　However, in my mind… rather than shock, Shirayuki’s line from earlier was running through my mind.

(Blow up… dice…)

　-It’s tricky.

　I don’t know why, but that word.

“Okay, next, Rekyu!”

“…”

　When Riko told her to do so, Reki immediately released the dice high up near the ceiling.

　The sponge ultra-light die began to drift through the air again, fuyo, fuyoyo, fuyo…

　As I followed it with my eyes in the tense atmosphere…

“-!”

　All right…!

“That’s what I thought!”

　As I said this, I walked around the table.

　Then, standing just 30 centimeters from Reki’s glass jar…

　In a great hurry, she rolled up her own skirt…

“-Are you going to take it off now? That’s very graceful of you, Kinji.
You’ve admitted defeat, haven’t you?”

　While ignoring Aria’s quip, “ba~tsu”.

　I spread my shirt out between my banzai arms, stretching it like a sail.

　It looks like I’m making a hand flag signal… or a pervert, but I’m just trying to win.

　I’m not pretending to be something I’m not.

“Di-, Digital Camera!”

　While Shirayuki was searching for something after releasing a mysterious cry and spinning on the spot-

　I hold that pose.

“…”

　Ah.

　Reki moved her eyes to look at me.

　There was no expression on her face, but I was sure of it.

　That’s right.
You’re an S-Ranked sniper – a genius at reading the wind.

　You can see the airflow in the room, as if arrows were drifting around the room.

　And the cold breeze from the air conditioner that I’m standing on right now.

　She had read it and knew how the dice would fly in the air…

　She was able to calculate how to throw it, how it would drift, and which face it would have up.

　-Dice that can be blown.

　That’s why she was able to cheat in her own way.

“That’s what I thought.”

　As I muttered this, Reki’s ultra-light die…

　The wind was blocked by my shirt, and it didn’t take the trajectory that Reki was aiming for… It was supposed to fall into the hole in the jar, but it was on the edge of the hole for a moment…

　The roll at that moment was a 6, but the die fell over the edge and into the jar…

　Kururin, Pa.

　It flipped over and… 1.

“AAAAA! A huge upset…! Ki-kun has won!”

　In front of Riko, I breathed a sigh of relief.

“You did it, Kin-chan! Justice will prevail after all!”

　While pushing away Shirayuki, who is trying to hug me in her underwear on my bare chest,

“-don’t hate me Reki.
This is a game.”

　I said this to Reki as I put my shirt back on…

“I know.”

　Reki, unusually, was trying to calm down…

　She picked up the cup of juice that Shirayuki had given out earlier.

　Then she took a sip of it, placed the cup on the table, and put the rest of her dice next to it.

　And then, clink, clink.
In her own cute, frustrated way, she poked the dice with her finger and… turned all the dice into 1’s, like a Japanese flag.

“The outcome is the same.
Because I tried to beat Kinji-san.”

　Then, Reki’s thin fingers-

　Removed the ribbon on her chest.
Without any hesitation.

　It’s one thing to take off your clothes with shame, but if a girl takes it off so nonchalantly… It’s weird isn’t it? Somehow?

“Oh, Rekyu, now all that’s left is the blouse and skirt.
FuHiHiHi!”

　Riko took Reki’s ribbon and placed it on her own head while she danced around in a twirl.

“A-N-D! According to the “Ant Hell” rule, Rekyu will advance to the second round immediately! It’s better to decide the order of undress beforehand.
Blouse? Or skirt?”

　Riko is using the index finger of both hands to pinch Reki’s body through her blouse and skirt, but…

　Reki was unconcerned and remained standing like a mannequin.

　The second round of the tournament was called “Cho-Han”, and was selected by Fuuma, the top qualifier.

　Cho-Han is a form of gambling in which you roll two dice and guess whether the total number of the two is even or odd.

　It is something that has been done since the Edo period, and is familiar from historical dramas.

　-This is a very old fashioned selection.

　Fuuma’s way of speaking is old-fashioned and she’s a high school girl who looks like she’s stepped into the futre from the Edo period.

“All right then.
It’s an easy game, isn’t it? If it can divide by 2 is a Cho, if it can’t it’s a Han.”

　Riko gave us a simple explanation, and then she gave us a small, cup-shaped basket.

　Riko threw two regular dice into the so-called “cup”.

　According to the rule book, the person who would be the dealer in the preliminary round would be the person who had lost the previous game.
In other words, it was Riko.

　Riko, who seemed to have been dying to do the cup swinging, happily waved around the cup… Pon.

　She placed the cup face down on the table with both dice in it.

　We can hear the dice rolling the jar and… it stopped.

“Is it Cho! Or Han! Kufufufu!”

“I’m… Han.”

“I must follow my master, Han.”

“Then I’ll be Han too.”

“Then I will dare to be Cho.”

　And so I, Fuuma, and Hiraga, declare whether it is Cho (even) or odd (han).

“Open!” (TL Note: this would be pronounced “Opun!”, essentially said in english but not written in English.)

　When Riko, who chose to speak English for some reason, opens the cup, the result is 5 and 2.

“A 5 and a 2 is a Han! Ayaya! You have advanced to the final round!”

“Ayayaya!”

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　And so…

　In the second round of the dice game, the real battle of the dice was… between Hiraga-san and Reki.

　For Cho-Han, there were also two special rules written in the “Cast-Off Table Ru-Ru☆Buku”.

　・The dice to be used in the final battle will be offered by the one who has the fewer number of clothes between the two opponents.

　・Of the qualifying winners, the two who have the least clothes will then decide the cup shaker with rock-paper-scissors.

　It’s a complicated rule, but I guess the bottom line is that the losers are forced to work.
All in all.

　In accordance with this rule, Reki offered the two nondescript looking dice that she had placed on the side of the paper cup earlier.

　Fuuma, who has only one piece of clothing left, and Jeanne, who has two pieces…

　Jeanne will be the urn waver.

　-Now, let’s start the final round.

“Riko, you have the makings of a game designer.
These are well written rules.

　and Jeanne pulls the Rekki die from the table towards her.

“These two special rules are supposed to balance out the clothes we have, right?”

“Kufufu.
How did you notice?”

Riko, who winked at Jeanne with her big eyes…

“Balance our clothes? Huh…? What do you mean?”

　Aria asked, raising an eyebrow, even though she wasn’t a player.

　Jeanne turned at that, and indicated the dice on the table, which were 1 and 1.

“No one but Reki know’s whether or not this is a cheat die used in this game.
But if it is, Reki has a huge advantage.
She can predict the outcome.”

“That’s right.”

“If you have a lot of clothes, you should be able to bet a lot of them.
In this game, which has a strict rule for losers called “Ant Hell”, those with few clothes are especially reluctant to fall into it.
Therefore, there is the temptation to concentrate your attacks on those who have already fallen into it.”

　I see… Well, I guess you are right.

　This dice game with the Ant Hell rule is dangerous for those who don’t have a lot of clothes.

　Therefore, the less clothes someone has, the quicker you can defeat them and end this dice game…

　You will want to save your clothes, your chance at survival, to use in the next game.

“In other words, Reki’s advantage will be shaken.
Because the dealer with the fewest clothes on them – me – will be her enemy.” (TL Note: Confused? No worries.
Essentially put: Reki is in a bad situation as she is stuck in Ant Hell for now.
To prevent her, and other people stuck in Ant Hell, immediate loss though, Riko added two rules.
The first rule is to Reki’s large advantage, she can select the dice.
By picking specific dice, she can change the completely random outcome to a potential limited outcome, such as picking dice that favor a specific set of numbers and thus change the odds for Odd or Even.
Hiraga does not know the dice effect so is stuck at a disadvantage.
But Jeanne is the dealer, and it is in HER interest that Reki gets knocked out, as SHE has few pieces of clothing remaining too.
If she could, somehow, cheat as WELL, this would throw off Reki, and limit if not worsen her odds of getting the numbers she anticipates.
Essentially a check on Hiraga, Reki’s competitor who has more clothes than her, but ALSO a check on Reki by having Jeanne as her dealer who wants her out too.
Smart and tricky Riko… to be expected of her.)

　Jeanne, who made a wry smile, bent forward with her hands on the table.

　ughh… more than Aria’s and less than Riko, she had the ideal size for her body…

　I could clearly see Jeanne’s cleavage.

“It is a well-designed rulebook that uses not only the game of luck, but also the game of cheating, the psychological sway of the remaining clothes, and many other elements.
Riko’s intention to enhance the gameplay of the Cast-Off table is thoroughly reflected in every corner of the book.
I’m impressed.”

“I’m honored by your praise~.
Kushishishi!”

　Riko, you should use your talent more for the world and people.

　Well, I guess she would never do that.

“The main purpose of gambling is to enjoy the gameplay rather than to compete for the money.
In 18th century France, Marie Antoinette used to play…”

“Hey, Jeanne.
Just get on with it and shake the cup.”

　I began to pay attention to Jeanne, who seems to be in a good mood and started talking nonsense.

　I dont want to lose any more time.

　There is a time limit on Hysteria Wiseman you know…

“Fumu.
Then…”

　As Jeanne blinked her blue eyes, and they sparkled like sapphires…

　She rolled the dice in her hand and stared at it, as if checking to see if Reki’s dice were cheat dice.

　And then, without a moment’s hesitation, “Korokorokoro.”

　She threw two dice into the cup and, ShakaShakaShaka.

　She began to shake it as gracefully as a top-notch female bartender handles a cocktail shaker.

　This is another of her sigh-inducing beautiful movements.

　When a beatiful woman does it, everything turns out beatiful, doesn’t it? Even if it is a gambling game.

　-kapo.

“Cho or Han.”

　At about the same time Jeanne lowered the cup, she asked.

“Cho.”

　Reki replied.

　That was a quick reaction.
For Reki, that is.

“…then, then it’s Han.”

　In the final round, the rule book said that the first player to declare Cho/Han got first pick, so Hiraga-san had no choice but to pick the other.

“Reki, you think you’ve got a 1 and 1.”

“…”

　Reki did not answer.

　In front of Reki, who doesn’t answer, Jeanne…

　Gently lifted the cup…

　She showed everyone the results.

　The dice is a 4 and a 3…

“Han.”

　Grinning Jeanne laughed and declared to everyone.

　Reki lost this game.
Hiraga-san won.

“Aa! I have got nine lives!”

　Next to Hiraga-san, who is posing with her tiny hands, Reki is…

　She was as still and silent as ever.

　She unzipped and easily took off her sailor blouse.

(…)

　The plain white underwear was suddenly exposed, and I almost panicked.

　I remembered that the girls’ bodies were supposed to be impossible to see due to my goggles and tried to keep my composure.

　My blood flow is becoming more and more strange.

　There’s less than 15 minutes left and Hysteria Wiseman is becoming unstable.
This is dangerous.

“…”

　But Reki.
You are… well you, and you really are not interested in fashion at all, huh?

　You are a high school girl in the prime of your life, and presumably like most high school girls want to dress up, so what’s with the cheap underwear with no pattern or embroidery? It’s the kind of underwear you can buy at Daiei for about 800 yen on special sale days.
(TL Note: Daiei is a grocery/department store in Japan.
Walmart is the closest example I can think of.)

“Excellent! Wonderful, Musuka-kun!”

　Riko was looking at Reki’s underwear with an incomprehensible cheer.

　I really don’t know why she gets so excited when she sees a woman’s bra and underwear.

　Uhm… Well, I sincerely hope she’s just being funny and having fun?

“Fufu.
If I talk about the structure of your dice, the rule is that you will be stripped naked, but it’s a knight’s mercy.
I’ll leave it at that.”

“Yes! Let’s collect the dice! Ki-kun, take it!”

　Riko, the organizer, told me…

　When I picked up Reki’s dice, which were unusable because they were used in the final round…

“…tsu…”

　Cold.

　Very cold.

　So… I figured it out…

(Aa, now I see…!)

　I’ve only read about it in comics in the past, so I don’t know for sure, but I’m pretty sure these dice are called “Liquid” cheat dice.

　It’s a cheater’s dice with a liquid weight inside.

　Its liquid weight is liquid at room temperature, but has a freezing point of about… 10 degrees, and hardens when cooled.

　In other words, if you cool it with the face you want to show up on top, and shake it while it’s still cold, that face will come out.
(TL Note: in case you are confused: if you have 1 up and freeze the liquid, the weight is on 6.
the bottom of the dice, which when bouncing, will be favored to land with 6 at the bottom due to the weight and thus 1 on top.)

　Right after Reki lost to me earlier – she left these dice in contact with a paper cup of juice – to conduct the coldness and harden the liquid weight.

　The eye in that case was 1:1, which meant that Cho should have appeared, according to Reki’s cheating.

　However, when Jeanne noticed this, she…

　When she pulled those dice over to herself, she probably did a cheat called “switch”.

　I can’t point it out because I can’t be sure either, but it makes sense when you think about it.

　A switch is a swapping of dice.
It is an act of cheating to switch the dice hidden in the palm of one’s hand with Reki’s dice.

　Jeanne then clutched Reki’s dice in her hand.

　The reason she was talking flippantly was probably because she was waiting for the weight to melt and return to liquid form with the body heat of her palm.

　And-

　Just before the roll, Jeanne switched the dice again.
In the form of returning Reki’s “Liquid” to the field.

　Then she pretended to check again if it was a cheat dice and… used her own special ability there to cool it down again.
This was done to influence a “Han” instead of Reki’s “Cho”.

　-This unusually cold die is proof of that.

　Jeanne is a witch of silver dust, a master of ice magic.
I’m sure that’s a piece of cake for her.

　Well, as I realized this, the second round was already over, and I didn’t wnat to spank Reki or Jeanne, either, as the fuste to the hysteria bomb was lit.

　I’ll keep quiet about this cheating process.

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　The next competition was “Count Up”.

　This is a game in which each person rolls the dice ony by one in turn and rolls a larger roll than the previous person to win the game.

　In other words, if the previous player rolls a 3, you win if you roll a 4 or higher and lose if you roll a 3 or lower.

　If the next player rolls a 4, then the next player must roll a 5 or higher to win.

　That’s how the game is played, you fight until someone makes a mistake.

　-In this qualifying round, something terrible happened.

　The loser of the preliminary round is… Fuuma.

　It was my hencheman, who had only one piece of clothing left, a blouse.

　Reki, who is advancing to the final round of the tournament under the Ant Hell rule, is also wearing only one piece of clothing, her skirt.

　In other words, whichever of these two loses, that’s one more girl wearing their underwear.

　In effect, it was a decisive battle to determine who would be eliminated in the dice game.

“Lord Reki.
Your fortunes have come to an end, that they have.”

“…”

　Fuuma took her place at the table with a hand that looked like she was about to make a hand seal, while Reki was as silent as ever.
(TL Note: if you have seen AA, think of Fuuma when she has her hand in front of her face showing you the side of it.
Ninja pose basically.)

　We watched with bated breath.

　Fuuma.

　You have survived the Himetetsu Bimbo, but this time you are up against Reki.
This seems like a steep battle.

“This is a tense confrontation between two high school girls in their underwear! Let’s start the strip battle!”

　Please dont jump up and down, Riko.

　It seems that every time you do your breasts pop out of your golden underwear.

　If that happens, my hysteria mode might just pop out too.

“…”

　Without any hesitation, Reki placed the die in the middle of the table…

　Then she throws it into a cup, like the ones Heian aristocrats used to drink from.

　Dice can sometimes be cheated with your fingtertips if you throw them onto a flat surface, but you can’t do that if you throw them into a bowl shaped item.
So Riko placed a metal cup on the table.

　ChinChrori-n…

　There was a beatiful sound and the die rolled.

　The result is… 1.

“…”

　Reki is keeping a cool face, but this is…

　It seems that Reki does not have cheat dice anymore.
She’s cornered.

　Fuuma, who is nearly guaranteed to get a 2 or more – Pi~.

　She took out her die, which she held cooly between her index and middle fingers, and released them with a shuffle.

“Kukuku… Reki-dono, I will take your life!”

　When did we begin betting our lives?

　Fuuma’s die, which made a chin-chin sound… is… a 5.

“Ohh~!”

　Everyone looked into the cup and got excited.

　Apparantly, Fuuma also had a cutting edge or something like that.

　If Reki has no more cheat dice, then she is as good as dead in the water.

　Since Fuuma rolled a 5, Reki has to get a 6 or she loses.

(You ran out of luck, Reki.)

　I can barely watch as Reki is being brutally attacked by the Ant Hell rule…

　I moved over to the wall clock to check the remaining time.

　-At that time.

　Suddenly, Reki pulled a die out of her pocket.

　It was a very light dice.

　It’s another sponge dice, as light as a feather.

(…!)

　She saw that I had moved and that the air conditioner was not blowing in a different direction…

　Reki, who apparently had a third very light dice, released it and let it drift in the wind.

　Fuyo, Fuyo, Fuyoyoyo.

　The dice landed softly on the cup, without the tinkling sound that had been heard earlier, and had a roll of…

“It worked-! It’s a six! A six!”

　Riko hugged Reki and squealed.

　While Jeanne and Hiraga applauded Reki for her 6 at the last moment…

“-Wait!”

　Fuumed held out a pared-down hand to the group.
(TL Note: Pared down means unadorned, simple, etc.)

“Look at the rulebook!”

　And on the page she showed us with her other hand…

・If you make a roll lower than the previous player, you miss.

　It says.

“I have not yet made any roll against Reki-dono.
In other words, we should consider that the matter has not been settled yet.” (TL Note: I swear if it’s a d20.)

　No… well…

　Strictly speaking, I guess it is not over…?

“But, Ninin-chan? Since Rekyu rolled a six, even if you roll a six, you still lose.
In the cout-up, a tie is a loss…”

“Nu~un!”

　-?!

　Ignoring Riko’s explanation, Fuuma jumped out of nowhere!?

　While everyone looked on with confusion, Fuuma twisted around…

“-Haha!”

　The die was spun at high speed and shot out of the vessel.

　Bishii! The dice hit the bowl and went round and round and round…

　Piki~!

“…!”

　Paka! It broke.

　And… the dice, neatly cut in half – 1 and the 6 on the other half are both facing up.

　She came down with a swoosh and struck a pose that looked like a karate stance with a smug look on her face.

　No, I don’t mind you being smug, but why are you being smug?

“uh, uhhh-huh… This is…”

　Riko, as expected, is having a hard time deciding what to do…

“Mada Mine.
I asked you earlier to review the basic rules, that is to say, ‘In any case, the face that faces the ceiling is the one that is chosen,’ right?”

“… Oh ya, come to think of it.”

“This die does currently have a 1 and a 6 facing the ceiling, that it does… Therefore, this is…”

　Bishi! Fuuma shouted, clicking her heels together.

“-that is a 7!”

　…With a surprise, Fuuma’s quibble was accepted.

　That said, the rulebook didn’t include any rules about destroying dice, and Riko had prefaced her statement just in case.

　Furthermore, the die that Fuuma used was a “split” die that could be broken.

　Originally, the dice were used to feign an accident and pretend the game never happened… If Riko had prepared them, it is natural to assume that she would allow them to be used.

　In addition, the fact that Reki did not protest about this matter…

　The winner of this final battle was Fuuma.

“…”

　Without complaining, Reki took off her skirt and walked… to a corner of the room in her pure white cotton underwear, where she sat down on the floor.

　-Reki, who boasted the strength of a demon, has now retired.

　Incidentally, as my Wiseman began to wear off, Reki sitting on the floor was safe from the front (Reki’s shins were covering her crotch), but dangerous from an angle of about 30 degrees in front of me.

　I mean, the top half of her body is as good as naked to begin with, so it’s best not to look at it.

　Well.
Mahjong, billiards, Kaguyahime Electric Railway, dice…

　The cast-off table, with its wide variety of games, has now turned the corner.

　All survivors except for me…

　Jeanne.
Hiraga-san.
And Fuuma.

　Sorry, all three of you, but I’m going to take off your clothes faster and with more vigor than ever before.

　I gulped and looked up at the clock on the wall.

(Time remaining… 12 minutes…!)

　Please, my wise man.

　You are getting more and more unreliable, but my survival depends on how long I can remain a wise man.

Gunshot For The Next!!!