The third round of Quick Knife Finger Stab was about to begin; Ikishima Midari's left hand was already on the table, waiting for the Dealer's command.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka looked at Ikishima Midari, outwardly calm but inwardly quite nervous.
Although Ikishima Midari said she would go easy, what was her definition of going easy?
What if she thought her performance in the second round was already very poor, and she repeated the second round's score? Then he might as well not compete at all.
Twelve rounds, averaging less than three seconds per round—how could he possibly compete with that?
"Start!" Without giving Ayanokoji Kiyotaka much time to pray, the game began in an instant.
The moment the Dealer gave the command, Ikishima Midari instantly entered her zone, and the dagger in her right hand fiercely stabbed towards the outside of her thumb!
Seemingly having inherited the experience from the previous two times, at the start of this round, her initial speed had already reached three seconds per round.
The tip of the dagger in her hand shimmered with sharp light, seemingly alive, nimbly jumping and shifting between her fingers.
She seemed to not need to think at all; the dagger's transitions were agile and light, every landing point between her fingers precise, without any mistakes.
A smile appeared on her lips as she focused on the challenge, seemingly having completely forgotten her agreement with Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.
Her performance this time was excellent; she completed five rounds in only half the time, and her speed was still continuously increasing.
Six rounds, seven rounds... Just as she was about to break her second round record, she finally seemed to break free from her engrossed state, remembered her agreement with Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, and forcibly slowed down.
Time was up. The Dealer recording the scores looked a bit awkward when announcing the result: "The 部長's score for the third round is... nine rounds."
When completing the last round, Ikishima Midari took a full seven seconds, similar to a novice... The going easy was too obvious.
"I really went easy this time; you should... be fine, right?"
Ikishima Midari looked at Ayanokoji Kiyotaka with considerable unease.
Although she had initially agreed to go easy on Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, once the challenge began, she completely forgot everything around her, dedicating herself entirely to the pleasure.
It was only near the end that she remembered to go easy and slowly finished her challenge.
But in this challenge, she also completed nine rounds, the same as her first score.
She was very worried that Ayanokoji would concede on the spot.
"How about I go again, and this score doesn't count?" She cautiously watched Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's expression, fearing he would show dissatisfaction.
She was clearly the one on the verge of victory, yet she had to consider the loser's expression... When had her 部長 ever been so subservient?
The three club members beside her couldn't bear to watch.
Amidst Ikishima Midari's anticipation, Ayanokoji spoke: "...I'll try."
Although Ikishima Midari's method of "going easy" was quite unexpected, her final score was still within Ayanokoji's expectations.
Nine rounds... Not bad, that score might not be unattainable.
If Ayanokoji performed normally, his score would at most be eight to nine rounds; let alone winning, even tying would depend on luck.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka looked at his left hand—originally, he didn't want to do this, but since he couldn't win against Ikishima Midari even with the buff, and he had come so far, giving up would be too much of a loss.
To win, he had to sacrifice a little more.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka prepared himself mentally, took a deep breath, and placed his hand on the table.
"...Start!" The Dealer beside him pressed the stopwatch.
The moment the other party shouted, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka immediately jabbed the knife tip downwards; when he lifted and stabbed again, he didn't hesitate at all, subconsciously stabbing out the second knife.
Lifting, then stabbing down... When Ayanokoji Kiyotaka repeated this process, it was completely different from the previous two rounds.
He seemed to have become a different person; every stab he made was quite urgent, with no pauses whatsoever for his brain to confirm the landing point; instead, he trusted his muscle memory and subconsciously stabbed the dagger.
Each pause might have been less than 0.1 seconds, but omitting this pause made Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's speed more than a notch faster, completing the first round in less than three seconds!
The technique of Quick Knife Finger Stab is simple: while absolutely not making a mistake, you must stab down more quickly.
Because if you make a mistake even once, the sharp pain from your left hand will spread throughout your body, making it impossible to continue the game.
Therefore, to avoid mistakes, this brief pause for observation is necessary.
But Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, to increase his speed, now abandoned this brief pause.
This means the possibility of error increased infinitely.
Just five seconds into the start, during the second round's cycle, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's thumb was pricked once!
Everyone in the room, including Ikishima Midari, thought this was a major mistake by Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, and that his score might stop here, perhaps even worse than the first round.
But Ayanokoji Kiyotaka did not slow down like in the first round; the dagger in his right hand did not pause at all, still stabbing downwards.
One mistake.
Another mistake.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka made mistakes one after another, and soon several blood blossoms appeared on his hand.
However, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's expression remained unchanged, as if it wasn't his own finger being pricked; his speed showed no stagnation whatsoever, still stabbing the dagger down repeatedly at a speed that could be called frantic!
If the best way to clear Quick Knife Finger Stab was to clear it as quickly as possible without making mistakes, then Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was now using these mistakes to compress the clear time!
This was highly illogical; anyone who made a single mistake would basically have to abandon this challenge.
But Ayanokoji Kiyotaka did just that.
Although the number of mistakes was quite high, his clear time was greatly improved.
When Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's challenge ended, the Dealer next to him was stunned and forgot to record Ayanokoji's score.
But Ikishima Midari didn't forget.
"Eleven rounds, you completed eleven rounds!"
Ikishima Midari burst into laughter, even applauding Ayanokoji Kiyotaka: "Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, this is what I wanted to see!"
Eleven rounds... Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was also a bit surprised.
He hadn't expected to achieve such a score after abandoning the pauses.
But the price was also obvious—Ayanokoji Kiyotaka looked down at his hand, which was already soaked in blood, and gave a wry smile.
If it weren't for the buff, temporarily numbing the pain, he would never have been able to do this.
"Ikishima Midari, this time should satisfy you, right?" Ayanokoji looked at Ikishima Midari.
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