Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had long known that Kurume Laiwei would cause trouble, but he hadn't expected her to start provoking Meari as soon as she arrived. In just a few words, she had drawn the girls' animosity.
Her ability to attract hatred was too strong. Did she really think he would share Meari's wrath for her?
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka pushed Kurume's hand away, nonchalantly distancing himself from her: "I did say I would let Kurume be the manager of a casino, but that was merely a simple transaction. She works for me to pay off her gambling debts; it's that simple.
Other than that, we have no relationship whatsoever. I completely don't understand what she just said."
As Ayanokoji Kiyotaka spoke, he warned Kurume with his eyes, telling her to stop causing trouble.
His relationship with Meari was progressing by leaps and bounds, and he couldn't let a few words from Kurume ruin it.
Not only was Ayanokoji Kiyotaka not on her side, but he also directly denied her without even offering an explanation. Was he really so afraid of causing Meari to misunderstand? Or was her importance in his eyes truly that low?
Kurume Laiwei was a bit struck and disappointed, but she quickly pulled herself together and apologized to Meari.
It was clear that Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was on Meari's side. If she continued to be unreasonable, she might make Ayanokoji angry.
"Sorry, I was just joking. Actually, my contract with the boss was just made not long ago. Saotome, you're a senior, so of course, I'll listen to you. Just tell me whatever you need me to do..."
Kurume's apology was very sincere. Meari had been somewhat angry, but with Kurume's continuous apologies, Meari generously forgave her.
"Forget it... I'll just pretend I didn't hear anything before."
Meari sighed, crossed her arms, and looked at Kurume, speaking seriously about the matter at hand.
"We are indeed very short-handed right now, so it's good that you're here. You can help take over Hanatemari and Togakushi's positions. Of course, if you're interested, you can also participate in this Dou Di Zhu Competition."
Meari had interacted with Kurume twice and knew her fairly well. She was very intelligent, and if she could help, she would indeed be a capable assistant.
"Mhm, leave this to me!" Kurume readily agreed.
After discussing tomorrow's work for a while, they left the casino and parted ways in front of the Club Building.
Meari left the school, and Togakushi Yukimi and Hanatemari Kazura walked towards the dormitory area.
Kurume Laiwei was also a day student, but she didn't leave with Meari. Instead, she pulled Ayanokoji Kiyotaka to the school restaurant for a meal.
In fact, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka also had something to ask her, so he went along with it.
During the meal, Kurume couldn't help but ask the question on her mind: "Boss, you don't happen to like Meari, do you?"
"What does that have to do with you?" Ayanokoji glanced at her and continued eating.
"How is it not related to me? I'm your subordinate! What if the boss's wife you find is very jealous and can't tolerate me? Just like today, she got angry just because I hugged your shoulder for a while, and you didn't even stand on my side and speak up for me..."
Kurume pouted, looking very wronged.
How could Ayanokoji not know Kurume's intentions? Wasn't she just trying to provoke Meari?
Ayanokoji completely ignored her complaints, eating as he spoke: "Isn't this your own doing? I clearly told you not to provoke Meari when I called you here, but you still deliberately provoked her."
Kurume said pitifully: "How could I have any bad intentions? I just wanted to give Meari a sense of urgency. What she doesn't care about, others care about very much. If she doesn't make a move, then I will."
This girl was quite good at feigning pity.
"Hehe..." Ayanokoji rolled his eyes, not taking her bait, and simply asked: "How have you been these past two days? When you said you wanted to leave Zenshoukai, did anyone stop you?"
"No, not really. Zenshoukai is a relatively loose organization. Although the condition for joining must be livestock and requires an admission assessment, there are no restrictions when leaving. As long as you pay off your debts to the organization, you can leave."
"Yesterday, I applied to withdraw, and today I withdrew. Before withdrawing, I also signed an agreement stating that I cannot disclose anything about Zenshoukai's internal affairs to outsiders, otherwise I will be targeted by Zenshoukai."
Kurume said, blinking: "Boss, I've given my body to you now, so you must protect me."
"That's not unexpected." Ayanokoji nodded thoughtfully.
If people could easily withdraw from Zenshoukai without any restrictions, this resistance organization would not still be hidden in the shadows.
"As long as you don't blab to others, there won't be a problem, and Zenshoukai's attention won't be on you." Ayanokoji said.
"That's good..." Kurume secretly breathed a sigh of relief, then looked up curiously: "Speaking of Landlord... was this game really invented by you, Ayanokoji?"
Before Kurume was called by Ayanokoji Kiyotaka today, she had never imagined that Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was asking her to help manage this "Landlord" casino.
When she saw the [Dou Di Zhu Competition] on the notice board today, she was even tempted, wondering if she should also participate in the competition. She hadn't expected Ayanokoji to be the mastermind behind this casino.
"You don't need to doubt that. What, do you also want to participate in the competition?"
"Not really. Too many people are interested in this competition; I don't think I can win the championship."
Kurume shook her head, smiling: "Today when I went to Zenshoukai, many people were discussing [Landlord]. They all really want to win that two million yen prize.
Besides that, they're all guessing who invented this game. They're all very interested in how to play it.
Some people guess it's the upperclassmen, some guess it's the Student Council executives, and some even guess it's Mibuomi Aoi. No one expected that this game was actually created by you, a freshman."
"It's normal for no one to guess."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had only been at this school for less than a week. The only people who knew him, besides a few members of the Student Council and Meari and her group, were his classmates. He had no reputation within the school, so how could anyone guess him?
Kurume asked curiously: "By the way, why don't you proactively announce that you invented this game?
You know, creating a popular new game is a great achievement and will attract a lot of attention. Maybe even the Student Council will invite you to join them."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka did not write anything about the inventor on the rules and Dou Di Zhu Competition announcement posted on the notice board. When many people who came to gamble today curiously asked Togakushi Yukimi about it, she remained tight-lipped and said nothing.
This puzzled Kurume. After all, this was an achievement worth showing off, not something bad. What was wrong with saying it? Why hide himself?
"It's not time yet, and I don't want to show my face."
Ayanokoji shook his head and reminded her, "Remember not to reveal my identity. If anyone comes looking for trouble because of me, you'll be the first one I go after."
Ayanokoji's gaze lingered on Kurume's chest, then he paused, "...Don't forget, your right to stay overnight is still in my hands."
"Of course I haven't forgotten!" Kurume lifted her face with a smile, deliberately puffed out her chest, and said proudly, "Anyway, I don't care about that. Why don't you take me now?"
Ayanokoji rolled his eyes, "Forget it. Even if I wanted to, would you really be willing to give yourself?"
This person said she didn't care, but when he actually touched her, her body trembled like a sieve.
"I'm short-handed right now, so don't try to escape by feigning illness. For the next few days, you'll help Togakushi Yukimi and the others. I'll arrange your work after the Dou Di Zhu Competition ends."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka wasn't afraid of anyone finding out and causing him trouble; he was only wary of his father, Ayanokoji Fugang.
Since Ayanokoji Fugang sent him to this school, there must be his "pawn" monitoring him in this school, most likely a wealthy student.
Therefore, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka currently only interacts with commoners from ordinary family backgrounds, trying his best to avoid building relationships with wealthy students.
The Landlord is very important for Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's future plans. It's best to keep it hidden from his father for as long as possible.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka did not want to expose himself so quickly. When explaining the casino's operating policy to Meari and others, he said that his identity should be kept secret, and Togakushi Yukimi would be the casino's manager on the surface.
When asking Kuroki Ya for help, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka also asked him to keep it a secret for him.
Of course... if someone around Ayanokoji Kiyotaka now was indeed the pawn placed by Ayanokoji Fugang, then he could only accept his fate.
...
The next day, the casino in the Chemistry Preparation Room opened as usual.
Although this school does not restrict students from leaving classrooms and moving around freely, there are still rules for the casinos in the Club Building.
"Club activities" can only begin after school and must close after the specified time.
Therefore, even though many students were interested in Landlord, they could only play in their classrooms and could only come to the casino in the Club Building after school.
Just ten minutes after school was dismissed, the Landlord casino in the Chemistry Preparation Room was packed, and many people received their second 2,000-yen voucher.
After all, it's free, and everyone loves that, no matter what world they're in.
At this point, someone finally noticed something was off and raised an objection: "Wait, why do I only have 1,000 yen, and he gets a 2,000-yen voucher?"
"Because he came on the second day, and you only came on the first day," Togakushi Yukimi explained.
"You idiot, don't you know that the money here is cumulative? Of course, you can only get 1,000 if you come on the first day," someone mocked him.
He still argued, "But this event only lasts for four days, right? So, even if I start collecting from today, I can only get 6,000 yen?"
"Who told you not to come on the first day? The casino rules are clearly written there, can't you see them?" Someone on the casino's side interjected.
"Exactly, it's your own problem."
"Come on, the casino is giving you free money. It's good enough that you're getting anything, so what are you protesting about?"
Many people began to mock him.
This person still wanted to say something, but he truly felt he had no reason to trouble the casino, so he just found a seat and sat down.
Besides him, some others also raised similar protests, but their words were shut down by the majority of people in the casino.
"Are you here to play Landlord or to collect money?"
"This money is just an extra bonus. You're not really concerned about such a small amount of money, are you?"
This was something Hanatemari Kazura had not expected at all.
She had been trembling today, expecting to be yelled at by angry customers. She didn't expect that before she even explained, the customers in the casino would start to differentiate, and the rumors would be suppressed without her having to say a word.
Could it be that Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had even thought of this point...?
Hanatemari couldn't help but admire Ayanokoji.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had, of course, anticipated what was happening in the casino.
This kind of thing has happened countless times in the operation of internet products.
Among the beneficiaries, there are also different levels. After they gain benefits, they no longer care about the interests of others. Instead, they mock them, and a sense of superiority emerges within them.
In gacha games, this is most common.
Those lucky players who get the characters they want without spending a penny often mock those who spent a lot of money and still didn't get the characters when someone complains about the gacha rates.
Even if the probability is indeed problematic, they have already obtained what they wanted and completely disregard objective facts, standing from the manufacturer's perspective and starting to "whitewash" for the manufacturer.
"It's clearly your bad luck, why blame the probability?"
"It's all because you didn't spend enough money. If you spent more, wouldn't it come out?"
This time, he stood from the manufacturer's perspective, but the next time he didn't draw a character, he would start cursing the probability.
At this point, another group of people who did draw characters would start mocking him with the same words he used to mock others previously...
This was clearly a probability issue set by the game manufacturer without clear pricing, but it was divided into internal player problems.
Even if someone directly stated the essence of the problem, they would quickly be targeted by these beneficiaries with phrases like, "Are you a shill for another manufacturer?" or "Other manufacturers also have this problem, why are you only targeting this one?" They wouldn't solve the problem, but rather solve the person who raised the problem.
This situation occurs not only in internet products but also frequently in reality. Unfortunately, most cases are just repetitions of the above, and truly "solving" the problem is rare.
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.
-------------------------------
I've already uploaded 30 - 40 chapters of this story on Patreon!
If you enjoy it, come check out the latest chapters in advance.
Here's the link:
[patreon.com/Greyhounds]
Thank you so much for your support!!