The scene changes. The time is eight o'clock at night.
In her bright single room, Hiyori Shiina was leaning against the headboard, wearing a pure white lace nightgown. She held a copy of "One Hundred Years of Solitude," borrowed from the library, in her lap, trying to sort out the vast and complex character relationships with Symon.
Just as the girl was thinking about whether to give up, a clear and bright female voice came over the cruise ship's broadcast system:
"This is an announcement for all students."
"The Card and Game Room will be open for a limited time, from 8:00 PM to 12:00 AM every evening, starting today and for the next three days."
"We encourage all students to experience it with caution during this period. We believe it will be a meaningful life experience."
At the same time, Symon finally cleared his muddled head and asked, "What did that broadcast just say?"
It had to be said, "One Hundred Years of Solitude" was a very good book, carrying a strange sense of fatalism within its absurdity—the only problem was that it was incomprehensible.
Hiyori Shiina tilted her head in thought for a moment before saying softly, "In Mr. Ghost's words—the school is preparing a special exam in three days, and we can get a preview of its content in the Card and Game Room."
Saying this, the girl closed the book in her lap, fumbled under the covers for her personal terminal, and opened the class chatroom to take a look:
"Satoru Kaneda: Same kind of hint as before the uninhabited island exam. The location is the Card and Game Room?"
"Minori Kinoshita: Here it comes, this is Hiyori's specialty!"
"Miko Takaratori: But... Hiyori doesn't usually go out at night, right? She's never even come to a victory party."
"Daichi Ishizaki: Can't be helped, right? I can't imagine her at a karaoke place or a bar. Boss Ryūen doesn't let us invite her either."
"Kakeru Ryūen: Ishizaki, you talk too much."
"..."
— The message pop-ups came to an abrupt halt.
"Kakeru Ryūen: @Mio Ibuki, go get her. That woman probably won't go to a place like that on her own."
"Mio Ibuki: You're really good at ordering people around."
Having read up to this point, Hiyori Shiina glanced down at her current state: her chest half-exposed, jade-like legs sprawled out, skin clearly visible beneath the lace nightgown...
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—In short, not a state to be seen by outsiders.
After confirming this, Hiyori Shiina immediately got up, conferred with Symon, and changed into the red and white tracksuit she wore during the uninhabited island exam.
Just as the girl finished getting ready, Ibuki knocked on the door right on cue.
After the two greeted each other, Ibuki looked at the girl's attire with some surprise and said, "I thought you would have dressed more elegantly."
"Last time was just a special occasion," Hiyori Shiina replied with a smile, without explaining further.
Making small talk, the two took the elevator to the 7th floor and entered the Card and Game Room, which had just recently opened.
Following the girl's perspective, Symon took a brief look around the so-called "Card and Game Room":
Though called a Card and Game Room, it was more like a massive onboard casino. The casino was enormous, occupying almost an entire floor, and decorated in a lavish European style.
The golden lighting seemed specially adjusted to create an atmosphere of decadent luxury.
In the center of the casino hall, dealers waited by the gambling tables, while the edges were lined with machines like slot machines and coin pushers.
Perhaps due to their experience with the last two special exams, students began to arrive one after another after hearing the broadcast. One could hear students asking questions at the front desk:
Haruki Yamauchi scratched his head. "This is great! Can we play for free here? I wonder if we can take home any winnings."
"If you wish to play, sir, you can exchange points for chips or tokens," the beautiful female staff member at the front desk said with a charming smile, adding, "However, the drinks and food here are still complimentary. If you need anything, there will be attendants waiting nearby."
Kanji Ike let out a wail. "No way! But I only have the twenty thousand points I just got this month."
The beautiful attendant showed a sincere smile. "The chip denominations are 1,000, 10,000, 100,000, or higher. Would you like to exchange some now, sir?"
As she spoke, the beautiful attendant took out two stacks, a total of twenty red chips stacked together.
Seeing this, Kanji Ike scratched his head, took out his personal terminal, and said casually, "Alright, I'll exchange them for chips then. I can always change them back if I don't play, right?"
"Of course, you can cash out at any time."
The beautiful attendant replied with a smile, as if she had said those words countless times before, and watched quietly as he paid the points and took all the chips.
"Hey, lady~" Kōenji stepped forward, leaning one hand on the counter, a brilliant smile on his face. "Do you accept cash payments?"
"I'm sorry, but as per your school's request, we are not accepting cash payments at this time."
Kōenji wasn't surprised to hear this. He took out his personal terminal, showed the balance, and said, "One million."
Ignoring the gasps from the other students, the beautiful attendant's smile remained unchanged. She took out a chip case and filled it with 8 yellow, 18 black, and 20 red chips—a total of four stacks—and presented it with both hands, explaining, "Red is 1,000, black is 10,000, and yellow is 100,000. Please don't forget, sir."
Kōenji took it casually, picked up a yellow chip, flicked it high into the air, and it landed precisely in the beautiful attendant's ample cleavage.
"Thank you. That's your reward."
The beautiful attendant placed a hand on her chest and gave a slightly flirtatious wink. "Thank you for your generosity. Do you require service, sir?"
"Gulp"—Some boy couldn't help but swallow his saliva.
"No. Someone as beautiful as I does not need the foil of a green leaf." Kōenji smoothed his hair with one hand, casually refusing.
A confident smile appeared on his face as he carried the chip case towards the main hall.
The smile on the beautiful attendant's face froze instantly, probably for the first time being rejected for such a reason.
Symon pretended to be serious and joked inwardly, "Ahem~ Hiyori, I think we should find one of the young ladies to help carry trays for us later."
Hiyori replied gently in her mind, "If Mr. Ghost wants, I can do it too~"
Symon: "..."
The corners of Hiyori's mouth curled up almost imperceptibly—saying something like that, he must have wanted to hear her respond this way, right?
While she was thinking this, Ibuki brought her to the front desk, took out her personal terminal, and exchanged 10,000 points for chips. After a moment's thought, she placed one chip in Hiyori's hand and asked tentatively, "This should be enough, right?"
Having personally witnessed Hiyori make half the girls in their class cry from losing to her, she had plenty of confidence in the girl's luck.
"Thank you," Hiyori said with a smile as she accepted it, simultaneously asking in her mind, "Does Mr. Ghost want to play?"
"Don't. I've always kept a respectful distance from gambling."
"But... isn't Mr. Ghost very good at mahjong?"
"How is that the same thing?" Symon grumbled under his breath. "You can have fun playing mahjong even without stakes, okay?"
Although playing it often made his blood pressure skyrocket.
Since he said that, Hiyori Shiina didn't press the matter and followed Ibuki into the main hall.
In the main hall, most of the students were already seated at the card tables. A quick glance revealed that not a single table had started a game yet; only at some of the full tables were dealers in tuxedos explaining the rules.
Just as the girls were about to look for an empty seat, at a table with only one person, Rokusuke Kōenji—who was sitting with his arms crossed, eyes closed, and legs crossed—suddenly called out to them. "Shiina Girl, care to sit down?"
Hiyori glanced at the million points worth of chips in front of him, thought for a moment, and shook her head. "I'm sorry, I don't have that many chips..."
"Hmph~ If I can spend a few chips to avoid playing a boring game with boring people, I don't mind spending a bit more."
Saying this, Kōenji opened his eyes, a confident smile on his face. He uncrossed his legs, took one red and one black chip from his case, then added four yellow ones to make a total of 500,000, pushed them forward, and invited, "Please, have a seat."
"No, if that's all it is, the chips won't be necessary."
Hiyori Shiina shook her head with a smile, found a seat with Ibuki, and placed the single chip she had on the table.
At the same time, two more people arrived at the table. Kanzaki casually pulled out a chair for Ichinose beside him, then sat down next to Kōenji. He pushed the 500,000 in chips back and said in a calm tone, "Long time no see, Kōenji."
Kōenji raised an eyebrow, a smile forming on his lips. Just as he was about to greet them, three more people approached the table: Katsuragi pulled out a chair, with Yahiko right behind him.
Ryūen propped his feet up on the table, glanced around at everyone, and sneered, "Heh, looks like everyone's here. Too bad Class D probably doesn't have the points to join the party."
Watching the eight-person table fill up in an instant, Symon couldn't help but quip inwardly, "Hmm... looks like this 'Beautiful Boy's' charisma is still a tiny bit less than mine."
Hiyori Shiina smiled without a word.
...
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