Ten minutes later, in the Class C chat room:
『Kakeru Ryūen: @Mio Ibuki, stop taking that Shiina woman to the movies from now on.』
『Mio Ibuki: Hah?! What does that have to do with you?』
『Hiyori Shiina: What is the matter?』
『Kakeru Ryūen: The facts have proven that none of the casino dealers know any cheating tricks. They say the pit bosses and managers do, but this exam has nothing to do with them.』
『Hiyori Shiina: I have learned some useless knowledge. Did you gain anything?』
『Kakeru Ryūen: Image.jpg』
『Kakeru Ryūen: Casino internal supply, a hidden micro-grain Bluetooth earpiece. Just wear this necklace and put the steel bead inside your ear. It can be used as a normal earphone.』
Symon clicked on the image to take a look; it was a small red cloth pouch with a black string tied to it. Beside it was a small cylindrical magnet with several tiny steel beads attached to it—presumably the so-called rice-grain earpieces.
Before he could reply, inside the hall, Mashima-sensei checked the time, frowned, raised the large megaphone in his hand, and announced loudly: "Class C's Ryūen-student, please take your seat as soon as possible."
"I'm here."
As the voice fell, Ryūen walked over from the service area, swaggering with a plate of steak in one hand and a fork in the other, casually remarking: "You don't even give us lunch time?"
Mashima-sensei's expression remained unchanged: "There is no need to worry about that point; we have made corresponding preparations. Please sit down quickly, everyone is waiting for you."
Ryūen raised an eyebrow, glanced at the twenty-odd people in the venue who were all looking his way, gave a cold sneer, and swaggered over to Table 11, pulling out the chair to sit.
Nearby, Kōenji, who was admiring himself in a small hand mirror, heard the commotion. He lifted his eyes to sweep a glance at him, his gaze lingering for a split second on the black string hanging around Ryūen's neck before quickly withdrawing it.
At Table 6, Kiyotaka Ayanokōji withdrew his gaze. He checked the two cards the dealer had dealt into his hand, and after a brief contemplation, he held the back of the cards with his thumb and tossed them to the dealer, choosing to fold.
At Table 16, Kanzaki finished looking at his hand. His fingernail tapped on the edge of the cards, seemingly unintentionally. After thinking for a long while, he also chose to fold.
At Table 1, taking advantage of the moment everyone was checking their cards, Symon raised his eyes to look at the others at the table—the expressionless Kōhei Katsuragi, the cold-faced Suzune Horikita, and the brightly smiling Honami Ichinose and Kikyō Kushida.
"Hiss~! This is a high-end lobby!"
"My, if Mr. Ghost doesn't like it, I can take over~" Hiyori Shiina responded with a smile.
For this somewhat "socially anxious" ghost, this grouping was indeed a bit unfriendly. Whether it was Ichinose or Kushida, such "passionate" girls were types Symon was not very good at dealing with. Added to that were the deliberately stone-faced Horikita and Katsuragi; it was truly making things difficult for him.
Saying so, the girl took over control of the body. After looking at her hand, she casually placed a chip worth ten thousand points onto the poker table.
As a side note, in this second round of the exam, everyone's chips consisted of 20 red, 18 black, and 3 yellow, totaling 41 chips and a combined value of 500,000 points. The minimum bet had also been raised from 2,000 to 10,000, corresponding exactly to the increase in point value.
Meanwhile—
Inside a certain girls' dormitory on the fourth floor, Mio Ibuki crossed her arms, watching the broadcast on the internet TV with a calm face, while chat messages popped up incessantly on the personal terminal in her hand.
Beside her, her roommates Nishino and Minori were each hugging a bucket of popcorn, crunching away while spamming the chat room:
『Kyōgo Komiya: I knew the casino wouldn't be that clean. This TV broadcast shows the players' hands clearly as day; they can't hide anything. And where is this ultra-low angle camera located?』
『Shiho Manabe: Are you an idiot? This angle is obviously from the edge of the poker table.』
『Reo Kondō: Should we go ask the casino for a refund together? That slot machine is definitely shady. I searched online, 'that thing can control winnings remotely,' maybe our jackpot was tampered with!』
『Daichi Ishizaki: Damn it! I'm never gambling again!』
『Hiroya Tokitō: You seemed to say the same thing last time. Also, aren't you supposed to be reporting cards to Ryūen? How do you have time to come here and chat?』
『Daichi Ishizaki: Oh, Ryūen-aniki thought I was unreliable, so he had Albert do it.』
『Saki Yamashita: Stop bragging, look at Hiyori quickly! She's already won two rounds! 200,000 points! Who else!!! Hiyori-chan is supreme!!!』
Seeing this, Minori turned her head to look at Ibuki beside her. Seeing that she still maintained an expressionless demeanor, she nudged Ibuki's right arm with her elbow, teasing with a smile: "Your Hiyori-chan won, why don't you look happy at all?"
Ibuki was stunned for a moment. She picked up the canned ice cola on the table, cracked open the tab with a pssh, and after taking a gulp, spoke somewhat speechlessly: "It is only natural for Hiyori to win. It's just that the point difference is so large now, I'm somewhat worried about what comes next..."
"What is there to worry about? With Ryūen and Hiyori there, as long as we win the second and third rounds—9 million points—we'll directly reverse to first place. By then, we will be Class A, hehe~!" Minori Kinoshita stood with her hands on her hips, laughing foolishly.
Ibuki rolled her eyes at her. Pointing her finger at the four tables on the screen, she hesitated for a moment before frowning: "Table 2's Kiyotaka Ayanokōji, Table 3's Kōenji, Table 4's Kanzaki."
"Ma, ma~" Minori waved her hand indifferently, speaking with full confidence: "It doesn't matter, they're all going to be our defeated opponents anyway."
"No," Ibuki pointed at the screen, turning her head to speak seriously: "What I mean is—they have already folded three rounds in a row... now it's four rounds."
Nishino frowned, interjecting from the side: "Are you trying to say: they might have some backup plan?"
"I don't know. I just feel it's a bit abnormal." Ibuki withdrew her hand, crossed her arms, and leaned back on the sofa, choosing to watch coldly from the sidelines.
In any case, she couldn't help right now. Apart from thinking blindly here, there was no good way to influence the situation in the match.
Minori Kinoshita: "Could it be that after staying with Hiyori for a long time, you actually grew a brain?"
"First of all, let me state: my academic grades have always been better than yours."
The screen returned to the casino—
Approximately twenty minutes into the game, the dealers successively dealt the eighth round of hands to the students, while simultaneously announcing: "Changing decks next round."
Hiyori Shiina placed another ten thousand chip on the poker table. She glanced at the few people on the table whose expressions were gradually becoming unable to hold up, then turned to look at the other tables, speaking softly in her heart: "I wonder what the situation is at the other tables..."
"Hiyori, go easy on them..."