"You won how much from him? Let's play for double."
Haruto pointed to the Shuchiin student in the corner.
Upon hearing this, the sinister young man's expression darkened. He realized that the boy before him was no mere prey, he was the hunter.
However, the young man remained confident in himself.
"He's lost a total of 1.7 billion yen since he started gambling here, including his debts."
As he spoke, the sinister young man carefully observed Haruto's expression.
1.7 billion yen was a massive sum, even for someone as wealthy as Sumeragi Family. However, the reaction he had anticipated—shock or hesitation—never came.
Haruto remained as indifferent as ever.
"Then that makes it 3.4 billion. You're playing mahjong, right? Let's set the base at 10,000 points."
Haruto spoke casually.
Hearing this, the sinister young man sneered.
"I thought you had guts, but a mere 10,000-point base? That's—"
Before he could finish, Haruto interrupted:
"A 1,000-point base, with each point worth 10,000 yen in final settlement."
The moment those words landed, the young man's expression changed drastically, his face filled with shock.
Kaguya and the other two girls huddled around Itsuki, asking about the rules.
They had never played mahjong or gambled before, so they had no clue what the two were talking about.
Itsuki patiently explained,
"Japanese mahjong has a points-based system, with a base score set per round."
"Depending on the type of winning hand, different multipliers—called 'han'—apply to the base score."
"For example, a Yakuman hand like 'Nine Gates' or 'Thirteen Orphans' is worth 88 han, meaning the base score of 1,000 points is multiplied by 88."
"The result is 88,000 points, and with each point worth 10,000 yen, that's 880 million yen in a single round."
"A full game consists of East 1 to East 4 rounds, making up one-fourth of a full set, usually played as a half-set or a full-set game."
After hearing this, the three girls were stunned.
Even though they came from wealthy families, the idea of losing 8 billion yen in a single game was beyond comprehension.
This level of gambling was terrifying.
However, Itsuki was thrilled.
Because she knew; Haruto could never lose, no matter who he played against.
The sinister young man's face twisted as he hesitated.
This kind of game was pure madness.
But then his gaze drifted toward the mahjong tiles on the table. And to his two companions beside him. Perhaps retreating now would be too humiliating.
Gritting his teeth, he sneered and said,
"Fine! We'll do it your way!"
Iino instinctively reached out to stop Haruto.
From her perspective, he was risking everything in a reckless gamble.
Her concern for the Shuchiin student's situation showed her strong sense of justice. Naturally, she couldn't just stand by and let Haruto ruin himself.
But Itsuki held her back.
Iino anxiously looked to Kaguya for help.
However, even Kaguya showed no intention of stopping Haruto. That alone made Miko feel utterly bewildered.
Despite her worry, with Itsuki preventing her from interfering, the game began.
The mahjong set was already on the table, so after shuffling the tiles, they were stacked into the tile wall.
The sinister young man glanced at the tiles, sneering inwardly.
This entire place was his setup—a trap designed to ensnare the Shuchiin student.
How could he not have prepared something?
On the surface, these mahjong tiles looked completely ordinary.
But in reality, they all had subtle markings on their backs.
It was a trick called "marking the tiles."
Also known as "cold sweat" or "tile sweating," this technique involved making tiny, almost imperceptible marks on the tiles.
The sinister young man had been frequenting casinos for years and had learned a few tricks himself.
Memorizing tiles and marking them was just basic skill.
To him, this mahjong set was completely transparent—as if playing with open tiles. And in this game, three of the four players were his own people.
With an advantage like that, how could he possibly lose?
As the tile wall was set up, the game was about to begin.
To ensure victory, the young man even used an advanced technique...
A move known as the "Swallow Cut."
This allowed him to secretly manipulate the tiles while drawing them, ensuring he got the exact hands he wanted.
To do this, he needed insane speed and precise control while drawing tiles. Otherwise, if the tile wall shifted even slightly, someone would notice.
It took him nine years to master this move.
Looking at his drawn hand, the sinister young man smirked.
All of his tiles were in the "Manzu" suit.
A clean sweep of the same suit, his victory was nearly guaranteed.
And he was just a few draws away from winning.
Rubbing his hands, the sinister young man could hardly wait.
Meanwhile, the girls gathered around Haruto, curious to see his hand.
However, they were confused when they saw Haruto simply place his tiles face down on the table.
Itsuki was extremely curious, what kind of monstrous hand had Haruto drawn?
From her understanding of Haruto, he never played things step by step—he always went straight for the win.
The draw phase ended, and the game began.
Just as the sinister young man was about to make his move—
"Kan."
Haruto interrupted him and set four face-down tiles aside.
Since it was an "Ankan" (closed Kan), he didn't need to reveal the tiles unless challenged. If it was a false Kan, however, it would count as a misplay.
The sinister young man frowned and looked at Haruto's tiles.
But when he saw them, his entire body stiffened, and his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
Haruto calmly drew a tile and flipped the dora indicator.
The dora indicator system in Japanese mahjong reveals bonus tiles that increase hand value exponentially.
The flipped tile—was North Wind.
"Kan."
Haruto declared another Kan.
The new dora indicator—was South Wind.
"Kan."
The next dora indicator—North Wind.
"Kan."
The next dora indicator—South Wind.
After four Kans, Haruto had only two tiles left in his hand.
"Ron."
He flipped over two Green Dragons.
At that moment, the sinister young man felt his throat tighten.
He couldn't even scream.
The four visible dora indicators revealed four hidden dora indicators, another set of North and South Winds.
Haruto then turned over his four closed Kans—
East Wind, West Wind, Red Dragon, and White Dragon.
Every single tile was a dora.
And not just one, but repeated doras.
"Self-draw, All Honors, Little Three Dragons, Four Concealed Triplets, Four Concealed Kans, Fully Concealed Hand, Dora x32."
"Seven Yakuman. 101 Han."
Haruto declared his winning hand.
In Japanese mahjong, the highest-scoring hands were considered Yakuman, like Nine Gates and Thirteen Orphans.
But with the dora system, this theoretical maximum hand, had now appeared on the table.
With a base of 1,000 points and 101 Han, the other three players owed 101,000 points each.
At 10,000 yen per point—
That was 10.1 billion yen.
The sheer absurdity of it left even passersby stunned.
A loud thud.
The sinister young man collapsed onto his chair, then fell backward onto the ground.
He was so shaken that he didn't even feel pain. Crawling onto the table, he stared at Haruto's hand with disbelief.
"There's no way…! You cheated! You must've cheated!"
Haruto merely smirked.
Picking up a random tile, he pointed at a corner.
"This tile—you recognize it, don't you? And that pathetic sleight-of-hand trick of yours. This game, the tiles were yours, the players were yours, even the casino was yours. What are you whining about?"
"If you set a trap for someone, you'd better be ready to be caught in one yourself."
The sinister young man completely broke down.
------------
T/N:
Yeah hehh, I don't know shit about mahjong.