Although Mikura was very disgusted by Ayanokoji's actions, she was very willing to cooperate with Ayanokoji.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's words convinced her—she and Ayanokoji had the same goal: they both wanted Saotome Meari to lose.
As for the reason, Mikura refused to tell Ayanokoji no matter what.
After discussing the details, the two returned to the Literary Club's casino.
At this time, Saotome Meari was already sitting upright in the seat she had taken before. Ayanokoji and Mikura exchanged glances and sat down in the Dealer's position.
The game rules were still the same as before, with the Dealer Mikura throwing the dice.
When the dice landed on one, two, or three, it was considered "Down"; four, five, or six were considered "Up," abbreviated as D and U.
Mikura took out two slips of paper and two pens from her pocket and handed them to Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and Saotome Meari. They both needed to guess the results of three consecutive dice rolls, abbreviated as three letters.
They needed to write their guesses on the paper and then hand them to the Dealer Mikura. She would continuously throw the dice until the side whose guessed result appeared first won.
Before writing, Ayanokoji deliberately coughed, making sure Saotome heard him.
"Saotome, don't blame me for not giving you a chance. As long as it's for victory, you can use any method you want, I won't stop you."
Saotome's hand, which was about to write, hesitated. She looked up at Ayanokoji Kiyotaka in surprise.
Saotome had once told Ayanokoji that she had a way to increase her winning rate, which was to use nail polish remover to smudge over the original answer and then pour water on it at the right time. That way, a different answer would appear.
No matter which of the two arrangements appeared, she would be able to win.
She had originally intended to gamble fairly with Ayanokoji in this game, but Ayanokoji suddenly said this.
Could it be… was Ayanokoji hinting at her, telling her to use the nail polish remover?
With this premise, Saotome also roughly guessed what Ayanokoji had discussed with Mikura when he went out; it was nothing more than hoping she could help Ayanokoji cheat.
Mikura's cheating method was to look at her own answer and then swap for a card that could counter it.
If the card in her hand was DUU, then Mikura would swap Ayanokoji's card to DDU, making Ayanokoji's card appear earlier than Saotome Meari's.
But now that she knew Mikura would cheat, she could deliberately write one answer, and then use nail polish remover to write an answer that countered the opponent. This way, her winning rate could be greatly increased.
If they gambled normally, both their winning rates would only be fifty-fifty.
But with both sides cheating, Saotome Meari believed her winning rate could reach seventy percent.
Could it be… Ayanokoji intentionally wanted to give her a victory?
Just like suddenly receiving a surprise gift on her birthday, Saotome Meari's heart felt sweet.
To hide the smile on her lips, she quickly lowered her head, pretending to be hesitating and thinking.
He didn't want her to borrow money to gamble, but at this moment, he wanted to give her a victory in this way.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka is really good to her, he… couldn't possibly like her, could he?
A bold thought appeared in Saotome Meari's mind.
But soon, she quickly dismissed the idea, secretly warning herself.
Meari, Meari, don't be an overconfident girl. He's a rich second-generation, how could he possibly be interested in a poor girl like you?
Maybe he saw you as pitiful and, as a friend, kindly did this. You absolutely must not misunderstand!
But… what if?
What if he really likes her, which is why he cares so much about her…
Saotome Meari's heart was in turmoil; she suddenly became anxious about gains and losses.
Mikura, as the Dealer, seeing Saotome not writing the answer for a long time, clicked her tongue impatiently and urged, "Saotome, can you hurry up? Don't waste any more time."
"Okay… I'll write it now!" Saotome broke free from her fantasy and quickly responded.
They are still in the middle of a gamble. Don't think about so many irrelevant things. The priority is to win this game.
This is a chance Ayanokoji Kiyotaka specifically gave her; she must seize it!
Saotome quickly wrote down the answer on her slip of paper. Then, she secretly took out the nail polish remover, turned her body so Mikura couldn't see, and stealthily covered and smudged a few strokes on it.
She lingered for a while, and only when the nail polish remover was almost dry did she hand the paper to Saotome.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, on the other hand, had already written his answer and handed it to Mikura.
However, it didn't really matter what he wrote; Mikura would swap his card as agreed.
Mikura impatiently took Saotome's slip of paper. Seeing the answer written on it, she froze for a moment.
What was Saotome Meari thinking, writing [UUU]?
Didn't Saotome Meari know that the expected number of throws for three consecutive ups is 14?
She had previously written combinations with an expectation of 8, so why was she slacking off this time?
Mikura thought she had misread, rubbed her eyes, and looked again. No matter how she looked at it, it was [UUU]. Although there were some water stains on it, it didn't affect readability.
Maybe Saotome wanted to give up…
Mikura didn't delve into why Saotome wrote it that way. She secretly swapped Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's card with one from her sleeve, changing it to [DUU], which could counter Saotome.
As long as their luck wasn't too bad, this card would definitely appear before Saotome's answer.
"Both sides' cards have been confirmed. I will begin throwing."
Mikura lightly coughed, took out the dice from her pocket, and began throwing under everyone's gaze.
"The first round is… Down."
"The second round is… Up."
"The third round is… Down."
Watching Mikura's throws, Saotome's emotions gradually grew anxious.
She couldn't wait any longer… she had to act.
Saotome Meari's gaze fell on her answer card not far from her.
Saotome pretended to be thirsty and very naturally took out her somewhat plain-looking water cup from her backpack.
She secretly glanced at Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, noticed that Ayanokoji's gaze was on her water cup, her face flushed, and she quickly tilted her head back to drink some water.
It seemed Ayanokoji already understood what she was going to do, but he didn't stop her.
Indeed… he was on her side.
Even though she was drinking plain water, Saotome felt a sweet taste from it.
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