Ayanokoji Kiyotaka thought so too at first, until he drew a second Ankan, and then a third Ankan.
"Ankan."
"Ankan."
Two consecutive Ankans, four Red Dragons and four Norths were neatly placed to Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's right. Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's hand now only consisted of three Two Pins and one Hatsu.
Everyone's attention now had to shift to Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's hand.
"Ayanokoji, your luck this hand is so good…" Kurume was a bit envious. If these three Ankans were her hand, she might have been able to win against Saotome.
San Ankou plus San Kantsu, this hand is truly wasted on Ayanokoji Kiyotaka…
Everyone thought Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's hand was limited to this, until Ayanokoji Kiyotaka once again uttered a casual "Ankan."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka placed the four Two Pins on his right side. Now he only had one Hatsu left in his hand.
At this, everyone could no longer remain calm. Even Hanatemari Kazura had a look of surprise, her sleepiness completely gone.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka now had Yon Kantsu and Yon Ankou. If Ayanokoji Kiyotaka won, it would be Yon Ankou Tanki.
Kurume looked at Ayanokoji's hand with an expression as if she were looking at a god.
"This hand is already a Yakuman, and it's a triple Yakuman…"
Kurume had played this game for so long and had never won such a big hand.
Is that so?
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was stunned for a moment. He had originally thought his hand would be at most a Yakuman, but looking at Kurume and the others, it seemed like he could earn even more?
"If I win, how many points can I earn this hand?"
Saotome Meari hesitated and said: "The maximum should be one hundred and forty-four thousand points…"
One hundred and forty thousand points?
The person with the most points in their hand right now was Saotome Meari, and she only had a little over one hundred thousand points in total.
If she "dealt into" Ayanokoji, she would instantly fall from the top to the bottom.
Now everyone was on alert, watching to see who would deal into this astonishingly large hand.
Saotome Meari quickly scanned the tiles on the table. Looking at Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, he seemed to have been Tenpai for a while, which meant the tile he wanted hadn't appeared yet.
Manzu, Pinzu, Souzu, Three Yuan Piles, Wind tiles…
There were still over a dozen tiles on the table that hadn't appeared. The tile Ayanokoji Kiyotaka wanted should be among these tiles. As long as they played safe tiles, they shouldn't deal into it.
Not only Saotome, but the other two also thought of this.
And so, Hanatemari and Kurume began to break up their hand shapes, not caring if they could complete them or not—success was simply not dealing into it.
However, Saotome couldn't do this—because she had declared "Riichi."
This was the disadvantage of Riichi. While it ensured that there would be a Yaku in the hand, at this moment, no matter what tile she drew, she had to discard it.
Saotome discarded tiles that weren't on the table twice in a row, and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka didn't win. There were less than ten tiles left in the draw pile.
She had secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but the next second, she drew a [Hatsu].
This "Hatsu" was vividly green. Saotome Meari's fingers trembled. She had a premonition that the tile Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was missing might be this one.
But now, she had no choice but to discard it.
"…Hatsu."
Saotome's voice trembled as she subconsciously placed the tile in front of her, as if she would immediately take it back if the situation turned sour.
Kurume's eyes lit up, and she shouted: "Pon!"
This sound was so crisp and pleasant to Saotome's ears; she was almost intoxicated by it.
But the next moment, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's voice rang out.
"Wait, I've won."
Ayanokoji's voice was calm, but to Saotome, it was like a death knell from hell.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka pushed his last tile, and it was indeed a "Hatsu."
Four Ankans plus two Hatsu.
[Yon Kantsu plus Yon Ankou Tanki, Triple Yakuman, 144,000 points.]
This green Hatsu tile filled Saotome's retina.
Her mind was having trouble processing it.
What the hell?
She had been defending flawlessly all night, dealing into hands very rarely, and steadily increasing her points.
She had already opened champagne to celebrate, but how, in one round, was her champagne snatched away, and she herself became a prisoner in a single round?
Is this real? It can't be a joke, can it…
Saotome subconsciously wanted to escape, but unfortunately, Kurume's words dragged her back to reality.
"Saotome, your points aren't enough to pay for this hand. You're in debt by over forty thousand points. If you want to keep playing, you'll have to take off five pieces of clothing…" Kurume looked at Saotome playfully.
Saotome was currently wearing a sleeveless shirt and a short skirt. She now needed to take off five pieces of clothing, which meant, even including her pair of socks, she would have to take off one piece of her underwear.
Either the top, or…
"Meari…"
Hanatemari looked at Saotome worriedly. Although she wasn't wearing many clothes herself, at least she could still cover her body, and even if she took off one more piece, she would still have one piece of underwear.
But Saotome now had to take off five pieces of clothing, leaving her with only one…
Kurume's face showed a mischievous smile, her hands clasped under her chin: "Either take off your clothes and gamble on that last game, hoping you can make a big hand and surpass Hanatemari, or you surrender now… Which do you choose?"
Even if she could win the last game and make a big hand to surpass Hanatemari, the person who would ultimately face the punishment would still be Hanatemari.
This "Strip Mahjong" she organized would not only fail to help Hanatemari, but would instead further draw her closer to Ayanokoji…
This was not what Saotome Meari wanted to see... Moreover, Saotome did not believe she had such luck.
"…I surrender."
Saotome Meari lowered her head, admitting defeat unwillingly.
Having lost to Ayanokoji Kiyotaka yet again, Saotome Meari couldn't help but wonder if Ayanokoji was her nemesis. Why did he always pull her down from the throne of victory just when she was certain of winning?
The moment Saotome surrendered, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's card pool automatically began to operate.
To Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's surprise, this draw was another purple light—an SR item!
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka became excited. He hadn't expected to draw an SR without a guaranteed pull!
On this purple item card was a white, fluffy object.
[SR: Luck Rabbit Foot]
[The Luck Rabbit Foot is often considered a symbol of good fortune in Western countries. Due to the rabbit's extraordinary reproductive ability, it also represents fertility and harvest, existing as a cultural totem.]
[Can slightly increase luck.]
[Can be given as a gift to a lover; ineffective for the host themselves.]
[If you wish, you may rely on the Luck Rabbit Foot, but remember... it doesn't work for the rabbit itself.]
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