"Even a good hand can be played terribly." Togakushi Yukimi looked at Hanatemari Kazura, her voice full of regret: "Hanatemari, I'm not trying to be mean, but you really aren't suited for card games."
The two peasants started infighting again.
"You're talking about me, but several times my cards were pretty good, and it was all because you didn't cooperate with me properly!" Hanatemari Kazura retorted, unwilling to be outdone.
Hanatemari also had a reason to say that. Who was her teammate before? Saotome Meari.
Who is her teammate now? Togakushi Yukimi? Can she win by teaming up with her?
No, she doesn't have that ability, you know?
Playing recklessly, starting to go wild when getting a good hand, not caring about her teammate's cards at all, Hanatemari couldn't even cooperate with her.
"Alright, don't blame each other." In Ayanokoji's eyes, the two of them were just calling the kettle black, their card skills unbelievably bad.
Except for the first few games where Saotome lost because she wasn't familiar with the rules, later on, as long as her cards weren't too bad, she basically had a seventy percent win rate just by being her teammate.
Saotome's mathematical talent was fully displayed in this game; she was like a human card counter, basically able to figure out what cards the two opponents had with just a glance.
Of course, this was also due to the two opponents playing too straightforwardly.
Saotome's gambling talent was truly strong; Ayanokoji even admired it a bit.
"How about it, Meari, isn't this game pretty good?" Ayanokoji asked Meari with a smile.
"It's not just good, it's super great!" Saotome Meari didn't hold back her praise, lavishly commending Ayanokoji: "This game will definitely become a worldwide phenomenon, just like Texas Hold'em!"
It's not that simple to conceive a new game. Saotome's Three-Color Dice, rather than being a new game, was more of an evolution of rock-paper-scissors.
But Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's game, called Landlord, is different from all other games on the market, highly tactical and playable.
Even with a bad hand, as long as one plans and operates reasonably, there is still a chance to win.
Even without gambling money, Saotome Meari felt a great sense of accomplishment when she turned a bad hand into a win.
Saotome hesitated for a moment, then voiced her concern: "It's just… although this game is great, it still won't work if it's to be a casino game."
"Why?" Ayanokoji asked.
"While luck is important in this game, if you have a good hand but don't have a good brain, you won't be able to win the game."
Saotome explained:
"Other gambling games are 90% luck and 10% skill, but this game is 60% luck and 40% skill."
"Togakushi Yukimi and Hanatemari Kazura aren't very skilled at gambling, so it would be difficult for them to win in this strategy-focused game. Even if this game is very interesting and can attract many customers, we won't be able to win games or make money."
Saotome Meari spoke frankly.
Togakushi Yukimi was very displeased about this: "You can talk about Hanatemari, but my gambling skills are super great, aren't they! It's just that my luck is a bit bad!"
"Not only are your cards bad, but you also don't like to cooperate, so the chances of winning with you on a team are too small!" Hanatemari Kazura also snorted.
Seeing the two about to quarrel again, Meari shrugged helplessly: "That's how it is, I can't do it alone."
Meari felt a little guilty. The game's mechanics were very mature, and Ayanokoji had probably been conceptualizing it for a long time, yet she had just rejected it like this…
But to Meari's surprise, Ayanokoji actually nodded in agreement with her words: "Meari, you're right. In the game of Landlord, anyone can win, and it's indeed difficult to make money by relying on gambling. But…"
Ayanokoji changed his tone: "Who told you I was going to let you play this game to make money?"
"What do you mean?" Saotome blinked, stunned.
Ayanokoji smiled: "It's simple. The purpose of opening a casino is to be the house, and then play a game that is advantageous to the house, so that the casino can make money. But don't forget, besides the house, there are others who can make money."
Hanatemari and Togakushi Yukimi looked confused, but Meari, after thinking for a while, understood: "You mean… the Student Council?"
Ayanokoji smiled and clapped his hands: "That's right. Gambling is uncertain; no matter how skilled one's card playing is, there's always a possibility of failure. Only the house and the Student Council, who collect venue fees, can consistently and steadily make money.
We don't need to be the house for the game of Landlord. What we need to do is provide a platform for others to play Landlord, and then 'tax' from this game."
"Tax…?" For the word "tax," Saotome Meari and the others were not unfamiliar.
Eating requires taxes, buying things requires taxes, smoking and alcohol all require taxes. For a country, taxation is an important source of income.
They just didn't understand what Ayanokoji Kiyotaka meant by this.
"Other casinos in this school all act as the house themselves, then gamble with customers, earning money from them through gambling.
But we don't need to do that. We only need to provide a platform for others to play Landlord. For those who gamble here, the winner of each game needs to pay one-twentieth of the venue fee and service charge."
"Ten thousand Yen is five hundred Yen in venue fees, one hundred thousand Yen is five thousand, one million Yen is fifty thousand…"
Saotome Meari quickly calculated: "This is indeed good. Generally speaking, the winner won't care about paying this one-twentieth fee. As long as many people play, we can still make money…"
"However, this game can be played anywhere, right?" Saotome Meari raised a question: "Why do you think others will come to gamble here?"
"Meari, first, let me ask you, do you think this game can become popular?" Ayanokoji asked.
"It definitely can." Saotome was very confident about this.
"The quality of this game is very high. As long as the game rules are published, people will definitely be interested and play it."
"That's enough."
Ayanokoji snapped his fingers.
"This morning, I asked a classmate if someone came up with an original game and it was copied by others, could they pursue it? His answer was yes."
"It can indeed be pursued."
Togakushi Yukimi, who had been in this school the longest, nodded in agreement: "When you create a new game, you can report it to the Student Council, which counts as applying for a 'private patent,' and can prevent other casinos from using this game to make money."
She paused and then added: "But… this rule doesn't apply to old games, and if people play privately, it can't be pursued. Is this really okay?"
Ayanokoji's lips curved into a smile: "This is exactly what I want to see—to start a Landlord craze in this school."
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