[566] The Start of War (2)
"Aha, so that's it, huh?"
Amy lifted her chin and took the spotlight with swagger, sliding into the seat beside Shirone and crossing her legs.
"Good. From now on I'm joining the Scramble Royal. Rankings mean nothing — I'll make sure none of you can go to school."
"That's what we wanted."
Hershi answered with a smile, but he couldn't hide the sourness in his expression.
"Amy…"
Seeing Shirone staring blankly, Amy ground her teeth and hissed.
"We'll settle this afterward. Be ready."
"Okay, got it."
Just Amy's arrival felt like an army arriving.
With all twelve participants gathered, Hershi produced the Judge.
"First, let's decide the duel format."
Rules take effect the moment they're input into the Judge, so it was crucial to reach a clear agreement beforehand.
"I propose 'Black and White' for the duel."
Nade nodded.
"No objections. But isn't the proposer supposed to explain the rules first?"
It was a bait to see what the others knew; Hershi willingly obliged.
"The Judge was last used seven years ago. After that Scramble Royal, the underground research club 'Strange Taste' was disbanded. All I know is that it summons cards at specific times and places, and you find and contest those cards."
If Nade didn't know anything different, then everyone's information was effectively on equal footing.
"Then let's begin. Who'll activate it?"
Nade offered his hand as if passing the responsibility.
"All right, then…"
When Hershi pressed the Judge's button, a side panel opened and a sheet of paper slid out from below with a pen.
Hershi took the paper and pen, wrote the words Black and White, and showed the sheet to Shirone's team.
"Confirmed."
He slid the paper into the Judge's slit. The device whirred, sucked the paper back in, and a hemispherical lens popped out.
Light sprayed toward the ceiling, and a tiny human woman like a fairy spun into being.
"Hello, students of Alpheas School of Magic. I am Lulu, and I will explain the rules of Black and White."
The Scramble Royal had a thirty-year history; even if it used celestial technology, the craftsmanship of those long-ago seniors was impressive.
"Black and White uses the grounds within Alpheas School of Magic as the battlefield. Spaces not entered into the Judge will not be judged. Unless otherwise agreed, the match period is seven days, and duel hours are daily from noon to midnight."
Lulu held her palm out as if presenting a tray.
"When a Black and White match begins, light orbs equal to the number of participants are generated. These are called scrambles."
A small orb of light hovered above her palm.
'Luminous orbs. Easy to find at night.'
Everyone thought the same as Lulu continued.
"When you collect a scramble, the light disappears and it transforms into a single card."
Lulu squeezed the orb and it became a card densely inscribed with henna-like patterns on both sides.
"This is a pristine-state card, or a pristine card. The important point is that the pristine state lasts only one second by photon-frame standards."
'By photon-frame standards…'
If relativity could be in play, the time wasn't absolute.
"The pristine state matters because only in that state can you choose Black or White. I'll demonstrate. White."
The henna on one face vanished, leaving a clean white surface.
"This is a White card. For the demonstration I've delayed the time, but in reality you must decide within one second."
Iruki asked, "Do you have to say the keyword out loud when choosing Black or White?"
Lulu's animation dimmed.
"...An answerable question has been input. You do not necessarily have to speak the keyword aloud. However, you must be inside the Spirit Zone."
It worked on the same principle as the Cubric — detecting the card-holder's mental state.
"Continuing. If one second passes in the pristine state, it's considered a forfeiture of the Black/White choice and the card automatically converts to a random-state card."
Lulu's white card grayed and a black R appeared in the center.
"This is a Random card. In this state, if you input the keyword 'Open,' you receive either Black or White. I'll show you. Open."
The R faded and the card turned black.
"That covers the basics of handling scrambles. Additionally, multiple scrambles can be collected while in scramble state, but once a card enters pristine state it becomes bound and cannot be transferred."
Shirone's mind was already turning.
'One person can collect multiple scrambles, but they become bound at that moment. The real question is whether you aim for Black or White, or risk Random.'
Amy asked, "How do you verify that transfer is impossible? You could try to exploit loopholes."
"...An answerable question has been input. Next I will explain the 'Master Card.'"
A display-like card edged in red appeared in Lulu's hand.
"At the start of the match, every participant receives a Master Card. It records scramble coordinates, other participants' card statuses, your own card statuses — various information."
If everyone's collected cards were recorded, cheating would be impossible.
"Manage it carefully. If you lose or destroy your Master Card, you'll be disqualified."
Anchal asked, "You could steal and destroy it, right?"
Lulu answered immediately. "That is possible. Scrambles are summoned once every two hours after the match starts. You collect them to form higher-ranked hands to duel with."
Shirone did the math.
'Summoned every two hours. With twelve participants, seventy-two scrambles will be summoned per day.'
In theory, one person could gather all 72 scrambles — assuming the other eleven were all dummies.
"Now that I've explained the general rules, I'll tell you the priority of hands you should collect. In Black and White, the maximum number of cards each person can hold is six. If you collect a scramble while already holding six cards, the new card is automatically destroyed."
Iruki nodded.
'You can't get the card, but you can prevent an opponent from getting it. It's not a meaningless rule.'
Lulu continued. "The combination of Black and White determines which hands are strong or weak. Hands outside the defined combinations are meaningless, so choose carefully. I'll show the meaningful combinations from stage one."
A black and a white card floated to her left and right.
"There are two meaningful hands at stage one: Black and White."
Lulu gestured and a schematic appeared.
● (Evil) < ○ (Good).
"This is the priority for stage one. Black is 'Evil,' White is 'Good.'"
'White has priority? So ranks split from the very first stage?'
It was surprising that superiority was set from the start.
"Stage two. There are three possible combinations, but two are meaningful.
○○ (Saint) < ●● (Heresy)."
Everyone's expressions shifted.
'It flipped.'
White led in stage one, but Black took the lead in stage two. Since the ○● combination is meaningless, grabbing White in stage one doesn't guarantee success.
'Practically, when twelve scrambles first appear, each of the twelve will get one. Even if you secure White early, two hours later Black could overtake you.'
"Stage three."
●●● (Apostasy) < ○○○ (Religion) < ●○● (Republic) < ○●○ (Tri-council).
There are four meaningful combinations and the strongest at stage three is Tri-council.
'Another reversal.'
Tri-council is only possible if you had two White cards at stage two (Saint) and combined further.
"Stage four."
○○○○ (Pope) < ●●●● (Mind) < ○○○● (Monarchy) < ●●●○ (Tyrant) < ○●○● (Democracy).
'A balanced Black-White ratio is strongest at stage four.'
From here variables increased and immediate advantages were hard to judge.
"Stage five."
●○●○● (Revolution) < ○○●○○ (Emperor) < ●●○●● (Conviction) < ●●●●● (Demon King) < ○○○○○ (Madonna).
Shirone realized a major shift.
'Mixed Black-White combinations weaken; single-pattern hands climb to the top. But to make Demon King or Madonna you'd have to take losses from stage one onward.'
He could guess the temperament of whoever designed the Black and White game.
"Finally, stage six."
○●○●○● (Chaos) < ○●○○●○ (Amplify) < ●○●●○● (Annihilate) < ●●●●●● (Void Hunger) < ○○○○○○ (Infinity).
Again, single-pattern hands dominate. Even with Random cards, making a meaningful stage-six combination would likely ensure success.
"There are twenty-three meaningful hands; all other hands are meaningless. These meaningless hands are called manpae — worthless hands."
'Even if you hold a worthless hand, by stage five you might form a meaningful combination by acquiring another scramble.'
Lulu wiped the schematic away. "Everyone remember this clearly? I'll erase it now."
Nobody answered; they were all absorbed in thought.
"Now that you know the hands, I'll explain how duels work. When you collect a scramble it's recorded on your Master Card as White (○), Black (●), or Random (ⓡ). Random cards cannot be inspected, and even if the holder has opened one, other participants' Master Cards will still display it as Random."
"So it becomes a hidden card."
"That's correct. If you want to check an opponent's hidden card, you can 'Kang' them."
"Kang?"
"It means to challenge them. I'll summon Liri for a demonstration."
A woman who looked like a twin appeared, and Lulu displayed her Master Card.
"My Master Card shows my hand as two Whites and one Black — Tri-council. Liri's record shows…"
Liri's status appeared: ●●ⓡ.
"Black 2 and Random 1, so the combination can't be confirmed. It could actually be random, or Liri might have opened it. Now I'll Kang. Liri, Kang."
Liri's Master Card glowed red.
"When a Kang is issued, the recipient must choose Kang or Pao within one second by photon-frame standards. Kang is to accept the duel; Pao is to refuse. If they fail to decide within the one-second window, all of their held cards are destroyed. This is called gaepae."
Iruki asked, "If someone Kang-s you while you have an unopened Random, does the Random automatically open, or is it excluded from the combination?"
Lulu's animation dimmed again. "That is an unanswerable question."
'Hm. So we'll have to find out in practice.'
"First, if Liri accepts the Kang. Liri."
When Liri shouted Kang, the Random symbol vanished and her combination resolved to ●○● (Republic).
"I have Tri-council, Liri has Republic. That means I win. At that moment Liri's cards are all gaepae — destroyed."
Lulu's Master Card erased Liri's record.
'If you lose, all your cards are destroyed. Accepting a Kang must be done with care.'
"The range in which you can Kang matches the Spirit Zone's area. Also…"
Lulu smiled with a hint of meaning and continued, "The loser in a Kang duel cannot harm the winner in any way until the next scramble is summoned."
"What?"
For the first time, the atmosphere among the twelve listeners rippled with surprise.