A New Reign

Nejima Seikyou's POV

I was forced to play this Sugoroku Poker the moment I got here. Apparently, our war funds will depend on the outcome of this game. If you're going to go home a big loser or a big winner will be up to chance and luck.

That guy, Araragi Hideki, I'd guess that he had a Royal Straights. I have a Straights, which are composed of Spades of 2, Hearts of 3, Clubs of 4, Spades of 5 and Diamonds of 6. In short, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 sequence, that makes it a Straights.

In normal poker, this kind of straights is considered trash since It's low, but in Sugoroku Poker, I have a theory that even the lowest kind of Straights have a chance against a higher kind of hand!

General Poker hands are normally ranked from the best to worst. The best hand you can get in Poker is Royal Straights and the worst you can get in Poker is High Hand.

Based on the number of steps you can take, I came out of this theory. It doesn't matter how good the hand, as long as It's still a hand. For example, a Four Of A Kind. You will be extremely glad when you got a Four Of A Kind composed of Aces, right? But you'll get depressed if you got a Four Of A Kind composed of 2's.

But having a Four Of A Kind will get you 5 steps, even if your Four Of A Kind is trash or not. That's the logic I came up with. The moment that guy, Araragi Hideki stepped to a punishment tile, I'm going to steal his lead! Come on! Step to a punishment tile!

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I expected that sooner or later, that guy is going to step into a punishment tile but I didn't expect it to happen so soon! Luck is on my side today! Just earlier, he's laughing like crazy but now he's staring at the Gacha Machine with a tensed face!

After putting his 2 Million to the gacha, he came back for the showdown having a really tensed face! I've got this! I can win!

"Okay! Time for the showdown! Dealers! Inspect the cards!"

The dealers inspected our cards like earlier and the result was just expected.

"The winner is Nejima Seikyou!"

Yes! I finally got the crown! Araragi Hideki's reign has died! It's time for... my reign! Unless I stepped into a punishment tile, there's no way that I'll get kicked out of this place!

"Nejima Seikyou have 5 steps."

My face in the monitor started to move for 5 steps. Araragi Hideki could tell what my hand is based on the number of steps that I've got. But knowing my hand is, will do him no good!

It's not going to change anything, not one bit.

"Nejima Seikyou stepped into a benefit tile. He gained 15 Million Yen."

15 Million, huh? It's still not enough as a war fund. It could go down anytime as long as I step to a punishment tile. But If I don't stop at a punishment tile, my winning streak will just continue.

"Time for the Discard Phase. Is someone going to discard?"

Two guys walked towards the Discard Box. One is Araragi Hideki. He dropped 2 cards to the Discard Phase. Leaving him with only 3 cards. I don't know about the other but he discarded one card.

What's the purpose of that?

"All right, time for the showdown. Two of the players don't have 5 cards so they'll be exempted for this round."

Not just this round, but in the whole game. I can't think of any other way to recover if you lack 5 cards. Araragi has 2 Million more so he can buy again but I don't think It's the same as the other one.

We formed a circle again and our cards was inspected. But this time, only 8 of us participated.

"The winner is Nejima Seikyou again. He's going to have 5 steps more."

My face in the monitor moved again for 5 steps like earlier.

"The 10th tile that Araragi Hideki stepped on, gives him another 5 Million Yen."

Only 5 Million, huh? It's still the 6th Round so there's no need to worry.

"Going to the Discard Phase, is someone going to discard anything?"

Like earlier, no one discarded anything. I'm in the lead and I have the most funds out of the 8 of us. I've got this! I can win this and go to the real game! The preliminaries!

"No one discarded anything so we'll go to the Showdown."

One of the dealers said something to the host. I can't hear it since I'm far away but the host gave a little grin then announced something:

"Okay, since someone already has 5 cards, someone is going to go back at the game."

What!? Someone is going to go back!? Is It Araragi Hideki!? He actually came back?! How!? He actually found a way to go back!? That guy, is not ordinary!

"The guy who came back is... Sanju Inami!"

Wait, who is that? It's not Araragi Hideki?

END OF CHAPTER 46