Chapter 15. The Game Begins
(Note: the last time i played monopoly was like... 12 years old? i barely remember the rules, if i do remember it's in my language instead of english, so forgive me for any mistakes)
Monopoly Chess.
A classic board game, where the victory condition is for one player to reach a certain amount of money, or force all opponents into bankruptcy and out of the game!
Schemes, betrayal, alliances, diplomacy — within this small board hides countless tricks and strategies.
And among the players of this style, Sakurai Saki and Ishigami Yuu were undoubtedly top-class masters.
If one wanted to secure victory reliably, there was only one way!
Alliance!
That's right!
Individual power has its limits!
If you want to win, other than playing dirty, the only way is to unite with others!
Sakurai placed his piece on the starting tile.
Then winked at Ishigami Yuu.
'If I win, I'll treat you to a soda!'
ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧
Ishigami Yuu slightly raised his eyebrows, replying in a burst of Morse code:
'Sakurai-senpai! No problem!'
ദ്ദി ˉ͈̀꒳ˉ͈́ )✧
Fujiwara Chika saw the two exchange winks, and her ocean-blue eyes lit up with curiosity.
She eagerly asked:
"Sakurai-kun, are you guys exchanging secret codes? Tell me, pretty please!"
"No, we're not."
Fujiwara Chika placed her index finger between her eyebrows, thought for a moment, then pulled a detective hat out of her bag and put it on her head.
Then she pulled out a magnifying glass.
Love Detective Chika Holmes — appears!
･°˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°.
"Fufufu... You two are definitely cheating!" Fujiwara Chika pointed her index finger sternly at Ishigami Yuu.
(☞ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)☞
"Senpai, what are you talking about? We have no reason to cheat. It's just one question." Ishigami Yuu shrugged, his face looking like he was unafraid of anything.
My dark history is so extensive that talking about it doesn't even embarrass me anymore!
Ishigami Yuu—truly a terrifying man!
No doubt about it, he was the biggest wild card in this game!
Beside them, Shinomiya Kaguya had already taken her starting capital, her eyes brimming with excitement.
"Can we start already!? Can we start!?"
( • ̀ω•́ )✧
She was so excited she repeated herself twice.
Fujiwara Chika slightly furrowed her elegant brows, her pretty face filled with suspicion.
Too suspicious!
"Chika, don't ask anymore, we really weren't trying to cheat."
Everything was within the bounds of the game rules, how could that be called cheating?
Hearing Sakurai say that, Fujiwara Chika blushed, timidly sat down.
"If… if Saki-kun said so, then… fine."
(,,¬﹏¬,,)
He… he called me by name?!
Eh!!?
He clearly never called me that even once last year!
Isn't this kind of like a confession!?
*ꕤ*(❁´▽`❁)*ꕤ*
"What's that, Fujiwara-san, who's 'Saki-kun'?" Sakurai tilted his head curiously.
"You just called me Chika, didn't you!! I thought that… um~" Fujiwara Chika turned her face away, timidly said: "That way of calling sounds really close, like… y'know, a confes--…"
( //>///
"How much longer are you going to talk about names? Does it have anything to do with the game?" Shinomiya Kaguya finally couldn't take it and interrupted.
"!!!"
Hearing that, Fujiwara Chika glared furiously at Shinomiya Kaguya, her cheeks puffed out like a hamster.
(◣_◢)
Kaguya-san!!
I thought of you as a close friend!
How could you cut me off like that!?
You lonely! You're ruining my love story!
You villain! Big bad villain who destroys love!
૮₍ ˶>⤙<˶ ₎ა
"Can we start now? Hasn't the prep time for this match already gone on too long?"
Shinomiya Kaguya, when it came to love knowledge, wasn't just bad — she was completely clueless.
What is love? Can it be eaten?
( ╹ -╹)?
Boys were just tools, puppets of the Shinomiya family.
Moreover, the Shinomiya family rules had one very important clause:
Falling in love with someone is forbidden. No exceptions!
"In that case, since Shinomiya-san is impatient, let's begin." Sakurai Saki gave a radiant smile like the sun.
Fujiwara Chika peeked at him several times.
Bullied again!
( ,,⩌'︿'⩌,,)
...
"Rock! Paper! Scissors!" ×3
Kaguya also placed her hand into the center of the play circle as if it were the most natural thing.
Her motion was very skilled — it was like this wasn't her first time playing a board game.
Previously, even though Fujiwara Chika had invited her a few times, Kaguya always flatly refused.
Eventually, Fujiwara Chika — who was extremely perceptive — understood that Kaguya wasn't interested in board games, so she gave up on asking her again.
Until a few days ago, when Fujiwara Chika happened to discover that Kaguya seemed interested in Aeroplane Chess.
That led to the earlier scene, where Chika actively asked her to join the game.
"Umu, the order is: Shinomiya-senpai goes first, then Sakurai-senpai, followed by Fujiwara-senpai, and finally me." Ishigami Yuu announced the results of rock paper scissors.
"This board has an item card and trap card system, so going first doesn't give much advantage — kind of like Aeroplane Chess yesterday."
Sakurai nodded.
"On the contrary, the game time will be longer. If no one builds a house to a high level, it'll become a prolonged tug-of-war."
"First round, Shinomiya-san, please roll the dice." Sakurai Saki smiled and invited.
The other three knew Kaguya was a newbie, so they intentionally explained the rules clearly for her.
The die rolled from Kaguya's hand.
Three points.
The tile landed on was the Fate Zone.
"Fate — the player may draw one card from the Fate deck."
In the end, Kaguya drew an item card, at the cost of 1,000 points.
Compared to the starting capital of 30,000 points, that price was basically a giveaway.
The name of the item card was — Seizure Card.
It allows you to seize another player's land tile, but not the house. If you want the house too, you must pay for construction.
"Newbie luck?" Ishigami Yuu muttered.
In the board game community, there's a concept called newbie luck.
That means new players tend to draw rare items more easily.
Some conspiracy theories even claim — the drop rate for rare cards is higher for newcomers, because veteran players have become over-farmed saplings with no motivation to spend money, while the rich high-rollers don't care about petty matters.
"Shinomiya-senpai, you're really lucky today."
There are only two Seizure Cards in the entire item deck.
Sakurai Saki heard Ishigami's words but said nothing.
He glanced at Fujiwara Chika — just in time to see her quickly avert her gaze.
(,,¬﹏¬,,)
Acting completely natural, he turned to talk with Kaguya:
"Shinomiya-san, your luck is amazing today!"
Luck? I don't believe it!
( ,,⩌'︿'⩌,,)
Sakurai Saki picked up the dice, carefully adjusting the force in his hand.
"Three!"
Once again, the Fate tile.
But he didn't rush to draw a card — instead, he turned to look at Fujiwara Chika.
Why that panicked look, Fujiwara-san?
(≖⩊≖)
He flipped the second Fate card — a free item card draw.
And the second item card...
As expected.
Seizure Card.
"Quite the lucky draw, Fujiwara-san…"
"Ah~ yep, that's right, exactly."
(' ˘ ³˘) ~~~
Chika averted her gaze while whistling — unfortunately, no sound came out.
Because… she didn't know how to whistle.
This scene looked exactly like someone trying to act cute.
"Your turn." Sakurai Saki handed her the dice.
Getting powerful items that can shift the game early on — this round is already tilting in his favor!
2 vs 1 vs 1!
The advantage is ours!
"Ei~, four!" Fujiwara rolled the dice, then moved her piece to South Korea.
"1,400 points — I'll buy it!"
"Bad deal."
Shinomiya Kaguya glanced at the land value and gently shook her head.
A failed investment deal.
The toll fee was only 90 points — it would take 15 turns just to break even.
"Kaguya-san, in board games what's important is having fun!" Fujiwara Chika said cheerfully while holding the land card.
Only you think that.
Shinomiya Kaguya silently observed the two players across from her.
Sakurai-san… and Ishigami-kun…
You two are worthy of being my opponents, Shinomiya Kaguya!
Let me show you the business acumen of the Shinomiya family!
(〵 .□.)〵 ︵ᕙ﴾ᗒ益ᗕ﴿ᕗ︵ /(.□. /)