Ayanokoji Qingping and the other three had been playing Mahjong continuously for five or six hours without stopping, except for a brief break to eat something due to hunger.
Around three or four in the morning, Hanatemari was the first to give out.
"Is it okay to end it like this? I really can't go on, I feel so sleepy…" Hanatemari yawned, her eyelids fighting to stay open, feeling a deep sense of fatigue.
Ayanokoji handed her a cup of water: "Drink some water."
"Thank you…" Hanatemari looked at Ayanokoji gratefully.
She had just lost a lot of money yesterday, and now she had stayed up late again today; she urgently wanted to sleep.
"How about it, should we just end it today?" Ayanokoji Kiyotaka asked.
Although he could continue, since Hanatemari Kazura was about to give up, Ayanokoji naturally had no objection.
Saotome Meari also felt very tired. To control her score, she basically had to put a lot of effort into calculating the tiles in every game, barely maintaining her top position, so she had no objection to this either.
Only Kurume was a bit unwilling. She was currently in second place, less than twenty thousand points away from the top, and she believed that with a little more effort, she might be able to reach the top.
"Let's play a bit longer, just one last round, okay!?" Kurume made a request.
"Playing one more round wouldn't be impossible…" Hanatemari nodded.
"Alright then, let's play one last round." Since Hanatemari didn't refuse, the four of them agreed on this point. The last round meant four hands, with each person taking a turn as the dealer.
Saotome currently held an absolute advantage at the top of the leaderboard, with one hundred thousand points.
Kurume Laiwei had won several large hands with full Yaku, and was currently in second place, eyeing the top position, with eighty thousand points.
Although Hanatemari Kazura's points had increased significantly at first due to Saotome's feeding of tiles, it wasn't long before she was continuously targeted by Ayanokoji and Kurume. She narrowly avoided being eliminated by exchanging clothes for points several times.
She was now, like Kurume, wearing only a shirt, but unfortunately her shirt was much shorter, barely covering her white panties.
Fortunately, the table was high enough that she wasn't too embarrassed.
She currently had twenty thousand points, ranking third.
As for Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, who was at the bottom, he and Hanatemari were like two peas in a pod, constantly teetering on the edge of elimination.
He was now only wearing a pair of shorts; all his other clothes had been exchanged for "Happy Beans."
It wasn't that Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's Mahjong skills were poor. With the help of the guaranteed minimum system and occasional good luck, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had won the second most hands on the table, second only to Saotome Meari.
It was just that Kurume had realized something later on.
Even if she eventually surpassed Saotome and took the top spot in the Mahjong game, if Ayanokoji Kiyotaka wasn't in last place, then winning wouldn't really matter.
Although no words were exchanged, she had reached an agreement with Saotome midway through—to crush Ayanokoji and prevent him from developing.
Although Ayanokoji Kiyotaka noticed this and tried his best to avoid dealing into hands, with Saotome, Kurume, and Hanatemari all targeting him, no matter how cautious he was, he could only remain at the bottom.
He now had only a little over five thousand points, and that was after just getting a ten-consecutive-guaranteed-minimum win with a Duan Yao Jiu.
If no one continuously served as the dealer in the last round, then there would only be four games left.
After one game, Saotome, playing aggressively, once again won the hand.
With only three games left, Kurume asked, very unwillingly: "Do we have double and triple Yakuman?"
Even if it was a Yakuman, winning only once wouldn't be enough for her points to exceed Saotome's, so she had to consider winning a big hand like "Kokushi Musou."
"If you can get such a hand, it's possible, yes," Saotome said with a smile.
Saotome had originally thought Ayanokoji Kiyotaka would be the most difficult to deal with. Ayanokoji had good luck and often won hands, which had been giving her a headache.
What she hadn't expected was that Kurume Laiwei suddenly "changed her ways" midway and started helping her target Ayanokoji, which was a huge help to her.
Now it was impossible for Ayanokoji to turn the tables, so Saotome had to be careful of Kurume Laiwei.
Although she rarely won a hand, each time she did, she could get at least five thousand points. She had to be careful not to work hard for nothing only to have Kurume take all the glory in the end.
These were the last few hands, and everyone played very cautiously. Even Hanatemari Kazura forced herself to stay focused.
In the second hand, Hanatemari Kazura unexpectedly won, and it was a not-so-small hand like Honitsu. The person who dealt into it was Saotome Meari.
Although she had dealt into it, Saotome was secretly happy.
In that case, even if Ayanokoji Kiyotaka got a Yakuman, he wouldn't be able to catch up to Hanatemari, and would only remain in fourth place.
Her only remaining opponent to guard against was Kurume. In the last two hands, she absolutely could not give her any chance.
As Ayanokoji Kiyotaka played, he also felt that he probably couldn't turn things around. After knowing the outcome, he became indifferent.
Forget it, fourth is fourth. Anyway, Saotome Meari's intention was just to ask him not to target Hanatemari, and she wouldn't give any other commands.
If he lost, he lost.
He now wished it would end quickly so he could play with the "Captain Dragonfly" he had just pulled.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka casually drew tiles, and after drawing them, he didn't expect that his luck this hand was quite good.
[Five Man, Two Pin, Two Pin, Seven Pin, Seven Pin, Seven Pin, Nine Pin, Three Sou, North, North, Hatsu, Chun, Chun]
Not a bad hand. Winning shouldn't be a problem. Maybe a San Ankou?
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka casually drew a tile; it was a [Chun].
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka raised an eyebrow and discarded the Nine Pin.
Another round passed, and it was a [North].
Ayanokoji's expression was a bit off; he discarded the Five Man.
After a few more turns, it was a [Two Pin].
Ayanokoji's face was as usual, but his hand trembled slightly as he discarded the tile.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka now had four pairs in his hand, and he was already Tenpai; he just needed one more Hatsu to complete it.
As Ayanokoji got a good hand, the others' hands also gradually improved.
After two more turns, Saotome Meari smiled slightly and threw out her Riichi stick: "Riichi."
Kurume Laiwei glared fiercely at Saotome, looking quite anxious, but her hand was still several tiles away from being complete.
In this round, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka drew another [Seven Pin]. He calmly said "Kan" and placed his Ankan of Seven Pin to his right.
Saotome looked at Ayanokoji in surprise, and after realizing it was just an Ankan, she paid no more attention.
Saotome and the others' attention was not on Ayanokoji Kiyotaka at all. Even if Ayanokoji Kiyotaka got a good hand, it wouldn't be able to turn the tables.
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