Ancient Dragon in Arknights

'do not care! '

As Rita finished counting down—John played cloth.

If Neltharion plays the stone as he says, then John will win; if Neltharion wants to gamble with John, then he will definitely guess the game very far ahead—John gambles two levels!

Nesario pretends to play rock to trick John into playing paper, then he plays scissors himself; but John guesses this, so John will play rock to counter, and Nesario will anticipate John's prediction—he will play paper!

Therefore, John ultimately chooses paper, and Neltharion, keeping his word, chooses rock, which would win him; Neltharion plays a game of chance, and if both choose paper, it will be a draw!

"Nesario wins the first game."

The simple, unadorned scissors shattered John's illusions.

"John! Why did you play paper?! That guy was definitely lying to you! How could anyone actually play the option he was told to choose?!"

"Yeah, even elementary school students wouldn't fall for that trick."

"..."

John's two teammates behind him began to scold him, they did not expect that John would fall into such a simple trap; the students of Class 10 who were watching from the side also began to laugh, they did not expect that this guy who looked like an excellent student could not even see through such a trick.

"Shut up, I was tricked by him."

John's anger continued to rise. He wasn't angry about losing the game, but about the condemnation from his teammates—these three idiots couldn't even see through the psychological game behind it, and they had the nerve to scold him!?

Calming himself and regulating his breathing, John regained his composure. He looked at his opponent, Nesario, who still appeared completely at ease, seemingly without any ulterior motives.

'I have to admit, this guy's cunning is far more sophisticated than he appears. He actually anticipated all my thoughts...'

John got serious.

"In the second round, I'll still choose scissors."

Nesario chuckled and waved his hand, his tone relaxed, making it impossible to guess what he was thinking.

"Don't think I'll fall for your tricks again!"

John's mind raced as he considered every possible scenario—and concluded that Nesario was highly likely to repeat his old tricks.

Yes, John knew that people like him who liked to use their brains were more likely to be misled by simple methods—because they would think for themselves, complicate a very simple problem, and even come up with multiple motives and results to improve their logic, unaware that they had already fallen into other people's traps.

So John decided to simplify things—yes, don't think too far ahead, just focus on the present.

'He plays scissors, I play rock; he might play paper to trap me, and I can win by playing scissors; but! This is all planned, he will definitely play rock next time!'

With both players making their moves swiftly—John chooses Paper! Neltharion chooses Stone to ambush, and he will win! Neltharion chooses Paper to deceive, and it will be a draw! In short, John will never lose!

"Nesario wins the second game."

This time, Nesario really did as he said—he played the scissors.

"John! This is the simplest elementary school trick! The first time you lie, the second time you tell the truth—didn't you play rock-paper-scissors when you were a kid?!"

John's teammates were devastated. They never expected that John, who was excellent at tactical planning and simulated command, would be stumped by a simple game of rock-paper-scissors.

They all advised John to substitute someone, saying that if things continued like this, they would lose everything.

Chapter Ninety-Six: The Plan is Complete

"Hahaha... Nesario is really wicked, using such a trick."

“I remember when I was very young, my brother used this method to bully me. At that time, I never noticed the pattern.”

"..."

Everyone in Class 10 was all smiles, especially Fiona. Having grown up in the fields, besides climbing trees, catching fish, and driving tractors, she was best at these childhood games.

Fiona decided that after the exercise, she would go find Nesario to play rock-paper-scissors, and she was sure she could make him lose badly.

Rita looked thoughtful. She had never played this kind of game before. She had spent her childhood reading books about military history, battle explanations, and biographies of famous generals.

But based on the rules and Nesario's performance, she believes it was not a simple trick, but the success of two of Nesario's schemes.

"Nesario, just one more chance to win. Go for it!"

Although she hasn't yet grasped the key points of this game, she can still offer verbal encouragement.

"..."

Hearing the laughter and reproaches around him, John was not as angry as before—on the contrary, he was unusually calm, a calmness that was somewhat frightening.

'Nesario, I must admit, you're different from these mediocre bunch. You're an enemy I'd risk everything to face—no! A strong one. Yes, you're stronger than me. But—I've seen through your moves!'

"I'll play the third round again."

"Huh? John, stop joking! We only have one chance left, and you've already lost two rounds. I admit, your tactical planning is excellent; the three of us combined can't beat you, but this is just a simple game of rock-paper-scissors. It doesn't require any fancy, profound knowledge; it requires experience. Do you understand?"

“I understand. That’s why I dare to say this—if I lose next, I will take full responsibility for the class’s failure, and I will voluntarily apply to withdraw from school afterwards. Everyone here is a witness.”

"—!"

Upon hearing this, everyone was surprised; it was just a simple drill!

Although losing the current match would mean the class would lose, there's absolutely no need to joke about dropping out of school. This is one of Victoria's top schools! Graduating from here will make nobles even more prestigious, and commoners will ascend the ladder of nobility.

John wants to give all of this up!?

"Don't do this, John. You don't need to. Let us do it. No one will blame you, okay?"

"No... Even if you don't let me participate, I will still go and challenge him after the exercise—and if I lose, I will still drop out of school."

"...You're crazy."

He wasn't crazy; he was trying to maintain his last shred of dignity.

Nesario's lips curled up slightly. He knew exactly where this guy's reaction came from—he had never experienced setbacks before, so his reaction was exceptionally strong the first time they met.

'However, I'm not a bad person, and I wouldn't dare to kill everyone, even though that's how the plan was.'

The third game began again—Nesario announced he would play scissors, using the exact same trick.

As Rita began the countdown, John's teammates' hearts were in their throats.

As both sides made their moves—John won.

Nesario didn't seem surprised. Well, he still had three chances to lose, so he wasn't flustered.

......

"The winner is... John Barrett."

Rita's incredulous voice rang out, and the entire hall fell silent. How could this be?! Nesario then lost four consecutive games!

As a game of probability, this is very unusual. Or perhaps John has already figured out Nesario's tricks?

"We've won four games now, may we leave?"

John stood up, straightened his clothes, and resumed his previous arrogant demeanor. The feeling of regaining one's dignity makes one stand tall.

"Of course, the exit is over there. Goodbye."

Nesario showed no signs of being a loser; he casually waved his hand, seemingly unconcerned about his defeat.

Tap tap tap—the sound of four people's footsteps faded into the distance until all sound in the hall disappeared.

"..."

The students from Class 10 were asking Nesario, "Why did you get turned around like that? You had four chances! You only needed to win one!"

However, due to Nesario's absolute dominance in the class, no one dared to directly question him, which was quite different from John's situation.

“Nesario…it’s alright. He’s the eldest son of the Barrett family, a family that has produced many generals, all renowned for their strategic acumen.”

Rita wanted to say a few words of comfort to Nesario, knowing that he was also a person with a very high sense of pride, and that failure was not a good thing for him.

Chen and Fiona patted him on the shoulder silently to indicate that it was okay—with their abilities, they would get the elimination points quickly, so a few more wouldn't make a difference.

Losley watched the scene quietly, playing with her hair with her fingers. She had no intention of going over to comfort him. Firstly, she was afraid of being exposed with Rita present; secondly... she had a feeling that something was wrong, that John seemed to be being led by the nose.

"What's with the comforting words? It's all part of the plan. Let me analyze it for you—even if I win, is what that guy said likely to be true?"

"Um...it should be true, after all, he dared to bet on dropping out of school."

Fiona was also intimidated by John's imposing manner; she believed that such an arrogant man would not lie.

“The word ‘should’ implies uncertainty. So my plan was to win two games to put pressure on him—he was almost overwhelmed at the time; and then deliberately lose to give him a lifeline.”

"Imagine someone making a miraculous comeback under immense pressure—how would they feel?"

"Feeling smug? Want to show off to someone?"

"Yes, he will be even more arrogant than before. So much so that he will forget one thing: they started from our base, and I can track them down and find the exact location of the base."

After saying that, Nesario stood up and walked outside.

A moment of silence fell over the hall, then a murmur of disbelief erupted – “How insidious!”

"Combat team, move out, follow Nesario's lead, end the battle quickly, and then return!"

"Yes, sir!"

Chen and Fiona were the first to catch up with Nesario, and Chen asked her a question that had been bothering her.

"So you've always been confident of getting the results you want? How did you do it?"

Chen recalled someone's teachings to him: "Mastering swordsmanship is easy, but manipulating people's hearts is difficult. You're still far from being able to protect Longmen."

"Heh... Of course I don't know. How would I know what that kid was spouting nonsense about, without any strategy or method? All my predictions were wrong!"

"Huh? But Nana, didn't your plan succeed?"

"That's because I was watching him closely—I saw the trend of his hand the instant he made the move, and then I adjusted accordingly."

"what--?"

Chen and Fiona were stunned. They had thought that Nesario had achieved his goal through ingenious psychological warfare, and Fiona had even wanted to learn a few tricks from him.

"My eyes are getting sore from looking at it."

Nesario isn't good at psychological games; he only achieved this effect because of his quick reflexes.

Chapter Ninety-Seven: Adventure

"This is the fifth one. It seems we've already won."