I, who advocate giving up, feel like a disqualified person

Although I did feel that she was forcing me before.

"No need to explain. You're sleep deprived because of your homework, right? You must have spent quite a bit of time looking up books to solve your doubts, right?"

“…”

I understand now. It must be the teacher who talked to her.

"...No...it's like this even on normal days."

"But you were criticized by the teacher for this matter today."

So this guy is really concerned about this kind of thing... But it seems that my worry is misplaced, because I fell asleep purely out of habit. Besides, it's not like this has never happened before, so could this guy not have noticed it before?

"It's just this level, there's no need..."

"Don't say anymore. It seems that I am still pushing you too hard. I find that I have simply ignored the reality."

"Uh...what reality..." I always feel that she is making a big deal out of nothing.

"Forgive me for only realizing this now...it turns out that you, Sheji, are really not good at studying!"

This is a complete mockery, right?!

Chapter 11 It's Just a Game

I was bored and Lingcan dragged me over again to play a card game together... It was a board game of Four Kingdoms Kill. In order to increase the fun, there were only two general cards.

I had never thought about playing seriously...but I don't know what happened, and the game with her reached a fever pitch.

Now... things seem to be against me...

"A gaming guru once said, 'The outcome of the game is decided from the very beginning.' Whew!"

What the hell is this "yo"...

"So...what happened then?"

I looked impatiently at Ling Shen in front of me. She was looking at me with a smirk on her face, cards tightly clenched in her hands. Add to that the incomprehensible words she was saying...it felt like she was just bluffing.

It's like playing against a certain Stone Legend. When the opponent has only one card left in his hand, he suddenly points it at you and then keeps saying "well played"... In fact, that card is often not a card that can kill you, it's just a bluff.

Except for some guys with extremely poor quality.

Yes, the current situation seems to be the same... It's just a simple "judgment" stage.

"Red means you can dodge it, but black means you're dead... Well, what do you think the probability is?"

She suddenly narrowed her eyes, making it impossible for me to see what was in her eyes.

Damn... I actually managed to prevent this...

"Most people would think it's half, either red or black... but it's actually much more complicated, so even if I were to calculate it, I wouldn't be able to figure it out."

"...Is that so..." She waved her hands helplessly after hearing this, "What a boring answer... Well, forget it, let's end the game like this."

"Whatever, but I don't think it will end so easily." After all, there is still one last hope...

"Well, it's time to make the decision." She reached for the top card in the deck, but then suddenly seemed to think of something and asked me, "Who do you think would be the best person to do it?"

"Of course, my destiny is my own..."

I reached out for the card, but... the moment I picked it up, it was suddenly replaced with a red card that I had quietly taken from the discard pile.

"...Hehe, it's red."

I handed the cards to her.

"It seems fate is on my side..."

"Hey...hehe." She didn't admit defeat or have any other reaction, but stared at me and smiled...which made me feel a little guilty.

"Isn't that amazing... Maybe this is what they call 'taking your destiny into your own hands', right?"

"Huh...? I relied entirely on luck."

"Oh, really... Well, it's fine if you deny it, but I see. You stole this judgment card yourself... The idea is good, but the technique is a little lacking."

He knew I cheated, but he looked very happy... It seems my guess was correct.

"...If you don't have evidence, don't talk nonsense. Okay, now the verdict is successful. I've survived. There's no point in saying anything. And you have no evidence to prove I cheated."

"You're so bold... Well, never mind." She casually put the card in her hand aside, and then placed her hand on another inverted "General Card".

"Didn't I ask you? The probability of judgment."

"Yeah... so what."

"As you said...under normal circumstances, probability is basically difficult to predict." She calmly flipped over the card. "But, for me...the outcome of the judgment is decided by me!"

Appeared! Character skills that affect game balance!

"The world's trend will be used by me!" She said as she activated the general's skills, changing my judgment from red to black.

"General!"

Looking at her smug expression, I couldn't help but laugh.

"...What are you laughing at? Are you denying it?"

"No..." I stretched, "I just think there's a phrase that best describes the current situation."

"...Huh? Let me think... 'The End of the Road'?"

"That's an idiom... well, forget it, I'll reveal the answer." I reached for the other general card I was covering. "The saying goes, 'The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind!'"

"What...what?" After she saw who the general card was, her eyes became sharp, "Why...why...it's impossible..."

"Hehe, that's just what I want! I'm going to change your judgment to the six of diamonds in my hand... red.

"I... survived."

I always feel so tired...

"No... Impossible, if that's the case... then why did you cheat?!"

Oh, are you doubting your life already? You are still too young.

"Since you can't figure it out, it means you are too young."

"...Don't give me the cold shoulder! Tell me!" As she said that, she grabbed my collar and shook me back and forth.

"Okay, okay...I'll tell you..."

Only then did she let go of his hand.

"Ahem...um...before I answer you, I want to ask you, what do you think is the most important thing in playing games?"

"Does this matter?" She gave me an impatient look.

"Of course, tell me quickly." I urged her.

"Ah... This is so troublesome. Since we're playing a game, and competing against others, then winning is definitely the most important thing."

"Hmm~" I nodded decisively after hearing this answer, "I think you think so too."

Because she has always been determined to win no matter what, even if it means resetting the rules.

"...So...does it matter?" Her expression darkened again.

Why is this child so impatient?

"Don't worry, I'm explaining... You see, as long as we understand your ultimate goal is to win, it's easy." I pointed at the general card in front of her. "You've been asking this and that since the beginning, no doubt trying to distract me, to get my mind off this card... Unfortunately, distraction might work for me with other things, but in this game, I'm completely focused... And your words made me realize that there's definitely something wrong with that card."

"...!"

Her face was immediately filled with shock, but she immediately raised another question.

"No...that's not right! Since your cards can also change the judgment, why bother cheating? Isn't this unnecessary? What if I find out..."

"I didn't think you'd reveal it," I replied calmly. "It was just a test. I know my card-swapping skills are terrible, and there's a high chance you'd see it."

"Then...why..."

"So, the only thing I was betting on was this... that you wouldn't expose me." Seeing that she seemed a little confused, I continued to explain, "At that time, it seemed to me that you wanted to win so badly, and you seemed so confident. So there were only two possibilities. Either you were bluffing, just to make my judgment wrong, and win without fighting... But I don't think that's the way you think."

"Hey!"

"Then there's another possibility... you're 100% sure of victory, so whether it's cheating or a lucky draw, you won't care about anything I do. To verify this hypothesis, I'll use that technique to see if you'll expose me... If you don't, it means you're holding a card, and you're not even afraid of cheating... In that case, the only option is to change the decision."

"But...but...why do you have to do this...you obviously have the ability to change..."

"Well, if I don't cheat, the judgment card might not show red. And if I want to win, I have to make the judgment card show red."

"So why is that?"

"The one who goes first and the one who goes second," I explained calmly. "In a turn-based game, the second player is the most passive. They're always forced to deal with the situations created by the first player. Once the rhythm is stolen, it's hard to regain it. But there's one exception... and that's the decision-making situation. Only changing the decision-making mechanism can benefit the second player, because they can change the decision-making changes made by the first player."

"so..."

"That's right. So, no matter what, if I want to win, I have to let you go first." I smiled and flicked her forehead. "That way, the probability will be clear without any calculation... 100%."

"..."

She stared at me blankly and didn't say anything for a long time... It seemed that what I said just now was a bit too much and she couldn't accept it.

"Um... what I said before, 'the outcome of the game has been decided from the very beginning'...um, could it be that..." She seemed to understand something, and a light suddenly flashed in her eyes as she looked at me.

"Oh, that's right... I heard that, but I'm still far from it. I only start thinking about how to win from the endgame."

Besides, the opponent is not strong.

"It's just a game, what's the big deal..." She suddenly looked at me with contempt.

I don't think it's your turn to say this.

"Very impressive... Sheji."

"!"

Why...

"Why is Senior Su here?"

And he was clapping next to me. Did he hear everything we just said?

"It's been a while, didn't you notice?" Ling Can then stabbed me again.

"Ahem..." It must have been Rinquanchuan who invited him in...

"Is there anything wrong, senior?" I hurriedly picked up the cards on the table.

"Well, sorry to bother you... I have something to say to you." He said, looking at Rinquanchuan with a smile, "Excuse me, can I have a few words with your members?"

“…”

"It seems he agrees."

I didn’t hear it!

This might be an early farewell.

"It seems that you like playing games..." Senior Su directly talked about what happened just now.

"No, I just happen to like card games, that's why... I look quite engrossed in it."

"Well, everyone has things they're good at and things they're not good at. Being good at card games means you've invested a lot of time in them, so in my opinion, you just enjoy it."

“...No...” What is the point of this unreasonable statement?

"If you like it, don't deny it. Face your heart."

"Um...um...senpai, you have something to tell me. Let's talk about something important."

He seemed to realize that I was trying to change the subject, and he just covered up his momentary surprise with a smile, and didn't continue the previous topic.

"Ah, well... I've already said it before, I just wanted to talk to you for a few minutes. There doesn't have to be a specific purpose for the conversation... just chatting casually."

"Is that so... Then what should we talk about..."

Although Senior said so, I still couldn't believe that Senior Su, who gave me the impression of being a serious person, would come to me for such a thing.

"...So, using the words you just asked that little girl, what do you think is the most important thing about games?"

Why...why is this bringing up the game again?