Soon, Kaedehara Tōru found his target in the System Store.
『Skill: International Chess Master Level』
『Effect: Grants the host the chess strength, tactical reserves, and psychological composure of a world-class International Chess Master』
『Price: 80 points』
The price wasn’t too high, but his gaze dropped, and he saw another option with an absurdly high cost-performance ratio.
『Skill: Board-Game Master』
『Effect: Grants the Host the Master Level in all board games (including but not limited to International Chess, Go, Shogi, etc.)』
『Price: 250 points』
250 points for top-tier skill in all board games—it was practically a steal.
He could use it now and also in the future when facing other types of chess or board games.
However, a problem arose: the points currently in his account totaled 223.
Thus, the current situation formed an interesting loop: he needed to win the match to gain points, but he needed points to buy the skill required to win the match, and he needed the skill to win the match…
an endless cycle.
He had to “earn” the startup capital from Sakayanagi Arisu before the formal chess match.
The expression on Kaedehara Tōru’s face remained unchanged, still bearing that relaxed and content smile.
He looked at Sakayanagi Arisu but did not immediately accept her challenge.
The task given by the system had loopholes; the system’s mission was to win against Sakayanagi Arisu, but it never specified what kind of competition or method was required.
Kaedehara Tōru’s brain worked rapidly, and a plan quickly took shape.
He looked at Sakayanagi Arisu.
“However, before we play chess formally, Sakayanagi-san, are you interested in playing a simple logical mini-game first?
Just as a warm-up.”
“Oh?”
Sakayanagi Arisu was clearly intrigued.
“Tell me about it.”
Kaedehara Tōru borrowed a white pawn and a black pawn from a senior sitting nearby, held them in his hands behind his back, and then simultaneously extended both fists toward Sakayanagi Arisu.
“The game is very simple.
There is one white and one black piece here.
I will randomly swap their positions behind my back or not swap them.
Then, you just need to guess which hand holds the white piece.
If you guess correctly, you win; if you guess incorrectly, I win.”
The rules sounded extremely simple, perhaps even childish.
Sakayanagi Arisu showed no sign of contempt.
“What about the number of rounds?”
“Deciding the winner in a single round relies too much on luck.”
“We’ll play ten rounds.
After ten rounds, the person who guessed correctly more times wins.
How does that sound?”
Sakayanagi Arisu stared into Kaedehara Tōru’s eyes, seemingly trying to read something from them.
She remained silent for a few seconds, then said, “Very interesting.
I accept.”
She didn’t believe the game was complicated; it was merely a contest of probability and psychology, and she was confident she wouldn’t lose in either aspect.
“In that case, let the game begin.”
Kaedehara Tōru put his hands behind his back.
After a faint clinking sound of the pieces, he extended both fists toward Sakayanagi Arisu again.
His expression was calm and unreadable, revealing no information.
Sakayanagi Arisu carefully observed Kaedehara Tōru’s expression and the subtle movements of his arm muscles but found nothing.
After a brief thought, she chose the left hand.
Kaedehara Tōru opened his left hand: a black piece.
“Round one, I win.” Kaedehara Tōru smiled.
Round two, Sakayanagi Arisu chose the right hand: a black piece.
Round three, the left hand: a white piece.
Sakayanagi Arisu won back a round…
After the first five rounds, Sakayanagi Arisu had guessed correctly three times and incorrectly twice, giving her a slight lead.
But her brow furrowed slightly.
She realized that Kaedehara Tōru’s expression and movements had almost no flaws.
Her choices felt more like random guessing, a 50% probability, and the current score was completely within expectations.
Round six, Sakayanagi Arisu chose the right hand: a black piece.
Round seven, the left hand: a black piece.
Round eight, the right hand: a white piece.
Round nine, the left hand: a black piece.
After nine rounds, Sakayanagi Arisu had guessed correctly four times and incorrectly five times.
She was behind by one round.
Sakayanagi Arisu started to feel that something was amiss.
Logically, in a purely probabilistic game like this, the winning rates should be very close.
But Sakayanagi Arisu felt like something was missing.
The final round, the decisive round.
Kaedehara Tōru put his hands behind his back again.
This time, his movement seemed slightly longer than before.
She fell into a brief silence.
She quickly reviewed the previous nine rounds in her mind, attempting to find any habitual patterns in Kaedehara Tōru’s actions, but found nothing; his randomness was executed too perfectly.
Finally, relying on a thread of intuition, she chose the right hand.
“Are you sure, Sakayanagi-san?”
“I am sure.” Sakayanagi Arisu’s tone was resolute.
Kaedehara Tōru slowly opened his right hand—a black pawn lay quietly in his palm.
The black piece.
Four to six.
Sakayanagi Arisu lost.
Sakayanagi Arisu did not speak immediately.
She simply looked at the black piece, then raised her head to look at Kaedehara Tōru, her eyes complex.
“I see.
I have indeed lost,” she admitted calmly.
“You exploited a loophole in the rules.”
Kaedehara Tōru laughed, a hint of successful cunning in his smile: “As expected of Sakayanagi-san, you discovered it so quickly.
The rule I stated was, ‘You just need to guess which hand holds the white piece.’ I never stipulated that every time I swap pieces behind my back, it must be ‘one hand holding white, one hand holding black,’ did I?”
He opened his tightly clenched left hand—the palm was empty.
The white piece had never been in his left hand from the start!
It had been tucked into the cuff of his right sleeve!
In other words, in the final round, and perhaps even in earlier rounds…
The movement he made behind his back was not swapping pieces but possibly placing both pieces in one hand, leaving the other hand empty!
This way, no matter which hand Sakayanagi Arisu chose, as long as he showed the empty hand and claimed she guessed incorrectly (since she was guessing “which hand holds the white piece,” and an empty hand naturally holds no white piece), he would have a guaranteed win.
He only needed to use this trick in two or three crucial rounds out of the ten to secure the victory.
Indeed, the rule only mentioned guessing which hand held the white piece; it did not explicitly state that both hands must hold one piece each!
This was a linguistic trap, a carefully concealed logical loophole!
After a moment, Sakayanagi Arisu suddenly let out a soft laugh.
This laughter did not stem from anger, but from admiration for Kaedehara Tōru’s clever use of the rule loophole to achieve victory.
Not only was she not annoyed by this seemingly underhanded method, but she actually showed more appreciation for this unscrupulous way of winning.
『Ding!
Detected that the Host has defeated the key figure Sakayanagi Arisu in a contest of wits.
Reward granted: 500 points』
A notification sounded in his mind: Points credited!
Kaedehara Tōru felt assured.
Step one of the plan was perfectly achieved.
“Thank you for the game, Sakayanagi-san.”