15: Chapter 14 Damn it, You Set Me Up!
15: Chapter 14 Damn it, You Set Me Up!
“Hahaha!
Most of the territory is now mine.
I am completely invincible!” Keiko was in high spirits, pointing at the board as if this small game represented life itself.
She felt like a master strategist planning her victory from miles away.
Although she was completely out of cash, she believed the Stone Sentinel Maze had been set, and no one could escape her net.
“But your remaining money is completely gone, isn’t it?
Can you even survive this round?” Kita-chan was witnessing the legendary “all-in” strategy for the first time.
Monopoly was indeed a game about real estate, but going all-in to buy every property on the very first round was extremely rare.
“If you land on someone else’s property, do you even have money to pay them?” “Going all-in is a form of wisdom.” Keiko was confident.
“Besides, almost every property on this board belongs to me now.
My luck couldn’t possibly be that bad.” “Really?
But none of these are high-value properties.” Diamond took a glance.
It was just as Keiko said—she had pushed herself to the limit by spending all her cash, but she had indeed built a solid foundation.
In a way, it lowered her risk of losing early, and after this round, her money would likely start rolling back in.
Reinvesting her profits, she had traded all room for error for the highest chance of winning.
This strategy was about surviving on the edge of death—a method for a massive comeback!
Keiko was on the verge of bankruptcy, but she was also on the verge of victory!
This was her path to winning!
“Hmph, my luck was a bit off and I didn’t get the expensive spots.
But this is more than enough.
Come on, Kita-chan, pay up and help me recover!” When it was Kita-chan’s turn, Keiko had already calculated everything.
Out of the spots in front of Kita-chan, only one was empty.
In other words, only rolling a six would save her from the Stone Sentinel Maze!
“This is the ultimate formation of a master strategist: the Stone Sentinel Maze!
Try to break it if you can!
Who can stop me now?!
Who can possibly…
stop me!” Keiko felt she had the formula for victory.
She didn’t believe the other girl could hit the exact one-in-six chance to dodge her trap.
“Kita-chan!
Just accept your fate and become my cash cow!” Kita-chan casually rolled the dice.
As they spun on the board, Keiko’s confidence gradually crumbled.
The final result was— —— “It’s a six!
Lucky me, I can just squeeze past.” Kita-chan smiled, moving her piece to the only safe spot—the exit of the maze—dodging her fate completely.
Keiko was left speechless.
“This…
It’s fine!
Dia-chan!
It’s your turn now!
You’re the richest, so it’s fine if you give me a little bit of your money, right?!” Keiko immediately turned her gaze to Diamond, who had the largest pile of cash.
“Just a little!
Just a tiny amount so I can get some cash back!
Please!” “Hmm~ What should I do~” Diamond rolled the dice with a smile.
“If you don’t get my money this time, you’ll go bankrupt, Keiko-chan.
You don’t want to lose the game right now, do you?” “…Ugh, what do you want?!” Keiko had a look of humiliation on her face.
“Besides, it’s not like I’m guaranteed to land on your properties either!” “Well~ I’m not a monster.” Diamond suggested with a smile.
“I can lend you two hundred thousand yen first.
You just have to pay me back four hundred thousand after one round.” “…Wow…
Double?” Keiko frowned.
“You capitalist!
You’re trying to drain all my future value like this!” “If you can’t pay, you can always mortgage your properties~ How about mortgaging whichever spot I land on next, Keiko-chan?” Diamond’s smile looked terrifying to Keiko.
‘She…
she can do that?!’ “…This is Monopoly, right?
Why do I feel like Dia-chan is playing a completely different game from us?” Kita-chan was baffled.
Weren’t you not allowed to lend money in the official rules?
And at that interest rate, it was basically loan sharking anyway.
“Damn it…” Looking at her remaining two thousand yen, Keiko nodded with tears in her eyes.
“It’s only four hundred thousand!
I can pay it back!
As long as I have properties, I’ll make money!
I can turn this around!” “Oh my~ It happens to be a spot with a hotel.” Diamond smiled as she landed on the mortgaged spot.
After collecting the rent and the loan payment, she smiled.
“It’s fine if you can’t pay it back this round.
You just have to pay me eight hundred thousand in the round after next~” “Damn it…
this is literally loan sharking…” Keiko broke into a cold sweat.
This two hundred thousand felt burning hot.
They were just playing a simple board game, so why did it feel so filled with the dirty scent of money?
“Now Keiko-chan owes me two hundred thousand~ Hehe.” As the richest player, Diamond didn’t care about this small amount at all.
But for Keiko, who had put everything on the line, it wasn’t good news.
“By the way, Tojo-san, have you still not received the notification?” Kita-chan asked after listening for a while.
“Didn’t they say the results would come in three or four days?
Why haven’t they contacted you yet?” “I don’t know either…
I haven’t heard anything yet.” Keiko replied, feeling a bit helpless.
“But today is the third day, so maybe it’ll arrive today.
Whether I passed or failed, they should at least notify me of the result, right?” “Even if you don’t get into Todai now, you can still come with us to Tracen Academy, right?” Diamond smiled.
“You can just try again in three years.
This is just early admissions, so it won’t affect your formal exam in three years anyway.” “That’s true, but jumping straight there would be best.” Keiko sighed.
“I hope everything goes well.” “Keiko-chan will definitely pass—you worked so hard, after all.” Kita-chan was an optimist.
Keiko sometimes admired her optimism, and even felt a bit envious.
In reality, she was completely prepared to fail.
It wasn’t that she lacked confidence, but she had to prepare for the worst.
Otherwise, if she actually failed, it would hit her too hard.
“Isn’t that why you’ve been visiting her every day, Kita-chan?
You were worried about her.” Diamond teased with a smile.
“Well—that’s part of it, but mostly I just wanted to hang out with Keiko-chan.” Kita-chan scratched her head, embarrassed.
She couldn’t hide her thoughts from her childhood friend.
“Whether you pass or not, you’re already a legend at school.
People are already calling you by a nickname.” “What is it?” Keiko asked with curiosity.
“Todai Keiko.” Kita-chan said seriously.
“…” “…” Both Diamond and Keiko fell silent.
It was just changing one character in her name.
How was that even a nickname?
But Kita-chan quickly explained.
“Actually, people mostly call you ‘the one from Todai’.
‘Todai Keiko’ is just the full version.
Most call you ‘the Todai girl’ or ‘the Todai Umamusume’.” “I haven’t even passed yet.
Calling me ‘Todai Umamusume’ is a bit…” Keiko was speechless.
Rumors really did have wings.
“Well, whatever.
It’s not a bad nickname.” *Knock, knock, knock.* While they were chatting, someone knocked rhythmically on the door.
Keiko didn’t think much of it.
She got up from the table and opened the door.
The moment she did, she froze in terror at the person standing before her.
“Hello, Tojo Keiko.” “…H-Hello, Rudolf-senpai…
and Maruzensky-senpai.” Seeing the two of them, Keiko immediately recalled the terrifying ride with Maruzensky.
She had ridden roller coasters and drop towers before, but that wild ride that almost separated her soul from her body was on a whole different level of terror.
“Can we come in and talk?
Or is it inconvenient?” Rudolf said with a smile.
“I brought your acceptance letter by the way.” Saying this, Rudolf showed the letter in her hand, making Keiko swallow hard.
Seeing Rudolf like this gave her a bad feeling.
Did she really fail?
Otherwise, how could Rudolf look so happy when she supposedly lost the bet?
“Of course it’s not inconvenient.
Please come in…” As the two walked in, Diamond and Kita-chan immediately read the room.
They quickly made up an excuse to leave, leaving Keiko alone with the two legendary seniors.
Keiko nervously pulled up two chairs for them, awkwardly rubbing the hem of her skirt.
“Um…
what are the results?” “To be honest, you’ve surprised me.
I heard a bit about what happened on your end—studying yourself in the hospital, and saying some pretty bold things to the Todai professor.
All of this was beyond my expectations and shows that you are an Umamusume with nerves of steel.
Although you look surprisingly timid in front of me, I believe that’s just a disguise.
When you’re on the track, you should be completely fearless.” Rudolf made no attempt to hide her admiration.
“I have high hopes for you, and I look forward to seeing your performance on the track in the future.” “…Which means I failed, right?” Keiko took a deep breath, fighting back her tears.
Although her eyes were watery, she stubbornly refused to let them fall.
She didn’t want to show weakness in front of Rudolf.
Even if she was devastated, she wanted to wait until they left to let it all out.
She forced herself to stand tall.
“Did I lose?” “Hmm?
Why would you think that?” Rudolf was confused by Keiko’s reaction, but seeing her face, she realized the girl had misunderstood.
She quickly explained.
“Don’t rush.
I haven’t seen the results either.
The wax seal on this letter hasn’t even been broken yet.
I came here because I wanted to watch you open it yourself.” ‘—Does she plan to mock the loser to my face?
Symboli Rudolf really means Umamusume.’ Her words earlier felt like a clear statement that Keiko had failed.
After all, if she got into Todai, why would she ever go to a racetrack?
How was that not mocking her?
But the loser had to accept defeat.
She trusted that the Todai professor wouldn’t deliberately give her a low score just to help Rudolf, so it must have been a lack of ability on her part.
‘But…
Symboli Rudolf, I’ll remember this!’ The girl took the letter and took a deep breath, preparing to open it.
Even if defeat was certain, she still had to face her failure.
As her trembling hands opened the envelope and pulled out the letter, her vision blurred with tears.
She stubbornly wiped her eyes with her sleeve and began reading with bloodshot eyes.
The beginning was just standard formalities, so she scanned through it quickly until she reached the end— ‘—Based on the written and interview scores, I believe Tojo Keiko-san possesses the qualities required of a student at the University of Tokyo.
Therefore, in my capacity as the President of the University of Tokyo, I grant Tojo Keiko admission through a special enrollment slot.’ At the bottom was the official seal of the University of Tokyo, showing that the document was fully legal.
Keiko froze.
Was she seeing things?
She…
she…
she passed?!
Going from sadness to disbelief and then to absolute ecstasy, Keiko’s face almost cramped from the sudden shift in expression.
But it didn’t matter anymore.
She won!
She actually won the bet!
She had successfully changed her fate!
This was more important than anything!
Skipping grades straight to Todai as a middle schooler was an incredible achievement.
It even made her question reality—she had actually succeeded!
The unfortunate, unlucky version of herself who could never get anything right had actually succeeded!
Tears fell onto the envelope in front of her once again, but this time they were tears of joy.
Seeing her reaction, Rudolf, who had known the outcome all along, smiled warmly.
“Congratulations, Tojo Keiko-san.
You successfully proved yourself and won the bet.” “No, no…
I was just lucky.” Even though she was ecstatic, Keiko didn’t forget her manners, maintaining the politeness of a proper student in front of Rudolf.
“So…
I’m very sorry, but I won’t be able to go to Tracen Academy.
Once I finish middle school, I’ll be heading to Todai to continue my studies.” “Oh~ Is that so?” Rudolf smiled.
“Why don’t you finish reading it?
There should be more text after that.” “Eh?” Keiko blinked.
Sure enough, there was another line at the very bottom.
She had assumed it was just more standard formalities and ignored it.
But as she read closely— ‘—Additionally, Tojo Keiko-san is granted exchange student status with Tracen Academy.
Furthermore, with Tojo Keiko-san’s consent, she will represent the University of Tokyo in the Twinkle Series as a promotional representative for the university…’ Keiko’s face froze.
She looked up in disbelief at Rudolf, who was wearing a strange grin.
Her mind felt like it was spinning out of control.
She never expected such a move— ‘Damn it!
Symboli Rudolf!
You set me up!’ If she lost the bet, she had to go to Tracen Academy.
If she won, she had to represent the University of Tokyo in the Twinkle Series.
Although the school she represented was different, the result was exactly the same.
Either way, Keiko was going to be dragged onto the track.
Realizing she had been set up, Keiko glared at Rudolf through gritted teeth.
“So this is why you had high hopes for me, President Rudolf?” “Of course.
But my high hopes for you are genuine.” Rudolf’s smile was bright.
Either way, she had won.
Her goal from the start was simply to get Keiko onto the track.
“The President of Todai thinks highly of you.
But let me pass on one message he had for you: ‘She’s indeed quite mature, and her academic level is good…
but she lacks a bit of street smarts.
So young.'” “I…” Keiko gritted her teeth, barely holding back a stream of curses.
“Well, thank you so much!”