Kore VS Kore & Nymph VS Nymph # 4
Shizuka.
She was a master of gambling, betting, and wagering of every kind.
Once an ordinary high school girl, she became an Awakened and haunted one illegal gambling den after another, until at last she earned her place among the Kangekiren—the alliance of Japanese Awakened, and a shadow world unto itself.
These days she no longer bothered shuffling cards or moving pieces at any run-of-the-mill gambling hall.
She had become somebody truly remarkable.
'It's a whole different world from working part-time in a stuffy old shrine in a miko's outfit. The pay's on another level entirely. Sure, I'm weak in a fight, but put me at a gambling table and there's no one alive who can beat me.'
Shizuka could read people's thoughts.
That was her talent.
Of course, since everyone had things they wanted to keep 'protected' in their own minds, reading thoughts demanded a considerable amount of mana.
But there was no need to explain just how devastating such a talent could be at a gambling table.
Swish—.
Shizuka took her seat at the table with the chessboard and glanced around, then lightly skimmed the thoughts of everyone present.
'That miko outfit looks great.'
'Is it cosplay? Nice.'
People liked her shrine maiden garb. That, in fact, was the very reason Shizuka—despite having quit her job at the shrine—had never been able to take off this strange costume.
Because people loved it.
Shizuka understood, thoroughly and instinctively, how to package herself as a product and market the brand. It was exactly how she'd come to be connected to the mega-conglomerate Telos, too.
'Miss Reiko said she wants to bring that man back to Japan, didn't she?'
Swish—.
Shizuka opened her narrow eyes and looked at the man with the faintly goofy expression: Ha Ildo.
He gave off an utterly harmless impression. None of that 'tension,' none of that 'menacing attitude' that young men almost always carried somewhere inside them. A tree. A boulder. That was the sort of vibe he radiated, and it made Shizuka frown.
Naturally, her poker face was master-class, so not a trace of it showed.
'It's always the ones acting that harmless who turn out to be the dangerous ones. And yet his mental walls are basically nonexistent? Has there ever been a person easier to mind-read than this guy?'
Shizuka reached into Ha Ildo's thoughts—knowing full well that, like any young man, he'd surely be thinking about something completely useless. Casually peeking into the minds of the weakly-guarded was an old habit of hers, rather like spotting a puddle while wearing boots and feeling an irresistible urge to splash through it.
'I'd bet money it's teleportation versus invisibility. Or maybe one of those pointless hypotheticals—never shower again versus never brush your teeth again.'
Ssss—.
The very moment she projected her mana toward the man in just that manner—
「Keong-keong…!」
「Hee-ohhh…!」
「Jjiji…!」
"……"
The inside of the man's head was crammed wall to wall with thoughts of bizarre animals. Fluffy furballs were wiggling around, a spider was doing some kind of strange dance, and there was an enormous owl besides.
「Hoo-hoo…!」
'Cu…'
In short order, Shizuka's face flushed pink.
'…Cute.'
Shizuka adored cute animals. It was only natural—barely a year ago she'd been a perfectly ordinary high school girl who loved collecting adorable accessories and the like.
If I win this match, I'll be getting a 'big payout'—so maybe I should adopt a Dog-Squirrel while I'm in Korea— just as she was pulling herself together with that thought—
Cha Yura reappeared.
"Ahem."
Her thoughts could not be read at all. Her mind was sealed tight, like a wall of solid frozen ice.
'But no matter. My opponent's a total beginner who doesn't even know how chess works. So what if she learned the rules during that ten-minute break? She'll never beat me.'
Mind Reader Shizuka. She was a master of games. Even without her thought-reading sensory ability, she played a perfectly decent game of chess.
'My odds of losing: zero percent. Who knew making money could be this easy?'
Heh-heh-heh—.
Shizuka laughed only on the inside, her inborn poker face betraying nothing at all.
"Now then, let's begin the next match. I'll move first."
So declared the daughter of the South Korean president, brimming with confidence.
Tak—.
Cha Yura advanced the leftmost pawn a single square. With extreme deliberation. That one simple move consumed the entire minute resting in the hourglass.
"……"
Shizuka could tell there was some kind of 'scheme' at work. In due course she mirrored Cha Yura, pushing the pawn at the far right edge forward one square.
Then it was Cha Yura's turn again—and this time she moved the rightmost pawn a single square.
Once more, the full minute of the hourglass drained away.
'What is this? What's she cooking up? She's stalling.'
A strange sense of déjà vu washed over Shizuka. And toward her, Cha Yura spoke.
"Tell someone 'don't imagine an elephant,' and they'll imagine an elephant before they know it. So if I say 'don't think of a yellow-haired delinquent,' naturally a yellow-haired delinquent pops right into your head, doesn't it?"
"Hmph. I have no idea what you're on about, but you're just wasting time."
That was what she said—but Shizuka was already picturing an elephant, and a yellow-haired woman, inside her own head.
The yellow-haired woman in particular kept hovering around behind Cha Yura, drifting back and forth, and she was extraordinarily annoying.
'What are these two up to?'
Shizuka had already guaranteed her own victory in her mind, but she was the type who liked to be thorough. So she knit her brow slightly and slipped into the mind of the yellow-haired woman to take a look—and, surprisingly, there was hardly any guard at all. Her thoughts came through with ease.
「Hey. You just came into my head, didn't you?」
"…!"
Shizuka was startled. Someone had seen straight through her mind-reading.
'Is she an Awakened of the same type as me?'
She was, in fact. Lee Jina specialized in reading the emotions of others—which also meant she knew exactly what the 'weaknesses' of people like herself were.
Lee Jina closed her eyes. And she 'imagined' something with all her might.
Swish—.
What appeared in Lee Jina's mind was that faintly goofy man, Ha Ildo. And Lee Jina herself. And—
FAAAAASH—.
Shizuka jolted in shock, heat blazing across her face until it burned scarlet.
'It can just—do that?! How on earth—?! No, s-stop it! This is too much too soon for me! I didn't know about… about things like this…! S-stop watching!'
Shizuka wanted to shut off her thought-reading immediately. But for a woman raised as a demure shrine maiden, this was far too stimulating to simply cut off.
"Haa—. Haaa—."
Face crimson, Shizuka panted for breath. It wasn't just her face—her entire body seemed to smolder. She was mortified, and the back of her skull prickled with electric pins and needles.
And then the last grains of sand in the hourglass trickled—down.
"Time's up! I win! I won! I won a game! That's my chess skill for you!"
Pop—.
Cha Yura rose from her seat. At once, the nymph Oinoi thrust her hand up into the air with a whoop.
"Truly, it is the nymph way to play every single day…! Surely an Honorary Nymph must excel at games as a matter of course…! This Oinoi declares that even she could run a mechanical snail through three rounds for a hundred won…!"
"This Coris doesn't know what's what, but a win is a good thing, that's what it is…!"
What on earth had just happened?
Cha Yura had won a game! Her opponent had failed to move a piece within the time limit!
"Are the Japan People finding it impossible to place a single piece within one minute…? This Illinoi is very angry about it, you know…!"
Illinoi raged at the baffling defeat. Reiko was no better.
"What gives! Shizuka-chan! What's wrong with you!"
"Hoo… hoooo…."
The professional gambler Shizuka was breathing hard and ragged. Her face flushed red, and just when it seemed she would let out a shriek of "Y-yamete!" and stagger—
CRASH—she collapsed to the floor.
Only then did I grasp the situation.
Acute myocardial infarction, no doubt about it!
"Everyone, step aside! I'll save her!"
There was a golden window for victims of cardiac arrest. CPR had to happen NOW! That was the only way to keep blood flowing to the brain and organs so that even after recovery there'd be no lasting damage!
Swish—.
Just as I laid the woman down and reached my hand toward her chest—
Shizuka's eyes snapped wide open. She looked at me and shrieked:
"Kono hentai! H-how could you do such a thing! So that innocent face was a disguise all along!"
Slap—.
She smacked my palm away and went scurrying off into the distance.
Hentai. So I was a pervert?
"What the hell."
I was genuinely wronged here! I'd tried to save a person out of pure good intentions, and I got branded a pervert for it!
Granted, I'd heard that back in Korea there were people who'd suffered similarly—rushing to help someone and getting mistaken for gropers—
but who knew Japan had that same culture too!
Before long, Cha Yura spoke up.
"Violence was supposed to be forbidden, yet you just struck Ha Ildo's palm, didn't you? And that means the player has forfeited the match. Under the rules, the game can no longer continue—so I believe we can call this my victory."
Thrust—.
Cha Yura stood tall and proud, chest pushed forward.
Korea had won the first match—a match that had seemed all but guaranteed to go to Japan! And by Cha Yura, who hadn't even known the rules of chess! What a staggering miracle this was!
Before long, Oinoi declared:
"Everyone shall now perform the Nymph Dance of Victory…!"
"An Honorary Nymph's victory is a victory for all us nymphs, that's what it is…!"
The nymphs spun round and round in a circle about Cha Yura. It was an utterly ridiculous dance, and Illinoi trembled violently.
"Grrrrr, this Illinoi was a fool to ever trust the Japan People…! She has repeated the mistake of Pearl Harbor all over again…! And so, this Illinoi shall now take the stage herself, you know…!"