Tokyo: Rabbit Officer and Her Evil Partner-Chapter 318 - 239: Ghost Card Game

In Japan in 1991, the gambling industry developed alongside the nightlife industry and even became one of Japan’s industrial pillars at one point.

Legally, civil servants were prohibited from gambling, but in reality, it was almost unrestricted. There were multiple legal gambling industries in Japan in ’91, such as horse racing, bicycle racing, pachinko, flat-track motorcycle racing, boat racing, etc...

The casinos even opened telephone betting services and pager betting services, so anyone could try their luck anytime and anywhere.

Fushimi Roku certainly knew the dangers of gambling addiction, but he didn’t take it to heart. He was happy to partake in regular gambling games... like mahjong and other card games.

"What do you want to bet on?"

He paused, then asked, "Why should I bet with you?"

Sazaki Gen snapped his fingers, and his attendant cleared the table, picked up a suitcase, placed it on the table, entered the code, unlocked it, turned it around, and opened it toward Fushimi Roku.

Inside was a neatly stacked pile of ten thousand yen bills.

"There is ten million yen here. If you win, I can have the financial company clean it and transfer it to you on the record," Sazaki Gen said.

Ishii Takamasa shifted his sitting position. Ten million yen was not a small amount for the Inakawa Association, especially since their current financial situation was concerning. Trying to come up with ten million in cash might empty their coffers... Although he was surprised, as the president, he had to remain calm in any situation.

He secretly glanced at Sazaki Gen, who appeared very composed. He trusted his good brother; maybe this was part of the plan.

...It shouldn’t end up with both a financial and personal loss. freewёbnoνel.com

Fushimi Roku didn’t even take another look. He knew the weight of ten million yen, an amount that could tear families apart, fathers and sons turning against each other... If it was just the bottle of red wine on the table, he’d take it without a second thought, but ten million, he estimated, was betting with his life.

"What if I lose?" he asked casually.

"Work for the Inakawa Association for five years," Sazaki Gen’s intentions were now clear.

Fushimi Roku didn’t understand the point of Sazaki Gen proposing this bet; the other party simply didn’t have the ability to reclaim the chips.

Ten million is laid out in front of you; you’d be foolish not to take it.

Fushimi Roku pondered for a moment. He really was short of money and planned to take a bite, but his appetite wasn’t that big, and he definitely couldn’t swallow all of it in one go, so he suggested, "A small gamble can be entertaining, why play so big? It puts a lot of pressure on everyone."

Ishii Takamasa wanted to agree because he was under a lot of pressure right now—after all, he didn’t want to be a bankrupt president.

However, seeing that Sazaki Gen was unfazed, he held back from speaking.

"What do you think is a suitable amount to bet?" Sazaki Gen asked.

Fushimi Roku took out his wallet, counted, and found only about two thousand yen. He placed the bills and coins on the table, saying, "Two thousand six hundred and fifty yen."

If he was lucky, he could make a small profit from his initial stake; if he was unlucky today, losing over two thousand yen wouldn’t hurt, he’d just consider it as paying for a meal.

The most important thing in a casino to avoid losses is not to be greedy.

Sazaki Gen surprisingly didn’t object and agreed promptly. The Young Leaders cleared out the dining table, sent away the waitstaff, and placed a green card table in the center of the room. A croupier in a black and white uniform began setting up tools, seemingly about to get serious.

"Wait a second."

Fushimi Roku retrieved the two thousand yen in change, stood up, and interrupted, "You still haven’t convinced me... Why should I gamble with you?"

"Because gambling is fun," Sazaki Gen said.

...

Indeed.

Fushimi Roku sat back down.

Since Sazaki Gen wanted to play, he was happy to oblige. After all, it was just for fun... As for ’working for the Inakawa Association for five years,’ he didn’t take it seriously, just considered it as Sazaki Gen blowing hot air.

Working was impossible, working for the rest of his life was impossible, he could only live off someone and occasionally gamble and take bribes to maintain his life.

"So, what shall we bet on?"

Fushimi Roku was somewhat excited. Today was his last day of vacation; drinking and playing cards seemed pretty good.

"Since I have more chips than you, many card games can’t be played, why don’t we play something simpler?" Sazaki Gen suggested, "How about Old Maid? The first hand, both sides put up two thousand six hundred and fifty yen as stakes, with the ability to raise at any time without the other side having to call."

Old Maid is a classic puzzle game for all ages in Japan, highly dependent on luck, though there is an element of psychological battle as well.

The rules are quite simple: using a deck of cards, usually retaining only one joker; all players are dealt a hand of cards, and each person draws a card from the player to their right or left, combining the drawn card with their original hand, discarding any pairs they form into a pile.

The person who discards all their cards first is the winner of the game;

The one left holding the joker as the sole loser.

Fushimi Roku hadn’t played before, so Sazaki Gen gave a simple rundown of the rules. He found it acceptable and seemed quite interesting, so he agreed to play.

"Additionally, I need to clarify one point, undetected cheating will not be considered cheating, but once cheating is discovered, you will be immediately disqualified."

Sazaki Gen paused. "Any objections?"

"None."

Fushimi Roku was getting a little impatient, vaguely starting to suspect Sazaki Gen’s motives.

With such a grand setup and formalities, it was surely not just to play Old Maid with him—he knew Sazaki Gen wanted to recruit him, but he didn’t know what means Sazaki Gen would use to entice or coerce him.

"Alright, the bet is on."

Sazaki Gen clapped his hands, and the croupier began to prepare. Fushimi Roku suggested involving President Ishii to make it more interesting for three people to play, but Sazaki Gen declined, saying this was a bet between the two of them.

The croupier selected nine pairs (including three of the same number) and one joker, dealt the cards after shuffling. Fushimi Roku watched his hands the entire time, not noticing any sleight of hand before he picked up his own hand of cards.

"2, 2, 3, 5"

No joker.

So the joker was in Sazaki Gen’s hand.

Fushimi Roku was the visitor, so he drew first. He reached out, intending to randomly draw a card, when Sazaki Gen suddenly pointed to one of the cards in his hand and said seriously, "This one is the joker."

"Hmm?" Fushimi Roku raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

Sazaki Gen didn’t respond, still holding his right index finger over the third card in his left hand.

Psycho-warfare?

Declaring one card as the joker to test whether the opponent would draw it. Sazaki Gen could be telling the truth, deviating from logic, or lying to lure Fushimi Roku to draw it or employing a reverse psychology tactic...

Slam!

Fushimi Roku drew the third card, turned it over, and lo and behold, it was the joker.

Sazaki Gen hadn’t lied.

He was slightly surprised, starting to think this card game was quite interesting.

Next, Fushimi Roku discarded a pair of twos and shuffled the remaining three cards, increasing the probability of Sazaki Gen drawing the joker in the next round.

"Pass."

Sazaki Gen’s turn to draw, he reached out and without hesitation drew a five, matching a pair of fives, and discarded them together with two cards.

Fushimi Roku sensed something amiss; he scrutinized the back of the cards and found nothing unusual, scanned around but saw no cameras or reflective objects, and the croupier stood by, unable to see the cards from his perspective.

Strange.

Was it really just luck then?

"Pass," Sazaki Gen said.

It was Fushimi Roku’s turn to draw, he reached out, only to see Sazaki Gen once again, pointing at the second card in his left hand, saying expressionlessly:

"This card is a 3."

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