"Our Beautification Committee always has chess sets. This one is unopened and should be usable for gambling."
Miharu Taki Sakura took out a competition-specific Go set from the cabinet and placed it on the table.
In Go, the game is played on a rectangular grid board with black and white circular pieces. A standard board has 19 vertical and 19 horizontal lines, totaling 361 intersection points.
Usually, in Go sets purchased from stores, to prevent loss of pieces, the number of both black and white pieces is higher than 180. However, in these competition-specific pieces, the total number is exactly 361.
Miharu Taki Sakura handed over two Go bowls, one black and one white.
Meari thought for a moment, then only took the black Go bowl to herself, unwrapping the outer plastic film in front of everyone and opening the bowl.
Inside was a full bowl of clear, translucent black pieces. The pieces were made of fine stone, smooth to the touch, and did not look cheap.
Meari had no research into this and was not in the mood to research what material these pieces were made of. She casually put the pieces down, nodded, and said, "To save time, let's just use the black pieces."
In Go, because the person playing with black pieces moves first, there are 181 black pieces and 180 white pieces.
Meari chose to use the black pieces as the tools for their game. Whoever ended up with the extra piece would be the loser.
Miharu Taki Sakura had no objection: "Who goes first, and who goes second?"
"I don't care, you can go first," Meari said.
In a typical Nim game, the second player has an advantage, being able to choose how many pieces to take based on the situation.
However, Meari had modified the game rules. In this Nim game, both sides only needed to roll the dice, using the dice roll to determine the number of pieces to take each round.
Miharu Taki Sakura placed the white Go bowl aside, then took out several dice and arranged them on the table.
"Meari, choose a die. We will share this die when we gamble later," Miharu Taki Sakura said.
She gave Meari the decision-making power for choosing the most crucial tool, the die.
Meari also didn't stand on ceremony, unhesitatingly accepting the decision-making power. Before choosing, Meari first raised a question.
"These dice of yours aren't loaded dice, are they?"
"These dice are all ordinary dice, only differing in material and size."
After hearing Miharu Taki Sakura's affirmative reply, Meari still cautiously picked up each die and inspected it, finally choosing a die that was suitable for her size.
"Alright, let's use this one." Meari threw the die into the center of the table, and it landed on a '6'.
Meari's lips curved slightly upward: "Looks like my luck is pretty good."
Meari had originally wanted to use the '6' she rolled to gain an early advantage and intimidate her opponent, but Miharu Taki's expression remained calm, completely unaffected.
With a composed look, she continued to ask, "Meari, now that the Go bowl and the dice are in place, there's one more crucial point: do you want us to take the pieces, or should the Dealer take them?"
Meari thought for a moment, then handed the Go bowl to Hanatemari.
"Hanatemari, hold this."
"Huh? Meari, why are you giving me the Go bowl?" Hanatemari blankly held the black Go bowl, a little at a loss.
Meari looked up and said, "Committee Chairperson Miharu Taki, when we roll the dice, let your assistant and Hanatemari act as Dealers and take out the corresponding number of pieces for us, one by one. Is that alright?"
"If the two of them supervise each other, you should be able to rest assured, right?"
Meari wanted to focus all her energy on rolling the dice. If the Go bowl was placed next to the two of them, anyone could cheat.
Having Hanatemari and Miharu Taki's assistant act as Dealers and supervise each other now would make things easier for her side and also prevent Miharu Taki Sakura's attention from constantly being focused on her.
It was a good thing Hanatemari came along. If that assistant had to act as the Dealer alone, Meari wouldn't have dared to propose such an idea.
"Yes." Miharu Taki nodded, looking at the meek-looking assistant with a mushroom cut beside her, and softened her voice: "Yagyu Ine, may I entrust this task to you?"
The young girl, whose full name was Yagyu Ine, saw Miharu Taki-sama entrusting such an important task to her and excitedly nodded: "Of course, I will definitely not let down Miharu Taki-sama's trust!"
Meari motioned for Hanatemari to come closer, and whispered in her ear, "Hanatemari, you must keep a close eye on her later. Don't let her secretly take any pieces."
Meari was still uneasy, worried that the other side would cheat.
She had suffered too many losses already. If she lost this "BO1," she wouldn't have any money for a second rematch.
She had to win this gamble.
"Mhm, I will!" Hanatemari perked up, nodding seriously.
Hanatemari secretly encouraged herself, this was a task Meari had entrusted to her, she had to complete it!
Everything was ready.
After clearing away unrelated items, the large office desk served as a gambling table, with only one die placed on it.
The black Go bowl, with its lid on, was placed in the center of the right side. Hanatemari and Yagyu Ine stood on either side of the Go bowl. Whenever one side rolled the die, the two of them would lift the lid and take out the corresponding number of pieces.
"Let the gambling begin!"
With Yagyu Ine's soft cry, Miharu Taki Sakura took the first turn, picked up the die, and casually rolled it.
She rolled a '5'.
After her roll, Yagyu Ine opened the Go bowl and took out 5 black pieces, placing them in an empty bowl.
It was Meari's turn. She propped her face with one hand, picked up the die, and casually threw it, letting the die arc through the air and stop in front of Miharu Taki Sakura.
The number was '4'.
Miharu Taki Sakura and Saotome Meari's expressions were very calm, seemingly not caring about the numbers rolled.
In fact, that was exactly the case.
For them, the most important were the last few throws near the end. The earlier throws were actually not important, and it didn't matter how much they rolled.
However, although they seemed casual, both were actually paying close attention to the numbers their opponent rolled, silently calculating in their minds.
There were a total of 181 black pieces. Neither Meari nor Miharu Taki Sakura could see how many pieces were in the Go bowl. Both needed to calculate the remaining number of pieces silently through mental arithmetic.
While rolling, they also needed to use this time to familiarize themselves with the die as much as possible, so that they could use throwing techniques to make the die land on the desired number.
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