——RING RING RING!!!——
A sharp, piercing alarm bell drew everyone's attention. Before the students could recover from their confusion, the lights on the walls and ceiling burst forth in a dazzling display, and an announcement echoed throughout the entire cruise ship:
『Ladies and gentlemen, please direct your attention to a major jackpot update! Just moments ago, the 'Infinite Progressive Jackpot' in the entertainment area was triggered, and a lucky player has won a massive prize totaling over 80 million! Let's congratulate this player!!!』
『I repeat——』
After the announcement repeated three times, the students erupted in an uproar:
"Did I hear that right? Eighty million?"
"Aren't we the only ones from our school in the casino?"
"I think I have a good idea who it is..."
"Me too..."
Meanwhile, in front of a slot machine in the entertainment area:
Hiyori Shiina looked at the long string of numbers, complete with decimals, that had appeared on the screen. Glancing up at the colorful lights spinning overhead, she asked in a somewhat puzzled tone, "Is it me?"
"Don't ask me. I don't know either."
Ibuki raised a hand to her forehead—she should have known. Compared to a battle of wits at the gambling tables, something based on pure probability was a much better fit for Hiyori.
As the two spoke, a nearby attendant who had witnessed the girl's one-in-a-million shot finally remembered his duties. He spoke briefly into his earpiece, and after receiving instructions, quickly switched to a professional, brilliant smile and stepped forward to explain:
"It is indeed you, miss, who has won the grand prize. Please relax for a moment. I have already notified the manager. If you need anything, please don't hesitate to let me know."
The words had barely left his mouth when a man in a gray suit who looked like a manager approached, accompanied by several staff members and a photographer.
Noticing the situation, Hiyori Shiina glanced at the number on the game machine's screen, formed by a rainbow gradient of colors: 86,809,880.00.
"80 million points... it doesn't feel real at all. Mr. Ghost, do you think the casino will actually pay up?"
"You're overthinking it."
Symon's voice was calm as he spoke: "What you want, what you use, are points. The problem is, where would the casino get points to give you? The ultimate destination for this money will be your school's account. If they had the ability to stiff your school, it's highly unlikely they'd go to all this trouble over such a small amount."
"I see..."
As she said this, Hiyori glanced at the students gradually gathering around and focused her attention on the casino manager who had just arrived before her:
He wore a light gray suit, wasn't very tall, and stood perfectly straight. His hair was half black and half white, his wrinkled face was full of smiles, and his voice was gentle when he spoke:
"Thank you for waiting. My name is Tadashi Itō, and I'm the manager of the Star of Tomorrow Casino. Would our guest be willing to have a photo taken?"
"I'm sorry, I'm not very fond of having my picture taken..."
Hiyori Shiina shook her head gently, her long blue hair swaying with the movement. She spoke softly, "Besides, I doubt the school would approve—of a current student's photo appearing in a place like this."
Tadashi Itō was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and shook his head. "You're right. That was thoughtless of us."
Although he understood that Hiyori was using the Advanced Nurturing High School's name as leverage, there was little he could do about it. Seizing this opportunity to establish a connection with the school was already a difficult feat; there was no need to create further complications.
Seeing that he indeed didn't press the matter, Hiyori Shiina felt a little more at ease. After waiting for the photographer to finish taking pictures of the screen, she printed out the ticket from the machine, handed it to the manager, and asked with some curiosity, "Um... can I exchange this for chips?"
She wanted to see what a ten-million-point chip looked like.
"Please wait just a moment, miss. Someone will bring them to you shortly."
With that, the casino manager summoned a nearby attendant, gave a few quiet instructions, left several security guards behind to maintain order, and quickly departed with his secretary.
After they left, the attendant reloaded the girl's machine with 100,000 in cash, set the bet amount to 10,000 per spin, and said with a smile, "Please continue to play for now, miss. Your chips will be here soon."
Ibuki eyed him sideways. "You people really don't learn."
The female attendant simply smiled without a word.
Hiyori Shiina tilted her head, tentatively reached out and pressed the button on the screen, and the reels began to spin again...
At this moment, the first-year students finally began to buzz with discussion: "It's really eighty million! Isn't that Shiina from Class C? Should we go up and try to absorb some of that luck?"
"No, no, no, the security guards will kill us." Someone grabbed hold of a less clear-headed person.
"Can you really win this much on a slot machine? Maybe we should give it a try."
"Then I'm going too."
With that, the students quickly found the entertainment area staff, surrounded them, and hastily exchanged their money for chips, as if afraid the jackpot would slip away if they were a second too slow.
In less than three minutes, every slot machine in the entertainment area was occupied, and some machines even had people voluntarily forming lines...
Back with Hiyori Shiina, the girl looked doubtfully at the remaining balance of 50,000 on the machine and pressed the button once more with her finger.
The reels stopped, and the balance rose back up to 130,000.
Symon chuckled inwardly. "Stop trying. The casino is in business to make money. These machines are usually pseudo-random; the system has the return rate locked down. It doesn't matter how lucky you are. A different machine might be slightly better, but not by much."
Hearing this, Hiyori Shiina nodded silently. She stopped this meaningless activity and didn't bother trying another machine. Instead, she reached out and tried pressing the button on the machine in front of Ibuki.
Ding-ding-ding-ding-ding~! — Five treasure chest symbols popped up in a row, and a glittering 1,000,000 appeared on the screen.
The attendant's pupils contracted. "!?"
Ibuki was also momentarily stunned, turning to Hiyori. "You want to play this one?"
"No," Hiyori Shiina shook her head, speaking softly, "I just wanted to see if it was what I thought."
The female attendant next to them began to break out in a cold sweat!
Right at that moment, a waiter arrived carrying a tray with Hiyori Shiina's chips.
Following the girl's gaze, Symon took a quick look—aside from seven purple chips to round out the amount, the tray held eight small, jade-white discs encased in hard plastic. The number 10,000,000 was engraved on them, along with some ornate and intricate patterns. Judging by the material, they appeared to be made of ivory.
Ibuki leaned in for a look and commented casually, "So that's ten million, huh. Now I'm a little curious if this casino has hundred-million-point chips."
"They probably do..."
As she spoke, Hiyori Shiina printed out the ticket for the machine's remaining balance. She glanced at the increasingly bustling entertainment area and the envious looks her classmates kept sending her way, then turned and asked softly, "Ibuki, shall we head back?"
Her words implied she no longer wanted to stay here.
Ibuki nodded, printed out her own ticket, glanced at the one-million balance on it, and casually stuffed it into her pocket. Taking Hiyori's hand, she led her out of the entertainment area as if protecting a chick.
They hadn't gone far when Ibuki turned to look at the attendant and security guards following them and asked with a frown, "What are you still following us for?"
The female attendant's face lit up with a smile as she replied, "As per regulations, we must ensure the safety of any guest who wins a large prize until they leave here and disembark from the ship."
Ibuki gave her a cold look. "You think someone's going to make a move on points...?"
Saying this, Ibuki ignored the stunned staff members and pulled the silently smiling Hiyori out of the hall and to the front desk, where they exchanged all their chips and tickets for points.
...
A short while later, the two of them walked out of the "Game Room." Hiyori Shiina took out her personal terminal, looked at the 97 million point balance, and opened the class chat room for a look:
『Minori Kinoshita: Extra! Extra! The beautiful Miss Shiina has descended upon her most loyal territory today! And successfully walked away with 80 million points!』
『Kyōgo Komiya: I heard. The slot machine's progressive pool of over 70 million plus a max payout of a 10,000x multiplier, it came out to around 80 million.』
『Satoru Kondō: You seem to know a lot, Komiya. How much did you win?』
『Kyōgo Komiya: Not my day. Just lost 50,000 points. Ishizaki's playing now... annnd... he's lost it all.』
『Kyōgo Komiya: [Video] — IshizakiSmashingTheSlotMachine.mp4』
『Satoru Kondō: Hoho~!』
Hiyori Shiina clicked on the video and watched Ishizaki kneeling in front of the slot machine, pounding the floor with both hands and wailing tearfully, "Aah! Three hundred thousand! I lost three hundred thousand! My life is over!!" She couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Seeing her laughing so happily, Ibuki glanced at the one-million-point balance displayed on her own terminal. After a moment's thought, she took the girl's hand and started walking toward the elevator, not wanting to disturb her mood.
As they happened to pass a blind spot, two somewhat familiar figures seemed to be arguing near the elevator doors not far away:
Manabe stood with one hand on her hip, her voice cold. "Kei Karuizawa, right? Come with me."
Kei Karuizawa, holding her personal terminal, replied with feigned indifference. "Huh? Why should I?"
"You're the one who cut in line at the student cafeteria before summer break and deliberately pushed Rika over, aren't you?"
"Rika? Who's that?" Kei Karuizawa acted as if she had no memory of such a person.
"Rika from Class C. Rika Morofuji."
"About this tall," Manabe gestured to a level near her eyebrows, "a girl with her hair in a bun, wearing glasses, who looks a bit frail."
"Sorry, I have no recollection of that at all."
"Stop pretending. I don't have the patience to listen to your nonsense."
Manabe grew impatient, grabbed Kei Karuizawa's tie, and spoke menacingly, "Rika identified you to me. Come with me and apologize to her, and we'll forgive you for this."
"Hey... wait!" Kei Karuizawa pulled her tie back, her tone weakening slightly. "Don't get physical. I'll go with you, okay?"
"Hmph! Would've been better if you'd just done that from the start."
...
The elevator doors opened and closed, and the two of them quickly disappeared inside.
From around the corner of the hallway, Hiyori Shiina peeked out and whispered, "Was that just bullying?"
Ibuki thought for a moment and answered casually, "Probably not. Didn't you hear Manabe? That Kei Karuizawa girl was the one who started it."
Don't be fooled by the delinquents clustered in Class C. In reality, aside from Ryūen's equal-opportunity bullying of everyone, the overall atmosphere in Class C wasn't that bad.
Protected by the gyaru group led by Manabe and shouldering a long-term task assigned by Ryūen, Rika Morofuji was actually doing quite well in Class C. Her social circle was even wider than Ibuki's.
To bully a girl like that... I have no idea what that Kei Karuizawa was thinking.
...
____
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