Chapter 38: Wait! Best of Five!
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[You speak so righteously, host. The truth is, you just realized you couldn't get any personal points from Sakayanagi Narumori, so you're looking for an excuse to slip away.]
Narrator Shut up!
"It's okay."
Sakayanagi Narumori waved his hand and said generously, "I don't mind. It won't matter if the work is delayed for a few hours."
"I mind!" Rin Matsuoka almost blurted out these words. Not wanting to postpone this any further, he quickly added, "Then, let's play two games. After those two, I'll leave and won't disturb you from working."
"Only two games? What if I win both? Won't you consider playing a best-of-five?" Sakayanagi Narumori asked with a smile.
Rin rolled his eyes at Sakayanagi. "With your chess skills, old man, you think you can win two games against me? That's just wishful thinking."
The chess set was arranged, with Rin playing the black pieces and Sakayanagi Narumori playing the white ones.
Rin, with mischief in his eyes, allowed the fair and impartial chairman to take the first move.
As the game progressed, Sakayanagi Narumori's expression shifted slightly, realizing that Rin's playing style had undergone a change.
Previously, back in the pavilion, Rin's chess style had been aggressive and relentless. He wouldn't checkmate until he had captured all of his opponent's pieces.
Now, Rin's style was aggressive and fast. He attacked directly from behind, ignoring the other pieces and focusing solely on capturing the king…
But that wasn't the point. The real issue was that Sakayanagi Narumori was already checkmated…
"Come on! Don't think you'll win the next round so easily, Matsuoka!"
"Old man, your words betray your lack of confidence," Rin replied with a smile.
Sakayanagi Narumori thought about it and realized his words had been poorly chosen.
"Then, I will definitely beat you in the next round."
"I'll wait and see."
However, even with his new determination, Sakayanagi Narumori found that the second round ended even faster than the first…
Had he known that defending too tightly would cause an even quicker defeat, he would not have focused solely on defense!
"Alright, two games are over. It's time for me to leave." Rin clapped his hands lightly and finished the remaining tea in his cup in one gulp.
"Wait! Best of five!"
Rin showed a helpless expression. "Grandpa, we agreed beforehand that it would only be two rounds. You're always so fair and firm."
"Let's play chess first, and talk about fairness and firmness afterward," Sakayanagi Narumori replied, getting carried away…
Helplessly, Rin had no choice but to continue playing chess with him. With his intermediate chess skills, Rin naturally won again without much effort.
Rin looked at the silent Sakayanagi Seimori and delicately asked, "Old man, you're not thinking of saying 'best of six,' are you?"
"I want to, but I don't have the nerve to do it."
Rin laughed. He found this old man rather interesting.
"Then I'll take my leave."
"Yes, yes, go ahead. I won't see you off," Sakayanagi Narumori said, waving his hand to signal Rin to leave.
"No need to," Rin replied.
As Rin walked toward the office door, he suddenly remembered something.
"By the way, old man, how long has it been since you last went to the hospital? I've heard that elderly people should go for check-ups every week to monitor their health."
"Hmm, the last time I had one was about half a year ago."
"Then, for the sake of your own health, you should hurry up and go to the hospital," Rin suggested.
"Alright, I understand. Thank you for your concern."
"You're welcome," Rin shrugged and left the chairman's office.
The narrator had previously informed Rin that Sakayanagi Narumori suffered from mild Alzheimer's disease (senile dementia), and if he went to the hospital for a physical examination, he would likely be diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.
Once diagnosed, targeted treatment and prevention could be initiated. With proper management, the progression of the disease could be slowed, and it might even be alleviated with the right care.
Rin Matsuoka had a good impression of the chairman, Sakayanagi Narumori. He really didn't want this gentlemanly old man to one day be wandering around with a badge saying to everyone, "Do you know who I am?"
Perhaps Rin's suggestion worked, or maybe Sakayanagi Narumori himself took the advice about the physical examination seriously. After Rin left the office, the chairman called a familiar hospital and made an appointment for a check-up.
Rin had just left the chairman's office when the narration system chimed in.
[The host is very fortunate. If you had continued playing chess with Sakayanagi Narumori, his daughter would have come to the office to play against you.]
"Huh?" Rin smiled. "Most people call in the older ones after beating the younger ones. Why is it that when the older ones can't win, they call in the younger ones to help?"
"I even beat the old man, so why should I be afraid of not being able to beat his daughter?"
[The host truly wouldn't win. If you persisted until the end, all of your chess pieces would be taken by Sakayanagi Narumori's daughter.]
"I didn't expect the old man's daughter to be so good at chess." Rin's face showed a look of surprise.
After that, Rin no longer dwelled on it. He started to think about how to earn the remaining 100,000 personal points.
"The school has a rule that we freshmen aren't allowed to conduct transactions related to personal points with others."
"Then, I need to find someone who doesn't care much about this school rule and figure out a way to bet personal points with them..."
Or maybe…
"Narrator, if I hack into the school network by myself and change my personal points to 300,000, does that count as completing the mission?"
[It does not.]
"How come you answered so quickly this time? No freezing or lag!" Rin complained.
Rin rubbed his brow, left the chairman's office, and headed toward the business district. He wanted to grab some milk tea to cheer himself up and get a sugar boost.
After walking for about ten minutes, Rin finally spotted a beverage store. He quickly noticed that the individual points required for drinks were quite high, with some even more expensive than the meal sets in the student cafeteria...
The tempura set meal in the student cafeteria only cost 300 points per person, but two-thirds of the drinks here were priced above 300.
Rin spent 400 points to order a passion fruit honey milkshake.
Maybe there was a reason for its high price. Rin took a sip of the milkshake, and the cool, refreshing taste and the sweet, smooth flavor instantly made him feel revitalized and energetic.
Shaking the drink in his hand, Rin murmured to himself, "Maybe I can use words to pressure and threaten others, and get 100,000 points from them."
But if he did that, Rin knew he'd be seen as a despicable and shameless person.
Although Rin was often full of mischievous intentions, he didn't want to become a true villain.
Unless...
Unless the person Rin was threatening was worse than he was.
If Rin targeted bad people, he would feel no psychological burden or guilt.
"Well, maybe I could find Chabashira-sensei and ask her to lend me another 100,000 personal points."
"After I complete the narration task, I could just return the 100,000 points to her."
Meanwhile, Chabashira Sae, sitting in her dormitory room, suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of malice directed her way.