Tokyo: Rabbit Officer and Her Evil Partner
Chapter 373 - 273 Near Death

Chapter 373: Chapter 273 Near Death

Upon hearing this, Yakou Shichi couldn’t help but glance at Minamoto Tamako sideways, thinking to himself: Could this little one have deduced the complete rules before I did? Her performance in "Link Up" wasn’t this impressive... Why did she suddenly get a nosebleed?

No matter how astonished everyone was, the gambling continued.

Fox Princess hesitated, and the arbitrator began counting down again. It wasn’t until the last second of the time limit that she reluctantly matched the bet with 5 chips and cautiously raised by 1 air chip again.

Fushimi Roku unhesitatingly matched the bet with 1 chip.

He then noticed the last bubble passing in front of him and couldn’t help but widen his eyes, puffing up his cheeks.

Indeed, the air chip he was breathing had run out of oxygen!

Fushimi Roku stared at Fox Princess, realizing that at some point, her long hair had fallen down, and the bubbles around her had almost completely dissipated. This meant she hadn’t thought at all when raising the bet!

This woman... did it on purpose!

She deliberately stalled, placing her bet only at the last second of the 30-second limit, and only raised by 1 chip—during this time she wasn’t thinking at all, her purpose was to wait for his oxygen to run out!

Fushimi Roku’s eyes moved downward, and at his feet, there were still four air chips stacked.

seconds...?

Fushimi Roku grinned, and a system page popped up before his eyes. He spent skill points to upgrade the "Will" attribute to A-level, and the promotion task to S-level appeared again:

"Nirvana: Witness the moment of your own death"

...

Seeing this scene, Minamoto Tamako seemed to guess something. She leaned forward and muttered softly, "No way... it’s unnecessary... raising by 3 chips would be enough... absolutely shouldn’t..."

Before she could finish her sentence, Fushimi Roku slammed the last four air chips heavily on the table!

ALL IN!

He didn’t leave any air for himself, choosing instead to gamble everything, raising by 4 chips!

For a brief moment, Fox Princess wanted to remove her mask and gently kiss the prey in front of her—she hadn’t been this exhilarated in a long time, and it was precisely because Fushimi Roku gave off the "scent of the same kind" that she chose to use the time-delaying strategy.

That’s right, to win, one doesn’t necessarily have to win the chips; using psychological warfare to suffocate the opponent into unconsciousness can also harvest the victory fruit!

Such delaying actions naturally provoked the dissatisfaction of the onlookers outside the glass cabin, with some shouting, but what does that matter?

Once a choice is made, one can only accompany it to the end!

Fox Princess sat like a mountain, refraining from making a move.

The arbitrator began counting down, and everyone subconsciously held their breath, but they all overlooked one problem: under pressure, tension, and while thinking, a person’s oxygen consumption would increase dramatically—in a state of suffocation, the more one tries to stay calm, the more intense the physiological response becomes.

"1!"

"2!"

"3!"

...

Fushimi Roku closed his eyes, forcing himself to calm down.

What number has it counted to?

How is it only at 6?

Time seemed endlessly long...

Before he held his breath, he hadn’t taken a deep breath of oxygen, coupled with nervousness, a drop in body temperature, mental activities, and other factors, his oxygen consumption was greater than he imagined!

"9!"

"10!"

"11!"

Fox Princess looked at him calmly, like a hunter eyeing prey caught in a trap, wary of the prey’s last struggle before death.

Tiny bubbles began to appear around her again, signifying she started to think once more:

’This guy goes to such lengths, does he truly believe 39 will win?’

’Or is he bluffing to make me give up?’

...

The arbitrator continued counting, and when he reached ’25’, Fushimi Roku painfully clutched his chest, and a burst of air escaped from his nose and throat.

Fox Princess remained calm in her thoughts: ’After the last round of betting, the result wasn’t announced immediately, the arbitrator put on headphones and waited for about ten seconds before announcing 15 as the winner; along with the time to change air chips, even after betting ends, there are still about 20 seconds of suffocation waiting for him...’

’In other words, he needs to hold his breath underwater under high pressure for about 50 seconds.’

’If it’s just diving training, a normal person can hold their breath for a minute; but gambling isn’t like that, with various factors influencing, participants can easily misjudge their physical conditions based on past experiences...’

’It seems he’s almost at his limit, right?’

’If I don’t match the bet now, the arbitrator will immediately pronounce him the loser, which would shorten the suffocation time...’

Thinking of this, Fox Princess matched the bet with 4 chips at the very last second, at the limit!

Both sides put in 15 chips each!

Since Fushimi Roku’s chips ran out, this round of betting ended. As expected by Fox Princess, the arbitrator did not immediately announce the outcome but covered his ears, anxiously waiting for something.

’Here it comes...’

’—It’s coming!’

Under Fox Princess’s expectant gaze, Fushimi Roku’s arms began to float up, his skin turned purple, his body near its limit, muscles relaxing, gradually starting to float upward!

Ah...

So beautiful.

Fox Princess tilted her head, admiring his dazed eyes. Fushimi Roku appeared like a floating corpse, shackled at the ankles to a chair, hands raised high, overlooking her.

’Can you win?’ Fox Princess wanted to ask: ’What are you thinking?’

...

Fushimi Roku was still contemplating the rules.

He had lost his vision, but his brain was running at high speed, continuously reviewing his deductions about the rules of winning and losing.

The highest number of the opponent’s hand was known to be 63, the smallest number being the opponent’s 8. There were 10 cards on the table, my hand’s total was 171, and the opponent’s hand’s total was 177—which were both extremely close to one-fourth of the deck’s total points of 364.

Additionally, why was the number of rounds limited to within 5 rounds?

The arbitrator claimed there could be up to 5 rounds of play, possibly determining the winner in just one round, but it doesn’t rule out going beyond 5 rounds—so why limit the total to within 5 rounds?

Thinking from another perspective, does the gambling cease to exist if it exceeds 5 rounds?

He had previously been stuck at this point in his reasoning, always feeling there was a flaw somewhere, yet unable to figure it out, until Minamoto Tamako spread her five fingers and slapped them onto the glass.

He received a hint.

The poker hand type, is called hand...

At that moment, he saw Minamoto Tamako’s hand (hand), and she made an effort to spread her five fingers wide—the thickness of five cards, exactly the same as that of a metal card.

Besides numbers, playing cards also have suits and ranks!

Exactly, the meaning of these numbers is the sum of the five card values! The numbers on the cards are precisely the sum of the points of the hand!

That’s why there’s a rule to open the cards first before betting!

For instance, in the first round, the 15 played by the Fox Princess could form a straight flush with A, 2, 3, 4, 5, or it could be four Aces plus a Jack, four 2s plus a 7, and so on!

Only in this way can all the conditions and limitations be met!

Given the sum of card numbers is 194, and considering within a total of 394, the range of numbers from 8 to 45 also supports this hypothesis—the minimum sum of five playing card points is A+A+A+A+2=6, and the maximum value is K+K+K+K+Q=64; once a number exceeds 64, his hypothesis doesn’t hold.

The reason for needing 5 rounds to determine the winner is that one match consumes 10 playing cards, and 5 rounds use 50 cards; since a deck has only 52 cards, after 5 rounds, the remaining two cards in the deck can’t form a hand!

From this, it’s possible to deduce why the first round was won with 15?

Because the maximum hand that can be combined with "15" is a straight flush with A, 2, 3, 4, 5; whereas the maximum hand with "36" can be four eights plus one four!

And now, the two cards laid out on the table are "8" and "39" respectively.

The maximum hand that "8" can form is four Aces plus a four; while "39" can form four nines plus a three!

Furthermore, it is also crucial to consider the reuse of cards. Regardless of which hand type the 15 by the Fox Princess was in the previous round, it must have at least consumed one Ace, which means she absolutely cannot form four Aces in this round!

In other words, the maximum hand to form the number 8 is either 222AA or AAA23, while 39 can form various four-of-a-kinds or full houses...

Thus, in this round, he will definitely win.

...

The arbitrator announced loudly, "The winner of this round is—Kikiri! Number 39 wins!!"

...

Fushimi Roku glanced sideways, catching sight of the arbitrator’s sign language.

Ah....

He won....

He could truly feel himself living in this world.

Simultaneously, he could also vividly experience the reaper’s scythe slowly cutting into his throat.

The air chips made from metal cans were right in front of him. He wanted to reach out and grab them, but his body would not obey, feeling lighter and lighter, drifting away....

So cold....

Such a familiar sensation....

Why is my chest bleeding....

Why is a knife sticking out from below my collar....

It seems like someone is calling my name....

"Zhou Hao! Zhou Hao!! Wake up—hurry and wake up!!"

"Don’t scare me, okay? I didn’t mean to...."

"Mom was wrong, isn’t admitting my fault enough? Send me to prison, sentence me to death, whatever... just please open your eyes...."

He remembered.

Today was the day of the trial.

Today there was a court hearing on the criminal case of fabricated evidence, false litigation, and destruction of crime evidence. Neither side had hired a lawyer, but before the trial, he had prepared thoroughly....

What happened?

Did I argue with mom?

But it shouldn’t have escalated to the courtroom, right?

He was utterly confused, vaguely hearing a countdown in his ears:

"5!"

"4!"

...

What did I do?

What have I been living for my whole life?

...

"You must feel lonely being by yourself...."

"Now that I’ve come, you’re certainly feeling three lifetimes of luck, aren’t you?"

"Once I find mom, I’ll take you to see the cherry blossoms."

"If anyone displeases you, just punch them right in the face!"

"I am the serial killer Watanabe Shun!"

"Chihime is dead; someone must atone for that."

"You guys can date, I don’t mind, but I forbid premarital sex."

...

He never felt at home on this land, even though living there forever, his hometown was still oceans away. But apart from that, he found peace of mind, in the connections and acquaintances formed by destiny.

For now, he didn’t want to die.

To live another life, to love the right person, perhaps he could find the answers unanswered in the previous lifetime.

...

In the moment before the countdown ended, Fushimi Roku opened his eyes. He suddenly bit onto the respirator, switching the air chips with one hand, greedily inhaling; fresh air rushed into his lungs, oxygen-bound hemoglobin swept across his entire body!

He was close to death for 3 seconds.

In those three seconds, death pierced through his body, and in that instant of revival, his Will was elevated to ’S’ level, allowing him to truly be reborn.