This was just a small setback; Meari still believed she could turn the tide.
The game moved to the third round. Meari wasn't discouraged and began rolling with high spirits.
On her first roll, she rolled [11226] and chose to keep [22].
The initial dice kept in each round are very important, as they largely determine the general direction of the round's situation.
Meari wanted to fill the "Twos" column in this round, but to her surprise, her second roll yielded [244].
Adding the kept numbers, this meant she had a "Full House" combination, or three of a kind with a pair, directly in this round.
However, this combination was too small, and Meari was not satisfied.
She left a 2, then put the remaining two dice back into the dice cup.
[34].
It's not as good as I imagined...
Meari wasn't disappointed; in this round, she rolled three 2s in total, which was already a decent result.
She filled in the score on the "Two Points" column of the score sheet, accumulating 6 points.
It was Shimotsuki Okuri's turn.
She started this round with a combination of [24566], all high cards.
She kept [654], rolled the dice again, and then got [45].
This was already a very good hand; if she chose "All Select" in this round, she could directly exceed Meari by 5 points in this single category.
But she wasn't satisfied; instead, she wanted to go further and roll a Small Straight—she only needed a 3 to appear from the two dice.
She continued to shake the dice, but the result was not satisfactory, only getting two 1s.
Her expression unchanged, she filled in her score in the "One Point" column, accumulating 2 points.
This was the choice with the least "loss."
Just now, it was said that her luck was good, but unexpectedly, she suffered a small loss herself.
It seems her "operation" isn't that great either, Meari chuckled lightly and shook the dice.
[34556], a Small Straight.
The hand that Shimotsuki Okuri couldn't roll earlier was easily rolled by her.
...However, since there's such a good "starting hand," wouldn't it be a shame not to aim for a "Large Straight"?
Meari licked her lips, kept [6543], and put the die with 5 points facing up back into the dice cup and shook it, getting another 5 on the second try.
She wasn't satisfied and shook it again, but again she got a 5.
"..." Meari sighed speechlessly; since it was fate, she could only settle for a "Small Straight."
Three consecutive 5s, Meari yielded to fate and filled in the score in the "Small Straight" column, getting 15 points.
When it was Shimotsuki Okuri's turn, she was not flustered by her momentary setback or Meari's "Small Straight," and calmly began to shake the dice.
[23355].
She kept [55], shook again, and rolled [456] in the second round.
She chose to keep one [5], put the remaining two dice into the dice cup, and shook again.
[56].
Adding the numbers she had kept before, she completed [55556] in this round.
As if to prove to Meari that her previous round's mistake was just an accident, she actually formed a "Four of a Kind" in this round, accumulating 26 points.
Is this person's luck that good?! Meari was instantly startled.
However, she didn't suspect Shimotsuki Okuri of cheating.
Because dice vary in type, weight, material, size, and so on, when first receiving a die, it's impossible to know all its parameters without a period of familiarity.
When holding and throwing a die by hand, one might be able to precisely control the force to get the desired result.
But when the dice are in the dice cup, it's completely impossible to guess the points or control the outcome of the dice.
Most of the magic tricks on the market, such as "listening to sounds to determine positions," utilize trick dice.
Either the dice are filled with mercury, or have magnets, or have chips installed to control the dice's points using other tools.
The dice Meari used were specially provided by the supplier for this school, with identical surfaces and internal mass; no matter how they were shaken, the sound was always the same, without any change, and their quality far exceeded those on the market.
It was absolutely impossible to cheat using these dice.
This was a game completely unrelated to cheating, relying solely on luck.
However, choosing which score column to fill, how many dice to keep, and whether to re-roll... these were all within human control.
For each throw's result, not only luck but also personal decisions played a decisive role.
Seeing Shimotsuki Okuri get "good hands" several times in a row, the pressure on Meari gradually increased.
After all, this gamble involved eighty million Japanese Yen.
Perhaps Ayanokouji Kiyohira didn't value this money, but for her, this victory was incredibly important; she didn't want to disappoint Ayanokoji a second time, nor did she want to be labeled in his mind as "always losing when gambling."
...I must win!
Although Meari felt a heavy burden, her hand shaking the dice did not tremble, and her expression remained as usual.
In the first round, she rolled [11226].
She kept two 1s and continued to roll.
In the second round, she rolled [135], kept 1, and continued to roll.
[25].
Meari chose the one-point combination, getting 3 points.
It was Shimotsuki Okuri's turn; she rolled [33566].
She kept two sixes, originally intending to accumulate 6 points, but when she rolled the dice a second time, she got three 4s, directly forming a "Full House."
This was not the Small Full House Meari had formed earlier; [66444], this dice pattern instantly accumulated 24 points for Shimotsuki Okuri.
The pressure on Meari increased even more; she took a deep breath, shaking the dice while silently praying in her heart, hoping her luck would be better.
When the points for this round came out, she was a little surprised.
[45666].
She hadn't expected such a high roll on the first throw; it seemed her prayers were indeed effective!
Without hesitation, Meari kept three sixes.
On the second roll, [15].
Dissatisfied, she re-rolled and got [36].
Now Meari had two choices: either choose the "Six Points" opportunity or choose "Four of a Kind."
Meari didn't think much and directly chose the "Four of a Kind" column, accumulating 27 points.
Is there even a choice for this? You know, Four of a Kind is a very rare probability, and these were four sixes, which is already a very good hand!
Before Meari could revel in her self-satisfaction, Shimotsuki Okuri, not to be outdone, immediately got a "good hand."
[11366].
She kept two 6s and re-rolled the remaining three dice.
[116].
She kept 6 and continued to roll.
[35].
Shimotsuki Okuri formed [66635]; this combination looked large but didn't form any specific dice pattern.
However, Shimotsuki Okuri chose "All Select" in this round, taking all the points for this round.
In the Liar's Dice game, one must carefully calculate gains and losses; although "All Select" is the ultimate trump card, like the "joker" in a poker game, sometimes using it in everyday play can also be quite effective.
If held too tightly, it might be too late to use the trump card in the end.
In the next round, both Meari and Shimotsuki Okuri had very good luck.
After three re-rolls, Meari got [66111], a Small Full House, accumulating 15 points.
Meari hadn't filled this column before, but in this round, she seemed to have little choice but to select the Full House column.
Shimotsuki Okuri's luck was even better; she got the combination [34456] on her first roll, directly forming a "Small Straight" dice pattern.
Small Straight and Large Straight both have fixed scores; since she got it, she didn't re-roll and directly filled in the score in the "Small Straight" column, accumulating 15 points.
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