Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16818093094471724561/episodes/16818792437586740668
Damn, I’m getting nervous.
If I lose, the club room becomes the Game Club’s. I’ve never been in such a tense situation before, and I feel like I’m gonna puke.
This sucks. I should’ve just run for center instead. Plus, I was good at soccer games, so I’d have been perfect for center.
Neither Mizuno nor I are cut out to be vice-captains.
“If you lose, it’s checkmate, huh?”
“Please don’t put pressure on me.”
The student council president keeps saying unnecessary things. If you’re the president, you should be giving warm words thinking of the students.
Because the student council president keeps saying weird stuff, I can’t stop shaking from nerves! What are you gonna do about it? Mizuno isn’t the type to get this nervous! It’s totally Moriguchi Hiroto coming out now.
“It’s okay.”
“…Huh?”
Fumi-senpai started holding both my hands.
Huh? Huh? Huh, huh? W-wait, am I marrying Fumi-senpai? Where should we have the ceremony?
…Calm down. She just held my hands, she didn’t propose. So stop that creepy misunderstanding.
“Wh-wh-what’s wrong?”
“When I get nervous, my grandmother used to do this for me.”
No, no, no! Doing that just makes me nervous in a whole different way! That old hag should’ve taught her better ways to calm down!
If this weren’t such a weird situation, I’d be crying tears of joy… I need time to prepare myself mentally too.
But I do appreciate her trying to cheer me on.
“Alright!”
I’ll do my best. Just like in the original story, this is a place important to Fumi-senpai, so I have to protect it properly.
“Do your best. Let’s make it a game where the winner takes the crown… at least?”
I said! Don’t pile on the pressure! I was finally starting to relax, and this student council president has no heart?
“Hey, ah… never mind.”
I was going to say something back, but it seemed like she wouldn’t listen anyway, so I dropped it.
“Do your best, bro!”
“Oh, uh-huh.”
Saotome slapped me hard on the back.
This guy’s started using English, influenced by the student council president.
“Alright, I’ll announce the challenge for the fourth match!”
Here it comes.
Depending on the challenge, my chances of winning could skyrocket.
“The challenge is…
Guessing the challenge for the fifth match!”
“…Huh?”
My reaction overlapped with my opponent from the Game Club.
Well, of course it would. We were just playing video games a second ago, and suddenly it’s a quiz.
I’m terrible at TV quiz shows—I can’t even remember ever getting an answer right. Are you sure this is okay?
Huh? Wait, is the match already decided?
Hey! Don’t go getting all original on us! If that’s the case, just let us play a game against the Game Club! We’d have a better chance of winning that way.
“Well, there are all kinds of games, you know—video games, board games, card games. You have 10 minutes starting now.”
With that, the Student Council President started timing us with the phone.
What? Is that supposed to be a hint? If so, you have zero sense for giving hints. Because that’s not a hint at all.
My grandma was good at giving hints. She’d give you good ones that gradually led you toward the answer.
…This might be bad. If I can’t figure this out within the time limit, it’ll end in a draw.
What happens if it’s a draw? If it’s a draw, then whoever wins the last match ends up with 2 wins, 2 losses, and 1 draw.
“If it ends in a draw, it’ll be judged as both losing.”
…It’s over.
My last hope vanished. I’m completely cornered now.
W-w-w-what should I do… I can’t think of anything.
“Do you have any hints?”
I have to ask for a hint or I can’t go on.
“I don’t need any hints, you know?”
The game club guy refuses hints.
Well, if I can’t answer, the game club wins automatically, so no hint is better.
“Huh? Are you actually hoping I can’t answer? That’s basically saying you can’t answer either, right? Even if you answer, you still win anyway?”
Losing means it’s over, so I’ll do everything I can. That’s why I desperately want a hint and go all out to provoke him.
“Oh, sorry. Are you scared? You’re in the Game Club, but you’re scared of losing to me at a game? If that’s the case, I apologize.”
The more I provoke, the better. If he gets so angry he swings at me, that’s my win.
Hitting someone is definitely a disqualification loss, right?
“Huh? I’m not scared. I’ll beat you fair and square.”
Alright! He took the bait.
“Hmm, then I’ll give you a hint. The hint is… my favorite game.”
This guy… that’s not a hint at all! If you don’t have the sense to give hints, just quit being student council president!
…Whatever. I already knew he had no sense for hints earlier.
Did this guy mention his favorite game somewhere? No, he didn’t, right? But he absolutely must have mentioned his favorite game somewhere, or he wouldn’t be giving a quiz like this.
If that’s the case, the clue must be in our conversation so far.
Spin it, spin it, spin your brain to the limit. Don’t think about anything else. Don’t let anything but the student council president’s past conversations enter your head.
Was there anything weird about what the student council president said? Nah, he was using weird English all the time, so it wasn’t even worth thinking about.
If you want to give a quiz that feels clever, you need to give a cleverer hint! And stop using weird English all the time! That weird English is messing with my head!
…English.
…Weird English.
…That can’t be it, right?
…But… that’s the only thing left, isn’t it?
“…I think I get it.”
“!”
Everyone looks surprised at my statement.
“It was weird, right? The student council president using English in strange places. That weird English was trying to hide certain English words, right?”
“Hide?”
Yeah, the student council president isn’t the type to use English in such weird places to begin with.
“Knight, Queen, King—you wanted to hide those, right? And that comment about you losing to me being ‘checkmate’?”
By now, you should get it.
“That comment about playing a game where you take the King last—that’s what sealed it for me. It was too obvious, so you added ‘at least’ at the end, right?”
Exactly. This guy had already given us the answer.
Knight, Queen, King, you’d lose and it’d be checkmate, a game where you take the King last… this guy’s got a knack for giving hints, huh?
“So the game for the fifth match is chess, right?”
I’m answering with total confidence here, but there’s a chance I’m completely wrong.
If I’m wrong about this, it’ll be super embarrassing, so I’m ready to run.
Please! There’s no turning back now! So just tell me the right answer already!
“Final answer?”
“…Final answer.”
So just say one or the other already! My heart can’t take this!
“………
…Correct!”
Whew! It was right?!
“Yes! We made it!”
“Whoa! You’re a genius!”
“Whoa! I’m a genius!”
Saotome and I hugged, sharing our joy.
Feels so good… I get why people get hooked on puzzles now. What is this feeling? I’m totally addicted.
“Thanks, Shota-kun. This keeps our hopes alive.”
“Yes! Senpai, do your best at chess too!”
“Yeah! It’s my first time, but I’ll try my hardest!”
“Huh?”
No way… right?
After getting this far, something like that happens?
“Nice work, Captain! Looks like the other team’s a bunch of rookies. Victory’s ours!”
The game club guys instantly shifted from the heavy mood to a winning vibe after Fumi-senpai’s beginner comment.
Well, with that vibe, it was definitely our comeback victory.
“…Sorry. I don’t know the rules either.”
“Huh?”
“Yay! Yay! Yay!”
After a messy fight, the Occult Research Club somehow managed to win.
“We did it, President!”
“It’s all thanks to everyone!”
Pip-pip♪
“Sorry, it’s my phone.”
Fumi-senpai stepped away from us to take the call.
“How was it? How was it? Was I cool?”
I asked Niiro and Hisada-chan for their impressions.
“Yeah, yeah, cool, cool.”
“…Average.”
She’s just embarrassed. If she thinks I’m cool, she could say so.
“You were super cool!”
See? Saotome always gives me huge compliments. That handsome Saotome says I’m cool? That means I’m super cool, right?
Clunk.
I heard something fall.
Looking toward the sound, I saw Fumi-senpai drop her phone.
“Wh-what happened?”
“G-grandma’s in danger…”
…Huh?
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