Chapter 216: Chapter 216 - Rock Paper Scissors!
Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24
Rock-Paper-Scissors… this game was said to have originated in the 19th century and carried its own history behind it.
The three hand gestures countered each other: once one was picked, the winner would be decided. The rules were simple and nothing was needed to play it, so it could be played anywhere and anytime. These qualities helped it to spread around the entire world.
Seiji and Mai began their duel that would be the first of many in the future…
Just kidding.
But they were both serious about wanting to win.
First round!
Seiji concentrated intensely on his opponent’s actions and instantaneously made a judgment about what his opponent was going to go with, so he responded in turn.
Scissors!
Mai had used Paper.
Excellent, he'd received the first victory.
Seiji’s mouth arced upwards, and he had a smug look of self-satisfaction.
Mai’s expression didn’t change, but there was a sharp glint in her eyes.
"Not bad," she said slowly, "but the next time will be different."
"Hmph… no matter what you want to use, nothing will escape my excellent dynamic visual acuity. I shall emerge victorious next time as well!"
"Dynamic vision… then how about this?"
Mai placed her hand behind her back.
"What!? This… this is…" Seiji acted as if he was truly shocked.
"This is the secret technique for Rock-Paper-Scissors: the ‘Behind the Back’ technique! Instead of showing my move from the front, I’ll conceal it behind my back, and this will greatly decrease your ability to perceive my next move with your dynamic vision!"
"Oof… there was such a secret technique! The dynamic vision that I was so proud of was sealed so simply..."
"That’s right—you’ve already lost your power, and victory shall be mine! Come, it’s time for the second round!"
"Er…"
Scissors!
Rock!
This time Mai was victorious.
"Ahhhh… I actually lost!" Seiji acted as if he had received a heavy blow.
"Haha, so you’ve witnessed how incredible my secret technique is. This is an ultimate skill that you shall never comprehend. In the final round, I shall obliterate you completely." Mai acted utterly condescending.
"Secret technique… ultimate skill… It’s indeed incredible, and I can’t counter it, however—" Seiji changed his expression to one of resolution as he slowly closed his eyes and posed imposingly. "I’m willing to sacrifice the dynamic vision I’m so proud of and temporarily awaken my tribe’s forbidden technique: ‘Mind’s Eye!’"
"‘Mind’s Eye?’ Could it be the legendary…"
"Exactly right—it’s a legendary undefeatable technique once it's awakened! Yet, it requires a huge sacrifice to awaken, which is why it’s my tribe’s forbidden technique." Seiji assumed a fake grave tone. "I shouldn’t be using this forbidden technique, but in order to defeat a strong enemy like yourself, I’m willing to pay the price!"
"Hm!? You’re actually willing to throw away the vision that you’re so proud of! You’re insane…"
"In order to defeat you, it’s all worth it! Come, for the final showdown—"
Rock!
Paper!
Mai was victorious.
"Ah… I have been defeated."
"But of course—this is only a luck-based game to begin with. What’s with your ‘Mind’s Eye’? You were having a little too much fun, Junior." Mai stopped acting immaturely.
"Didn’t you have plenty of fun as well, Senpai?" Seiji also stopped acting like an immature middle school student. "Creating an atmosphere can help increase the tension and make things more interesting."
"We went a little overboard; everyone’s looking at us strangely."
This was indeed the case.
"What exactly are those two people doing?"
"Are they working for this activity and doing a performance?"
"It’s only Rock-Paper-Scissors; why are they treating it so seriously?"
The passersby were all staring at them and seemed to be muttering things like that.
Even the manga author and the editor wore looks of confusion.
It didn’t matter… fine, Seiji was slightly embarrassed!
Seiji and Mai hurriedly reported their result and received their emblems from the student running the activity.
Then, Seiji grabbed Mayuzumi and Saki and left the activity together with Mai.
"Sensei, this is my Senpai that I told you about yesterday at the coffee café: the part-time maid, Mai Houjou."
Seiji introduced Mai to Mayuzumi.
When the manga author heard this, her eyes instantly lit up.
"Senpai, this is…" He was unsure of how to introduce Mayuzumi, since he didn’t want to reveal that she was the massively popular Peach-sensei.
"H-hello, nice to meet you. My name is Mayuzumi Amami, and I’m a manga author." Mayuzumi ended up introducing herself. "I heard about you from Harano-kun, who told me you’re an extraordinary maid, so… I was really curious, but I didn’t think that I would get to meet you so soon…"
She seemed rather excited.
"Hello, nice to meet you, Amami-san." Mai smiled politely. "An extraordinary maid is a bit exaggerated... I’m merely being paid a salary and doing my job."
She then gave Seiji a sidelong glance.
‘You actually just went ahead and told someone else about me, you—’ Seiji could read this meaning from her eyes.
He did feel somewhat awkward about it.
It was just to spice up the conversation yesterday. He didn’t expect that they would all meet up so soon; once again, it seemed like a subtly wondrous act of fate.
Mayuzumi’s eyes were glimmering as she stared at Mai.
She imagined how Mai would look like in black-and-white maid attire and felt that it would definitely look great on her, just as Harano-kun had mentioned.
She really wanted to see Mai in actual maid attire. However, she felt that it would be impolite to make such a request when they weren’t even familiar with each other yet.
Saki helped to curb Mayuzumi’s fantasies.
"Harano, Houjou-san here seems to be by herself. How about inviting her to go along with us?"
"Eh?" Seiji looked in surprise at the editor.
Mai also looked over at her inquisitively.
"Junior, who might this be…"
"I’m an editor from Thunderbolt Literature. My name is Saki Yoshizawa." The female editor introduced herself. "Pleased to meet you, Mai Houjou-san."
"Nice to meet you too, Yoshizawa-san," Mai responded, before turning to look at Seiji again. "A manga author and an editor… what an uncommon pair for you to be with, Junior."
"Haha, there’s a reason for all this." Seiji scratched his face awkwardly. "Senpai, you’re exploring the school festival by yourself, right? How about going together with us? You want to participate in the special activities too, don’t you? Then that’s the same as us, and we can all have fun together."
Mai blinked as she contemplated the offer for a short moment.
"I am by myself, and I was intending to wander around the school festival like this, but since Junior has offered to treat me, then I won’t have any reservations."
"Er… I didn’t say that I would treat you." After a brief pause Seiji relented. "Okay, I’ll treat you then."
Under the suppression of the Smiling Executioner’s attack, the Magic-Devouring Dragon lost his treasure hoard.
He had just received five hundred thousand sakuras from the student council president, but now her maid was trying to take advantage of him! To Seiji, this seemed somewhat ironic.
Well, it was alright as long as she agreed to accompany them.
And now, he was accompanied by three beauties, each one with her own unique style. He was truly a winner in life!
His cell phone alarm vibrated in his pocket. He glanced at it and saw that it was a reminder: Winner in life, it’s almost time for you to go to your next confession event.
Seiji was rendered speechless.
It was a good thing to be accompanied by beauties, and being confessed to was also good, but… this was making his stomach ache a little.
He was feeling some pressure from it all.
Now that he had another companion, his adventure… whoops, his joyous school festival experience was about to continue.
Translator's Thoughts
imperfectluck imperfectluck
Hey there, if some of you still have trouble with missing or duplicate chapters from the mass New Year's release, that should only be a problem on the cell phone version. It should be solvable as long as you clear your cache in your settings or delete the chapters and redownload them. Happy reading!