Monopoly.
As a game that has flourished from the early 20th century to the present day, there are several different theories regarding its origins.
It is said that this game was originally developed to expose the drawbacks of capitalism itself; therefore, there could only be one winner in the game, and the sole method of victory was for all players other than the winner to go bankrupt. However, due to the competitive and entertaining nature of this format, the game unexpectedly became hugely popular, and its original production intent has been completely forgotten by people.
Of course, the Monopoly game modified by Chika Fujiwara in the Board Game Club was relatively much simpler. Players only needed to complete the game content of four areas: [Youth Zone], [Young Adult Zone], [Middle Age Zone], and [Old Age Zone]. After the process ended, they would simply be ranked according to their personal scores.
Although that was what was claimed, based on Gao Hai's impression from reading the original work, this heavily modified Monopoly designed by Chika seemed to feature various bizarre operations like [Killed by a car at the start] and [Giving birth to nine children in a row]. There was no telling what kind of cursed modification the Chika of this world had come up with.
"Alright, in short, the gameplay is just rolling dice and moving across squares, right?"
Sitting to Gao Hai's left, Maki spoke while casually tossing the two dice in her palm.
"That's right, that's right! The gameplay is very simple, you know."
Sitting to Gao Hai's right, Chika let out a silly laugh. Her entire person seemed to be glowing, her expression of anticipation written completely on her face.
"In that case, who will go first?"
Sitting opposite Gao Hai, Kaguya asked, barely maintaining a calm expression, though she couldn't tear her gaze away from the three people in front of her.
Why are you all sitting together so naturally?
Why has it turned into this situation where I'm sitting alone in one row while the other three are facing me simultaneously?
Why do I get the feeling that it's not four people playing a game together, but me alone accompanying the three of you to play?
There must be something wrong here, right?!
Kaguya Shinomiya wanted very much to loudly question the three sitting opposite her, but in the end, her brow just twitched. She endured the unhappiness in the bottom of her heart, maintaining a normal expression as she feigned calmness to ask the question.
"I'll be the first. Hmm, rolling a 6 means moving forward six spaces, right?"
Holding the dice, Maki spoke as she threw them onto the table.
"That's correct. Little Maki needs to move forward six spaces, right? Let me see..."
Chika nodded with a bit of excitement, leaning her body out to look at the position Maki's character card had reached.
At this moment, all four people were gathered in Chika Fujiwara's room, accompanying this young girl to play a game. It is worth mentioning that when they first learned Chika wanted to invite everyone to play, Kaguya had immediately expressed her refusal to participate. However, after Gao Hai expressed that he wanted to participate, and Maki joined in because she wouldn't let Gao Hai and Chika stay in a room alone together, Kaguya had no choice but to choose to join as well.
I hope nothing too strange appears.
Kaguya, who was very clear about Chika Fujiwara's scatterbrained personality, could only pray in her heart like this at this moment.
"Oh my, what Little Maki drew is a Bad Luck Event Card. Let me see, if the rolled number is this... Mm-hm, the event Little Maki drew is [Deceived emotionally by a bad man]. From now on, you will [Distrust Men]."
The next moment, accompanied by Chika's slightly surprised voice, Maki's brow gradually furrowed.
"Wait a minute, no matter how you look at it, this event isn't right, is it? Aren't we still in the [Youth Zone]? How can there be such a thing as encountering this kind of event so early?"
The somewhat annoyed girl turned her head to look at Chika, but the other party generously displayed the event table written in her notebook to Maki, leaving Maki no choice but to fall silent in displeasure.
"Encountering a bad man in one's youth is actually quite reasonable, isn't it? Aren't there a lot of those right now? Situations where young girls are emotionally deceived by older men."
Gao Hai was attempting to understand the rationality of the events set by Chika.
"Are you talking about yourself?"
Then, following that, Maki's sharp gaze turned toward Gao Hai.
"Don't talk nonsense. I am the type who faces my own desires very straightforwardly; I wouldn't lie to people. Let's be reasonable, when I was dating you, was there ever a time I deceived—"
"Alright, you don't need to speak. Who is number two next?"
Before Gao Hai could finish his self-defense, Maki reached out and covered his mouth. Coughing lightly with a slightly red face, she signaled for the others to continue.
This kind of subconscious action and intimate behavior that paid no mind to the distance between them caused the corner of the observing Chika's mouth to curve slightly, and Kaguya's brow to furrow slightly. However, neither of them said anything; they just took turns taking the dice to roll.
After several rounds in the Youth Zone ended, Maki and Kaguya occupied the first place together, indistinguishable in rank—one due to a windfall from the heavens, and the other due to inheriting unexpected wealth. Chika, meanwhile, had smooth sailing without encountering any major events, only gaining a few points through a small investment. In contrast, Gao Hai had consecutively drawn two [Scum Cards], obtaining a large amount of wealth by deceiving the hearts of young girls, and currently occupied the third place in the rankings.
"Although I read Chika's rulebook in advance and know she didn't rig the operations, isn't this dice luck a bit too outrageous? Or is a character like the God of Luck targeting me?"
Looking at the two Scum Cards placed in front of him, Gao Hai found it hard not to roast the situation with a dark face.
"I actually think you are quite worthy of those two cards."
Maki spoke faintly from the side, then tossed the dice, looking towards her next step.
The second Bad Luck Event Card.
Maki frowned, rolled for points again, and selected the event type.
The event type was—Deceived emotionally by a bad woman. Assets reduce by one-third, and gain a [Distrust of Women] status card.
"What kind of situation is this? Does my character need to live so miserably?!"
Maki was angry.
"It's just a game, no need to mind it. I feel that in comparison, I, who drew two [Scum Cards], am the more innocent one."
Gao Hai said with a haha, and then Kaguya had already begun to act, entering a new square.
What she drew this time was a [Marriage Card].
Marriage?
Maki, whose state of mind had just calmed down a little, froze for a moment.
Chika, holding the rulebook to the side, was also surprised for a moment, then announced that Kaguya, having obtained the Marriage Card, could form a husband and wife relationship with the nearest player. As for the player nearest to Kaguya... well, it was Maki.
"..."
The faces of the two young girls simultaneously revealed expressions of disdain for each other.
"Ah, however, because Little Maki has the [Distrust of Women] status card, she cannot marry a woman. In that case, Kaguya-san can only marry the player second closest in distance, which means marrying Ah Hai."
Then in the next moment, following Chika's voice which carried a hint of bad taste, Kaguya froze in place. Her gaze lifted subconsciously, meeting Gao Hai's eyes as he happened to look up at the same time.
Marriage?
Me and Gao-kun, getting married?
No, no, no, this is just a game, don't take it too seriously. My plan hasn't even fully unfolded yet; there is absolutely no need to be proud of this kind of small victory in a game.
Trying hard to control the corners of her mouth so they wouldn't curve too obviously, Kaguya took a deep breath. She then noticed Maki, sitting beside Gao Hai, with eyes wide open and fists clenched at some point.
"After getting married, the other players on the field have to give the two married players 50,000 Japanese yen each as a congratulatory gift. Ehehe, congratulations to you two."
And then, with Chika's next sentence, a layer of mist covered Maki's eyes.
She subconsciously pulled out her wallet and extracted five 10,000 yen bills from it.
And Kaguya also subconsciously reached out her hand, about to accept the money Maki was handing over.
"It's not money from the real world! Wake up, it's just a game."
Gao Hai hurriedly coughed lightly from the side, reminding these two people not to get too deep into the role. He quickly observed Chika beside him and, unsurprisingly, saw a touch of delighted smiling effectively hidden by the girl.
"Ri-Right, a game, just a game."
Maki took a deep breath, then another deep breath, staring ruthlessly at her own character card on the table as if staring at an enemy.
Kaguya, on the other hand, lowered her head in a slightly dazed manner. A not-so-obvious blush surfaced on her face, and it was unknown what exactly she was thinking about.
The game continued.
After another short while, Gao Hai and Kaguya, as [Husband and Wife], landed on the [Childbirth] square. After rolling the points, they directly [Gave birth to a pair of twins]. As a result, when it was time for other players to give congratulatory gifts, Maki almost pulled out real money again.
Chika's character, however, appeared to not have very good luck. She was stumbling constantly—one moment getting into a car accident, the next her company going bankrupt. By the time she reached the [Middle Age Zone], she was already over a billion in debt. However, she herself was cheerful about this and didn't feel uncomfortable or angry at all, probably because there was too much amusement on Kaguya and Maki's side to watch.
"Counting this childbirth square, that's 7 children."
Gao Hai was already powerless to roast the fact that he could still land on a [Childbirth] square even though his character had entered the [Old Age Zone]. He was just somewhat surprised that he could consecutively land on so many [Childbirth] squares. Was he actually a man very skilled at getting girls pregnant?
"Ye-Yeah. But this is also just a game, no need to be too serious."
Kaguya followed up in a small voice. Since drawing the second [Childbirth] square, her head had gone down, and at this moment she barely raised it, only caring to stare at the game cards placed on the table.
"..."
Maki maintained her silence.
Her current actions were actually quite similar to Kaguya's; she was also staring intently at the cards on the table.
After completing the game processes of the [Young Adult Zone] and [Middle Age Zone], Maki's points had now reached first place because she had consecutively drawn several good cards. She had become the top tycoon in the game; it could be said that other players were completely left in the dust.
However, there was zero gaming experience.
For Maki, who continuously watched Gao Hai and Kaguya draw [Childbirth] squares, such a first place had absolutely no gaming experience to speak of.
"Then next, it's my turn to move forward. Hmm, this is... a Bad Luck Event square?"
But in the next moment, things seemed to take a turn.
Kaguya, who drew the [Cheating and Divorce] square, chose to [Divorce] Gao Hai because she discovered he had [Cheated]. Thus, not only did the two separate, but Gao Hai also had to pay a huge amount of alimony for the seven children brought about by the previous [Childbirth] squares. It could be said that his entire character's wealth plummeted to rock bottom in an instant.
"Because of cheating... we divorced...?"
Kaguya took a deep breath, obviously having received quite a blow.
"What exactly is going on with this thick sense of déjà vu and this feeling of malicious targeting?"
Gao Hai looked at Chika again. This time, however, he couldn't see any flaws in the other party's expression, and he didn't know if this was truly a necessity of fate or if this fellow just hid it too well.
"Oh my, oh my, you guy also have such a pitiful time, huh~"
As for Maki, whose mood immediately turned from cloudy to sunny with giggles—forget it, let's not ask too much of this child.
Speaking of which, this game really is that modified Monopoly that appeared in the original work, right? The events that have appeared so far all seem to have a faint sense of familiarity, with at most some small changes in details. Then, according to my impression, the original work ends almost right about here. Next, there aren't many steps left in the game process. In the span of just these few short rounds, Chika shouldn't be able to pull any bigger stunts, right?
Thinking this, Gao Hai then saw Maki draw a [Marriage] square.
The corners of Chika Fujiwara's mouth quirked up.
Kaguya had already realized something was wrong, but she couldn't figure out how this 'wrongness' would descend.
A blush immediately flew onto Maki's cheeks, and she secretly glanced at Gao Hai, whose character card was currently closest to her in distance.
"Generally speaking, one must marry the closest player, but since Little Maki has the [Distrust of Men] status card, she cannot marry Ah Hai."
"And then, originally as a substitute, she would marry the second closest player. But Little Maki also has the [Distrust of Women] status card, so she cannot marry Kaguya-san either, and definitely can't marry me who is third closest."
Standing the notebook recording the rules up to block the corner of her mouth, Chika looked at Maki and spoke slowly.
"What does that mean? So is the effect of this card voided?"
Maki didn't understand very well, so she asked directly.
"How could that be? I am a master of games; how could I design the existence of such a [Dead End]"
Putting down the notebook, the delighted smile on the pink-haired girl's face was no longer concealed in this moment.
"Considering the extreme situation where a certain character obtains both [Distrust of Men] and [Distrust of Women] status cards simultaneously, the reversal plan I designed is—such a player will directly marry all players present, forming a prosperous big family-dong"
Waving her small hand, Chika excitedly announced the result.
Gao Hai smiled, fell silent, and applauded in this moment, thinking it brilliant.
Kaguya's whole body went stiff, her brain once again in the middle of a Windows 11 automatic update.
And Maki, whose brain had already been messed up, had her head grabbed and rubbed by Chika. It took her several seconds to react before she shouted loudly, "Where is there such a bizarre reversal plan?!" and then, in the next round, she landed on a [Childbirth] square.
By the way, according to Chika's rule table, Maki drawing [Childbirth] at this time did not mean she was pregnant herself, but that all the players she had married were pregnant. Mm, the kind where everyone gets pregnant regardless of gender.
"So you were the legendary light novel protagonist all along?"
After confirming this rule effect, Gao Hai was silent for a long time before finally attempting to seek verification from Maki.
"It's not like I wanted it to be like this!?!"
Maki, who no longer knew if she should break down or go crazy, screamed after taking a deep breath.
"Ehehe, rolled a 6. Wow, that means I gave birth to a pair of twins for Little Maki. Truly amazing."
Chika, sitting beside Gao Hai, continued to fan the flames.
"Stop talking already... By the way, Hai-kun, why are you rolling the dice?"
"Suddenly a bit curious if I can roll a pair of twins."
"Wha—Wait, don't roll! You're not allowed to roll!"
"By the way, Kaguya-san hasn't responded for 10 minutes. Has she fallen asleep sitting up?"
"No, no, no, I'm very sure she has crashed."
"Why can a woman and a woman produce a child..."
"So your thought thread has only just finished processing this step? I haven't even tangled with the problem of men getting pregnant yet."
"Huh?"
"Don't 'huh', it's your turn to roll the dice and give birth."
"Huhhh?!"
...
At least in terms of the cheerfulness of the atmosphere, Gao Hai felt that Chika Fujiwara's strange game was still quite successful.
Although, whether it was Maki or Kaguya, both felt physically and mentally exhausted by this game and had absolutely no thought of playing it a second time.
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