In truth, Black Rabbit had absolutely intended it that way.
On one hand, she genuinely wanted these problem children to understand just how dangerous a Gift Game could be.
On the other… her Community was weak. Painfully weak. Judging from the power Ren Kuroda and Izayoi had already displayed, there was no guarantee they would agree to join her Community willingly.
"Although the conditions of this 'Gift Game' you proposed are clearly unequal," Izayoi said with a grin, "if we lose, we join your Community. If you lose, you lose nothing. But since it sounds interesting… we'll accept."
Ren blinked.
If he remembered correctly, he was also listed as a participant.
And yet—he distinctly recalled never agreeing to anything.
However, after quickly analyzing the victory condition, Ren realized something.
Winning this game wasn't particularly difficult.
The moment that thought settled in his mind, whatever protest he had been about to voice faded into silence.
If they won, Black Rabbit would likely stop pestering him. And seeing how this so-called "Gift Game" worked firsthand might prove useful.
A full deck without jokers contained fifty-two cards.
There were four Kings—one per suit.
Each of the four of them needed to identify a King.
The odds of randomly drawing a King were one in thirteen.
But since all four had to succeed, the probability dropped even lower.
Black Rabbit watched them struggle with faintly smug satisfaction.
She had grown up in Little Garden. True, people often called her a bit airheaded—but dealing with newcomers? That was easy.
They were allowed only one attempt.
They couldn't use their hands to flip through the deck.
In her mind, these problem children were already doomed to follow her back to the Community.
"BANG—!"
A thunderous explosion shattered her confidence.
Cards flew into the air like startled birds.
Black Rabbit froze.
The source of the noise?
Izayoi had slammed his fist into the table with brute force.
The shockwave blasted the deck upward, scattering cards everywhere.
As they rained down, many flipped face-up midair.
Izayoi casually scanned the fallen cards and effortlessly picked out a King from those revealed.
Asuka Kudō and Yō Kasukabe followed suit, swiftly searching the scattered field.
Black Rabbit stood there, stunned.
Izayoi hadn't touched the cards directly to confirm them.
He had simply overturned the entire game board.
Her ears twitched as she subconsciously confirmed with Little Garden's central authority—
No rule violation detected.
It was valid.
Watching the trio easily retrieve three Kings, Black Rabbit's shoulders slumped. She squatted on the ground, utterly dejected.
"I… I messed up again… How am I supposed to explain this to Jin-sama…"
But just as despair swallowed her—
She heard Izayoi's voice again.
And when she looked up, hope flickered.
Not all the cards had flipped.
It was impossible to ensure every single one landed face-up.
Only three Kings had been revealed.
The fourth remained hidden among the face-down pile.
Roughly one-third of the deck still lay unrevealed.
Which meant—
Ren had to find the final King from that remaining third.
And the rules clearly stated they only had one attempt.
Izayoi had already used their one dramatic table-smash.
They couldn't repeat the trick.
"Looks like Black Rabbit wins after all," she said, recovering slightly. "Finding the only King among the remaining third is even harder than before. It's practically impossible."
Izayoi ignored her.
Instead, he looked at Ren with curiosity.
"You couldn't have missed it," Izayoi said. "When the cards flew up, there's no way you didn't track all four Kings. If you didn't see it, I'll tell you. I don't feel like losing either."
He had anticipated that some cards would land face-down.
The moment the deck exploded into the air, he'd already locked onto the positions of all four Kings and calculated their landing zones.
For ordinary people, such dynamic visual tracking was impossible.
For Izayoi?
Child's play.
And he didn't believe Ren—who had kept up with him in combat—would fail at something like that.
Ren shook his head.
"No need. As long as one of us finds a King, we've already met the victory condition."
The others blinked.
Ren walked calmly toward Asuka.
Before she could react, he took the King of Hearts from her hand—
And tore it cleanly in half.
"Game over. The winners are Participant 2: Ren Kuroda, Izayoi Sakamaki, Asuka Kudō, and Yō Kasukabe."
A parchment drifted down from the sky the moment Ren held half the card.
Black Rabbit stared at the torn half of the King in disbelief.
Izayoi, meanwhile, broke into a knowing grin.
"There was a loophole from the start," Ren explained evenly. "I wasn't certain it would count. But after Izayoi's method passed without violation, I figured this would too."
"The rules only state that we must 'find the King.' They don't specify that each of us must find a different suit. Nor do they state we must possess a complete card."
He lifted the half-card.
"This is half a King. But the 'K' is clearly visible. It unquestionably proves the card is a King."
Asuka and Yō quickly grasped the logic.
Black Rabbit?
She looked as if her soul had left her body.
Her long ears drooped lifelessly.
These weren't ordinary problem children.
Most newcomers to Little Garden stumbled through their first Gift Game, tripped by unfamiliar rules.
But these four—
Not only did they possess overwhelming Gifts—
They exploited loopholes on their very first game.
She, a so-called "Little Garden Noble," who had overseen countless Gift Games—
Had been outmaneuvered by two first-timers.
"…Black Rabbit has failed again…"
"Hey, Black Rabbit," Izayoi suddenly asked, leaning forward, eyes gleaming. "Is this world really as fun as you say? If we join a Community, can we participate in larger Gift Games? Meet stronger opponents?"
"Yes!" Black Rabbit's head shot up, tears trembling in her eyes. "If you join a Community, you can receive invitations to major events and Gift Games! And by winning, you can obtain even greater Gifts!"
Hope shone faintly in her expression.
"Then I'll join," Izayoi declared without hesitation.
"If Izayoi's joining, I suppose I will too," Asuka said with a refined shrug. "We don't exactly have anywhere else to go, do we? Yō?"
"I want to bully Black Rabbit… I mean, I want to be friends with Black Rabbit."
Typical problem children.
They won the game—
And then joined anyway.
Wouldn't it have been easier to just lose?
"That would've been boring."
"Exactly. Choosing to join is completely different from being forced."
"I hate losing."
Three different reasons.
All equally troublesome.
Izayoi turned to Ren.
"What about you? We're all joining. Don't tell me you're going to stay aloof after coming here with us."
"Yeah," Yō added flatly. "You made Black Rabbit cry."
"And you tore the card I was holding in half," Asuka said. "That wasn't very gentlemanly."
A vein throbbed visibly on Ren's forehead.
"Please stop phrasing it like that," he said dryly. "And the ones who made Black Rabbit cry were you three. You saw a wild bunny girl and immediately grabbed her ears and tail."
He exhaled.
"And just because we fell from the sky at the same time doesn't mean we're companions. I didn't receive an invitation."
He met Black Rabbit's gaze calmly.
"Whether or not I join your Community is something I'll decide for myself."
In Little Garden, a Community wasn't merely a faction formed for profit.
It was closer to a family.
..
Want to unlock up to 60+ early-access chapters and exclusive novels and NFSW CONTENT ALSO? Join my Patreon today and dive deeper into the adventure!
patreon.com/denji21