Chapter 118: The Ultimate Move and the Unworthy Disciple
"The winner is... King!"
Another verbal judgment, and the one who laughed last was still King!
King was stunned. *I won again?*
Bang was also stunned. *I lost again?*
Because several stones were mixed into the shaker cup, Bang himself had a hard time judging the exact number of the dice just by shaking it. So, it wasn't until Charanko revealed the answer that he knew he had lost to King again without any suspense.
King smiled and was about to speak...
"Just lucky. King, I know you want to say 'just lucky' again. Alright, we already know your luck is very good."
Bang pressed down on the annoyance in his heart and interrupted King's speech.
*Sigh, this old man is about to get desperate from losing. Should I go easy on him next round? No, wait, I'm just guessing blindly. How can I go easy on him? Maybe I should just concede?*
King looked at the somewhat flustered and exasperated Bang and fell into deep thought.
"Charanko, push out the cardboard box containing all the dice."
Bang stared at King with a solemn expression. He had long since tossed aside any thoughts of testing King's strength. Right now, he just wanted to win one round to get some face back. This fellow King had not a single shred of the fine virtue of respecting the old and cherishing the young, just grinding an old man like him into the dirt. I'm a man of reputation, you know! To not leave me any face at all... Do I not want my dignity?
"All the dice?" Charanko was surprised. "Sensei, are you going to use... the final move?"
"Mm, I'd like to see just how sensitive King's hearing truly is."
Bang's gaze was sharp as he stared at King.
The battle... begins now!
King shivered. Being stared at by Bang with such a sharp gaze made him feel uncomfortable all over.
*This old man really can't afford to lose. Is he going to fly into a rage and beat me up?*
Thump, thump!
Charanko returned to the storage room, struggling to push out a two-meter-tall cardboard box.
"King, the final round! Winner takes all!"
Bang stood up and walked over to the cardboard box. He placed his palm on the box, took a deep breath, and under King's bewildered gaze, lifted it. He then fiercely smashed it onto the ground.
*Clatter, clatter, clatter!*
The cardboard box was filled with dice, thousands upon thousands of them. As the box broke, they spilled out, and in an instant, the dojo was almost completely covered in dice.
King stared dumbfounded at the dice covering the floor. *Is this old man Bang asking me to guess the total number of all these dice? This is a total screw-job!*
His head was spinning a little.
Bang looked with satisfaction at the dice scattered all over the floor and said to King, "King, make your guess!" He thought, *Now let's see how you guess. The suddenness of it, plus the enormous number of dice... no player has ever won against this move.*
Because this difficulty is hell-level!
King stared blankly at the dice scattered everywhere—a dense, star-like sea of them. Anyone with trypophobia would surely get dizzy and faint at this sight.
He gritted his teeth, looking at the confident Bang, and silently cursed the despicable old man.
Charanko also gave a dry laugh as he glanced at his cheating sensei. But, the rules allowed it, so no one could say anything.
"King, hurry up!"
Bang pressed his advantage, absolutely not allowing King to read the numbers on all the dice in the limited time.
King sighed softly. "I concede." This was impossible to play.
"Oh, King, conceding?" Bang said with a grin. "The loser has to strip naked, you know!"
"Huh?"
King's face was full of shock. "What happened to losing one round means taking off one piece of clothing?"
Bang said matter-of-factly, "This is the final round. We've already gone all-in—'shōbu', you understand? It means everyone puts all their chips on the line, and the loser loses everything."
King had a look on his face that said, *I've seen 'God of Gamblers,' don't try to fool me.*
Bang gave a dry cough. "In short, those are the rules."
*Shameless! This old man has completely thrown away his dignity.*
King and Charanko screamed inwardly.
King pondered for a moment. There had to be at least several thousand dice on the floor, maybe even over ten thousand. That meant the maximum total would be at least ten or twenty thousand. Therefore, his guess couldn't be too small.
He hesitated for a moment, then said softly, "14250." *Mm, Bang, you're an idiot. That's right, this is the number.*
Bang instructed Charanko with a grin, "Charanko, get ready to count."
"Oh."
Charanko looked at the dice all over the floor, a massive headache coming on. Being the referee wasn't so easy.
He took out a calculator and, stroke by stroke, methodically entered the numbers from the dice on the floor, adding and adding.
King watched boredly as Charanko tallied the numbers.
Bang, however, was quite patient. He closed his eyes slightly and began to meditate.
*Beep, beep!*
The quiet and empty dojo was filled with the continuous clicking of the calculator keys.
Reset!
The corner of King's mouth twitched. *Heh, starting over.*
Charanko gave a dry laugh and returned to the start, once again calculating the numbers on the dice.
Time passed bit by bit.
"Thirteen thousand, six hundred and eighty..."
"Thirteen thousand, eight hundred and fifty..."
"Fourteen thousand, one hundred and three..."
In the end, besides the beeping of the calculator, Charanko's muttering could be heard in the dojo.
"Fourteen thousand, two hundred and fifty!"
His voice suddenly stopped there. He turned to look at Bang with a strange expression, his mouth slightly agape. "Sensei..."
"Say no more. I concede."
Bang waved his hand and slowly stood up, his heart filled with dejection. *So I lost in the end. King's hearing is terrifyingly sharp, absolutely shocking.*
However, although a strong person is bound to have superb observation skills and keen hearing, ordinary people with exceptional talents might also possess both abilities. Therefore, even if it's proven that King has superb observation skills and keen hearing, it still cannot verify the authenticity of his status as a strong person.
He looked deeply at King. *If you, King, are truly the Strongest Man, then defeat me fair and square. I will find a time to challenge you, and then we will settle the score!*
Charanko said anxiously, "But Sensei..."
"Concede and lose half."
Bang once again impolitely interrupted Charanko, glancing at him with dissatisfaction. *This unworthy disciple! Yes, I know I'm the one who just said the loser has to strip naked, but can't you see that your master is trying to weasel his way out of it? What are you yelling about?*
He very decisively took off the few pairs of socks remaining on his feet, then took off his top, revealing his ten-pack abs, solidifying the result of "concede and lose half."
King felt very helpless. The old man was starting to cheat again.
"King, I'll beat you next time."
With his hands behind his back, Bang's face was as calm as water. He left the dojo unhurriedly, the picture of a grandmaster. In reality, he was secretly cursing up a storm: *King, what kind of skill is bullying an old man? Hmph, sooner or later, I'm going to find a chance to beat you up.*
"Well, another day has passed. I hope tomorrow will be even better."
King also stood up, patted the dust off his clothes, smiled, and leisurely returned to his room.
In an instant, only Charanko was left in the dojo. He stared blankly at the two departing figures, then looked at the last die, which showed a one. He muttered to himself, "Sensei, the final result is fourteen thousand, two hundred and fifty-one. You won!"
However, he didn't dare tell Bang right now. Otherwise, Bang would surely clean house, kick him out of the dojo, and curse him for being an unworthy disciple!
(end of chapter)