Gamble Fish 3

Chapter 03

113

Abidani: You have guts...
Abidani: to make a 300,000 gamble on the first day of transferring to the middle school here.
Title: Fight 03 The Three Truths

Tomu: Nice to meet you, Abidani-sensei.
Tomu: You didn't have to spy on me. Since you're the dormitory dean, I would have prepared you a special seat.

Abidani: Act all smart if you wish...
Abidani: I should welcome you, Shirasagi Tomu.

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Abidani: Welcome to Shishidou Academy.
Title: Fight 03 The Three Truths

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Abidani: Ha ha ha. How rude of me!!
Abidani: I feel the need to touch whatever interests me.

Abidani: Now then...

Kaizuka: Uggh!!!

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Abidani: That was most foolish of you, dorm leader...
Abidani: You're as dumb as a worm and as insignificant as a cockroach...
Abidani: A dorm leader as foolish as you is a blight on Shishidou Academy's honor.
Abidani: Do you know what your greatest mistake was?

Kaizuka: Gh...
Kaizuka: Gah...

Abidani: Your super-human kinetic vision is a talent that only 1 in few million have.
Abidani: Don't you think the odds of you accidentally running into someone else with that ability are ridiculously slim?
Kaizuka: Gah hah...

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Abidani: Shirasagi's kinetic vision is no different from an ordinary person's.
Abidani: He can't actually tell whether the coin is heads or tails.

Mizuhara: But...Tomu got all 5 right.
Mika: I don't think he could do it with intuition or guessing.

Abidani: Of course it wasn't a coincidence.
Abidani: The name of the childish technique he used is...

Abidani: The "one-ahead" system.

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Abidani: The "one-ahead" system is...
Abidani: a technique that has been used in magic for a long time.

Abidani: Now then, I'll make a reproduction of the game.

Abidani: Shishidou-kun, what was the result of the first toss?
Mika: T-tails.

Abidani: First, the dorm leader used the kinetic vision he's so proud of to see that it was "tails".

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Abidani: And he put down a "number card" which indicated "tails".
Abidani: And then Shirasagi put down his first card...

Abidani: but that was actually a throw-away card.
Abidani: It didn't matter whether it was a "number card" or a "court card".

Mizuhara: Eh?
Guy: Huh?

Abidani: To make it easy to understand, I'll keep it turned over.
Abidani: The dorm leader's second card was a "court card".

Abidani: This next part is important.
Abidani: Shirasagi's second card...

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Abidani: was the correct answer for the first toss, a "number card".

Kaizuka: What!?

Mika: Eh?
Mizuhara: W-why?

Abidani: Didn't I tell you? Shirasagi can't tell whether the coin is heads or tails.
Abidani: He just put down the correct card after it was announced one place over.

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Abidani: Continuing to the third card.
Abidani: Just like before, he put down the correct answer for the second toss, a "court card".

Abidani: The fourth card was the correct card for the third toss...
Abidani: And the fifth card continued in this manner...

Abidani: The top is the dorm leader's...
Abidani: The bottom is Shirasagi's.

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Abidani: The dorm leader put a "court card" for the second toss, whereas Shirasagi had one in the third spot.
Abidani: He was putting down cards after hearing the answer, so he was, of course, one card late on all of them.

Mizuhara: B-but then...?
Abidani: Of course, like this, there was no way for him to win.

Abidani: But what if he did this?
Abidani: He took the throw-away card's name literally and got rid of it...
Abidani: And he added a sixth card, a "court card".

Abidani: And then moved all of the cards over one space.

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People: It's exactly the same as the game!!
People: He switched it in an instant.
People: They both got everything right up to the 4th toss!! And then the dorm leader got the last one wrong!!

Abidani: This is the one-ahead system...It has nothing to do with kinetic vision.
Abidani: He just checked the year on the coin in advance.
Abidani: That was just a strategy to throw the dorm leader off his game.

124

Text in top-right: The hardest part of this trick is the instant of changing the cards.
Text in bottom-right of first panel: The timing of getting rid of the first card and adding in the sixth card is crucial.
Text below face down card in top diagram: (Throw-Away Card)
Text below the king of diamonds in lower diagram: (Sixth Card)
Top box: Before Change
Lower Box: After Change

Mika: But...
Mika: When did he change the cards...?

Kaizuka: ...It was then.

Kaizuka: After we'd lined up all our cards and he stood up and moved the cards over to Mika-san...
Kaizuka: saying that we should leave turning over the cards to the referee.

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Kaizuka: He must have had the sixth card in his right hand then.

Kaizuka: He pushed it towards the referee as he slid his hand across the table.

Kaizuka: And at the same time, he took the remaining cards in his left hand and covered up the first card.

Kaizuka: There was no instant where you could see six cards on the table.
Kaizuka: It just looked like he moved the last card forward!!

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Guy: H-he couldn't have...!
Guy: He did that in that instant...!?

Tomu: You're free to fantasize...
Tomu: And I'm not going to confirm or deny any of it.

Tomu: But this doesn't explain how you got the 5th card wrong and I got my 6th one right.
Kaizuka: I do know why I got it wrong!!

Kaizuka: Due to his bluff, I wasn't confident that my last card was right.
Kaizuka: At that time, I saw his card reflected on the table.

Mizuhara: Reflected on the table!?

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Kaizuka: It was definitely a "number card"...To be on the safe side, I put down a "number card", too.
Kaizuka: But now that I think about it, that was his trap!!

Tomu: You have no proof of this.
Tomu: Only the referee knew the result of the 5th toss until the very end.
Tomu: If I put down a "court card" as my alleged sixth card, how did I know that it was "heads"?

Kaizuka: You must have cheated somehow!!

Kaizuka: I won't recognize this as a fair game!!
Kaizuka: Let's redo it, you cheating bastard!!

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Abidani: The cries of a loser are so ugly.
Abidani: I command you to come to the reflection room!!
Kaizuka: Ee!!!

Mizuhara: Th-the reflection room...

Abidani: Shirasagi...I must say I was impressed by that last trick. It was most clever.
Abidani: For the sake of someone's honor, I won't reveal that one to everyone.

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Tomu: I see...For someone's honor, huh?

Abidani: Come on!! Aoto's already there waiting.
Kaizuka: Wah!! Waah!!

Kaizuka: Wh-why only me!!
Kaizuka: If betting's wrong, then you should be taking him, too...

Abidani: I never said that betting was wrong.

Abidani: Gambling reveals a miniature version of people's lives and brings out their true self.
Abidani: And thus losing is a great crime.

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Kaizuka: Please forgive me...!!

Tomu: C'mon...we're going, too, Mizuhara.
Mizuhara: O-okay.

Mika: Now you've done it.

Mika: I won't forgive you, Shirasagi Tomu...!!!

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Mizuhara: Hey, Tomu...Tell me the truth.
Tomu: Hm?
Mizuhara: Is what Abidani said true?
Mizuhara: And what did he mean about "honor" at the end?

Tomu: Unfortunately, that was the truth...
Tomu: but it wasn't for my honor, it was for the headmaster's granddaughter's honor.
Mizuhara: Eh!?

Tomu: The dorm leader wasn't the only one I let see my card.

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Tomu: She also thought that my card was a "number card".
Tomu: She must have realized that if the coin was "heads" that it would mean my loss.

Tomu: I had her wait until the very end to announce the result of the fifth toss, right?
Mizuhara: Yeah.
Tomu: So the only one who knew the correct answer was her.

Tomu: From the beginning, she didn't get along with me.
Tomu: And just to be safe, I acted rudely to her before the game.
Tomu: Someone as proud as her has to hold her feelings in a lot of the time.

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Tomu: Whether the coin was actually heads or tails...she was sure to make the call that would make me lose, "heads".
Tomu: So I could put a "court card" down for my last card with 100% confidence...

Mizuhara: You angered Mika-san on purpose and then used it...?
Mizuhara: In that short a time, you came up with that idea...amazing!

Tomu: The amazing one is that Abidani.
Tomu: He saw through all of my tricks from watching it from a distance.
Tomu: Who is he?

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Mizuhara: Tomu...I know you're not a normal person...
Mizuhara: but you won't get off easy now that Abidani has his eyes on you...

Tomu: Exactly the way I want it.
Tomu: I'm tired of fighting small fries.
Mizuhara: Eh?

Tomu: Come at me, Abidani...
Tomu: Send some fierce warriors to stimulate my instincts...

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Sign: Reflection Room

Kaizuka: Gyah!!
Abidani: Ha ha ha!!
Abidani: Ha ha ha!!
Aoto: Agh!!

Abidani: Hya ha ha haaaa!!!
Abidani: Wonderful job, Shirasagi Tomu!!!

136

Abidani: Daring and sly...a man with instincts of intelligence and wildness in constant battle.
Abidani: I've been waiting for a student like you to come along!!!

Girl: You called for me, Abidani-sensei?

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Abidani: Oh!! I've been waiting.
Abidani: I leave punishing that transfer student to you.

Girl: Just what I wanted.
Girl: Would a card game be acceptable?

Abidani: The base of his abilities is magic.
Abidani: You won't lose...will you?

Girl: What he does is not magic!! It's just a third-rate monkey show that he's put no effort or practice into!!
Girl: I won't forgive that swindler!!!

Abidani: Heh heh heh...
Abidani: Then show him what true magic is.

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Abidani: Invite him to the world of nightmares.