Chapter 13: In Other Words, Bai Qiu Won Again

Four-player Mahjong, four-player East round: Bai Qiu (East), Caili (South), Renji (West), Nox (North).

“Say, Caili, I actually think keeping a parrot or some kind of bird would be pretty nice too. What do you think~?”

Bai Qiu discarded a South Wind tile.

This round, she wanted to rely on the pair of White Dragons in her hand to build a small hand and establish an advantage quickly by catching a discard from Renji.

By earning points off Renji, she could gain a point advantage with plenty of room to spare.

Even if she accidentally dealt into an expensive hand late in the game, she would still come out unscathed.

This was her tactic and the reason she had started a four-player Mahjong game.

As for why she had started an East half-game, it was just in case.

Normally, there were only four rounds in a half-game, and if things went badly, she could quickly end things with a small hand like Tanyao and start over.

This was Bai Qiu’s tactic: the moment things went bad, end it fast until she won.

The others could use the same method to drag things out, but there were two of them after all, and the odds of two people making a mistake were higher than one.

“I don’t want to talk to Bai Qiuqiu, meow.”

Caili puffed out her cheeks and turned away, discarding a Seven Bamboo.

“Oh dear, are you mad?”

Bai Qiu poked Caili provocatively.

“Too bad. Later you’ll have to wear a maid outfit and call me Master~”

“Senpai, don’t get too cocky.”

Nox discarded a One Character.

“There’s a very humiliating punishment waiting for you if you lose.”

“Humiliate me? Then I’ll look forward to it~”

Bai Qiu shrugged indifferently, drew a Green Dragon, and discarded a Nine Character.

‘I really can’t imagine any punishment that would humble Bai Qiu.’

‘She’s just that shameless, after all.’

Four turns later, Bai Qiu was in tenpai after drawing a Red Dragon.

She had already called pon on the White Dragons, still had two Green Dragons in hand as her pair, and there was another Green Dragon in the discard pile.

For a Big Three Dragons, she would still need one Green Dragon and two Red Dragons.

She would also have to abandon her current tenpai and rebuild her hand from scratch.

‘Forget it. It’s too early to go for a yakuman and risk blowing myself up. A small hand with a dealer repeat is better.’

Bai Qiu discarded the Red Dragon and maintained her tenpai, waiting to complete her three-han small hand.

The next turn, she drew another Red Dragon.

Bai Qiu blanked for a moment, then inwardly cursed.

“Ahhhhh! I shouldn’t have discarded that Red Dragon! My Big Three Dragons…”

A chance to end things on East One had slipped through her fingers just like that.

She really ought to show the tile dealer some love.

“Hmph, meow~”

Caili discarded a Green Dragon.

As if she had seen right through Bai Qiu’s thoughts, Caili proudly tilted up her chin.

“Elementary school behavior.”

Bai Qiu said flatly.

Though their ages really were…

“Zako meow~ Bai Qiuqiu is a zako, meow~”

Caili threw infuriating taunts at Bai Qiu and even kicked her with her foot.

Another turn passed, and Renji successfully dealt into Bai Qiu’s hand.

Bai + 1 dora + 1 red dora, three han, 5,800 points.

“You got lucky this time, Caili-chan.”

“It’s just a small hand, meow. It’s nothing, meow~”

“Surely Senpai doesn’t think victory is in the bag? Surely not, surely not~”

“Exactly, meow~ Just winning one small hand and thinking you’ve won, how laughable, meow~”

Bai Qiu clenched her fists.

These two hadn’t shown any skill, but their mouths sure were running.

They were just like the trolls in her stream chat.

“Keep acting cocky, you two. When the time comes, I’ll make you cry and call me Master. Especially you, Caili-chan~”

Bai Qiu flashed a “kind” and terrifying smile.

“Triggered meow, triggered meow~ Bai Qiuqiu really is a zako, meow~”

‘My Caili-chan has turned into a mesugaki’

‘Oh no, I kind of want to see Bai Qiu win now. What do I do?’

‘This time I really want to defect to the streamer’s side.’

‘All you traitors, execute them all! I pledge eternal loyalty to Caili-chan!’

‘Loyalty! Orange!’

‘Don’t lose, you lecherous, money-grubbing, perverted loli!’

Entering East One, one-honba.

Bai Qiu led with a South Wind to continue executing her tactic.

But—

“Riichi, meow.”

Caili declared a double riichi straight away.

“?”

Before Bai Qiu could react, Nox followed up with a One Bamboo discard that dealt in.

Double riichi + ippatsu + iipeikou, four han, 8,000 points.

Just like that, Bai Qiu’s dealership was stripped away with ease.

“Getting lucky is one thing, but colluding like that is going too far!”

“Blehh~”

Nox made a face, and the shadows beside her crawled up Bai Qiu’s thighs and arms.

“We’re on the same team. Got a problem with that?”

“Exactly, meow. If you’ve got a problem, deal with it, meow.”

Caili hid behind Nox, poked her head out, and stuck out her tongue.

“Fine, just you wait.”

Bai Qiu’s fists trembled with rage.

She couldn’t beat them at all, so she had no choice but to endure it.

But she would remember this grudge.

And the chance for revenge came sooner than anyone expected.

During the eighth turn of East Two, Bai Qiu caught Nox with a 12,000-point, six-han haneman.

“Oh my, little Nox, you only have 5,000 points left~”

She had thought this Mahjong game would take hours, but in the blink of an eye, it was about to end.

“If you surrender now and call me Master, I might consider letting you off~”

Bai Qiu crossed her arms and looked at Nox and Caili.

“But Caili, no. You dared to be that cocky, so today Caili is becoming a maid for sure!”

“Hmph, hmph, meow! I’m not scared of you, meow!”

But clearly, Caili was putting up a front.

Her panicked eyes had already betrayed her wavering resolve.

“If I did it, I’ll take the blame. I won’t———”

“Don’t even think about using this chance to get Caili out of it!”

“…I wasn’t thinking about that at all.”

Nox, her plan seen through, guiltily turned her head away.

“Can you swear that on Caili-chan?”

“……….”

Nox glanced at Caili, whose eyes were full of expectation, and silently wrapped herself in her shadows.

“Nox, meow~~”

Caili tackled Nox, who was trying to use her shadows to hide herself, and hugged her like a little kitten.

‘Oh no, Caili-chan has fallen to the cat side.’

‘Streamer, when you win, make sure to put cat ears on Caili-chan.’

‘Great idea, but I’d like to make a slight modification—add cat paws too.’

There wasn’t much time for them to fool around.

East Three began.

Renji was the dealer, which could be treated as though there was no dealer at all.

Renji discarded a North Wind.

Nox called pon directly, and it was her turn to discard.

Caili and Nox exchanged a glance, and Nox discarded a White Dragon.

“I’ll pon, meow.”

“Don’t underestimate the bond between us, meow!”

The eyes of both of them burned with determination as they looked at Bai Qiu.

“Just because you called pon on one White Dragon, is there really any need to be that fired up?!”

On Bai Qiu’s turn, she drew a Three Character and discarded it immediately.

“Chi.”

Caili immediately called chi on that tile.

It was a three-four-five Character sequence containing a red dora.

Bai Qiu furrowed her brows slightly, instinctively sensing bloodlust.

Just the melds alone were already two han.

Who knew whether she was hiding some other lethal move?

Better to be careful.

Two turns passed with nothing happening.

When it came to Bai Qiu, she drew a Four Circles.

‘Can’t I get anything useful?’

Bai Qiu complained inwardly.

She really needed to show the tile dealer some love.

Meanwhile, she discarded the Four Circles.

“Chi.”

Caili called chi on the Four Circles as well.

It was another three-four-five Circles sequence, also containing a red dora.

Three melds.

Two red dora and identical sequences.

‘Was the third red dora in her hand too? Was she going for Sanshoku Doujun…?’

‘I still have plenty of points. Even a yakuman doesn’t scare me.’

Bai Qiu decided to test the waters and also to discard the dangerous tiles from her hand.

On her turn, she discarded a Four Bamboo.

Caili didn’t call chi.

‘She’s already in tenpai?’

When it was Caili’s turn, she discarded a South Wind.

“?”

While Bai Qiu was still wondering whether Caili had reached tenpai, Nox called pon on that South Wind.

Two melds of North and South Wind triplets.

The whole hand gave off an unsettling killing intent.

On the sixth turn, Nox drew a tile.

When she saw what it was, she smirked wickedly.

“Kan!”

Nox called kan on a South Wind.

The kan flipped a dora indicator: Red Dragon.

Caili’s three melds jumped straight from three han to six han!

Bai Qiu’s heart jolted, and she immediately started brainstorming.

Assuming the third red dora was in Caili’s hand too, and assuming she had completed Sanshoku Doujun, it was already baiman.

“Going this hard already in East Three…?”

Cold sweat seeped from Bai Qiu’s forehead.

She looked up at Nox.

Nox was looking right back at her, wearing a confident smile as if victory was already assured.

Bai Qiu sneered.

‘Who are you trying to scare? I wasn’t raised to be scared.’

Bai Qiu broke apart her Nine Circles pair to start defending, discarding only tiles they had already discarded.

‘The streamer’s on defense!’

‘Absolute defense, and from that comes the tax evasion, the one who’ll teach you victory is———’

‘Bai Qiu wins!’

The chat had already popped their champagne like there was no tomorrow.

But Bai Qiu slowly began to notice something was off the more she played.

‘I’m in deal-in hell…’

By the fourteenth turn, all her safe tiles had been exhausted, and every tile left in her hand looked like it would deal in.

‘Was the end of defense really deal-in hell?’

‘Discard the One Character. Terminals and honors are usually safe.’

‘Looking at the board state, no tile looks safe.’

Caili had the White Dragon and Sanshoku Doujun as her yaku, while Nox had the South Wind as hers.

Terminals and honors weren’t safe.

*zawazawazawa………

‘She had to save points for the next round. There was no other way to play it.’

Bai Qiu’s mind carefully deliberated, and she finally picked a One Character to discard.

There were already four Nine Bamboo in the discard pile, three Red Dragons plus one red dora indicator Red Dragon.

Kokushi Musou thirteen-sided was definitely impossible.

If they wanted to launch her directly, it could only be a double yakuman.

So how many double yakumans were even possible?

Pure Nine Gates?

Impossible.

Right now, Bai Qiu was the only one with a closed hand.

Good luck making Pure Nine Gates with that.

Four Concealed Triplets single wait?

Same logic as Pure Nine Gates—also impossible.

Big Four Winds?

From Nox’s called North Wind triplet and South Wind kan, the probability of her going for Big Four Winds was very high.

However, two East Winds were in Bai Qiu’s hand!

‘So Big Four Winds is per☆fect☆ly☆safe!’

All double yakumans had been eliminated.

Nox might have actually managed to scrape together Little Four Winds.

But that wasn’t enough either!

A non-dealer yakuman was only 32,000 points, and Bai Qiu had a full 42,400 points.

One yakuman alone wouldn’t be enough to launch her!

As for why she wasn’t discarding the East Wind, that was naturally to prepare for the next round.

What if Nox happened to be waiting on that exact East Wind to complete Little Four Winds?

Discarding the One Character minimized that possibility and preserved more points for the next round.

As long as she could survive this round, even if she did deal into a yakuman from Nox, she could rely on the remaining 10,400 points in the upcoming all-last to either quickly win a small hand, defend desperately, or target Renji.

Any of those gave her a strong chance of dodging disaster.

As long as she dragged the game into the next round, as long as she had over 10,000 points left, there was still a chance to turn things around.

There was still a chance to see Caili and Nox in maid outfits.

There was still a chance to earn money through them that two months of streaming couldn’t bring in!

‘So, this time, I win———!’

But—

“Yay~”

Caili and Nox were already high-fiving in celebration.

“…Huh?”

By the time Bai Qiu realized what kind of mistake she had made, they had already pressed the bright red “Ron” button on their screens in unison.

Lightning struck, and their hands flipped over———

Nox’s Little Four Winds, Caili’s Sanshoku Doujun + 3 dora + 3 red dora + White Dragon.

32,000 points + 16,000 points.

Bai Qiu was launched directly.

Game over.

“Damn it, I forgot about Caili———!”

She had only been on guard against Nox’s yakuman and forgot to watch out for Caili, who had a called haneman and might have been hiding a lethal move.

Bai Qiu pounded the sofa, drowning in regret.

She should have discarded the East Wind.

Even if Nox really did ron the East Wind, it would only be 32,000 points, and at least there would have been a next round.

She had been too greedy, too eager to save points for the next round!

‘Pride goeth before the fall.’

‘The streamer’s miracles have completely merged with her daily life.’

‘Champagne popped too early…’

‘Why is the streamer’s face so red?’

‘The streamer’s face is red. Maybe she’s in a bad mood.’

‘Little Bai, stop attacking God Nox’s shoe soles with your head.’

Watching the comments scroll by, Bai Qiu’s eyes were about to pop out of her skull.

Her grip on her phone was so tight she nearly crushed it.

But in the end, Bai Qiu collapsed onto the sofa, eyes vacant, exactly like Caili when she had lost to her.

“Hehe, I want you to wear a collar for a whole day.”

Nox pulled a collar out of her shadows.

‘I want to see what other punishment she’ll come up with~’

‘God Nox, you’re amazing!’

‘A bunch of shameless people!’

“That’s it? From the look on your face, I thought it would be something worse.”

Hearing this punishment, Bai Qiu’s soul immediately returned to her body.

Without a word, she took the collar Nox handed her and put it on, as if afraid Nox would change her mind.

Truly a child’s mindset.

Bai Qiu inwardly marveled at Nox’s naivety.

This kind of humiliation was nothing to a battle-hardened veteran like her.

If anything, could this even count as humiliation?

“Wha— To do something so humiliating without a moment’s hesitation!”

Nox stared in shock at Bai Qiu, who wore the collar as if it were nothing.

Her entire worldview was reshaped in that instant.

This was supposed to be such a terrifying humiliation, yet she didn’t care at all.

‘So this was what a Senpai was like!’

“What’s the big deal?”

Bai Qiu said nonchalantly, even using her phone as a mirror to check if the collar fit.

“If you’d bothered to look through my old videos, you’d know this isn’t the first or second time I’ve worn a collar. I’ve cosplayed plenty of characters who wear collars.”

‘That’s totally different.’

“Then, then, then, then today you have to add ‘woof’ and ‘meow’ to everything you say all day!”

Caili’s expression was indignant.

In her mind, this was the most severe punishment for Bai Qiu, who hated dogs, just like making her add ‘meow’ to her speech.

But she forgot that the person she was facing was the one known as the “Ultimate Shameless.”

“Got it, woof.”

Bai Qiu said without a care.

“You two keep playing, woof. I’m going to find someone else, woof~”

Happily watching the flood of Super Chats and gifts on her screen, she skipped away.

Caili and Nox were left kneeling on the ground face-to-face, hands planted on the floor, defeated and resentful.

A pale gray light fell on the two of them.

“We won, so why does it feel like such a deep defeat…”

“That’s right, meow…”

“Caili, turn off the light…”

“Okay, meow…”