Life or Death

**Life or Death** (生か死か) is a modified game of Dice or Roulette created by the Traditional Culture Club that is lead by Yuriko Nishinotouin at Hyakkaou Private Academy.

## Description

Ten sword pieces are placed in a cup which is placed on a circular board numbered from one to thirty. Players have ten seconds to place their bets using the chips they have, splitting them into separate groups to place on different numbers or placing all of their chips on a single number. The croupier then raises the glass, revealing the position of the swords.

If a sword is blade-up on a number, the player receives "life", which means that the total number of chips that were bet on that single number is multiplied by thirty. If the blade of the sword is facing down, the player receives "death", which causes them to lose the chips they bet on the number which is also multiplied by thirty. Before the game begins, the two players must agree on the amount of chips that will be used for that round. If either player bets on a single number that does not appear, the players do not win chips, the differences between their balances are determined and the game is over.

### Cheat

The croupier has hand piercings that allow them, to some degree, to manipulate the position of one or more swords, which have a magnet, by sliding their hands around the cup. However, this trick is not guaranteed to give any player an advantage, as the dealer cannot fully manipulate the sword(s) to the desired place, considering that swords may get in the way or may already have a sword. at the desired number.

## Rules

   Ten sword pieces are placed in a cup. Then, that cup is placed down onto a board that is numbered from 1 to 30. The players then have 10 seconds to place their bets using the chips they have by either dividing them up into separate groups to place on differing numbers or by placing all of their chips on a single number. The dealer then lifts the cup up, revealing the position of the swords.

If a sword is seen facing upward in a number, the player gets "life" meaning that the total number of chips that were bet on that single number gets multiplied by 30. If the sword is facing downward, the player gets "death," which causes them to lose the chips they bet on that number, and that is then multiplied by 30 as well. Before the game begins, both players must agree on the amount of chips that are going to be used for the bet. If either player places a bet on a single number that doesn't show up, then the players gain 0 chips, the differences between their balances is settled, and the game is over.

## Mary vs. Yuriko

### Prologue

Mary, wanting to regain her pride, challenged Yuriko to an official match in order to regain her money and honor. So they started playing Life or Death.

### Game

The one-sided advantage Yuriko had over Mary made her think she was cheating. Asking how many chips would be bet, Yuriko was surprised to find that thirty-two was Mary's remainder. The croupier confirmed the bets on both sides and put the ten spades into the cup, so they both put their chips in their numbers. Mary prayed that she could get at least one number right and perked up as soon as she saw that number twenty-two was dialed, only to have her hopes dashed when Yuriko said it was "death". The dealer considered Yuriko's chips and now Mary was forty-nine million six hundred thousand yen in debt. Just as Ryota noted, she would be a pet until the end of her life.

### Results

Mary ended up increasing her debt and, humiliated and regretting having played against Yumeko, left the room.

## Yumeko vs. Yuriko

### Prologue

As soon as Mary left, Yuriko greeted Yumeko and invited her to play Life or Death, the "game of the day". When she agreed and Ryota thought she was expecting this, the dealer, Kumagusu, explained the rules, then Yuriko suggested forty million as a bet value with one million chips each, to which the other agreed.

### Game

They started by betting ten chips. Kumagusu put the swords in the cups and told the two to bet. Yumeko put her chips on the number board at the last minute, having told Yuriko that she was impatient, and Yuriko agreed. The croupier removed the glass and revealed the two numbers marked by the spades: seventeen and thirty. Yumeko didn't hit any, while Yuriko didn't hit either, having missed by one.

Ryota tried to get Yumeko to stop playing, but she just wanted to enjoy the game. While the two players agreed that it was a good feeling, Yumeko just belittled Yuriko's play for giving Mary hope and then crushing it, calling her the worst kind of human possible. Kumagusu takes offense at that and tries to kick them out, but is surprised by Yuriko's annoyed expression, but she quickly smiled again and told Kumagusu that she didn't need to worry about Yumeko's teasing. She did, however, point out how she expected the numbers two, four, and ten to appear on the board because of Yuriko's last name, Nishinotoin. The aforementioned pointed out that her surname has existed since the beginnings of Japan in Kyoto, but Yumeko kept talking, teasing her even more by saying that the absence of the numbers six and eight indicates that Yuriko's head was just as empty.

Praising it for being so interesting, Yuriko asks about the value of the bets and is surprised to see her bet all of her forty chips, making Ryota, who was watching, wonder why Yumeko would want the Student Council's anger. Kumagusu confirmed the confirmation of both parties and put the swords in the glass, proceeding to count. Yuriko split her chips into eight places with five chips each. Yumeko apologized to Yuriko for her teasing and only claimed that she wanted to bet on that exact number, surprising Kumagusu, Ryota and Yuriko to see that she had put her forty chips on number twenty-four.

When her opponent asked why, Yumeko accused her of cheating, explaining to Ryota how it worked based on the piercings on the croupier's hands, in this case Kumagusu's. Yuriko stated that she hasn't hit a single number since she started playing with Yumeko, but she also says that cheating isn't entirely guaranteed. Wanting both parties to bear the risks, Yuriko despaired that her loss if the number twenty-four was marked alive would be two billion and seventeen million yen, an amount that even she could not lose, even at the risk of the club being closed.

She tried to negotiate with Yumeko, but before she could do that, three girls entered the room: the Council President, Kirari Momobami, the vice president, and Runa Yomotsuki. Although she had tried to get her out of the room, Kirari told her to shut up and open the glass at once to reveal the results. Runa was superficially worried about Yuriko because she was pale. Kumagusu, seeing Yuriko's signal to continue, opened the glass: death in ten and life in seven, which Yuriko randomly bet.

Kumagusu announced the results: the victory was Yuriko's and Yumeko acquired a debt of three hundred and ten million yen. Kirari admitted that she didn't expect Yuriko to win and praised her, calling her lucky, while claiming to be disappointed in Yumeko for trying so hard but still losing. When Yumeko asked if it was some cheating, she just said she didn't know, leaving with the vice president and Runa.

### Results

Later, Ryota followed Yumeko into a room, explaining to him that it was the room below the club room, citing cheating methods in such rooms, wondering if that was what happened in his match with Yuriko. Ryota noticed that it was the room below and it didn't have any holes or anything like that, but Yumeko considered the possibility that a room of her own had been created specifically for that game, but that only a crazy person would do that, deciding right there to want to bet with the president of the guild, Kirari.

As there was no way to pay, Yumeko became a housepet.