Chapter 1 To Reduce the Chance of Accidental Elimination

To reduce the chance of accidental elimination, this "Triple Neurasthenia" game adopted a best-two-out-of-three format.

In the first round, the referee was responsible for shuffling and arranging the cards.

In the second round, the loser of the first round would be responsible.

If there was a third round, then the loser of the second round would shuffle the cards again.

In short, after the referee completed the preparations, the first round between "Crow" and "Black Butterfly" began...

"Ladies and gentlemen, we'll decide the order by flipping a coin, is that okay?" the referee said to the two after arranging the cards.

"No need," Feng Bujue said to the referee, then looked at the woman in the butterfly mask. "Ladies first, you can choose whether to attack first or second."

Hearing this, Black Butterfly sneered inwardly, "Hmph... showing off your cleverness, trying to test me this way?"

That's what she thought, but she wouldn't show it.

The next second, Black Butterfly smiled charmingly and replied softly, "Mr. Crow, you are so gentle... Then I'll be polite and choose to attack second."

Although she said "polite," she didn't actually give up any advantage. Those familiar with the game of Concentration know that attacking second actually has an advantage in this game.

Taking the most basic Concentration as an example... excluding cheating, the probability of the first player scoring on the first turn is very, very low. Because at this time, all the cards have not been turned over, so there is no "memory" factor, and the player relies on 100% "luck." Even if someone can really score on the first turn by luck, the probability of scoring again on the second turn is close to zero.

In short, whether it's the first or second turn... the first player can at most turn over a pair, and will at least let the opponent see two cards with different values.

When the second player starts to turn over the cards, they already know the positions of at least two cards in advance. At this time, the second player turns over a card that has not been revealed. If the value of this card matches the previous two, they can easily score.

Of course... the extent of this advantage is far from reaching the level of first-mover advantage in chess; Concentration is ultimately a game with luck involved. The second player may also turn over two cards whose values are different from those revealed by the first player. Or, they may not turn over a matching card on the first flip, but unfortunately turn it over when flipping the second card, which would instead give the opponent points.

In addition, the above is just the situation that occurs in ordinary Concentration. In this "Triple Neurasthenia," because the base number of cards is huge and the scoring requirements are higher, the advantage of the second player is even more negligible.

But... an advantage is an advantage, even if it's only a tiny bit, it may affect the final victory or defeat.

Black Butterfly would never give up even half a step on this.

"Do you agree?" After receiving the reply, the referee turned to look at Jue Ge to confirm.

"No problem," Feng Bujue, slumped in his chair, replied indifferently, and raised a hand. "Then... I'll start now."

With that, he reached out and turned over the first card of his turn...

...

As mentioned earlier, the cards used in [Triple Neurasthenia] are not playing cards, but specially made cards.

There are a total of 102 cards in this deck, with a total of thirty-four patterns. Thirty-two of them are taken from the "Thirty-two Marks of a Buddha" in Buddhism, namely: Ushnisha (protuberance on the crown of the head), Urna (a white hair between the eyebrows), Eyelashes like a Cow King, Eyes the Color of Dark Blue Sapphire, Full Cheeks, Always Receiving the Best Tastes, Broad and Long Tongue, Voice Like Brahma, Forty Teeth, Closely Set Teeth, Even White Teeth, Upper Body Like a Lion, Upright Body, Even Height and Width, Golden Body, Body Radiating Light, One Pore One Hair, Body Hair Growing Upwards, Full Round Shoulders, Full Armpits, Seven Full Spots, Smooth Skin, Long Slender Fingers, Soft Hands and Feet, Webbed Fingers and Toes, Arms Extending Past the Knees, Hidden Male Organ Like a Horse or Elephant, Legs Like a Deer King, High Arched Feet, Broad Flat Heels, Flat Feet, Wheel-Shaped Feet.

Each of the above "Thirty-two Marks Cards" has three cards each, totaling 96 cards.

The remaining two patterns are "Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss" and "Avici Hell." These two suits are different from the others—there are four "Avici Hell" cards, while there are only two "Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss" cards.

According to the rules, in [Triple Neurasthenia], players turn over three cards each turn, and must turn over "three cards of the same image" to score, otherwise they will hand over the turn.

The scores of all thirty-two marks cards are the same, that is, one card equals one point.

At any time, if someone turns over three "Avici Hell" cards in one turn, that person directly loses the game.

When a total of twenty-five images have been turned over by both sides, if either side turns over two "Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss" cards in one turn, the game is declared over, and the two sides will determine the outcome according to the current score difference, and the side that turned over the "Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss" will receive an additional 10-point bonus when determining the outcome.

In the case where neither "Avici Hell" nor "Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss" is triggered, when a total of "thirty-one images" are revealed on the table, the game is also declared over, and the two sides will directly determine the outcome according to the current score difference.

In summary, in addition to the conventional card counting and scoring, the key to [Triple Neurasthenia] is how to flexibly use the Pure Land cards to lock in victory and effectively avoid the Hell cards...

...

"Ho~ You got this one first." Feng Bujue smiled when he saw the first card he turned over.

He placed the "Avici Hell" card face up, and then leisurely reached out and turned over the second card far away from this one.

Just this choice of "flipping cards" was enough to show that Jue Ge knew some of the techniques of the game "Concentration"...

When playing this game, turning over adjacent cards at once is obviously easier to remember; but if the turned-over cards are far apart, it is more difficult to remember, because after the player moves their gaze or after a period of time, the memory will quickly become blurred.

Moreover, in this first game, the referee adopted a scattered and disordered placement method. Under this placement method, the practice of "revealing cards at a distance" will make memory even more difficult.

Obviously, Feng Bujue, who adopted this tactic, had extreme confidence in his memory ability...

"Um... this one too..." Two seconds later, Feng Bujue had turned over his second card.

It must be said that his luck was so terrible that he got "Avici Hell" twice in a row...

Seeing this, Black Butterfly chuckled, "Heh... Mr. Crow, you are really amazing. You've turned over two of the same cards in the first round."

"Easy, easy~" Feng Bujue put down the second card with the same calmness as before, "According to probability, although the probability of turning over the same suit in the first round is very low, in this 'very low probability,' the possibility of turning over two 'Avici Hells' is indeed higher than turning over two of anything else... After all, this suit has one more card than the others." He paused, "As far as I'm concerned, this card flip can only be regarded as my 'general level'..."

While speaking, he chose a place far away from the second card, and under the pressure of "losing directly if he gets another Hell card," he flipped out his third card without thinking.

Fortunately, this time, he turned over an "Image" card—[Voice Like Brahma].

"Phew..." Feng Bujue himself wasn't nervous, but the referee breathed a sigh of relief for him. "The first round is over, the turn is handed over." The referee reported the results while turning over the three cards that had been turned over on the table and returning them to their original positions.

"Here, I would like to emphasize again." After carefully turning all the cards over, the referee continued, "My judgment on the practice of 'leaving marks during the card flipping process' is very strict, please pay attention."

"Um—" Hearing this, Black Butterfly pursed her sexy red lips, leaned forward slightly, and said娇滴滴to the referee, "Then... what if I 'accidentally' wrinkle the cards?"

Her娇嗲 voice gently penetrated into the referee's ears, and combined with the visual benefits she offered when leaning over, it made the referee's bones go soft.

The referee couldn't help swallowing, took a half step back, and replied with a serious expression, "If the cards are 'accidentally damaged,' they will be replaced with spare cards, which will not have any impact."

"Oh~ I see." Black Butterfly muttered and began to turn over the cards.

She was wearing a pair of long black gloves that wrapped around her slender fingers like a light gauze, making the skin on her arms look even whiter.

"One... two... three..." Black Butterfly counted softly in her mouth, and turned over three adjacent cards in a row.

Let's talk about "luck"...

If "randomly flipping three cards at the start and getting two Hell cards" is Jue Ge's "general level," then Black Butterfly's "general level" is the same as most people's. The three cards she randomly flips at the start are all Image cards, and none of the three are the same.

The duel unfolded with such a start...

Feng Bujue's second round still used the form of opening cards at a distance, and all the cards he turned over were previously unrevealed. Given that he had already turned over two "Avici Hell" cards in the first round, as long as he didn't touch those two cards, it was impossible to "continuously turn over three Hell cards and lose" no matter where he turned over next. Therefore, he turned over very quickly in this round; after revealing three Image cards, he ended the round.

And Black Butterfly's second round was similar to her first. She chose to turn over three cards in a row in the area adjacent to the three cards she turned over in the first round.

What appeared this time was also three Image cards, one of which was the [Voice Like Brahma] that Feng Bujue turned over in the first round, and this... was also the first time in this game that the same suit other than the Hell cards had appeared.

Next, it was Jue Ge's third round. His tactics remained unchanged, and he still went to turn over cards that had never been revealed before.

What was somewhat surprising was... this time he seemed to be lucky, because the first card he turned over in this round was [Voice Like Brahma], which meant that... he only needed to turn over the two previously revealed [Voice Like Brahma] cards to be the first to get three points.

"Ah..." Black Butterfly exclaimed softly when she saw the card, and immediately continued, "Oh... it seems like you're going to score first~ Mr. Crow."

As she spoke, she put on a sad and frustrated look, sighed softly, and straightened up, crossing her arms in front of her.

Under the effect of this posture, the two masses of white fat on her chest were pushed up, forming an extremely seductive picture under the衬托of the low-cut dress.

Seeing this scenery, the referee standing aside was a little embarrassed, but this form of "interference" really couldn't be said to be a foul, so the referee just rolled his eyes and said nothing.

"Um..." At this moment, Feng Bujue pondered for a moment, and then... his movements stopped.

Although she couldn't see his expression through the mask, Black Butterfly determined from experience that the opponent's gaze must be looking at her: "Heh... is it working..." The opponent's hesitation made her quite proud, "This is how this game is... Your method of flipping cards does increase the difficulty of the opponent's memory, but it's the same for yourself. Once your gaze moves away or you get distracted... even if it's only for a second, it can cause deviations in your memory. Heh... just like now, after staring at my chest for a few seconds, you probably can't remember where the first [Voice Like Brahma] card was."

"Referee." After a few seconds, Feng Bujue stood up. "Can I go get a drink?"

The referee glanced at him and replied, "Please be as quick as possible." He paused for half a second and added, "Although this second game doesn't use a timer, the judgment of delaying time still exists."

"Understood." Feng Bujue replied calmly, then moved from the chair and walked towards the champagne tree in the main hall.

"Hmph... delaying time?" Black Butterfly watched Jue Ge's back and sneered inwardly, "It's useless... 'Concentration' relies on short-term memory. Once this memory is deviated or forgotten, it's impossible to remember it no matter how much you think about it."

Feng Bujue really didn't make them wait too long. In less than a minute, he returned.

After inserting a straw into the champagne and sipping it, Jue Ge raised his hand in a bold movement... and turned over a card that had never been turned over in the previous rounds.

Obviously, he had given up on scoring...

So, unsurprisingly, the third card he turned over was also a distant card that had not been turned over before.

"Ha! What is this..." At this moment, Black Butterfly's inner voice had turned into ridicule, "After going around in a circle and realizing that he can't remember, he simply gave up on scoring... and turned over two new cards, wanting to disrupt my attention?"

"You are really a gentleman~" After despising her opponent in her heart, Black Butterfly still said嬌嗲 on the surface, "Since you are so polite... then I won't be polite."

"Oh..." Feng Bujue replied lazily, "Please, feel free."

Soon, the referee reset the cards, and then Black Butterfly's third round of flipping cards began.

Her purpose was very clear. She quickly and accurately turned over the three [Voice Like Brahma] cards.

"This lady, gets three points." A second later, the referee picked out the three cards of the same suit on the table, stacked them together, placed them face up on Black Butterfly's side of the table (the table used in the second game was much larger than the one used in the number guessing duel, with enough space), and then said to Black Butterfly, "After scoring, you can turn over three more cards."

"Okay." Black Butterfly smiled sweetly at the referee, and then she stared at the deck of cards on the table in silence for a long time.

About a minute later, she followed the order in which she had flipped the cards before and turned over three new adjacent cards.

In this way, the duel continued...

Ten rounds later, Black Butterfly had scored 15 points, while Feng Bujue... not only had he not scored 1 point, but several times he had missed opportunities under the premise of "there were scoring opportunities on the field" without turning over cards that had appeared before.

Although Black Butterfly's memory ability wasn't at the point where "she would definitely succeed as long as there was a scoring opportunity," for those cards where "all three cards of the same suit had appeared," she would only need at most two rounds of trying to definitely get the points.

However, at this moment...

"It's about time." Feng Bujue suddenly said something out of the blue.

"Um?" Black Butterfly had just finished her turn of flipping cards. Hearing this, she asked suspiciously, "Mr. Crow, what did you say?"

"I'm saying... my observation of you..." Jue Ge replied in a very calm tone, "is almost complete."