I'm in a real religion, why are all the people who confess to me girls?

Karuizawa hummed what seemed to be a recently popular song as he strode ahead of Amane.

Amane felt that the song Karuizawa was humming was quite different from what she remembered, but seeing that Karuizawa seemed to be in a good mood, she decided it was better not to remind him.

"Where should we go next? Sigh, the school is so small. We've already explored the whole school in a year, and even the Beech Tree Shopping Center doesn't seem to have much fun anymore. I really hope the school can bring in some interesting things."

Karuizawa complained somewhat about the monotony of the school facilities.

Indeed, as she said, the school's facilities have not changed much in about ten years. Although the shops change from time to time and the goods in the shops always keep up with the outside trends, students who are confined to the small campus every day will quickly lose interest.

Especially for students with plenty of money, once they've bought up all the hot-selling items, they lose interest in shopping altogether, much like playing a hacked version of a game. Initially, they might be excited about acquiring rare items, but after playing for a year, opening the game again might not seem so fun anymore.

This explains why students from higher education institutions appear less frequently in various consumer settings as they progress through their grades.

In addition, the number of students is fixed, which means that the audience is very limited. For example, if a certain bag is very popular, its audience is about eighty people. Once half or most of these eighty people have bought it, this style will become a niche product in the store.

These customers are unlikely to make purchases again in the near future.

So even though the school provides subsidies to these shops every year, many of them still fail to survive. The remaining shops have chosen to adopt a wait-and-see approach, which makes the school increasingly lifeless.

"Want to come to my dorm? My bed is pretty big... I mean, my dorm looks like it'll be really fun!"

Amane offered her suggestion at the opportune moment, and unsurprisingly, received a glare from Karuizawa.

"You think I don't know what you're thinking, Tianyin? Your mind is full of...that kind of thing, humph! I won't fall for your tricks this time!"

Karuizawa said she's been fooled by Amane countless times, and she won't fall for Amane's simple persuasion techniques again.

"How about we go to the arcade? You probably don't go to arcades as often as you do karaoke, right?"

Seeing Karuizawa's resolute attitude, Amane decided to update her tactics and upgrade her playing style.

"Arcade... um... won't it be crowded?"

Karuizawa was actually quite interested in the arcade at first, but since the other girls weren't very enthusiastic about playing games, and she always felt a little strange playing alone, she didn't go to the arcade much.

Seeing that Karuizawa was wavering, Tenon quickly continued to persuade him.

"But there will be so many people shopping, and Hui, didn't you just say that shopping was boring? If we go back now, we'll just be playing on our phones all the time~"

Amane's words tempted Karuizawa. She glanced at Amane's eager expression and immediately guessed that Amane's constant urging to go to the arcade was not without ulterior motives. But the current situation was indeed too boring.

Going back to the dorm now carries the risk of being bullied, so Karuizawa ultimately chose to go to the arcade.

"This is your game currency, please keep it safe."

Thanks!

With the help of a girl who looked somewhat familiar and was doing odd jobs, Tianyin exchanged a large amount of game currency.

To ensure a good gaming experience, Tianyin is willing to invest heavily in this area.

"Huh?! Tianyin, you actually redeemed so many! How can the two of us possibly manage all of this?"

Karuizawa, seeing that there were so many game coins that even the small box holding the coins was a bit deformed, couldn't help but remind Amane.

"It's okay, if you can't finish playing, you can give it to someone else to play. Is there anything you like?"

While Amane told Karuizawa to choose, her eyes were fixed on the arcade area. Amane was actually very good at all kinds of arcade games, but unfortunately, the girls around her didn't play these kinds of games, so Amane never had a chance to show off her skills in front of them.

Even Sakayanagi didn't know she had this skill.

"Wow! There's a claw machine over there! Let's go check it out!"

Karuizawa, seemingly unaware of Amane's gaze, grabbed Amane's hand and bypassed the nearly deserted arrival area, heading straight for the claw machine area.

It has to be said that claw machines are quite popular in this school. The arcade, which occupies an entire floor, has more than one-fifth of its area dedicated to various claw machines.

Although it's called a claw machine, it's not just about grabbing plush toys. It also carries a variety of other items, including popular anime merchandise, figurines, game consoles, and small accessories.

Compared to playing the claw machine, many people come here to try their luck, since each attempt costs the equivalent of 100 points.

Compared to dolls, boys and girls are more willing to gamble on something of higher value, although there are also those like Karuizawa who are more naive.

"I'm going to catch this teddy bear!!! Watch me take it down in one go!"

Karuizawa rarely showed such a serious expression. In Amane's memory, she had never seen her so serious before. If she could put this seriousness into her studies, she probably wouldn't look so frustrated when the results came out.

"Yes, yes, I also believe that you can win her over in one go."

Perhaps it was because Amane's tone was too perfunctory that it aroused Karuizawa's competitive spirit.

"It seems you don't quite believe in my abilities, Tianyin? How about we make a bet?"

Karuizawa almost backed down as soon as she opened her mouth, because she seemed to have heard someone say that Amane had caught them dolls.

However, once the words are spoken, there's no going back; it's too late to take them back.

Upon hearing that Karuizawa actually wanted to make a bet with her...

Tianyin, who hadn't yet figured out how to tease Hui, couldn't help but smile happily.

"I didn't expect you to be in such a good mood today, Hui. Well then, hahaha... cough cough, let's make a bet. Tell me how you want to bet."

As expected, Amane accepted the challenge, which made Karuizawa feel that something was wrong. However, she still couldn't believe that Amane was so good at claw machines.

After all, studying or physical training depends on individual effort, while the claw machine belongs to the business. It's unlikely that Tianyin had trained by playing claw machines, right? So she still has a chance of winning. At least the claw machine is fair to everyone, meaning that everyone has a 50% chance of winning at the beginning, and it just depends on who has the best luck.

"Let me think... Everyone draws three times, oh no, five times! Whoever draws five times wins if they have the most dolls at the end. If no one has any dolls or the number of dolls is the same, it's a tie. How about that?"

Karuizawa's rules, which he considered perfectly fair, were met with Amane's head-shaking refusal.

"What's wrong? I think these are very fair rules."

"Hui, you really have no common sense. Is this a problem with the rules? What about the bonus? How can it be a bet without any stakes?"

"Tianyin, you really do lack common sense... So what kind of extra do you want? Just so you know, no lewd stuff!"

Upon hearing the rejection of Se Se, Tian Yin's ahoge (a type of hair sticking up) drooped down. What's exciting if you can't bet with Se Se?

However, Amane quickly realized that she could circumvent Karuizawa's demands by playing it safe.

"If you win, Hui, you can ask me for anything that I can't refuse, anything~ Even confessing your feelings would be something I'd say on the spot. If you lose, Hui, you have to cosplay an anime character I choose for me. If it's a tie... how about I come to your room this weekend to tutor you?"

As soon as Tenon spoke, she saw Karuizawa staring intently at her, making her feel a little uneasy, fearing that Karuizawa had discovered her thoughts.

"Tianyin, are you telling the truth?"

What do you mean?

"If I win, I can make a request of you that you can't refuse."

Karuizawa desperately wanted to get an answer from Amane.

Karuizawa originally thought that the rewards and punishments for winning and losing should be equal, but she didn't expect that Amane would directly offer her a reward that she couldn't refuse.

She knew very well that Tianyin must be confident of victory, otherwise she wouldn't have deliberately offered up something so difficult to obtain to tempt her.

Karuizawa Kei is no idiot.

She knew that Tianyin's real purpose was to hook her, and then satisfy some of Tianyin's desires.

Although Karuizawa saw through everything, and even began to feel that her chances of winning had dropped to almost zero, the bet that she had been dreaming of was still worth taking the gamble.

"That's right, but I have to remind you, Hui, this reward isn't easy to get!"

"I know."

Karuizawa looked at Amane with a determined gaze.

Amane pursed her lips, seemingly realizing Karuizawa's determination, and nodded, acknowledging that Karuizawa was now qualified to compete against her as a challenger.

Although her intentions were malicious, Tianyin always gave her all in any game that required a winner, because only in this way could she live up to the opponent's unwavering determination.

"Then I'll begin."

Karuizawa picked up a game coin, took a deep breath, and then put the coin into the claw machine.

As soon as the voice prompt indicated that the operation was possible, Karuizawa immediately began to operate the joystick to grab the plush toy.

Karuizawa's operation was very skillful, and one can imagine that Karuizawa probably played this kind of game often in the past.

The robotic arm successfully grabbed the teddy bear on its first attempt and slowly moved it toward the delivery slot. Karuizawa couldn't help but show a joyful expression. But at this critical moment, the robotic arm's claw suddenly loosened, dropping the doll into a pile of dolls just a step away from the delivery slot.

"Huh? Are you kidding me?! We were about to succeed!"

Seeing the victory slip away, Karuizawa stomped her foot in frustration and stood aside with a dejected look on her face.

Amane gently patted Karuizawa's head as a comforting gesture, then stood in front of the claw machine.

"Hui, what do you want?"

"me?"

"Of course, there's no one else here besides me, right? Which doll do you want? Is that teddy bear one okay?"

Amane confidently let Karuizawa choose. Just as Karuizawa was about to say that the teddy bear doll would be fine, she suddenly thought of a solution.

One way to potentially draw or even win.

"Heavenly Sound~ I want that!"

Karuizawa deliberately pointed to a frog doll that was being pressed down by several other dolls.

No normal girl would like this kind of doll, and Karuizawa is no exception.

The reason for choosing this ugly and outdated doll was to increase the difficulty for Tianyin.

Tianyin herself said it, so even if they can't catch her, there's nothing they can say. She's so clever!

"If you want it..."

Tianyin pointed to her cheek.

Obviously, this kind of designated grabbing service also charges a designated fee. Karuizawa was somewhat unwilling to let Amane take advantage of her like this, but she also hoped that Amane would not grab any dolls.

After a brief hesitation of a few seconds, and after looking around and finding that no one was looking at them, Karuizawa tiptoed and quickly tapped Amane's face.

"Alright! Is that enough? Tianyin, hurry up and catch it."

Karuizawa impatiently urged Amane on.

Amane understood Karuizawa's purpose, but this level of difficulty was not a problem for her...

completely negligible.

Tianyin quickly manipulated the joystick to turn directly towards the frog doll, and then swiftly pulled the joystick back in one smooth motion, seemingly not caring at all whether she would fail.

Just as Karuizawa was still surprised that Amane was able to grab the doll so quickly and was about to pick it up, the mechanical arm's claws suddenly loosened.

"Great!"

Karuizawa couldn't help but jump. Just then, Amane started shaking the joystick rapidly. The mechanical arm shook violently the moment the claw released its grip, and it actually threw the doll directly into the shipping area.

Karuizawa froze on the spot for a moment.

"I never expected that you, Hui, would actually cheer me on."

Amane bent down, picked up the frog doll, and stuffed it into Karuizawa's arms, while also experiencing the greatness of a young girl's heart.

"This...this is impossible! How can this even be done?! I refuse to accept this! Let's try again!"

Karuizawa, full of bravado, quickly inserted a coin and then tried to grab it... followed by an unsurprising failure.

Which one do you want this time?

"Whoosh! That one! The hamster at the very bottom!"

What about this time?

"Mua~ I want the elephant on the very edge of the claw machine!"

"Megumi, your tastes are getting weirder and weirder. Which one do you want this time?"

"Chirp~ That little yellow chick! I don't believe you, Tianyin, can catch something so small!"

Karuizawa, exhausted after failing to grab the claw machine five times in a row, slumped down next to it.

Even though she was prepared for failure, the reality still made her feel the full force of malice.

"I knew earlier..."

If she had known Tianyin was so skilled, she probably would have taken the gamble anyway.

Ugh, this time we really lost a lot of money!!!

Looking at the frog, hamster, elephant, and chicken in front of her, Karuizawa was on the verge of tears.

"Here you go, take it!"