Considering Kaiji had one of his ears torn off over a game of this, it was really no wonder that he was taking the preparation for it so seriously. This was to be as honest as it could be, although if one side tried to rig it, it would certainly make a striking impression. "It's more like a story than a set of rules and there's not much to it," Kaiji explained as he furrowed his brow a bit at the mediocre-at-best cutting ability of a pair of scissors. He was putting an effort into being open with his preparation, making every movement in plain sight. "It's about people and money."
How would a fancy-sounding guy like Vlad Masters (No, seriously, what the hell kind of name was that?) respond to this? That was the first step in trying to figure out what kind of person he was, although there were some preconceptions in his head based on first impressions alone. Why not be sure?
With ten blank cards as uniformly cut out as he could possibly make them, Kaiji set three of them spaced out in front of Vlad and marked them 'C,' 'E,' and 'S.' "This is how it works. There are three kinds of cards."
There was a hint of resentment in Kaiji's voice as he poked the 'E' labeled card with the middle finger of his right hand. "That's the Emperor," he pointed out. It was taking a considerable amount of attention and self-control to continue without spouting a series of horrible things about said monarch, "because he's the Emperor, he's got all of the money. That's how he controls things, you know?" That was how things worked. The bastards with all of the money controlled everything.
Kaiji's speech softened a bit when he moved on to the second card, the one labeled 'C.' "That's a Citizen. A normal person needs money, which he gets from the Emperor. He can't go against the Emperor or he'll lose everything."
Finally, the 'S' labeled card. "And there's the Slave." Both the most powerful and the weakest card of the three. "He has nothing at all and is kept a slave by the Citizens. Because he has nothing, he has nothing to lose. In other words, the Emperor's got nothing on him."
That obviously wasn't everything that someone needed to know for this, but it laid down the basic rules. Kaiji was more interested in receiving a response and making sure that it all sunk in than continuing at the moment.
It felt weird explaining this to someone and not possibly losing any of his body parts or gaining a fortune over it. Could Kaiji really figure out how to read someone if he didn't absolutely have to? Well, there wasn't any turning back now unless Vlad lost interest.
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How would a fancy-sounding guy like Vlad Masters (No, seriously, what the hell kind of name was that?) respond to this? That was the first step in trying to figure out what kind of person he was, although there were some preconceptions in his head based on first impressions alone. Why not be sure?
With ten blank cards as uniformly cut out as he could possibly make them, Kaiji set three of them spaced out in front of Vlad and marked them 'C,' 'E,' and 'S.' "This is how it works. There are three kinds of cards."
There was a hint of resentment in Kaiji's voice as he poked the 'E' labeled card with the middle finger of his right hand. "That's the Emperor," he pointed out. It was taking a considerable amount of attention and self-control to continue without spouting a series of horrible things about said monarch, "because he's the Emperor, he's got all of the money. That's how he controls things, you know?" That was how things worked. The bastards with all of the money controlled everything.
Kaiji's speech softened a bit when he moved on to the second card, the one labeled 'C.' "That's a Citizen. A normal person needs money, which he gets from the Emperor. He can't go against the Emperor or he'll lose everything."
Finally, the 'S' labeled card. "And there's the Slave." Both the most powerful and the weakest card of the three. "He has nothing at all and is kept a slave by the Citizens. Because he has nothing, he has nothing to lose. In other words, the Emperor's got nothing on him."
That obviously wasn't everything that someone needed to know for this, but it laid down the basic rules. Kaiji was more interested in receiving a response and making sure that it all sunk in than continuing at the moment.
It felt weird explaining this to someone and not possibly losing any of his body parts or gaining a fortune over it. Could Kaiji really figure out how to read someone if he didn't absolutely have to? Well, there wasn't any turning back now unless Vlad lost interest.
"Got all of that?"