episode_0050

Wow.

‘Popcorn is delicious.’

Sit in a comfortable chair in the VIP room, chew popcorn, and watch the Monopoly broadcast floating in the air.

Since ancient times, playing board games is the most fun, but watching them is just as much fun.

Of course, it’s not just watching.

“Do you, master? Why aren’t they building more buildings over there? … ?”

“Buildings can be built on exclusive land, but they must be built equally for everyone. You can’t just build in one place or build three houses at a time.”

“Ah… … !”

“That’s why you can’t build three houses even if you know that the toll will go up significantly. Each house costs 150 gold.”

[Rung!]

“That’s right. I guess everyone has figured out what prison means in Monopoly. One wrong roll of the dice can lead to bankruptcy, but prison, where you can safely spend 3 turns, is the most preferred place in the mid to late game.”

“I think Glesia is in first place right now.”

“That’s right, Adela. However, it is only gold, and if you consider the value of the land, surprisingly, Astron is first place. This is a common mistake in Monopoly, where you can immediately see how much money other people have.”

Because I was explaining Monopoly play to Sally, Water Tiger, and Adela.

It’s not that I’ve never played Monopoly, but it’s a board game that everyone hated after playing it once in Hwangseong. It was natural that everyone didn’t know much about Monopoly.

In addition to that.

“Ka, Kyle. What is Pion doing now!?”

“It seems to me that they are deliberately lying about their assets. As I mentioned earlier, in Monopoly you can see your opponent’s money right away. So you can immediately tell who has the upper hand. However, if it is revealed that Astron is at the top, they will be subject to intensive checks, so they are deliberately reducing the cash they have and leaving only land and buildings.”

“You’re doing well, right… … ?”

“Of course.”

Each of Assistant Fiona’s choices was explained to Lucesil, who seemed more nervous than the representative assistant.

There was no time for my eyes and mouth to rest between watching Monopoly and explaining it.

Of course, it was an incredibly happy time for me.

Everyone was interested in the board game, and the process of asking and explaining every little thing was extremely enjoyable.

Is this how a dead person feels as they lick a newbie they haven’t seen in a long time?

“But… … The students’ reactions… … … .”

“We can’t do it anyway. I don’t have much money… … … .”

“It’s Astron anyway. I’ll end up in last place again. Just like last year, and the year before, too.”

“I didn’t choose Astron just because it was the West.”

“You keep getting teased about being called Astron until you graduate.”

“Let’s stop watching and leave. I can’t see Fiona coming in last place.”

“… … … Um.”

Certainly, Lucesil continued to be anxious and worried. The atmosphere of the Astron students sitting in the main auditorium was extremely gloomy.

To me, who has played Monopoly countless times, Fiona appears to be doing well enough, but to students who are just starting out with Monopoly, it will seem like she is in a corner.

‘I’m intentionally staying in prison and doing nothing as much as possible, and I don’t even have any land except the two monopolized places.’

And there was less than 100 gold to spare. With that amount of money, even on land without buildings, it’s a risk.

At least on the outside, Fiona was on the verge of elimination.

However.

‘The same goes for CEO Agni, who has not yet achieved a monopoly, and CEO Arche, who has almost no land documents and only has a lot of gold.’

Rather, it is those two who are much more anxious.

Representative Agni seems to have a lot of land, but he has not yet established a monopoly. Since he couldn’t naturally build buildings, he seemed like a land rich at first glance, and even though other players often bet on his land, he didn’t actually receive much money.

Representative Arche has over 4,000 gold, but that was money he was able to obtain because he had almost given up on land purchases and auctions. I think I’m thinking of buying just the minimum amount of land and saving up as much money as possible and then blowing it all at once, but if I do that, I’ll end up blowing up first.

‘I didn’t understand it properly.’

Gold is of course important. In Monopoly, gold is power and a tool that allows you to do anything.

However, land is more important than gold, and monopoly is more important than gold.

In the end, the problem was that everyone had a low understanding of Monopoly itself.

‘It’s also natural.’

They are students, but more than that, they are wizards. He may be much smarter than the average person, but it was only a week.

There are professional players who study only Monopoly for years, but it would have been impossible to fully understand Monopoly in just one week.

Well, it is an ignorance that will eventually be filled naturally over time.

Now, that gap in knowledge was the core of the No. 1 strategy.

“Then───.”

Will Fiona be able to utilize the strategies taught to her well?

His eyes lit up as he stuffed the new popcorn he received from Sally into his mouth.

*

The meeting was already halfway through Monopoly and was looking toward the latter half.

And by this time, the situation in Monopoly had tilted somewhat.

“Please, please!”

“What arrived… … … Is it my land? Give me 1500 gold for the toll.”

“Well, I don’t have that kind of money!”

“Then what are you doing? You have to use the land as collateral to get a loan from the imperial family. Did you know that when land is traded or mortgaged, the entire building must be sold?”

“Damn… … !!”

The representative of Glesia, who had a monopoly of as many as three spaces in the northern and western regions where land was expensive, was the overwhelming leader.

Once I was struck by her land, which had built over several buildings and even a hotel, I couldn’t help but scream.

There can be only 32 houses and 12 hotels on the Monopoly board. In addition, buildings had to be built evenly on the exclusive land, so even in Glesia, buildings could not be erected at random.

Nevertheless, the land of Glesia, which controlled the north, was extremely expensive.

Any representative had no choice but to pray earnestly and roll the dice as they passed through the West and North. Of course, it was impossible to avoid it by praying without stepping on the land of the Glesia representative who monopolized the entire northern part.

Naturally, Glesia accumulated gold, and she did not let it rot away.

“Don’t build a building there.”

“What? Who are you to say this or that? I’m going to build a building on my exclusive land!”

“I lent you 1200 gold earlier, right? Can I get it right now?”

“… … Damn it!!”

He took over the top position by lending money at a low interest rate to Representative Agni, and interfered freely even when it was the other CEO’s turn.

Nevertheless, Representative Agni, who had borrowed the money, had to follow her words. I owed her a debt, and more than that, I had to show off to her in order to receive a certain amount of toll tax reduction at the discretion of the Glesia representative.

Representative Agni, who borrowed money, was guaranteed his life in the most threatening North, but had to sell his future in return.

She effectively turned Representative Agni into a puppet, but it was not all smooth sailing.

“The dice are… … 7 This is it. Representative of Glesia, the toll tax is 800 gold.”

“Um, Representative Natura? If possible, how about we move on on good terms? If you don’t pay the toll this time, I’ll take care of you next time. How about it?”

“800 gold.”

“… … Does it come out like this?”

“Just pay the toll tax.”

“Ha, good.”

Because the Natura representative who followed right behind her did not even negotiate at all with the Glesia representative.

Although the Glesia representative controlled the northern part, the Natura representative also had a monopoly on special areas such as tourist destinations and the western part next to the northern part.

If you look at it objectively, the Glesia representative has the upper hand… … In the end, to collect the toll, you have to roll the dice and step on the opponent’s land.

And Natura’s representative was in prison.

“Even if Amman is expensive, it’s okay if you don’t step on it.”

“You… … ?”

“I just stepped on it again. This time it’s 500 gold.”

Even if you are in prison, you can collect tolls, make transactions, participate in auctions, and even construct buildings.

However, if you do not roll a double dice, you will be in prison for up to 3 turns, so there is no need to worry about stepping on the land of Glesia.

It was a penalty in the beginning when you had to collect land, but now it has become a perfect safe zone.

It was the exact opposite strategy of Glesia, which was moving as quickly as possible and aiming for a monopoly and opportunity rights in the northern part of the country, where land prices were high.

While everyone is aiming for land in the North, they monopolize the West, which is relatively less regulated, and actively use prisons to stop their opponents.

Although they don’t have as much gold or land as Glesia, Natura has the atmosphere and flow.

The representative of Glesia laughed with annoyance.

“As expected, it’s pretty good, right? Even though he is from the West, he deserves to be called a heretic who entered Natura rather than Arche.”

“It’s a story outside of board games.”

“So what? Have you heard anything? you… … It’s the same ‘Byron’. Isn’t that right?”

Glesia’s words had multiple meanings.

The CEO of Natura was called ‘Byron’.

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

“What?”

“This means that you should not compare a genius with an insignificant person. That’s why you play like that because your field of vision is so narrow.”

“You, how dare───”

“Aaagh!!!”

That time when Glesia and Natura were glaring at each other.

The representative of Terra, who rolled the dice and had not received attention due to the argument between first and second place, let out a scream.

The die’s eye is 7.

It was the number that exactly fit into the exclusive land in the west owned by Natura’s representative.

“Bankruptcy, bankruptcy… … !!”

This is an amount that cannot be paid even if you sell all the gold and land you have.

Terra, which was at the bottom of the list, eventually declared bankruptcy.

The game could only continue if Natura’s representative tried to puppet Terra like Glesia instead of tolling.

“… … … … … .”

In the end, Natura said nothing.

The first eliminated person and 6th place, Terra.

As soon as it was decided.

“Wow!!!”

“Ta, I escaped! I escaped!! We are not in last place anymore!!!”

“Fiona Is she a god!”

“Long live Astron! How did Astron escape last place!!”

Cheers rang out from Astron, where many students had already left.

Astron’s students were hugging each other, crying and screaming. No matter how you looked at it, it was an insult to Terra, who was in last place, but in reality, Terra’s students only glared at Astron for a moment.

“Last place for 10,000 years… … … .”

“Leave it alone. How happy will they be? They’re not first or last, but look at them crying and being happy. It would be a pity if that happened.”

“Well… … Let’s just think about how to punish the CEO.”

Astron’s situation was so unfortunate that I didn’t even think about getting angry.

Rather, it was Terra’s students who were struggling with how they could creatively punish their representative, who came in last place.

Even the representatives could not have been unaware of such a trend.

“Fiona? Congratulations, you finally escaped last place?”

“For the first time, we broke the unwritten rule and introduced board games as a gathering sport, so it should have achieved this level of success. Oh, don’t get me wrong. Because Monopoly is more fun than most magic games.”

“It was rewarding to bring in Kyle Byron.”

“Uh, yes… … … .”

Although there was some sarcasm, the representatives’ congratulations were sincere. As long as they weren’t in last place, Astron’s goal was achieved.

In fact, they had been playing so quietly until now that some people even forgot that the Astron representative was there.

There are only 6 players, and each person talks, makes deals, and even raises their voice, so anyone can kill their presence even if they just keep their mouths shut.

Therefore, after a word of congratulations, the representatives forgot about Astron again.

Glesia and Natura were competing fiercely for the current 1st and 2nd places.

Agni was trying to escape from Glesia’s clutches.

Arche was trying to talk to Natura in order to somehow use the gold he had to buy the land of the bankrupt Terra CEO.

Everyone was busy with their own work, and the enemy in front of them was too strong to keep remembering Astron.

like that.

“Ugh, I couldn’t even buy the land properly… … … .”

Arche, who had a lot of gold, was eliminated.

“Damn Glesia… … .”

Agni, who was unable to repay his debt to Glesia until the end, is eliminated.

As the game entered the latter half of the game, the outcome began to slowly increase, with Glesia and Natura taking over the gold and land owned by Arche and Agni, who were eliminated.

Astron was alive until then.

Fiona held her breath quietly.

“Hmm, it’s Astron land? Fiona, the toll tax is the same as before, right? Passing over?”

Glesia, caught in Astron’s exclusive land, tried to move on.

Because it has been like that until now. Uniquely, the Astron representative did not collect any toll tax, and instead suggested that even if he was caught on their land, they should not collect toll tax even once.

Thanks to that, Astron was able to survive until now. A thorough survivalist who makes no money but pays as little as possible.

So, Glesia ignored Astron and only focused on Natura’s representative.

“… … I’ll get it this time.”

“What?”

“800 gold.”

Glesia momentarily frowned at the unexpected words. However, he soon nodded.

Although Astron suddenly changed the previous transaction, I was annoyed… … Because it was only 800 gold.

but.

“Oh, of course it’s gold.”

Unfortunately, the Glesia representative had only 700 gold at the wrong time. It was because I had just gotten caught on the Natura CEO’s land and lost most of my cash.

Of course, that didn’t cause any trouble. Because the buildings and land she owns are not decoration.

“I’ll sell you a hotel, Professor.”

The selling price of the building is half of the purchase price.

Considering that the price of purchasing a hotel in the north is 200 gold, you can pay the toll tax with just 100 gold.

It’s painful to see a hotel disappear, but it will be built soon anyway.

“It is impossible. Representative of Glesia.”

“ㅇ, yes? why… … ?”

“Because there is no building anymore.”

Glesia just blinked at the answer from the professor playing the role of the imperial family.

What on earth does that mean? There are no buildings?

“… … … No way?”

“All 32 houses are already on the Monopoly board. If you sell the hotel, you have to go back to having 4 houses, but since you don’t have a house, you can’t sell it.”

“Well, if we assume that they sold the entire house without receiving it.”

“Have you forgotten that buildings must be built evenly on exclusive land? To do this, I have to sell all the hotels in the other two spaces of my monopoly land.”

That was a blind spot in the rules that Glesia had forgotten.

If you collect 4 houses, you can exchange the 4 houses for a hotel by adding the price of each house. So if you sell the hotel, the four houses will also have to come back.

However, all the houses have already been built on different lands and cannot be returned.

Even if all the houses are sold, the buildings on the exclusive land must be equal. Naturally, we have no choice but to sell the two hotels built in the other two spaces and sell the houses that will be returned, leaving only the land.

Because there is no house to return.

Moreover, buildings cannot be traded between players. It can only be purchased or sold by the imperial family.

As the game enters the latter half of the game, Glesia sets up hotels in all the exclusive lands to collect more tolls.

“… … … Ah.”

We were in a situation where we had to blow down the entire buildings in the exclusive area.

Because it’s only 100 gold.

“Oh, no. Natura, if you sell four houses to the imperial family.”

“I refuse.”

“… … … … … .”

“Isn’t this a good opportunity to bring down one of your monopolies?”

“… … … … A plague.”

There was only one choice Glesia could make after swearing.

She sold three hotels and 12 houses.

In return, I received 1500 gold from the imperial family.

“800 gold… … Hey.”

“Thank you.”

I paid the toll to Astron.

Is it a coincidence that Astron asked for toll money when she had no money?

Is it a coincidence that they built a hotel on every piece of land, and that they were in a situation where they had to sell the hotel when there were no more houses?

Is it a coincidence that Astron, who has been silent and holding his breath, has now come forward?

… … It couldn’t have been that way.

“Okay… … Let’s give it a try, right?”

Glesia, Natura, Astron.

This was the moment when Monopoly, which was just a fight between Glesia and Natura, turned into a three-way match.

“Of course.”

Fiona raised the corners of her mouth as she had been holding her breath all this time.

From now on, after giving Glesia a blow.

It was time to fight back.

*

and.

“3rd place.”

I flinch.

“Well, so… … … .”

“3rd place.”

“Ugh… … … .”

“3rd place.”

“Please stop… … … .”

“Then, can I say 4th from behind?”

“… … … Just say 3rd place.”

Fiona.

I took 3rd place.