Wagjak.
“Popcorn tastes good.”
Sitting comfortably in the VIP room chair, munching on popcorn, I watch the Monopoly broadcast floating in mid-air.
Of course, playing a board game yourself is the most fun, but watching is just as entertaining.
Though, I’m not just watching.
“Y-young Master? Why aren’t you building more buildings over there…?”
“You can build on monopolized land, but you have to build evenly. You can’t just pile them up in one place or build in a 3-1-1 pattern.”
“Ah…!”
“Right. Even if you know that building three houses will skyrocket the toll fee, you can’t just build them recklessly. It costs 150 gold per house.”
[Grrr!]
“Exactly. Looks like everyone’s figured out what jail means in Monopoly. If you roll the dice wrong, you could go bankrupt, so jail is the most preferred spot in the mid-to-late game since it lets you stay safe for three turns.”
“Right now, Glesia seems to be in first place.”
“That’s correct, Adela. But that’s only in terms of gold. If you consider the value of the land, surprisingly, Astron is in first place. It’s a common misconception in Monopoly, where you can immediately see how much money others have.”
I was explaining Monopoly to Sally, Water Tiger, and Adela.
It’s not like I’ve never played Monopoly before, but it’s a board game everyone hated after playing it once in the imperial city. So, it’s no wonder they didn’t know much about it.
On top of that…
“K-Kyle, what is Fiona doing right now!?”
“From what I can see, she’s deliberately hiding her assets. As I mentioned earlier, in Monopoly, you can immediately see how much money others have. That’s why you can tell who’s in the lead. But if it’s revealed that Astron is in the upper ranks, they’ll be targeted, so she’s intentionally reducing her cash and keeping only land and buildings.”
“Is she doing well…?”
“Of course she is.”
I explained every move Fiona made to Lukesil, who seemed more nervous than the representative.
Between watching Monopoly and explaining, my eyes and mouth had no time to rest.
Naturally, it was an incredibly happy time for me.
Everyone showed interest in the board game, asking about every little detail, and the process of explaining was immensely enjoyable.
Is this what it feels like to be a veteran licking up newbies after a long time?
“But… the students’ reactions…”
“We’re doomed anyway. We don’t have much money, and…”
“It’s Astron, after all. They’ll probably end up last again. Just like last year, and the year before that.”
“Choosing Astron wasn’t because of the west.”
“We’ll just keep getting mocked as Astron until graduation.”
“Let’s just stop watching and leave. I can’t bear to see Senior Fiona come in last.”
“…Hmm.”
Indeed, Lukesil had every reason to be anxious and worried. The atmosphere among the Astron students sitting in the auditorium was utterly gloomy.
To my eyes, having played Monopoly countless times, Fiona was doing well enough. But to the students who were just starting to learn Monopoly, it must have looked like she was cornered.
‘She’s deliberately staying in jail, doing as little as possible, and she only has two monopolized lands.’
On top of that, she has less than 100 gold left. With that amount, even landing on a property without buildings would be cutting it close.
At least on the surface, Fiona seemed to be on the verge of elimination.
However.
‘Agni’s representative hasn’t even monopolized yet, and Arkhé’s representative has almost no land deeds but a lot of gold.’
In fact, those two are in a much more precarious position.
Agni’s representative may seem like a landowner, but they haven’t monopolized a single plot yet. Naturally, they can’t build houses, so while they look like a land tycoon, the money they collect from other players landing on their properties isn’t much.
Arkhé’s representative has over 4,000 gold, but that’s only because they’ve almost entirely given up on buying land and participating in auctions. They probably planned to buy the minimum amount of land, hoard as much money as possible, and then make a big move, but they’re likely to crash before that happens.
‘They just don’t understand the game properly.’
Gold is, of course, important. In Monopoly, gold is power and the tool that lets you do anything.
But what’s more important than gold is land, and even more important than land is monopoly.
In the end, the problem is that everyone’s understanding of Monopoly itself is low.
‘It’s only natural.’
Even though they’re students…
And so, the wizards. They’re probably way smarter than regular folks, but hey, it was just a week.
There are pro players who’ve been studying Monopoly for years, so there’s no way they could fully understand Monopoly in just a week.
Well, with time, that ignorance would naturally fill in.
But right now, that knowledge gap was the key to the number one strategy.
“So then───.”
Could Fiona really make good use of the strategy she was taught?
She stuffed the new popcorn she got from Sally into her mouth and her eyes sparkled.
*
The meeting was already past the mid-game and heading into the late stages of Monopoly.
And by this point, the tide of the game had already turned.
“Please, please!”
“You landed on… my property? Pay the toll fee of 1500 gold.”
“I, I don’t have that kind of money!”
“Then what are you gonna do? You’ll have to get a loan from the royal family using your property as collateral. You know that when you trade or mortgage property, all buildings have to be sold, right?”
“Dammit…!!”
Glesia, who had monopolized not just any land, but three of the most expensive properties in the north and west, was in the overwhelming lead.
Once you landed on her properties, which had not just a few houses but even hotels built on them, you couldn’t help but let out a groan.
There can only be 32 houses and 12 hotels on the Monopoly board. And since buildings have to be evenly distributed on monopolized properties, even Glesia couldn’t just build willy-nilly.
But still, Glesia’s control over the north was ridiculously expensive.
Every representative had to desperately pray as they rolled the dice when passing through the west and north. Of course, no amount of praying could save you from landing on Glesia’s monopolized north at least once.
Naturally, gold piled up for Glesia, and she didn’t just let it sit there.
“Don’t build any buildings there.”
“What? Who are you to tell me what to do? I’m building on my monopolized property!”
“I lent you 1200 gold earlier, right? Can I have it back now?”
“…Damn it!!”
She lent money to Agni at low interest, putting herself in a position of power, and interfered even when it wasn’t her turn.
But Agni had to follow her orders. He owed her money, and more importantly, he had to stay on her good side to get some leniency on toll fees under Glesia’s discretion.
Agni, who borrowed money, was guaranteed safety in the most threatening north, but at the cost of selling his future.
Even though she effectively turned Agni into a puppet, things weren’t going smoothly.
“The dice… it’s a 7. Glesia, toll fee of 800 gold.”
“Hmm, Natura? How about we keep things friendly? If you let me off this time, I’ll return the favor next time. How about it?”
“800 gold.”
“…You’re really going to do this?”
“Just pay the toll.”
“Fine, okay.”
Natura, who was right behind Glesia, refused to negotiate with her at all.
While Glesia controlled the north, Natura had monopolized special spaces like tourist spots and the second most expensive area, the west.
Objectively, Glesia was in the lead… but to collect toll fees, you had to roll the dice and land on the opponent’s property.
And Natura’s representative was in jail.
“No matter how expensive it is, if you don’t land on it, it doesn’t matter.”
“You…?”
“Besides, you just landed on it again. This time it’s 500 gold.”
Even in jail, you can collect toll fees, trade, participate in auctions, and even build buildings.
But if you don’t roll doubles, you have to stay in jail for up to 3 turns, so there’s no worry of landing on Glesia’s properties.
In the early game, when you needed to collect properties, it was a penalty, but now it was a perfect safe zone.
While Glesia was busy moving around, aiming for the expensive north and chance cards, Natura took the opposite strategy.
While everyone was focused on the north, Natura monopolized the less contested west and actively used jail to wear down opponents.
Natura had less gold and properties than Glesia, but they had the momentum and flow of the game.
Glesia’s representative laughed in frustration.
“You’re really something, huh? No wonder they call you a heretic for joining Natura instead of Arkhé, even though you’re from the west.”
“That’s outside the board game.”
“So what? Did you hear something?”
“Did you do something? You… you’re a ‘Byron,’ aren’t you? Isn’t that right?”
Glesia’s words carried multiple meanings.
The representative of Natura, who was called ‘Byron,’ responded.
“Stop talking nonsense.”
“What?”
“Don’t compare a nobody to a genius. Your narrow perspective is why you play like that.”
“You dare───”
“Ahhh!!!”
As Glesia and Natura glared at each other, the representative of Terra, who had rolled the dice unnoticed amidst the top two’s bickering, let out a scream.
The dice showed a 7.
It was the exact number needed to land on Natura’s monopolized western territory.
“Bankruptcy, bankruptcy…!!”
Even if they sold all their gold and land, it was an amount they couldn’t afford.
Terra, who had been lingering in the lower ranks, finally declared bankruptcy.
If Natura’s representative had chosen to puppet Terra like Glesia instead of collecting toll fees, the game could have continued.
“…………….”
But in the end, Natura said nothing.
The first to be eliminated, Terra, came in 6th place.
As soon as that was decided.
“Wahhh!!!”
“We, we escaped! We escaped!!! We’re not last anymore!!!”
“Is Fiona a goddess?!”
“Long live Astron! How did Astron escape last place?!!”
Cheers erupted from Astron’s side, where many students had already left.
Amidst the Astron students hugging each other, crying, and shouting, it was clearly an insult towards Terra, who was still in last place. But the Terra students just glared at Astron for a moment.
“Those perennial last-place losers……….”
“Let them be. Can you imagine how happy they must be? They’re not first, but at least they’re not last. Look at them crying with joy. It’s almost pitiful.”
“True… Let’s just think about how to deal with our representative.”
Astron’s situation was so pitiful that they couldn’t even muster the anger to be mad.
Instead, the Terra students were busy brainstorming creative ways to roast their representative, who had managed to drag them into last place.
The representatives, of course, were aware of this sentiment.
“Fiona? Congratulations, you finally escaped last place!”
“Well, it’s the first time we broke the unwritten rule and made board games a meeting event. We had to show some results, right? Oh, don’t get me wrong. Monopoly is more fun than most magic, after all.”
“Bringing in Kyle Byron paid off.”
“Yeah, sure……….”
There was some sarcasm, but the representatives’ congratulations were genuine. For Astron, not being last was already a victory.
In fact, Astron had been so quiet during the game that some had even forgotten they were still in the game.
With six players, each talking, trading, and raising their voices, it was easy to fade into the background even if you stayed silent.
So after a brief congratulations, the representatives quickly forgot about Astron again.
Glesia and Natura, currently in 1st and 2nd place, were fiercely competing.
Agni was struggling to break free from Glesia’s grasp.
Arkhé was trying to negotiate with Natura to buy the land of the bankrupt Terra representative using their gold.
Everyone was busy with their own affairs, and the immediate threats were too pressing to keep Astron in mind.
And so.
“Sigh, I can’t even buy land properly……….”
Arkhé, who had only hoarded gold, was eliminated.
“Damn Glesia…….”
Agni, who couldn’t repay his debt to Glesia until the end, was also eliminated.
As the game entered its final stages, the winners began to emerge. Glesia and Natura took over the gold and land of the eliminated Arkhé and Agni.
Meanwhile, Astron was still hanging on.
Fiona quietly held her breath.
“Hmm, Astron’s land? Fiona, like before, let’s just skip the toll fees, okay? I’ll pass.”
Glesia, who had landed on Astron’s monopolized land, tried to move on as usual.
Up until now, Astron’s representative had never collected toll fees, and in return, they had agreed not to charge each other when landing on each other’s properties.
That’s how Astron had survived this long. They didn’t earn much, but they minimized their losses with a strict survival strategy.
So Glesia ignored Astron and focused on Natura’s representative.
“…This time, I’ll take it.”
“What?”
“800 gold.”
Glesia frowned for a moment at the unexpected statement but soon nodded her head.
Although Astron, who suddenly changed the deal up until now, was annoying… it was only 800 gold after all.
However.
“Ah, of all things, gold.”
Unfortunately, Glesia only had 700 gold at that moment. She had just been hit by Natura’s land and had almost all her cash drained.
Of course, that wasn’t a problem. The buildings and land she owned weren’t just for show.
“I’ll sell one hotel, Professor.”
The selling price of a building is half its purchase price.
Considering the purchase price of a hotel in the north is 200 gold, she could get exactly 100 gold to pay the toll fee.
Losing one hotel was painful, but she could rebuild it soon anyway───
“Impossible, Representative Glesia.”
“Huh? Why…?”
“You don’t have any buildings left.”
Glesia blinked in confusion at the Professor’s response, who was acting as the Royal Bank.
What on earth did that mean? No buildings?
“…Could it be?”
“All 32 houses are already on the Monopoly board. If you sell a hotel, you have to revert to 4 houses, but since there are no houses left, you can’t sell.”
“T-then, what if we consider it as selling everything without receiving houses?”
“Did you forget that buildings on monopolized land must be evenly distributed? To do that, you’d have to sell all the hotels on the other two spots of my monopolized land.”
That was a loophole in the rules that Glesia had forgotten.
If you collect 4 houses, you can exchange them for 1 hotel by adding the price of one more house. So, if you sell a hotel, you should get 4 houses back.
But all the houses are already built on different lands, making it impossible to retrieve them.
Even if you consider selling all those houses, the buildings on monopolized land must be evenly distributed. Naturally, you’d have to sell the 2 hotels on the other two spots and sell the houses you were supposed to get back, leaving only the land.
Because there are no houses to retrieve.
Moreover, buildings cannot be traded between players. They can only be bought or sold through the Royal Bank.
Glesia, who had built hotels on all her monopolized lands to collect as much toll fee as possible in the late game.
“…Ah.”
She was now forced to lose all the buildings in one monopolized area.
All for just 100 gold.
“Ah, no. Natura, if you sell four houses to the Royal Bank.”
“Refused.”
“………….”
“It’s a good opportunity to bring down one of your monopolies.”
“…Damn it.”
Cursing, Glesia had only one choice left.
She sold 3 hotels and 12 houses.
In return, she received 1500 gold from the Royal Bank.
“800 gold… here.”
“Thank you.”
She paid the toll fee to Astron.
Was it a coincidence that Astron demanded the toll fee when she was out of money?
Was it a coincidence that she had built hotels on all her lands and now had to sell them because there were no more houses left?
Was it a coincidence that Astron, who had been silent all this time, made his move now?
…No way.
“Alright… let’s do this, shall we?”
Glesia, Natura, Astron.
What was once a battle between Glesia and Natura had now turned into a three-way fight.
“Of course.”
Fiona, who had been lying low, raised the corner of her mouth.
Now that she had dealt a blow to Glesia.
It was time for a counterattack.
*
And.
“Third place.”
Gulp.
“T-that is to say…”
“Third place.”
“Ugh…”
“Third place.”
“Please stop…”
“Then should I say fourth from the bottom?”
“…Just say third place.”
Fiona.
Came in third.
