The Strongest Eriri in History

"Oh!!! Captain, I want ramen!" Yuuki Kataoka immediately jumped up with a joyful expression.

"No problem, you guys can discuss and decide. Once it's settled, we'll head out."

Hearing Hisa Takei's words, Yuuki excitedly turned to Eriri, Nodoka, and Saki, asking, "Eriri, Nodoka, Saki, do you guys want to eat ramen too?"

"Ramen? I have no objections."

"I'm fine with it."

Nodoka Haramura and Saki Miyanaga replied casually, neither having any particular preference for dinner.

Eriri didn't refuse either. Although she was accustomed to eating top-tier dishes prepared by Aoi Kujo, she enjoyed occasionally experiencing the local cuisine of other worlds.

"Yay, ramen it is!" Yuuki raised her right hand in a victory pose, skipping toward the inn's exit.

"Huh? Don't I get a say?" Kyoutarou Suga pointed at himself in protest, then followed Yuuki out the door.

"You'll eat whatever I eat, Kyoutarou," Yuuki teased, sticking her tongue out at him as she turned back.

Amidst playful laughter, Yuuki and Kyoutarou exited the inn, with Eriri and the others following close behind.

By now, it was past 6 PM, and the sky was gradually darkening. It wouldn't be long before night fully settled in.

The county city was markedly different from the small rural towns they were used to. The roadsides were no longer lined with farmlands and dense forests, but it also didn't feature the towering skyscrapers of large cities.

Before long, Yuuki located a ramen shop and led everyone inside.

...

The night passed quickly. Since there was no need to wake up early to travel, Hisa and the others slept in until 8 AM.

Meanwhile, Eriri and Nodoka had already been up since a little past 6 AM. For them, the length of their sleep made little difference.

By the time Hisa and the others got up, Eriri and Nodoka had already returned from exploring the city. After enjoying a hearty breakfast provided by Eriri, the group checked out of the inn and made their way to the competition venue.

The setup for today's finals was slightly different from the previous day. Each of the four finalist teams was assigned a private lounge. Each lounge was equipped with a monitor streaming the matches live, eliminating the need to go to the viewing room.

The lounges were sparsely furnished, containing only the monitor and three sofas.

At this moment, Eriri and Nodoka sat together on the leftmost sofa, relaxed and unworried. Neither of them felt any pressure about the competition; they were confident in their eventual victory. As long as their team wasn't knocked out before the captain's match, the outcome was all but assured.

Today's finals also differed from the preliminaries in format. Each player would play two full east-south rounds, compared to the single round format of the previous day. This meant the matches would take twice as long.

However, a full day was sufficient to complete the finals.

Hisa had already explained the rules of the finals to everyone the previous night, so the team was fully prepared. Yuuki, in particular, had stocked up on extra burritos to ensure she wouldn't run out of energy during the crucial east rounds of her matches.

At 8:50 AM, a broadcast announced: "Ten minutes until the start of the vanguard match. All vanguard players, please gather at the designated playing room."

Thus, the county finals of the National High School Mahjong Championship officially began.

Matches proceeded one by one, and by the time the captain's match commenced, it was already 3:00 PM.

Despite the presence of the wildcard, Nodoka Haramura, the results of the first three matches largely mirrored those of the original story.

Yuuki Kataoka, Mako Someya, and Hisa Takei performed as expected, their mahjong skills consistent with their depictions in the original. Without any supernatural power-ups like Nodoka's, a dramatic improvement in their skills within such a short time was unlikely.

Even with the energy boost from her beloved burritos, Yuuki found herself unable to gain much ground against Mihoko Fukuji's aggressive gameplay.

Hisa, however, displayed her strategic prowess and managed to push Kiyosumi High School into first place, with a 20,000-point lead over the second-place team.

The fourth match, featuring the vice-captains, diverged entirely from the original narrative.

While the vice-captains from other schools weren't their teams' strongest players, Saki Miyanaga's supernatural-tier mahjong skills shone. Her signature Rinshan Kaihou (Winning from the Dead Wall) left her opponents utterly devastated.

Spectators in the venue were astonished by Saki's strength, a previously unrecognized force. This heightened anticipation for the captain's match and raised curiosity about the true capabilities of Kiyosumi's anchor, Nodoka Haramura.

When Nodoka left the waiting room for the captain's match, she was immediately surrounded by reporters, led by Junko Nishida.

"Nodoka-san, it's finally time for the captain's match. Kiyosumi currently holds a 60,000-point lead over second place. Do you feel confident about securing victory and advancing to the national championship?" Nishida asked, holding a recorder in front of Nodoka.

Hearing the question, Nodoka stopped and turned, replying firmly, "Of course."

She then ignored the flashing cameras and continued toward the playing room.

...

Upon entering the room, she found two players already seated: Kana Ikeda from Kazekoshi Girls' High School and Yumi Kajiki from Tsuruga Academy.

On the mahjong table, four tiles were placed face-down. Two had already been flipped over, revealing the East Wind and North Wind seats, which were Kana's and Yumi's positions, respectively. Kana would begin as the dealer.

"Please take care of me," Kana said with a cheerful smile toward Nodoka.

While Kana was wary of Nodoka, her primary focus remained on Ryuumonbuchi High School's captain, Touka Ryuumonbuchi.

"Likewise," Nodoka replied politely, flipping one of the remaining tiles. The revealed tile was the West Wind, assigning her to the seat opposite Kana.

Yumi, maintaining a serious expression, glanced at Nodoka cautiously.

It wasn't just Nodoka's status as last year's national middle school individual champion that set her apart; the fact that she was the captain of Kiyosumi was reason enough for vigilance.

...

Suddenly, all three players felt something peculiar and turned their attention toward the room's entrance.

However, the doorway appeared empty.

After a few seconds, a pair of rabbit-ear-like red ribbons peeked around the corner.

Moments later, a small, adorable blonde-haired girl entered the room, her short legs carrying her quickly to the table. The pint-sized player sat down in the remaining empty seat.

"Touka Ryuumonbuchi…" Nodoka Haramura silently recited the name of the petite girl standing before her, who barely stood over 120 centimeters tall.

Despite her childlike appearance that could easily be mistaken for that of a primary school student, Touka was actually a year older than Nodoka.

As soon as Touka appeared, the atmosphere around Kana Ikeda shifted drastically.

Last year, Kana had been defeated by Touka in the captain's match, a loss that ended the prestigious streak of Kazekoshi Girls' High School's dominance. Ever since, she had been waiting for the chance to avenge that humiliating defeat in this year's captain's match.

"You must be Nodoka Haramura!" Touka said cheerfully, her voice ringing out with a playful tone. "I've heard your chest is really big, so I recognized you right away!"

Touka's awareness of Nodoka came mainly from Ryuumonbuchi Touka frequently mentioning her. While Touka didn't keep up with the news, she had remembered the repeated comment that "Nodoka Haramura has a big chest."

Since Nodoka wasn't carrying the penguin plushie she used in the original story and had spent the day mostly in the waiting room with Eriri, Touka hadn't met her until now.

"Hello," Nodoka replied with a polite smile and a nod.

Before they could converse further, a broadcast announced the start of the final captain's match of the county preliminaries.

...

East Round 1

"Riichi."

By the fifth turn, Yumi Kajiki declared a riichi.

"That's fast."

Kana Ikeda was momentarily stunned by her upper opponent's early riichi declaration. With only five turns passed, Kana was still in a two-away hand.

Nodoka and Touka, however, showed no reaction. Nodoka hadn't yet utilized her extraordinary abilities, and Touka was merely playing casually.

Even though Ryuumonbuchi High School was trailing Kiyosumi High by over 100,000 points, Touka was confident she could turn things around in no time.

Touka, in truth, didn't enjoy playing mahjong, much like Saki Miyanaga once had.

Her overwhelming strength in the game often left her opponents looking as though they had witnessed the end of the world. This loneliness had caused Touka to harbor a deep longing for companionship.

When she spoke to Nodoka earlier, she had considered asking her to be her friend. Unfortunately, the match had started before she could say anything.

Touka's usual way of finding amusement in mahjong was by toying with her opponents using her abilities.

As someone "loved by the tiles," Touka possessed an extraordinarily powerful skill.

Her ability allowed her to suppress the distribution of favorable tiles to others while controlling the flow of the game. It often resulted in opponents locking each other in a stalemate after reaching one-away hands, unable to progress further. Then, Touka would draw the final tile herself and win with a Haitei Raoyue (Last Tile Draw).

"Self-draw, 2,000, 4,000."

By the seventh turn, Yumi Kajiki completed a self-draw win.

However, even with the addition of 8,000 points, Shiraitodai Academy's score, which had been dragged too low in the first four matches, remained in fourth place.

End of East Round 1

Without a dealer continuation, the dealership naturally passed to Touka Ryuumonbuchi, who had previously been South.

A sudden, intense aura emanated from Touka, causing a heavy pressure to bear down on Kana Ikeda and Yumi Kajiki.

Nodoka, however, remained unfazed by Touka's energy. This wasn't because she didn't feel it, but rather because the aura meant little to her.

Kana and Yumi quickly glanced up at Touka, now a stark contrast to her earlier harmless demeanor.

"It's my turn as the dealer. Time to open the Gate of Offerings and show you what it means to experience true fear," Touka said, her youthful face now twisted into a crazed expression. Her blue eyes shimmered like the ocean, radiating a strange light.

Neither the spectators nor the other three players found Touka's dramatic, almost Chuunibyou-like behavior unusual. To most, it seemed this kind of performance was entirely within expectations.

...

East Round 2 Begins

The match immediately took on an eerie atmosphere.

Other than Touka, none of the remaining players were able to reach tenpai (ready hand) by the final few turns. It felt as if they had fallen into a bottomless swamp, unable to advance their hands.

Kana Ikeda's face began to glisten with sweat. She had faced this very scenario last year. If she couldn't disrupt the flow of the tile mountain, Touka was guaranteed to win with a Haitei Raoyue (Last Tile Draw).

By the penultimate turn, Touka nonchalantly drew her tile without looking, placing it horizontally in her discard pile.

"Riichi!" she declared.

Yumi Kajiki was startled. It was almost unheard of to call riichi so close to the end of a round unless one was absolutely certain of winning on the final tile.

Yumi's knowledge of Touka came from studying last year's national tournament records and videos, but in the year since, Touka had grown far beyond her past self.

With no updated information to rely on, Yumi failed to grasp the gravity of the situation. Meanwhile, Kana Ikeda clenched her teeth in frustration, her nerves stretched taut.

She could only hope that either Nodoka or Yumi would play a tile she could call, breaking Touka's Haitei setup.

Nodoka, fully aware of Touka's abilities thanks to her memory fragments, sensed Kana's desperate need for a specific tile. Unfortunately, that tile wasn't in Nodoka's hand. Left with no choice, she discarded a random tile.

Yumi, similarly, was unable to produce a discard that Kana could call.

When Kana eventually played her final tile, she knew resistance was futile.

Seeing the final tile, Touka's lips curled into a faint smile.

Without hesitation, she reached out for the last tile in the dead wall. Without even glancing at it, she placed the tile into her right palm, then flipped it over with practiced precision.

Touka slowly revealed her hand, laying it flat on the table.

"Haitei Raoyue!" (Fishing the Moon from the Sea) she announced triumphantly.

Spreading her arms wide, Touka beamed at the three players seated before her, her smile radiating unabashed delight.

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