Chapter 112: Card Game—Karuta
The next morning, King dragged himself out of bed. Despite his exhaustion from the previous day and his strong desire to sleep in, he stubbornly rose.
In reality, he had been "moved" by Charanko's diligence.
At the crack of dawn, Charanko was already up and training. He was in the courtyard, endlessly practicing the basic skills Bang had taught him. The key issue was, while his training was one thing, his loud shouts of "Hmph!" and "Hah!" shattered the morning peace.
For this reason alone, one couldn't live in the dojo for long. A prolonged stay would definitely lead to sleep deprivation and mental exhaustion, turning one into a national treasure like a panda.
He listlessly washed up and stepped outside, only to see Bang sitting upright like an old monk on the dojo's veranda, supervising Charanko's training with a stern expression.
"Silverfang, good morning!"
Among heroes, it was common to address each other by their hero names, unless they were particularly close.
Clearly, King and Bang's relationship wasn't close enough to use their real names.
What? You think it's disrespectful for King to directly use the hero name of an old man like Bang? Please, Saitama also always calls Bang "Silverfang," and no one says he's impolite.
On the contrary, addressing each other by their hero names has already become an unspoken, customary rule of interaction among heroes.
"Oh, King, you're up too? Are you preparing for your daily training?"
Bang's eyes lit up when he saw King emerge.
"Mm-hmm, that's right."
King nodded, looking at the sweat-drenched Charanko with a hint of sympathy. Over a year of training, grueling practice day in and day out. If it were him, he absolutely couldn't persevere.
"Hmm, should I take this opportunity to train my body?"
An idea suddenly occurred to him. He had previously relied on the system to do as he pleased, but who knew the system would be so unreliable as to hibernate to patch loopholes? This put him in a very awkward position.
The fall from being able to summon wind and rain to being too weak to even truss a chicken was a gap so vast it made him want to cry.
To ensure he had some strength of his own after losing the system, he decided to start working out.
So, what exercises should he do to strengthen his body?
Pull-ups?
Sit-ups?
Frog jumps?
Running around the mountain?
King thought it over and decided to practice… Tai Chi. Hmph, this was also a traditional body-strengthening exercise. It must be inherited and carried forward.
Alas, after being a shut-in for so long, he had no desire to touch any of those strenuous exercises. They were too exhausting.
Bang didn't probe into King's training methods. After all, prying into another's training was a great taboo among martial artists. As the grandmaster of his own school, he wouldn't do something so classless.
However, if he were to see King sluggishly practicing his punches later, he would be utterly astonished.
After finishing a set of morning exercises, King indeed felt refreshed and in high spirits. He secretly sighed that the old men from his previous life hadn't lied to him; Tai Chi really did have the unique effect of strengthening the body and promoting circulation.
After breakfast, Bang invited King to the dojo, saying he wanted him to experience the dojo's atmosphere—by playing a game.
Although King didn't understand what playing games had to do with the dojo's atmosphere, he was actually looking forward to it. The dojo was nice in every way, except that it was too boring. Besides Charanko training all day, there was nothing else to do. The scenery was nice, but it was a shame he didn't have a girlfriend.
Enjoying the scenery all alone is just so lonely!
"Karuta? A card game?"
Once King was seated, Bang took out a box of cards and told King they were going to play Karuta.
Karuta is a card game where famous song lyrics are written on cards. The players' cards only have the second half of a verse written on them. The reader reads the first half, and the players must quickly find the corresponding card. Whoever finds the matching card first wins.
"Oh, whatever."
King watched seriously as Bang methodically laid the cards out on the floor. When it came to games, he had never feared anyone.
"Get ready to start."
Bang gazed at the focused King and smiled to himself. *King, enjoy the dojo's special game. You'll grow to love life here.*
"Charanko, you'll be the reader."
Charanko was the card reader and the judge. He would read the first half of the verse on a card, and then Bang and King would be responsible for quickly finding the card with the second half of the lyrics. Whoever grabbed the correct card first would score a point.
"King, considering you haven't played this kind of game before, the first three rounds will be for practice. After three rounds, the game will officially begin, best of five."
"Whatever, I've never lost a game anyway!"
King stared at the cards on the floor with great enthusiasm, pricking up his ears to listen to Charanko, while secretly memorizing the positions of the cards on the floor. He was poised, ready to snatch a card at any moment.
Seeing that both Bang and King were in position, Charanko casually picked up a card with the first half of a verse from the box and recited, "What use have I for this iron staff?"
Hmm, found it.
King reacted in an instant. His eyes darted to the card he remembered, and he reached out to grab it.
But who knew…
*Swish!*
Bang's speed was astonishing. In the blink of an eye, the corresponding card was already in his hand. He smirked and flipped the card over for King to see.
The card had the second half of the verse: "So what if I can transform?"
"So fast!"
King's expression was grave. With Bang's hand speed, he couldn't possibly compete even if he remained single for another twenty years.
"King, how about that? Tensing every nerve in your body to react in an instant…" Bang put the card away, a hint of lecture and pride on his old, resolute face. "This is the essence of martial arts!"
"Tsk..."
King was slightly ticked off. With Bang's skill, logically speaking, he had no hope of victory.
Hah, it seems I have no choice but to use my ultimate move.
Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures.
His expression turned serious. His eyes were fixed on Charanko as he readied a card, and his right hand had already been raised stealthily, prepared to unleash a fatal strike at any moment.
Charanko put down the card he had just read and randomly drew another one from the box. He held it in his hand, glanced at it, and opened his mouth to read.
Now's the time!
King's eyes narrowed, and his right hand shot out.
"Sister, you sit at the boat's bow!"
*Swish!*
Just as Charanko finished reciting the first line, King had already snatched up a card in perfect sync.
"What?"
Bang was stunned. King was that fast? No, that's not right. It wasn't that King was too fast, but that he had grabbed the card in advance. King had already picked up a card before Charanko had even finished reading. Why? Why would King grab a card early? Could he have known the lyrics on the card in Charanko's hand? Otherwise, how could he have made a judgment and choice ahead of time?
King smirked. Heh, of course he didn't know which verse Charanko was going to read next, but it didn't matter. Playing by the rules, he could never beat Bang. His only option was to act in advance and let luck decide.
Clearly, his luck was pretty good.
He flipped over the card in his hand. The lyrics on it were, sure enough: "Brother, I'll walk on the shore!"
Luck is a form of strength, too.
Besides, I've always been a hero driven by luck—King.
(end of chapter)