"Nenriki" by Toyoda Ryô
Winner, 1980 Hoshi Shinichi Short Story Contest
Published in Shôto Shôto no Kôba vol. 1 (Kodansha, 1985)
Translated by sekicho


Willpower, you say? Ha, that's silly.

Don't you think there's no reason for willpower to exist?

Let's say, if we take these 52 playing cards, do you think we can guess which will be red and which will be black, without looking?

I'll do it once.

Red, black, black, red...

Now then, how many did you get?

Oh, you missed all of them?

Exactly, it's like that, man.