Hikigaya Challenges Kakegurui

It's raining heavily outside.

They finally left.

Hikigaya dragged his heavy body confusedly to his locker. On the ground was his umbrella that had been stepped on by the group of people. It was an umbrella that his mother bought for him so that he could enjoy the rainy days. It was printed with Hikigaya's favorite anime character, the middle school character he had imagined becoming.

At this moment, several holes have been pierced on it, and a sentence is painted on it: This suits you better.

Hikigaya numbly picked up the umbrella, walked outside, letting the rain soak him, and walked to the garbage house to throw the umbrella in.

'When I got home, I told my mom that my umbrella had fallen into the water and was washed away.'

'Then I smiled and told my family that nothing had happened.'

Hikigaya plans to take action.

However, the gears of fate began to turn from then on.

Sixth grader Jule Xingzi, with a pair of slender long legs in white stockings and low-top leather boots stepping on the water, splashes ripples. Holding a transparent umbrella, her red eyes have a maturity that does not belong to this age group.

Hikigaya could no longer remember what the two of them talked about at the time.

However, Hikigaya has never forgotten the poem that Sachiko Jura gave her.

“You were born with potential.

You are born with unlimited potential.

You were born with goodness and trust.

You are born honest and kind.

You were born with ideals and dreams.

You are born with ideals.

You were born with greatness.

You were born great.

You were born with wings.

You were born with wings.

You are not meant for crawling, so don't.

You shouldn't have to crawl.

You have wings.

You can spread your wings,

Learn to use them and fly.

Then learn to fly."

After that day, Hikigaya vowed to win.

23 Hikigaya Hachiman takes the initiative

"Hachiman-san? Hachiman?!"

"I'm here."

Yumeko's call brings Hachiman Hikigaya back to reality from his past memories.

The weak Hikigaya Hachiman no longer exists, and now he has learned to fly.

"Your expression just now was scary. Is there any grudge between you and Juraku-senpai?" Jabami Yumeko looked serious, her tone more serious than ever before.

Huang Yiyue who was standing by didn't dare to say a word. She had no doubt that as long as Hikigaya Hachiman responded in the affirmative, Jabami Yumeko would challenge Juraku-senpai to a gamble without hesitation.

"No..." Hikigaya Hachiman was silent for a while, looking a little tired, and said, "She... is my benefactor."

"benefactor?!"

Jabami Yumeko subconsciously covered her mouth in shock. She obviously didn't expect that the mysterious and powerful Hikigaya Hachiman would have such a vulnerable side.

"Thank you for the information." Hikigaya thanked Huang Yiyue solemnly: "I owe you a favor. If you need anything in the future, I will help you unconditionally once."

"Ah... this is nothing." Huang Yiyue was flattered. It seemed that this man named Hikigaya Hachiman was not as difficult to communicate with as he had imagined.

At least he was polite.

...

"Have you decided to help Saotome-san, Hikigaya-kun?"

"Even if it's not to help her, I still want to go see my benefactor." Hikigaya said in a relaxed tone, "I haven't seen her for about six years."

"Six years? So, Hikigaya-kun and Juraku-senpai were classmates in elementary school. Do you want me to come with you?"

"No need. Since Senior Jule's target is me, I will go meet her."

Arriving at the door of the classroom, Hikigaya Hachiman stopped and thought for a while before deciding to remind her: "Even though she is my benefactor, I haven't seen Senior Juraku for six years. I can't be sure whether she is representing herself or the student council now, and the purpose of separating the two of us is still unclear."

"There may be other members of the student union who will ask you to gamble. Although I know it's useless to persuade you, I still want to remind you to be careful."

"Hikigaya-kun, are you concerned about me?"

Jabami Yumeko put her hands behind her back with a smile, not feeling the seriousness in Hikigaya Hachiman's words at all.

Seeing this, Hikigaya shook his head with a smile.

For this crazy gambler, no matter how dangerous the gamble is, it will only make the other party feel excited.

Taking Hikigaya Hachiman as an example, the dopamine value produced by gambling is "1" or even higher than that. The dopamine secreted by a normal person when gambling is "5", so the value secreted by Jabami Yumeko is probably "10" or even "20".

Danger only becomes the raw material of dopamine for this woman.

...

Saotome sat in her seat, enjoying the moment of peace when no one was looking for her, a stray cat.

After seeing the life plan given by the student council, she realized that this was a complete trap. A trap to lure Hikigaya Hachiman into the student council's trap, and her existence was just a part of the trap.

The humiliating feeling of being treated as a chess piece on the chessboard made Saotome Meiari unprecedentedly calm.

What does it feel like to bet your life? Before this, Saotome Meiari might have scoffed at this, only the stupidest fools would bet their lives on gambling.

But now she did it.

Why? Is it the desire to gamble?

Saotome thought about it for a long time and rejected this conjecture. The reason why she suppressed her life was definitely not such a superficial desire as gambling.

So what is it?

"Enlightenment." She opened her pink lips slightly and uttered the word slowly.

"The humiliation of being treated as a stray cat, the humiliation of having my life constrained by a mere 10 million yen, the humiliation of being used as bait to lure Hikigaya Hachiman... all of these became my awakening."

"The success or failure of a gamble, a life plan that objectifies humans... I will never agree to it. I want to prove to them that humans are humans, not mixed cats or pawns!"

“This is my awareness as a human being!”

Saotome subconsciously glanced at the classroom clock. The hour hand slowly pointed to the "4" position, which looked quite unlucky.

She had agreed with the student union to go to the least popular casino in the school: the Second Library at 4pm to participate in the gambling game.

There was no mention of Hikigaya, and every sentence was about Hikigaya. Saotome had already guessed that if Hikigaya had not gone with her, she would have to face the firepower that Hikigaya Hachiman should have borne.

Will he go with me?

No, it doesn't matter. Since I have made up my mind, no matter what means the other party uses, I will win this gamble to prove my belief.

squeak--

The harsh sound of the door being pushed open reached Saotome Meiari's ears. She subconsciously raised her head and walked towards her was the core of this turmoil, Hikigaya Hachiman.

The breeze blew through the window and blew Hikigaya Hachiman's bangs upwards, revealing the pair of eyes hidden therein.

Sharp, spirited, resolute, and full of unrivaled faith...

Saotome was stunned for a moment.

Did I lose to this kind of Hikigaya Hachiman? Obviously, he had a pair of ordinary dead fish eyes...

"Saotome Meiari."

"I'm here." Saotome Meiari shuddered, and in her heart she had a vague understanding of why she had brought Hikigaya Hachiman with her even at the cost of making up such an embarrassing excuse that she was afraid the other party would cheat...

She subconsciously thought that if it was Hikigaya Hachiman, he might have the ability to overturn the gambling table of the Student Union.

"Let the student council lose! Let them feel the pain of falling into the abyss!" Saotome Meiari roared in her heart. Unconsciously, the resentment that she had fallen into the abyss because of Hikigaya also disappeared with the roar in her heart.

"You're daydreaming." Hikigaya Hachiman looked down upon Saotome.

"I do not have."

"Let's go then."

"Ah?"

Such direct words made Saotome Meiari's expression become a little silly for a moment, and her golden twin ponytails swayed, making her look very cute.

"After the matter is done, you must agree to all the conditions you promised. I can make you walk out of hell, and I can also make you go back to hell."

Hikigaya's words were still sharp, leaving no room for Saotome to imagine.

"Who would go back on their word? Let's go!" Saotome slammed the table angrily, walked in front and led Hikigaya Hachiman out of the classroom.

The classmates in the class looked at each other in bewilderment when they saw this scene.

The girls who often enjoyed bullying Saotome slowly walked up to Jabami Yumeko.

"Jabakuchi-san, that cat seems to be having a tryst with your boyfriend, are you going to do anything about it?"

"That's so rude~"

Jabami Yumeko covered her face with a blushing face, her shy look showed nothing of the charm that made her the crazy gambler that her classmates praised at the gambling table.

"Everyone, look, it's Nishidouin-senpai from the student council."

Someone yelled, and Mengzi looked in the direction of the voice and saw a woman in a kimono slowly walking towards her.

24 Hikigaya Challenges Juraku Sachiko

Passing through the winding corridors, Saotome Meiari led Hikigaya Hachiman to the door of a secluded activity room.

On the left side of the gate hangs the sign for the Second Library.

The corridors were dusty on both sides, and it was obvious that no one had come here to gamble for a long time.

"This is it." Saotome swallowed and prepared to push the door open.

But the door was pushed open first, and a girl with half-framed glasses and light green hair walked out. She had her hands hanging down, shaking them, and her eyes were lifeless. She passed by Saotome and Hikigaya Hachiman and stumbled out of this hell.

Saotome's heart tightened when she saw this.

If she lost, she would probably end up like this girl... No, maybe even worse than her.

"It has come to this, aren't you ready to lose everything?" Hikigaya Hachiman crossed his arms and said indifferently.

"Don't underestimate me, Hikigaya Hachiman!"

Meiari Saotome gritted her teeth, made up her mind, and pushed open the door of the second library.

The second library was quite large, but there was nothing that could be called gambling props. It was full of books. Hikigaya glanced at the bookshelf and found that there was no dust on the top of the books. It was obvious that the owner of this place took good care of them.

"So the girl just now may not have lost money."

'But they have been deprived of the right to love this place.'

"This is really the style of Jule Sachiko."

Hikigaya looked up and saw a quaint long table and a swivel chair with a red cushion at the end of the second library.

In front of the chair stood a girl who was wearing the same [Assorted Cat] ID tag as Saotome Meiari. She had red hair that symbolized her flamboyant personality, but her eyes were empty and her expression was indifferent, as if she was a puppet deprived of her soul.

However, what concerned Hachiman Hikigaya the most was the leather collar around the girl's neck.

Huang Yiyue did not lie to him. Anyone who lost to Jule Xingzi would be deprived of everything and treated like a dog. Not like a formal livestock in the student union, but a real pet.

A completely bad woman.