Hikigaya Challenges Kakegurui

Hikigaya said to himself, "Because in my opinion, gambling is nothing more than a contest of tricks. Gambling is nothing more than a competition of calculation ability between the two parties..."

"Calculate all possible outcomes, calculate the moment when the other party will cheat and catch you..."

Hikigaya changed the subject and said, "You know what? In this round, my chance of winning is only 13.2%, but I still chose to sit at this table without hesitation. However, until just now, I was sure that I would win."

"Even so, do you still want to gamble?"

boom--

Saotome had a ferocious look on her face and grabbed the two corners of the table with both hands.

"Haha, stop bluffing. How much money do you want to bet?"

It’s hard to persuade this damn ghost with good words.

Hikigaya Hachiman was helpless. For a woman like Saotome who was already deeply trapped in the vortex and unable to extricate herself, there was a possibility of change only if she was given a head-on blow.

"Then please die gloriously as my stepping stone, Saotome Meiari!"

Hikigaya slowly reached into his chest pocket and pulled out a bank card.

"There's 10 million yen in here."

"All in, one round to decide the outcome."

Nani! ! !

Ten million!

The noisy classroom fell silent instantly. It wasn't that the amount was so shocking. The students in this academy were either rich or noble, and they had seen bigger bets before. But, betting 10 million on a simple game of rock-paper-scissors?

Could it be that Hikigaya Hachiman, who looks like an ordinary scholarship student, is actually a super rich second-generation? !

"What a joke! Betting 10 million on a game of rock-paper-scissors, you...are really a lunatic!" Saotome expressed everyone's thoughts.

"So what's wrong with that?"

Hachiman sat upright on the chair, his lazy eyes became sharper than ever before. He slowly spoke out his philosophy: "The so-called gambling, apart from calculation, is just madness. In the capitalist world, money and life have the same status. It is absolutely not normal to bet your life on luck. But it is this kind of madness of gambling with your life that makes people feel happy. The crazier it is, the happier it is..."

"Don't you feel pleasure, but fear? Saotome Meiari."

"You are not qualified to sit opposite me."

Hikigaya Hachiman neither saw nor heard the uncontrollable blush on Yumeko's face nor her gasping sound like a drowning person grasping at a lifeline.

His eyes were like torches, and he was putting pressure on Saotome with an extremely majestic attitude. He had swept away the embarrassment of introducing himself when he first entered school. Now, he was at home.

'How dare this nouveau riche fool look down on me!'

"Come on, I hope you won't regret losing 10 million, Hikigaya-kun."

"Oh, forget it, I'm going to win this bet anyway." Saotome took a deep breath, and her timid heart slowly calmed down.

"Of the 30 people who voted, 21 of them were used by me. Some for debts, some for class positions."

"This time, the cards are all paper and rock. As long as I play paper, I'm invincible. There are almost no scissors. Even if I draw one, I won't play it in the first round for the sake of safety. What makes me uneasy is that I can't draw it. "

The two of them drew their respective cards from the box, and in order to show magnanimity, Hikigaya drew first.

After finishing, Saotome slowly unfolded the three playing cards in her hand.

"Hahahaha!" She stroked her face with one hand and couldn't help but laughed out loud with her head tilted back.

Two pieces of cloth, one piece of stone, she's a sure winner! Ten million is hers!

The winner of this bet is Meiari Saotome!

8 Hikigaya Hachiman's First Stepping Stone

"What's the matter? There's no point in thinking about it for so long with only three cards! Come on and open them and take a look."

When Saotome calmed down, she saw that Hikigaya Hachiman had no reaction after covering the three cards on the table. She thought he was scared and couldn't help but mock him.

"It's useless to be afraid now, Hikigaya-san. If you are willing to crawl under my feet and be my dog, I will not pursue this competition~"

"How about it? Do you want to be my dog, or do you want to be a stupid dog for livestock?"

"Hey, Hikigaya-san, please answer me quickly."

Hikigaya never turned over the cards, but casually hooked one of the cards with his index finger and pushed it across the table.

"what do you mean?"

Looking at this scene, Saotome was stunned.

"Do you think we didn't notice?" It was Yumeko who spoke. Her enchanting curves were like a beautiful snake, and her plump upper body pressed against Hikigaya Hachiman's shoulders.

The tickling hair brought waves of itchiness, and the girl's fragrance completely overwhelmed Hachiman's rationality, making him forget the lines he had prepared to raise his own value, and he sat in the chair alone, disheveled.

"Too close, too close, too close..."

"Prime numbers, count the prime numbers quickly, Hikigaya!"

There was a red light in Jabami Yumeko's eyes, and the poisonous snake in her heart had completely awakened. The snake in her heart would not retreat until it had completely devoured its opponent.

"Everyone, I think you are helping Saotome-san."

Eh--

Saotome's pupils suddenly shrank, and the students present suddenly became confused.

"From the votes so far, it's not all of them, but conservatively 20."

"What proof do you have—"

"Your method is too crude! It's just like a child's trick!" Jabami Yumeko said with disdain, "In a big game with a stake of 50, you actually played the same card twice in a row! When the stakes are low, you just play it casually. This is too poor a cover."

"If you don't have the courage to hurt the enemy by a thousand and lose eight hundred of your own, you can't fool anyone."

"Stop bluffing! This is the card you are going to play! Let's fight it out!"

Saotome roared angrily to cover up her inner anxiety. Cloth! As long as she plays Cloth, she will be invincible!

"3, 2, 1——"

Yumeko once again replaced Hachiman and turned over the cards on the table together with Saotome.

"Scissors vs. Paper, the winner is Master Hikigaya Hachiman!"

silence.

For the first year, the Chinese class was filled with deathly silence.

Saotome raised her head stiffly, her neck seemed to make a cracking sound. Her pupils no longer had the confidence and vitality they had before, but were replaced by a fear as if she had fallen into hell.

'Why, why did he draw the scissors? Why, he dared to draw the scissors!'

"Even if he draws Scissors in the first round, the chance of winning is less than 15%. How dare he? !"

Hikigaya Hachiman slowly stood up, as if he could see the doubts in her heart.

A merciless voice echoed in the empty and silent classroom:

"Saotome, you asked Suzui-san to stand behind Jabami-san early on so that he could pass on secret signals to the people around you to decide the hand pattern of this game."

"If you stand behind him, the card holder will naturally think that the eyes are on him, and thus ignore the people around him who are helping to cheat."

"Jabuchi-san must have noticed this through the reflection in the makeup mirror—"

"Before this round started, Suzui-san gave the order: rock and paper. So most of the cards will be these two, and you, who don't have the awareness of hurting the enemy by a thousand and hurting yourself by eight hundred, will definitely play paper!"

"In other words, this is a match that I can definitely win as long as I get the scissors."

"There is no such thing as card calculation or mental game. I just know your thinking pattern and what kind of person you are. The outcome of this gamble is already determined."

This line of reasoning struck Saotome Meiari like a bolt of lightning. She staggered, fell weakly on the chair, and asked in a hoarse voice: "Then, why are you so sure that you can touch the scissors?"

"The cards were clearly checked before they were put in, and there were absolutely no signs of bends or anything like that!"

"It's lip gloss~" Mengzi touched her lips, and the flesh-colored lip gloss was faintly visible and slightly lighter.

She picked up the lip gloss and rubbed it lightly between her thumb and index finger, and the look she gave Hikigaya Hachiman became full of infatuation and indulgence.

"Because the touch of lip gloss on your hands is different from that of ordinary cards, you can pull out the scissors by finding the corresponding touch in the box. But because such subtle differences are easily overlooked, you didn't notice it, Saotome-san."

"Lip gloss?! How could it be lip gloss!"

Saotome screamed in horror, what an exaggerated perception ability! Even a girl like herself who touches lip gloss every day can't tell whether the playing cards are stained with lip gloss or not. How can he, Hikigaya Hachiman, tell the difference?

"Because it's different, I remember it." Hikigaya's calm tone seemed like he was talking about a trivial matter.

But it was such a trivial matter that became the last straw that broke the camel's back, causing Saotome Meiari to lose a full 10 million yen!

"Hey... Saotome-san, after deducting the money you lost before, you lost a total of 880 million yen in this bet~" Jabami Yumeko walked quietly behind Saotome and put her hands affectionately on her shoulders, like a warm greeting between good sisters.

"No...no."

"Huh?!" Mengzi smiled creepyly again.

boom--

Huge beads of sweat gathered on Saotome's forehead, and then fell on the table and exploded, just like her current state of mind. She lowered her proud head to Hachiman, slammed it heavily on the table, clenched her teeth, and her muscles were trembling slightly.

She seemed to have used up all her courage and dignity in her life: "I can't take it out now, can you please give me a few days..."

Hachiman was silent, Yumeko folded her hands in front of her belly and lowered her eyes like a goddess with pity for all living things. She turned around and stopped looking at Saotome who had fallen into the abyss of gambling, and walked to Hachiman's side and stood side by side with him.

Her tone was brisk: "My words don't count. The one who will participate in the second round of gambling is Hikigaya-san."

Yumeko leaned her upper body against Hikigaya's, looking up at him like a weak woman. Once again, she heard Hachiman's voice as faint as a mosquito's.

"It's so fun, let's just forget about it this time." Hikigaya lost interest in continuing to play, but stepping on a stepping stone made him feel pretty good.

The first step of becoming famous in the circle of children of the powerful and wealthy has been achieved. In comparison, the issue of money can be put on hold for the time being.

"I hope to receive the remittance from Saotome-san in two days."

Hikigaya Hachiman turned and left, and Jabami Yumeko quickly followed. Finally, she smiled and said to everyone in the classroom while holding her small leather bag:

"Goodbye everyone, from tomorrow on please treat us as real classmates~"

9 Hikigaya Hachiman is pure and innocent

"Please wait a moment, Hikigaya-san, Jabami-san."

Hachiman and Yumeko walked in the corridor outside the classroom, one after the other. As the sun set, from the perspective of Suzui Ryota behind them, the two looked like messengers of hell walking together. Their backs were long and unfathomable.

"Hmm?" Hikigaya turned around with a confused look on his face, carrying his school bag on his shoulder. "You are... Suzui-san. What can I do for you?"

"I'm so sorry!" Suzui Ryota trotted over to the two and bowed deeply to them. "It's my fault for helping Saotome-san cheat on you two. Please forgive me."

"Eh?"

The man's exaggerated apology made Hikigaya and Yumeko read the surprise in each other's eyes.

"This guy...did he get a script for a nice guy role?"

"No, no, there's no need to be so exaggerated. It's nothing. Besides, we won, didn't we?"

Ryota Suzui finally breathed a sigh of relief and raised his head, looking at the man and woman in front of him. The distance between them was obviously beyond the distance between ordinary male and female classmates.

He hesitated to speak, thinking that asking such an abrupt question would make him seem rude, but if he didn't ask, he might regret it for the rest of his life.

Finally, he asked, "Well...even though it's very presumptuous, I want to ask you something. Isn't this the first day you two have known each other? Why do you seem to have such a good relationship?"

"Eh?" Yumeko's face suddenly turned red as if someone had spoken to her about her true feelings. She covered her mouth in surprise, but she quickly answered Hikigaya's question for him: "Hikigaya-kun and I met on the school's special bus this morning. We both have no friends at school, so of course we have to help each other! Don't you agree, Hikigaya-kun?"

"Well... that's right."

"Besides, Hikigaya-kun and I are the same type of people." When she said this, Jabami Yumeko's eyes once again flashed red.

Huh? Is it just such a simple reason... Then can I do it too... Suzui Ryoudai had this bold thought in his heart.

"Actually, I don't have any friends either." He muttered in a voice that only he could hear, then shook his head, denying his wishful thinking.

He started to sing by himself.

"Indeed, you two seem to be a perfect match. You are both special people. I'm sure I will never have such talent in my lifetime."

So...a good match?!

Jabami Yumeko was struck by lightning and could not help but take a few steps back. She twisted the bag that was originally in front of her body behind her without leaving a trace, and her two little hands were intertwined and kneaded each other as if they had nowhere to put.

"I'm going to drop out of school." Suzui Ryota sighed, grabbed the dog tag hanging around his neck, and said with relief: "I'm in debt. I owed Saotome Meiari 5 million. I planned to pay it back by gambling, but the debt increased. It feels like I'm stuck in a quagmire. I'm tired. It would be different if I could be as strong as you and Hikigaya-san... I'm afraid I'll never be able to get rid of the identity of a stupid dog in my life."