30 - Jabami Yumeko's Madness
Jabami Yumeko, with a flushed face, stared at the direction of the door:
"Hikigaya-kun, have you already won the bet? Then I can't fall behind."
"Heh heh hahahaha—"
Yumeko's eyes were wild, and with one hand, she suddenly grabbed her left breast and began gently massaging it. Her gaze locked on Nishinotouin Yuriko, and saliva dripped down uncontrollably.
"Nishinotouin-san, you really are utterly terrible."
"What did you say?!" The dealer's expression changed, looking at Yumeko with a mix of anger and shock. She whispered harshly at her, "Jabami Yumeko, you are so rude! Making such indecent gestures is an insult to our Traditional Culture Research Club!"
"Nishinotouin-sama, I suggest we expel Jabami Yumeko from the club!"
Nishinotouin waved her hand to stop the dealer's suggestion, secretly disdainful of Yumeko, seeing her as a degenerate woman. She frowned and said, "Sorry, what did you just say?"
"I said, you are truly terrible!"
"Giving the weak a tiny bit of hope, only to plunge them into even deeper despair—setting traps step by step, making me wager everything... It's no different from an underground money-lending operation." Yumeko's breathing became more frantic as she squeezed her long, supple legs together involuntarily, her fingers sinking into the soft material.
"I don't know how good your gambling skills are, but your character as a human being is truly the lowest of the low!"
"…It's no different from filth."
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"Has Jabami lost her mind? Why is she provoking Nishinotouin-senpai like that?!"
Sumeragi Itsuki, looking terrified, swallowed hard. Though it didn't seem like any violent conflict was about to occur, openly insulting someone like that, pointing at them—there was no room left for any reconciliation!
It was as if she was exposing her own imbalance directly in front of Nishinotouin-senpai. Saying something like that... she would surely be devoured without hesitation!
"Hikigaya-kun, aren't you at all worried?"
"No."
Hikigaya crossed his arms and calmly shook his head. "Yumeko has already figured it out. What she's doing now is just pulling Nishinotouin down into the abyss with her."
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
Itsuki was stunned. What was Hikigaya talking about?
An "abyss"? She could clearly see the live broadcast, but was there something she missed? Itsuki stared at the screen again, not believing it, trying to observe more closely.
"It's normal that you can't see it."
Hikigaya said faintly, "Until now, after personally watching all her games with Yumeko, I finally understand why this is called an 'uncatchable' game."
"Nishinotouin's method of cheating lies in... not being able to guarantee a 100% win." The dealer's hand holding the pot to make the sword fall into the target hole requires great control. There's also the possibility of other swords blocking the hole. Most importantly, she can only control one sword, and what happens to the rest is all based on luck.
"In fact—"
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"The actual win rate doesn't look too good."
Inside the room, Jabami Yumeko and outside, Hikigaya Hachiman, spoke almost simultaneously.
After the dealer dropped the sword into the pot and Nishinotouin spread the chips evenly across the options, Yumeko's actions stopped. The madness in her eyes faded, replaced by cold, terrifying rationality and indifference. She coldly fixed her serpent-like eyes on the astonished Nishinotouin Yuriko.
"In fact, the win rate between life and death isn't very high, is it?"
"In the end, Nishinotouin's way of cheating, rather than gambling, is more like a long-term business. It's relying on her position as a student council member to use her financial resources and time to keep going. Losing tens of millions is just a small ripple in business—trivial and inconsequential."
"But for the opponent, losing tens of millions and putting everything on the line, they fall into hell. I'm sure many members of the Traditional Culture Research Club have been kept in check by you using such methods. Giving hope and then sinking them into deeper despair—this kind of behavior is despicable."
"Here, I'm putting everything on the line, while Nishinotouin-san isn't risking anything. That's not very fair, is it?"
"If Hikigaya-kun were here, he would definitely have declined this gamble rationally, knowing there was no sure way to win."
"But me? I just want Nishinotouin-san to feel the same pain."
At this moment, Nishinotouin's fake smile finally couldn't hold up anymore. Her expression began to twist and tremble as she stared in horror at Yumeko, who was stacking her chips higher and higher. Finally, Yumeko placed the stack into a column and pushed it all into the "24th hole."
Yumeko's voice trembled as she said: "My bet is 40 chips, all placed into the 24th hole. If I win, and it's judged as life..."
"Nishinotouin-san... you'll lose 2.17 billion yen."
Nishinotouin was terrified, her body trembling uncontrollably, surrounded by an overwhelming fear. Her face, usually kept smooth and flawless with regular beauty treatments, twisted in terror.
If she lost, she would have to pay 2.4 billion yen—such a huge sum was absolutely impossible for her to cover on her own.
As one of the many casinos at Hachikou Academy, the research club had to regularly pay a hefty fee to the student council. And the one collecting this fee, Momobami Kirari, was not someone who would be lenient.
To pay such a huge sum, she would have to use the collected fees, but if she couldn't maintain the payment, she would lose her position as a student council member. All of her privileges, including her exclusive "pets," would be taken away...
'Damn it, Jabami Yumeko, this crazy woman, how dare she, how dare she risk everything like this! I need to have a serious talk with her…'
She looked up, only to see Yumeko standing straight, walking step by step toward her, gently brushing her hand over her face.
"Just one gamble, and you could lose so much money. This is the true 'Life and Death Sword,' Nishinotouin Yuriko-senpai~"
"Come on, come on, come on, come on..."
"Let's gamble to madness!!!"
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"Huh?? Why, why is Nishinotouin-senpai so terrified? Why is Jabami-senpai so sure that the sword will be judged as life in the 24st hole?"
"Magnet."
Hikigaya Hachiman lowered his gaze, slowly uttering the key clue.
He pointed to the two "stray cats" guarding the door and nudged his chin. "Haven't you noticed? Look at their hands."
Sumeragi Itsuki followed Hikigaya's motion and then realized that what they thought were "moles" on their fingers were actually magnets!
Magnets, iron swords, deliberate verbal provocations... all the clues pieced together in Sumeragi Itsuki's mind. Her head exploded with realization as everything came together.
Jabami Yumeko had deliberately provoked Nishinotouin to make her cheat in the next round of the game. The dealer controlled the falling position of the iron sword with the magnets in her hand. Everything interlocked, pulling them all into the same equal, maddening gambling hell.
But there was still something she didn't understand: "But even if they cheat like this, they can't guarantee the result, right? Why…"
"Because she is Jabami Yumeko," Hikigaya Hachiman said without hesitation.
"She is the type of person, where if the price paid by both sides is equal, even if there's only a 1% chance of winning, she won't hesitate to drag her opponent down into an irreversible, maddening gambling hell."