277 – An Unprecedented Five-Person Gamble!
"Let's keep it short and get to the gambling!"
He made no attempt to hide his intentions, pointing at Hikigaya and Jabami Yumeko, and bluntly declared, "You and Jabami—my targets are the votes in your hands. If you lose, all your votes go to me, and you withdraw from the election and no longer interfere in any part of the process."
"Of course, if you win, the same rules apply. Honebami
and I will hand over all our votes and also withdraw from this election. Together, we hold about 400 votes—how about it?"
"Hmm..."
Hikigaya Hachiman fell into a brief silence.
This guy was rather upfront, stating right to his face that he wanted to kick him out of the election.
Truly… hard to refuse.
"No." Unexpectedly, Yumeko spoke up before Hikigaya could reply. This surprised Obami Rin, who looked at her and asked, "Is something wrong?"
Jabami Yumeko shook her head with a gentle and sweet smile. "Compared to me, Sachiko-nee needs this gamble more~"
"So, my suggestion is that Sachiko-nee takes my place in the gamble. As for the stakes, naturally, Hachiman and I will cover them."
Juraku Sachiko, huh...
Obami Rin frowned slightly.
If Yumeko was replaced by Juraku Sachiko… an unexpected twist.
Juraku Sachiko.
Former Student Council Disciplinary Officer, held in extremely high regard within Hyakkaou Academy.
She was praised as the number one person right under Momobami Kirari, and had even beaten Hikigaya Hachiman in the "Feudal Game" gamble.
If he had to pick two people in Hyakkaou Academy he least wanted to face, one would be Momobami Kirari, and the other would be this formidable opponent, Juraku Sachiko.
Though he aimed to reach the top, encountering such a powerful opponent this early was anything but ideal.
Just like in the World Cup, even champion hopeful teams wouldn't want to face other strong teams too soon.
That would expose their weaknesses, deplete their strength, and provide tons of intel to their rivals.
The same logic applied to gambling—it would consume mental energy, and their gambling tactics would be recorded and remembered.
"I hold roughly 700 votes," Juraku Sachiko said nonchalantly, spitting out that light-sounding number with an indifferent look.
Hearing "700," Obami Rin sharply looked up.
He was willing to shoulder greater risks—but only if the rewards were great enough.
If those 700 votes fell into his hands, he would virtually be guaranteed the position of Student Council President.
His expression became extremely solemn and serious. "Seven hundred votes? Are you certain? That number is already close to an entire grade's worth of votes."
"Don't underestimate your senior who's about to graduate~" Juraku Sachiko swung her legs, pulled the leash in her hand, and made Inbami Miyo kneel before her so she could pet her head.
"You of the Hundred Devouring Clan probably know this as well—most of the votes in circulation come from first and second-year students. No matter how fiercely you fight, in the end, you'll face a shortage, a complete drought of votes."
"In contrast, third-years are a huge vote bank."
"As graduation approaches—and after that major gambling incident—their desire to gamble is already very low.
They'd rather let the votes rot in their hands than casually participate in a gamble."
"That means whoever can awaken their desire to gamble and gain their votes stands the best chance of becoming the new president."
"I can make that happen~"
Juraku Sachiko seemed to have foreseen this moment.
Since the first day she enrolled, she had been accumulating prestige, and now held absolute authority among the third-years.
Her words sometimes carried more weight than Momobami's.
Hikigaya Hachiman's gaze toward Juraku Sachiko began to change.
At that moment, he seemed to understand why neutral players in American elections often ended up benefiting so much—because they were just that valuable.
Both sides would do everything to win their support.
Now, he found himself in that exact position.
During the previous bet event, he'd been unconscious and hadn't realized the extent of Sachiko's influence.
But now, hearing her words was like having a door to a new world thrown open before him.
If I get those 700 votes…!
Hikigaya closed his eyes and did the math.
With Juraku Sachiko's help, he'd have more than a third of the entire school's votes.
This could really work.
This had huge potential!
"Deal!" Rin Obami clapped decisively, agreeing to the substitution without further hesitation.
"But your agreement alone isn't enough..."
Juraku Sachiko stood upright and slowly walked toward Honebami Miroslava.
In terms of height, with her high heels, Juraku was slightly taller.
But just slightly.
The two of them maintained eye-level, like needle versus needlepoint, dry grass against fire, one spark away from ignition.
"What if the loser becomes the winner's personal pet?"
"Heh, I'd love nothing more."
Votes didn't matter.
The greatest pleasure would be completely devouring the woman in front of her!
"But I have one more condition—Hikigaya Hachiman is included. If you lose, he becomes my personal pet too."
What fortune this would be! Honebami Miroslava fell into deep thought.
The two people she most wanted to toy with were now right in front of her—no, three, counting Yumeko.
As long as Hikigaya submitted to her, Yumeko would inevitably follow.
What a perfect opportunity to swallow them all whole~!
"Wait, I..." Hikigaya raised his hand to object to Miroslava' fantasy, but before he could speak, her gaze silenced him.
"Forgot already, Hikigaya Hachiman? You still owe me one chance. Use that promise to accept this bet."
"This... alright."
Hikigaya admitted his guilt and reluctantly agreed.
Previously, when he asked the Honebami clan for help finding someone, he had promised to play a game with them.
Using this gamble to settle that debt wasn't such a bad deal.
"But there are four of us here—how are we supposed to gamble?"
"That kind of thing should naturally be decided by the election committee—they're the fairest, after all."
Obami Rin smiled and took out his phone, pressing the button to summon the election committee.
Very soon, hurried footsteps came from outside.
The tireless Yomozuki Runa burst in again, yelling "Lollipop incoming!" as she made her dramatic appearance.
"Election committee chair, Yomozuki Runa, reporting! What do you need?"
"Eh? You guys again~"
Once she saw the people in the room clearly, Runa's initial excitement immediately faded.
While their gambling was fun, it got a bit repetitive after hosting so many rounds!
"C'mon now, don't make that face, Runa-chan~" Yumeko rubbed her face playfully and explained their gambling request.
"Ohh, I see—you all want to do a multi-person gamble."
"That's right!"
A mysterious smile crept onto Runa's face.
What the others didn't know was—she had just come from the Hundred Devouring Clan's headquarters and reached a shady agreement with someone inside...
And surprisingly, her goal aligned perfectly with this gamble.
It seemed this was all part of a long-planned annexation strategy.
Yomozuki Runa pretended to ponder for a while, then said: "I've thought of the perfect gambling game. But this game needs a fifth player to join."
"Huh? Then I—" Yumeko's eyes sparkled. She wanted to join too.
"Nope! If you joined, we'd have to recalculate all the stakes again. To avoid that hassle, sorry, but it's a no~"
"What?!" Yumeko pouted unhappily.
"Besides, the teams are already clearly forming. To disrupt and weaken that trend… we need a truly neutral third-party player to stir the pot in this five-person gamble."
"As for who that fifth player is—I already have someone in mind. I'll send her a message right now, so please be patient."
Runa pulled out her phone and quickly sent a message to someone on the other end.
.
.
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Meanwhile, Sumeragi Itsuki was very busy.
Not with the election, but taking care of a man who had turned white-haired overnight, lying lifelessly in bed—eyes hollow and spiritless.
Manyuda Kaede.
After losing the gamble against Hikigaya Hachiman, his dream of becoming king, of walking the royal road, was shattered.
Now, he was barely a person—more like a soulless shell.
Sumeragi Itsuki, her hands bandaged and bloodied from slicing apples, hid them behind her back and said to the dazed man in the hospital bed, "Hey, Kaede-kun. I peeled this apple myself. Try some."
Manyuda Kaede stared at the poorly peeled apple, with bits of skin still attached, and said nothing for a while.
Finally, he spoke, "Itsuki, don't worry about me. This is for your own good. After I lost, I lost everything—my standing in school, my father's expectations, my dream of ruling Japan's economy… even life itself is no longer mine."
"I'm a complete and utter failure."
"Being with a loser can only end one way—losing everything together."
"Life?"
Seeing Kaede so dejected, Sumeragi Itsuki grew angry.
She pulled out his "Life Plan Book" from her bag and smacked it hard: "You mean this?"
"Yes. My life now belongs to you, the one who bought this plan from Momobami with a fortune," Kaede said emotionlessly as he saw the book, his voice mechanical.
"You can do whatever you want with it. After all, it's yours."
"Hah?! What are you moping about, Manyuda Kaede? This thing is just a pile of garbage!"
Then, to his shock, Sumeragi Itsuki bit into a corner of the Life Plan and ripped it off with her teeth.
At that moment, the phone rang.
Bet No. 278: [Public Property Game]
"Hey, hey, hey, Itsuki, where are you right now?" "Eh? I'm at the school infirmary. Why?" "That's perfect. Hurry and bring Manyuda here to the small auditorium. There's a gamble that he needs to participate in." Yomozuki Runa led the group excitedly, covering her phone and speaking in a low voice.
The perfect candidate she envisioned was none other than Kaede Manyuda — the former student council treasurer who had lost everything.
No matter how you looked at it, he was the most suitable person.
His once glorious path within the student council had been destroyed.
Now, he was nothing more than a shell possessing advanced gambling skills.
"..." "Who else is participating?" "Two transfer students from the Hundred Devouring Clan, and also Hikigaya and Sachiko-chan~"
Sumeragi Itsuki was slightly tempted but looked toward Manyuda, who sat lifeless on the infirmary bed, and felt worried.
Could someone like this really still be a gambler and participate in such a match?
In the past, that wouldn't have been an issue at all.
Kaede Manyuda, determined to walk the king's path, had never feared any opponent.
But now, all his spirit was gone.
But — destruction breeds rebirth.
Sumeragi Itsuki slammed the tattered life plan document onto the table beside the hospital bed. "Hey, Manyuda-senpai, you heard that, right? There's a gamble waiting for you to participate in!" "I'm just a failure..." "Is your ambition only at that level?! It's just one failure! I only took your life plan from you, that's all!" "If you won't go on your own, then fine. As the holder of your life plan, I command you — go and take part in that gamble, Kaede Manyuda!" Sumeragi Itsuki practically roared the words, her body trembling as she pointed at the door.
Manyuda was silent for a moment before finally lifting his blanket, and muttered emotionlessly: "Yes, ma'am."
.
.
.
Under Yomozuki Runa's lead, the group arrived at the small auditorium.
The moment the doors opened, Obami Rin saw Totobami Terano, who sat in a wheelchair. "What is going on here, Terano? Why are you here?" Then she turned to look aside, "And you're here too."
"Ahahaha… Since the game doesn't restrict spectators, I thought I'd watch a gamble of this level too."
Terano sat quietly in her wheelchair without saying a word, but her gaze said everything.
She wasn't the arrogant type.
Her gambling style was to underestimate the opponent strategically while respecting them tactically.
This was a five-player gamble — not one of them was weak.
She had to seize this opportunity to study their gambling styles.
"Well, if you want to watch, then watch," Rin shrugged helplessly.
During the gamble, he'd hold back a little — maybe show 70% of his strength.
Revealing everything in front of Terano would be a terrible move.
"So… who's the mysterious fifth player?" "Fufu, don't rush. He'll be here soon." "He? Looks like there's another strong male gambler at this school." Rin smiled, glancing toward the auditorium entrance.
About five minutes later, the doors creaked open slightly, and a pale-haired head peeked through without a hint of life.
Kaede Manyuda's back was no longer straight like before.
His body slightly hunched, his student council uniform wrinkled.
Everything about him screamed of internal emptiness.
He muttered a cold greeting: "Sorry to keep you waiting."
"Hey, hey!" Obami Ibara pointed at him exaggeratedly. "Isn't that the former student council treasurer, Manyuda Kaede? The loser who lost 10 billion yen, right?"
"Does this guy really have voting chips?" "Even if it's proxy chips, someone who lost his entire life shouldn't be allowed to borrow against the future. His life doesn't even belong to him anymore."
Ibara stabbed Manyuda in the heart without mercy.
Despite his rugged appearance, Ibara was excellent at gathering intel.
He knew everything about Manyuda: son of a former finance minister, lost his life in a bet with Hikigaya Hachiman, and lost an outrageous 10 billion yen.
Since then, he'd been lying in the infirmary.
Not to mention — how could someone bedridden in the infirmary have voting chips to join this gamble?
"Even as a filler participant, this feels wrong." "Fitting treatment for a loser."
Manyuda's eyes reflected the light, but he made no defense.
He stood there silently, enduring everyone's judgmental gazes.
"He has chips!" Standing beside him, Sumeragi Itsuki declared firmly. "I'll provide the chips for him. I have over 70 voting chips. I'll act as proxy — how about that? Enough, right?"
"Let's not get hostile," Rin raised her hands as a gesture of peace. "There are plenty of chips, that's for sure." "But… Manyuda-kun looks really out of it. Itsuki, are you sure about staking your chips on him? It's dangerous~" "Cut the crap."
Though Rin smiled kindly and seemed concerned on the surface, inwardly he was laughing wildly. This was Kaede Manyuda? This shell of a man had no right to face him in gambling.
It was basically a free gift — 70 chips handed over for nothing.
Looks like under Momobami's leadership, Hyakkaou Academy had really run out of people, leaving only a loser like this to join their peak gambling event.
"Well, if that's the case, I won't say more. Let's start the gamble." "Good luck, Manyuda!" Sumeragi Itsuki sent him a hopeful glance.
But Manyuda didn't react at all. "Whatever. The election has nothing to do with me. Winning or losing doesn't matter to a failure like me. If Itsuki is willing to stake her chips on someone like me…"
"Such an attitude…" Itsuki pouted, her heart aching. It wasn't about the chips — it was the sight of Manyuda's completely extinguished fighting spirit.
He was already… utterly rotten!
Obami, Manyuda, Hikigaya, Juraku, and Honebami — five people lined up on the stage, awaiting Yomozuki Runa's rule explanation.
Yomozuki Runa cleared her throat and announced loudly: "Today's gamble is called: [Public Property Game]"
"I'll explain how the game works~" [First, players will enter another room one at a time, in the current standing order.] [There are two boxes in that room: a "Tax Box" and a "Private Property Box."] [Each person gets five coins. Place them however you want in either box. After all placements, I'll count and distribute accordingly.] [Coins in the Private Box become the personal assets of the depositor. Coins in the Tax Box are doubled and distributed equally among all players.] [Paying taxes makes the country richer, which improves everyone's life.]
Rin raised her hand curiously: "I see. But, does that 'everyone' include those who didn't pay taxes?"
"Yes! Even if someone puts none of their five coins into the Tax Box, they'll still get a share~"
Miroslava frowned: "If that's the case, no one will pay taxes. Whether you do or not, you still get coins. Those who don't pay will always end up with more."
Yomozuki Runa giggled: "This game's inspiration comes from Japan's current situation~ As I said, paying taxes makes the country richer, but tax evasion makes you richer. Whether you choose to be part of the group or a leech sucking on the pile of taxes is up to you~" "Of course, such people are undoubtedly a burden to the group~"
[Before each round starts, you may discuss. If three or more agree, there is one chance per game to exile a player. The exiled player leaves and their coins are evenly distributed.] [This opens up more strategies. You can pay taxes or step on others to climb up. There are five rounds in total — aim to finish the game with over 40 coins!]
"If you surpass 40 coins, you qualify to win chips." "Based on your current votes, you five have a total of 1,200 chips!" "The final rewards will be distributed based on ranking."
"1st Place: 950 chips!" "2nd Place: 150 chips!" "3rd Place: 100 chips!" "4th & 5th: 0 chips!"
"In case of a tie, the chips will be split." "If no one reaches 40 coins, all chips go back to the student council as frozen chips." "Any questions?"
After hearing the rules, Hikigaya Hachiman fell deep in thought.
'With these rules, 25 coins total over five rounds. Even if you hoard every coin, it's not enough.' 'You must put coins in the Tax Box.' 'Everyone knows this, but —'
Hikigaya closed his eyes. Because all participants were expert gamblers, they all understood that putting coins in the Tax Box was necessary — or no one could win.
But because everyone thought this way, the game might spiral into an extreme scenario.
Full of suspicion and manipulation, it could end in total annihilation.
Just look at the absurd reward distribution.
Among the five, Juraku Sachiko held the most chips — 700 votes. Winning first place would be a net gain of 250 votes.
And for the others?
Truly, Yomozuki Runa's games always existed to toy with people's hearts.