Kakegurui: Ten Consecutive Guaranteed Hits

Volume 1 Chapter 22: You're Incompetent Even When Given a Chance

To gamble with himself again? And the wager is still 400,000 yen?

Kuroki wasn't some wealthy heir. The allowance he received this month, combined with the money he won from gambling, barely added up to 400,000 yen. However, if he lost, he would be left with nothing.

Earlier, he used the money he won, so he didn't mind. But now, thinking about staking everything he had, he hesitated.

As Kuroki contemplated, his heated mind began to cool down.

His outburst of accusing Kiyohei of cheating earlier was made in a fit of anger. When he calmed down, he realized the truth—Kiyohei couldn't have possibly cheated.

Because the cheater was himself.

If Kiyohei had cheated, there was no way he would have lost so many rounds to himself.

That's right, he didn't cheat. His victory was purely based on luck. In other words, if they played another round, with Kumagai's assistance, his chances of winning were high.

As Kuroki thought this way, he gradually gained confidence in his victory.

Kuroki was a gambler, willing to stake his entire fortune in gambling.

However, the premise is still Kumagai's help. Kuroki glanced at Kumagai with annoyance and noticed that Kumagai had been in a daze since the revealing of the cards and still hadn't recovered.

What's wrong with this guy? Could losing 400,000 yen have such a devastating effect on him? It's not like he hasn't lost in gambling before. If he loses, he just needs to win it back, right? Without his help, how can I win?

"Do you want to gamble again?" Kiyohei asked once more.

"I..." Kuroki didn't want to give up this opportunity. Just as he was about to speak up and say that he wanted to continue, Kumagai grabbed his hand.

Kuroki looked at Kumagai in surprise and saw that his face was pale. Weakly, Kumagai shook his head, trying to stop him from continuing the gambling.

He saw Kumagai secretly making the hand signal they had discussed before—"Stop here, end the game."

Kuroki was puzzled. Why did Kumagai suddenly become like this? He was the one sitting at the gambling table, yet Kumagai's demeanor seemed to indicate that he had lost a fortune, as if the blow he received was even greater than Kuroki's.

"I... I won't gamble," Kuroki gritted his teeth and reluctantly squeezed out those words.

Although Kuroki was a little disappointed, he still held on to his remaining rationality. Without Kumagai's help, the probability of him losing was very high.

"You won't gamble, huh..." Kiyohei sighed with a hint of regret and retracted his hand.

He felt sorry. Not for himself, but for Kuroki. Kiyohei didn't care about losing 400,000 yen. If it were a normal gambling game, losing was losing. What bothered him was Kuroki cheating and treating him as a naive fool.

The previous game was a lesson for him. Whether it was out of goodwill or not, Kuroki willingly and enthusiastically told him a lot about the school, keeping him from being completely clueless.

It was thanks to Kuroki's words that Kiyohei became more wary of Kurumi, escaping from her "trap" and transforming from "prey" to "hunter," becoming the master.

From this perspective, Kiyohei was grateful to Kuroki.

Kiyohei was someone who clearly distinguished between favors and grudges. The new gambling invitation he extended was an opportunity for Kuroki.

He didn't have the system's "guarantee mechanism" this time, and the outcome relied solely on luck, while Kuroki had Kumagai's assistance.

If they started a new game, the probability of Kiyohei losing was high. If he won, the 400,000 yen would be his reward.

Of course, it was also possible for Kiyohei to win and take the 400,000 yen from Kuroki.

Well, after all, it was gambling. There would be wins and losses. If he lost in a big advantage, Kiyohei couldn't do anything about it.

Unfortunately, when given a chance, he couldn't seize it.

Besides the regret, Kiyohei felt a bit pleased in his heart.

He didn't expect his suppression power to be so strong that Kuroki was overwhelmed by his aura and lost the courage to play another round—

Kiyohei was unaware of the real reason behind Kumagai's distraught state.

By the way, Kiyohei never revealed the cheating they did. It was due to two reasons.

First, Kiyohei didn't have direct evidence to prove that Kuroki cheated. If he stubbornly accused him of cheating, this guy might deny it.

Second, he didn't know the punishment for getting caught cheating in this school. If it was something like "hand chopping," he would rather take a small loss than shed blood.

It was better to have fewer troubles.

After Kuroki showed no intention of playing another round, Kiyohei declined the gambling invitations from the people around him, took the money, and left the gambling hall as the "victor."

Although he didn't actually win a single yen, he only recovered his initial investment.

But you should know that in a casino, just not losing money already puts you ahead of 90% of the people.

After Kiyohei left, the people who were spectating dispersed, leaving only Kumagai and Kuroki at the gambling table.

Seeing everyone gone, Kuroki raised his head and questioned Kumagai with frustration, "Hey, why did you stop me? If it was just the two of us, we had a high chance of winning!"

If Kumagai hadn't stopped him, he would have definitely accepted that gambling game!

Kumagai, who had recovered slightly, still had a pale face. Weakly, he shook his head and said, "We can't win. We simply can't."

"What do you mean we can't win? I don't understand. We were cheating together, weren't we?"

Kuroki couldn't comprehend it. With their joint efforts, they had won over Kiyohei in more than twenty rounds. They had just lost one round, and they had every chance to recover what they lost.

"What if he had already figured out that we were cheating?"

Kumagai smiled self-deprecatingly. "Kuroki, this time, you picked the wrong opponent. Kiyohei Kiyohira is definitely not a simple character."

Kuroki remained silent for a long time and sighed, calming down.

"Then what about you? You're broke now, aren't you? Don't expect me to share the money if I lose."

If what Kumagai said was true and Kiyohei Kiyohira was that formidable, then Kuroki actually dodged a bullet. Otherwise, he would have lost everything, even his underwear.

After thinking this way, he was quite glad that he didn't agree to play another round with Kiyohei. Otherwise, he would have been reduced to livestock by now.

Kumagai remained silent for a while and said, "There's an organization called Zenkai-kai that invited me to join. If I'm there, I might be able to earn enough money to get rid of my livestock status."

Kumagai took the risk of helping Kuroki cheat, but gained nothing from it. Now he had to find another way out.

The conversation between Kuroki and Kumagai was unknown to Kiyohei Kiyohira.

It was still class time, and Kiyohei returned to the classroom, sitting back in his seat that he had only occupied for half a period in the morning.

He hadn't even listened to the teacher for a while when suddenly, his gaze caught a glimpse of a girl with twin-tails rushing past the window.

Although it was just a moment, Kiyohei could tell that her expression was not good.

Kiyohei recognized her. She was the girl he had just met this morning, Mary Saotome.