Kakegurui: Ten Consecutive Guaranteed Hits

Volume 1 Chapter 19: Do You Think You're Guaranteed to Win? No, the Advantage is Mine

Just as Kiyohei had expected... upon seeing such a large wager, it was clear that Kuroki was tempted. The exchange of glances between Kuroki and Kumagai didn't escape Kiyohei's notice. Even though Kumagai had expressed doubts, the temptation of 400,000 yen was enough to make Kuroki choose to take the risk.

Kiyohei had once watched a quiz show.

For every question answered correctly, the contestant would receive 1,000 yen.

If they answered two questions correctly, they would receive 2,000 yen.

Answering three questions correctly would yield 4,000 yen.

And so on, with the prize money doubling for each question answered correctly.

Before answering each question, the contestants had the option to quit and take the prize money they had accumulated up to that point. However, if they answered incorrectly, they would lose everything, and their accumulated prize money would be reset to zero.

Everyone knew that as the number of questions increased, the questions posed by the production team would become more difficult. The most sensible decision was to quit when they felt the questions were challenging.

They reminded themselves that they would quit immediately after answering the next question correctly. However, with each question answered correctly, they started anticipating the next one, hoping for more prize money, thinking, "Just one more question."

There weren't many who could make a rational decision to quit. From what Kiyohei had seen on the show, most people went home empty-handed. There were only a few who could resist their greed.

Clearly, Kuroki was not one of those who could resist greed.

Compared to their previous small-scale gambling with 10,000 yen, the stakes of this 400,000 yen bet instantly attracted the attention of the entire class. They gathered around to witness the showdown between Kiyoheii and Kuroki, leaving the freshmen who had lost a large sum of money pale and collapsed at the gambling table.

"It's about time we raise the stakes. It's so boring to bet just 10,000 yen. If I didn't want to see the terrified and begging expressions of the freshmen, I would have joined the gambling table myself." Someone openly expressed their thoughts.

Seeing people gathering around, Kuroki and Kumagai became tense, their expressions stiffening.

They were now caught up in the flames, and even if they didn't want to gamble, there was no way out.

It's okay, I have Kumagai's help. We will definitely win, just like the previous games...

Kuroki silently repeated these words in his mind.

If he won this game, he would gain another 400,000 yen. With careful spending, he wouldn't have to worry about becoming a livestock for several months...

That's right, his chances of winning were high. There was no need to panic at all.

Under the gaze of everyone, Kumagai continued shuffling the cards with his clumsy technique.

Someone laughed and said, "Hey, Kumagai, aren't you skilled at fancy card tricks? Why are you trembling even when shuffling the cards? Has your card skills declined after becoming a livestock? Don't you dare show some difficult moves to the newcomers?"

Kumagai's hand suddenly trembled, causing a few cards to slip from his grasp and fall onto the table, eliciting laughter from the crowd.

He crouched down to pick up the scattered cards, swiftly memorizing them and then inserting them back into the deck.

Ace of Clubs, 9 of Diamonds, 3 of Spades, 5 of Hearts.

Just as the male classmates around him had said, Kumagai was skilled at card manipulation, especially fancy cuts. The cards being scattered was intentional.

If he wanted, he could use a special technique to deal the cards, precisely drawing those cards from the deck and placing them into Kuroki's hand without anyone noticing.

Kuroki had promised him that if he helped him cheat and they won in the end, they would split the money fifty-fifty.

If he won this game, he would receive 400,000 yen and escape his life as livestock.

Previously, he didn't use this technique. He only hinted at the ranks of Kuroki's cards, leaving everything else to Kuroki's discretion because the stakes weren't high enough.

But this time, he couldn't afford to lose.

Kumagai's clumsy shuffling technique once again drew mockery. A male student laughed maliciously, "You can't even shuffle cards properly. Livestock is livestock, utterly useless. Should I help you shuffle?"

Kumagai felt angry but didn't retort. As a current "livestock," he had no right to argue.

Let them insult him. As long as no one noticed him cheating, it would be fine.

However, to his surprise, someone spoke up for him, and that person was none other than Kiyoheii, the "scapegoat" he and Kuroki planned to deceive.

"Hey, everyone... Could you give us some space? You've been making so much noise around us that I can't concentrate on gambling."

Kiyoheii said this to the onlookers.

Even though he was the one gambling, they were making more noise than necessary, not treating him as a gambler at all.

If they wanted the gambler to sit down and gamble, they should at least create a comfortable atmosphere, with beautiful female dealers or bunny girl senpais. They were causing such a ruckus that a hot-tempered gambler would have already exploded.

After Kiyohei voiced his request, the classmates in the class, who still wanted to watch the show, gave him a face and closed their mouths, creating a sufficient distance.

This made Kumagai's mood complicated.

Without the interference and mocking of these outsiders, he could cheat without worrying about the surrounding gazes.

The outcome of this game was already heavily leaning in his favor even before the game started. He practically had the 400,000 yen in his hands.

And all of this was thanks to Kiyoheii.

Although he was grateful to Kiyohei for speaking up for him, unfortunately, Kiyohei was the scapegoat they had to fleece.

Kumagai calmed himself and began dealing the cards after shuffling.

Before dealing, he had already discreetly seen the hole cards of both players.

The hole card he dealt to Kuroki was the Jack of Hearts, and the face-up card was the 5 of Diamonds, with a total of 15 points.

The hole card he dealt to Kiyoheii was the 8 of Diamonds, and the face-up card was the 10 of Hearts, with a total of 18 points.

Ace of Clubs, 9 of Diamonds, 3 of Spades, 5 of Hearts.

These were the cards he held.

If he wanted Kuroki to win this game, he had to give him one specific card—the 5 of Hearts.

Only that card could help him win the game.

After receiving their cards, Kiyoheii and Kuroki remained silent, silently examining their hole cards without requesting additional cards right away.

While Kiyohei was focused on his cards, Kuroki glanced at Kumagai's hand—a semi-open, semi-closed posture of his right hand.

This was their secret signal they had agreed upon earlier.

When his right hand was half-open, it meant that he should take another card. When his right hand was clenched, it meant that he already had a winning hand.

"Kumagai, what are you doing? Give me another card!"

Kuroki acted arrogantly and asked Kumagai for another card. It seemed no one felt that his attitude towards Kumagai was suspicious.

Although the setup of this room resembled a regular casino, the gambling table wasn't long, so the dealer still dealt the cards by hand instead of using a contactless card dispenser like in a proper casino.

This slight difference gave Kumagai an opportunity to cheat.

Kumagai lowered his head, his left hand concealing the cards, and quickly drew out the prepared 5 of Hearts.

Kumagai was confident in his speed. He had tested it before and even under high-speed cameras, his card switching could only be seen when slowed down four times.

His card switch was flawless, and no one noticed that he had switched the cards. When the 5 of Hearts was revealed on the gambling table, he couldn't help but feel excited.

Great, this guarantees a win!

Upon seeing that he had already reached a point total of 20, Kuroki felt confident, wearing a smile and casually asking Kiyohei, "Kiyohei, shall we reveal our hands?"

Hurry up and reveal your cards so I can get that 400,000 yen! I've already won this game! Don't drag it out!

Kuroki shouted this internally, but on the surface, he patiently gave Kiyohei enough time to think.

"Hmm..." Kiyohei rubbed his chin and pondered for a moment before suddenly raising his hand.

"Mr. Dealer, give me another card, please."