54 - Hikigaya Decides to Join the Battle
Mibuomi Aoi shouted from a distance. He quickly ran over, taking two steps for every one, to the scene of the confrontation.
Seeing that his boss had arrived, Midowatari Jun curled his lips and restrained himself a little, but still shouted, "Hikigaya, looks like you're lucky today. The student council's officer is here. Otherwise, you'd be on the ground right now."
"What's going on!" Mibuomi Aoi said seriously, extending his hand to push Midowatari Jun aside.
"I'm just teaching this disobedient stray cat a lesson." Midowatari Jun grumbled and then pointed at Hikigaya Hachiman, "But Hikigaya Hachiman, wanting to fight me just to protect a stray cat... Mibuomi-senpai, do you think this is right?"
"The system for livestock is approved by the student council president. How dare Hikigaya Hachiman openly defy it? He's going against the president's wishes!"
"Who cares about the difference between stray cats and humans? We're all classmates. It's just because of losing a gamble, nothing too extreme!" Mibuomi Aoi spoke with righteous passion, his words resounding as though to inspire those around him. His voice echoed in the first-year corridor, moving the many stray cats and fool dogs who began to shed tears. The students who bullied the livestock couldn't meet his gaze.
Indeed, his words struck a chord with them.
At this moment, he was a hero.
Mibuomi Aoi's eyes flickered, and he seized every opportunity to capture people's hearts and expand the power of the Zen Saki Group.
Hikigaya Hachiman pulled himself back, adjusting his uniform. He coldly watched the hypocritical man in front of him, harvesting people's hearts.
'One day, I'll tear that mask off your face and crush it beneath my feet.'
"Mibuomi-senpai, how is it? You're not hurt, right? And how about you, Jabami?" Mibuomi Aoi's words were gentle, making everyone feel as though they were being bathed in a warm spring breeze.
At this moment, even the most discerning person could not criticize Mibuomi Aoi.
"I'm fine, no need to trouble yourself," Hikigaya said, "You didn't come here just to put on a show, right?"
Hikigaya's unreasonableness caused the surrounding livestock to exchange angry glares. They almost wanted to stand up and teach this disrespectful boy a lesson for Mibuomi-senpai.
However, due to their status as livestock, they didn't dare to move.
Mibuomi Aoi once again seized this opportunity, showing his magnanimity and indifference toward Hikigaya's bad attitude.
He continued to speak gently, "Well, you see, the student council plans to hold a debt swap meeting as usual, to ease the pressure on those who owe debts."
He waved the invitation in his hand, making the nearby livestock breathe more quickly.
Hikigaya's eyes flickered. The debt swap meeting... Juraku-senpai had mentioned it to him yesterday. This was a large-scale gambling event proposed by Momobami Kirari, designed to bring some fun to her otherwise dull and uneventful life.
It was well known that livestock had the right to challenge student council members to formal battles. However, due to the large gap in strength, it was rare for a livestock to overturn their situation through a formal battle. More often, they sank deeper into debt, owing amounts that even selling everything their family owned couldn't repay.
There were too many bad debts like this, and the student council couldn't recover them.
Rather than letting these livestock lose their minds and become lifelong slaves to the student council, it was better to give them a glimmer of hope, encouraging them to climb up and please Momobami Kirari.
Thus, the debt swap meeting was born.
Most participants in the debt swap meeting were livestock, and since their skill levels were similar, it was the most likely way for them to reduce or even eliminate their debts in a short period. In fact, it was probably their only chance to turn things around.
The student council would arrange for four livestock to gamble, and in the end, their debts would remain the same, but the debts would be exchanged among them.
For example, if Jabami Yumeko owed 310 million, and Hikigaya owed 10 million.
In this gambling game, if Hikigaya ranked fourth and Jabami Yumeko ranked first, their debts would be swapped. Jabami Yumeko would then owe 10 million, and Hikigaya would owe 310 million.
To sum it up, it was a four-way gamble. It was beneficial for both parties, it remained unchanged for one party, and the other three would unite to drive the final participant into hell.
However, after Hikigaya Hachiman listened to Juraku-senpai explain the rules, he raised a question:
"What about those who don't have any debt? How do they participate?"
The debt swap meeting had a clear loophole: debts were self-declared. For example, in an undisclosed private gambling match, if Hikigaya lost 310 million to Jabami Yumeko, he could declare this debt to the student council.
And then he would officially become a livestock with 310 million in debt.
This amount would be paid to Jabami Yumeko by the student council, and Hikigaya's creditor would then become the student council.
According to the rules of the game, as long as Hikigaya made it to the top in the gambling, he would only take on the least amount of debt among the four participants, transferring his 310 million debt to the last person, effectively making a huge profit.
After Hikigaya presented his idea, he received a confirming response from Juraku:
"Just as expected from you, Hikigaya Hachiman. In fact, there are many people who think they're skilled at gambling, and every time the student council holds the debt swap meeting, they exploit the loopholes in the rules. Of course, President Momobami is aware of this, and she has tacitly allowed this behavior to happen."
This loophole was like a blank check—your boldness determines the reward you receive.
It gives you the chance to ascend to heaven, but you need the courage and awareness to surpass ordinary people.
After all, it's gambling, and as with any gamble, there's a risk of losing. If you end up exchanging debts with someone who has more debt than you in the same group, you could end up becoming livestock.
Hikigaya once again deepened his impression of Momobami Kirari. She didn't care about money, only about whether the people in her "Eden" could bring her more amusement.
What an arrogant woman!
"This debt swap meeting, after being repeatedly promoted by Mibuomi Aoi, has become a tool for him to gather fame and wealth. This time, Midowatari Jun will participate through this loophole, earn a lot of gambling money, and in the end, a large portion of the money will be handed over to Mibuomi Aoi."
Hikigaya had already gone through the account book Juraku gave him, which detailed the flow of funds she had investigated. However, with just this, it wouldn't have much of an impact on Mibuomi Aoi, while Momobami Kirari was allowing these things to happen.
"Go win that bet with the Full-Bloom for me."
Hikigaya recalled what Juraku had told him earlier.
He had already made up his mind: he would participate in this gambling event, and he would slap Mibuomi Aoi in the face in front of Momobami Kirari!
After Mibuomi Aoi left, Hikigaya took the invitation to the debt swap meeting from Jabami Yumeko. The invitation detailed the specific rules of the gambling event.