63. The Invincible Hikigaya Hachiman Has Fallen
Hikigaya Hachiman was a meticulous egoist.
Except for children whose lives hadn't truly begun before the third grade, he would never sacrifice himself to help others if there was nothing in it for him — not even if the other person was a woman. What's more, given the current distance, there was no way for him to save Momobami Kirari without getting hurt.
If he were to act, he was certain he would bleed.
Time seemed to slow down.
Kiwatari Jun's movements crawled like a turtle in the space of Hikigaya's thoughts...
But even egoists had moments when they could cast everything aside — just like now. How much benefit would saving Momobami Kirari bring to Hikigaya Hachiman?
Impossible to estimate in monetary terms! Hikigaya's heart was moved. Even he couldn't accurately gauge the value of rescuing Kirari.
Under such circumstances, never mind bleeding — even losing a hand, or being on the brink of death, as long as he didn't die, it would be worth it!
If the gain was ten times the cost, someone as meticulous as Hikigaya would willingly walk up to the guillotine!
He was desperate to improve.
And right now was his stepping stone toward progress!
You're actually kind of a good guy... Kiwatari Jun — Hikigaya thanked him silently in his heart. No more hesitation. His body sprang into action.
His well-trained muscles allowed his body to keep up with his thoughts. Almost the instant his mind gave the command, his entire body seemed to teleport in front of Momobami Kirari.
In that flash of lightning, Hikigaya didn't have time for any elaborate moves. He simply spread both hands, stacking them over his chest to block Kiwatari Jun's charge.
Unsurprisingly, the sharp butterfly knife pierced through Hikigaya's palms.
A wave of intense pain radiated from his hands.
Blood splattered everywhere.
But Hikigaya didn't have time to feel pain — or maybe his sheer willpower blocked it out.
He didn't even spare a second to mourn the blood gushing from him. Gritting his teeth, he pulled out the knife from his shallower-stabbed right hand and clenched it into a fist.
With his muscles taut, he lowered his stance, bent down, and launched his body like a cannonball. Kiwatari Jun was riddled with openings, but Hikigaya chose the weakest one—
The temple!
BANG—
A massive sound echoed along with the recoil. Hikigaya's writing-hardened, bony fist smashed fiercely into Kiwatari Jun's temple.
The bloated figure, which a moment ago had radiated murderous rage, now collapsed like a deactivated robot, weakly falling to his knees.
It all happened so suddenly.
Everyone stared blankly at the sudden reversal.
Momobami Kirari stared in a daze at the man standing in front of her. No matter how mature or powerful she seemed, she was ultimately just a 17-year-old girl. This was her first experience with the feeling of death.
But by the time she processed what had happened, the man who had threatened her life — Kiwatari Jun — was already lying on the floor, his fate unknown.
"Hachiman!"
"President!"
"God!"
The cramped room fell into chaos. The first to react was Jabami Yumeko.
She pushed aside the tables and chairs in front of her and rushed to Hikigaya's side. Seeing the blood pouring from his palm, her snake-like pupils were filled with cold indifference. In an almost commanding tone, she said to Igarashi Sayaka, "Bandages!"
Igarashi Sayaka shuddered inside. What kind of eyes were those? From Jabami's gaze, she could only feel the sensation of her life being looked down upon from above.
This was a woman standing at the top of the food chain.
"Sayaka, go get the bandages. Now."
True to her identity as Momobami Kirari, she quickly recovered from the fear of death. With help from Vice President Ririka, she leaned against the dealer's partition.
For the first time, she spoke to a man with a concerned tone, "Hikigaya-kun... you..."
"I'm fine." Despite trembling from the pain inside, and feeling dizzy at the sight of the unstoppable bleeding, Hikigaya could only mentally recite prime numbers to suppress his negative reactions — all so he could appear more valuable in front of the queen of Hyakkaou Academy.
Right now, he had to perform as the public Hikigaya Hachiman. Not simply as himself.
Though a bit of a tongue-twister...
The point was — fake it till you make it.
Fortunately, Igarashi Sayaka quickly brought the bandages and handed them to Yumeko. After Yumeko's swift and skilled treatment, the glaring red of Hikigaya's wound finally stopped flowing.
Seeing that Hikigaya was okay, the hearts of those present settled slightly.
Momobami turned her gaze to Kiwatari Jun, who was lying on the ground like a corpse. The coldness in her eyes was practically freezing.
"Sayaka, check if Kiwatari Jun is dead."
"I held back at the end. He's not dead."
As the adrenaline rush wore off, Hikigaya finally felt the stabbing pain from his palm. He gasped sharply.
Grimacing through the pain, he said, "You'd better call an ambulance now. If we wait too long, I might really die."
After saying this, Hikigaya clutched his wound and felt his strength drain away.
Maybe because he was already hungry, or maybe from the blood loss, Hikigaya Hachiman felt his eyelids grow heavier and heavier... until he completely blacked out and fell backward.
'So soft...'
That was his last thought before losing consciousness.
.
.
.
The Other Side of Hyakkaou Private Academy.
Saotome felt cold all over, as though she had fallen into an abyss. Her gaze was locked on the dice before her, her mind in a complete daze.
Stiffly, she lifted her head to look at the man in front of her, whose handsome face radiated warmth and charm.
Mibuomi Aoi.
At this moment, the second library's gambling room was packed with people, all gathered to watch this match of "Three-Dice High-Low Game."
[On the table were three different dice, each with identical numbers on opposite faces. Each die could only produce three outcomes when rolled. The red die had 2/6/7, the white die had 1/5/9, and the black die had 3/4/8.]
Just moments earlier, they had all witnessed Mibuomi Aoi lose the first round of the match.
Aoi had chosen the white die to start, while Saotome Mary went second and chose the red die.
In theory, Mary had a 5/9 chance of winning, and as the statistics suggested, she indeed won.
Just as she cheerfully reached to take the one million yen in cash from Mibuomi Aoi's side, her hand froze. She suddenly remembered the warning that Hikigaya Hachiman had given her before he left.
"The Martingale Strategy."
As long as Aoi doubled his bet each round—losing one million, then betting two million, then four million, and so on—he only needed to win once to turn a profit. Meanwhile, Mary would lose everything and fall into ruin once again.
If she bet the same amount each round, her losses would grow linearly. But if he used the doubling strategy, her losses would grow exponentially with each round. If enough rounds passed, Aoi could become rich quickly at her expense.
But—
Mary's crisis was that Mibuomi Aoi had a massive gambling fund.
To put it simply, each round's stake was equal to Mary's entire bankroll. If she lost even once, she'd go bankrupt. On the other hand, Aoi could afford to lose many rounds. So Mary's risk of ruin would also increase exponentially with each round.
In real-world casinos, house operators usually counter the Martingale strategy using high-tech dice or dealer manipulation. What they fear most is a player getting extremely lucky once and walking away. As long as the player doesn't win on the first try, they can make that creeping probability of success a permanent impossibility.
But Mary, like Nishinotouin before her, was running a long-term operation and had no preparation against the Martingale strategy.
The only limitation was that this gambling match would last just three rounds. As long as Aoi didn't win even once in these three rounds, she'd be fine!
"Oh my god, Mibuomi-senpai actually lost to Saotome!"
"Well, can't be helped. This kind of game is purely luck-based."
"We're just playing around with 10,000 or 20,000 yen for fun, but Mibuomi-senpai started off with a full million?!"
"Whoa, look! Mibuomi-senpai is going again!"
Watching Mibuomi Aoi reach for more money, Mary's heart sank. The worst-case scenario was happening.
'Why didn't I listen to Hikigaya?'
But now, it was far too late for regrets.
Smiling, Aoi took two million yen from the assistant by his side and gently placed it on the table, sliding it toward Mary.
"Shall we begin the second round, Saotome-san?"
The crowd broke into chatter again.
"Eh?! Why is Mibuomi-senpai doubling down after losing the first round?"
"Exactly! If it were me, I'd assume my luck's bad and bet less until it turns around."
Mary squinted, tuning out the chatter from the idiotic onlookers, and began calculating her odds.
'The probability I go bankrupt in one round is 44.4%. Two rounds: 69.1%. Three rounds: 82.9%. The more rounds, the higher my chance of ruin…'
'This is bad.'
"Is something wrong, Saotome-san?"
"...It's nothing."
Mary shook her head coldly. She didn't understand why Mibuomi Aoi—who had no grudge against her—would deliberately come after her and try to crush her.
"You pick first again."
"I'll go with the white die again."
As the words fell, Saotome Mary felt a massive wave of pressure crash down on her.
The guy in front of her—he had come with the sole purpose of crushing her. He wanted to defeat her head-on using the same set of dice over three rounds. If he succeeded, then even these clueless mutts crowding around would start copying his method to gamble against her.
If that happened, then the "Three-Life Dice" gambling setup she had painstakingly designed would be ruined.
Damn it!
Mary's expression began to twist. Her teeth clenched tightly. The worst part was—she couldn't afford to choose another die. While doing so might keep the clueless onlookers from seeing the truth, it would also increase her chances of losing.
Mibuomi Aoi's bright, sunny face in front of her started to look poisonous in her eyes.
"Hypocrite!" Mary cursed inwardly. But helpless, she was forced to keep using the red die.
Ignoring the murmuring of the people around her, she and Aoi threw their dice at the same time.
Under everyone's gaze, the spinning dice gradually slowed down, and the numbers on their blurred surfaces became visible.
"7 points versus 1 point—Saotome wins again!"
The crowd gasped in astonishment. Their eyes quickly filled with admiration for Saotome Mary.
Up to this point, she had already won 3 million yen from Mibuomi Aoi. This was Mibuomi-senpai, a man with a legendary undefeated record. Was he really about to be brought down today by an unknown first-year?
"Hmm, you've got some pretty good luck, Saotome-san."
Aoi rested his head on one hand, watching with amusement as Mary's face stayed tense.
"Shut up!"
Mary wasn't the type to go starry-eyed over guys—especially not ones trying to steal her money. Compared to him, Hikigaya was a saint!
"Next is the final round—the third."
Still smiling, Aoi reached into his pocket and pulled out a bank card, then folded his arms and casually analyzed the situation:
"This card has 10 million yen in it. Hmm... this gambling setup really is quite clever, Saotome-san."
"Especially the rule where the customer gets to pick their die first. It looks like the customer gets the advantage, makes it seem fair—but that's just an illusion."
"This is what they call 'Three-Life Restraint,' right? Red beats white, white beats black, black beats red. The former tends to beat the latter. In other words, the second player has a higher chance of winning."
She'd been completely exposed.
Mary's fingers gripped the die tightly. It didn't matter whether she won or lost—now that her system had been revealed, no one would ever gamble at her place again.
Just like with magic—before the trick is revealed, people are curious and eager to watch. But once it's explained, that curiosity often turns into resentment, a feeling of being deceived. The same problem magicians face is now Mary's reality as a scammer.
Mary's expression darkened. She accepted her fate and threw her final die.
If she lost this round, she wouldn't just lose the money she'd worked so hard to earn since the casino opened—she'd be in debt, and fall back down to being a "stray cat".
The dice landed. With an over 80% chance of losing, it was no surprise—she lost.
"Well then, I'll be taking this back, Saotome-san."
Mibuomi Aoi smiled as he pulled the cash in front of Mary back over to his side.
Then his smile vanished. He leaned in, exuding an intense pressure, and demanded:
"Now then, Saotome Mary—you're still 7million yen in debt. How do you plan to repay that?"
"...I..."
Mary's face went pale. Her lips trembled as she bit down hard, her fingers digging into her knees as she forced herself not to show weakness in front of everyone.
This was her way of surviving as a Special-Ranked Student—never let anyone see your vulnerable side.
"I can't repay it right now."
"Can't repay it? That's not quite right, is it?"
Aoi looked down at her with contempt, his eyes like dark flames dancing, burning straight into Mary's heart. With a hypnotic tone, he bared his fangs:
"If I'm not mistaken, Hikigaya Hachiman gave you 310 million yen."
"Using just 7 million of that would be no big deal, right~?"
"In fact, you could just take the whole amount for yourself. Saotome—you have nowhere left to run. So why not take Hikigaya's money... and join my Full-Bloom Association?"
"There are many housepets over there who need someone with outstanding gambling skills like you to save them."
"Join me, Saotome Mary!"