After the cake, it was already past five o'clock time for the day students to head home.
At Hyakkaou Academy, classes ended at 3 PM to give students plenty of time for gambling and entertainment.
After two rounds with Aipuxin and dessert, Naoki stood to leave.
In this world, Naoki's background was average. Her parents had long since divorced and started new families. Each sent her a basic monthly allowance and tuition. Never more. Never less. No contact, no care.
Maybe it was her past-life memories. Naoki felt nothing. No grief. Just a faint, manageable loneliness. Living alone in the old house her parents had left her in the historic district, she was used to the quiet. At least she had a roof over her head.
On the way home, the smell of fried chicken lured her in. One pack was 700 yen.
She hesitated then bought it. Life at this academy was already brutal. She deserved one indulgence.
But as she walked home, a speeding motorcycle whizzed past. She barely dodged it.
Another bike came flying from behind. This time she couldn't react in time. It grazed her, and she fell. The fried chicken scattered across the ground.
Staring at the wasted meal, something in her snapped.
"This street's narrow! Are you trying to die?!"
Just her luck. A terrible day.
She gathered the ruined chicken and dumped it in a trash bin, fuming.
She hated thugs like that.
...
But the worst wasn't over.
As she neared her house, she froze.
A gang of rough-looking men, clearly in their 20s or 30s, stood around casually but their expressions reeked of menace. Her belongings were scattered across the yard bags, books, her desk, all dumped out like garbage.
One man with slicked-back hair stepped forward, grinning. "Naoki Utsugi? Your parents owe our company a huge debt. They've skipped town, so we're seizing all their assets. Legally."
He held out a stamped document.
She couldn't even curse. Just gaped.
She'd never even met those parents. And now they'd left her this mess.
She sat by the gate, stunned. If not for the system, she'd be homeless and broke.
Thankfully, she still had that one million yen from the loot box. She could rent a place. Or move into the academy dorms?
But Hyakkaou's dorms were absurdly expensive. Renting off-campus was better.
As she weighed her options, the slick-haired man coughed. "Look, girl. This is just business. But you probably don't have anywhere to go, huh?"
"If you need money... I could point you to something."
Before he could continue, a motorcycle roared up.
Naoki looked and immediately recognized the punk who ruined her fried chicken.
But she had no energy to fight.
The girl took off her helmet, stepping down with a sneer. "Wow. Evicted, huh? Rough day."
"Don't tell me you're buying into his crap about making money. Honestly, with your situation? Only job you'd land is serving old ladies."
Her words stung, but the delivery was oddly casual. Almost teasing.
Naoki turned to the short-haired delinquent girl with piercings and cold eyes. She meant to snap back but paused when she saw the [Seducible] tag hovering over her.
That was all she needed to know.
Midari Ikishima.
A major character.
Rich beyond belief. But reckless and dangerous.
Naoki could never have approached someone like her on her own. This was a chance.
The slick-haired man scowled. "Mind your business."
"I am minding it," Midari said with a smirk. "Just watching. Keep going."
She was infuriating.
Naoki: ...
The man looked ready to lash out but behind Midari stood four tough biker girls. A gang. Not worth the trouble.
Naoki checked Midari's affection panel: 0.
Yeah, she really was just here for the show.
"So," Naoki asked, turning to the man, "what's this money-making idea?"
He blinked, then shrugged. "Not gonna lie. With no skills or education, you've got two options."
"One: serve rich old ladies. You're cute you'd make 10,000–20,000 yen a night. Maybe more if they're generous."
Well. He wasn't sugarcoating it.
"Two: gambling. But not normal games."
He leaned in, lowering his voice.
"Our boss loves watching people gamble. A lot of folks owe him. If you win, your debts are cleared."
"But I'll warn you it's life-risking gambling. Lose, and you're crippled. Or dead. Only the truly desperate go there."
Midari lit up. "That sounds amazing! Count me in!"
The man recoiled. "You don't owe us anything. Not happening."
But Naoki caught the subtext. He wanted her to go. Just hiding it behind fake concern.
Selling herself would barely net 10,000 yen a night. Gambling, though...
If she won once, it'd wipe out everything.
She did still have one million yen. Not completely hopeless.
But more importantly
Madari looked genuinely thrilled.
This was her chance to gain favor.
"Go on," Midari said brightly. "Win or lose, I'll give you one million yen."
Naoki blinked.
She's serious?
With two EXP in hand, Naoki pulled up the card draw.
If she got nothing useful, she'd walk away. No way she was gambling her life otherwise.
Draw!
System: Congratulations! You drew 'X-RAY' gain see-through vision in your next gamble.
Good. A powerful ability for most games.
Still, she wasn't sure it'd help here.
She drew again.
System: Congratulations! You drew 'Failsafe' in your next gamble, no matter how wild the outcome, you cannot end with a net loss.
Naoki's eyes widened.
Failsafe might not seem flashy, but in a life-or-death gamble? It was a god-tier card.
...
"Can't believe you actually said yes."
Naoki now sat behind Midari on her motorcycle.
She wasn't sure how she got roped into this but Midari insisted on giving her a ride.
"I'm broke," Naoki said. "And you did say you'd pay me even if I lost. So losing a hand isn't the worst."
Midari burst out laughing. "Exactly! They can reattach it within six hours, no problem."
To her, this wasn't reckless. It was hilarious.
Most people feared death. But Midari? She admired those willing to throw it all away.
System: Midari Ikishima's affection +5.
Naoki peeked at her stat panel and winced.
Midari Ikishima: Overall Gambling Rank A. Special Trait: 'One Life Left' When gambling with physical risk, her odds spike to over 90%.
In the Crazy Gambling world, some people had latent talents. Powers.
Midari's gift made her a deathmatch prodigy.
No wonder she waved guns around like toys. She couldn't die.
...
They arrived at a dark warehouse the gambling venue.
A crew of black-clad men checked Naoki's ID.
One glanced at Midari. "Who's she? Outsiders aren't allowed."
The slick-haired man reappeared, smiling nervously. "Boss says she can watch. She's Midari Ikishima. Didn't recognize her earlier please forgive the mistake."
Midari was escorted to the VIP balcony. Naoki entered alone.
The warehouse was dim, but massive. She was led to a metal table, where a staff member placed her left hand into a steel device like a manacle mixed with a torture tool. Then they locked her wrist and elbow into the table.
She had a bad feeling.
She already knew.
This gamble was going to cost fingers.
Terrifying.
If not for the Failsafe card, she'd never have come.
Even with the card, she was sweating.
Her opponent sat across the table. A tall man visibly shaking.
"Wh-What's going on?!" he shouted.
A distorted voice crackled from speakers overhead:
"Today's game is simple: Blackjack. The loser loses a finger. One per round. First to lose all five... loses everything."
Naoki wanted to scream.
This was psychotic.
Even if you won, you might still lose three fingers along the way.
You'd have to win five rounds straight to walk away intact.
Nearly impossible.