Those who became "livestock" were students who didn't have enough money to pay the Tribute. Most of them were special admission students who had passed the exams fairly.
They went to great lengths to get into this school, so their minds were definitely smarter than average people. Even if they initially didn't adapt to the gambling atmosphere of this school, once they got used to it, their chances of winning money were still very high.
As long as they put in some effort and were flexible in their thinking, they would still be able to pay the Tribute.
However, such a thing could not be forgiven by this class, by the "second-generation rich" students who had been attending this school since junior high through family financial reviews.
They were commoners, paupers, yet they surpassed them not only in academics but also in gambling, which they prided themselves on.
This prevented these "celestial beings" who had enjoyed preferential treatment everywhere since childhood from feeling superior; they felt humiliated.
Until one day, a companion who had passed the entrance exam by cheating joined their group of celestial beings.
Thus, a clever person thought of using this cheating method to create special invisible contact lenses and custom-made marked playing cards, distributing them to the other "celestial beings" in the class.
The targets for these playing cards were precisely those special admission students they had long disliked.
With the help of these special playing cards, the special admission students quickly became "livestock" one by one due to constantly losing their gambling funds.
Presumably, these playing cards were only used within their class, only to oppress the livestock within the class.
Those special admission students would have no idea about the secret of the entrance exam. Because of their ordinary status, they were out of place with most of the students in this school, and their information was basically very limited. It was also difficult for them to get this information from other classes.
Even if they did get some information, they wouldn't necessarily connect these things.
They would only suspect their own bad luck, and not believe that the original classmates of this class had formed a group and were deliberately deceiving them with cheating poker cards.
As for Hanatemari Kazura, she was probably excluded because she had good relationships with these special admissions students.
Unlike Ayanokoji's class, which went their separate ways, everyone in Saotome's class, excluding the livestock, was a tightly-knit community of shared destiny.
Ayanokoji's guess was very close to the truth.
He guessed correctly; this class used these specially made poker cards to intentionally extract cash from new students, making them livestock because they couldn't pay the tribute.
If someone was admitted by cheating with their rich second-generation identity, they would warmly welcome the person, enthusiastically tell him the secret of the lenses, and make him a member of their community.
However, special admissions students like Saotome would become the target of their ruthless oppression.
Ayanokoji looked at Saotome Meari; she was still trying to observe the back of the playing cards with her naked eyes, hoping to find differences on them.
She was looking in the right direction, but unfortunately, it was impossible to see with the naked eye.
Just as Ayanakoji was wondering whether to find an opportunity to tell Saotome about this, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a small movement from Saotome.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka froze for a moment, then a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
No, perhaps she didn't need his help.
"Hey, have you found it yet?" Seeing Saotome's speed in searching for cards slow down, Aiura Kokoro deliberately asked, "Have you found a mark on it?"
The patterns on the back of the playing cards were the same, and Saotome silently shook her head.
"Since you haven't found anything, hurry up and deal the cards, you pauper!" Aiura Kokoro's face instantly changed, and she cursed at Saotome, "Don't make excuses for your incompetence! I didn't cheat; you can only blame your bad luck!"
"…" Saotome silently sat down and, after shuffling the cards, dealt them to her and Aiura Kokoro.
From this game onwards, although Saotome did not grasp Aiura Kokoro's cheating method, she cautiously used a defensive tactic, no longer increasing her stakes, and continued to gamble with Aiura Kokoro with a minimum bet of ten thousand yen.
Although the money lost each round was small, it accumulated into a huge sum.
Including the previous rounds Saotome lost, Saotome had now lost a total of five hundred thousand Japanese Yen.
Aiura Kokoro had long grown tired of Saotome's conservative playstyle.
Seeing Saotome lose hundreds of thousands, yet the money in her wallet showed no sign of decreasing, her mood became irritable.
When would this game of ten thousand per round ever end?
She really wanted to see Saotome's expression of desperate unwillingness when losing money, but now, even though she was constantly winning, she became increasingly impatient.
By the way, where did Saotome get so much money?
She had long noticed Ayanokoji Kiyotaka behind Saotome. Was it that guy who lent Saotome the money? He looked unfamiliar. Was he a new student from another class?
"Hey, Saotome, how much money did you borrow? Are you really not afraid of losing?" Aiura Kokoro couldn't help but ask out of curiosity.
Saotome responded with an indifferent expression, "It's none of your business how much I borrowed; you just need to keep gambling with me."
"After all, we are classmates, right? I'm still very concerned about you."
Aiura Kokoro said with a sweet smile, "Your family background shouldn't be good, right? Five hundred thousand Japanese Yen, this is already one, or even two, months of your family's income, isn't it? If your parents knew you lost so much money gambling, what would they think?"
"Or, you don't plan to tell your parents, because you've secretly agreed with someone to repay it with your body…"
With a "smack," Saotome's hand heavily slapped the table, interrupting Aiura Kokoro's words.
"...Have you said enough?"
Saotome's face darkened, veins bulging on her forehead, her face flushed red, whether from embarrassment or anger, as she snarled in a low voice, "Don't think I don't know what you're thinking! You just feel that the current stakes are too low, and you're deliberately trying to provoke me to make me bet more money, aren't you!?"
Aiura Kokoro did think that, but of course she wouldn't admit it.
"How could that be?"
Aiura Kokoro blinked her emerald green eyes, pretending to be innocent, and with a sweet face, she spoke with ill intentions.
"I'm just concerned about you, after all, a pauper's body like yours probably isn't worth much money, is it? I wonder how long it will take to pay off this debt…"
"Five hundred thousand!"
Saotome's face was flushed, her eyes gleaming with an uncontrollable rage. She slammed the table in anger, interrupting Aiura Kokoro again, "This round, I'm betting five hundred thousand with you!"
Saotome Meari, like a cat whose sore spot had been touched, suddenly abandoned her elegance and shrieked, revealing her sharp claws.
Her anger seemed to have materialized, burning the air around her and making the atmosphere exceptionally tense.
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