Kaiji's the kind of guy who's stuck at the bottom—broke, unmotivated, living alone in basically a slum. He gambles constantly with his neighbors on cheap games, but he's terrible at it and always loses. It's basically how he kills time, even though it keeps him broke. But here's the thing: when his back's actually against the wall and his life's on the line, something clicks. He suddenly develops this insane gambling instinct that lets him survive situations that should destroy him.
The story kicks off with Kaiji getting absolutely screwed over. A coworker talked him into co-signing a loan, and when that coworker bailed, Kaiji ended up with the whole 3,850,000 yen debt. A year of compound interest later, and he's drowning. That's the weight that forces him to discover he's actually capable of something extraordinary.
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