The next thirty minutes of the game had begun. Tou came to Seiko and explained the situation. They saw on the board that the Leader was dead and went to check the body. Seiko pieced everything together.
"Rei bought two cameras and placed them in the mission rooms."
He turned to Tou. "Did he lie to you?"
"I saw the indicators on the tablet."
Seiko questioned him further, and Tou remembered. "I looked toward the sound at that moment."
"He switched what he was buying while you were looking away." Tou nodded. Seiko continued, "The door information might also be false. Stay suspicious."
The others agreed.
Seiko laid out his plan. They would lure the robot to a corner, and he would complete the mission. They pulled the robot aside, Seiko dodged its attacks, and finished the mission. He went to the mission room and took the antidote.
He regrouped with his team. "I'm going to use the mission reroll ability. I'll also use the robot provocation on them. While they're dealing with the robot, we'll grab two more antidotes."
Everyone listened.
"With these antidotes, I'll isolate Rei. I'll find Lie, provoke her, and make her press my button. I think she still believes that bringing someone from the other team over is a good move right now. Once she switches to Team A, I'll inject her with the antidote, and she'll return to Team B. With the remaining two antidotes, we'll repeat the process. Even if Rei uses his antidote, we'll counter it. Result: Rei will be left alone."
Shouya asked, "Why would Lie stay on our team?"
"It's enough to kill Rei."
The plan began. Seiko activated the mission reroll, and it was announced. He also triggered the robot provocation. In that moment, I understood his strategy. But because of the robot, Lie and I had no choice but to flee.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Seiko's side completed both missions and obtained two antidotes. I saw it on the board. I realized Shouya could hear us. I turned to Lie.
"We're in a tough spot."
"Yeah."
"But we can still win. I noticed something. In this game, you can control your own team's doors. There's no direct way to find the correct door, which means there's a hidden factor. While you're on your own team, you can open the doors. I'm going to send you to the other team, and you'll check Team B's doors from there. The correct door's corridor is probably different—they likely added lights or something. They usually celebrate the winners."
"They celebrate?"
"Yes. And Lie... never press Seiko's button. Understand?"
Lie understood the code. "Understood." Meaning she would press it.
"I'm going to gather intel."
I walked away. Shouya reported what he had heard to his team. Seiko changed his strategy—instead of isolating Rei, he would focus on finding the correct door. I had warned Lie, but Seiko had no other choice but to try. He went searching for her anyway.
I removed the cameras from the mission rooms. I opened the right door and placed the cameras on the pipes along the corridor. I activated the night light mode. The right corridor glowed brighter than the others. I closed the doors and moved to the center.
Seiko found Lie. He provoked her. Lie acted like she wasn't convinced, then pretended to lose control out of anger and pressed Seiko's button. She faked regret.
"Idiot."
Seiko injected Lie with the antidote, and she switched to Team B. She had to walk back to Team B's starting area.
Lie saw me in the center. I signaled with my eyes for her to check the doors, but Tou and Shouya, having heard the information, blocked her path. They told her they were going to lose, acting like they were savoring the kill. Lie didn't know this part of the plan and was terrified. I pretended to be shocked.
Seiko ran toward our doors. "LET'S OPEN THESE DOORS! WE'RE GOING TO KILL YOU!"
He was losing himself to excitement. The others were grinning too. "YOU'LL BE DESTROYED! DIE! DIE!"
They headed for Team A's doors. I watched them with indifference. They thought I was frozen in fear.
Lie looked at me. "Rei! I'm sorry."
Seiko checked the left door first, then the middle, then the right. The right side was glowing. "THIS ONE! GO IN!"
Tou grinned. "Die."
Tou used the remaining antidote to bring Seiko back to Team B. Then Tou entered through the right door. They thought they had won.
Lie hugged me and started crying. "Rei..."
I used the antidote on Lie. She blinked. "Huh?"
System voice: "Wrong door selected. Winners: Team A—Lie and Rei. Congratulations!"
They went mad with shock. "WHAT? THERE MUST BE A MISTAKE!"
The system announced that the losers would die. The lasers came down instantly. It congratulated Team A once more.
For the first time, Lie had an intensely emotional reaction toward me. She shouted, "WHAT? REI, WHAT DID YOU DO?"