I checked the time on my phone. Since it was approaching the worship hour, I told the others we should head inside. We all entered together. The worship hour was a good source of information about the players, so I was aware I needed to observe the surroundings carefully.
When I looked around, I saw the two head priests with four priests beside them. When I turned my gaze to the left, a young woman with short, orange-colored hair was sitting on the floor. I didn't remember seeing her before. Aside from her, I could see the devout old men and other middle-aged people loyal to their faith. They were here despite the murder. Either they were some of the players, or they were very devoted to their religion. I had wondered, "Do things like this always happen?"
I wanted to try the new idea that had come to my mind. So I whispered to my teammates one by one. They all approved of what I said. Haru went over to the old head priest. He tried to chat with the man about the newly arrived orange-haired woman. Meanwhile, Lie and Akari were chatting with other people, creating a distraction.
If they weren't going to betray the priest, they would want to secretly take him out of the dungeon and slip him back among us in a hooded priest robe. After all, he was a player too. So he would come to the worship hour on time. I planned to exploit this gap.
There was one minute left until nine. I had told the others to keep chatting and create a distraction. If my opponents couldn't notice me while I headed to the complaint box outside, they wouldn't know who their target was. By nature, I valued my secrecy.
"If worship starts at nine, and he's not here by one past nine, he could probably be reported..."
They must not have calculated that being one minute late would cause a problem. Because they wouldn't have thought anyone could see through their trap this far. That's why I could use this. As a worst-case B plan, I would pull back the hoods of all the priests in front of everyone. Anyone who saw the same face would understand he had been secretly taken out of the dungeon. That way, I would damage the temple's status. But I wasn't sure if pulling back their hoods would be a rule violation. So the B plan seemed a bit risky.
At first, I had thought nothing could be done. But upon thinking, I found their weak point. I shouldn't make hasty decisions from now on.
It was nine o'clock. We lined up one after another and worshipped the statue in turn. We bowed before the statue and expressed our wishes silently. Since the worship rules were written beforehand on the stone at the entrance, we had learned how to worship.
After worshipping, I immediately checked my phone.
The trap's effect was still active. If someone figured this much out and reported the right person, but also presented the murder as evidence at the same time, they would probably be eliminated again due to false evidence. The correct move here was only to state what he was doing in the present moment. Besides, he probably wasn't even the one who committed the murder.
It was one past nine. While everyone continued worshipping, I quickly went to the entrance. The young head priest, realizing what I was doing, widened his eyes, but his worship wasn't finished yet—he couldn't stand up.
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I went outside. I identified the man we had seen as the person to be reported to the complaint box. In the evidence section, I stated that he hadn't come to worship. Since we were being monitored, written evidence would be enough for the system. I dropped the paper into the box and closed it. My complaint was instantly confirmed.
A player has been eliminated!
So they do specify who was eliminated. At least it's not overly vague. The dangerous part was, if he had arrived a few seconds before I reported him, I might have been eliminated instead. What I did was risky, but it worked out thanks to a bit of luck as well.
I couldn't create a proper distraction—they were going to see me go outside no matter what. But it didn't matter. They had steered me toward a certain way of thinking I was sure about. That way of thinking is their desire to eliminate me.
Not being aware that you're being targeted can be said to be worse than being aware. So there's no problem. I am now aware that they will target me. Or I am aware that they will target my group. They will have predictable emotions toward me. I can use that. I want to use that.
I went back inside the temple. In the hall, the priest members appeared calm. Since they also understood the value of secrecy, they were hiding their hatred toward me. There was no point in us staying here today anymore. So I called my teammates over to me. We prepared to leave. Behind us, the old man called out.
"We'll be expecting you tomorrow as well, sir. Good evening!"
With the action I had taken, I had actually told them, in a silent way, that I was fully aware of what the hell they were up to. They, in turn, told me with that sentence that they wanted to play this game with masks on. Also, if they got angry here, they would look bad to the temple visitors. So they controlled themselves. Maybe they didn't care that much because no direct harm had come to them. But still, since I had shown them that I would get in their way, they might have thought I was dangerous. I was analyzing the situation as we walked. Haru turned and looked at me.
"You caught the opening well, Rei."
"You all played your roles well too. But we need to be more careful from now on. We'll be targeted."
Akari joined in.
"I actually have an idea."
"What is it?"
"Should we create a fake fight and infiltrate them?"
"We've already shown them we're not stupid. They won't believe a setup. Besides, moving among them is dangerous for us."
Lie nodded in agreement with what I said.
"So what should we do then, Rei?"
"Staying two and two or all four together makes sense. Tomorrow should be Friendship Day—we'll continue like that. But there's an interesting rule, the one about it being forbidden to betray your friends. That rule probably isn't general; it's likely referring to the times when we officially form friendships in the game. I'm not sure if they can produce fake evidence in a way that manipulates the system. Betrayal is variable, after all."
"You're right, we need to be careful. They're acting in an organized and planned way. Also, I can't help but wonder how they knew the rules and the game beforehand."
"We'll find out eventually. For today, we have two options. Either we rent a secure room, or we stay in the forest. I think we could even come under attack."
Lie gave her opinion.
"Let's all four stay in the same room!"
Haru touched Lie's shoulder.
"Wouldn't a four-person room be expensive?"
I joined the conversation and said I had money.
"Alright then, let's stay as four. It'll be safer all together."
All together, we rented a large room in the village at the back. We locked the doors and windows. There were only two beds. We decided Haru and I would share one, and the other two girls would share the other. As we lay in bed together, Haru leaned against me.
"What are you doing, Haru?"
"Shut up. I need an older brother figure, alright?"
I didn't know the details of his trauma, but he had said he wanted to avenge his brother. So I respected his wish.
"Alright, fine."
Within some time, we all fell asleep.