Death

Everyone entered the room one by one. We were alone so no one could see. I drew the paper and unfolded it.

Light.

I folded the paper and placed it in the box. It closed on its own.

I'm a Light. That leaves five more Lights.

I exited the room. The next person went in. I walked calmly. The others watched me.

Ten people. Shouya was here. The Leader and his four men too. All of them staring with filthy looks. The Leader was nearly two meters tall, bulky, his hair shaved into three lines, tattoos across his body. Two of his men had similar builds—one with black hair and green eyes, the other with blue eyes. The other two were thinner, avoiding eye contact. One of them wore glasses.

The Leader has control over all of them.

Shouya must have explained the situation and smoothed things over between them. He was short, with narrow eyes, his finger on his lips as he studied me.

They entered the room one by one as well. A voice came from the television: "Those who have received their roles may begin the game. You are free to move about the mansion."

I looked at the remaining three people. One stood holding a thin book, wearing glasses, green-haired, and seemed like the logical type. Another was an older, athletic man, muttering to himself. The last was a naive-looking woman with sweet, innocent eyes. She seemed timid. But I sensed something strange about her.

I approached the logical-looking man. He was about 170 centimeters tall.

"Hi. What's your name?"

He looked me up and down. "Why do you want to know?"

"To get acquainted."

"Why?"

"We could support each other in the game."

"I could be a Darkness, for all you know."

"We'll deal with that later. Will you tell me your name?"

A short silence. "Fine. My name is Wakamura."

"Rei Rei. Nice to meet you."

I skipped the old man and approached the woman. Her name was Akari.

The robotic voice filled the hall: "The game has now officially begun for everyone. Good luck."

While everyone was deciding what to do, Shouya came up beside me.

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"We should stick together, right senpai? If we stay close, the Darkness can't kill us so easily!"

Wakamura raised an eyebrow. "You two know each other?"

"Of course!" Shouya's grin widened. "He tricked me pretty badly once. He's definitely one of the Darkness."

"What's your name?"

"Shouya, senpai."

Shouya kept glaring at me with malice. The group behind him was watching too.

"What's your role, senpai? Are you a Darkness or something?"

I didn't answer. I observed my surroundings.

"Looks like he doesn't want to play. Then we'll make him play."

The old man stepped in. "Stop fighting, you brats! I'm tired enough without having to deal with you."

He kept grumbling. Akari placed a hand on his shoulder and calmed him down. The woman's beauty had its effect. The old man shut his mouth. But his attitude had already left a bad impression.

If I'm caught alone, I could be killed. But I need to explore the mansion. There must be useful places here.

The real problem: six people here are my enemies. If their roles are good, winning normally will be impossible.

I have to do something unusual. Take a risk. Or I'll die.

Everyone split into groups. Wakamura and Akari went off together. Shouya took two from his group. The Leader took the other two. I was left alone with the old man. Instead of staying with him, I began exploring the mansion.

I moved carefully, trying not to run into anyone. A chapel-like room with crosses. It looked unsettling. Two wooden crosses stood in the corner. Their ends were sharp.

I made my way to the storage room. All kinds of tools. I took a knife and tucked it into my waistband.

The robotic voice announced mealtime. Everyone headed to the kitchen. We ate in silence at the long table.

The old man started complaining about the traitor situation. Then he threw out a suggestion.

"Old man, since you're so worried, how about you use the scanner today and I'll use it tomorrow? Two Lights sticking together."

Everyone looked at us. The old man, fired up, accepted. We went to the scanner. It was used on the old man. He showed up as a Light.

"Told you, you brats!"

"Well done, old man."

Shouya turned to me. "You'll go tomorrow too, right senpai?"

"No problem."

Everyone dispersed again. I searched for a place to hide alone.

I have no other choice.

I went down to the basement. I cut the generator cables with the knife. Everything was swallowed by darkness.

Voices from above: "What the hell is going on?" "The lights are out."

Shouya's voice: "The generator cables have been cut."

The Leader: "Who could have done it?"

"We'll figure it out."

Three of them left, using the bathroom as an excuse. They were talking among themselves.

"Shouya, the paper trick was good. But we still need to get rid of those three."

"Yeah."

"How did you pull off that trick?"

"Thanks to my master's connections."

"What master? Are you some kind of freak?"

"Forget it, you wouldn't understand."

"Let's kill Rei first. But it'd be good to figure out who the Bright is."

Shouya, through his master's connections, had managed to secure Darkness roles for three of them in the group. All three Darkness players were on their side. After Rei, they planned to get rid of the rest.

The others returned. They went down to the generator together.

"No one here."

Shouya examined the cable. "Can't be reattached."

A scream came from the upper floor. Everyone ran toward the sound. They opened the door to the chapel room.

I was lying in the center of the room. Knife cuts along my arms. One wooden cross impaled in my leg, the other in my waist. Blood. A blood-tipped knife on the floor beside me. They tried to examine me with their phone lights. It was hard to make out in the darkness.