The moment we woke up in the morning, I checked our surroundings. The others were still asleep. There had been no attack. Maybe they weren't as organized as I thought, or they hadn't wanted to take the risk. I opened my phone and checked the time—it was seven thirty. I got up and washed my face and hands.
After watching outside for a while, the others woke up too. Everyone exchanged good mornings. Our friendship relationships seemed to be improving.
After everyone had taken care of their needs, we bought some food to eat while walking from the market. We finished the food as we made our way to the temple. We had to make it again before nine in the morning, so we moved at a fast pace.
"Haru, you talked with the old man about that woman. Did he say anything?"
"He said she's his granddaughter."
"So she's his granddaughter. Understood. Let's keep an eye on her too."
We kept walking. When we arrived at the temple entrance, there were a few minutes left until nine. The old man pretended to be happy to see us at the entrance.
"Welcome, good morning!"
"Good morning."
The inside was less crowded due to the previous incident, but there were still enough people. It looked like there were about fifteen to twenty people on average. We got in line. After everyone had finished worshipping, a notification came to all of our phones. Since the sound came at the same time, it was impossible to tell whose phones had received it.
I didn't open my phone to check. I could guess that the notification was about Friendship Day. I reasoned that according to the game, one day could be counted as passed at the first worship at nine in the morning. When my teammates saw that I wasn't checking, they didn't check their own phones either. I fixed my eyes on the surroundings. No one was checking their phone.
"Surely not everyone here can be a player...?"
Just as I was thinking this, three older men sitting in the middle section checked their phones. Everyone was looking at them, but no one said anything. Then I told my teammates there was no need to stay here any longer. We exited through the entrance. Haru looked at me.
"You saw, right, Rei?"
"Yes, I saw. But you never know—they were too relaxed."
As we walked away from the exit, one of the three men who had checked their phones approached the box at the base of the statue. He wrote something on a piece of paper and dropped it into the box.
A player has been eliminated!
The man was shocked and continued walking toward the village in sorrow.
"He fell into the trap, apparently."
"Could be."
I sank into my own thoughts.
The previous trap wasn't bad, but almost no one fell for it. A few possibilities can be considered. There might actually be a lot of people and they might have only targeted us. Or the people around us might be smarter than I thought.
Last Night — The Old Man's House
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"That little bastard turned out smarter than we thought! How could he figure it out? We had it all set up!"
The young priest replied calmly.
"Our plan was good, but its weakness was what we would do if someone figured it out. At least we've gained information about how good the opponent is. No need to stress."
"Fine, as you say. You paid those men the game money, right?"
"Yes, I did. You know the deal. Nine in the morning counts as twenty-four hours. That's why the notifications were going to come. No one would check their notification in that situation. I arranged those three men. They deliberately made themselves look like players, but two of them weren't players. It wouldn't have been convincing that way. So I made a deal with the one who was actually a player—he deliberately got himself eliminated. The people who saw him get eliminated will now believe even more that the remaining two are players."
"Well done, son. Good thinking."
"Thanks, Dad."
"Are the men going to be waiting outside?"
"Yes. We'll exploit a loophole in the game. The system says it's watching, but that applies to the game area. The moment they leave the temple area, they'll face an ambush. Since it's outside the game area, it doesn't count as a rule violation. If they think it would be a rule violation and deliberately respond with violence, they'll die."
"I see. Now I've got the whole plan... good."
"We've been killing like this for a while, but isn't there any state in this capsule?"
"Dad, I've heard that the capsules have cores. These cores are said to be considered more of a superior living being than an object. I've heard that if things get too dirty, they intervene. Let's be careful."
"Alright, son. You've done a good job. I hope they die tomorrow. But even though we got the game information from the second capsule beforehand, I'm surprised we're struggling this much..."
"Nothing can be done, Dad. If we're cunning, they can be cunning too."
Rei's Side
As we exited the temple and kept walking, people in priest robes carrying swords suddenly started running toward us. Haru stopped and began to think.
"Haru, this is a trap!"
"Huh?"
"Don't even think about taking a small scratch from a sword! This is outside the game area—they're exploiting a rule loophole. Run!"
"Ah, you're right!"
We all ran quickly toward the forest. Within ten minutes, they stopped chasing us.
Lie was out of breath and reacted to the situation.
"Bastards! Are they playing dirty too..."
Akari answered Lie.
"If they're playing that way, we'll play that way too. No problem."
I kept observing the surroundings.
"Anyway, they've left us. Come on, we need to become friends. I'm sending the invitations."
I sent friendship invitations to all three of them. They accepted the invitations, and the friendships were formed.
"This game seems long-term. With the current rules and situations where you have teammates, it seems hard to eliminate anyone through friendlessness."
"You're right."
Meanwhile, The Priests
"They escaped, sir..."
The old man clenched his right fist and punched the air in anger. The priests tried not to question his strange behavior.
"That bastard is even smarter than I thought! So he escaped from this too..."
"Sorry about that."
"It's not important. As my son said, we've gained information."
The priests didn't know what they were talking about, but they nodded in agreement with the old man.
Rei's Side
"We'd better head home."
"Won't they set up another ambush?"
"The area near the village is full of guards. They can't do anything there."
"Alright."
Within thirty minutes, we returned to the village and entered the room we had rented.
Haru looked at my face and started talking.
"Do you think they'll wait for us on the road again?"
"The members come again at nine in the evening. I don't think they'll try the same thing again. Probably not."
"I see."
Lie quickly stretched out on the bed.
"I'm so tired! When did I get this tired?"
Akari sat down beside Lie.
"Your hair is beautiful."
"Thank you! Yours is really beautiful too."
The girls seemed to be getting along well.
Something came to Lie's mind, and she fixed her eyes on me.
"Rei, I've been wondering something."
"What is it?"
"They're the owners of the temple, right? If they kicked us out of the temple and we couldn't come to worship, wouldn't they win the game directly?"
"That would probably count as cheating, and we could report the cheating too. The system isn't stupid, but it doesn't feel the need to state every single rule. If something that simple could be done, there would be no point in playing the game."
"I see, you're right. I thought so too, but I wanted to ask anyway."
Haru jokingly cut in.
"Is she your teacher or something?"
"Shut up!"
I sensed a warm atmosphere in the room, so I felt good. But I needed to think long-term. My opponent wasn't bad strategically.