Truths

"What do you mean there's no Bright?"

"Simple. If there were a Bright, the Darkness would have no chance of winning. The system has to keep the game balanced. So it's pretending the role exists."

The three of them listened in silence.

"Think about it. There are two people: one innocent, one Bright. A Darkness enters the room and kills the innocent. What happens?"

"The Bright kills the Darkness."

"Exactly. If the Darkness tries to kill the Bright instead—hard to do when the Bright is armed. Even if he succeeds, the innocent beside him starts a vote. The Darkness can't use the scanner because his role would be exposed. Even if he survives the vote, he gets voted on again an hour later. And since he can only kill once every twelve hours, he can't kill the innocent in the meantime."

The old man scratched his belly. "So one Bright and one innocent are stronger than one Darkness."

"Exactly. Now what if two Darkness come? Then you just add one more to the innocent side. One Bright, two Lights. Even if two Darkness kill both Lights, the Bright shoots one and calls a vote on the other. Same logic applies with three Darkness—the innocent side just needs four or five people."

Wakamura adjusted his glasses. "There are seven innocents in the game."

"Seven innocents, three Darkness. But the Darkness don't know each other. The moment a Bright reveals themselves on the scanner and gathers four Lights around them, the game is over. The Darkness can't do anything."

Akari's eyes widened. "Then why pretend the role exists?"

"Because Darkness who don't know there's no protector think they have the advantage. And Lights wait for a savior who doesn't exist. A lie that keeps both sides in check."

"And what if a Darkness figures out this gap?"

"Then the advantage shifts to them. If they're careful, they'll realize they can kill freely. That's the real issue."

"Now let me explain why I know you're all innocent. The old man showed up on the scanner. Wakamura put too much effort into examining my fake body—if he were Darkness, he wouldn't have cared." I turned to Akari. "I watched you through the security room cameras. You were doing tasks."

Akari blinked. "Cameras?"

"The security room showed certain areas. Anyway, the four of us in this room are not Darkness. There's one real body. That leaves five people."

Wakamura leaned forward. "Shouya's group."

"Shouya is smart enough to figure this out. He probably didn't sleep tonight. If he's Darkness, he'll try to get rid of the other two. He won't kill the Leader and the one beside him right away—they might all three be Darkness. Shouya has someone behind him, someone with strong connections. He might have arranged Darkness roles for his group."

"So what do we do?"

"The four of us focus on tasks. Their kill cooldown won't be up. They can't attack us—they think I'm dead. Even if three of them come, with me we're four. Same logic as before: we have the advantage."

This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

"Are you going to use the scanner?"

"Not really necessary." Wakamura nodded.

"Alright. Let's start on the tasks."

One hour earlier, on Shouya's side:

"I FOUND IT!"

The Leader bolted out of bed. "What did you find? We can't sleep anyway!"

"There shouldn't be a Bright in this game!"

"What are you talking about?"

He explained it quickly. The Leader's eyes widened.

"Whoa, Shouya, you're amazing!"

"I know."

"What do we do?"

"First, let's get rid of those two. I remember which direction they went. Once the cooldown is up, we'll kill the others too."

Within half an hour, they found the two and killed them. They returned to the room.

"Tomorrow we'll wipe out the rest and win. We've earned some sleep."

This time they slept comfortably.

Noon arrived. We had been doing tasks without sleeping. The tasks were completed, and the robotic voice announced the door had been opened. As the others rushed forward, I pulled Akari aside and brought her to the security room.

"They still have one kill left. You can speak through the intercom from here. Mimic the robotic voice. Tell them to head to the back door."

"Okay."

She did as I said. The voice echoed. Shouya and his group bolted out of their sleep and ran toward the doors. The back door.

We left through the front door.

Shouya shouted from behind me. "THE BACK DOOR? WHAT'S GOING ON?"

Our eyes met from a distance.

"HA, REI!?"

"How do you kill someone who's already dead, Shouya-kun? Bye bye."

He fell to his knees and screamed. I exited through the front door. The Darkness players were killed by lasers inside.

"Winners: the Light side! Congratulations!"

Akari, Wakamura, and the old man shouted with joy. "We did it!"

Keibo approached me, lightly clapping. "That was brilliant, Rei-kun. You thoroughly entertained the elites."

"You're welcome."

"Let's go to a private room. I want you to explain everything you did, from start to finish."

"Why?"

"If you catch the elites' interest, you'll secure a place in the dungeon."

It made sense. An hour later, we sat facing each other in the warden's office.

"I'll be taking a report. Explain everything."

"Alright."

"First question: why did you stage your own murder?"

"I had six enemies. If they targeted me, I wouldn't survive. Even innocents could kill each other. How do you kill someone who's already dead? It was for protection and deception."

"How did you do it?"

"First, I explored the mansion and learned the layout of every room. When I saw the chapel, the plan took shape. I took chloroform and bandages from the medical room. I already had the knife from the storage room. I took the crosses from the chapel to another room and cut off their heads. I locked that room. I hid the bandages in the chapel, along with my phone."

Keibo was taking notes.

"I lay down on the carpet. I cut my arms. I drove the knife into two spots on my body, deep enough for the cross heads to fit inside. I placed the cross heads into the wounds so they looked impaled. I screamed, inhaled the chloroform, and threw the bottle out the window. The cloth was in my underwear. I passed out—no risk of breaking character."

"Then what?"

"They came into the room, examined me, and left. When I woke up, I guessed they would hold a discussion in the main hall. They wouldn't start a vote meeting because someone would have to be hanged. I started the vote myself. So they'd suspect each other. I removed the bandages, wrapped my wounds, and moved to the other room without leaving a trail of blood. I retrieved my phone and started the vote. I properly treated my wounds in the medical room, then secretly listened to the meeting."

Keibo raised an eyebrow. "Wasn't it risky? You could have died."

"I had to do something absurd. Surviving normally was impossible."

"What did Shouya's side do?"

"All three of them were Darkness. They killed the two and slept, planning to attack us once their cooldowns were up. But we finished the tasks in that time. The door opened. One of them still had a kill available, so I had Akari mimic the robotic voice. They ran to the back door. The real exit was the front door."

Keibo laughed and clapped. "Brilliant, Rei-kun. You're worthy of the seventh layer."

"The seventh layer?"

He smiled and went silent.

"What did you say?"

"I don't need to say any more. Consider that a gift. You may leave."

I left the room. As I walked down the corridor, a single phrase echoed in my mind.

The seventh layer...