After our conversation ended, I returned to my room. After taking care of my needs, I didn't know what to do—I was just waiting for the game to come. I wanted to play games, to move forward. Since there was nothing to do, I forced myself to sleep. After waking up a few hours later, I lay down on the carpet and began to think. This was my thinking method that I called deep thinking. I would close my eyes in a place where I felt comfortable and use it to solve the things I wanted to think about or needed to figure out. I could also build my plans this way. While thinking, I took special care to visualize; I would place my thoughts onto what I imagined as a black board, and I would think visually as well. It was a personal thinking technique I had developed myself. I felt even more at ease while doing it. Maybe I had a need for control; perhaps I felt better when things were predictable. Instead of questioning these things, I focused on thinking about what I wanted to think about.
After thinking for nearly an hour, I went down to the hotel shop to get a drink. In the shop, I ran into Gyoma, who was looking at perfumes. When Gyoma saw me, he waved with his usual smile. His examination of the perfumes had caught my attention.
"What's up, Rei?"
"I'm good. You?"
"I'm good. I was looking at perfumes, as you can see. What did you come for?"
"I was going to get a coffee."
"I'll get one too. Shall we look around together?"
I accepted his offer. We were browsing the goods in the market together; I could see brands I had never seen before. Since I wasn't exactly in the world I knew, this was normal. After making our way to the coffee section, he said he wanted his without sugar, and I also preferred it without sugar. So I took two cold sugar-free coffees for us and put them in his basket. He said he would pay.
"Are you worried about the game, Rei?"
"I try not to think emotionally about things I can't control. Of course, I can't always do that, but at least on these kinds of matters, I'm like that."
"I see. That's a good mindset. I'm not very worried either. After all, we're in the Supremacy Club. We should believe in ourselves, right?"
"You're right."
After buying the items, I took my own coffee and thanked him. The air was cool, and it was dark as always. To get some fresh air, I went to the back garden of the hotel. I drank my coffee and thought about the upcoming game and my friends. The cool air was doing me good.
I wonder if they've already been killed. But if they kill them, they can't use me. They're using them as a motive to keep me from committing suicide. Even if they're pretending they've killed them when they haven't, the moment I find out, I'll destroy myself. Sooner or later, since I'm chasing after this, I'll find out. So they're probably alive. I need to reach them quickly. It's all my fault. I'm actually the one who took away their peace. I have no luxury to lose. I have to win, and fast.
Time had passed quickly while I was thinking; I was drinking my coffee slowly. When my coffee was finished, I threw it into the trash can beside me. The coffee had given me good energy. When I checked my phone, I realized there was one hour left until the game began. The moment I saw the time, a sudden rush of excitement surged within me, but I tried to suppress it and control myself.
I went to my room and meditated for a while, trying to keep my mind sharper. I continued meditating until the game time arrived. When the notification came that ten seconds remained, I took a deep breath, opened my eyes, and picked up my phone. It was clear we were going to be teleported somewhere.
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When I was teleported, I found myself inside a simply styled building with twelve other people—a building with two wide corridors, high ceiling walls, and long, plain walls of quality. We were all examining the surroundings. It was clear there was another floor above.
"Welcome to the game area! The name of our game is the Three-Stage Vote Game!"
When everyone heard the name of the game, they looked at each other. When I looked around, I saw that Ayame was in the game—I was surprised by this coincidence. Or maybe it wasn't. I kept scanning around. It definitely wasn't a coincidence. Itsuki and Zei were standing side by side across from me, looking at me. Clearly, they had made a deal—they were going to be in this game too. When I looked to my other side, I saw that even the twins were in this game. I could tell they had noticed me, but they didn't seem very surprised, as if they were accepting the situation. Including myself, there were six familiar faces.
On my other side, there was a tattooed man who looked to be in his thirties, with a thuggish mustache. He had a rough look about him, was wearing a biker jacket, and seemed like a classic gang member. But it was still worth being cautious. When I looked ahead, I saw an elderly man in the distance, and beside him were two women who looked to be in their twenties. Their clothes were of a religious style; they might be related to cults.
I continued to let my eyes wander over the people. There was a bald man who looked like a businessman; he also seemed like an adult. He had black glasses and was wearing a suit. Even though it would be ordinary normally, in this situation, he had an interesting appearance. A little closer to him was a girl with a bob haircut and glasses, playing with her phone. She had no interest in us at all; it was as if she was playing a game on her phone.
"I assume you're accustomed to this, so I won't drag it out and will move on to the rules!"
RULES
"There are three floors in this building. This is the first floor. On the first floor, twelve people must form four teams of three. When you move to the second floor, there must be two teams of six versus six. When you move to the third floor, everyone must be solo. Players who cannot achieve the required team formation within one hour of moving to a floor will be eliminated; a one-hour period is given for this. After the third floor, you return to the first floor again. The spots of missing teams are not filled; you must continue in the closest formation to what we require. For example, if it can't be six versus six on the second floor, you need to continue as five versus six."
"The game will end when only three people remain. These three people will be counted as the winners."
"Each time someone is eliminated, a transition between floors occurs. As we said, upon reaching the third floor, you will return to the first floor again. On the third floor, there are rooms for shelter; on the second floor, there is a cafeteria. Every day, everyone must vote and try to eliminate one person; the person with the most votes will be eliminated. If the votes are completed before twenty-four hours, this timer resets."
"In the game, votes are cast from your phones. Alongside the voting option, there is a prediction option. A player can use the prediction option; when they do, they announce to the system that they themselves will be the one receiving the most votes. If, in such a situation, the person who truly receives the most votes is indeed themselves, then everyone who voted for that person will be eliminated."
"On each floor, there are five hidden buttons. When all of the hidden buttons are pressed, a transition to the next floor occurs. The locations of the buttons will be renewed by the system on its own."
"Members of the same team cannot vote for each other."
"Anyone can send a team invitation to anyone else, but they cannot exceed the specified number. Instead of this, there is also a mechanic called a team swap. In a team swap, if the person you invite accepts, you move to their team, and the person who accepts moves to your team. In short, you switch places."
"When the voting ends, who voted for whom and who used the prediction right will be displayed on the digital boards."
"Each time you return to the first floor, a truth question is sent to everyone's phone. You must answer truthfully to the system whether or not you voted. After everyone has answered, who voted and who didn't will be displayed on the first floor's digital board."
"With each new floor transition, a new rule specific to that floor is added. There is no floor-specific rule on the first floor."
"Violence is, of course, forbidden."
"Let the Three-Stage Vote Game begin!"