The moment I heard the rules, my face took on a serious expression. No one had formed teams yet, meaning I had one hour to build my team. I needed to come to an agreement with two suitable people. One of them could be Ayame; teaming up with her seemed good. I went up to her and greeted her.
"What a coincidence, isn't it, Rei?"
"Are we sure it's a coincidence?"
"Yes. But some people are staring daggers at you. Why?"
"One of them is obsessed with me, and I defeated another one. They're enemies of mine. The two of them seem to have teamed up. The twins over there aren't enemies, but we know each other."
"I see. Your past seems eventful."
"It seems that way. Would you like to team up with me? I'd like to find one more person with you, based on that."
"Maybe. Why not?"
Ayame's pure white eyes were drawing everyone's attention; most eyes were on us. But we were both aware that there was no point in caring about it. We knew we had to keep thinking about our strategies. Just as I was about to continue talking with her, Itsuki came up from behind and hugged me tightly.
"Oh my, my dear is here too! What a coincidence!"
I took a step forward to prevent him from hugging me and pulled away. Then, I took the listening device he had placed under my shirt into my hand and hurled it against the wall. The moment I threw the device against the wall, it shattered into pieces. At the sudden sound, everyone started looking toward where we were again, staring at the broken device on the floor. Itsuki had aimed to plant the device on me under the pretense of a hug. He knew I was intelligent, but he still experienced a brief moment of shock because I noticed it instantly.
"You're no fun to play games with at all, Rei! You're so boring!"
"Don't bother. I'm not teaming up with you."
"Fine, alright. But drop by if you change your mind."
After saying this, Itsuki walked away from me and went over to Zei. Everyone seemed to be dispersing; some had already started examining the rooms in the corridor. There seemed to be fewer players in the hall now. I turned my face back to Ayame.
"Wouldn't it have been better not to break the device and pretend you didn't know, sending false information instead?"
"That could have worked too, but Itsuki isn't stupid—he could expect the opposite of what I said. This time, I had to decide correctly which to make the truth and which to make the lie. So, there was a chance it could have worked, but it would have been hard to control. Instead, I showed everyone what he did. This way, everyone will trust him less. But he probably predicted I could do this. That means he already has a team he can form right now. Since everyone has to team up with each other, whether or not we seem trustworthy doesn't affect whether we get picked for a team—but it must still make them think about possibilities like betrayal. So, in any case, I thought showing that he resorts to dirty tricks would work in our favor."
"Did you think about all of that in such a short time?"
"I thought about it intuitively."
"I see. I think intuitively too. By the way, you understood the meaning of the team swap, right?"
"Yes, I understood. An interesting rule. For example, if a person everyone voted for swaps teams with a member of a team they think voted for them, they'd move to that team. It wasn't specified in the rules, but probably, since they'd be on the same team, the votes would become invalid. I think this scenario could be much more effective or possible especially on the second floor."
"You understood correctly. I think so too. Even if they voted for them beforehand, when they move to their team, the votes will become invalid because they can't vote for people on the same team. In fact, this could even be a method for players to nullify votes. If you think you're being voted for, make a deal with someone and switch to one of the opposing teams to reduce the votes cast against you. As you said, this would be more effective on the second floor, but if you make them switch teams in sequence on the first floor too, it would have a similar effect. Let's not forget this tactic."
"You're right. Also, they mention floors, but I can't see any elevator or stairs. On top of that, it's not visible who is teamed up with whom. This seems to make the game more dangerous."
"Time is passing quickly, Rei. It would be good if we found someone to join our team. Come on, let's try to find someone suitable."
I nodded in agreement. She seemed able to see the things I saw. Instead of making fun of her, I could now better understand why people were afraid of her. She wasn't stupid; she didn't think like a stupid person. She was at a level where she could see what I saw.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
The area was spacious but not excessively large. After walking around a bit, we could see who was standing side by side. They didn't seem to be making an effort to hide their teams, but this could also be a planned thing. Apparently, the old man I perceived as a cultist and the two women had formed a team; they were side by side, talking to each other intimately. They had been together at the start of the game, and they were still together now. This indicated them as a potential team. Even though not revealing your team could be considered an advantage, hiding it didn't seem very easy in this space. I would keep it in mind: these three cult-like people were one team.
After some more time passed, we randomly entered a room together. When we entered the room, Itsuki, Zei, and that bald man were standing side by side. Clearly, they had also formed a team. When Itsuki saw me, he waved; Zei was looking at me with spiteful eyes, while the bald man remained indifferent. They were surprised by Ayame's eyes, but they didn't seem to be questioning it further.
"Couldn't you find a teammate, Rei?"
"We haven't yet."
"What a shame. You should team up with that indifferent girl; you'd suit each other. Romantically, you two."
Ignoring his question, we left the room together. We continued walking down the corridor. In the corridor, we saw the twins; they had already found a teammate—after all, there were two of them. They had teamed up with that indifferent girl. I understood why they didn't want to be with the rough thug man. The girl still wasn't looking at us, playing with her phone.
"I hope the game goes well, Rei. We won't be playing nice, just so you know."
"It's up to you."
We kept walking. Only that thug man remained; everyone else had quickly found teams. Ayame whispered in my ear, pointing out that everyone was watching us; I nodded in agreement. After touring the rooms, we saw the thug man sitting alone in a room. He gave off a stupid impression, sitting there as if he didn't even need to find a team.
"What do you want, idiots? What are you looking at?"
"We need to team up. Only the three of us are left."
"For real, damn? Let's do it then, I don't wanna get eliminated!"
"Alright, I'm sending."
I sent team invitations to both of them, and now the three of us were a team. When we asked his name, he said it was John; he could be American. It didn't matter what he was; at least we had a team. For a moment, judging by his way of sitting, I had thought we would need to convince him even in this situation—I was glad we hadn't run into that problem. Since he seemed like a stupid person, he could both cause trouble and, on the other hand, be manipulated; I was thinking of using him. Not wanting him to hear our plans, I stated, under the pretense of secrecy, that we would be leaving his side. We left the room and started walking down the corridor. When I checked my phone, an hour had passed. Since no one had been eliminated, it meant everyone belonged to a team.
An idea came to my mind. "Rei?"
"What's the idea?"
"There's no direct penalty for using the prediction right. Let's not take the risk, and both of us use the prediction right. What do you say?"
"I understand. So you're saying they'll have to eliminate someone, and if they try to eliminate us, they'll be the ones eliminated. Logical. After all, it was stated that we have to, so if everyone does the same thing, everyone gets eliminated, and the game probably ends. But the probability of that happening is also low."
"Yes, you understood correctly. I want to get to know the surroundings."
"A risk-free strategy. It seems applicable for the first vote. Alright, let's do that."
"I'm glad we could agree on this, Rei."
Itsuki's Side
We continued staying in the room. Zei had a somewhat impatient body language, while the bald man continued standing there indifferently. Itsuki was thinking with his hand on his chin. Because of his impatience, Zei stared at Itsuki sharply and voiced his opinion; clearly, he wanted revenge.
"Itsuki, what if we make a deal with some of the other players, stage a fake fight, pretend we're going to give the votes to that person, but actually give them to Rei?"
"It won't work. Rei isn't that stupid. Besides, there's no penalty for using the prediction right—almost everyone will use it in the early stages. No one wants to take risks; it's a completely safe strategy. They'll do that too, and it seems like we have to as well. Control your temper."
"Alright, damn it, I'm calm, okay!"
The bald man watched them and sighed. Itsuki and he were aware that Zei couldn't control himself, but at least they were aware that Itsuki was thinking a bit more logically. The bald man moved a bit closer to them and looked at Itsuki's face, his black glasses still on his face.
"I think we need to make longer-term moves like that. Let's secretly do a team swap after making a deal with a team. This way, people who see us side by side will think we're the ones who are teamed up, but the members of the team won't actually be scattered as they think. We'll create false information; it could be useful. And we'll have a pact with them for the second floor. What do you think?"
"That's logical. Let's do it. It shouldn't be a problem then. Let's go ask that old man's team."
"Let's go."
Within a short time, Itsuki's team talked to the old man's team and tried to make a deal. Producing false information would be in their favor too, and they would have a quick agreement for the second floor. They shared a common opinion on this matter. In a situation where no one could see, some of them began performing team swaps between the teams. Two of the women beside the old man performed a team swap with Zei and the bald man from Itsuki's team. This way, the two people beside Itsuki were now on the old man's team, and the women were now on Itsuki's team. To avoid making this obvious, they would continue walking around just as they had before; they had come to a good agreement. After the deal was done, they discreetly moved away from each other, creating a piece of false information.
Elite Spectators
"The bald man seems like he's going to play his game well, doesn't he?"
"Yes, he found a logical method. Let's see whether the others will believe this information or not. It could give them an advantage in the long run, but they shouldn't merge too quickly on the second floor. This strategy still seems improvable; we'll see."
"By the way, which floor do you think is the most dangerous? The third floor seems dangerous—after all, it's completely individual, so there are too many votes."
"I think the minority will be more effective rather than the excess of votes, because you need to convince fewer people. With that logic, the second floor might be more dangerous."
"You're right. It's hard to say. We'll see—we also don't know what rules will be introduced."