I continued sitting in the dining hall with Ayame. Itsuki's side didn't seem to have found the buttons. My face wasn't completely expressionless, maybe it was because of Ayame. Since I was feeling friendship again, even just a little, maybe I felt good. Because I felt good, I hadn't completely lost my humanity. Maybe that's how it was.
"Rei, it seems like we need to use our prediction right rather than voting to survive. But the three-vote rule is also risky on the other hand. Everyone might want to use their prediction right because it doesn't look like we'll be moving to the third floor."
"You're right. To vote, you need to convince people, and truly convincing someone must be hard. They can say they'll do what you say and then betray you. Everyone can grasp this logic, which is why the majority might want to use their prediction right because it's a safe option. But as you said, there's also a small risk. If three or fewer votes are cast and the others have used their prediction rights, the game could end instantly."
"That's actually a good thing. If this rule didn't exist, everyone would probably be at ease, I think, but now this risk exists too. So on the other hand, they might also desire to vote. It's been almost an hour, let's go and team up with the twins' group. They have to team up with us anyway."
"Alright, let's go."
Together with Ayame, we went to the table where the twins and John were and said we needed to form a team. They understood the situation, they were aware that they would also be eliminated if they refused. Despite their earlier selfishness, they would of course want to team up. The closest to six was only five, so a five-person team could be accepted by the system as a valid team for us. Our five-person team was formed. The other side, on the other hand, would need to form a six-person team, they had probably formed their team very early on. There didn't seem to be any problem regarding teams for either side. I was thinking to myself.
Teaming up is good, the possibilities that need to be controlled are gradually decreasing. These people can't vote for me. Maybe we can guide them to vote or use it together with Ayame. Maybe they feel guilty because of their selfishness, it would be good if I tried.
"You know the situation. Using the prediction right is safe but also dangerous on the other hand, so we also want to use our votes on the other hand, right? Even if we all use our prediction rights, someone could produce three votes, and the game would end suddenly. We don't want that. So we need to make good decisions depending on the situation. I don't care about the move you made, maybe it was necessary in this situation. But I think we at least need to cooperate. If necessary, we can use our votes on someone by agreement."
The twins nodded their heads in approval, finding what I said logical. John, however, didn't seem to understand the situation much, so he asked me again. I explained the situation again and he was finally able to understand a little. He also found the situation logical in his own way and agreed with our ideas.
"What do we do now? There's an hour and a half left until the voting starts."
"I'm not sure, as I said, using the prediction right might be more logical. But you never know what will happen, we'll decide depending on the situation."
John displayed a lazy behavior.
"Alright then, I'm going to sleep for a bit!"
After speaking, he lay down on the iron chair he was sitting on, closed his eyes, and started taking a nap, he was snoring. He was probably snoring to get attention, he was just like a stupid thug. After we all briefly looked at his ridiculous behavior, our focus was cut off from him.
Meanwhile, Itsuki and the others returned to the dining hall. When I saw him, I turned my head and gave a brief glance. Clearly, they had given up after not being able to find the buttons. They headed toward where the old man was. Zei continued shooting sharp glances at me, I didn't really care about his glances. He was a loser, and losers usually got angry. It was a meaningless hatred, the hatred shouldn't be toward the person opposite you but actually toward the loser's own self. Being deceived made you completely guilty yourself, that's what I thought.
I continued thinking to myself. If I was on a team with five people, only six votes could come against me. I needed to understand the intentions of the six players on the other side. At the same time, I thought it was logical not to leave this group together with Ayame, if we disappeared from sight, Itsuki could try something on them.
A new idea had come to mind, I had understood the situation better. I turned my face to the others and mentioned that we all needed to use our prediction rights. Since it contradicted what I had just said, one of the twins asked me a question about this.
"You were just saying it's uncertain, what happened, Rei?"
"Thinking about it, the risk we would take isn't worth it, there will be more than three votes. Let's stay in a safe place, this is better."
"Alright, it seems suitable for us too. John is sleeping though."
"When he wakes up, you can tell him too, he'll accept."
"Okay."
I didn't expect them to act contrary to what I said. I had examined their situation, they were uneasy about the uncertainty. Therefore, I was aware that they would listen to me and use their prediction rights. There was an hour left until the voting started. Because we had agreed, we returned to our own table, sitting in a position where we could see them. Ayame was looking at me.
"What happened that made you think that way, Rei?"
"I have an idea, but you also need to use your prediction right. I promise, nothing will happen to you."
"It would be good if you told me though?"
"I'll mention it later, I need to stay silent for now."
"Alright, you know best. It doesn't seem to carry a risk for me after all."
"Thank you."
Fifteen minutes had passed. We were sitting together, everyone was sitting at other distant tables with their close ones. We couldn't hear their conversations from this distance. Together with Ayame, we were thinking and observing the surroundings while sitting. Time kept passing. The twins' side was silent, maybe they were just waiting because they had already decided what to do. Even though decisions could be made before the voting time, I hadn't seen their hands going to their phones, they didn't want to rush. This was a correct approach.
The six people on the other side didn't seem to be discussing the situation together. The reason for this could be that collectively voting for one person together was risky. Both opposing sides were aware of this, so they seemed to want to handle things on their own. Being on the same team and reducing options for each other was sufficient for them for now.
The Old Man's Side
"What should we do, sir?"
"We could try to deceive Rei, but he's probably aware that he's a target. There would be no point in piling on him, he'll use his prediction right. When the time comes to talk and you haven't voted for me, you'll tell him that you didn't say anything to them. Therefore, you'll say that you listened to me, this will be a sufficient and logical excuse."
"Alright, sir, we'll do it this way. So what do you think about voting?"
"We're aware of the rule, so it would be logical for the three of us to vote. If everyone else uses their prediction right, we'll win the game immediately. But piling on one person is also illogical. What should I do..."
The old man continued thinking while stroking his white beard, the two women were silently waiting for him to come up with an idea. While the old man kept stroking his beard for a while, he found an idea, his eyes slightly widened.
"I found it!"
"What happened, sir?"
"If piling on three people is bad, then we'll vote for three people one by one. This way, no one gets the most votes, and this way we won't be eliminated. After all, the prediction right doesn't eliminate you if the person you voted for uses it, it eliminates you if the person you voted for becomes the person with the most votes!"
"You're right, sir, you thought well!"
Both women displayed fake joy.
"Alice, you'll vote for John. Maria, you'll vote for the girl in the blue t-shirt. And I'll vote for the other twin. This way, we'll have voted for all of them one each. They'll use their prediction rights, they're scared. Even so, they won't get the most votes but equal votes, this way we won't be eliminated. The majority will use their prediction rights anyway. This also applies to Zei and Daito, when we vote one each, we'll both reserve a place for ourselves for the three-vote rule and do it safely."
"Very good, sir!"
"Ah, wait a minute, but Itsuki?"
"What happened, sir?"
"That's right, Itsuki has immunity. Even if the person he voted for uses their prediction right and becomes the person with the most votes, he won't be eliminated because he has immunity..."
"Are you saying he could betray us?"
"Exactly. Since he has immunity, he'll use his voting right no matter what, this way he'll reserve a place for himself for the three-vote rule. He can understand what I'm thinking and predict that we could vote for one of those three, that we could vote one by one. Voting for Rei isn't logical, from his wrong thinking, votes could pile on him, after all, he's hated. Same for Ayame, since she's close to Rei, votes could pile on her again, we can't vote for her either."
"We didn't understand, what happens if he predicts?"
"What will happen, he'll try to eliminate us of course. Even if he doesn't know which of us voted for whom, he'll try to eliminate me by trying his one in three chance. If he's wrong, one of you two will be eliminated. That is, he'll vote for one of the players we voted for one by one, this way one of those players will have two votes instead of one. When that happens, that person will become the person with the most votes. The people we voted for, on the other hand, will be people who will use their prediction right out of fear. Since they're the person with the most votes, one of us will be a person who voted together with Itsuki. This person will be eliminated because they voted for the person with the most votes and the person they voted for used their prediction right. Itsuki, on the other hand, will escape this effect because he has immunity and won't be eliminated. In other words, Itsuki can carry out an assassination on one of us!"
Both women were surprised by what the old man said.
"Ahh, that's right, sir!"
"Then if the three of us had voted for these people one by one, one of us could have been eliminated, are we right?"
"Exactly. Itsuki can predict those people because they're the people who could get the least votes. Ayame and Rei could be targets, they're aware of it too, they have no choice but to use their prediction rights. Zei seemed to hate Rei, if he can't vote for him, I think he won't risk it. Anyway, the single vote Itsuki casts will be enough to eliminate one of us. Daito is analytical in the same way, he won't take risks either. So the majority will use their prediction right, voting is dangerous. Itsuki will discuss this situation with them, so he'll convince those two not to vote. If they vote for someone else, the vote count becomes two, meaning the vote counts equalize. When that happens, what Itsuki does becomes useless, and someone being eliminated is also beneficial to them. They'll listen to Itsuki."
"Pff, we thought we had found a tactic, sir. Now what do we do?"
The old man displayed angry behaviors to himself, said he would think about what to do. Then he made a hand signal to the woman he trusted the most. Both women saw the signal. They could understand that this signal of the old man's was an indication that he wanted to satisfy his sexual needs in the bathroom. He had made this signal to only one woman. The woman understood the signal and together they headed toward the bathroom. The other woman could also understand why they were going to the bathroom because she had seen the signal, so she didn't question the situation. So that the others wouldn't see that she was left alone, she decided to wait in a hidden position until they returned.
Meanwhile, when the old man and the other woman arrived at the bathroom, the woman presented herself by turning her back to him. The woman felt discomfort deep inside, but she was aware that she had to do it, this wasn't her first time doing it either. The man was also a pervert on the other hand, he took pleasure from the woman presenting herself. But before this, he mentioned a situation.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
"Maria, I'm going to tell you something, but you won't tell the other one, okay?"
"Ha, what is it, sir?"
"I explained the Itsuki situation, there's a way to counter it."
"A way?"
"Yes, the two of us will secretly vote for ourselves. After all, we can vote for ourselves on the second floor, remember?"
"I remember."
"When we return, I'll tell the other girl that there's nothing we can do and that we'll use our prediction right and won't take risks. She'll listen to me and do as I say, after all, I'm her man, right? She'll listen to me."
"Yes, sir, but what do you mean?"
"Just listen. Following that, instead of using our prediction rights, we'll secretly vote for ourselves. This way, we'll both be within the three-vote rule and distance ourselves from what Itsuki will do. Itsuki can't predict this and vote for me because he didn't see us go to the bathroom. At the same time, he won't be able to predict that the other woman will use her prediction right unless we do it secretly. After all, we'll vote for her, if we say 'use your prediction right and get eliminated,' she won't listen to me. For this, we need to agree in a secret place like this kind of environment. But Itsuki doesn't know we're here, meaning he can't predict that we'll do this. He could think of this possibility, but he can't predict that we could make this possibility happen because he's aware that the other woman wouldn't listen to me in such a situation. Since he didn't see us go to the bathroom, he won't expect that we could agree secretly."
"So you're saying, sir, that we'll say we'll use our prediction rights and the two of us will secretly vote for ourselves. This way, due to the three-vote rule, Itsuki, me, and you will win the game because the others will use their prediction rights. At the same time, you'll have escaped Itsuki's move."
"Exactly."
"But my friend will be eliminated..."
"Maria."
"Sir?"
"When did you become this emotional?"
"But..."
"Do you think that girl really cares about you? I care about you. Don't you see my sexual organ? I desire you, she doesn't desire you. Besides, if this business goes right, I'll give you the highest promotion, I promise, Maria."
"Alright, sir..."
Maria perhaps didn't want to completely betray her friend, but she was aware that this world was a world of power. She had to win the game and get the promotion. She had learned at a very early age that interests were more important than anything, she had to do this. She thought she had to do it. She turned her back and continued waiting for the man to use her.
"Now it's fun time, hahaha!"
Itsuki's Side
Itsuki mentioned the similar assassination that the old man had talked about, stated that he would do this and therefore they should use their prediction rights. Daito stated that he didn't want to take risks and approved the situation. Zei said that if he couldn't vote for Rei, he wouldn't take risks either, they were listening to Itsuki.
"Alright, the plan is ready then..."
Ten minutes had passed. I continued sitting with Ayame, everyone seemed silent. We continued sitting silently for a while longer. Ayame was looking at me with a slightly worried face, even though I couldn't understand much from her eyes, I could understand some things from her general face.
"There's no problem, are you sure, Rei?"
"Yes, I'm sure. By the way, have you ever played poker in the past? You'd be successful, it seems."
"Did you say this to make fun of me, or seriously?"
"Both."
"Pff, whatever. Small jokes are fine. And yes, I had played, I was successful too. But it didn't continue, they think my eyes count as cheating. So after a while, I get kicked off the table. But I still made a little bit of money."
"It's good if it worked."
Time kept passing, clearly everyone had made their decisions. The silence kept continuing. After a while, because the voting time had come, everyone heard the system voice. It was stated that voting was now mandatory and anyone who didn't take any action would be eliminated. When we heard the voice, like everyone else, we opened our phones.
"Are you sure, Rei? I'm using my prediction right."
"Yes, I told you. Trust me."
"Alright..."
Ayame wanted to trust me. Maybe she needed a father figure because of her past, even though she was intelligent, she could be emotional in such situations. Or maybe she understood what I wanted to do and was deliberately acting this way because it didn't bother her. I wouldn't be surprised if she understood, after all, she was an intelligent girl, just like Akari.
Every side thought their plan would work. Itsuki's side aimed to execute what they had planned. The old man, on the other hand, believed they would deceive the other girl with them. The twins, as Rei said, had decided to choose the safe path together with John. Within a short time, the votes were completed, now the result was awaited. Everyone was in expectation, they were also expecting me to use my prediction right.
"The votes are complete, there is one eliminated!"
The old man was surprised when he heard the announcement.
"Huh? Won't the rule apply? What's going on?"
When it was heard that someone would be eliminated, everyone started heading toward the center of the dining hall to look at each other. Now everyone could see each other clearly. The old man began to get even more stressed, Itsuki was in a good mood.
The others didn't seem to understand the situation much. John, because he didn't understand, called out to the system, desiring the truth to come out.
"Who got eliminated, damn it, tell us! You're making us curious!"
"Alright, let's not prolong it then!"
"The eliminated player: Atsuomi, that is the old man you know!"
"WHAAAAAT!"
Atsuomi couldn't understand what was happening, he hadn't fallen into Itsuki's trap. He suddenly started getting stressed and angry, he touched his own face with his hands. It was as if he was trying to understand whether he was in reality, he was engulfed in shock.
"HOW IS THIS HAPPENING? I HAD PREPARED EVERYTHING! MARIA, YOU WHORE, YOU DID SOMETHING, DIDN'T YOU? COME HERE, BASTARD!"
He grabbed Maria by the shoulders and pushed her to the ground, got on top of her. He was about to attack her, the others called out to him to stop.
"ATSUOMI, STOP, DON'T DO IT!"
"SHUT UP, I LOST BECAUSE OF THIS WOMAN!"
Just as Atsuomi was about to swing his fist at Maria, he was sent out of the game by the system. He suddenly disappeared just like Hina who had been eliminated earlier. Everyone was surprised even though they had experienced it once because of his sudden disappearance. Maria was scared, she took a deep breath.
"Maria, did you really do it?"
"No, I didn't do anything. The board should appear, look at it!"
Everyone turned their eyes to the voting board that appeared after the elimination. When they looked at the board, everyone suddenly started getting surprised, they were seeing something unexpected.
One of the twins was the last person to look at the board. When she looked at the board, she couldn't keep her calm.
"WHAAAT? REI, WHY DID YOU VOTE, ARE YOU CRAZY?"
BOARD
Players who voted: Rei, Itsuki, Alice, Atsuomi.
Atsuomi and Alice voted for themselves.
Itsuki voted for John.
Rei voted for Atsuomi.
A total of four people voted, apart from this, everyone used their prediction right.
John one vote, Alice one vote, Atsuomi two votes.
The player with the highest votes, Atsuomi, was eliminated!
After everyone looked at the board, everyone was looking at me with surprised eyes. John came next to me and firmly touched my right shoulder.
"Why did you use your voting right, Rei? What happened? You could have been eliminated, you idiot!"
"No problem, I calculated it."
"What the hell did you calculate!"
"Forget it, anyway, I'm going to the bathroom."
I pulled away from John's shoulder. Because of their shock, no one tried to stop me again. I continued walking to the bathroom, they were looking at me from behind, trying to understand the situation. Shortly after, Ayame came to the bathroom.
"Rei, you did well, but why did you use your voting right on that old man? Won't you tell me, aren't I close to you?"
"Alright, I'll explain. First, let me wash my face."
"Okay..."
After washing my face, I felt better, I turned off the water and turned my face to Ayame. She had a facial expression that was waiting impatiently for me to speak. When I saw this face, I prepared myself and started explaining the incident.
"Where should I start, hmm..."
"Let me start with the situation. In these kinds of situations in the game, especially when in a disadvantageous position, understanding the situation is important. I think the voting situation is about understanding which option everyone will choose. That is, it's about everyone thinking and understanding what each other will do."
"You're right."
"Therefore, I first tried to understand what everyone was thinking. If I could make an inference about what everyone would do, I would have understood the situation. When I understood the situation, everything would become more predictable and definite. I started thinking about the players one by one. I first started by thinking about what Itsuki would do. I understood beforehand that Itsuki had the immunity right. In our inference, the immunity had to be either with Itsuki or with the old man. In my opinion, the immunity was with Itsuki. Hina's chance of voting for him was already more likely, and I had also seen Hina's glances toward Itsuki. In the long term, it was more logical for her to be by his side because he seemed more intelligent. The old man, on the other hand, seemed like a secret pervert. I was aware that Hina would choose Itsuki, so I knew the immunity was with Itsuki."
"Yes."
"It was more logical for Itsuki, who had immunity, to use his voting right no matter what because he wouldn't be eliminated in any way since he had immunity. By voting, he was reserving a place for himself within the three-vote rule no matter what. The important part was who he would vote for. To understand this, I thought about the other players. The majority would want to use their prediction right, but on the other hand, they also wanted to reserve a place by using their votes, after all, the game could end suddenly. The person most inclined to think about this was the old man, after all, they directly made three votes. At the same time, he had two women who did whatever he said, this was a very valuable thing. By controlling these two women, he could control events more easily. Like everyone else, he was also aware that piling votes on one person was dangerous, so he thought of another method. He wanted to use their votes because they were exactly three people and he could make the other two votes listen to him, he wanted to be within the rule."
"I'm listening, continue."
"When he understood that piling on one target was dangerous in this situation, he would think of other things, I was aware that he would turn to another solution. First, instead of piling on one person, the idea of distributing the three votes as one vote each came. This way, he would both be within the three-vote rule and probably avoid danger because the votes would be equal. The people he thought of voting for were the twins and John. They wouldn't vote for me and you because we were already target people, they were aware that votes could pile on us. If I used my prediction right, they would be eliminated directly, and in this situation, I was expected to use my prediction right. Same for you, after all, we were two people, we didn't have anyone we could make listen to us. Taking risks for us was dangerous for them. They confused dangerous with illogical, they thought that my voting was illogical because it was dangerous. Their first mistake started here. Because the two of us were risky, the old man thought of distributing the votes one each to the other trio. But then he must have understood that Itsuki could interfere with this. Itsuki was smart enough to understand this, he was also aware of it. Itsuki could understand what he wanted to do and use one of his votes on one of these three people with a one in three chance. This way, he wouldn't be eliminated anyway because he had immunity. According to both sides' calculations, no one else would vote besides them. Since one of them was one of the people who voted the most for the person who used their prediction right, either one of the women or the old man himself would be eliminated. Itsuki, on the other hand, wouldn't be eliminated due to immunity. The old man would understand this."
"Logical."
"Since he would have understood this, he needed to think of something new, otherwise he himself could be eliminated. Then it would occur to him that he could vote for himself on the second floor. The old man's thought process could also directly start from here, both ways led to the same path. Still, I calculated it. When it occurred to him that he could vote for himself, the three of them together could vote for themselves, this way they wouldn't take risks and would reserve a place for themselves in the three-vote rule. But there was one problem: Itsuki would vote no matter what. Even if he voted the way the old man thought, there would still be a problem because this time it would make four votes and they couldn't win the game due to the three-vote rule. He thought he wouldn't understand what he did because the table section where Itsuki was sitting didn't show the way to the bathroom. In short, Itsuki couldn't expect this possibility to occur without learning that the old man went to the bathroom. Since I predicted this, I had seated you at a table that saw the way to the bathroom from the very beginning. This way, I would be able to see him when he went, I could confirm whether my thought process was correct and obtain information this way. I also saw that he went. Anyway, after this situation he thought about, even if Itsuki didn't realize what he did, it made four votes. He couldn't convince Itsuki not to vote. To win the game, they needed to reduce the votes to three, there was only one way: deceiving one of the women to make her use her prediction right."
"Yes."
"For this, they needed to agree on this with the girl he trusted the most in an available environment. Probably if both of them directly went to the bathroom, it would raise suspicion, after all, the probability of both needing the bathroom at the same time would be very weak. When we think about the relationships between the women and the old man, it could be predicted that the man could have used them for his own sexual pleasures, I thought so too. The old man could use this as an excuse. He would indicate this by speaking or with a signal or in some way, both of them would understand it. He must have indicated that he wanted this to the woman he wanted, he would go to the bathroom with her. When they were alone in the bathroom, he would be able to mention his plan. The other woman, on the other hand, would no longer be suspicious of the situation. The old man's move would probably convince the woman in the bathroom with promotion or things she valued, and would state that they would vote for themselves, but when the three of them were together, they shouldn't take risks, therefore they should use their prediction rights. This way, Alice would listen to the old man's words and use her prediction right instead of voting. She thought the other two would also do the same, but they would secretly vote for themselves. This way, it would be three votes instead of four. According to their calculations, by deceiving the girl this way, no one other than Itsuki and the two of them would vote, they would directly win the game due to the three-vote rule. His plan was like this. Since I understood all of this, I simply used my voting right on the old man, and he was eliminated due to having the highest votes."
"I understand, so it seems like you've foreseen everything. But what if they had only voted for you? Even if they expected you to use your prediction right, wasn't what you did very dangerous?"
I chuckled lightly.
"What?"
"The thing is, it starts with it being dangerous."
My voice had taken on a darker tone.
"What do you mean?"
"In the game world, there are many options, right?"
"Yes."
"Some options are logical, safe, or effective. Some options, even if they work, are seen as illogical in human perception because they're dangerous. Throwing yourself into danger is illogical according to people. They're deceived because they think this way. The fact that a move is dangerous doesn't mean it's not strong, it just means it's dangerous. Because they think it's dangerous, they perceive it as illogical, they overlook the details. The biggest deceptions usually emerge from this 'it's too risky, they can't do this.' I call this the logic of danger. People have a habit of perceiving risky options as completely illogical and useless because of their risk. Because jumping into illogicality is crazy for a human, and something crazy is illogical for a human. Because they think this way, they can't think of these possibilities, which is why they're deceived. In fact, the real power of these risky moves is usually won because the opposing side thinks that the option is risky and therefore this option won't be chosen. Like I said, I call this the logic of danger, or the logic of illogicality."
"The logic of illogicality...?"