After Aramaki-san disappeared from
the monitor, no one opened their mouths for a while.
Aramaki-san's employer. In other
words, the mastermind of this death game is among us. There was no way I could
be at peace.
The atmosphere was heavy.
Unsure of what to do, I look around
with an upward glance.
If I suspect something, everyone is
suspicious.
In such an indescribable atmosphere,
the first to move was Hikami-kun, who stood up from his seat and walked up to
the President.
Akira-chan and Yamauchi-san also
stood up, and the four of them started whispering to each other.
Then, two people who seem to be new
models and Fumijima-san begin to gather around Misuzu-chan.
The President's group and
Misuzu-chan's group, or should I say....
If this death game is to be played by
majority vote, the votes of these two groups will surely decide the outcome of
the game.
（But only two of us can survive...
right?)
Even if the four of them work
together to kick out the others, they will have to part ways at some point.
For example, if the President
survives, who will become the other four?
It is obvious that the President
loves Akira-chan very much, but it is also well known that Yamauchi-san is the
President's lover.
If he has to choose, which one will
he choose?
On the other hand, he might not want
Hikami-kun to be cut off.
If President's group and
Misuzu-chan's group crush each other, the key to victory or defeat will be the
remaining people.
Me, Kaneko-san, and the hard rocker.
I turn my attention to Hard Rocker
and Kaneko-san, both of whom have barely moved since last time.
Hard Rocker is looking up at the
ceiling with her feet on the table, and Kaneko-san is looking at Hikami-kun
with cold eyes.
I've seen my fair share of death game
anime, manga, and novels, so it's not like I have zero prior knowledge.
I want to get around somehow and
survive.
If I had to choose one of them to
team up with, or survive with, it would be Misuzu-chan.
In the first place, I went to First
Beauty's agency to protect Misuzu-chan, and got caught up in this death game.
However, I think it's dangerous to
join Misuzu-chan's group at an early stage.
It could make me a target for the
President's group....
（I think I should talk to Hard Rocker
first... she's experienced. But she's kind of scary... but, yeah)
Just as I stood up to talk to Hard
Rocker, I heard Misuzu-chan's voice.
「Fumijima, first of all, you're dead」
「N-no way... Misuzu-san, you're
kidding, right?」
Misuzu-chan kicked Fumijima-san's
legs and said coldly.
「Stay away from me. You're disgusting.
You should be glad to die so that you can be of use to me. Are you stupid?」
Then she said to the two new models
in a high-handed manner.
「You two, vote for Fumijima for now,
got it?」
「B-but...Misuzu-neesan」
「Huh? Natsumi, when did you become
someone who can speak up to me?」
Misuzu-chan glared at her, and the
short-cut girl fell silent.
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「So? The one who deserves to live the
most in this world is me. I'm going to be big, and I'm going to achieve fame.
If I die here, it'll be a great loss to the world. But as long as you do what I
say, one of you will survive, okay?」
Frankly, I was stunned.
I hadn't expected Misuzu-chan to be
so bad.
If anything, I had thought she was a
good girl with good manners.
But now, she's behaving badly,
antagonizing everyone with her overbearing attitude, and cutting off her own
group's votes.
「Please, give me a chance.
Misuzu-san...I don't want to die either...」
When Fumijima-san got down on his
knees, Misuzu-chan stepped on his head, laughing.
「Ahahahahaha! You should be happy that
you can die for me」
「Uuuu...」
As I watched in amazement, I heard
the hard rocker muttering to herself.
「...I guess we'll have to pick the
first one」
「Looks like it」
Kaneko-san responded.
When I turned my attention to the
President and the others, even they were scowling.
Misuzu-chan was sure to get the
votes. That's all I could think.
But Misuzu-chan, perhaps oblivious to
this atmosphere, smiled broadly and raised her voice.
「Everyone! For now, please vote for
Fumijima. That's how we'll survive the first day」
「Please forgive me... please...」
Fumijima-san's desperate plea as he
was kicked to the ground was shameful, but Misuzu-chan's arrogance stood out
even more.
（This... if Misuzu-chan is like that,
the President's group will have a definite advantage. But if President
survives, there's no chance for me to survive... right?)
Even if the President is sure to
secure four votes, it's not a good idea to approach Misuzu-chan. She's like a
muddy boat.
It would be better to keep quiet for
a while longer without teaming up with anyone. In a voting system like this, I
have to keep a low profile. That's important.
Now that I've made up my mind...
「Well, I suppose the breakfast should
be in the room by now」
Hardrocker leaps out of her chair and
walks over to one of the doors.
「Oh, here, here」
Then she opened the door and walked
in.
Kaneko-san stands up and walks into
the doorway as well.
Since I have decided to keep a low
profile, it is not a good idea to stay here.
I look for my name, too, and go
through the names on the door in turn.
And--I found it.
『Ryoko Terashima or Yasuko Kinuta』
That's what was written on the door.
I was horrified.
Perhaps someone was supposed to die
as an example from the beginning.
And that person was either me or that
detective.
I guess that's what it was.
With trembling hands, I turned the
knob and stepped into the room.
On the other side of the door is a
simple room of about six tatami mats.
The walls are still white, there is
no window, and there is a simple bed and desk. It looks like a cheap business
hotel room.
I was relieved to see that the door
could be locked from the inside.
I stepped into the room, locked the
door, and looked under the bed. No problem, there's nothing suspicious.
Breathing a sigh of relief, I look
around and see a hot sandwich, salad and boiled egg on the desk. There was a
cup of coffee and a teacup on the table.
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The hard rocker had said that
breakfast should have arrived by now, and I guessed that this was it.
I wondered if it was safe to eat, but
I was hungry. There's no advantage to poisoning it here, so it should be fine.
That's what I told myself, and I
reached for the hot sandwich.
The hot sandwich was still warm and
quite tasty. It tasted expensive, like breakfast at a fancy hotel.
Looking at the desk with my hot
sandwich in hand, I noticed a few things that caught my attention.
A black box with a hole in it, like a
piggy bank, labeled “Voting Box”.
Beside it, there is a stack of papers
and a ballpoint pen.
I guess this is where I am supposed
to write the name and put it in the box.
The votes open at nine o'clock in the
evening. Since I don't know the exact time, it might be better to vote early.
There is also a saddle-stitched
booklet beside it.
It is a booklet printed in gallettes
on straw paper. On the cover is written “Death Game Handbook”.
The picture on the cover is a cartoon
of a boy and a girl laughing happily. However, the boy has a rope hanging
around his neck.
（I think it's a dark joke...)
While frowning, I opened the book to
the second page and read, “It's a death game until you get home. Follow the
rules and have fun killing each other”, it said.
The rest of the page is a list of
detailed rules. It's hard to remember them all, but it's necessary to know the
ones that might be violated.
The main ones are as follows.
―――――――――――――――――――――
1, Make sure to vote. Invalid votes or multiple votes
will result in immediate death as a penalty.
2, Three meals will be served on the desk in the room.
3, You may stay in your room except during the vote
counting.
4, There are no fixed seats at the round table. Feel free
to sit as you like.
5, You may not enter another person's room without the
permission of the room's occupant. The penalty for doing so is instant death.
6, The name you vote for is valid even if it is a
misspelled name or a nickname, as long as you can identify the person with
certainty.
7, It is okay to kill each other if necessary.
8, Bananas are not allowed as a snack.
―――――――――――――――――――――
The one I should be especially
careful with is #5.
I think some people might try to use
it as a trap. For example, someone could pretend it's their room and lead them
to another person's room. ....
As for the rest... #7 is too
disturbing.
As for #8, it's too late to say
anything.
Bananas are not a snack, of course.
Shouldn't I just avoid contact with
anyone as much as possible?
At any rate, there's only one person
in this group that I really want to die.
I picked up a pen, wrote “President
Kurashima”, and threw the paper into the voting box.
