Her
death was too vivid.
The
thought of being killed like that scared the hell out of me.
（I
should have just left her alone, she's a stranger... even if I don't do it,
someone else will...）
I
regretted from the bottom of my heart that I hadn't meddled too much in trying
to rescue Misuzu-chan.
In the
morning, after spending the night trembling with fear, I was horrified when I
noticed that there was breakfast on my desk. And it made a chill ran down my
spine.
Someone
had come into the room before I knew it.
I was
reminded. No matter how hard I locked the door, this place was not safe.
The
detective, Hikami-kun, and Kaneko-san were dead, and there were only nine of us
left, including me.
I,
Kyoko-san, Masakey-chan, Natsumi-chan, Fumijima-san, Misuzu-chan, President
Kurashima, Akira-chan, and Yamauchi-san.
Normally,
even the death of one person would be a matter of great importance, but three
lives have already been lost. Even so, if seven more people don't die, this
death game won't end.
The
value of life is extremely light here.
（What
should I do... how can I survive?）
While
I was thinking about this, a knock on the door suddenly rang out, and I
involuntarily fell back on the bed.
「Who
is it?」
「It's
me, me! Kyoko. I just wanted to talk to you before we vote next time」
That
voice was unmistakably Kyoko-san.
Honestly,
I can't trust anyone right now... but the best of the rest is probably
Kyoko-san.
After
some hesitation, I unlock the door and invite Kyoko-san into the room. When she
opened the door and saw my face, she smiled.
「You
don't look okay... You've got dark circles under your eyes」
「That's
because..」
That's
what anyone would do if someone died like that in front of them. If I close my
eyes, I can see the image of Kaneko-san hanging from the ceiling behind my
eyelids.
Kyoko-san
sat down on the bed without hesitation and opened her mouth with a slightly
downcast look.
「While
you were cooped up, I talked to two of the new models. Masakey is the one who
betrayed us」
「I
knew it..」
I knew
that much.
Because
Natsumi-chan looked surprised when Fumijima-san got three votes.
「But
it's not because someone told her to, it's because she thought in her own way
that Chihiro must be the mastermind. If Chihiro is the mastermind, the death
game can be ended here. That's what she thought」
「That's
not why we agreed..」
「Well,
you can't blame her for that. Even if Masakey had kept her word, the result would
still be the same. We all don't know each other, so we can't help but be
suspicious of each other」
「...That's
true... but..」
「We
can't trust each other, but still, to find the mastermind, it's important to
team up with people we don't think are the mastermind and secure the majority
of votes. That's the only way to survive, right?」
「Even
if you say that, there's no guarantee that Kyoko-san isn't the mastermind..」
「No,
there is no such thing. But right now, President Kurashima has Mizuki and
Yamauchi. Then Misuzu has Fumijima, and that's five votes. The rest are me,
you, and the two new models. If we don't work together, we'll be destroyed
individually and that'll be the end of it」
「Still...
it's five against four, isn't it?」
If we
vote for the four of them in turn, the President's group can survive for a
while. Our lives are a dying breed.
↓ Continue to Read ↓
↓ Continue to Read ↓
「Yeah,
but just now Misuzu came to persuade me」
「Misuzu-chan?」
I
raise one eyebrow.
「Yes.
Misuzu is cooperating with the President on the condition that Fumijima is
eliminated after Chihiro. So the next vote for Fumijima by the President's
group will be four, since Fumijima will never vote for himself. That means they
need one more vote to be sure」
Well,
if Fumijima-san is eliminated, the President group's vote will be reduced to
four. If there are only eight people left, they want to keep five votes.
（But
why Kyoko-san?）
I was
mildly jealous that I wasn't the one Misuzu-chan had called out to.
「So...
you're going to let Fumijima-san in?」
I
asked in a slightly spiky voice, and Kyoko-san shook her head seriously.
「No...
dropping Fumijima here won't help. More importantly, dropping the President
will destroy the cooperative system between Mizuki, Yamauchi, and Misuzu」
「President
Kurashima?」
「Yes.
If we can get the votes of the two new models, you and I, and Fumijima, to vote
for the President, we can win five to four」
「Ehhh!?
You're bringing Fumijima-san into this?」
「Yeah」
I was
a little surprised by this.
To be
honest, after what he had done to Misuzu-chan, Fumijima-san was nothing but a
disgrace.
「I
don't think I can cooperate with him, but I can use him... I'm going to try to
persuade Fumijima that he's the one the President is after next, and that once the
President is down, the only person Misuzu can rely on is him. I'll try to
convince him of that」
To be
honest, I have no idea what to do right now. In that situation, I have no
choice but to bet my chips on Kyoko-san.
「Can
you help me?」
I
nodded quietly to Kyoko-san's question.
◇ ◇ ◇
『Good
evening! Aramaki-san announces this time is 9:00 p.m, Jake! Gather around the
round table, Jake!』
As
usual, Aramaki-san's voice rang out very loudly.
But
I'm not surprised anymore.
『Ah,
it's too loud』
That's
all I think.
When
we moved to the large room with the round table, no one had come out yet.
After
waiting for a while, people started to gather one by one, and when I saw
Fumijima-san sitting next to Kyoko-san, I was relieved to know that the
persuasion had been successful.
Misuzu-chan
took the trouble to sit on the other side of Kyoko-san, next to Fumijima-san,
in order not to alarm him? I wondered.
『It
seems everyone is here, Jake』
The
distressed look in the fishes' eyes on the monitor was annoying.
『The
number of people in the room is now down to single digits, and it's nice to see
the dirtiness of humanity seeping out, Jake』
「Shut
up, fish. I don't want to be called dirty by someone who has a parasite in her
stomach」
Kyoko-san's
lips twitched and Aramaki-san jumped.
『Oh,
you're right, Jake. Then you should see the results and realize how dirty you
are, Jake!』
Aramaki-san
probably knew that Misuzu-chan had gone to negotiate with Kyoko-san and that
Kyoko-san had persuaded Fumijima-san.
I
think she is trying to say that the result of this vote is the result of mutual
deception.
『I'll
announce the results of the minority vote first!』
（Minority
vote?）
My
eyes widen involuntarily.
I
assume there is no such thing.
There
should be a 50-50 split, with five votes for President Kurashima and four votes
for Fumijima-san.
↓ Continue to Read ↓
↓ Continue to Read ↓
As
usual, Aramaki-san is shown in a close-up, and the words "Total
result" with flame effects are drawn with flashy movements.
And
the next thing that appeared on the screen was...
『Itsuki
Kurashima - two votes』
「What
the helllllll?」
Kyoko-san
shouted and stood up. Two votes means that Kyoko-san and I are the only ones
who voted for President Kurashima.
Then...
『Fumijima
Pheasant Man - three votes』
And
finally, with an explosive effect...
『Kiyoka
Yamauchi - 4 votes』
appeared
on the screen.
In the
stunned silence, Yamauchi-san kicked her chair and stood up.
「W-w-w-why!
How come! Why is this happening to me?」
Fumijima-san,
who was standing across the table from Yamauchi-san, let out a laugh.
「Fuhihi~,
I was surprised when President Kurashima instructed me to vote Yamauchi-san in,
though. Well, if he and Mizuki-san are going to survive, you're definitely
going to get in the way, and I can understand why he would want to get rid of a
useless woman as soon as possible. Fuhihi~」
President
Kurashima shouted at the smirking Fumijima-san.
「You
idiot! I didn't give you that order! I would never do that! Trust me, Kiyoka! You
Fumijima! Why are you lying to her?! What are you scheming!」
「No,
no, no, President might be thinking that if Yamauchi-san is still alive, you're
in trouble, but the four votes that went to Yamauchi-san were mine,
Misuzu-san's, President's and Mizuki-san's, right? Hey, Misuzu-san」
「...Yes」
Fumijima-san's
words were met with a downcast nod from Misuzu-chan. This time, Mizuki-chan
raised her voice.
「No, I
didn't! I didn't vote you! I vote for Fumijima! I swear!」
I have
no idea what's going on here. I definitely put in President. Maybe Kyoko-san
did, too.
Where
were the votes for the two new models who didn't want to participate in the
conversation at all? They must have disliked Misuzu-chan, so it is unlikely
that they acted in concert.
In
other words, Misuzu-chan isn't trying to defeat Fumijima-san, is she?
「Fumijima!
You bastard! You betrayed us!」
Kyoko-san
twisted up Fumijima-san's chest, and he turned away with a frightened look on
his face.
「How
could I betray you... how could I defy the President!」
「Fumijima!
How dare you!」
Yamauchi-san
shouted at the same time as the President struck the round table with great
force.
「I'm
going to kill all of youuuuuu!」
Immediately,
there was a loud bang that made my eardrums feel like they were about to
collapse.
『Shut
up, Jake!!!!!!』
Silence
descended, leaving behind a reverberation of keening and feedback noise.
Everyone froze in place.
In the
silence that had been forcibly created, Aramaki-san said in a clerical tone.
『Cough... then, I will announce
the mission to be assigned to Kiyoka Yamauchi, Jake』
Then,
as Aramaki-san appeared in a close-up on the screen, the words appeared in the
background.
『Crucifixion[1]
sex 24 hours, climax quota 100 times, return alive』
「What...crucifixion?」
As
soon as Yamauchi-san's expression turned frightened, Aramaki-san let out a
chuckle.
『Don't
worry, Jake, it's the ugly ones that will be crucified, Jake』
「Ehhh?」
Fumijima-san
jumped out of his skin. He's aware that it's him, even though all he's said is
that he's ugly.
『Use
the crucified ugly one, and if you can cum a hundred times, you'll survive,
Jake! I'll show you how to use it, Jake!』
「No,
that's... that's hard for me..」
Fumijima-san
looked even more desperate than Yamauchi-san.
(1) Crucifixion
is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a
large wooden beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and
asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Romans, among others.
