Right after the clown introduced himself, the players erupted—utterly unrestrained. Screams tore through the air, like a tal concert... except there was no rhythm, no harmony—just pure chaos.
Akuma had to step in.
"Hey, you brain-dead morons! Can you shut the fuck up for once?! You’re here to PLAY! TO HAVE FUN! TO FEAST, NOT WHINE LIKE FUCKING TODDLERS LEFT IN A DUSTBIN!"
There were no response. The room was drowning cries. So players looked half-deranged. Velvet included.
"SHUT THE FUCK UP! DAMN, YOU’RE NOISIER THAN A PACK OF RATS!"
...Wait, what? Just like that?
Silence.
Dead silence.
Not a single sound—save for the dry echo clinging into the stale air.
The Akuma who was just screaming a second ago—collapsed. Flat on her back, limbs splayed out weirdly.
Could it be...?
A wild guess, but maybe that device drains her stamina every ti she uses it. Like a hidden fee. After all, power always cos with a cost.
Wait...
Yeah. Libido.
If this ga is indeed based on Freudian theory, then perhaps the control chanism siphons his libido. aning: her ability to feel arousal is drastically reduced. That might even explain why she’s so... erratic. Vulgar. Always clingy to Fulltal like a fly to syrup.
Ah. So that’s it.
But before I could connect the dots fully, she suddenly sprang to her feet—no, not just stood up, she flipped over like a spring-loaded gymnast. Bursting with energy. Almost unnaturally so.
"Wah wah waaah~ Shocked, weren’t you? Hehehe~ That was just a bit of acting~!"
What the hell. How’d she recharge that fast?
If libido could be restored like that, then the source must be... what ever it is, sothing grotesquely potent.
I glanced at her hand. She seed to be hiding a small silver pouch.
For a second, I thought I saw her chug it before she popped back up. I assud it was nothing, but then—
"You were looking, weren’t you, Midnight sweetie? Looking at this~"
She shoved the pouch in my face. At the tip—thick yellowish-white fluid...
I didn’t want to know. But clearly—that was her energy source.
"Wanna taste? I swear It’s delightful, you know~"
I shook my head furiously, very aware—too aware—of her suggestive nonsense since the beginning.
Of course, it was all deliberate.
"Hey, don’t be like that. That stuff’s for girls. He’s a guy, isn’t he? Brain the size of a peanut."
That sarcastic voice? It was the party crasher—Whimsical_Clown.
I didn’t bother responding. No use getting offended by soone like him.
They kept talking like I wasn’t even there. Too casual.
When I first heard his na, I had no idea who he was. But his mannerisms... sothing about them was familiar. Maybe... we’d talked in the lobby once?
This guy...
He wasn’t a stranger.
"Oh? You’re curious too, aren’t you? How fascinatingly predictable..."
Once again, my thoughts may as well have been scribbled on my forehead.
[ANYWAY... DOESN’T ANYONE FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE WITH THE SS ON THE FLOOR?]
Fulltal cut in, pointing at the mangled corpses she labeled "ss." Her tone? Blank. Like an AI that’d lost its script.
"Ah, good point. CLEANING SERVICE! GET IN HERE, YOU IDIOTS!"
And there it was again—her inner toxic gar girl. Fernted and preserved deep in her soul.
Soon after, a crew of gray-suited workers with helts ca in. They vacuud up the corpses with sothing like a massive Dyson, leaving the place squeaky clean. Even Akuma’s shoes—splattered with guts—were spotless.
"Okaay~ all shiny now, darling~!"
Fulltal didn’t say much. She patted Akuma’s head, and the girl responded with a hiss and a purr, like a spoiled cat.
I swallowed hard.
How could they be this... chill, in a place this tense?
The other players? Since they were "silenced," they looked like statues. Not moving, but still alert. Like computers stuck in standby mode.
I finally dared to speak.
"So... what now?"
"What do you an ’what’? Didn’t we introduce ourselves already? What, are you slow or sothing—"
[I BELIEVE HE’S REFERRING TO HIS QUIZ DEDUCTION.]
Fulltal chid in. She rembered.
"OH, RIGHT! THAT?! YEAHYEAHYEAH!!"
The scream stabbed my eardrums like ice picks. High-pitched, too real, like a murder shriek in surround sound.
And she had a mic. Of course. Built-in speaker system. Instant auditory torture.
"What’re we waiting for? Just give him the prize already and let’s move on."
Whimsical butted in—the show had gone on long enough.
"Wait wait waaait! The audience is still zoned out—how’re we supposed to CELEBRATE?! GET UP, YOU LAZY BASTARDS!!"
The players shot up like puppets. But their faces... still. Too still. Like nothing happened.
"Confused, aren’t ya? Don’t worry. I ’injected’ sothing special. Not directly, of course."
"With that, they won’t scream like banshees again. Annoying little shits."
Kettle ets pot, then calls the pot black.
Akuma had read my mind. Again.
Alright, let’s be real. Ti to speak from the soul:
You’re the most disgusting lowlife villain I’ve ever encountered.
Sex-crazed, obnoxious, and... cheap.
Her ears went red. She whispered:
"T-thank you..."
...That was not a complint, you mad psycho.
The players began to glance my way. Their expressions a jumbled ss—confusion, revulsion, vague understanding.
"Confused, huh? Don’t worry about it! The air just feels hot and heavy in here, right? That’s all!"
She brushed it off like I hadn’t insulted her at all. As if it were praise.
"Anyway... aren’t you all dying to know what PRIZE Midnight’s getting for solving the quiz?"
Their faces twisted. Envy. Spite. Raw resentnt.
I didn’t even know who they were.
So were intrigued. So indifferent. Velvet just shook her head slowly.
"Sooo? Do you wanna knooow??!"
She scread with such force, it felt like she wanted to ignite everyone’s emotions in the room.
Fake crowd cheers blasted through the speakers.
"Alright, alright—no more teasing... Here it is—THE PRIZE FOR THE ONE AND ONLY... MIDNIGHT!
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