The word left Deon’s mouth before he could stop it.
Ash continued drifting across Shinso Bridge and the Flag continued glowing behind him. Yet for Deon, everything had stopped.
No...it had to be soone else.
That was the first thought he forced into his head. There were plenty of people in the world. Plenty of stupid aliases.
Hell, with a ga like the Miracle Royale pulling people from who knew where, maybe the na didn’t even belong to the Vivian Queen he knew.
It’s just a coincidence. It’s gotta be soone else.
Maybe—
"Deon?"
He turned slightly. Hana was watching him with obvious concern, already starting to walk towards him.
"Sothing wrong?" she hesitated before asking. "You looked...zoned out."
Jason looked over as well. Celine, who had been catching her breath on the broken concrete, lifted her head slightly. Even Levi was staring at him.
"It doesn’t matter," he said. "It’s nothing."
For a second, guilt flickered through Deon’s chest, but he shoved that away too.
This wasn’t the ti.
Vivian Queen was in fifth place. That was all. A na on a ranking. A contestant with Points. Whatever she was doing here, whatever wish she had brought into the Miracle Royale, it had nothing to do with him.
He had left that life behind.
[Waiting Phase Ending.]
[00:03]
[00:02]
[00:01]
And right on cue, confetti exploded above the glowing Chair. Mimi spun into existence with both ribbon-like ears fluttering behind it.
"Thank you for waiting, surviving contestants!" Mimi chirped. "Mimi hopes everyone enjoyed that brief period of rest and trauma processing."
Deon’s eye twitched.
I hate this thing.
"Mimi also hopes all surviving contestants have taken the opportunity to reflect on their decisions, their bonds, their regrets, and the many friends they failed to save!"
"Tch..." Levi clicked his tongue from the side. "Get to the point, Mascot."
"Okay! The First Round of Musical Chairs has concluded! Ten wonderful Teams have successfully claid and defended their Chairs!"
A panel appeared above them.
[Second Round Beginning Soon.]
[Remaining Chairs: 6]
[Remaining Teams: 10]
[Remaining Contestants: 42]
Jason frowned. "Wait. Six Chairs and only ten teams? Isn’t that too harsh...?"
Mimi’s painted and inky smile widened. "The Viewers asked the sa thing! But don’t worry, this round is actually generous for you!"
"Since watching the exact sa Teams sit comfortably in the exact sa Chairs would be boring, the production team has accepted several exciting suggestions!"
"For the Second Round, all claid Chairs will be released!"
"Released?" Celine tilted her head. "Does that an—"
"Correct!" Mimi answered, cutting her off before spinning once in the air.
It simply pointed to the Flag. For a second, nothing happened. Then, the glowing hole beneath their Flag suddenly dimd before—
Pluck!
It ca flying right out and fell onto the ground.
"All Teams must locate and claim a Chair once more! However, to encourage fresh dynamics, new friendships, betrayal, dramatic recruitnt, and delicious interpersonal conflict, the seating requirents have been adjusted!"
A new panel unfolded.
[Musical Chairs — Second Round]
[Each Flag must register 7 seated mbers to claim a Chair.]
[Teams with fewer than 7 registered mbers may not initiate a Claim Phase.]
[mber registration may be changed freely before Claim Phase initiation.]
[Once Claim Phase begins, registered mbers are locked.]
"Damn it," Deon muttered. "Can’t these guys let us catch a break with all these new rule changes?!"
Behind him, Hana read it at the sa ti. "Seven mbers...?"
Jason looked around at their group, then counted under his breath. "But we only have five."
"So every surviving Team needs more people," Celine said softly from the floor.
"Correct!" Mimi sang. "Mimi recomnds negotiating sincerely, recruiting carefully, and betraying efficiently!"
"Well now! Good luck!"
And just like that, the Mascot was gone again, leaving them in silence and the terrible situation that had just gotten worse.
Jason turned toward Levi imdiately, "What should we do? M—maybe we can look for two others?"
But Levi didn’t answer, as he was also deeply in thought. It was clear that this wasn’t sothing within his calculations.
Deon listened to Jason, inclined to believe it.
The answer was simple after all. Find two more contestants and add them to the Flag—then move on.
But the more Deon thought about it, the worse that answer beca. There were ten teams left and forty-two contestants.
That ant most Teams were damaged. So had five. So had four. Maybe a few had three or less. But anyone still holding a Flag had a reason to keep it. No sane group of five would abandon their own Flag just to donate two mbers to soone else’s.
And production made the number consistent, too. They were right about being generous.
If every team managed to rge successfully. There’d be six groups of seven...exactly 42 people. If so...
Deon turned the numbers over in his head once more before finally turning towards Hana. "We’re splitting off."
Jason’s eyes widened and Celine stood up imdiately, almost knocking over the quiver that was resting on her leg.
"What? Why?"
Deon shrugged. "Five people looking for two more is annoying. Two people looking for five is easy. Three people looking for four is also easy. We split, and suddenly both sides fit."
And besides, if I stay with Levi for any longer, he’s just going to eat all the Points in the area. Can’t let him outfox again.
Jason and Celine both opened their mouths at the sa ti. But before either of them could speak, Levi cut in.
"He’s right."
The two of them turned toward him.
Levi’s gaze remained on Deon, his expression suggesting he had reached the sa conclusion. "If he hadn’t suggested it, I would have."
Deon blinked. "You would’ve?"
"Yes."
"With who?"
"Celine or Jason," Levi answered without hesitation. "A group of two is easier to absorb into a team of five. A group of three is easier to rge with a team of four. Staying as five only makes us inconvenient."
Jason was the first to find his voice. "But what about the team?"
"It was only a temporary team."
"It was always temporary."
"..."
"..."
For a brief second, the two of them looked at each other. Then Levi snickered softly to himself, not like an actor performing for a cara, but like he had genuinely found sothing funny.
Deon’s eye twitched. "What?"
"Nothing."
"..."
"Alright, then..."
Deon had just barely taken a step before Levi called out from behind him.
"Deon."
Sothing ca flying at him. Deon raised his hand and caught it by muscle mory.
"Hey, what the hell was—!?"
The words died in his throat as he looked at what the actor had thrown him. It was a Card with a dull blue border, the white letters across its surface imdiately revealed its power.
[Analyze]
Is this...the Card he got from the Wheel of Fortune?!
He stared at the Card for a second longer before looking up, "What the...why would you give this?"
"You’ll need it more than I will."
"What the hell’s that supposed to an?"
Regardless of what he was saying, this was undoubtedly enormous power and leverage that Levi had given him.
Gifts were never just gifts. Deon knew that better than anyone. Gifts ca with strings, and strings beca leashes if you let them wrap around your neck long enough.
He clicked his tongue and slipped the Card into his pocket anyway.
Throwing away sothing useful just because it ca from soone suspicious was the kind of pride that got idiots killed.
"I’m not thanking you."
"I didn’t ask you to."
"Good."
Deon turned away again, but Levi’s voice followed him one last ti. "Just stay alive, Cockroach."
He stopped once again, staring back at the actor. But all Levi did was shrug, already turning away to do sothing else.
Deon stared at him, completely forgetting the Rare Card in his pocket for half a second.
Cockroach...?
What the hell did I even do?
Reviews
All reviews (0)