•Kazuki Hoshino, dead via slit carotid artery inflicted by Iroha Shindo
GA OVER
• Winners
Iroha Shindo (Player)
The Sorcerer; killed Yuri Yanagi, Maria Otonashi, Daiya Oomine, and Kazuki Hoshino directly on the first day. Survived.
*Victory conditions were fulfilled by skillfully surviving.
Koudai Kamiuchi
The Double; survived.
*Victory conditions were fulfilled by the deaths of Kazuki Hoshino and Maria Otonashi.
• Losers
Yuri Yanagi
The Knight; died due to hemorrhagic shock after her carotid artery was slit with a knife by Iroha Shindo on the first day.
Daiya Oomine
The King; died due to hemorrhagic shock after his carotid artery was slit with a knife by Iroha Shindo on the first day.
Kazuki Hoshino
The Prince; died due to hemorrhagic shock after his carotid artery was slit with a knife by Iroha Shindo on the first day.
Maria Otonashi
The Revolutionary; died due to hemorrhagic shock after her carotid artery was slit with a knife by Iroha Shindo on the first day.
The intoxicated wavering ceases, and the transparent hands controlling vanish.
In front of is an arcade ga cabinet with Kingdom Royale written on it.
I’m back in that black, dark space. The sinister, sticky air that seems to cling to my body fills with loathing—and then I rember.
That’s right. Those transparent hands ca out of this machine and grabbed , and then—
“Welco back from the aningless slaughter.”
Daiya Oomine, the owner of the Ga of Indolence, stands before .
“So how were the Replays?” Daiya asks.
“Replays…?”
“Yeah, everything you underwent in Kingdom Royale, you didn’t actually experience. How should I put it…? Okay, it’s like you were living through sothing like the records or backlogs of other players.”
What the hell is Daiya talking about? The records of other players? If I was, then why was it all from my viewpoint?
Those mories were undoubtedly mine.
“I can see you don’t really understand.”
“…I an, those were definitely my—”
“Those were NPCs.”
Daiya answers straightaway.
“…What?”
“Don’t you know any gaming terminology? Okay, what I’m saying is that thing you thought was you was actually an enemy controlled by the Kingdom Royale computer. If that wasn’t the case, you definitely wouldn’t be here after dying twice, right?”
…I don’t understand. The who went through all that suffering and ntal anguish was just an NPC?
“…You’re lying. There’s no way it could copy my behavior and thoughts so realistically.”
“It can. That’s what makes it a Box.”
“…You may be right, but…”
Now that I think about it, Maria didn’t have her Box. Could that be because she was an NPC?
“…But why would you do all this?”
“I thought I told you? This Box, the Ga of Indolence, is made to simply force people into the ga of Kingdom Royale and fight off boredom. Kingdom Royale won’t start unless there’s a human to start the killing. If it doesn’t start, it’s no good as a diversion. So what do I need to do to guarantee one person kills another?”
Daiya tells , without allowing to get a word in.
“I build a system where one person will always kick off the slaughter.”
“Why does having NPCs make it so one person will always start killing?”
“In Kingdom Royale, only one player is fighting in the true sense. If they lose, then they die. All the rest are NPCs. You still with ?”
I nod, a frown on my face.
“The player knows the other people are NPCs. They’re hard to tell apart from the real thing, but the player knows that even if they kill the NPCs, the originals are still alive. On the other hand, they also know that for them, and them alone, it’s all over if they die. Now then, do you think a player in that position would be able to go without killing anyone?”
I rember sothing Yuri said during the second ga.
“I don’t want to die.”
She must have been the player in that ga. I wonder if she would’ve done what she did if she had no clue what was happening… My guess is no. I’m positive she was influenced by the knowledge that everyone else was an NPC.
No, what’s really worrying is Iroha. She was much more open about it. She suppressed her emotions and ended the ga as quickly as possible because she knew she would have a chance to do it over again. Each of the three gas unfolded in a completely different manner. Everything can change so much depending on the player, and that’s undeniable proof that the player is the key to starting Kingdom Royale.
“…So why did Yuri suffer so much and try so hard not to kill us? She would’ve known we were NPCs, right?”
“You really are a slug with no imagination. You do know those NPCs are perfect copies of you all? True, you can kill them, and the real versions won’t die… But on the flip side, that’s the only difference.”
“…?”
“The NPC of you isn’t different from the real you in any way. Its personality is exactly like yours in every way possible. Would you be able to forgive soone who killed a being identical to you? Or to look at it the other way, would you be able to casually murder soone else’s NPC?”
I close my mouth.
“You know the answer because you did the Replays. Killing an NPC feels the sa as killing the real thing.”
…He’s right. Whether the real was alive didn’t matter a whit to my NPCs. Yuri and Iroha killed those other “”s.
The NPCs and I are identical yet separate beings.
“…Daiya, is it fair to say that the experiences of the NPCs based on in these Replays you’re talking about can be treated like my own experiences?”
“Yeah, I don’t see any issue with that.”
If so, that ans I have yet to win or lose Kingdom Royale.
What will decide that is yet to co.
I look at the arcade cabinet before .
Next ti, I will play Kingdom Royale in the truest sense. I’ll play a ga where there are no do-overs, where dying ans dying.
“It’s your turn.”
“So the players up until now have been Daiya, Yuri, and Iroha in that order, right?”
“Yeah, what about it?”
“What are Yuri and Iroha doing now?”
“They’re in the darkness here. Sleeping, or maybe I should say ‘stopped.’ If you looked around, you could probably find them, but you won’t be able to do anything, so there’s no reason to. You’ll only go free once all the six player gas are over.”
“And they’re all alive?”
“Yeah. Because they won as players.”
“…The mories of our ti playing Kingdom Royale aren’t going to vanish, are they?”
“No.”
I rember. I didn’t actually experience those things, so maybe that isn’t the right way to put it, but…at any rate, I rember.
Yuri Yanagi’s empty eyes.
Iroha Shindo’s wail.
They’ll suffer, bear the guilt of their actions, and never be able to rid themselves of it. I won’t be able to save them, no matter what I do in my upcoming ga.
I cannot help them anymore.
Just like them, the only one I can help is myself.
…No, that’s wrong.
“Daiya.”
“What?”
“When is Maria’s turn?”
Daiya replies.
“After yours.”
I see. Then—
—I can save Maria.
I look around, searching for her form. I know she should be in this space. But I’m completely surrounded by that unpleasant gloom, and I can’t see anything except the imdiate vicinity of the arcade cabinet.
Yuri and Iroha gave hints in the hope that I would win. They taught strategies on how to defeat them.
But that won’t work for .
After all, Maria has no chance of winning. She can’t carry out the killing and deception essential to this ga.
Within the Ga of Indolence, she is powerless.
I have to save her. If I don’t, she will beco my new Nana Yanagi.
But what do I need to do? Even if I’m victorious in Kingdom Royale, that only ensures that I survive and doesn’t do anything to help her.
That’s right—my goal isn’t to win Kingdom Royale.
It’s to crush this stupid Box, the Ga of Indolence.
“…What’s that cheeky look for, Kazu?” Daiya scowls at the way I’m watching him.
“……This really isn’t fair, is it, Daiya?”
“What?”
“I’m saying it’s cowardly.”
Daiya seems openly displeased by my comnt… Just as I planned.
“How so? I was the very first player of Kingdom Royale. I had to feel my way through without any Replays, so when you take that into account, I had the biggest disadvantage of us all. And you call that cowardly?”
“Our objectives are different.”
“What?”
“In my case, winning Kingdom Royale doesn’t an I’ve completed my objective. It just ans I survived. You know that my true goal is to make it back to my normal life, right?”
“……”
“Killing soone during the ga is enough to prevent from ever reaching my objective. If Kingdom Royale doesn’t end until you kill sobody, then I’ll never be able to et that goal. There’s no winning for , in other words. anwhile, you get to throw in a cage and watch invariably lose. Doesn’t that sound cowardly to you?”
After I put that out there, Daiya gives a silent glare. I et his eyes and hold my stare, fighting to keep my terrified heart in line.
This goes on for a while—but then Daiya bursts into laughter.
“Wh-what’s so funny?”
“What’re you saying? That little staring contest there was ant to make laugh, right? Okay, fine, fine, I lose. Your face really does crack up, though.”
“…I’m asking what’s so funny about it!”
“It’s just funny. You’re obviously trying to challenge to turn the situation to your advantage.”
“……Oh.”
He sees through my little provocation.
“Try again when you’re as smooth as Yanagi. You could never fool with your crappy acting. You’re about as silly and empty-headed as they co.”
“Ugh—”
Guess it’s no good—
As long as Daiya doesn’t change the conditions, I have no chance of accomplishing what I want to do. Had I reached a deadlock?
Will I—not be able to save Maria?
“But it sounds interesting,” Daiya says.
“……Huh?”
“What I’m saying is that I accept your challenge.”
I still can’t process it, though, and my jaw drops.
“There’s a secret trick that will allow you to end Kingdom Royale without killing anyone.”
Daiya carries on without paying attention to . I manage to close my mouth, then focus on what he’s saying.
“Do you rember how that green bear says it’ll be boring if everyone gets mummified?”
I sift through my mories.
“AnYWaY_I_wish_you_all_GOOd_luck. DoN’T_let_the_game_end_with_some_bORIng_outCOme_where_YoU_are_all_muMMIfied.”
Yeah, he did say that.
“I’m repeating myself here, but this Box is ant to fight off boredom. It doesn’t want a peaceful end where nothing happens. It doesn’t take into account the idea that the ga could end without any murder because that’s not interesting. And so, the mont it’s certain no one will be killed, the ga shuts down. Everyone’s food runs out, and when the ti cos, the player will be released.”
“So in other words—”
“If no one kills anyone else for eight days, you can survive.”
Yeah, there it is.
That will be the proof I’ve beaten the Box and taken back my normal life.
“And—if you reach that ending, I’ll destroy the Ga of Indolence. This is your idea of fair, right?”
“…Really?”
“When have I ever lied?”
…Plenty of tis, actually.
But I’m pretty sure he’ll keep this promise. As prideful as Daiya is, there’s no way he’ll break a promise in a contest with such clearly defined rules of victory or defeat.
Victory is no longer an impossibility for .
Of course, keeping everyone, including Daiya and Koudai Kamiuchi, from killing others is going to be an extrely difficult task. Soone might make a mistake as ti runs out, and the fear of death runs high. The road to the ending that’s only available after eight uneventful days is going to be rough.
Even so, I have no other choice.
“…Daiya.”
I jab my pointer finger at him.
Daiya has been calling Kingdom Royale a “aningless slaughter.”
However, I reject that idea.
It does have aning. The struggles of Yuri, Iroha, and all the others taught how to defeat Daiya.
I won’t let their pain be for nothing.
“I will beat you, Daiya.”
Daiya laughs boldly and declares:
“Not a chance in hell.”
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