Game of Sacrifice

We talked, we chatted, we had fun. I got to know Namjoon and Ame, but the threat lingered in the back of my mind. Now we slept in the small gym room, and speaking of parents, my mother's dead and my father's in jail. As for Ame, she just doesn't have a tutor, finally living here. Finally, Namjoon doesn't want to talk about his family, but he's still very curious about our families, especially mine. For food, we're cleaning up in the BSA to raise a little money, provided by the staff.

I was heading for the toilets, a few rooms before the gym and a few rooms after the secretariat, when I bumped into a girl who wasn't looking in front of her. She dropped a notebook and some crayons. I looked at her, she was brown-haired, long, blue-eyed, and wearing a high school uniform, reminding me of when I used to go there, whereas now I'm unschooled.

"I'm sorry."

I picked up these things, then saw that she was rather short, in the neighborhood of 1m66. She looked rather embarrassed as she spoke.

"No..- no ! It's okay !"

She threw herself on the floor to pick up her things instead of me, then on the other hand I observed her knee, she'd just hurt herself but I didn't react.

"What's this notebook ?"

She didn't answer, just got up and ran off with her notebook on her breast.

After finishing what I had to do in the bathroom, I headed for the main hall, where a lot of people were already there, despite it being morning. They were all avoiding my gaze, and then there was Namjoon, who was also avoiding me. I went over to him, grabbed his shoulder and asked.

"What have you been doing ?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, seriously, give me a fucking break."

Obviously, I was lost, I didn't understand. Suddenly, the front door opened and a man appeared, well-dressed and looking like a gentleman of the time. He spoke, then set a closed tone.

"Hello everyone ! I'm the master of the game. At your confused faces, I can only imagine that you don't understand. Please allow me to explain. Someone in this room has called me to get you to take part in a game. The game is called "Sacrifice": one of you must sacrifice everything you have in life to give it all to the others, except that the difficulty is much higher than you think ! Because if there's tension between you, then some of you may encourage others to sacrifice. Anything goes, except physical harm, so good luck !"

...

I was lost, we were about to play a game where the loser... or rather the sacrificer would have to surrender and lose everything for the others. Who would sacrifice ? I know very well, no one here is going to sacrifice themselves, everyone values life.

"As for your tutors, they know about this and we've had their consent. You will live here for 1 week."

The tutors agree to such a thing ? It's horrible to let children play at this ! Especially since there are 11-year-olds here...

The game master took the exit and left. Namjoon yelled to the others.

"Seriously ? Nobody's going to sacrifice themselves ! Or else we'll have to sacrifice the person in question."

I cut him off, then stepped forward.

"Everyone, listen to me, if this game has a duration of 1 week, then we can't send someone to the sacrifice without their agreement, he said it : 'because if tensions hold between you, then some may incite others to sacrifice themselves', so we can't send someone to the stake, that would be breaking the rules."

Approving whispers arose, but many remained speechless as they looked at me, terrified.

"For groups, keep living together, it's the best way to stay safe. And last but not least, we can sacrifice no one, it'll work just the same! Don't doubt the others and stay calm !"

I knew some of them wanted to sacrifice others they hated, but we had to avoid tension. One of them stood up, then protested.

"We have to sacrifice the most dangerous one, that would mean Shinzo !"

Meanwhile, the master of the game, in front of some of the cameras, laughed.

"I like this kid, the game's barely started and he's deceiving everyone."

He took out his notebook and read.

"The goal is not to get someone to sacrifice themselves, the goal is to sacrifice one person, if the majority agrees." This kid already knows he's the least appreciated, so he's playing the lie card."

Back to the participants.

Shinzo didn't know how to react to this accusation. So he answered as simply as possible.

"Except that I don't feel like sacrificing myself."

Silence reigned now, with Namjoon pacing back and forth, surely thinking things over. Meanwhile, Léana was trying to create a good atmosphere within the group. The secretary was also taking part in the game.

Ame approached Shinzo, then asked.

"Do you want to go and talk?"

Shinzo stood up and headed for the nearest corridor with Ame. They crossed the corridor, alone, where they could talk. Ame spoke first.

"Do you think we'll make it ? That we'll make it ?"

Shinzo thought for a few seconds.

"No one will dare manipulate someone unjustly, to the point of making them sacrifice themselves, and if it would like to be done, fear will stop it, because if it's discovered, it can become destructive for the manipulator."

Ame looked worried, and this Shinzo had noticed.

"Are you worried about the situation?"

"Yes..."

Shinzo paused, then looked Ame straight in the eye.

"Are you afraid of conflict ?"

"Exactly, I don't want any conflicts."

Shinzo didn't know how to react, conflict was obligatory, and there was nothing he could do to avoid it.

They walked to the main room and sat down, saying nothing.

Shinzo remembered a moment in group with Namjoon and Ame, at which time Ame had said this.

"Conflict's my thing, I like it."

Then he also remembered the argument with Soma. She had said :

"This kid just needs a life lesson and to respect these elders, that's all, except that apparently he doesn't understand. Afterwards, I don't mind, I love conflict against the weaker."

This put doubt in Shinzo's mind, but he told himself that she must be panicking about the situation, and that being afraid of it was normal. Conflicts can be big here. Shinzo saw Namjoon whispering to Ame, who smiled. Their discussion looked very happy.

He didn't know who to talk to, then he remembered Léana, who was just to his right, and he touched her shoulder to make her turn around. When she turned around, she smiled when she saw him, even though Shinzo knew that this smile hid some fear.

"Yes Shinzo ?"

"I wanted to ask you, what was the relationship Namjoon and Ame were getting into at the time ?"

Leana hesitated to answer, then blew out a breath and replied.

"Back then, they were very close, but especially Namjoon, who protected her and was very kind to her."

Shinzo put his hand in his pocket in search of thought, then asked the next question.

"Does Ame like conflict?"

Léana was surprised by the question.

"Honestly ? Yes, she loves conflict against weaker people and destroying them internally, it's one of her specialties."

Shinzo closed his eyes in despair, the information wasn't particularly helping him, but he was going to deal with it. He didn't know what else to say, so he turned away, waiting for the time to pass. He felt he had to start acting, or risk the choices being turned his way. He rose to his feet and went to visit the entire building.

"The environment we're in, the history of the game, Namjoon and Ame's discussion, Namjoon's coldness and influence... he's the reason all this started and why everyone's trying to expel me."

He thought.

As he walked through the corridors, he saw a room with a board engraved on it : "Computer Room". On the path, he saw a dark-haired man heading for the toilets. Shinzo found that this room was a long way from the main hall. He thought for a few seconds, then remembered the gym. Namjoon always said he had the key to the computer room with him, and hid it in the room where they usually went. So Shinzo headed for the small gym room, typed in the code he'd seen on Namjoon and then entered the small room, which was unlocked. He found it suspicious, but nothing more. As he entered the room, the door behind him closed directly and locked. Surprised, he tried to switch on the light, but to his surprise, the light wouldn't come on. Shinzo panicked and knocked on the door. Suddenly, he heard a voice in the room.

"Hello Shinzo, I'm honored to announce that you've fallen into my trap !"

Shinzo recognized the voice : Namjoon.

"So, let me explain the situation, I locked you up for a specific reason, you can't be trusted. You're probably wondering why, well, it's simple, when we were living in this little room and I decided we were going to move out of this place, we moved everything out, remember ? So why do you come back when there's nothing left ? Oh, yeah, I know ! I saw you trying to get into the computer room, probably to gather information about us, so you could escape on your own, without anyone's help. Then, the discussion where I said that the key was in the small gym room was totally on purpose, because I knew you were going to be nosy, except that this is even worse ! The gym's code was private, I hid it all the time with my body, except that you knew how to put it on without any difficulty. So you're screwed, you tried to betray us and you're going to pay. You'll stay in the dark, since I know you're afraid of the dark, and you won't be allowed food or water until the end of the game, until you've sacrificed yourself for us. Why should you ? Because you were going to betray us. Now, I hope you have good luck."

Shinzo tried to scream when he realized he couldn't be heard. He shook his hands, thinking quickly of a plan to get out of this trap. He noted the dimensions of the room and began tapping the walls for a potential breach.

"Ohh... look how desperate he is ! The little boy has no hope left."

Shinzo implored Namjoon to be quiet. Then, all of a sudden, Shinzo took a phone out of his pocket and started typing a number into it.

Namjoon, outside the speakers, with the people behind listening.

"How did he get a phone? He said he didn't have one."

Léana spoke up.

"He'd said he didn't have one just the day we met."

Namjoon, realizing his error, sighed.

Back to Shinzo's side.

Shinzo typed the number into his phone, then looked at every corner of the room until he saw a camera. He put his phone in front of it. The phone displayed a number, which made Namjoon react.

On the other side of the camera, everyone was watching in stunned amazement. One of them, panicking, asked anxiously.

"This- this number is Shinzo's father's number! We've got to free him before he calls it !"

Namjoon sighed, eyes closed, calm.

"Calm down, his father's in prison, he can't come."

Then Shinzo typed in another number, this time showing it to the camera with a smile.

Namjoon began to panic, but relativized.

"It's okay... it's his lawyer's number, except there's nothing he can do."

Shinzo called, then began to speak, hiding to prevent Namjoon from lip-reading. After a few minutes, Shinzo had stopped the call and was now chatting by message, a thread of discussion which he showed to the camera. It said :

Lawyer :

For your situation, I've asked the departmental police to take care of it, they're supposed to be here soon.

Shinzo :

So, how do I get out of this room ?

Lawyer :

Don't move, they'll be here any minute.

Shinzo :

Okay, thanks.

Namjoon began to grimace, knowing he was about to commit a "crime". He stood up, then congratulated Shinzo.

"Good job, the fake messages are well done. Except you're not going to get me on that."

The secretary began to panic, then left, dropping a final sentence.

"I've got to get some air..."

Namjoon turned, then addressed the others.

"The secretary looks pretty close to Shinzo, so if we want him to leave, we need to do something bad to that secretary. I know she's not going to take the air, she's going to set him free."

Shinzo was twiddling his fingers and waiting in his room when someone began to open the door.

Shinzo immediately got up and walked towards it. The door opened and he saw the secretary standing there, looking at Shinzo in fright.

"Please ! Don't call your lawyer !"

"Thanks, thanks to you I know everyone knows."

Shinzo walked down the corridor, then chatted a little with the secretary.

"How old are you?"

"Seventeen."

Shinzo was rather surprised at his age, but put it aside. When he reached the main hall, he walked over to Namjoon.

Namjoon grabbed Shinzo by the T-shirt.

"I don't care that you came back because your bait of the message and the call didn't work."

"Yes, it was real."

Namjoon let go of me then thought for a few seconds, he must have been lost. At the moment, the situation was difficult. But nothing's changed, Shinzo's still first on the list for exclusion. J day is still a long way off, so there's no reason why things can't turn around.