CHAPTER 3

"More troubling and complex, however,are the battles we face with those who are supposedly on our side"

Robert Greene, The 33 strategies of war.

I got to my former base(since I was kicked out) and confronted Hiro.

"You know I thought you were different Hiro" I smirked.

"I thought you weren't like the rest but, you've shown me who you are"

For some reason I was smiling , I honestly don't know why.

"What are you talking about ? , I voted for you" Hiro said

"Yeah to cover yourself up"

"What do you mean ? "

"I voted for you ,the rest was out of my power"

Then I started breaking out into a laugh. I showed him the footage of him "betraying" me through my phone. He started getting anxious a bit ,and a little sweat was on his head.He broke out of it then,he started clapping and smiling

"I guess there's nothing more for me to say now ? Is there, Daichi ?" He said with the most hideous smile on his face

"You've got me "

"But am I to blame?,I can't let anyone or anything stand in the way of my future" He said

"You just did by sabotaging me"

"I assure you that you'd live to regret this decision" I said

"and what are you going to do about it ?, You're not good at anything, your grades are average, everything average, there's no way you can compete with the likes of me" He said

"We'll see" I said as I swiftly left the room in haste, my face bitter, the only thing on my mind at this point was revenge , I was going to make him pay for the decision he made, and he would live to regret it.

After confronting Hiro, I went straight to my base. There were two of my "new teammates" there, a boy and a girl. The girl was "Akari Yamamoto" and the boys name was "kazuki Tanaka" Two of the least performing students in my class. I wonder if that was why they were voted out, I mean it's the most logical reason.

The room was quiet for a while until I decided to take the initiative, we were outnumbered and if we wanted to have any chance of winning I would have to be the one in charge, so I stood in front of the classroom and said.

"Listen we are outnumbered, and if we're going to have any chance of winn-"

"Winning? Are you serious right now ?, How is that going to happen ?" Kazuki interrupted

"We're completely outnumbered and we're basically waste that got cuttoff" He said

"yeah we are at a total disadvantage, there's no point in trying when we've already lost" Akari said in a very sad tone

These two had already given up before even knowing what we were up against , these we're definitely not the kind of people I would need on my team.

"To be honest I could give a shit- that you're sad, or that you've given up" I said

"I honestly don't care about any of you , but it seems to me that you don't care about yourselves"

"I'm not the one that's going to be affected when we lose, it's you that's going to be affected"

"listen we're already against odds here but, since we have nothing to lose anyway then why are you so scared of trying"

"We're gonna lose anyway so why don't you give it your best shot"

"listen the only way this is going to work is if both of you do what I say "

"They're already underestimating us, and that's our advantage"

"But this is only going to work if you do as I say "

"Aye Aye captain , you're an asshole but, that was a really great speech" Kazuki said

"I'm in" He said

"Me too" Akari said

"Well it's good to know that the two of you aren't going to be sitting and complaining like kids all day"

"If you didn't listen to me , I'd have left you two to rot alone"

"Well we listened so ,what's the plan?" Kazuki said

"I don't know, I guess we'll have to wait till the second game"

THE SECOND GAME - DAY 2

Ah Wednesday, My lucky day , this was the day I was waiting for , the moment I would crush all my enemies, they wouldn't see me coming and they would pay for underestimating me.

We were all assembled in the hall again, and this time there was a group of underdogs present.It felt so hopeless (lol), but I was so determined to play the first game that I was just staring at MR X, I was incredibly locked in. Unlike last time, I didn't hear conversations and petty gossips. Everybody seemed to have gotten the "memo". People will do what they can to get rid of you.

MR X called everybody to attention , but nobody wasn't really not paying attention in the first place. Anyway, he explained the rules of the game, players would trade secrets with themselves and anybody's secret that comes out will lose 10points. But there's more,

Each team can submit what they think the secret of the another person is but, if they get it wrong they also lose ten points. But there's more if most of the team or even a small fraction of people manage to keep their points safe then they would take 10 points from each member of the team.

"And yes there's no Fighting allowed, remember we're watching you"

We began trading secrets with each other, I knew if we were going to win we'd have to find a way to make teammates betray each other. And I had to convince my team that it was basically dumb to betray me. So I did.

"You guys shouldn't even think about betraying me "

"it's the dumbest shit you can pull "

"we're already outnumbered unless you want more division".

"Chill, you and your trust issues Goddamn-it" Kazuki chuckled

"Yeah I know we're not great at school but, we aren't dumb you know " -Akari said

"All right I was just getting some things straight"

Okay so now I feel like I have control over my team, all I have to do now is get other group members to flip on their teammates.

This was the plan, the offer for betrayal was five points to the betrayer, but It's really not the safest route to take, I mean there's the possibility of a "Fake secret", Which would give the betrayer more points anyway. If I had to do this , then it wouldn't be a negotiation. I had to find a way to "forcefully" take it, or "steal it".

"Hey, wise one , got a plan" Kazuki said while staring straight to my face

"No, I'm still thinking" I said

"Well think faster bro, we don't have all day" He said

"We do actually" I said.

The challenge was scheduled for 24 hours but, I understood what he meant, we needed to think of something fast and something that would catch them off guard.So I was thinking then, instead of us searching for their secrets, why don't we get them to come for our "secrets" but, the fake ones. Obviously we're going to have to make it look real. And the only way to do that was to not let Akari and Kazuki know that the "secrets" we're fake.

"so what's the plan?" Akari said

"These are your new secrets" J Said

I wrote two new "secrets" for them , in a piece of paper and I indeed had a plan but if I told them then i'd be sure it wouldn't work. First this was a risk, and I had to get MR X to give me the pass for extra secrets I wrote on extra paper, so I went to his office.

"You really love breaking the rules, don't you ?" -MR X said

"I don't think there were any rules to begin with" I said

"And besides I'm already putting myself at a disadvantage , so it's fair"

"Hmm I do like it when students try to take themselves out"

"so what are you offering, of course I know it's points"

"30 points" - I said

"whoa doesn't that bring you to 50 points"- MR X said

"I never said the points we're mine" - I said with a large visible smirk on my face

MR X chuckled

"You're planning on taking other people's points ?"

"I'm taking it all" I said.

"And how are you going to do that ?" He said

"Just sit tight and watch a magician at work"

"This boy" - MR X said

I left for my base now, and MR X deducted 30 points from health bar, but I knew I was going to get it back.

"Daichi Yagami, huh ?" -MR X said

"There's something different about the boy" He said

"And I think he's going to be a menace if he isn't stopped"

"Or he could just be a fraud and go down terribly"

"Which one is it ? Huh, Daichi Yagami ?"

"I really want to know"

When I got back to the assembly hall, there was this weird vibe, and everyone had eyes on me. They were definitely perceiving me as "prey" looking to score extra points.

"All of you are now allowed to leave the assembly hall, and you can continue the challenge in your respective bases" said one of MR X's henchmen

"The challenge will go on for 24 hours, and remember ,no Fighting"

"We are watching you"

The silence when everybody left was disturbing, what happened to the fun loving class that loved each other, I looked over at Hiro and his team. They all were listening to his orders but they were all still terrified of him, I mean why not ?,You never know when you're going to be next, in Hiro's team his teammates felt like pawns, in my team my teammates are still pawns but with a little "Free will", that's right I've set this challenge in a way that no matter how they act, the victory has been predetermined from the start, so all they have to do is play their role, I think that's much better than controlling people. But I did say I was taking it all so, I have to do more than play the "defensive", I need to get on offense.

Everybody was going to their respective bases, and I wasn't sure if anybody would willingly let their guard down so I had to persuade them to talk. I need something to use against them. Everybody's a "a tough guy until there's a gun to their head" then they start talking, all I have to do is to get that gun and point it across their head. Now a gun can range from being secret information, a false truth, or an actual gun lol, and they all work. If I'm going to win this challenge I have to get the person so terrified of what I'm about to do to them that they have to speak.

I would start first with a girl from Naomi's crew "Hinata shojo", a quiet girl that is very easily picked on but, she's very good Academically, she's one of the top students in the class, why did I choose her you ask. Because she's not made for this type of scenarios. She doesn't have that fighting spirit ,she might pretend she does, but it's not long before that façade wears off and her true nature starts to show, she's acting all tough so she won't be perceived as prey, it's all really a defense mechanism( And it's working) , but I'm not going to fall for that. I was going to push as hard as I can with her because once I can get her to flip on someone else , all the dominoes will start to fall. And I will be the victor.

My plan was to somehow lock her in the Janitor's office until she starts talking, but how do I do that ? It seemed a lot harder in reality than in theory, I had to find a way to actually get her in the Janitor's office , What do I do ?, I couldn't think of a way to convince her so I had to try the "direct Approach".

"Hinata , come here it's really urgent" I said

"Are you trying to trick me into giving you my secret Daichi ?" said Hinata.

"No" I said.

"Then what do you want from me ?" Hinata said

"Look it's really urgent and very important, so if you can be human for once I would really appreciate it" I said

"But it's fine if you don't want to come, I'll just get someone else to help me " I said.

"uhhh, fine, I'll help you" Hinata groaned her face looking frustrated

"What can I help you with Daichi ?"

"Come in here" I said as I lured her into the Janitor's office.

She came in to the Janitor's office and I told her to have a seat, immediately after she had a seat. I went outside and I locked the door.

"What's the meaning of this ?"

"Tell me your secret"

"Oh so you were trying to trick me after all "

"Shut up, and just tell me your secret"

"And why would I do that ?"

As I suspected I knew she wouldn't break at the first try, and I also had a limited amount of time before someone comes around. She was shouting at the top of her lungs.

"Let me out" she shouted.

"You know the rules, you know what to do, just tell me the secret and I'll let you go" I said

"Never" she said

I didn't want to do what I was about to do next but she was screaming very loud Which means I didn't have much time left so my only option was Tibo.

Tibo was the schools "snake" that was usually in the zoology lab and I was going to put him in the same room with Hinata , and until she talks she's not getting out.

"you have one last chance" I said

"Do your worst " she said

"Okay, you asked for it"

So I went to the zoology lab to get Tibo, I'm not scared of snakes but I'm pretty sure she is , I mean any average human being is scared of snakes. Anyway I put Tibo around my neck and took him to the Janitor's office.

"You still don't want to tell me your secret ?" I asked

"No I would never " she said

At this point I understood that this girl could not be reasoned with and my only option now was to use the snake as a weapon.

So I open the door, she immediately rushed to try and get out but after she saw the snake she moved back, I put the snake on the floor and locked the door again, she started screaming very loud this time.

"Please, can't you there's a snake in here" She said

"Oh I can see it, and guess what ?, I don't care" I said

After that she began to cry, tears of pure pain. And I told her

"I don't care if you cry, but I do care about the secret you're with , if you can do that then we have no problem

She tried to hold on for about five minutes while simultaneously screaming at the top of her lungs. I think she eventually started to break when the snake started coming closer at point blank range.

"please I'll tell you, just get me out of here" she said

It seems her façade has worn off but, I can't trust her word , i.mean she has no reason to tell the truth. I need her to me and also give me as much solid evidence to support her claim.

"I'm not going to just let you out like that" I said

"I mean how can I know its true ?" I asked.

She told me it was true and I know she's lying so

"Give me the paper, the one you traded with yours".

" already told you it's real, WHAT ELSE do you want from me" she said in a very scared and sad voice I could tell she had already started crying.

"Look we all know you wouldn't have to cry if you just give me the damn secret"

"look, I have no sympathy towards you, like I don't care what happens to you."

"All I want is the secret"

"But I guess you don't want to tell me , and that's fine".

"But I don't want to release you either, I'm with the key and this is a steel door mate so even if they break it down you're going to be staying with Tibo for a while".

"Fine just I'll give you the paper, please let me out " she said

"well it's good to see you being so cooperative" I said.

"now if you want me to open the door, pass the paper through the door" I said

Not too long after she did. I had opened the door according to our agreement, and she had a smug look on her face , she was full of resentment and without a word she left. Now if you're thinking "why did you get into so much trouble for one secret ?". Well it's pretty simple, now that I have one secret I would use it to get the other people on Naomi's team to flip on themselves, you see if they realize their secrets has been exposed they wouldn't hesitate to leak another person's secret. That way they have some compensation for the points they lost. The person Hinata flipped on was Mia Musashi, Just an average girl in my class that's very athletic, and now I'm going to tell Mia that I know her secret , and that means that she would tell me the next person's secret to save her skin right ? Exactly.

I went to Naomi's teams base personally to meet Mia , my confidence level increased now that I had something to use against her, when I got into the "enemy base" there were all eyes on me " each of the people whispering to themselves. It's not that they were scared that I wanted to take their secrets , they were just happy to see me. Why ? Because they think I'm a free point, they think I'm prey, that's why left those two with the "fake secrets", but didn't tell them they were fake because I knew people would want to go after them, and that's exactly what I wanted. So I was in the room checking for Mia until I finally saw her , and I whispered to her ear

"I know your secret, so come with me "

She actually came in the most calm way imaginable , like I didn't think she would be this chill.

We were in the hallways and she was staring at me with this intense look

"What do you mean you know my secret ?" She asked

"Did Hinata snitch ?" she asked

"yeah" I said with a smirk on my face

"That bitch" she said with a disgusted face

"Yeah I know" I said

"But what are you gonna do about It, take the piss or save your skin ?" I asked

"what do you want me to do for you" she asked

"Give me whoever's secret you're with"

"But I don't have hinatas secret it's not fair ".

"life's not fair Mia, and this is not a team game, people will betray you without any second thought so why do you care about them"

"fine I'll give you" she said quite anxiously

"The secret is -"

"Nope you're going to have to give me the actual paper" I interrupted

She gave me the paper and it was two down seven more to go. She left not too proud of her self but I didn't have a care in the world, if I collected the secrets of every single person on every other team I'd be unstoppable. Mia gave me the secret of a guy named Ken Tanaka , Ken was the perfect student, he had good grades, he was very good at sports, great social skills , and everything , I certainly wouldn't have pulled the snake thing on him. That's why I identified the weakest link and won. Now no matter how great of a guy Ken actually is,he is still going to flip on somebody else to save his skin, and without hesitation. You see there is something in psychology called cognitive dissonance and this is when someone justifies an action based on a past or future event. This is exactly what will happen to Ken here when he realizes I'm with his secret, in order to save his skin he will easily give me the next secret. And this is how I would tear apart Naomi Okada's team.

I didn't have to walk to much, Ken was already walking towards me I stared at him smiling.

"What are you smiling for" said Ken.

"You would really be curious Ken" I said

I pulled out a hand gesture signaling Ken to come towards my direction. I eventually explained to him that I had his secret , and as expected of him he gave me the secret but with one condition.

"Give me 8 points and I'll give you the secret" He Said

Since I was rich I decided to give him, I was looking at the Grand scheme of things. Eventually I would get everybody on his team to hang themselves , even someone as intelligent as Naomi okada would have no choice but to save her skin. I had collected 3 secrets already and there were 6 more to go. I just repeated the process until I met Naomi.

I decided to meet Naomi last, Why ? Because I didn't want her to know what was going on , I needed her to have a false sense of control , when in reality she wasn't really controlling anything, If she knew about my plan I highly doubt that I would go so far , because she's a natural leader , she would always find a way to make people trust her . I had to make sure that Naomi was still in the dark, by making her think that everyone is still playing "Fair" , I had to make sure she realizes that everyone else betrayed themselves because then she would hold on to the secret she's with and as MR X stated in the rules : "But there's more if most of the team or even a small fraction of people manage to keep their points safe then they would take 10 points from each member of the team"

Basically all that means is that she would take 40 points from the team, now how is that beneficial to her ? Well I'll put it this way , this really isn't a team game, although if you don't have a civil team you're screwed. Now if Naomi finds out that everybody has told on them selves and also her secret is out also. What do you think she might do in that situation. She'll actually keep the secret. Then she'd have 40 points to herself. This is exactly what I wanted. Now I had all the cards , and I told her that if she doesn't give me the whole 40 points that I was going to leak her secret to Hiro's team and have every single member of Hiro's team and also my team write the secret down. She felt tensed , she had not realized that she wasn't in control the whole time , so she took the deal. She would transfer 40 points to me in order for her protection. I collected the points beforehand.

In this particular game Hiro's team played incredible defense, almost like a brick wall. It would be almost impossible for me to break, so that was why I laid traps for them. In desperate search of points , they would do anything to get points. This is where Kazuki and Akari come in . You see, I want them to "lose their secrets" on purpose, that's why I didn't have them know about the plan in the first place. And it seemed like that had already taken place.

"we're so sorry Daichi, we failed" Akari said in a sad tone

"Fuck, It was that bastard Daisuke, he managed to get all three somehow, I don't know how though".

"Damn it" I pretended to act that way, I needed to put on a show(lol)

After that I "Composed myself" and I Said

"it's fine, Don't worry" I said "we'll get them in the next one"

I don't think there was a possible way to get the Hiro's teams secrets especially since I was already enemy number #1, so I needed to let whoever took the bait destroy themselves.

Then I also had a proposition for Hiro , I gave him the secrets of all of Naomi's teams secrets and told him and all of his men to write them down. He was a bit skeptical at first but he agreed to write them after words, Now this doesn't mean I trust him. It just means we have a mutual interest for now.

That was enough work for one day .

We all took shifts staying up all night but, I personally never slept.