The second Death Game

Three Days Later

"Madam. We have found the island that you have been looking for." Spy reported, lighting a cigar.

The mercenaries around him exchanged glances of disdain as they eyed the Poneglyph. The Spy understood their hostility—it wasn't merely a rock. The Poneglyph had some trace of magic, even though Merasmus wasn't around here.

He didn't like it either. A subtle but distinct feeling told him they were being watched. Despite his discomfort, he took pictures and sent them to the employer. Curiosity piqued, he wanted to see what would happen next.

In another world.

I received messages and pictures from Spy.

Analyzing the images, I was 60% certain this was Joy Island. Normally, I'd come there and verify it myself to reach 100%, but I was too preoccupied. I had to rely on the text to draw the clue.

"Let me see," I murmured, focusing on the image.

Though only Robin was said to be able to read the ancient language, that wasn't entirely true.

I could read the ancient text too.

How.

I could read it due to the blessing of my God.

[ Universal translator ]

As long as the language existed in the river of time, I could understand it, except for meaningless words.

As I stared at the picture, the unknown script transformed into a familiar language.

"I see... That's quite disappointing," I sighed, rubbing my chin.

Although I was in great disappointment, I didn't forget to reply to Spy.

[Well done, Spy. Establish a base there. A bonus for each of you for your hard work.]

I typed and clicked send.

"Although I don't want to say this but the setting of the chosen person is quite annoying," I mumbled, venting my helplessness.

I stopped reading the text when reading this line [ People inheriting my will can have my treasure. ]

I understood what this line wanted to say.

Only Nika could claim One Piece, and the text implied that Nika could be more than one person.

Currently, the only Nika was within the Gomu Gomu no Mi, but that could change in the future. Other Devil Fruits didn't have it.

But in the future, it may be.

"Luckily, I'm not obsessed with One Piece so I don't feel any regret at all." I shrugged and returned to my main task.

Clapping my hands, several monitors materialized around me.

"But that doesn't mean I can't obtain One Piece if I am not Nika." A devil smile formed on my face.

I shifted my focus to a monitor showing the Japan-USA team in a dark room, engaged in a secret discussion. 

On another screen, a USA agent was negotiating with a French agent. The conversation was happening in a place devoid of electronic devices. 

The USA agent said something about studying me and sharing the result of the game.

Clearly, the Japan-USA team had violated the rules, but I didn't rush to disqualify them. I wanted to understand their intentions first. Governments worldwide were more concerned about my existence than the innocent lives trapped in the death game. 

Or perhaps this was L's plan. If it was, I had to reconsider my approach.

"So he wants to test the water first."

L was very smart and a terrifying opponent. I admitted that. 

I only met him a few times but he provoked me a lot which left me a deep impression, albeit a negative one.

I knew he wanted to find my weakness.

So, the whole time in the meeting, I acted like a true NPC.

If L knows I won't kill people who were stuck in the game, my plan will be reduced to zero and I won't have anything to threaten governments all around the world.

My ultimate goal was to create a gateway between the real world and the virtual world. Without that, humanity was doomed. They couldn't see it, but I could.

Disqualifying the Japan-USA team would mean their citizens would be trapped in the game as data forever. The governments would undoubtedly blame me for that.

The word helplessness was written on my face.

"Anyway, they may be the first team to break the rule but they won't be the last." I calculated the impact of their action on my plan.

Their achievement in finding Joy Island in just three days was impressive. I couldn't disqualify them just yet.

Why? Because I liked them. They'd reduced my workload—how could I dismiss such loyal workers?

I glanced at another monitor showing Kira and his Shinigami. Kira was killing criminals non-stop, yet the population didn't decrease at all.

"Kira and L... Yuusaku and L... Hmph," I muttered, an idea forming in my mind.

"A very interesting idea." I smiled like a cunning devil. 

If I let L confront Kira early, L would shift his focus entirely to Kira. In the comics, L lost and died, but there was another detective worth mentioning here.

"Yuusaku Kudou. What role will I assign you this time?"

At the end of the month.

"Okay. Everyone's good." I observed everyone sitting in the room. 

L looked at me with unwavering eyes.

"Let's go to the main point of today's meeting," I said and pointed at Hyoue Kuroda.

"So you, a very sad Pikachu, report first."

"I don't have anything to report," he said with a cold voice.

"Alright then. The meeting's over," I clapped my hands, ready to leave.

Suddenly, a voice stopped me from leaving.

"Wait a minute. Before this meeting ends, I want to ask Where are our rewards for submitting ahead deadline." L stood up and asked.

"You don't see it," I replied nonchalantly.

"No. We don't see it" Suddenly, Yuusaku Kudou, who was silent all the time, also joined the chat.

"That's it. No reward. If you don't see it, it means there was no reward for early submission," I said with a smug smile that irked everyone except L, who remained calm.

"I see. What a pity?" L mumbled while rubbing his chin.

"That is not fair." A person stood up abruptly.

I looked at him and said.

"Why is not fair."

"Because you say the earlier we submit, the better the reward will be. So we spent our precious time solving the game non-stop for three days, and in the end, we got nothing. I don't like your behavior in breaking rules." he slammed the table with a clenched fist to express his anger.

"I see. What's your name?" I asked, feeling this guy familiar but I couldn't remember.

"Raye Penber," he spoke his name.

"Raye Penber" I pronounced his name slowly. With my wisdom of anime, I remembered his role in anime.

Raye Penber was an FBI agent who was tasked to investigate Kira. He wasn't lucky since he boarded the same bus that Kira boarded.

And that bus got bus-jacked. 

Seeing this as FBI, he wasn't willing to sit there and watch. He waited for an opportunity to turn the table. While waiting, he saw Light Yagami keep doing something suspicious. So he prevented him from doing something stupid. In order to gain Light Yagami's trust, Raye Penber showed his FBI badge.

Due to this action, his death was nailed and couldn't be changed. 

"Okay, listen, Raye. You guys did an excellent job by being the first team to submit the answer." The word "Proud" was written all over his face.

"But submitting sooner doesn't mean you're the victor. You have to wait until the game ends," I continued, knowing their answer was correct. "Besides, I never said the sooner you submit, the better the reward."

"But it clearly states that …" He began, reaching for his tablet to prove me wrong, only to find the rule had vanished.

The rule that was there in the past disappeared without knowing when.

"If you have a brain, you will find those two things are slightly conflicted with each other but I'm too lazy to explain why."

"Naive," he remarked. "Even if you could change the content on the tablet, it doesn't mean you can change the content in my notebook."

To his shock, the rule was absent from his notebook as well. He held his head, sweating profusely, while others checked their notebooks, finding the same result.

A dark cloud hung over them. They all remembered the rule but now it was gone, as if it had never existed.

"Although you are young, your memory already gets worse. I suggest you guys should retire." I said, flicking off my fingers.

"Speaking of fair or unfair, you guys must be unfair."

A video was played. 

They could see the USA agent exchanging conversations with the French agent.

"Are you worried that AI will discover us? Don't worry about that. Our country has developed a tool to avoid her observation." USA agent said.

"Even so, I'm still not interested in your offer. Your offer will pull us into a new dilemma."

"Listen. This is for a better future. No matter how advanced that AI is, she can't defeat the wisdom of humans."

People in the room watched their conversation to the end.

"Hmph. Clearly, your tool is not good enough to block my observation." I commented.

How to avoid BB's observation?

First of all, BB isn't a normal data. She is a spiritual data.

For people in this age with this technology at the current level, the only way to avoid my observation was going into space.

BB wasn't an easy opponent for people in this world.

After all, she almost destroyed the world in Type-Moon.

People in the room regretted it. They didn't regret what they had done to rebel against BB. What they regretted was their plan was discovered so fast. They haven't gained any benefits and information from this risky move.

"Your courage of challenging me is commendable but your courage comes from ignorance. So. You are still a little monkey in my eyes." I said with a ridiculing and mocking tone.

Everyone in the room was sitting there in silence.

Although on the surface, they were calm and tranquil like a lake, inside them was a storm brewing.

"Anyway. With this evidence, I conclude that your team is disqualified from the game. Pack your stuff and go back to your home. Your game is over." I said with a vicious tone.

People's eyes became dark.

"BB, the supreme AI. I have an interesting idea. Do you want to hear it?" A voice rang out breaking the gloomy atmosphere. It was L's voice attracting everyone's attention.

"Oh. Are you sure your idea can entertain me? I'm very picky." I replied, intrigued.

"We want to join your death game," L stated calmly.

"My death game. Oh my. Are you tired of living? I can understand your feelings. Surrounded by idiots every day, must be very tiring for you. Don't worry. I will free you from this meaningless life."

"But on one condition. You won't disqualify us for our mistake," L negotiated.

I stared at L prompting him to continue.

"Although we don't know each other too much, I know one thing." L stared at me with bullet eyes.

"If the game ends too soon, it will be boring. You don't want that, right, BB?"

I looked at him in absolute silence.

Other people were watching with bated breath.

"All the fun will come to an end. So why not make it last longer? You want to explore the ups and downs of human misery, right? Then why not take this fun to another level by playing with a group of clowns like us? You must be curious about what kind of result that will yield."

A round of applause erupted from me.

"Brilliant. Someone understands what I am feeling. The USA really finds a genius. Okay. Out of respect and death-seeking spirit, I will let you guys join my death game."

"Again. Let me declare the second death game. Those who don't want to join or already peed on your pants just leave the room. The door is behind. When you are in, you can't leave or else, I deem it as defeat. Understand. " I looked at everyone's expression.

Even though they could leave the game sooner, they chose to stay.

Why.

Because they wanted to prove human wasn't a toy that AI could play if it wanted.

"Good. Everyone is joining my death game. I won't disqualify your team now."

With my clap, a monitor appeared showing the rules of the game.

"This is my second death game. The name of the game this time is 'Finding Kira'. However, this death game is very special. It's special because you guys play it in real life." 

"And your role is a detective carrying a mission. And that mission is to expose who is the real Kira. The game ended with two scenarios."

"One. The detective finds the real Kira. The winner is the detective side."

"Second. Kira kills all detectives. The winner is Kira's side"

"The range of this game is in Japan. Nowhere else." I showed the map of Japan on the monitor.

"And" I raised my voice.

"No limit. You can do anything you want. Hire assassins, use the underworld's network, mafia, or something like that. I repeat. This death game doesn't have any limit."

Everyone's brows raised.

"Okay. The game starts now. You are free to do anything. Farewell, brave and fool detective. You won't know what can happen tomorrow."

I left the Zoom meeting leaving people to discuss in the room.

"I thought we have to enter the virtual world and experience all kinds of torture from BB. I don't expect that we will join the death game in real life." Yuusaku Kudou expressed his opinion.

"Hmph. I don't know what BB is thinking but I don't think the game is easy but it's in our home field. I don't understand her" L also said his opinion and looked at Hyoue Kuroda.

"Nonetheless, we must finish this game as fast as possible. Hyoue Kuroda. Can you grant us a right to do anything in Japan?"

"Grant. As long as you finish this death game, I can provide support as much as possible." Hyoue Kuroda replied.

"All right. Let's separate the area first and send a provocation to Kira." L said and took a sip of coffee.

Immediately, all of them started to discuss the plan more thoroughly in order to catch Kira.

He leaned against the chair and slept.

L wasn't aware of the danger of Kira. And Kira didn't know he became the target to be hunted.

Who hunted and was hunted?

Only BB can answer that.