16 The Winking Assassin

A group of youths stood motionless in the darkroom, with a flickering light constantly hanging above their heads, as it made the atmosphere of the room more intense.

They were seen intently listening to the massive pig in front of them. As their faces immediately turned white, but they still gritted their teeth and preserved, while maintaining a solemn expression on their faces.

"Well, I'm glad to see you're all serious about this," Mister Pyg came to a halt, then looked at them dead in eyes and said solemnly, "Look into your Hidden Book, the game rules will be there shortly,"

Upon hearing what he said, the group of youths immediately willed for their Hidden Books to appear.

Suddenly, a mysterious book materialized in front of them; and upon which they willed it to open by using their minds. After that, they were taken aback when they saw a red light flashing on one of the pages, as if telling them, this is the one. So they turned to that particular page and began reading what was on it.

[The Winking Assassin]

In each round of play, at least one player is secretly assigned the role of "the murderer" and this is accomplished by handing every player a playing card with a specific card signifying that the recipient is the murderer.

The murderer has the ability to kill other players by making eye contact and winking at them, and If a player is being winked at, they would immediately die after five seconds.

If a player suspects they know the identity of the murderer, he or she may raise their hand and announce "I accuse", and if there is a consensus of all the remaining players, then that person must turn over their card, and upon seeing that they are the killer, everyone else wins.

However, If they are not the killer, the player who accused the innocent player will immediately die after five seconds due to his mistakes, and the player that was being accused will die along with him or her.

After that, the game still continues if the murder is not apprehended yet. And If only one player and the killer remain, then the game would be over, and the killer automatically wins the game.

[Game objective:]

If you are the murderer, your mission is to murder as many people as possible without being caught. And, if you are the player, you are to find the murder without being winked at and dying.

All of them were shocked and dismayed after they read the game rules; as they found out that this type of game was somewhat unbelievable. They've all heard of similar games before, such as The Russian Roulette.

It was also a lethal game of chance in which a player loads a single round in a revolver, spins the cylinder, places the muzzle against his or her head, and pulls the trigger in hopes that the loaded chamber does not align with the primer percussion mechanism and the barrel, causing the weapon to discharge.

It was also filled with the stakes so high that it was instant death for the loser. And when they realized that outcome. The group of youths fell silent and glanced at each other in the eyes, as they convinced themselves that if I don't win, I'll die. And no one in this room deserves to be dead in such a meaningless manner.

"Is it true that the cost of being winked at is death?... Wait... What!?" Lisa muttered in incredulity under her breath, and upon realizing that what was happening to her right now was too unreal for her to believe.

Who would have guessed that she who was in her school just a few hours ago, and was talking to her friends and taking her classes, until she suddenly woke up in this dark room and appeared playing in a deadly game, on which the loser will die, and the winner shall live.

I mean, who would have predicted such a result?

"What sort of twisted game is this!?" Bryan furrowed his brows in disbelief while reading the game's objective. "Isn't this just a tutorial game? Knowing that this place is called the novice area... then that must imply that there are a lot more games that are more difficult than this! How terrifying... If this is the game's difficulty at the start, then how could people expect to survive the next challenges?" Bryan's forehead was drenched with sweat while thinking about this and he brushed it away using his palms.

Meanwhile, Mister Pyg looked down at the bunch of brats in his vision, while gloating about their misfortune; after all, he genuinely enjoys watching others in distress; and it just gives him a feeling of exhilaration.

"My adorable students, the cost of failure is death, but don't worry, your body will be stored in the warehouse for future consumption; you must be glad that we will not waste your bodies in any way and that they will be used to feed the others." With a grateful smile on his face, Mister Pyg continued. "Those who are unable to speak can use your vocal cords, the arms for appetizers, the hearts for the main course, the skulls as cups, and so on. But enough of that; let's get back to the game."

Upon hearing those words, the group of youths listened with fear coursing through their body. They couldn't help but stop shaking and were terrified of being swallowed after death, allowing their bodies to not rest in peace, and the thought of being a plaything with these monsters sickened them to some degree.

"Now I'll hand over the cards portraying the killer and the players," Mister Pyg snapped his fingers.

"Poof"

Suddenly, a card emerged in front of the group of youths, and upon seeing it, they immediately took it, in fear of having others seeing it, and then putting it in the best spot they could think of. At the same time doing so, their hearts were racing as they secretly studied their playing cards to see what role they would be playing in.

Bryan didn't glance at his cards right away and was staring at the other's cards as well as their facial expressions to see if any minute changes would arise that might help him figure out who the murderer was.

But, unfortunately, the backs of their cards were completely similar with each other, with the left side completely covered in white, and the right side fully covered in black, and at the center of it, was a single eye, that was half white and half black. That was looking around at the others as if they were trying to catch you on cheating.

Meanwhile, the other women's expressions were also having the same fearful expressions on their faces, so upon seeing that, he immediately knew it was pointless to carry further on. So he solely concentrated his attention on his card and read its description.

[To escape, the player must find the murderer.]

Seeing that he was a player, Bryan sighed in relief that he was not given the role of the murderer; if he had been, he would have attempted murder, which would have violated his morals.

At an early age, he was taught by his parents to be a good child, in which he attends church every Sunday to worship God and thank him for his graces.

But then his beliefs abruptly vanished after he discovered that the God he once worshiped was preparing to exterminate the whole human race, his so-called creation that has its image and likeness.

Yet, deep down, his beliefs won't fade away after that betrayal; rather, it strengthened them even more, as he also still insists that killing other people is vile and the cost of taking anyone's life is no laughing matter.

Even the thought of killing someone leaves him with a bad taste in his mouth. But then he soon realized that after this game, this pig would not let them leave freely from now on; instead, a new set of games would emerge, and in order to survive the remaining games, he must have the guts to kill someone, even though they appear to be an old or a young man who has just begun his life and still has his whole life ahead of him to take.

But right now, he doesn't have the courage to do so. Since he believes that these people are still human beings and that by killing them, he is depriving them of their lives, which he does not have the right to do.

"If I can find the killer in the early stages of the game, then I would be able to save everybody without having to make sacrifices; but, if not, then at least I tried," Bryan formulated a plan to survive this current game while looking at their frightened expressions as a way for him to try his best in doing it.