End of the world (5)

I stared at the gun at my feet.

A game of roulette.

Interesting.

Two empty slots for six cartridges means that the probability of encountering a blank shot is one third, in other words, 33.34%.

This time, there would really be no other possibility than dying if I lost this game.

I raised my head and looked around.

The rich man, the young woman, the old man… Everyone avoided my eyes.

If I refuse to play this game, there probably won't be another chance to play a third time.

I sighed and bent down to pick up the gun.

Ah, I'm dizzy…

I met the eyes of the man with a ponytail.

Anyway, I don't intend to directly commit murder—even though winning at three games means indirectly sentencing three people to either death or the path of becoming criminals—so I would die even if I lost another game.

Now, I'll just die right away if I receive a bullet in my temple instead of waiting for the end of this scenario.

The man with a ponytail addressed the woman.

"Hey, aren't you going to count to three?"

The young woman snapped out of her daze.

"Y-yes!"

The man with a ponytail added:

"And no tricks. If you don't shoot at yourself at '3', you lose."

I nodded.

[The consent of all the participants of this game was obtained.]

[Game chosen: Roulette.]

[Number of participants: 2.]

[The game will now begin.]

I put the barrel against my temple and felt the cold touch of metal.

"1."

The voice of the young woman resounded in my ears.

"2."

The man with a ponytail did the same and smiled at me.

Even in this situation, that madman's irritating grin remained the same.

My heart was beating faster.

"3."

Bang! Bang!

And I pulled the trigger at the same time as that crazy man.

"…"

I didn't move for a few seconds.

Then, I realized that I had been holding my breath.

With 33,34% chance, I had encountered an empty slot and fired a blank shot.

I think I have exhausted all my luck with this shot alone.

However, in front of me, the man with a ponytail was laughing, as if he found this amusing. He had also fired an empty shot.

I turned the wheel again, many times, and hoped to fall on an empty slot again.

This time, I knew. It would be the last round.

One of us would surely die at the next shot.

I glanced at the young woman.

"1. 2…"

The man with a ponytail seemed to be enjoying himself.

"3."

I fired at my temple without hesitation. This time, the trigger seemed easier to pull than before.

I must also be mad to accept to play such a game.

The ones who lose a game will die, those who don't participate die and the ones who are killed during the scenario also die.

This is a game of life and death.

Bang! Bang!

The sounds of shooting were superposed once again. However, contrary to before, one of the shots sounded different.

I stared at the man with a ponytail falling forward, a grin still plastered on his face, while I had encountered another blank shot.

I had won the third game.

[The player 'Ena James' has won.]

I looked down at the gun.

For once, I wasn't sure if I could really win.

I put it down.

[6:31]

There were 6 minutes left.

[1. Player #156574631: Ena James.]

I also became ranked 1st. After all, I was the first to complete three games.

Then, I approached the little girl holding a teddybear.

This scenario's rules are very detailed.

They are so detailed that you can find loopholes easily.

「3. If you meet one of the conditions of this scenario, you will survive.」

Moreover…

「5. The loser(s) of a game will die and is/are thus counted as 'dead'.」

The loser of a game will die and is counted as 'dead'. However, if you win three games, you will survive.

Also.

「7. Someone who is counted as 'dead' can't participate in any more games. If they do, the game won't start and its issue won't matter.」

If winning three games means that you can't be counted as 'dead' even if you lose once, then you can continue playing.

These rules form a string of loopholes that can let everyone survive if put together.

The trickiest part of this scenario is to interpret the rules correctly. In the end, it also depends on luck, since living itself is a game of luck.

In other words, the remaining people here can survive.

I squatted down in front of the little girl.

"Do you want to survive?"

She hugged her teddybear as I stared into her eyes.

Then, she nodded slightly.

"Okay, then listen to my instructions. We will play at rock-paper-scissors three times, I will tell you what sign you have to do, each game will last only one match and I'll make you win 3 times to fulfill the scenario's condition."

She nodded.

I'm aware that I'm being a bit hypocritical.

[The consent of all the participants of this game was obtained.]

[Game chosen: Rock-paper-scissors.]

[Number of participants: 2.]

[The game will now begin.]

"Now, choose 'scissors'. 3, 2, 1, go."

I pulled out 'paper' and she pulled out 'scissors'.

[The player 'Kitty Lefèvre' has won.]

Apparently, her name was Kitty.

"Now, let's do it again."

Since I wasn't counted as 'dead' despite losing, the game started.

[The consent of all the participants of this game was obtained.]

[Game chosen: Rock-paper-scissors.]

[Number of participants: 2.]

[The game will now begin.]

"Choose 'scissors'."

The little girl won again.

[The player 'Kitty Lefèvre' has won.]

Then she won again.

[The player 'Kitty Lefèvre' has won.]

I patted her on the head.

"Good job."

Actually, I'm not doing it to play nice.

Surviving means that you'll have to go through hell next because the scenarios will continue, so it's cruel.

Then, I turned to the old man.

"Old man, do you want to survive?"

Whether you want it or not, you will live.

The old man had also noticed that rule 7 didn't work and agreed.

"Then, choose 'paper'."

[The player 'Gérard Dantois' has won.]

I played two more times.

[The player 'Gérard Dantois' has won.]

This was also a way to learn the name of other people…

"A-and me?"

I turned toward the rich man.

"What?"

I think you haven't understood the situation.

"I also want to survive."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Isn't it fine since you killed someone?"

Actually, this wasn't the real reason.

「5. The loser(s) of a game will die and is/are this counted as 'dead'.」

「7. Someone who is counted as 'dead' can't participate in any more games. If they do, the game won't start and its issue won't matter.」

"Moreover, you can't participate in any more games since you lost."

I went to the young woman.

"…It's fine. I should survive since I have already killed the dog."

I didn't try to change her mind.

"Does anyone else want to survive?"

The male nurse, whose existence I had forgotten, hesitantly raised his hand.

I stepped over the body of the man with a ponytail and repeated the same operation.

You will live here because I couldn't die.

If I have to go through hell next, then the others as well.

In a way, this was a form of revenge.

I looked around.

There was only one person left that I could save and who hadn't asked for my help.

That person had been staring at the scenario's rules since the beginning.

Disregarding my surroundings, I approached him and sat on the empty seat next to him.

Somehow, I had a feeling that, even without my help, that man would survive.

"What are you looking at?"

[3:15]

There were only three minutes left.

The black-haired man glanced at me.

Seeing him closer, he was totally my type.

Then, he directed his gaze to the little girl holding a teddybear.

"Letting these people survive in this way isn't necessarily a good thing."

Of course, since they would have to kill someone sooner or later and fight for their lives in the next scenarios.

I repeated my question.

"So, what are you looking at?"

"…I'm analyzing the rules."

I gazed at him.

"Really? Did you find anything interesting?"

"Yes."

After a moment of silence, since it seemed that he didn't intend to elaborate further, I inquired.

"What is it?"

He affirmed:

"The rules are very detailed."

Yes. Is that it?

I listened to him.

"There are ten rules. The tenth rule tells us that we will receive a reward when this scenario ends."

「10. The higher your ranking is, the higher your reward will be at the end of the scenario. Winning against someone with a higher ranking than you or completing the scenario can increase your ranking. However, playing more than three games or killing more than one person won't give you any additional compensation nor increase your ranking.」

That's right.

"A game can't start without the participants' consent, and judging from the messages when a game ended, we seem to be referred to as 'players'."

「4. A game can start only when all the players of that game agree to play.」

"Then, if someone loses a game, they are counted as 'dead' and can't participate in any more games. The only way left for them to survive is to kill someone. At first glance, this scenario seems oddly biased toward games."

「5. The loser(s) of a game will die and is/are thus counted as 'dead'.」

「7. Someone who is counted as 'dead' can't participate in any more games. If they do, the game won't start and its issue won't matter.」

「8. The only way for someone counted as 'dead' to live is to fulfill the second condition of this scenario.」

"However, as you demonstrated earlier, someone who wins three games isn't affected by rule 5 nor by rule 7 because of rule 3."

「3. If you meet one of the conditions of this scenario, you will survive.」

"Rule 2 also indicates that there is a time limit."

「2. The scenario will automatically end 20 minutes from now.」

"If each rule has a purpose, then we can wonder what is the purpose of rule 9."

He had accurately understood the rules of this scenario.

「9. Whether you live or die will only be revealed at the end of the scenario.」

"It is clearly said in rule 3 that if we meet one of the above conditions, we will survive, then why would the result only need to be announced at the end of the scenario?"

He stared at the scenario in the air.

"There is a trap here."

Indeed.