Hunt or be hunted

"No, there's not much mystery. Both you and we find ourselves in this forgotten place. We woke up in the same location, appeared here, or simply are here." Jacob looked at everyone with a cold expression and told the man in front of him, "I'll give you some advice: play, win, and don't trust anyone too easily."

"What do you mean?" The man with the cap asked again, but at that moment, a tall and robust-looking man entered the room. Jacob was curious about him due to his confident walk and demeanor.

"We don't know him, he could be lying." Usagi didn't easily trust people and feared someone might deceive them. She sensed an atmosphere of distrust, fear, and above all, protection.

Everyone in this place wants to stay away from others; that's why nobody speaks or asks what's going on. Some people are alive due to betrayal, murder, or simply by controlling others.

With all that in mind, nobody really sought to trust others. Everyone just wanted to survive until they discovered a way to escape from the game.

"There are many people!"

"Could there be a doctor?"

Two more people entered, one with yellow hair and another wearing a blue sweater. They took the cell phones, indicating that it wasn't their first time playing.

Jacob was particularly interested in one person wearing a white hoodie, who was standing in a corner with their gaze lowered, analyzing everyone from that angle, according to his intelligent assistant.

"[Registration is closed!]"

"[There are a total of thirteen participants. The game is about to begin!]"

"Listen, what is this?" the same man with the cap approached the two newcomers and said, "They brought me here without telling me anything."

"It's a game," one of the men replied.

"Forget about it, newcomers like him are just a hindrance. That's what I can see. But it would be a good idea to act like Shibuki did."

"[5 of Spades difficulty!]"

"5 of Spades?" The man with yellow hair asked.

"It's a physical game. Strength is everything, and so are weapons," a man with a black cap and mustache approached the two newcomers and introduced himself, "I'm Nitobe. Nice to meet you."

"Do the cards have meanings?"

"Yes!" Nitobe replied and explained, "The suit usually indicates the genre. Clubs represent teamwork, diamonds represent cleverness. Hearts... they are the most problematic."

"Problematic?" Nitobe approached the man and said, "It's a game of betrayal, playing with others' hearts."

"What about the numbers?"

"The difficulty level."

Jacob observed in silence as he prepared himself. Due to his heavy equipment, he couldn't match Usagi's speed, but he could defend himself.

"[Game rules: Escape from the Thing!]"

"[Winning condition: Discover the safe zone, which is located in one of the rooms, within the specified time. The game ends once the requirements are completed!]"

"[Time limit: 20 minutes!]"

"[After 20 minutes, the hidden time bomb will be activated in the building.]"

"It's a simple game if we all work together, but it will be complicated if no one offers to cooperate. The disadvantage is that nobody will listen, so I have to try." Jacob looked at everyone, who were frightened by this game. "But before that, I have to make sure of something. Intelligent assistant, I want you to inspect each room and tell me where the safe zone is. There must be something that distinguishes those rooms from the others."

"Usagi, I'll try to convince them..." Jacob looked at Usagi, and she nodded. This could be much easier than they thought.

Jacob took a step forward and stood in the center of the waiting area. He looked at everyone and said, "I want ten seconds of your attention. It will determine whether you live or die."

"[It will begin any moment!]"

Usagi watched as everyone started moving and looked at Jacob for a few seconds. "What's the plan?"

"Go to the upper floors. If you encounter the thing, just flee and inform me of its location... Hopefully, it's just one enemy, but there's likely someone else hidden in one of these rooms, so open each door carefully."

When Usagi heard this, she nodded and quickly ran to the upper floors. Jacob, who would wait for the thing on the lower floors, was about to move when a cold voice reached his ears. "When did you win that card?"

Jacob paused, looked to the side, and saw Aguni, the muscular man still in this place. Upon seeing him and hearing his question, he said, "There are only two types of people who would ask about this card: a member of the beach or an imposter player."

Aguni, the muscular man, was so surprised that he forgot what he was going to ask. Then he saw Jacob raise his weapon and asked, "Give me a satisfactory answer to not kill you right now."

"Who told you about the beach, Takumi?"

"Do you know him?" Jacob relaxed a bit.

"Is he dead?" Aguni asked in response.

"He was killed by a player who suddenly started eliminating others in the Nine of Spades game. He told me that I would need this card for the one who runs the beach, so after this game, I planned to go to that place." Jacob was straightforward with his words.

"I'm Aguni. Takumi was someone special in the beach... Did he leave anything else for you?" Aguni seemed calm but secretly suspicious of Jacob, so he asked that question.

"He told me about the man who runs the beach and said this bracelet would allow me to enter without any problems." Jacob took out a bracelet that Makumi had given him and tossed it to Aguni.

Why is he so cooperative? If he is someone from the beach, Jacob was interested in knowing if this man belonged to that place. If so, he would have a contact who could directly take them there without any issues.

Aguni held the bracelet and confirmed it, Jacob didn't kill Takumi, so he let his guard down.

First of all, Jacob knew a lot about the beach, something that couldn't be obtained from Takumi even if he was on the verge of death. After all, he wasn't afraid of dying. But knowing that such an important card like the Nine of Spades was in the hands of this man named Jacob, he was likely to trust him with that information.

"Well, let's finish this game and talk later..." Aguni handed the bracelet back to Jacob, and he accepted it.

"Take this." Jacob handed a gun to Aguni.

Aguni was surprised and asked Jacob, "Do you trust me?"

"If you try to attack me from behind, I'll know, and then you'll fall with me, and I'm sure of that. You seem like a man willing to do anything to win, so let's win this game."