End of the world (3)

The rich man with serious anger issues intervened.

"No, it is impossible! Ah! I know, it is a hidden camera, isn't it? Whoever it is, come out! This joke isn't funny."

Right, while you're at it please add 'trial from god to question your authority as the vice-director' to your delusions, then you can become a cultist.

The man with a ponytail raised an eyebrow and approached the center of the room.

Then, he picked up one of the guns.

"W-what are you doing!" The young woman exclaimed.

He looked at her.

"I'm going to kill someone to survive this damn scenario."

The young woman was shocked.

"You're going to become a murderer? How dare you as a civilized member of society commit such an immoral act?"

The man with a ponytail chuckled.

By the way, I still don't know anybody's name…

"I came out of prison only last week so I'm not quite sure if I fit into the category of 'civilized members of society'."

He pointed his gun at someone.

One day, I had a question.

Then, he immediately pulled the trigger.

Would humans beings rather sacrifice someone or put their own lives in danger?

Bang!

What is more important, their life or the values they stick to so stubbornly?

The brown-haired nurse received a bullet in her head and fell down, her eyes widened with fear.

Now, I think I have my answer.

The young woman paled.

Not committing crimes wasn't one of their values to begin with.

The rich man backed away.

"M-monster!"

The people who could complete this scenario the most easily were undoubtedly those who had already killed before.

However, I wasn't worried.

I knew. These rules were very detailed, so detailed that there were traps hidden in it.

After all, I was the one who created them, so I knew their loopholes the best.

I hadn't thought I would really meet someone who could kill people easily. Hey, isn't this my ideal type of guy? However, he seems a little too pretentious, I'm the only one who has the right to be arrogant.

The man with a ponytail laughed.

Next to me, the young woman was terrified.

Someone was dead.

I sighed and leaned back in my seat.

The light green of the system window was slowly becoming to darken.

I looked at the white ceiling.

「I want to write a story.」

The man with a ponytail addressed the young woman.

"See? I did it. Now, it's your turn."

「A story full of pain and suffering.」

Afraid to become the man's next victim if she didn't do anything, the young woman desperately looked around, searching for a solution. Then, her gaze paused on the dog whining next to her.

「A story with a lot of characters dying.」

The young woman's gaze shook, but she had made up her mind. She was someone with a strong willpower anyway.

「I want to write a story.」

The woman's hands trembled as she reached for the dog. However, there was a small light in her eyes, as if she had found hope by thinking about taking another person's life, as she spoke to the man.

「And this story will be a tragedy.」

"Aren't animals equal to humans? So it can also be a person…" Her voice was shaking.

Ah, so you're also an advocator of equality with animals. Unfortunately, I don't share your opinion.

"That's right…! So, if I kill it I will complete this scenario and survive! That's usually how it is in novels…"

It was unclear whether she was trying to convince the man or if she wanted to convince herself.

The young woman steeled herself and gritted her teeth as she attempted to break the dog's spine.

Due to her only being able to use one arm, she failed to end its life in one blow and it whimpered in pain, struggling to get out of the woman's grasp.

After a while, the young woman finally succeeded and murdered the dog.

However, it wouldn't work.

The dog didn't appear in the rankings, which was enough proof that it wasn't considered as a person, but I didn't say it.

"Sigh…"

I looked around and finally spoke up.

Using the wheelchair as support, I stood up before heading to the rich man's son.

"If you people intend to kill someone to save your lives anyway, you don't mind playing against me, right?"

As everyone's eyes turned to me, the teenager also gazed back at me.

"Hey, do you want to play a game of luck with me?"

There was silence in the room.

I squatted to the child's eye level and smiled.

"Let's play rock-paper-scissors. Do you agree?"

The child had his mouth slightly open then glanced at his father to seek approval.

Actually, the rule that made things most difficult in this scenario was that you had to get the consent of the other person before beginning a game.

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

However, since nobody wished to put their own life on the line, finding a partner to play a game of luck, and three times at that, was the most difficult.

I continued.

"You'll eventually have to fulfill one of the conditions if you want to survive. If you win, you'll only have two more games to play and you won't have to assassinate anyone. Moreover, the losers still have a chance to survive by committing murder. Isn't it better to try playing a game first until you either lose or complete the scenario instead of doing nothing or just killing someone right away?"

The kid hesitated and nodded.

"Fine, then let's begin the game."

[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.]

"Let's set the rules, the woman here will say '1-2-3 rock, paper, scissors' and at the word 'scissors' we'll both show our hands at the same time. If this rule is breached, then the person who broke it will lose. Let's do 3 matches in a row. Do you agree with this?"

I pointed to the young woman and the teenager nodded.

Now, I count on you, advocator of animals, show your sense of justice by being a fair referee.

"Okay, Ma'am, you can start."

She snapped out of her daze and did as told.

In this game, the other person usually shows 'rock' or 'scissors' first while 'paper is rare, so let's think that my opponent won't select 'paper'. In short, in this first match the probability of winning if I choose 'paper' isn't 1/3rd but 1/2.

After that, someone who loses usually change their hands, so if I lose, I'll do 'paper' again. Generally, people subconsciously do 'rock', 'paper', 'scissors' is the order in which it is said. If I lose, it means that my opponent chose 'scissors', so that person will probably do 'rock' next and I will earn one point. In that case, then I will choose 'rock' for the third match.

After seeing me do 'paper' two times is a row, and since they lost with 'rock' just now, they may choose 'scissors'.

However, if I win the first match, it means my opponent did 'rock'. Assuming that he changes his hand then I know that he won't choose rock, I will choose 'rock' next. If I also win this match, then I will have secured my victory, and if I lose I can only hope that after choosing 'rock' and 'paper' my opponent will select 'scissors'. So, I'll choose 'rock' for the third match in both cases.

Everything depends on the first match. If I lose, I'll follow 'paper' with 'paper' and 'rock', but if I win then I'll follow 'paper' with 'rock' and 'rock'.

Now, I can only pray that it works. It's also a strategy that heavily depends on luck and probabilities.

In short, it's a bet. People who don't know the tricks behind this game are most likely going to lose if it's going too fast, while you have to think in advance if you're going to use tricks during the game in case it goes too fast, except if you have an extremely good instinct.

Well, in that case, I may have a good instinct for this game since I often select the option I'm supposed to be the least likely to choose because of my twisted taste of breaking common sense.

However, if that guy is someone who likes to overthink like his father and chooses paper in the first round, I absolutely can't follow this plan for the second and third matches.

"1-2-3, rock, paper, scissors."

I pulled out 'paper' while the teenager pulled out 'rock'.

I won.

I imperceptibly heaved a sigh of relief.

"1-2-3, rock, paper, scissors."

I pulled out 'rock' while the teenager pulled out 'paper'.

I lost.

There was only one match left to decide the victory of one of us.

"1-2-3, rock, paper, scissors."

Everyone's gazes were fixed on us. Some of them were even holding their breaths.

The young woman felt the pressure as she recited the line a last time, awaiting the issue of this game.

Actually, I'd prefer if they didn't pay as much attention to us.

I pulled out 'rock' and looked toward the teenager.

Even if winning this game meant that the other person had to either kill someone or die, the result of this last match would decide if I had to commit murder to survive, or if I only had two games left to play.

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