The betrayal game

"What do you think?" Usagi didn't panic; she knew that both she and Jacob were more than willing to give their lives for each other, so she needed to hear Jacob's thoughts first.

"It's a challenging game, especially because our friends will panic..." Jacob said, still keeping his calm.

But as if his words foresaw the future, the man called Chota began pulling the trigger on his collar in a panic.

When Arisu saw this, he immediately stopped him. "Stop, Chota! If you try to force it open, it will explode!"

"And what am I supposed to do?"

"Enough!"

At that moment, when Chota's face made contact with Arisu's, the wolf transferred to him.

"[Wolf change, the wolf is now user 1000245, Arisu...!]"

"Arisu?" Kurabe looked at his friend, who was frozen. Arisu looked back at him, and in a matter of seconds, the wolf transferred to Kurabe.

"When we look into each other's eyes, we pass on the wolf," Arisu said, without having an answer to this game.

During that time, Jacob was thinking of a way out, but during the first five minutes, his priority was to observe the reactions of Arisu's group in a hearts game.

"The game has a flaw..." The girl walked to the side and said, "If the survivor is the wolf, what's the point of hiding?"

"What do we do, Arisu?" Kurabe asked, relying on his friend.

Suddenly, the girl picked up a hammer, and Jacob saw it clearly. He smiled coldly and waited to see the next dramatic scene.

When everyone looked at her, the wolf transferred to her, and after obtaining the wolf, she started running.

"Shibuki?"

Chota was shocked, but when he saw a black object next to him, he stood up, and upon seeing it, he discovered that Jacob was holding a gun. When he realized what was about to happen, he shouted, "No!"

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three out of the four bullets Jacob fired hit the woman, and she fell to the ground lifeless.

"What have you done?!" Chota shouted in shock. "I'm going to kill you!"

"Hey, Chota!" Arisu held him tightly to prevent a disaster and looked at his friend Kurabe to calm the situation.

"What was that woman trying to do?" Jacob asked, slightly surprised.

"I didn't think she would betray us like that..." Kurabe looked at Jacob, who showed more sobriety.

"Usagi, go for the wolf." Jacob didn't look at Usagi; he ordered her directly to go for the wolf that was with Shibuki.

After calming down a bit and having Chota settle down, Arisu sat him on a bench and looked at Jacob to see if he had any ideas.

"In normal situations, when a player hears that betrayal lies in the heart of every person and mistakenly believes it's the only way to survive, that's when they lose the game," Jacob said with a cold expression.

Usagi, after reaching the trembling girl, held her hand and begged her for help, but she coldly pushed her away.

"Her friend lost; she betrayed us, and that would trigger a bloody battle that would cloud their judgment." Jacob thought carefully and said, "I'm sure all the trials can be won, so now what we need are mirrors."

"Mirrors?" Kurabe, who was afraid Jacob would shoot him, froze.

"Mirrors... That could work. If we all look into the mirrors, we might survive if we all become wolves at the same time." Arisu understood what Jacob meant, so he realized that this possibility might exist, and they hadn't realized it.

With a goal in mind and still 13 minutes of game time left, Kurabe, Arisu, and Jacob went in search of mirrors. This time, Jacob handed the gun to Usagi and entrusted her not to move and to kill anyone who tried to take the wolf from her.

This could be a way out to win this game, but obviously, there was a disadvantage, and that was that one of them had to die for the others to survive. In other words, a lamb must save the flock to survive.

In a short time, a large mirror was brought to the center of the game; it was carefully placed on the table, and everyone looked at Jacob, waiting to see what would happen next. They had lost five minutes searching for the mirror, so they had at most seven minutes left for the game to end.

"What comes next?" Kurabe asked, completely focused.

"One person must be the wolf, look into the mirror, and after a countdown, the others must look directly into the eyes of whoever is the wolf." Jacob had this plan, and it was feasible, so he said the difficult part, "But there's a small drawback..."

"What?" Arisu was desperate.

"Since your friend is dead, one of you must sacrifice themselves for the others to survive."

When Jacob's words fell, there was a deadly silence.

"One of us will die?" Chota asked, defeated.

"The choice will be among the three of you, as I found a way for us to survive. One of you must contribute something to the game." Jacob couldn't do much more for Arisu's friends; they needed to understand that.

"I'll do it," Kurabe said, completely convinced.

"No, I'll be the one to sacrifice myself for you guys," Chota said with a determined look.

"Don't say stupid things, Chota!" Kurabe didn't want to see his friend die.

"Stop being so brave, Kurabe. I'm the injured one, so let me help you survive this trial," Chota said in a frustrated tone. "You're always the ones saving me; now let me be the one to save you."

"Chota, I..." Arisu was shocked.

"I know that you, Kurabe, and you, Arisu, will be able to win in the next games if you work together."

Jacob and Usagi watched as Arisu's friends made a decision. They had to be selfish, as they weren't as open-hearted to sacrifice themselves for others. They had already done enough by finding this loophole in the game, so it was up to them to make that decision.

"We're ready!" Chota said with complete certainty.

"Then I want you to look at the mirror, open your eyes wide, and don't change the position of your neck. Now the others must position themselves in a way that they have a fixed gaze on Chota's eyes..." Jacob began giving instructions and warned, "Remember to open your eyes at the same time; if you fail, you'll die!"

When everyone was in position, Jacob became the wolf, Usagi took her position, and then Jacob handed the wolf to Chota.

"Close your eyes..." Chota closed his eyes; his body began trembling with terror, but his conviction was stronger.

After Jacob positioned himself, he looked at the mirror and said, "On the count of three, everyone will open their eyes and look into Chota's eyes..."

"One... Two... Now!"