The Empty Box and Zeroth Maria
Book 4: Chapter 11

🔶 Day 3 <D> The Common Area

Despite appearances, I was quite confident all through middle school. My grades were always at the top, and I was so good at piano that I won prizes at competitions. I was head of the brass-band club at school, and I even served as the student council president. Naturally, I had no end of admirers.

Perhaps that was why I subconsciously assumed I was exceptional.

There was no doubt in my mind that this would remain the same in high school, too. However, this throne of exceptionality wasn’t waiting for me in my high school life. Iroha Shindo claimed it the moment she made her new-student address at the entrance ceremony.

I didn’t give up right away, though. I had faith that I could reclaim my throne. In fact, I was even happy in a way to have found a rival.

I worked even harder than I had in middle school, believing I could surpass Iroha quickly and become number one. I increased my time in front of my desk, putting my studies first and foremost. I wasn’t just spending long hours studying, though; I was also working trial-and-error-style to improve other areas like efficiency and maintaining focus.

But I was still no match for her.

I naturally started to panic. I decided I wanted to beat her in grades, at least, and so I gave up the piano I had played since elementary school, stopped going to the literary clubs I had joined, quit watching the foreign dramas I liked so much, refrained from hanging out with my friends, slept fewer hours, and studied during break periods—and I did it all fully prepared to be mocked for being too serious.

Despite everything, Iroha was always ahead of me.

Even though she was in clubs and the student council the whole time, even though she slept during class and just didn’t seem to be displaying as much effort as I was in general…I could never measure up.

It wasn’t necessarily an odd thing, though. No matter how hard I was toiling away, nearly a hundred people were also scoring higher than I was on our trial exams already. There were plenty of others better than I was at piano, too, and if I turned on the TV, I could see an endless parade of beautiful people I could never hold a candle to. It wasn’t like Iroha was the only person I had no hope of competing against, so this outcome wasn’t unexpected.

I simply learned my lesson. I learned that I was just a normal person. That I wasn’t anything special.

Thanks to Iroha, I was able to understand this and move on from my shameful self-importance, that’s all. Even if she weren’t there, I most likely would have found this out sooner or later.

But it still frustrated me.

It frustrated me so much.

Why? Why wasn’t I the special one?

It took me so long to realize that by the time I did, I had nothing left. I had distanced myself from my friends; I had no more hobbies or special talents; all I had become was a boring girl with a decent aptitude for studying.

It was around then that I found out Iroha had a crush. She had tried to keep it a secret, but to me, it was as clear as day. The moment I learned of her feelings, the object of her affections became irresistibly attractive to me. I mean, if Iroha liked him, he had to be a great person—that was my line of thinking.

If both Iroha and I went after him, I wonder which of us he would choose…

The moment I thought that, a wicked idea entered my mind.

If that person were to choose me—

—would that mean…I’m more attractive than Iroha?

I knew full well what a horrible thing I was about to attempt. But not even that was enough to stop me.

I just had to see it.

Iroha, jealous of me. Iroha, envious of me. Iroha, the failure, believing she can never win out over me.

And once Iroha was the loser, she would know.

She would know there was someone who had been frustrated for so, so long because they could never compare to her.

And I succeeded in going out with that boy.

I announced it as if I were just full of innocent happiness, completely clueless of her feelings for him. Inside, I was gleeful and giggling, hoping to see Iroha grit her teeth in frustration. When I think of myself back then, it truly makes me sick.

Hey, Iroha. I hope you’re upset. I hope you’re jealous. I hope you hate me.

I would’ve been happy with any of it. As long as she lashed out at me with some negative emotion, I would’ve been happy. But Iroha’s reaction was unlike anything I had imagined.

“Nice going.”

She congratulated me and then mussed my hair with a pleasant smile on her face.

Iroha—was genuinely happy for my success in love, of all things.

For me.

For someone as horrible as I am.

For someone whose mind was consumed with thoughts of hurting her.

I couldn’t believe it. I just could not believe it, so I continued my plotting. I tried to ignore the growing realization that my romantic feelings were misguided and kept using the relationship against her. Through it all, no matter what I asked her advice about, or even when I told her we broke up, all Iroha did was support me.

That’s when I was forced to see it.

All the hatefulness, pettiness, and wretchedness I had pretended not to see was illuminated by Iroha’s radiance, highlighted until I had to confront it.

Yes, I truly understand. It hurts, it hurts, it hurts so much—yet I am not a victim to be protected. I’m a wrongdoer deserving of abuse.

Still, I can’t stop.

There’s no going back.

I don’t want to accept the fact that after all the crimes I have committed, I am not even average—just a complete and utter fool.

I don’t believe that besting Iroha—defeating the exceptional girl—will make me any less of a fool, much less merit forgiveness for me.

But this is all I have left. There is no way back for me.

Don’t you agree?

I’m sorry.

I’m sorry.

My crimes are too heavy for those words alone to earn me forgiveness.

“And you think saying that will get me to forgive you?”

Iroha sneers coldly in the common area where we’ve all assembled.

She must have heard Yuri’s confession during their Private Meeting afterward.

“You think that explaining how horrible you are will get me to let you off the hook for your deception?”

Unsure of what’s going on, all Maria, Daiya, and Koudai Kamiuchi can do is watch the scene unfold.

“I’ll never forgive you, you stupid bitch!” Iroha says. She spits on Yuri, who is stripped down to her white underwear and kneeling before her.

Despite Iroha’s cruel treatment, all Yuri does is tremble slightly, saying nothing with her head lowered. Her left cheek is swollen; she was beaten earlier in Iroha’s room.

It’s not an easy sight to stomach. I predicted things might turn out this way, after all. So this is also partly my fault.

But if I didn’t take things this far, I wouldn’t have a chance against Iroha.

“…Hey, Shindo, what exactly happened?”

Maria speaks up, unable to bear the sight of Yuri like this.

“Oh, nothing major. I’m just demonstrating what happens when someone ignores their orders and does something stupid even though they joined the Group and swore obedience to me.”

“Still, isn’t this going too far…?”

As if to reject Maria’s warning, Iroha places the sole of her shoe on Yuri’s head where she sits.

“Ungh,” Yuri gasps instinctively, and Iroha clucks her tongue and increases the pressure of her foot on Yuri’s head without another word. She pushes harder and harder until Yuri’s forehead touches the floor.

In this position, Yuri is all but groveling before Iroha.

“Who told you it was okay to open your mouth? You need to just keep your head lowered like some figurine. Or are you trying to imply that I’m going to have to beat that into you, too?”

“S-stop it, Shindo!”

“No. But let’s put this aside. You know why, right? Time’s up. This is when I bring you all under my rule, too. Whatever this bitch was trying to pull, it’s the best plan I’ve come up with, so there’s no need to change it,” Iroha declares with her foot still on Yuri’s head. “Once I’m the king, I’ll put an end to this game.”

Yeah, that’s who Iroha is.

If it serves her purpose, she can do this to someone she considered her best friend up until a bit ago.

I’m not trying to say she isn’t feeling anything. I’m sure she’s deeply wounded, and she most likely has guilt about it as well. But she can lock those emotions away. Iroha can temporarily control her own feelings in order to further her goals.

I found this out in the third game when she won by slaughtering everyone on the first day.

Yes, that’s why I predicted this.

I could foresee her taking this sort of action.

That’s why—

“It’s not going to work.”

—I’m going to drag her off this false throne of hers.

Iroha slowly brings her foot down from Yuri’s head and stares at me. There is a heat in her gaze, with an unmistakable hint of murder, too.

“…So is this what you’re trying to say? You’re maintaining that you have no intention of joining the Group? That’s too bad. You’re going to die, Hoshino.”

“No. I’m merely stating a fact. As lenient as you are, there’s no way you could possibly rule anyone.”

“Lenient? What the hell are you talking about?”

Her piercing glare is really frightening. But I force my mouth into a smile to build as much confidence as I can.

“I’m saying you’re going easy on Yuri. All you’re doing is hitting her, spitting on her, and putting your foot on her head. Ha-ha, you’re way too soft.”

Iroha flashes a grin to show she’s just as confident as I am.

“Okay, then what would it take to satisfy you?”

I say the words that will wipe the smile off her face.

“Kill her.”

As I intended, Iroha’s smile vanishes, and her eyes flare wide.

“You said it at the very beginning, right? You would flush all our rations at the first sign of insubordination. But you haven’t, have you? You made a whole show of tearing her clothes off and dragging her out in her underwear, but you haven’t done what you said, have you?”

Iroha smirks.

“…Ha-ha. So you’re saying it’s just for show if I don’t actually flush her rations and kill her? You’ve got a really twisted mind. How could you not tell I was exaggerating when I said that? Don’t you see I had to say it given the circumstances, even if I had no intention of actually doing it?”

“Even if that’s the case, now that you’ve been so lax in dealing with Yuri after she went against you, you’ve shown that you don’t actually have hold over your group, haven’t you?”

“……So what? Are you telling me I should kill Yuri?”

“Not at all. I’m just pointing something out.” I don’t mince words as I tell her, “This group system was broken from the very beginning.”

“……”

Iroha stays silent, folding her arms. Someone as bright as her has to know she’s going to get steamrolled at this rate.

She can mull it over all she wants, though, because there’s no way out of this. Everything I’ve said is absolutely true.

“……Enlighten me on how it’s broken.”

Her voice is just the tiniest bit weaker than before.

“The Group was founded on your trust in Yuri. But there was never any such thing to begin with. You built this plan on the premise of a trust that doesn’t exist. That’s why it’s broken. Am I wrong?”

“……”

Almost there.

Just one more push, and I’ll drag Iroha Shindo, the one who could massacre everyone with a knife to achieve her goal, who would amputate her own little finger just to make others recognize her, down from her sham of a throne.

I’ve clearly got her on the ropes here.

—Or at least, I should have.

Iroha smirks in spite of everything. As if to show me she’s still good to go.

“Yeah, it may be difficult to maintain this group system. I’ll give you that. Still, so what? If forming groups is difficult, then all I need to do is toss that plan out and put together a new one. Are you trying to suggest I can’t do that?”

“……”

I sure didn’t expect such a comeback; I’ll give her that.

Even when she’s backed this far into a corner, she still isn’t ready to throw in the towel. Iroha is the opponent I needed to take down first—my most powerful foe—so it’s only fitting.

If I can do something about my most capable opponent, then I’ll accomplish what I set out to do. Daiya and I most likely share the same purpose, and if Iroha and Yuri are with me, we can keep Koudai Kamiuchi’s impulsiveness in check so he doesn’t kill anyone.

The most difficult pArt_of anything is setting it into motion. If I can get things moving, the rest shouldn’t be that difficult.

This is the first step in getting my plan on track: defeating Iroha.

Once I pull that off, I’m pretty much already at the finish line.

That’s why there’s no backing down for me. I’ve clearly pushed Iroha to the brink, so I absolutely cannot let up.

I search for that final push.

“……”

I look at Yuri. I see her trembling with her head still pressed against the floor.

Oh, I guess that’s it.

It doesn’t matter how much I keep after Iroha, does it?

“…Okay, so you’re going to cast aside Yuri, is that it? So you can save yourself and the rest of us?”

Iroha is already aware that she’s lost, after all.

Iroha immediately answers my question.

“That’s right.”

I predicted her affirmation.

Her blatant lie.

The lie she wants me to see through.

“You can’t fool me.”

This is already over.

“Didn’t I say it earlier? Go ahead and kill Yuri.”

“—”

“If you’re going to give up on her, you should prove it to us right here. Kill her like you cut off your finger, demonstrate your determination, make us all bow down before your power.”

Iroha.

Iroha thinks she’s better suited to the role of the king than anyone else. She stands before us now precisely because of this belief. And she’s doing it because she’s convinced it offers her the highest probability of achieving her goal.

But what happens if she begins to believe someone else might make a worthy king?

She would most likely allow that person to take on the role.

That’s why she’s testing me now.

She’s testing me to see if I can discern this level of falsehood—if I’m suitable for the throne.

“……………Ha-ha.”

Iroha lets out a laugh.

“…You’re right. I can’t do it. So I can never become the king.”

And that’s how Iroha hands the throne over to me.

Her lips pouted, Iroha takes a seat. “Phew…” She gives a deliberate sigh, then smiles ruefully.

“…Iroha lost…?”

Yuri has lifted her head up. Wide-eyed, she looks at Iroha, who’s sitting in her chair with a defeated expression. Wearing nothing but her underwear, Yuri gets to her feet and walks over to Iroha, then stands over her.

“……Why? Why won’t you kill me? You have it in you, right…? You could do it if it helped you achieve your goal, right?”

When she hears this, Iroha smiles bitterly.

“Yuri. What do you think my goal is?” she asks, looking away with her elbows resting on the chair.

“Huh? It’s to become the king…isn’t it?”

“Of course not. That was just a means to an end.”

“I—I see. So—”

Yuri is still troubled, so Iroha says the rest to her with a gentle smile, as if she were patiently teaching a child struggling with multiplication.

“My goal…is to protect you.”

Yuri can do nothing as her confusion grows. For her, it’s the most unbelievable statement in the world.

I already knew this about Iroha, though.

She told me something as she died in the first game. Just before her life faded away, she said, “I’m sorry I couldn’t save you.”

Those words indicated to me that Iroha’s goal was to protect Yuri.

Of course, she was also trying to safeguard her own life along with the rest of ours. But if you look at the way she conducts herself in life, I’m positive that Iroha puts others before herself. I’m also sure she’d try to save Yuri before a bunch of people she just met that day.

That’s why she can’t kill Yuri, even if it means she won’t be able to maintain her group system.

Yuri is shaking her head in disbelief. “Y-you’re lying. I—I mean, I betrayed you! That’s why you got angry and took my clothes and hit me…”

“Yuri, are you trying to mess with me?”

“Huh?”

“Are you trying to play with my emotions and make me change my goal? Are you suggesting I’m a weakling? Basically, you cooperated with Hoshino. I had to punish you to keep the Group together, even if only on the surface. Tearing off your clothes was good for a performance because it draws attention, don’t you think?”

“……”

“Well, I was just delaying the inevitable. You see, I had no doubt you would keep quiet and go along with my plan. I never imagined you would fall into Hoshino’s clutches like this. Once we reached that point, I’d already lost.”

Yuri gives Iroha a long look after she says this—then shakes her head again as if to say she still doesn’t accept it. “…I don’t understand. You were trying to protect me? Maybe you were at first, but there’s no way you could still want to help me now that you know how I tried to hurt you this whole time. You’d never help someone as awful as I am.”

“Yuri, you’re kind of an idiot, you know?”

Iroha sighs.

“Uh, wha…?”

“You shouldn’t even have to think about it, right?”

Yuri still looks lost, and Iroha scratches her head angrily.

“…Agh, give me a break! Okay, have you ever tried looking at things from my perspective?”

“Your perspective…?”

“Yeah. You said you always had the top scores, but I was in the same boat. I was always at the top, too.”

Yuri doesn’t seem to get the significance of what Iroha is saying, because she still looks confused.

“I wanted to be in that spot just like you. But there’s someone always working like crazy to overtake me, so all I can do is put my nose to the grindstone, too. I don’t want to lose, either. Do you have any idea how desperately I worked in secret to protect that position?”

Shock spreads across Yuri’s face.

“You say you could never beat me no matter how hard you tried because I’m special? That has nothing to do with it. If you ask me, you haven’t set any clear milestones for yourself. Can you tell me off the top of your head what you want to be or why you’re studying? You probably can’t. The only thing you could think about was trying to beat me.”

“That’s……”

“You’ll never win with such weak aspirations. You worked hard? I don’t think you can say that. You haven’t worked nearly hard enough. People who really put in a lot of effort never say they have nothing going for them or that they’re a pile of crap.”

“……So if I put in the effort, I can be like you?”

“Agh, come on! Listen to me! There’s no way you can be like me. I’m me. You’re you. No matter how jealous you may be, your abilities and strengths will always be different, so you can never be exactly the same as anyone else. You can envy me all you want, Yuri, but you can’t become me!”

“You’re right. There’s no way I could ever hope to become like you—”

As soon as she hears this, Iroha’s eyebrows shoot up, and she gets to her feet. With terrifying severity, she grips Yuri’s now-trembling shoulders.

“O-ow!”

“That’s right. No matter how jealous—!”

Iroha shouts.

“No matter how jealous I am, I can never be you, Yuri!”

Yuri’s grimace of pain is replaced by wide-eyed shock as she stares at Iroha.

“You think I was unfazed when I heard you were going out with him? I was sincerely happy for you? If that’s how it looked, I guess I was successful. I would never commit a faux pas like not congratulating my best friend on finding love.”

“I-Iroha…?”

Iroha’s tough facade has already caved. Though she seemed so calm even when her Group fell apart, she has now completely lost it.

“Who wouldn’t be upset to see the person they like snatched away? Of course I was torn up over it. Of course I was jealous. But I couldn’t do anything, because he chose you! When I heard you were going out, I just thought, Well, no surprises there. Can you understand where my mind had to be to think that? Do you understand where I had to be to so readily accept that he would choose you over someone like me? Do you think those thoughts didn’t drive me nuts? I’m not you, though, so all I could do was give up!

“What the hell, Yuri?! How do you fail to see any of this when you’re so good at reading people? You wanted me to envy you? You must be stupid! I……I…! From the moment I saw you when I started school, I—”

Iroha’s grip on Yuri’s shoulders tightens as she yells:

“I was jealous of you!”

Yuri stares at Iroha blankly, unable to comprehend what was just said to her.

It must be hard to believe from Yuri’s standpoint. She’s probably having trouble swallowing the idea that the one she had come to think of as superhuman, as a rival she would never, ever beat, had actually envied her the entire time.

I’m sorry, Yuri. I knew.

“But even being the way I was, the first time I respected, envied—and yeah, probably felt jealousy toward someone…was Yuri.”

I knew all that from the first game.

It’s how I also knew it was their miscommunication that was destroying them.

“I think about depending on someone, too, y’know! But for some reason, I never can. Whenever the thought enters my head…I always think of you,” Iroha says, then releases Yuri’s shoulders.

As Yuri stares dumbfounded at Iroha, surprise appears on her face.

“Iroha… Why are you crying…?”

“Ha-ha, what’re you saying? I never cry—”

Iroha puts her hand to her cheek as if just going along with the joke.

Her eyes go wide. She realizes she really is crying.

“No way… I’m…crying? I don’t remember crying even in my earliest memories. And now I’m doing it in front of other people? That’s ridiculous…”

But her tears are flowing.

They’re really flowing.

The fact that Iroha is crying is undeniable.

Her mask breaks.

“Ngh……”

That face that had been so tense for so long crumples like a child’s.

“Wah… Waaaaaaaaaah! Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Iroha sobs loudly.

The Iroha we knew, the same Iroha who could lop off her own finger to reach her goal, is bawling like a child, unable to contain her emotions.

“I-Iroha…?”

“Waaaaaaaaaaaaah! Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid Yuriii! I trusted you! I…was such an idiot! I trusted that at least you would never betray me!”

The tears pour from Iroha’s eyes, and her nose is running.

“What the hell? Superhuman? Don’t be stupid!! Look at me! It’s not like I want to be the king! This killing game terrifies me! Cutting off my finger hurt! I wanted someone to protect me, too! But I had to do it even if I didn’t want to! I thought I would make the best king, so I had no choice but to take on the responsibility! I had to do it because I couldn’t stand the idea of relying on someone else and then letting everyone die—letting you die!”

There isn’t even a trace of Iroha’s usual aloofness as she sobs her heArt_out here like a little kid.

Still in shock, Yuri asks her, “Iroha… Why did you want to protect me…?”

The question is a little off topic, and Iroha fixes Yuri with a red-eyed glare.

“You know why!”

I then recall something.

A certain question Iroha asked me during the first game.

“Do you think I—

actually liked Yuri?”

I didn’t know the answer until just now, this very moment. Iroha has enough control over herself that she can expunge any emotions that might get in her way, and my experiences in the third game weren’t enough for me to see the truth of her heart.

But now I understand very well.

Now that I can see her feelings laid bare, I understand completely.

Iroha’s feelings for Yuri—

“I wanted to protect you because I love you!”

—are love.

“If you died because I failed to protect you, I could maybe bear it if you at least thought I didn’t love you—that’s how much I care about you!”

“Ah…”

Emotion finally returns to Yuri’s dazed eyes.

“Ahh……”

In an instant, her tears well and overflow. Before long, her face is soaking wet with a river of tears, just like Iroha’s.

These two.

Their mutual admiration was so great that they envied each other.

That led to some mistakes within this Box, but they wouldn’t have come to harbor such powerful emotions if they didn’t care so much in the first place.

“Iroha… Irohaaa……”

Yuri hugs her.

The two of them embrace each other, sobbing.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”

“I don’t want to hear that. I don’t want to hear any apologies from you. I won’t allow it. I’d…much rather hear something else.”

Though it takes her a moment, Yuri, now covered in snot and tears, quickly catches on. Putting on a clumsy smile, one with no trace of deception but rather a desperation that even a flatterer wouldn’t call polite, she whispers gently:

“I—I love you, too, Iroha…”

Yep.

When I hear that, it all comes together for me.

The reason why Yuri put on Iroha’s wristwatch during the second game. Why she confessed to stealing the boy she had feelings for, and why she drove her into a corner.

“—Please kill me.”

She wanted to make it easier for Iroha to take her life.

Sure, Yuri probably wanted to beat Iroha. But she also knew Iroha would become the player eventually, so she made sure to say this so that Iroha would find it easier to kill her as an NPC. Yuri was trying to save Iroha’s life, even if it meant earning her hatred in the process.

That’s…not an easy thing to do. For instance—

“Iroha… I’ll always love you.”

—if she didn’t love Iroha, she could never do it.

Oh, what the hell.

Whether they forgive each other doesn’t matter. If the feelings of love are mutual, then none of that is important.

This doesn’t mean the relationship between the real versions of them has improved, of course. These two NPCs aren’t the despair-filled girls in the real world.

But I have faith in them.

I have faith that these two can mend their friendship and do away with their hopelessness.

I find that very easy to believe now.

And I begin to think.

Now that my most troublesome opponent is out of the way and I’ve taken a solid step toward preventing our deaths, I’m certain.

Everything will be fine. I have unmistakably set the wheels in motion. I will arrive at my destination. All I can see in my head are visions of success.

That’s right—

I’ve beaten Daiya.

“I will beat you, Daiya.”

So Kazuki Hoshino declares.

I can’t hide my amusement.

“Not a chance in hell.”

I’m absolutely certain of it: Kazuki Hoshino will never be able to achieve his goal.

If he’s sure he can win, it’s nothing more than a delusion.

Kazuki Hoshino has made a huge mistake, after all.

I can be here in this room where I can see everything—the Master Room, if you will—so I naturally know all about his blunder.

“……Heh.”

Still…

“Tedium is a monster… Some people might even try to slay it with a bullet to their own brains.”

I’m quite fond of that quote.

Tedium is indeed a monster. If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t have used a wish-granting Box to relieve myself of it.

“Okay, here I go,” Kazuki Hoshino says, then looks toward the screen. His face is illuminated by the pale white light of the shabby arcade cabinet.

Several transparent hands stretch out toward Kazuki Hoshino where he gazes into the display.

His expression is loaded with disgust as he’s engulfed in the hands spilling outward as if to devour him. As if the hands are pulling it out of him, the color gradually fades from Kazuki Hoshino until he turns transparent and eventually disappears.

I applaud your tragic resolve.

But there was never any point from the get-go. Even in the unlikely event you are able to steer things so that no one offs anyone else, it still isn’t worth squat.

Because, well, Daiya Oomine isn’t the owner of the Game of Indolence.

“That’s just the way your core nature works. It catches and alters everything that happens. Things you find enjoyable will just be tedious to someone who’s naturally bored.”

“If someone consumed by boredom uses a Box, the results will only stave off the tedium temporarily. That’s why this is all just a diversion. A pointless game.”

It’s me—Koudai Kamiuchi.

Thanks for the commentary on me, Daiya.

Kazuki Hoshino just happened to misinterpret it. Daiya Oomine’s verbal smoke and mirrors made a complete chump of poor Hoshino. ◾

And that’s why—he’s doomed to fail.

As if he ever wasn’t. It’s impossible to win when you’ve got your sights set on the wrong opponent.

“Oomine.”

When I address him, Daiya Oomine looks at me without a word.

“What exactly do you want to do with Hoshino?”

“Why do you ask?” he replies unhappily.

“Well, it’s just that I heard your conversation, and I don’t really get it. You said it yourself, right? ‘If no one kills anyone else for eight days, you can survive.’”

“I did say that.”

“That was a lie, wasn’t it?”

Daiya Oomine doesn’t answer.

“I mean, having a rule like that is out of the question. Do you think I’m the type to build in such a meaningless escape route?”

Force the game to end. His explanation was so persuasive, even I almost believed it, but if you really think about it, Daiya Oomine has no reason to know a trick like that, since he isn’t even the owner.

In short, it was a bunch of BS.

Daiya Oomine has a joyous look on his face. I had wondered how he would react, but this is a surprise.

I can’t help but smirk, too. This guy came up with a bunch of crap off the top of his head and got Kazuki Hoshino to buy it, and now he’s smiling.

No wonder he beat the first round of the game so easily.

“It doesn’t matter whether it’s true or whatever. The important thing is whether Kazuki Hoshino believes it.”

“Oh, I’d say he swallowed it hook, line, and sinker. I almost feel sorry for him. But what I’m asking is why you did it.”

Daiya Oomine scratches his head as he replies, “Would you be convinced if I said I wanted to see Kazu dance around like a fool?”

“…Huh? If you’re putting it that way, does that mean you’re lying?”

“It’s the truth.”

I don’t know the whole story, but I get the feeling he’s being honest, so I burst out laughing.

“Man, you’re a real piece of work. You’ve got Hoshino beat on so many levels.”

“I guess,” he responds with no emotion, as if it’s nothing.

Still, I’m sure that isn’t his only reason. I know there’s more to him even deeper below the surface. He may be telling the truth, but at most it’s just one of the things he hopes to do.

“By the way, why are you doing this? Why did you want to become the would-be guide for Kingdom Royale?”

This Box summons the players to this space by force and can put them in stasis until their turn in Kingdom Royale actually rolls around. But for some reason, it couldn’t put him under like it did the other players.

When I tried asking the man himself why that was, Daiya Oomine said something about how the fact that he’s an owner allows him to butt into others’ wishes. I’m not going to lie, but that made me real skeptical.

I asked why Maria Otonashi, also evidently an owner, can’t do the same thing, and he said that apparently she might be able to. According to him, she’s stuck in stasis simply because her turn hasn’t come around yet, and that’s prevented her from detecting the presence of this Box.

In other words, Daiya Oomine is free to move because he was already released from stasis to play in the first round of the game.

Anyway, Daiya Oomine has used his freedom to explain Kingdom Royale to Kazuki Hoshino and brag like he did just now.

“I told you the reason. I want to watch Kazu’s clumsy little dance.”

“That’s not all, though, is it?”

“Let me put it this way, then. I don’t want to tell you.”

“Oh-ho, that’s tough talk toward the owner when he’s letting you run around free here. Do you understand your position? But it’s fine with me if you don’t want to answer. I don’t really care that much anyway.”

I’m okay with whatever as long as it’s interesting. Actually, seeing Kazuki Hoshino turning desperate over a bunch of lies sounds like a good time.

Daiya Oomine sighs, like he’s disgusted I backed off so easily. “…Now that I think about it, there’s one thing I haven’t asked. Why choose us as the players?”

“Hey, might as well get people who’ll give me a run for my money, right? Hard mode is more fun than easy mode, after all. So I decided to go with the guys everyone says are the top students at our school.”

“And Kazu? Surely you can’t call him an overachiever?”

“No, I can’t. To tell you the truth, I had someone else in mind. You know, that Ryu Miyazaki guy in second year. I had to nix that, though, since he doesn’t go to our school anymore. A guy wants a little consistency in his enemy mobs, right?”

“So you chose Kazu in place of Miyazaki. Seems like a poor substitute.”

“There you go again. I know you actually have a pretty high opinion of Hoshino. Besides, that’s really not the case. Sure, Hoshino might be a nobody when he’s on his own, but if he teams up with Maricchi, he can be real trouble.”

Daiya Oomine grimaces with displeasure. “…Maybe so. But did you know that before you started this game?”

“Ah, O told me.”

Daiya Oomine seems surprised for a moment to hear this, then smirks.

“What’s with that look?”

“Oh, nothing. I just thought that might’ve been the case,” he says, then looks toward the screen. Kazuki Hoshino is speaking with Noitan.

The sight of his oblivious sincerity reminds me so much of a clown acting for our amusement, I can’t help but laugh.

Daiya Oomine gazes at Kazuki Hoshino’s ridiculous show, as if he doesn’t even want to blink.

What the hell? I thought you wanted to laugh at him. Why so serious?

“……”

Ah, who cares.

“Hey.”

Daiya Oomine speaks up, eyes still glued to the screen.

“…What is it?”

“…I just wanted to check something, but your NPC doesn’t know the details of the Game of Indolence, nor that he’s the owner, right?”

“If he did, it wouldn’t be fair, and that’s no fun.”

“Hmm, your NPC doesn’t have a clue, and he still acts like that. At any rate, you must not think there’s any meaning to the Game of Indolence or the bloodshed that takes place in it.”

“Huh? Isn’t that obvious? Do you think differently?”

“…Whether I do or not, here’s how I think Kazu sees it.”

“…?”

Daiya Oomine lifts his head and looks at me.

Then he says:

“He’s going to try to give purpose to the Game of Indolence.”

There’s a hint of happiness in Daiya Oomine’s face as he tells me.

“………”

That expression creeps me out.

It’s like he’s actually counting on Kazuki Hoshino, when he should be trying to play him for a fool.

It’s not the type of thing you expect to see when two guys are supposedly going at it.

What if they’re really working together to try to trap me…? …Yeah, no way—that’s not possible. I saw how they talked together earlier, and I’ve watched pretty much every interaction they’ve had in the game through this cabinet. If they are in cahoots, I would’ve noticed.

…And, well, even if they are conspiring against me—

—that doesn’t really matter, either.