58: Fair Game
“Misato deleted the app once. But then, a new one was installed somehow. I tried opening it, and it was like this super long message from Double Suicide about a final game.”
Luo watched Ryugo crawl around with a grin.
It’s the same.
Losing my fangs, I was forced back to the days when I had no choice but to submit to her.
At that time, I had found the app, so I had made up my mind to stand up again.
But now, I had no way to resist.
“…Ugh.”
『Owners cannot hypnotize each other』
『Multiple hypnotisms cannot be cast on a subject』
Those rules maintained the equality of this experiment…this game.
Otherwise, it would end with a surprise attack like this.
If there were people with special privileges, the game would turn into bullying.
“Since you won’t become Aira’s anyway, I might as well break you.”
The crazy woman laughed regretfully.
“All Aira needs is Ryu-kun, but Ryu-kun doesn’t think he needs Aira. But that’s okay. I can just break her heart again, right? Then Ryu-kun will love Aira, right?”
I didn’t understand her reasoning, but it was a foregone conclusion for her.
Aira came up to Ryugo with a clatter, looking down at him. But from here, I could only see her legs, and I couldn’t tell what kind of expression she had on her face.
“Tanuki-kun!”
Enka tried to move, but
“Stand down.”
The moment Aira’s order flew out, she took a bitter step back and walked briskly backward.
No one could disobey orders.
She walked all the way to the wall and stopped, her back against it. She wouldn’t be able to do anything rashly.
“Damn it…!”
Is this the end of the road for me?
At first, I was trying to reform Aira and the others. If it could end peacefully, that would be the best.
But the more I got to know her, the more degraded I became of the unfathomable depths of her innocent malice. She didn’t become a demon later in life.
She was born that way, the personification of pure malice.
Just as entropy is irreversible, it would be impossible to wash away her pitch-black nature.
So at the very least, I’ll keep the damage to a minimum.
I won’t let her do whatever she wants anymore.
Even now, my fists are still clenched tight. My fangs are not broken.
“Now, where is the smartphone?”
She searched my pants pockets and easily took out my smartphone.
“Hmm…oh. There’s no app. Oh dear?”
Aira tilted her head.
“Double Suit, did you do something? Or Bunny Suit?”
It seemed like she hadn’t considered the possibility that I had given it to Enka.
Still, the first people she suspected were Double Suit and Bunny Suit. That made sense. Double Suit was the one who had given Aira that cheat. Like she had done to Aira, it wouldn’t be strange if he had given Ryugo some kind of advantage too.
…Speaking of which, why did Double Suit give Aira such an app?
Ryugo hadn’t been given anything. I had checked that beforehand, and Bunny Suit hadn’t said anything either.
If this was his so-called game, it should be interesting.
How could it be “interesting” if it ended with just kicking me around, humiliating me, and leaving me for dead?
Of course, I also considered the possibility that I had the same privilege as Aira. However, if her words were true, then when Ryuugo and Enka opened the app, they should have seen a similar message.
So, I don’t have it.
If the Double Suit is looking for something interesting, then I should have something too.
“…”
…Do I?
Is there something prepared to reverse this situation?
If the Double Suit only created this to hurt Ryuugo, then this guess is useless.
But I don’t think he’s the type to do something like that to get revenge.
“Aira…”
“Hmm?”
“What kind of…hypnosis did you put Enka under?”
“Why are you…no, I won’t tell you. I have a bad feeling if I do.”
Aira’s alarm grew stronger as she slowly moved away.
Dammit.
If she would just tell me, I could use it to figure this out.
Deduction, speculation, whatever. I need to find a hint to break through this situation.
What was the hypnosis Aira put Enka under?
When she was told to kick, Enka kicked Ryuugo. And she seemed surprised by her own actions.
This is probably an “order.”
However, it’s a fact that if you’re aware of the hypnosis, you can maintain your ego.
If that’s the case, could the other possibility be “attitude: soldier”?
Next is the hypnosis that was put on Ryuugo.
When he was told to crawl, he acted accordingly with an irresistible urge.
The intense fear at that time. I can still feel it now.
But if it was an “order,” he shouldn’t have felt fear.
If that’s the case, then the other possibility would be “attitude: slave.”
“…”
Aira stared at me with a strange expression, frozen in place.
“…What’s with that face?”
“…”
“Even though you know you can’t win, why don’t you look like you’re giving up? Answer me. ‘Where did you hide the smartphone with the app on it!?’
“Www…”
I had the illusion that my Bl00d vessels were freezing from deep within my organs.
Scary.
I want to give up and tell her everything she wants so I can be at ease.
Even though my heart screamed that I would be at ease if I just gave up, Ryuugo managed to suppress it at the last moment.
“Www…”
“W-what? Answer me quickly!”
Aira anxiously.
Is Aira’s app really invincible?
Anyone can be hypnotized? Completely superior?
Would the Double Suits approve of that?
…I see.
This isn’t a one-sided game.
Ryugo turned his consciousness toward the flame of terror.
Where on earth does the feeling of being afraid of Era come from? He analyzed it calmly. To search for the source, he thrust his hand into the flames.
He felt his heart burning. But his fingertips touched the answer.
If I disobey her, I’ll be killed… That obsessive thought was the source of the flames. There was no way to survive other than to grovel and beg for forgiveness.
That’s the feeling of a ‘slave’.
“So… that’s it…”
What’s being cast now isn’t an ‘order’. It’s an ‘attitude’.
In that case, why did Era go to the trouble of saying it out loud “as if she were giving an order”? If it were an ‘order’, she could have just written it in the smartphone app.
That way, she wouldn’t have revealed what kind of hypnosis she had cast on us. In other words, there’s no merit to saying it out loud.
In the first place, an ‘order’ can only make you do one action. It can’t make you crawl around and answer questions. Excluding the exceptional types that last forever.
Era had to make Ryugo and the others misunderstand that she was using ‘orders’ on them.
Why would she do something like that?
He could think of various reasons, but there was one simple one.
Ryugo put his hands on the floor and lifted his face, resisting the heavy weight of terror.
“I understand…!”
“W-what…w-why!?”
Era shouted in a loud voice, unable to hide her irritation.
“Crawl!”
A sudden weight, as if a hundred adults were sitting on him, attacked him.
It was just an illusion created by his terror.
Even though he understood that, it didn’t bring him any relief in a situation where it felt like all his nerves were being torn apart.
“Thi… is… bad…!”
“…Ugh!”
Today, Makoto had proven it.
The power of hypnosis can be repelled by the subject’s strong will.
“Crawl!! Crawl!! Crawl!!!”
His whole body grew heavier and heavier.
It was as if his bones had turned to lead, his muscles to iron, and his fat to sandbags.
But even so, he refused to give up.
Stand up, stand up, get up!!
“Your…”
“…U, ugh…”
“…app… isn’t… invincible…!”
He desperately bent his knees and somehow managed to get on all fours.
“I’ve got it… the mechanism…!”
“U, u, ugh…”
“You can’t…can you…”
Kneeling down, he forced a smile.
It was a provocative, malicious smile.
“You can’t…follow ‘orders’…can you!?”
“Ugh…!!”
Ryugo pressed on, seeing the reaction that hit the mark from Aira.
“Because your app…doesn’t have ‘orders’!!”
There were countless other possibilities.
However, this was the only answer that could change the current situation.
A desperate deduction. Its success or failure was evident in Aira’s extraordinarily furious expression.
“Ryu…kun…!!”
“Games…are always…fair…!!”