1 – Lentz, Gerit (147) Mute/Loner
2 – Shiota, Nagisa (85)
3 – Malinay, Stag (61)
4 – Veleten, Zerren (54)
5 – Nakamura, Rio (42)
6 – Yada, Toka (38)
7 – Isogai, Yuma (17)
Stag chews on his thumb nervously as the six of us walk Kayano to the spectator room.
"Hey! Man, I really wish I was a part of that challenge." Sugino works out his arm, rotating it as though getting ready to pitch. "I always wanted to try throwing them!"
"Well, you shouldn't have saved Nagisa then." Nakamura shrugs. "Your fault."
"Hey..." he grumbles.
"What took you guys so long to get back anyway?" Lannamay asks, arms crossed. She seems more open to communication, but still upset from this morning.
"Oh, she's totally rooting for you." Sugino points to Lannamay. "We were talking and—"
"Didn't she give her coins to Gerit?" Nakamura interjects.
"Well, yeah, but she was upset." Sugino shakes his head. "And technically, Gerit is the best choice, no offense." He waves in my direction.
"But you're willing to work with us now?" I ask.
"Just curious, but what can we do as spectators?" Kayano questions, confused.
Sugino grins. "We get an outside perspective." He motions towards the screen. "It was actually Lannamay that saw it first, but did you know Gerit only watches certain people?"
My eyes widen. "I didn't, actually. Was he watching me?"
Sugino shakes his head. "That's the weird part. He only watched Yada and Isogai on this last challenge. It's like he knew they were going to do the best besides him."
There is a long and quiet pause when we all simultaneously respond to Sugino. "What??"
"How could he know that?" Isogai throws his hands out to the side.
"He did it when you faced the demon too." Lannamay adds. "He watched Stag, Zerren, Isogai and Sugino primarily when you all had to dodge the demon."
"He did?" I lean in, wondering how I could have missed that. Then I realize: I didn't.
He knew when to look out for me.
"I can't be sure since I was in the moment, but I think it's because we had the easiest time passing the challenge. He knows us somehow." Sugino explains.
"All of us?" Stag crosses his arms to keep from chewing on his nail out of nervousness.
"That'd be my guess." Sugino returns.
"But how?" Isogai asks again.
Zen walks into the room. "It's time for the next challenge. Contestants, please follow me."
"So basically, we can do a lot as spectators." Sugino directs to Kayano. "We aren't out of this thing yet."
"Alright!" Kayano pumps her arm once, feeling more confident. "Good luck, everyone!"
-----
We meet in front of a door near the back of the hotel. It leads to the next section, adding to the line we used to be moving in since the beginning of the contest.
Guess the island is still going.
"Welcome to your next playground. I will be letting you in one at a time." The creator puts a hand on the doorknob. "You will have two minutes to set yourself up before I let the next person in." He raises his free hand in the air, looking over our heads. "Hosts?"
The hosts hand us each a rope with six colored tags that are about a foot long attached. We all have a different color. Mine's blue. I tie the rope around my waist as everyone else does.
"Your goal will be to steal one from every other person." The creator explains. "Last one to do so, or the one that collects the least in the hour I give you, loses. Any questions?"
Yada's hand goes up. "What's the room like?"
The creator grins, entertained. "All I'll say is to not feed the demons. I'll let you in by rank." He looks at Gerit. "Ready?"
Gerit walks up to the door, staring the creator down until he opens it. Gerit disappears with his white tags and the door closes.
"You can technically ask questions until all of you are through the door." The creator adds.
"Do we have to wait until we're all in there to start the challenge?" Nakamura asks.
The creator's smile deepens. "Nope!"
"Shit." Nakamura responds.
"He could be waiting for us on the other side of the door!" Stag exclaims, annoyed.
"It wouldn't be in his best interest, but yes, he could." The creator nods.
"Because then we'd be able to get his too." Nakamura crosses her arms. "Still..."
"He might be watching so he knows where we're at." Zerren ponders out loud.
"Nagisa, it's your turn." The creator says.
"Alright." I approach the door and he opens it.
"Good luck!" Yada yells.
"See you soon!" Isogai adds.
The door closes with me on the other side. It looks like a mini forest area. Sounds like it too. I smell the air and recognize the sea.
I'm actually outside!
I check my surroundings for Gerit and hurry in. I know I don't have long, but I do my best to get an understanding of the area before I choose my hiding place. I reach the edge marked by a fence, but I can't see the ocean from here. Following the fence, I see some bars in the ground after a while. I stop by and spot the demons inside, climbing over each other to try and get at me.
That explains it.
I look around again and decide that the least likely place I'll be found is with the demons, but I'll save that for later if I can manage it. I hear someone moving in the brush nearby and hide in the closest bush. Stag pops out, searching the area quickly. I let him leave just as quick without revealing myself.
I decide to hide in another bush near a small path, hoping a few people choose to walk on it. After a long time, Yada stops by, sighing as she thinks she's alone. She backs up slightly and I wait for just the right moment in her attention span to tug on the tag without her noticing. Successfully keeping her unaware, I stuff the pink tag into a pocket.
That was easy.
Something spooks her and she runs off. Nakamura bursts through a bush, Zerren chasing after.
"Come on. You sure you don't want to just trade?" Nakamura teases.
"I already lost three!" Zerren complains.
They dodge each other for a while and I spot my opening, running past them and snatching a tag from each.
"Hey!" Nakamura calls out, Zerren turning to see what happened. Then she steals one from him too. "Thanks!" She runs off laughing.
"God damn it!" Zerren screams, chasing after her. "You said you wanted to trade!"
Heh, that was lucky.
I grin to myself and find another bush to hide behind, waiting for my prey. Next is Gerit. He casually walks up the trail, looking around calmly. I notice he's missing a tag and he's got everyone else's color sticking out of a pocket. He takes his time, but gradually gets closer and closer, searching. His attention never wavers though, so I don't attempt to steal his tag even when he enters my reach. He stays there a minute and I sense he's going to leave soon, so I go for it despite my instincts telling me I shouldn't. I grab his tag and immediately after, he grabs my wrist.
It scares the shit out of me, but I remain quiet.
Kneeling, he continues holding my wrist and reaches into the bush, grabbing a hold of one of my tags. In that moment, our faces are maybe an inch apart and I can finally see further in. His exterior is calm. Focused. But inside, he stares at me with what I can only discern as pity. He plucks the tag off and stands up, letting me go. I keep hold of his and it tears off, but it feels like he let me have it. I nervously watch him leave.
Why would he pity me?
I hear rustling again and hide. Isogai shows up, looking all over.
"I know I just saw him here..." he mumbles to himself.
He has three tags left and I wait for the moment to claim mine. He gets closer and instead hides. In the distance, I catch sight of Stag.
Perfect!
I smile and wait for everything to unfold.
Isogai jumps out at Stag, surprising him as he tries to steal a tag. I run in, targets in sight. Just as Isogai grabs a brown tag off Stag, I take one of his orange ones.
"What the—" Stag shouts.
Then I steal one of Stag's, taking off and leaving them stunned.
"Where'd he come from?" Isogai yells.
I glance back in time to watch Stag taking one of Isogai's as well. I head straight for the demon's cage at the edge of the course. Bursting through the forest line, I see the bars in the ground. Gerit is standing to the side and he watches me, his expression unreadable again. He turns to the forest after hearing something and I go to sit on the bars, pulling out a zipline and tying it off onto one of them. Gerit runs away and I slide in with the demons through an opening, hanging above them.
They go crazy for me, climbing over each other and making noise. I hear Stag and Isogai just outside.
"I saw him go this way." Stag says.
"He's really good at going unnoticed." Isogai admits.
"Damn it. He's the only one I've got left!" Stag shouts.
"How'd you get Gerit?" Isogai asks.
"Heh, you're on your own with that one."
I hear Isogai sigh as their footsteps walk in different directions. Neither of them seem to notice the growing sounds of the demons, for which I'm thankful.
Doubt anyone will look in here.
-----
The bell goes off after an hour and a loudspeaker crackles to life with the voice of the creator.
"The challenge is over! Please return to the hotel. Thank you~" It turns off.
I pull myself up and untie the zipline, letting the wire reel back into the contraption. I'm the last to arrive at the door and rush in so the creator can close it.
"You only lost one?" Nakamura asks.
"Guess we know who won." Zerren grumbles.
"That's right! You're the winner." The creator smiles. "And Yada, what shall you do with your coins?"
She grumbles, unclipping her pouch. "Let me count them real quick."
She pours the coins onto the ground and separates them. Gerit seems to have only lost two tags. Stag, four. And Isogai, five. The other three lost all of them.
"Alright." Yada scoops up a couple of piles and hands them to Isogai and Nakamura. "For you." Then she scoops up the other two piles and hands them to Stag and I. "And for you!"
"Wait, you're sharing with Stag and not me?" Zerren throws his hands to the side.
"I heard you were giving yours to Gerit." Yada grins. "That's fine, but you're not getting any of my coins if that's the case."
Zerren sighs. "That's fair."
"What about me? Not that I'm complaining." Stag points to himself.
Yada smiles, placing a hand on his arm. "Deshi deserves a chance. I support that."
Stag's face falls, touched. He then goes and hugs Yada. "Thank you."
"U-uh, yeah!" Yada blushes.
"Lovely!" The creator claps his hands together. "We shall resume tomorrow. Have a good night!"
***What new challenges await them? Will they be easy, or will they intensify as we approach the final challenge?