"Kosma, where did Papa and Mama go?"
A blue-haired girl painting under dim light asked Kosma, who was sitting nearby playing the harmonica.
"..." Kosma quickly exchanged a glance with Dystopia.
"Little Griseo, Papa and Mama are busy right now. You can see them once you're a bit better~" Dystopia flashed a kind smile and explained.
"Oh..."
Griseo didn't say anything more. She nodded and turned back to her painting. Dystopia and Kosma breathed a sigh of relief.
Neither of them was good with children. They lacked experience and the natural affinity that Lin or Aponia possessed. Fortunately, though Griseo was like a blank sheet of paper, she was very obedient. She only liked to paint and wouldn't run off or ask endless questions.
Due to Aponia absence, they took turns with Kalpas and Imur to watch over Griseo. Kalpas had been specifically designated by Aponia. Though they all considered Kalpas dangerous, Aponia had insisted it was fine.
Can that violent guy really take care of Griseo? He looks exactly like the type kids would hate.
"By the way, where did Kevin and the others go?"
"Some... uninhabited island, I think. It should be fine, right?"
Lin dozed lightly as the ship swayed. Since this ship wasn't a product of the Fire Moth R&D department, it rocked unsteadily when hitting larger waves.
He ignored whatever activity Elysia was organizing next door, hoping this vacation would allow him to recover in peace. Ideally, he'd sleep in the sun every day and read a few books by the sea breeze at night until the seven days were up.
But he felt he was dreaming.
In his grogginess, he couldn't tell if he was actually asleep. In his dream, someone approached him, walked up to his face, and leaned down in the indistinct darkness...
Lin snapped his eyes open. He rolled out of bed and stared warily at his surroundings. The room was as silent as a morgue.
"...Kevin, it's your turn to play a card!"
Elysia joyful ruckus was still going on next door. Light leaked through the door crack. He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead; it seemed it was just a nightmare. Lin took a drink of water and lay back down to sleep.
Gently drifting off, he again felt someone approaching...
"Get up! Wake up right now!"
Lin was shaken awake by a violent jarring. He opened his eyes to see Mobius beautiful face, flushed with shock and anger.
"...Are we there?"
"There my foot! Wake up and look at your face!"
Lin cleared his head a bit under Mobius shout. He realized that it wasn't just her; everyone else had crowded into his small room, looking at him with strange, indecipherable expressions.
Following Mobius words, Lin walked to the mirror and looked at his sleepy reflection.
"..."
A lip print.
Lin saw clearly that on his right cheek, just below his sunglasses, there was a faint, pink lip print. Judging by the texture of the print, it couldn't have been drawn on.
He understood why everyone was looking at him that way.
Mobius crossed her arms, sneering. "Do you have an explanation?"
Lin touched the lip print and expressionlessly scanned everyone in the room. He first scrutinized the girls (excluding Mei) with a suspicious eye, but they were all calm and composed. He then turned his suspicious gaze toward the remaining men. Finally, he narrowed his suspects down to Elysia.
"Hmm? Suspecting me?" Elysia said with a smile. "Unfortunately, Lin, I've been playing games with them in the room next door the whole time."
"Elysia indeed never left the room," Mei added, observing everyone with amusement while defending Elysia.
"..."
Once the most likely culprit was ruled out, things hit a stalemate. Among those left, who would pull such a prank?
"...It doesn't matter," Lin said, shrugging.
Mobius expression froze. "It... doesn't matter?" She repeated each word slowly, staring at his sunglasses.
"Just a prank," Lin said calmly, wiping the print off his face. "And it has no impact."
"You..."
Mobius stopped herself before the words came out. Lin was right—did it actually matter? He was the one pranked, and he didn't care, so why should anyone else? Ultimately, who was she to Lin? Even as friends, she had no right to interfere.
"If that's all, I'm going back to sle—"
Lin was yanked up before he could lie down, meeting Mobius darkened expression.
"You. Come. Play with us."
"..."
Lin wanted to refuse, but Mobius unquestionable tone and gaze clearly left him no choice. Meanwhile, the culprit was in the crowd, a smile playing on their lips.
"Great! Welcome Lin and Mobius to our game! Let's continue!"
Everyone sat on mats in a circle, creating a warm, cozy feeling like sitting around a hearth.
After Elysia welcome, Lin glanced at Mobius beside him, who glared back. "I was just watching them play to study the rules; I've got it now."
"..."
That said, Lin didn't actually know what game they were playing. The cards in Elysia hand were just standard playing cards, but with this many people, it couldn't be a normal poker game.
"It's actually very simple; I'm sure you've heard of it, Lin." Elysia smiled and fanned out the twelve cards in her hand. "It's the 'King's Game'~"
The King's Game—a game of immense popularity with a difficulty level of almost zero. Simply put, everyone is assigned an identity; only one is the King. The King can order other identities to do something—it could be everyone, or a specific person by their number, though the King doesn't know who holds which number.
"The King's commands are divided into 'Truth' and 'Dare.' If someone can't answer a 'Truth,' they must do a 'Dare,' and vice-versa. Of course, overly excessive commands are not allowed~"
"One more thing. In this deck, besides Ace through 10, the remaining two cards are the Joker and the Extra Joker. The Joker is the King, and as for the Extra Joker..." Elysia smiled playfully. "When the King specifies someone to execute a command, the Extra Joker must execute the same command with them. That is our special rule."
With the rules explained, Elysia handed the deck to Sakura. This made Lin sigh in relief; if she were the one shuffling and dealing, she would undoubtedly pull some tricks.
Sakura shuffled the cards in silence and dealt them out. After Lin got his card, he pressed it down in front of him and peeked at a corner...
...The Extra Joker.