Just beyond the clearing where Vanitas had stood moments ago, the forest held its breath.
A dense shadow lingered between the trees, half-concealed behind the thick trunk of an old cedar. Noah stood there without moving, his arms folded loosely across his chest, his breathing calm and controlled. Nothing in his posture suggested urgency. He had the stillness of someone who had already decided that patience was more useful than movement.
His eyes remained fixed on the clearing where Vanitas had stood.
"She hesitated," he thought. "That finger hovered just long enough to question the whole system."
He hadn't seen the watch display itself, but the way her expression had shifted—first curious, then calculating—had been enough to tell him that something important had appeared on her screen.
"Vanitas," he thought.
His gaze hardened slightly as he recalled her behavior from earlier—the way she talked freely, the way her thoughts seemed to spill out without restraint.
"Too expressive and careless."
He paused for a moment, weighing the possibilities.
"She must be a wildcard," he concluded. "And wildcards are dangerous in the wrong hands."
Noah finally lowered his eyes to his own wrist. Until now, he hadn't touched the Chrysalis watch at all. The interface remained idle, waiting with infuriating calm, as if it had already known he would delay this moment.
When he finally tapped it, the display rose into the air in a pale glow.
「Watch Display
Status: None
Role 1: Musketeer
Role 2: Locked
Skills: Eliminate a target with a ratio of 4:2. ➤
Team: Survivor
Stage: Tutorial」
His expression didn't change much, but his focus sharpened. He scrolled once, and another line appeared.
「Mission: Steal a snack and get away with it.」
Noah stared at the mission text for a moment, then lifted his gaze toward the bend in the trail where Vanitas had disappeared. The forest had gone still again, her presence swallowed entirely by the trees.
"She's unpredictable," he thought. "That makes her valuable… or volatile."
He leaned back against the trunk and closed his eyes briefly, gathering his thoughts. The undergrowth remained silent. No branches shifted, no leaves stirred. The tutorial stage had barely begun, yet the system had already assigned roles, missions, and enough uncertainty to break anyone with weaker nerves.
He opened his eyes again and scrolled. The skill window expanded before him.
───────────────────────
「Active Ability:
· Eliminate a target with a ratio of 4:2.
↳ Roll a roulette. 4 on Successful, 2 on Unsuccessful.
Passive Ability:
· Successful elimination = Gain 1 extra vote
· Unsuccessful elimination = Attempt redirected to Musketeer
Storage:
· 1 Armor
↳ To prevent immediate death.」
───────────────────────
He read the entire description once, then again.
Lower on the interface, more text appeared.
「Note: If Musketeer is eliminated, War Cry will be activated automatically.」
「Effects of War Cry:
· Hunters will get intimidated and lose the ability to make any move for a day.
· A chosen player by Musketeer will be boosted with 1 extra right to Vote and Judgement phases.」
Noah's gaze lingered on that section the longest.
"I should observe first and see how it plays out," he thought.
The idea of using his move immediately felt wasteful. One chance per day. It was too early to gamble. There were too many unknowns.
He let the interface close and stepped backward into the trees. The forest absorbed him almost instantly.
"When the moment comes, I'll strike clean," he thought as his figure slipped deeper into the shadows. "And perhaps steal that lemon tart."
Far from the stillness of Noah's clearing, the eastern cliffside baked under open daylight.
Akhina stood near the rocky edge, leaning against a jagged boulder as the sea crashed below in distant white bursts. Wind tugged at her hair and uniform, but she paid it no mind. Her full attention was fixed on the glowing watch in her hand, her brows pulled down in suspicion even before the interface had fully loaded.
"Tch, this thing better not be another scam," she muttered darkly. "I swear, if it says I'm a janitor—"
The display snapped into focus.
「Watch Display
Status: None
Role 1: Assassin
Role 2: Locked
Skills: Assassinate a target. ➤
Team: Survivor
Stage: Tutorial」
For one glorious second, Akhina simply stared… then she exploded.
"WOOHOOOO, MOMMYYY! YOU FELL INTO THE RIGHT HANDS!"
She jabbed at the arrow beside her skill so quickly the interface nearly glitched under her enthusiasm. A new menu opened.
───────────────────────
「Active Ability:
· Assassinate a target.
Passive Ability:
· Perfect stealth mode at night.
Effects:
· Assassin cannot be debuffed or killed directly; however is vulnerable against certain skills.
↳ If Assassin receives an identity check (Summoner) or seduction (Harlot), the first attempt is automatically unsuccessful.
Second time onwards, a roulette rolls with 50% chance of success.」
───────────────────────
Akhina read through the details with mounting delight, her eyes scanning each line again as if to make absolutely certain she hadn't misunderstood what the system had just handed her. The more she read, the wider her grin became, until she finally clutched the watch in both hands like it was the answer to every fantasy she had ever entertained.
"Ughh, you're soo sexy! Lemme kiss you!" she declared with shameless excitement.
And she did exactly that. Without the slightest hesitation, she lifted the watch closer and planted an exaggerated, passionate kiss directly onto the device as if it were a long-awaited treasure she had finally claimed.
The watch responded with a sudden vibration in her hands. Akhina froze, noticing a new line had appeared.
「Mission: Find a rock and propose to it.」
For a full second, she said nothing. Then she slowly squinted at the screen as if it had personally insulted her bloodline.
"Hah?" Her mouth twitched. "Propose to… a rock?"
A vein rose at her temple.
"Fuzakenna yo…" she muttered through clenched teeth.
Then she threw both hands into the air, startling a cluster of birds from the cliffside brush.
"WHY NOT A TREE?! I'D HAVE A BETTER CHANCE WITH A TREE!"
The sea, tragically, offered no sympathy.
Still fuming, Akhina stormed away from the cliff edge and toward the forest path, kicking loose gravel along the path as she went.
"Okay, okay," she grumbled. "You want a rock? Fine. I'll find the fanciest fucking pebble on this cursed island, put a ring on it, and name it Satou-san."
Her watch glowed again the moment she crossed into the treeline.
「Mission: You have initiated the mission. Mission timer begins in 3… 2… 1…」
Akhina looked down at it with murderous irritation. "Kusogē me."
A few minutes later, deeper along the forest path, Akhina had crouched beside an unfortunately ordinary-looking rock and was clearly trying to determine whether hatred could somehow count as romance.
That was the exact moment Shun found her.
He stepped out from between the trees, a thin stick resting loosely in one hand like a casual walking cane. His posture was relaxed, his expression calm and unreadable as always. He paused beside her just in time to see her leaning toward the rock with an expression of deep personal betrayal.
"What are you doing…?" he asked.
Akhina whipped around so quickly she nearly lost her balance.
"Don't ask!" she snapped, her face bright red with embarrassment and frustration. "The system told me to marry a rock!"
Shun glanced down at the stone, then at her, and back to the stone again.
"Sure," he said evenly. "I don't judge your tastes. Rock on."
Akhina immediately slammed both fists into the dirt. "I AM NOT INTO ROCKS! BRO, I SWEAR THIS IS NOT A KINK!"
But Shun had already turned and begun walking away along the trail. The corner of his mouth lifted ever so slightly—just enough to betray that he was enjoying this far more than he probably should have.
"Say hi to Satou-san for me."
Behind him, Akhina made a strangled noise of a mixture between rage and embarrassment.
A little later, once Shun had put enough distance between himself and Akhina's emotional engagement to geology, he tapped discreetly on his watch while walking the cliffside trail.
A hidden interface glowed faintly to life.
「Watch Display
[Hunter Link Active]
Available Contacts: Lux | Fuji」
"Let's check in with the others," he thought.
Shun lifted his wrist and tapped lightly against the interface. The watch responded instantly, its surface glowing as the connection opened.
Lux appeared first.
Her hologram formed cleanly in the air before him, seated neatly on a narrow rock ledge with her legs crossed and her back perfectly straight. Even as a projection, her composure carried through—calm, composed, almost statuesque. Her expression was as reserved as ever, but the way her eyes shifted immediately toward him suggested she had been paying close attention the entire time.
"Shun."
A second projection flickered into existence moments later.
Fuji appeared leaning against a crumbled stone wall with his arms folded loosely across his chest. Something about him looked… off. His posture sagged slightly, and his expression carried the defeated look of someone who had recently been personally insulted by the universe.
"Sup?" Fuji muttered as his hologram stabilized into place beside Lux's, the three projections forming a faint triangular formation of light between them.
Shun studied him briefly before speaking. "Status update. Everyone in position?"
Lux answered immediately, her posture still composed even in holographic form. "Scouting east. There is no heat."
Fuji gave a small, miserable shrug. "Alive," he said flatly, pausing just long enough to add, "Barely."
Shun's eyebrow lifted slightly as his gaze lingered on Fuji's expression. "You look sad," he observed calmly. "What happened?"
Fuji straightened at once and threw both arms upward in exaggerated disbelief. "I got attacked by... chocolate bread."
For a moment, neither of the others spoke, and Fuji seized the silence as an opportunity to relive the injustice. He gestured wildly as he continued. "No warning. Nothing. Just—bam—sky drop to the face!"
Lux tilted her head slightly, skepticism creeping into her expression. "Are you serious?"
"I choked," Fuji said, pointing indignantly at himself. "Nearly died. And now? Skills locked for the day. I'm useless."
Shun didn't react much outwardly, but his gaze sharpened as he processed the information.
"Sounds like a test round," he said thoughtfully. "Someone out there has food-based sabotage."
Fuji tipped his head back and glared at the sky as if the clouds themselves were responsible.
"I swear," he muttered darkly, "if another pastry touches me, I'm suing the sky."
Lux shifted slightly on her rock ledge, her gaze drifting off to the side as she considered the situation again.
"We don't know who has what skills yet," she said calmly. "We should stay low and wait for their moves."
Shun gave a small nod. A moment later, he ended the call. The triangular interface flickered once before dissolving into black, the faint glow disappearing from the air.
Shun remained standing beneath the trees for a second longer, watching the space where the holograms had been.
"The less noise we make," he thought quietly, "the longer we stay ahead."
Elsewhere near the northeast forest boundary, Asher walked alone down a narrow slope dappled in shifting shadows. His hands were tucked into his jacket pockets, his pace slow and unbothered, as if the island were nothing more than a mildly inconvenient afternoon hike.
A soft flicker appeared in front of him as his watch activated.
「Watch Display
Status: None
Role 1: Silencer
Role 2: Locked
Skills: Silence a player for one day.
Team: Survivor
Stage: Tutorial」
「Mission: Gag someone mid-sentence.」
Asher stopped walking. He stared at the mission text on his watch, his expression settling into a quiet, unreadable blankness as he processed the words in front of him. For several seconds he didn't move at all, simply standing there beneath the shifting canopy while the pale light of the interface reflected faintly across his face.
"Right…"
A faint sigil began to form above his palm.
Thin strands of pale light appeared in the air and slowly began weaving themselves together, curling and overlapping until they created the delicate outline of a collar. The construct hovered just above his hand, rotating slowly as its shape completed itself. Despite being made entirely of light, the design carried a strange elegance—slim and choker-like, with a small pulsing node resting at the center of where a throat would normally be.
The watch flickered again.
「Skills: Silencer's Choker – Use once a day.」
Asher studied the hovering sigil for a moment, his gaze quiet and contemplative.
Then he let his hand drop.
The collar dissolved instantly, its light fading into the air as he resumed walking through the forest. The branches above swayed softly in the wind, leaves rustling together while shafts of sunlight slipped between them and scattered across the ground.
"I'm still a bit unhappy about the kitchen thing," he thought.
The memory surfaced immediately.
Akhina had dragged him down the resort hallway earlier, gripping his wrist like a determined storm while arguing passionately that something being expired for three days did not make it truly expired.
His stomach twinged faintly at the recollection, the phantom discomfort enough to make him exhale quietly through his nose.
"That raid got me stomach cramps," he thought. "She owes me."
Then he heard it. A voice drifted through the trees ahead, soft but unmistakably irritated.
Akhina.
"…not a kink. This tournament is just stupid. I don't even like control dynamics…"
Asher slowed to a stop.
He turned slightly toward the sound, listening more carefully now as her muttering continued through the quiet forest air. His expression remained neutral, but his shoulders straightened almost imperceptibly as he focused on the direction of her voice.
Perfect timing.
Through the trees ahead, he could see the edge of a small clearing. Akhina stood near the center of it, pacing back and forth with her arms folded tightly across her chest, her entire posture still radiating the simmering frustration she had carried away from the rock proposal incident earlier.
Asher raised his palm slowly. The Silencer's Choker reappeared above his hand, its pale shape spinning once as the collar of light formed again in the air.
「Skills: Choker: Ready」
In the clearing ahead, Akhina remained completely unaware. She continued pacing while muttering under her breath, still arguing with ghosts from the earlier encounter.
"—next time I'll just drag him, see if—"
A sharp snap of light cut through the air.
The glowing collar shot forward and sealed cleanly over her mouth, forming a brief chain of light that wrapped around her lower face before locking into place. The sigil hummed once as the effect activated, then vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
Akhina froze mid-sentence. "Mmph—?!"
From the edge of the trees, Asher lowered his hand calmly and slipped it back into his pocket as if nothing unusual had happened at all.
"Payment received," he said, the faintest trace of humor slipping into his voice as if the entire exchange had neatly settled an invisible debt.
Without waiting for a response—though he knew none could come—Asher simply turned and began walking away, his pace as calm and unhurried as it had been before.
Behind him, Akhina remained completely rooted to the spot. Her eyes were wide with pure, offended disbelief, her entire body rigid with the effort of containing the outrage that had just been forcibly silenced. The muscles in her jaw tensed visibly beneath the glowing restraint, and the veins along her temple pulsed as she stared at the empty air around her mouth as if sheer indignation might somehow undo the effect.
"MMPH—!"
The muffled protest barely escaped through the sealed collar of light.
Asher did not slow, neither did he glance over his shoulder. He simply continued down the forest path, disappearing gradually between the shifting shadows of the trees as though the entire event had been nothing more than a brief, perfectly balanced transaction.
And he never looked back.
By the time twilight settled across the island, the scenery had taken on a different kind of beauty.
A warm amber glow stretched through the trees as the last of the sunlight thinned over the horizon, turning leaves to bronze and the edges of stone to gold. Shadows lengthened across the resort grounds, soft and deceptive, and one by one, the watches around each player's wrist flickered to life. Their glow was faint, almost sickly, pulsing with a glitchy blue light that cut through the dusk like a warning.
A line of text hovered above each display.
「Dinner has been prepared. All participants, please proceed to the resort dining hall.」
The summons drew them in from different corners of the island. Along the winding forest paths, figures emerged beneath branches and fading light, some walking alone, some in pairs, others in loose groups that had formed not from trust, but from convenience. Strange orb-like lights drifted through the air ahead of them, hovering at shoulder height like gentle fireflies, illuminating the dirt trails in soft, floating clusters. Shoes crunched against the earth. No one spoke much. The mood had shifted too far for that.
By the time they reached the resort entrance, dusk had deepened enough for the building itself to glow against the darkening landscape. The white stone and glass walls shone like a lantern, polished and warm, welcoming from a distance in a way that felt almost mocking up close. At the doors stood a butler NPC, stiff-backed and motionless except for one gloved hand extended politely toward the entrance. His face was expressionless, his posture unnaturally exact.
Inside, the dining hall had been transformed.
Candlelight flickered along a long table laid with steaming platters of food—rice, roasted meats, rich stews, baskets of fresh bread still warm enough to let off heat. Porcelain gleamed beneath the hanging light, and polished silverware reflected the flame in small, shifting bursts. At the head of the table stood Tallia, smiling as if she were welcoming them to a game show instead of the first dinner of a survival tournament.
The players took their seats gradually. Some glanced around with caution, others sank into their chairs with the weariness of people who had spent the day pretending not to be unsettled. Cutlery clinked against porcelain. No one seemed eager to be the first to speak.
Tallia clasped her hands together and beamed at them. "Sooo... how was everyone's first taste of paradise?"
Silver rested her chin lightly on her palm, looking completely unimpressed.
"I gifted someone a dessert, and he didn't thank me," she said dryly. "Devastating."
From somewhere down the table came an outraged gasp.
"THAT WAS YOU?!" Fuji shot upright, staring at her as if she had personally shattered his faith in baked goods. "Who weaponizes a croissant?! That's not dessert—that's betrayal!"
The reaction cracked the mood open.
Silver lifted a brow slowly. "It was a delicious chocolate bread."
"That's worse!" Fuji groaned, dropping back into his seat. "There was filling. It ambushed my airway."
Ace laughed, leaning back in her chair.
"You almost died from pastry on day one?" she said. "That's so pathetic."
"I didn't almost die," Fuji protested. "I merely… temporarily lost control of oxygen."
Eirene leaned forward with interest. "oH, dId YoU?"
Fuji pointed accusingly across the table. "Nah, you don't get to do that. You try! Let's see if you can even see it coming!"
Asher chuckled softly. "That's kinda funny, actually," he said. "The tutorial stage really said 'good morning' with carbs to your face."
Laughter broke out in scattered bursts around the table—chuckles first, then a fuller laugh or two, then the kind of relief that came from everyone needing an excuse to breathe again. The tension, for a moment, loosened.
Vanitas propped her chin on one hand and studied Tallia from across the candlelight, her eyes sharp with curiosity.
"Hold on, Tali," she said. "So, like... are you also in the program or something? Or some very high-intelligence robo?"
Tallia brightened instantly. She gave a delighted spin in place as if the question had been a compliment.
"Please! I'm way more advanced than that," she declared. "I'm a dynamic system-designed interface—built to learn from you! Like a mood sponge, but sparkly."
Across the table, Shun lifted his chin slightly, his gaze narrowing with thought. "So, do you think?"
Tallia tilted her head. For just a second, the brightness in her eyes dimmed—not gone, but altered, like something behind the performance had paused to consider the answer.
"Not like humans do," she replied. "But I adapt. I track your choices, feelings, tone of voice, and over time..." Her smile softened. "I become someone you recognize."
Beside Asher, Kusako lowered her voice until it was barely more than breath. "Is she trying to become real, then?"
Asher gave no reply. He simply shifted his fork quietly through the food on his plate, expression unreadable.
Further down the table, Noah watched the conversation unfold without interrupting. His gaze shifted between speakers, quietly cataloguing reactions, tone, and posture.
"Y'know, the beach here is so much nicer than in real life," Eirene said as she leaned back in her chair. "The huts are cool, too."
Ace raised a brow. "You already went exploring that much?"
"Oh, I forgot I wanted to see the beach huts," Lux realised.
"I wanted to go check them out too," Ace admitted after a moment, resting her chin on her hand. "But I didn't really feel like wandering out there alone."
A few murmurs of agreement followed around the table.
"Same here," Vanitas added. "I planned to check them out from the beginning, but I got lost in a forest right when we entered the portal."
Eirene's grin slowly widened as if she had just remembered something amusing. Her eyes drifted across the table before she casually added, "Actually, speaking of the beach, I did see Akhina earlier."
Several heads turned.
"She was building a sandcastle," Eirene continued, pointing across the table. "With Kusako."
Kusako froze instantly. The sudden attention made her shoulders tense, and color rushed quickly to her cheeks.
"W-We were just passing time," she stammered, clearly flustered.
Ace chuckled. "Looks like you two are getting along pretty well."
Kusako ducked her head slightly, embarrassed.
At the end of the table, Silver had been quietly observing the entire exchange. A faint, pleasant surprise crossed her expression as she watched the easy teasing and shy reactions unfold.
It was unexpectedly nice to see people warming up to each other so quickly, she thought.
Not far away, Ace noticed someone being unusually quiet. She looked across the table toward Akhina, who was chewing bread in silence.
Ace smirked. "You've been very quiet, Akhina. That scary choker comes with a silent curse or what?"
Eirene immediately leaned in, eyes bright with mischief. "No, really, where'd you get that thing? It's giving cursed Etsy."
Akhina's eye twitched. Unable to respond properly, she launched into an animated stream of wildly inaccurate sign language that looked less like communication and more like a full-blown argument with multiple invisible ghosts who were apparently all wrong.
The attempt at explanation failed spectacularly.
Vanitas stared, blinking slowly. "You're not trying to threaten my ancestors, right?" she asked, equal parts confused and horrified. "What even happened to you earlier?"
Kusako squinted as if sheer effort might produce understanding. She hesitantly imitated part of what Akhina was doing, then lowered her hands with visible defeat.
"Um... I... I don't get it, I'm sorry," she admitted quietly. Then she blinked, confusion deepening as she looked at Akhina again. "But… you were talking earlier."
Akhina froze.
Her eyes widened, and she pointed at Kusako as if she had just found a crucial witness. Nodding vigorously, she tapped her chest, exaggeratedly opened and closed her mouth, then jabbed a finger at the glowing choker around her throat. After, she spread both arms wide as if presenting a grand injustice.
The table stared.
Vanitas leaned slightly toward Ace. She studied Akhina's performance with genuine curiosity.
"…Is she acting out a play?" she murmured.
Ace squinted. "I think that part was 'I had a voice.'"
Eirene tilted her head. "Or 'I swallowed a microphone.'"
Akhina slapped her hand to her forehead in frustration. She pointed at Kusako again, then crouched slightly and began shaping an invisible mound in the air with both hands.
Kusako blinked. "Oh… the beach?"
Akhina nodded furiously. She repeated the motion, shaping the imaginary sand again before pointing between the two of them.
"…Sandcastle?" Kusako guessed.
Akhina nearly collapsed with relief. She clutched the table edge and nodded like someone who had finally reached the only sane person in the room.
Fuji leaned forward, fascinated. "So, the sandcastle cursed you?"
Akhina's jaw dropped. She slowly turned toward him with a look that practically screamed are you for real right now?
Across the table, Asher had been quietly eating. His fork paused halfway to his mouth as Akhina's finger swept briefly in his direction. A faint bead of sweat appeared at his temple, and he swallowed quickly before lowering his gaze back to his plate, resuming his meal with sudden, careful focus.
Silver, meanwhile, simply drank her water.
Tallia had been watching the entire exchange with sparkling amusement, her hands lightly clasped in front of her. When the table dissolved into overlapping guesses and confused laughter, she finally lifted both hands and clapped once.
The sharp sound cut cleanly through the chatter.
"Alright, my lovelies," she chimed brightly, smiling as several heads turned toward her. "I adore the creativity, but if Akhina keeps performing charades, we may never leave dinner."
A few chuckles slipped around the table.
"So let's shift gears," she continued. "You've all met the island…"
Her eyes glittered faintly.
"…now it's time you meet the rules."
The air changed almost immediately.
Forks were set down, and chairs stilled. All eyes turned toward her.
Tallia stepped away from the head of the table and began pacing slowly behind their chairs, her heels light but deliberate against the floor.
"Survivors," she said, "your best hope is each other. Trust is risky, but isolation is fatal. Share information. Use logic. Know who might watch your back."
Noah lifted his brows slightly. "Are you implying we should form alliances now?"
Tallia glanced at him over her shoulder and smiled faintly. "If you want to live longer than tonight? Yes." Her smile sharpened. "But choose wrong... and the Hunters will thank you personally."
Vanitas let out a short laugh. "Cryptic. I love that for us."
Fuji leaned forward with his hands folded, looking more serious now. "Then let's be smart. We each get one action per night, right? Shouldn't we say what kind of info we have?"
Lux spoke before anyone else could answer. "We shouldn't reveal too much. The Hunters are listening."
Ace raised a brow. "Still better than going in blind. I say we drop hints. Enough to know who to work with."
Silver had been silent until then, her fingers resting lightly around her glass. She finally spoke, her voice calm and measured.
"Partial information might work," she said. "If someone lies, contradictions will eventually appear."
Shun rested his chin lightly on his hand, studying the table as if already mapping possible outcomes in his mind.
"If everyone starts revealing things tonight, won't they just adapt faster than we can?" Asher spoke up.
Silver considered that for a moment.
"That's also true," she admitted. "Too much information too early helps the wrong people."
Tallia stopped pacing behind them. Her smile returned—bright, delighted, and just a little too pleased.
"Oh, this is wonderful," she said lightly. "Strategizing already."
Her eyes swept across the table, lingering on each of them as though she were quietly taking notes.
Vanitas tilted her head, studying Tallia curiously. "You say that like you're used to seeing the opposite happen."
Tallia clasped her hands behind her back and gave a playful little shrug. "Oh, countless times."
That answer hung in the air for a second too long.
Fuji frowned slightly. "Wait… so there were other groups before us?"
Tallia only smiled.
Noah leaned forward a little, redirecting the moment before the question could spiral.
"Focus," he said calmly. "Regardless of whether we share information or not, the real question is timing."
His fingers folded neatly together on the table. "If Hunters act first tonight, they'll already have more information than we do."
Lux nodded slowly. "That's true. Survivors usually react, while Hunters initiate."
Shun rested his chin lightly against his hand, watching the table as if the conversation itself were a puzzle forming in real time.
"Then observation comes first," he said evenly. "Patterns appear when people think no one is watching."
Lux glanced briefly toward him, her expression thoughtful before she spoke.
"Then we should watch who talks too much," she said lightly. "And who doesn't talk at all."
Eirene snorted and gestured toward Fuji with her chin. "Great. So now we know who to suspect most."
"Hey, don't look at me. It's not like I'm the only one talking," he said defensively. "Everyone's been speaking a lot, too."
Then Silver lifted her glass slightly, her voice calm but curious. "If we're not revealing roles," she said, "then maybe we can talk about tendencies instead."
Ace raised a brow. "Tendencies?"
Silver gave a small nod. "What each of us is capable of."
That suggestion seemed to loosen the atmosphere again, just enough for the tension to shift back into conversation.
A brief pause followed as everyone glanced around the table, waiting for someone else to volunteer first.
Eirene leaned back in her chair. "Well… someone has to start."
"Why not you?" Her eyes landed on Kusako. "You're at the end. Might as well start there."
Several heads turned.
Kusako stiffened a little when she realized everyone was looking at her. "…Me?"
She hesitated, her fingers curling against the edge of the tablecloth as if she were trying to find the right words.
"Umm... if someone falls apart," she said softly after a moment, "it doesn't always mean they're gone."
Her voice remained gentle.
"Sometimes people just… need someone to help them stand again."
For a second, the table went quiet.
Vanitas's smile appeared slowly, as if she had just learned something interesting.
"Helpful mindset," she murmured. She spun her glass lightly between her fingers. "I prefer to keep things... hmm... flexible."
Eirene rolled her eyes with theatrical ease. "I have a talent for acquiring things," she said with a lazy shrug. "Ownership is more of a suggestion."
Ace crossed one leg over the other. "For me, I don't even have to ask," she said calmly. "People eventually tell me what I want to know."
Shun had been quiet until then. He leaned back a little in his chair, gaze steady.
"When something stops working," he said calmly, "I figure out why."
He paused.
"Then I fix the problem."
Silver tilted her head thoughtfully.
"I suppose I do something similar," she said. "Just… in a less destructive way."
Fuji flicked a grape into the air and caught it neatly in his mouth before speaking.
"I track stats," he said. "Kinda like a mathy therapist."
Across the table, Akhina had clearly given up on trying to explain with gestures. She grabbed a napkin, scribbled something quickly, then slid it across the table with a pointed look.
The message read: "Bro, fuck this. I can't even speak, and idk my shit yet unlike y'all."
Ace laughed under her breath. "So, you really can't speak... I guess you gotta manifest it back."
Eirene leaned over to read the napkin and grinned. "If I find out who did it, I'm giving them a round of applause." She paused. "From a safe distance."
Asher's face remained blank.
"Could've been an accident or the system." His voice stayed mild. "Or even personal."
Noah leaned forward slightly. "It does not matter who did it," he said. "What matters is that someone used their skill while we were still figuring things out."
Lux finally spoke again, her tone light and almost casual. "Well, I can't do much. My role's just kind of... there."
Vanitas laughed. "Relatable. Honestly, I think half of us are not even prepared for this tutorial yet."
But in the back of her mind, a quieter thought lingered. It's still the tutorial, she thought. Perhaps everyone's not taking it seriously yet.
Tallia suddenly clapped her hands together, the sharp sound cutting through the lingering conversations.
"Alright, my lovely players," she announced brightly, spinning once on her heel as if she were hosting a party instead of ending a briefing. "Dinner is almost over~"
A few heads lifted. Some people chuckled softly, others groaned under their breath.
Tallia spread her arms wide with theatrical delight.
"You have until 21:00 to explore the resort, gossip about each other, form suspicious alliances, question your life choices, or simply admire the view." She winked playfully. "Personally, I recommend doing all five."
The table slowly began to stir.
Silver set her glass down first, while Fuji leaned back in his chair with a quiet sigh. Ace uncrossed her legs and glanced around the room as if already deciding where to go next, and Vanitas watched the others with faint curiosity as conversations began to restart in low voices.
Chairs scraped softly against the floor as people stood and drifted away from the table in small clusters. Some exchanged quiet remarks, others only traded brief looks before heading off on their own.
Shun rose without a word.
He slipped his hands into his pockets and walked past the others with the same unreadable calm he had worn all evening. Someone called his name from behind, but he didn't slow down or turn back. He simply continued toward the exit and stepped outside into the night.
Beyond the resort, the island had already settled into darkness. The moon hung high above the water, casting pale light across the quiet beach and the black outline of the forest beyond it.
It was 19:42.
There was still time before night officially began.
Inside the resort, the players drifted apart in small groups, their voices fading into the halls and along the paths outside.
Somewhere, unnoticed among them, a watch flickered softly.
Its screen glowed once.
Then the system began to count.