As I stepped out of the dining hall and walked down the hallway, the corners of my lips curled up.
"...Just as planned."
Exactly as I had arranged it, everyone had splintered apart and sunk into fear.
In a situation like this, Akamatsu and Saihara would almost certainly start moving on their own.
Originally, they would have had two days to act, but with that window cut down to a single day, the time they could spend making their move in earnest would shrink even further.
Honestly, even I hadn't expected the deadline to be shortened. Still, that level of deviation was easy enough to absorb. It had to be. Otherwise, I couldn't reach my objective.
That aside, by now those two should be coming out any second...
"Akamatsu-san, this way."
"Mm..."
'There it is.'
Now the two of them would head to the library to check the hidden room. More specifically, they were going to see whether the dust trap Saihara had set on the card reader had been triggered.
Well, I had entered the hidden room through the girls' bathroom on the first floor in the first place. Even so, for their sake, I had slipped into the library and activated the dust trap myself.
Because Akamatsu and Saihara needed to notice the connection between the hidden door and Monokuma's appearance.
Once they confirmed the dust trap had been triggered, they would start devising a plan to catch the Mastermind and force them into the open.
Most likely, before long, the two of them would head to Iruma Miu and ask her to modify a "camera." Then, after she asked them to gather materials, they'd go to the storage room to collect what they needed.
And there, Akamatsu would take a "shot put ball." Why? Because it was the material she needed to set the trap to kill the Mastermind—Kaede Akamatsu's contingency, born from the fear that even catching the Mastermind might not be enough to end the Killing Game.
Of course, I couldn't be completely certain it would unfold exactly that way. But if I casually checked the library later, I'd be able to tell whether a trap had been set or not.
If that carefully prepared trap ended up killing K, that would be the ideal outcome... but realistically, the odds of that plan succeeding were far too low.
After all, it was a trick that had already failed once against Amami Rantaro.
So... if someone was going to lie in wait and dispose of K, it would have to be me.
"Ah, K?"
"...Shirogane?"
Lost in those thoughts as I walked, I happened to run into K as he passed by my side.
"Um... we haven't really had a chance to talk since then..."
"...I don't particularly want to talk to you."
"Ah... r-right... then... bye..."
Watching K cut off my greeting in that glacial voice and walk away, I couldn't help but smile.
He was the single most dangerous person in this Killing Game.
He had already turned both the first Killing Game and the second Killing Game into complete victories. At this point, the title of Ultimate Survivor suited him better than Ultimate Counselor ever could.
Which was why, in this Killing Game, K had to become the first victim. The victim of the "first chapter" that should originally have belonged to Amami Rantaro.
That was why I had deliberately approached him. If he hadn't lost his memories the way he hadn't in the first and second Killing Games, things would have become a disaster.
I stuck close to him for a while. Every time we met the others, I tossed out little remarks meant to prod his memory, or jokes that only he should have understood. But all he ever did was get irritated. He never reacted in any meaningful way.
That's right. At long last, by the third Killing Game, he had finally lost his memories completely.
Thanks to that, the K who used to grab the game by the throat and carry it to victory was dead, and in his place stood a K who had turned into a troll.
Honestly, even I hadn't expected K to be that good at trolling. Was [Survivor Privilege] really that provocative?
After entertaining that absurd thought for a moment, I turned on my heel and started toward Iruma Miu's room. I wanted to confirm whether those two really were heading to her.
"What, it's you? I was wondering who it was... Flat-chested Akamatsu? Don't go flaunting that tragic chest first thing in the morning!"
As I carefully approached the room, I spotted the two of them standing in front of Iruma Miu.
'Akamatsu's figure isn't exactly plain, though... is it?'
As far as I knew, the difference in their bust measurements was only about 9 centimeters. Well, however you sliced it, both of them were still pretty busty compared to me. I was a little jealous of that.
Meanwhile, after a brief moment of visible confusion, Akamatsu and Saihara regained their composure and started speaking to Iruma.
As expected, what they asked her for was an automatic camera. After listening to Saihara's explanation for quite a while, Iruma finally flashed a smug grin and opened her mouth.
"...I see~! Got it!"
"Th-then..."
"My answer is no!!"
Of course, Iruma refused. But soon enough, after receiving their desperate dogeza, she'd squirm and accept the request. That's how this was supposed to go.
"Please, Iruma-san."
"I... I'm asking too..."
"Wh-what the hell... d-don't do a dogeza like that..."
'Just as expected.'
Everything was proceeding exactly as I had foreseen. Which meant that this time, the one who would be smiling at the end wouldn't be K... it would be me.
'Well then... until tomorrow comes, maybe I should get a little rest.'
If I was going to carry out the deed tomorrow, I needed to keep myself in peak condition. Otherwise, how could I smash K's skull open in one blow with the shot put ball?
'Let's see... once K dies, the only real variable left is Amami. What should I do about him? Hmm... it's not urgent, so I can think about it later!'
Having sorted out my thoughts, I started humming to myself and leisurely made my way back to my room.
.
.
.
.
.
Meanwhile, at that same time...
"That condition is unacceptable. I'd rather go myself."
"That won't work for us either! We've already compromised a looot with the terms we offered... and you're still going to push back!?"
"You call those absurd conditions a compromise?"
"Ugh, whatever! The time limit is tomorrow night, so deal with it! You already have a rough idea of how things are going right now, don't you? Puhuhu..."
"...Please. I'm begging you."
"And after pulling something that cute, you've still got the nerve to call our conditions unreasonable while talking trash about us?"
".....!"
"Did you think we wouldn't know, Miss Detective?"
In a darkened space, two women were locked in a fierce phone call.
Click.
At last, the green-haired girl hung up and muttered with a look of utter disgust.
"Haaah... seriously... I'm so sick of this... Maybe I should just run off into space right now..."
"Monaca, if this keeps up... won't your plan be thrown off course?"
"Hm? Ahh, don't worry... I expected this anyway... It's no problem at all. Everything's moving along just fine."
"But..."
"Enough. I'm going to sleep. Yaaawn..."
With that, Monaca flopped forward onto the desk and immediately started dozing away.
"....."
And Matsuda simply stood there, silently watching her.
.
.
.
.
.
The next morning, I rose from bed feeling refreshed.
Though of course, mixed in with that freshness was a trembling sense of anticipation.
Today was the day of the "deed." The day the first truly historic murder would occur across all the Killing Games so far.
"S-Saihara-kun? Why aren't you responding...?"
"Ah, Akamatsu-san. Sorry, I ended up being a little late."
"Seriously...! You weren't responding for so long, I thought something had happened to you!"
That couple over there would be forcibly torn apart today. Originally, they should have had about one more day. What a shame.
'Not even enough time to play Debussy's Clair de Lune... Ah, no, she never got to play it in the first place, did she?'
I was walking along, entertaining that pointless thought, when someone called out to me.
"Tsumugi~! Good morning~!"
"Ah, Angie-san..."
"Have you decided how you're gonna die~?"
"I-I don't know... I've never experienced death before, so I'm not really sure..."
"Tsumugi, you're so carefree~ If only the kids in the dining hall could learn from you~"
"The dining hall...? Ah..."
It seemed that "that incident" was about to happen in the dining hall. Wanting to witness it with my own eyes, I headed there together with Angie, who was smiling brightly and suggesting we go calm everyone down.
When we arrived at the dining hall, sure enough, the exact scene I had expected was unfolding.
"Th-that... what do you mean...?"
"I'm saying you should kill me, leave this place, and go ask for help. Do I need to repeat myself?"
"N-no... you can't..."
Amid the pale, horrified students, Hoshi was urging them to kill him and escape, while Akamatsu desperately tried to stop him.
"Oh? Then are you saying there's some better option than this? If such a thing exists, I'd love to hear it..."
"...A-actually..."
"Hoshi, there's no need for that."
And just as Akamatsu started to stammer out whatever she was trying to say, K cut in instead, his expression cold enough to freeze the room solid.
"...What?"
"Even if you don't do something like that, I'll end this game. I've already made up my mind."
"End the game... ?"
"True victory in this game isn't crushing everyone beneath a Killing Game. It's ending the game itself."
"And you're saying you can do that?"
"If I couldn't, I wouldn't have brought it up. So all of you... don't do anything pointless..."
After saying that, K brushed past me and left the dining hall.
"...If you're going to insist that strongly, then I'll withdraw my proposal. However... do you really have some method in mind...?"
"C-couldn't he just be lying?"
"Who knows~ Maybe K-kun's counseling talent will shine and he'll just talk the Mastermind into surrendering~!"
The dining hall stayed noisy for quite a while after that, and in the middle of the commotion, Saihara and Akamatsu quietly slipped out and headed somewhere else.
Most likely, they'd stop by the classroom for a moment and then make their way to the library.
And there, they'd install the camera. Of course, Akamatsu would prepare her trick behind Saihara's back. I'd already confirmed that one of the iron balls from the storage room was missing, so that much was almost certain.
So now, all that remained was to wait. Wait for the moment K blended in among the others, went to the arcade, then to somewhere like the library, and through that chain reaction triggered Akamatsu's trick.
But what if K didn't come? What if Akamatsu never made the trick?
It was fine. Those things... were bound to happen.
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