by Unknown
Except his little sister, the only one who definitely won’t betray him…… he can simply kill everyone else.
Remove everyone suspected to be a traitor——this incredibly simple answer was this game’s scenario(theory).
Yes, it’s a simple game, Sora covered himself and smiled bitterly.
Simple——but also a game easily surpassing the very hard, with a super degree of difficulty(Inferno Mode).
That’s because the [enemy] was a bunch of monsters one couldn’t compete with normally.
Even then, I still can’t lose——he had survived until now with that stubbornness.
Sora turned his gaze around and sorted out the situation cautiously.
——It was a Tokyo like the one he saw in the game with the Eastern Union——but, somehow different.
The height of the buildings, the complex back alleys, the objects installed at each place of that map——
Making full use of those advantageous spots, he managed to finish off a large-sized Werebeast, a Dhampir, and a small-sized Werebeast.
All were done in through trickery and shooting: feigning to be an ally, shooting at their back, luring them out with lies, then sniping them.
While being called [dirty] repeatedly by Shiro, he survived until now by not choosing his methods——but.
——That nasty monster who calls itself an angel.
Just that one alone——he didn’t feel like it’ll work out somehow at all.
After sorting the situation out, he let out a sigh in the back alley, covered his respiration and strained his ears.
Countless footsteps in the distance were slowly getting closer, gradually closing in.
[If I could at least regroup with my sister…… No, I guess even that wouldn’t be desirable in this situation, huh.]
It was a hopeless speech——but, this kind of speech at such a time was obviously a flag.
While thinking that half-expected, half-amazed, Sora’s ears captured the footsteps firmly stepping in the back alley.
——He reacted even faster than his thoughts.
Ahead of the aim was the figure of a red-hair girl——Contrary to Sora’s will, the aim wavered.
The girl was suspicious. Rather than suspicious, it’s as if it’s far harder to search for something that wasn’t.
But, Sora put aside those thoughts and eventually spoke some words.
[You, just how did you get inside this area…… No, leave that for later. My sister’s together with you, huh. Did you find a countermeasure——]
[Yes…… we found it.]
——There was no sound, only the shock conveyed.
He understood it in one beat. It seemed the bullet came flying from behind the red-haired girl and pierced his abdomen.
[We should’ve just done this from the very start…… Isn’t that right, Traitor-san?]
[——Wrong…… that was a bluff…… ——!]
Contrary to his will, his body didn’t move, his blurry vision captured the shooter of the devilish bullet that pierced through him——
He gasped. The slightly red light from the fire burning the gun barrel reflected the one approaching through the gun’s smoke.
The white-haired girl…… for the sake of searching for a way to survive this hopeless game.
She had accompanied the red-haired girl——it was his little sister.
……Putting Sora aside, whose thoughts stopped(froze) with his mouth opened, dumbfounded.
[If the one going around killing everyone isn’t the traitor, then who would you say it is!?]
Hearing the infuriated scream, “Wrong” …… he replied.
Or he tried to, but, a load of blood overflowed from his mouth and spilled out instead.
[That was…… because if I didn’t do so…… At the time, you wouldn’t have, protected my sister——]
——Just like a revelation, Sora came to understand it in an instant.
It was within predictions the red-haired girl would betray.
But, the little sister——the one that definitely wouldn’t betray him, had betrayed…… then the answer was——
[It was…… you, huh…… the real traitor——the ‘fake’ was you…… from the very start……!!]
Exactly——Looking back at her slowly dying brother with mocking eyes——towards that something.
[With my sister’s appearance, with her face…… don’t turn those trashy eyes to meeeeee————!!]
The red-haired girl swallowed her breath at his wailing scream——but, it was too late.
The flash of light mercilessly illuminated the back alley once again——two times, three times.
The figure of the red-haired girl collapsing on the ground reflected in his already half-blackened vision.
[…… It’s a lie, right…… I only, believed——]
——in you, but, her lips stopped midway, the light wouldn’t return to her dull eyes ever again.
The white-haired girl——the traitor with the appearance of his little sister slowly approached him.
Hearing the sound of the shoes hitting the hard cold asphalt as death approached, Sora finally——concluded.
——Ah. This is a shitty game.
A development where not knowing what will happen is very good. But, super development, you’re no good.
When and where was the flag indicating that the traitor(fake) was the sister(this guy)?
In the first place, what was that speech——“I only believed in you”?
Say that earlier. A hint that’s only collected right before the event can’t be called a hint!
[I wonder…… Where did I go wrong……? For what reason, did I…… work so hard……]
Continuing even after having defined it as a shitty game, Sora sharply agreed with that no-good line.
——Aahh, really, just for what reason did you work so hard for.
Just one thing…… it was “for the sake of his little sister” that he endured Inferno Mode and came this far.
But, if that single thing was fake, then, his efforts and hardships.
Just for what reason——had he piled up tricks, tactics, and strategies——!?
[Bye, bye Nii……]
Just a single shot. The impact told him so, but, the end was slow——the white-haired girl’s last voice.
Isolated by the darkness…… lifelessly——echoed.
“……Nii…… how does it feel…… to die, a virgin?”
………….
————Wait a second.
No, no, seriously wait a second!
“Hey, Shiro, that’s a lie, right! You’re randomly saying whatever you feel like just because Nii-chan can’t understand the Werebeasts’ language, right!! If you say such reckless things, how will you take responsibility if I accidentally end up crying, huh!?”
——And then, the black-haired young man lost consciousness.
Sora yelled with teary eyes while gazing at that screen, holding the controller.
■ ■ ■ ■ ■
——Now, it surely doesn’t need to be said.
What was reflected on the screen wasn’t Sora and Shiro, obviously not Steph, either.
Of course, the Old Deus’ game——[Sugoroku] didn’t have even the slightest relation to it.
——It was right at the beginning, soon after Sora loudly made the [Traitor] declaration.
Sora requested everyone’s dice, but they all finished writing their【Tasks】and left through the door.
As if it was obvious. No, extremely natural——saying [This fight, we’ll buy it].
After each of them spoke out their words, feelings, they all threw their own dice, proceeding as they pleased.
Likewise, naturally, Sora and Shiro threw their dice and proceeded to aim for their outcome of [62] ——But.
Passing through one square, the moment they stepped on the second square, they looked to the sky, then gazed at the nearest house.
&nb
sp; ——[Ah, this is an impossible game.]
After nodding to each other, they decided to refreshingly forget about everything, confining themselves inside that house——and ran from reality(played games).
……Thus, suffering their first defeat, the story(life) of [ ](Kuuhaku) is now over.
Please wait expectantly for Sora and Shiro’s next work(life).
【THE END】
——Those two went past the shell of the period of life and rushed straight to the afterword.
On one hand, one could see eight dice——the siblings’ age had reduced by two-tenths and their limbs had shrunk.
But the Old Deus’ game had long since turned into a memory of a previous world, already far beyond the horizon of oblivion.
They found an Eastern Union’s [Domestic Game Machine] in the house they confined themselves in.
——Was there a game? [There are.]
——Was there a reason to not play it? [None.]
Thinking for zero seconds, the two of them wordlessly started the game machine and ran from reality refreshed.
Sora, who didn’t understand the language of the Werebeasts——provisionally 14.4 years old, set the subtitles to ON.
Shiro, using Sora’s crossed legs as a pillow while playing with the Tablet PC——provisionally 8.8 years old, read the subtitles out loud.
Seeing his sister’s unexpected acting skills, though improvising, she translated all the characters’ lines with rich representations——Why doesn’t she always speak lucidly like that? Two hours had passed since he pulled out such a profound question——But.
After finally throwing away the controller, Sora grabbed the package and growled.
“Even though I expected the Eastern Union would also have ‘Zombie Games’…… what a shitty game.”
The title was [Living or Dead 3 ~ The Price of Silence] ……apparently. According to Shiro.
It also seemed its sequel was a spin-off called [Love or Loved] ——the game they played against Izuna.
This is what happens when one expects something from it and tries playing something from their screwed up senses.
The setting goes like this——The Elves’ large-scale magic experiment to resurrect the dead had…… well, it was the usual super failure thing.
The out of control magic gave birth to the walking(living) dead~ and spread throughout the entire world~
The traitors(Living Dead) feigning to be alive were hidden among their friends and~ a game with a high level of stupidity.
That was fine. A stupid game? It’s a favorite! ——But.
“Just what kind of decision leads to making a ‘Macho Werebeast Zombie with Wings’ considered fine in the head?”
Not a single attack worked, he growled after being reminded of that nasty monster who called itself an angel.
Yes——It was a nasty monster.
He was half-naked, no, that was pretty much fully naked, wearing only a loincloth.
It was the extremely difficult and abnormally weird shitty game with a shitty development at all times but, he still endured it.
All for the sake of the only solace in his mind! The [Little Sister]! A white-haired loli with cute animal ears!
…… And the result was that——after Sora suddenly remembered the protagonist’s speech.
“Where did you go wrong? It’s the brain of the staff who made this game that’s wrong——”
Throwing away the package, Sora barked while lying on the tatami mat.
Enduring it for the sake of the little sister character, there was a super development where the sister was the [fake].
As if that wasn’t enough, he was killed while she looked at him as if he was trash——
…………Hmm?
“Hm~…… Well, that part was fine. Yeah. On second thought, that was a reward.”
“……Nii, just how much…… do you plan on…… being aggravated……?”
He let out a single cough after being looked by his real sister as if she was looking at trash.
“……Nnnn! ……W-Well, as expected, the problem surely must be this scenario, right……”
He looked at the screen while still sprawled on the ground.
On screen, the protagonist had used his privilege——no matter how many death flags he raised, they all turn into survival flags, he’d wake up somewhere without displaying any regrets, just like it was written.
But Sora already lost interest in the development after that, so he rolled around and looked at the ceiling.
While emptying his head and spacing out, he once again remembered that speech.
——[I wonder…… where did I go wrong……], was it.
“……Suspicion kills everyone——I wonder why’d you think only you wouldn’t be betrayed……”
That kind of [common sense(theory)]——It’s obvious everyone will think the same thing.
“If you betray then, you’ll be betrayed. It’s just inevitable……”
Exactly——Just like how those guys wrote their【Tasks】after betraying so easily.
Sora clicked his tongue at the same time——he thought about “this situation”.
“——Hey Shiro, I wonder where did I go wrong……”
“If you’re seriously asking that, then shall I. Answer. You!?”
But the answer he got was a furious roar and——
“Even though you betrayed me and made it impossible for me to return that betrayal! You threw everything at me even after forcefully dragging me, so Why. Are. You. Holing. Yourself. Up huh——!?”
A red-haired girl rushed inside the room after breaking down the sliding door together with a cart.
Just like Sora and Shiro——with eight dice on their chest——she had shrunk to 14.4 years old.
——The one whose breathing was coarse due to yelling was Stephanie Dola.
“See! I acquired the ‘cart’ you wanted, didn’t I!?”
“…………Uh…… m?”
“——What was that about again?”
“You said you wouldn’t move unless I brought a cart, didn’t you!”
Seeing Sora and Shiro’s blank response, Steph roared while scratching her head.
“Now, it’s fine if I pull it like a cart right, literally like a horse pulling a cart, right!”
Yes, Steph turned the cart around inside the room, taking no for an answer and urged Sora and Shiro.
Scooping the surprised two like a shovel to ride the cart——following, literally, the principle of a carriage.
In a way, the BGM “Dona, Dona”[3] would fit really well.
Steph mercilessly dragged the two recluses out of the room……
■ ■ ■ ■ ■
——In the second square…… Steph left the cart she was pulling and sprawled on the ground.
It was being used as a bed by Shiro, who was using the tablet PC with hollow eyes.
Steph cried out to Sora, who, until about two hours ago, declared the view before him as an [impossible game].
“So? Isn’t it about time for me to get a satisfying explanation!?”
“……About what? Eh, could it be…… about the reason I declared to be the traitor? That was——”
“Yes, yes, it was to fool the idiot(me), right~? I already know that!”
Sora answered evasively in an effort to reject the view in front of him but Steph’s screaming continued.
“Not even I would fail to see through that stinking act(lie) so it’s really unsettling you thought otherwise!!”
——That’s right, there wasn’t even a single speck of truth in Sora’s [traitor declaration].
With a purity rate of 100%, free of any intent to ever add any element into it——a super lie.
Without needing the five senses(being a Warbeast) to uncover the lie——Even Steph knew it was a third-rate act.
But——That was exactly why.
Steph didn’t know what she was supposed to do.
——[I believe——he won’t let anyone die or kill each other.]
She extended out her nine dice to Sora together with such a lame speech.
——While trembling with a pale face. She transferred her existence’s time——“her life”.
Knowing one’s life is fading away surely must cause an incredible amount of fear…… but.
If this game was all about the [life(dice)] decreasing as one proceeds, then.
Which one was better…… That——or stealing from those close to you and indirectly killing them?
Putting the fear on the scales, she swallowed her patheticness, but, even so, she still decided to do it——
“When I finally decided to hand over the dice, it backfires on me! Everyone keenly made that eloquent traitor declaration!!”
——[I’ll buy that fight, desu!] Izuna spoke in a cute way.
——[It’s an honor for me to be able to challenge Master.] Jibril said so reverently.
——[I’ll make you regret throwing salt on my wounds, got it?] Plum said mysteriously.
——And Ino said [Die]…… really, it was straight-forward, without beating around the bush——
“There’s also what you said when you guys threw your own [lives(dice)] unhesitatingly——when all I could do was watch!!”
While that was happening, Steph already handed over nine dice——nine-tenths of her life.
Basically, Steph had returned to a single die’s worth of age…… [1.8 years old].
Sora had gained nine dice’ worth of time and was now [34.2 years old].
Together with Shiro, he smiled——a smile so nice it even looked creepy, at Steph.
——[Hm, the amount of age(dice) held only affects the body, holding more than ten makes you grow older.]
——[……Then, Nii…… now that you…… confirmed that…… there’s no problem……]
——[Right. Then——now, we’ll have you “travel together” with us, alright.]