Scammed

Day 4, almost nothing had happened, except that the food rations were dropping at an astronomical rate, Namjoon was now staying to the side with Ame, no longer approaching the group. Shinzo was beginning to have a good influence within the group. He had become friends with most of them, including a 15-year-old girl named Sakura Mizushima. They began a good relationship. At the moment, Shinzo was playing basketball for fun with some of his companions.

He walked onto the court, perspiring, and went to sit down with the others, all with a white serviette to wipe away the main traces of perspiration.

"We're incredibly lucky to have showers."

Shinzo agreed with Renjiro Kurigane, the 18-year-old boy, who was very tall, with the look of a basketball player, and looked good too. He had green eyes and brown hair with no trace of oil.

Shinzo left the group and headed for the shower. As he opened the door to the room, which had two doors : one for the boy's shower and one for the girl's, he came upon Sakura. Shinzo looked at her, surprised and slightly dazed: he could see Sakura, in her bathing suit. He watched for a few seconds as he was shocked, Sakura blushed and then finally reacted by giving Shinzo a violent slap.

"Don't look at me ! You pervert !"

Shinzo came to his senses and grunted in pain, his cheek totally red. Sakura ran off in the direction of the public bath, embarrassed.

Well...

Shinzo opened the door to the men's showers, stepped inside, undressed and began to wash, without shame that others would enter.

When he had finished showering, he put on the same clothes again (since there were no changes of clothes in the building) and left, his hair a mess. On the way to the main hall, he bumped into Ame, who brought Sakura with her into the same room. Shinzo vaguely heard Ame whisper to Sakura.

"Ignore him."

She didn't protest and followed Ame without meeting Shinzo's eyes. He was surprised, but told himself it couldn't be much. When he found himself in the main room, Ame was trying to comfort Sakura, Renjiro was snoring and sleeping on a chair. It was probably 10 p.m. , which was hard for Shinzo to confirm. Shinzo walked over to Ame and Sakura and called out to them.

"Ame ? What are you doing ?"

Ame turned her eyes slowly on Shinzo, then glared at him.

"Shut the fuck up, rapist !"

Shinzo almost fell over at her tone. He cleared his throat, then looked around at the people around him. Everyone was staring at him, even Renjiro, who had woken up. Ame spoke up again.

"How dare you do this to that kid ? You pervert, rapist, pedo, criminal !"

Shinzo shifted his gaze to Sakura, who was staring at the ground. Shinzo began to panic, not knowing what to do.

"What have I done ?"

Ame pushed Shinzo onto the wall and spat her words angrily.

"You wanted to rape that kid, and you even checked her out, even though she told you not to !"

Shinzo gently pushed her away, but Ame came back and started to strangle him, nobody reacting, everyone just watching the scene, shocked.

"A...Ame ! Calm... down !"

Ame continued to strangle him. Shinzo was gasping for breath, doing what he could to free himself, but Ame was too strong... or rather that Shinzo was too weak. Shinzo was on the verge of fainting, he looked around, Namjoon was hidden, a smile on his face. Shinzo glared at him and then back at Ame, who wouldn't let him go. Shinzo thought at once.

"She has no right ! Physics are forbidden !"

Shinzo pulled a phone from his pocket with complication, then played an audio.

"Yes Shinzo?"

It was Leana, a discussion between Leana and Shinzo.

"I wanted to ask you, what was the relationship Namjoon and Ame were undertaking back then ?"

"At the time, they were very close, but especially Namjoon, who protected her and was very kind to her."

"Does Ame like conflict ?"

"Honestly ? Yes, she loves conflict against weaker people and destroying them internally, it's one of her specialties."

Ame let go of her then looked at the crowd, who were watching her.

"No ! It's not what you think !"

Shinzo fell to the ground, coughed and sputtered. When he got to a standing position, he pushed Ame into the middle of the audience.

"It's time to face the consequences, Ame. You once told me you hated conflict, but I know you love it."

Ame looked at Shinzo angrily. Shinzo had a dark, euphoric face : he was happy to have won this duel. Then he saw Namjoon, looking at Leana very hard.

"Guys ! He's trying to trick you ! He manipulated someone to get that audio, I saw it !"

Shinzo smiled slightly, then sat down on a chair, in front of Ame.

"It's really too bad I didn't manipulate anyone. Right, Léana ?"

He was now looking at Léana, who looked down.

"It's true, I did say that... I didn't even know he'd made a recording."

Namjoon stepped out of the shadows then laughed, arms crossed.

"Shinzo, is that your only proof?"

Shinzo now wore a neutral, even lost face, before following up with a smile broad to those cheeks.

"Absolutely not ! The computer, remember ? It says that Ame likes conflict."

Namjoon nodded, smiling back.

"What a pity ! It doesn't say that on the computer !"

"How do you know, Namjoon ?"

Namjoon was taken aback, then began to look at everyone around him. It was obvious that Namjoon had made a mistake. He didn't answer, leaving the field open to Shinzo.

"Listen, everyone, would you let a man in our midst who could have all your personal information ? Or even, potentially, know who the famous rapist is ?"

The people around him began to realize that Namjoon could be dangerous. Namjoon began to tremble, but remained as neutral as possible.

"You too, Shinzo, have looked at this computer."

Shinzo laughed, beginning to regain the upper hand over those trying to destroy him.

"No ! When I said I'd looked at the computer, it was just a lie so I could see through your face if it really existed. And, suddenly, I had proof that yes, your face showed everything, you looked scared, scared that I'd access anything and everything."

Shinzo wasn't afraid of Anji, who knew he'd really been there, because he'd deliberately made himself a little more sympathetic to her in order to trust her well, even if inside Shinzo didn't trust anyone.

"All bullshit, no one can confirm that I had a face showing fear or concern."

Shinzo stepped aside to make way for Renjiro Kurigane to come over, who spoke up.

"Yes, I do. At the beginning of this game, Shinzo had approached me and warned me that you were dangerous, he told me to stay next to him to succeed in proving your misdeeds. When you locked him up with your idiotic strategy, the discussion he had was real, at least that's what Shinzo said. Sure, the discussion was real, but the contact wasn't the same. Shinzo had sent me a message shortly before he was locked up, warning me that I had to go to the bathroom to keep in contact with him. From the start, he knew you were going to lock him up because Anji had told him about it just before you locked him up. He had planned everything. Once locked up, he had contact with me, and since I hadn't yet integrated, nobody paid any attention to me."

Namjoon began to step aside, stammering, he was shaking badly.

"'Still... the number was his lawyer's !"

Renjiro laughed.

"Oh yes, that ! In fact, before the game, Shinzo had told his lawyer to tell any correspondent who was Korean my number, saying it was his number, therefore, the lawyer's number. You blindly believed him, a lawyer can always lie."

Shinzo approached Namjoon, cheerful.

"And so, my little Namjoon, you've just confessed that you did ask for my lawyer's number before the game."

Shinzo brought his mouth close to Namjoon's ear, then whispered softly.

"If you were looking for my lawyer's number right from the start without me even mentioning that I had a father in prison, that means you knew my father was in prison long before, and you started this game to get revenge. Our dear game master did say that someone had invited him to get us involved. Was it you ? The one with the birthday ? What's more, you were the first to launch the hostilities, so basically nobody wanted to sacrifice anyone."

He walked away from Namjoon, smiling. Suddenly, Kaito Ryuta stood up and walked over to Shinzo.

"So what ? What's this all about ? Ame revealed just before that you raped that kid !"

Shinzo walked away slowly, then headed in Sakura's direction.

"Did I rape you ?"

He was gentle, and then he adopted a dark, cruel look.

"And be honest."

Sakura closed her eyes in fear, then answered softly.

"No... you didn't rape me... it was Ame who forced me to say that."

"On whose orders ?"

Shinzo had gone soft again.

"She had told me it was Namjoon who told her to do that, to eliminate you."

Shinzo stretched, then looked at Namjoon with a merciless, emotionless stare.

"You're so bad you can't even manipulate a girl in panic over the situation."

He gave a thumbs-down as if to indicate that his opponent was too low-level for him.

Most of the people around him didn't understand much, but they did get the main point. Some stood up and suggested that Namjoon be excluded. Namjoon growled.

"You can't expel me ! I'll never surrender !"

Some people didn't react and stayed on their side, wordless. Namjoon didn't answer any more, then fetched Ame and ran off down the corridors. Shinzo looked at the audience for a few seconds.

"Namjoon must be expelled."

Some agreed. Others didn't respond. Shinzo went and sat down next to Léana and another person named Ren Hiroshi. The boy began to speak with admiration.

"You got him good on that one ! He deserved it, I could see he was spreading false rumors."

Shinzo nodded in approval. Léana's eyes were dark and she looked lost, which Shinzo noticed very well.

"Leana, do you agree that we should exclude Namjoon ?"

She didn't answer for a few seconds.

"No... he's a human just like us, no one deserves to be sacrificed."

"That's true."

Leana seemed to relax after Shinzo said "It's true.". He tried another approach.

"You see, Namjoon had told me he had a means of contact with the master of the game. You obviously knew that, he told me."

Leana began to panic, then huffed, as if wishing she could calm down.

"Yes, I knew."

Then Shinzo looked at Ren's face, which was looking rather badly at Léana. He paid no attention to it.

"I see, thank you."

From Shinzo's point of view, there were now three days left in the game, and he knew he had to hurry.

Namjoon's side.

Namjoon was in the gym with Ame, walking and thinking.

"Ame, you once told me that your father was in terrible need of care, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"That day, Shinzo had recorded the discussion, so everyone knows your situation."

Ame didn't move. Namjoon continued.

"Which means that anyone can destroy you in this context."

Namjoon was bluffing, nobody knew it, he just wanted to make Ame believe it to maybe get her to sacrifice herself without him making himself look bad, because he himself knew that having a good influence would help later on. Namjoon put a finger over his mouth as if to say "shh".

"Still, don't tell anyone, chances are other people won't know."

Ame grunted, then sat back, deep in thought. Silence now reigned, prompting Namjoon to leave the room. Ame remained alone.

In the corridors, Namjoon walked rather quickly, looking for ideas. He went to the main hall, then to the secretary's office, where he picked up a sheet of paper and hid it in his hand, making a ball so that no one would see. He felt Shinzo's heavy gaze on him, but paid it no mind. He put the paper ball in his pocket and left. At the same time, Shinzo shouted to everyone to gather round. Namjoon made himself small, then slipped away. He went to the writing room, where people could write for the rest of their lives. He took a blue pen and began to write in a handwriting that was not his own.

"Ame, surrender, I'm currently carrying the medicine for your father. If you sacrifice yourself, I'll give them to you, otherwise, he'll die before long. Or if not, come and get them, but I won't let myself, and don't forget that physicality is forbidden."

He folded the paper and placed it on the table Shinzo had used to fall asleep when isolated from the group. Namjoon headed for the main hall, then beckoned Anji to come along, who complied.

In the corridors, Anji stared at the floor, as if embarrassed to be with Namjoon.

"What do you want from me?"

Namjoon headed for the writing room.

"To talk to you about a letter."

Suddenly, Anji looked curious. She let Namjoon speak.

"Actually, you see, Shinzo's handwriting that you were able to get on the registration form, well, there's his handwriting on his table."

He unfolded the paper on the table and showed it to Anji, who was very surprised.

"What ? But he'd never write that ! Yet... it's his handwriting."

Namjoon hit his head.

"Don't you realize he's manipulating everyone ?"

Anji didn't know what to say. Namjoon continued.

"I'd like you to tell Shinzo that this letter is inappropriate. Is he trying to expel everyone or what ?"

Anji nodded softly, then left quickly. Namjoon smiled.

"I hope it worked."

He seated himself with his back to the wall at the entrance to the writing room, waited a few minutes then saw Shinzo coming in with Anji. He didn't react. Shinzo and Anji entered, then Namjoon stood up to join them.

"Since when have you been so cruel, Shinzo ?"

Shinzo replied coldly.

"You won't get me like this."

Namjoon continued.

"I found this letter the night you were locked up. On that famous night, you used so much energy that you claimed you were exhausted. Right, Anji ?"

Anji acquiesced, for this information was true.

"And so, afterwards, you went to sleep in this room, and then, lo and behold, when I go back, I see on your desk a beautiful letter in your beautiful handwriting of you wanting to expel Ame."

Shinzo began to hesitate, then answered sharply without thinking.

"I must have been joking."

Namjoon squinted.

"You've got a strange way of laughing."

"And the paper you took ?"

Namjoon had obviously anticipated this.

"Here it is."

He pulled a paper pellet from his pocket. Shinzo was surprised. Instead of answering, Shinzo took the paper, then set off in the direction of the main room where Ame was.

On Shinzo's side.

Shinzo knew it was a bluff. In the main hall, he joined Ame, then handed her the letter.

"A letter someone wrote."

Ame took the letter, unfolded it and read its contents. She began to panic, then nudged Shinzo.

"What did you do ?!"

Shinzo said, "Nothing," but Ame didn't believe him. She started for the exit door, then Renjiro stopped her by grabbing her arm.

"Stop playing the game."

Ame, at first, didn't react, then she turned, glaring at Namjoon.

"You're done for. I thought you were nice, but not at all."

Shinzo approached from the middle of the room.

"Everyone, listen up, who knew about Ame's father's situation ?"

No one raised a hand. Not even Namjoon, who even denied the news.

"Her father's situation ? What do you know about it, Shinzo ?"

Shinzo could see that Namjoon was trying to get out of it.

"When I summoned everyone, just before, you and Ame were missing. And so, when I summoned everyone, Ame was back, but I knew you weren't coming. I knew you'd taken information about Ame to destroy her in a panic, and I knew I hadn't written anything down. That famous night when I was so tired, only Renjiro saw where I slept, except that he later confirmed to all of you that I slept in the writing room. You believed him, since you didn't yet know he was in cahoots with me. By intuition, I thought you were going to try to destroy me using this place where I had apparently slept. The next day, I asked Anji to open the writing room, and every time I went to the bathroom, I checked inside. That day, at the meeting, I told Ame to watch out for you. She told us she'd shared something private with you. Before the game, I told her privately not to say anything private, except one thing. She told me, so I promised to help her father get better. She believed me blindly, and so much the better. Earlier, on your way to the bathroom, just as you were absent, you were writing a letter in the writing room. Weird, isn't it ? And don't think I'm stupid. I know very well that yesterday you took a piece of paper, didn't crumple it up and then hid it, but today's paper was simply a bait."

Shinzo approached Namjoon, smiling.

"Namjoon, you've lost. From the start, everything was clear, the rules were clear. You weren't supposed to incite someone to sacrifice themselves, you were supposed to sacrifice someone. I made people believe that to avoid being sacrificed, and everyone believed me blindly."

Shinzo now looked at those around him.

"Who wants to exclude that asshole who started the game ?"

Of the 23 people... (not counting Namjoon)

22 raised their hands.

It was Léana who didn't raise her hand. Everyone was looking at her.

"And, the rape story in all this ?"

She started to leave in tears.

"Hiroki Yuto raped me."

Hands suddenly lowered, and everyone started pointing at Hiroki, including Namjoon, who felt relieved.

Only Shinzo hadn't voted. Hiroki tried to defend himself.

"I didn't do anything ! I didn't rape anyone !"

A girl, the oldest, 21-year-old Kaori Mai, approached and then took up his defense.

"I stayed with him throughout the game, and even since he arrived here."

She approached Léana.

"You got raped by Namjoon Kim, how do I know ? Shinzo, before the game, when he arrived here, could see very clearly that you hung out together often. Shinzo had seen that Namjoon, when he left the room to "go to the bathroom" or "communicate" took time. On one occasion, Shinzo had followed Namjoon from a distance, and behind the bathroom door he heard some... strange noises. So he went into the main room and called everyone to play a game. He'd keep count, since he knew everyone's face from the start. Twice in a row, Namjoon and Léana were missing. When Léana returned, Shinzo noticed that she was often happy - well, a joy hidden by fear. According to Shinzo, Namjoon had used the fact that he was the dominant male to threaten Leana and force her to help him, under threat that he would continue to rape her. At the start of the game, Shinzo said that a person had to be made to leave, only Shinzo didn't directly sacrificed Namjoon because he knew that no one would agree with him because Namjoon had told everyone about his father and, what's more, he didn't have enough evidence to make him go away. To prove Namjoon's point, Shinzo, when he asks Léana about Ame, even though Namjoon had told him not to say anything, records the discussion, not to blame Ame (because it was the discussion about Ame liking conflict), even if that's what he wanted people to think, but so that he can see if his thinking was real, that if Léana didn't help Namjoon, then she'd be raped. When he finished playing the audio, Namjoon looked at Leana particularly badly. In the short time that Shinzo returned to show Ame the letter, Namjoon hadn't returned, and neither had Leana. Shinzo took a good look, then could see that Léana was hurting somewhere, as well as being tired."

Shinzo agreed.

"Exactly, which means you raped her."

He turned to Leana.

"We'll sacrifice him, so he can't do anything to you."

Leana wasn't convinced, but she pointed at Namjoon, and everyone started pointing at him.

Of the 23 people... 

all raised their hands.

Shinzo let out a sigh of relief.

"It's all over ! You're out, Namjoon."

Still, something lingered in Shinzo's mind, why were some residents scared before the game even started ? Why was Anji scared before the game started ? What were they afraid of ?