Caught

"Player Ghostdoctor transferred 2 points to you."

"Player Ghostdoctor transferred 1 points to you... ..."

C, A, U, G, H, T.

Message from Ghostdoctor: Caught, plan A failed, plan B failed, plan C carried out with this repercussion.

Well at least I escaped. Time to regroup with the rest.

"Where's Ghostdoctor?" Eleanor's reaction to my return was underwhelming.

"Captured."

Her reaction to Ghostdoctor being captured is even more apathetic, she shrugged her shoulders in response.

It makes sense, Ghostdoctor is so far just an eccentric guy who came in to our alliance, told us the most mind blowing secrets of the game then proved his points by killing random dudes.

If any of us hear that he's dead, we probably won't react much either. We're not even sure if the earpiece modification he speaks of that prevents our memories to be tampered is real.

I would've expected my uncle's reaction to be as sentimental as he has been so far, like lunging in for an embrace saying "you're okay" or something.

But no,

"What do we do next?"

He acknowledged my decisions and my plans now, I can tell he's no longer worried that I might take the wrong step that brings me towards danger.

But he acknowledged my decisions at the wrong time. I actually met my match now, GPS is playing the mind games incredibly well, I have no idea how to save Ghostdoctor by mere tricks now.

"Well...they wouldn't kill Ghostdoctor, they will keep him alive, as if saying 'trade Eleanor for him'.

It's a trap for us to go and attempt to save him, and since it is, they're keeping him somewhere we can find easily, somewhere we're aware of and somewhere we'll definitely inspect first.

That would be the bar where I met GPS, she brought me there before, I know the directions, Ghostdoctor should be kept there right now.

I'll ask him through point transactions just in case though."

"Sean, I think we could just leave him if we know it's a trap, it's not worth it saving a murderer by putting ourselves in danger." My uncle suggests.

"He's a very weird guy, but I think it's worth it. He probably has more information that's useful about the game, and the earpiece modification thing sounds very useful.

If our memories can't be tampered with, we can clear campaign stages with ease by knowing what's going to happen beforehand."

"We don't even know if that's true." Eleanor says.

"So far he's proven every crazy things he claims, I like to think he's not bluffing with this one."

"What's the plan to save him?" My uncle asks with anticipation.

"Could just...trade me for him." Eleanor proposes with a weak voice and her gaze averted.

It's reasonable that she feels guilty as she's the reason why Living Cemetery is hunting us down in the first place.

She avoids eye contact with everyone, looking gloomier than usual.

"What? No way!" That's the loudest I've heard Ken.

"It's the best option, you go with them and Ghostdoctor with all his information about the game, win the tournament by cheating and get out of here." Eleanor consoles Ken with her hands on his shoulders.

"No! Not without you! And stop protecting me all the time!" Ken grew frustrated at his sister's selfless behaviour and shook her hands off.

"If there's anyone you should protect, protect yourself first!" He says with tears seeping out his eyes.

What an incredibly emotional guy. It's not like I'm gonna allow her to actually turn herself in.

"He's right, we won't be turning you in Eleanor."

"You're still confident you can defend against them?" She asks me with a strict face and direct eye contact.

"Maybe not anymore, but I'm confident you shouldn't and can't leave this alliance."

"How so?"

"Well first off, my uncle has returned the leader role to me, no one can leave without my permission.

Second, Ghostdoctor chose us for a reason, we're the alliance with the most potential to win the tournament without a Mage, and that has a lot to do with you, we're strong because we have you.

Third, he wants you to stay." I pointed at Ken behind her for the final sentence.

Eleanor looked back at Ken pensively, the boy's cheeks are already wet with tears, but his face was strict with a hint of anger at his selfless sister.

She hung her head and lets out a sigh.

"What do we do now then?"

Not that question again, now both my uncle and Eleanor are anticipating something of a solution from me.

"How about...we watch the tournament now, wait for a bit until the right time to move in?"

"What?!" All three of em exclaimed in unison.

"We're not in a hurry, they won't kill Ghostdoctor because then they lose their leverage to lure us into their trap.

And the only thing Ghostdoctor may possibly disclose about us that could cause problems, is our current position, here in this specific corridor in the game lobby building.

So we gotta get out of here and find somewhere to hide, the stadium's crowded and busy, it'd be hard for them to find us there." I improvised this justification.

"We're not gonna take any actions? What are we waiting for to happen? They're not gonna simply give Ghostdoctor back with time."

"It's just...not the right time to move in right now."

"How could it not be, three days later and the tournament will end, by then we also have to deal with Living Cemetery's tournament team." My uncle retorts, I thought you would trust my judgement man...

"Alright..." I hung my head.

"I don't really have a plan right now, I need some time to think..." I lifted my head a little bit to peek at their reactions.

I would've expected facepalms, but none of them actually gave much of a reaction at all. Well, Ken was utterly terrified at the back actually, but Eleanor soon turns to him to console him.

"It's alright, we don't have better either, we'll watch the tournament right now and give you some time to think." My uncle approached me and said.

Everyone's agreed that there is virtually no solutions to our situation then. Welp, time for plan D.