A Decision Must Be Made

Their arrival in the forest was met with the voice of the cloaked figure, who began explaining the rules of the game they were about to play.

"There is one person in each group who has been given the role of captain. Your task as group members is to identify and expose your captain. If the captain loses, the four others advance to the next round. However, if the captain wins, the rest of you will perish."

The rules were simple to understand, yet identifying the leader among them would prove to be far more difficult. Bernard remained internally composed, but on the outside, he feigned terror—his legs trembling, his teeth chattering violently. Whether or not he was the captain, he had no intention of drawing attention to himself.

"Captains will receive a notification that is invisible to others," the cloaked figure continued. "My advice? Watch for a change in facial expression. Goodbye, and good luck."

The game had begun.

For the first five minutes, the group remained silent. No one trusted anyone, and silence was the safest way to avoid becoming a target. They sat in a rough circle, the tension thick between them. Minutes passed before Arthur finally broke the silence, his voice as steady as it was commanding.

"I don't want anyone to die," he said, "but if it comes down to it, I'd rather lose one person than four."

The lazy man raised his hand, signaling his turn to speak.

"Arthur is right. As much as we'd all like to survive, that isn't possible. Our best option is to identify the captain." Bernard's words were carefully chosen. By aligning himself with Arthur, he could gain his trust—and possibly the trust of those who followed him.

The man with glasses remained silent, his skepticism evident. Whether he was too frightened to speak or merely pretending to be, no one could say. However, the woman with smudged lipstick and the girl with pigtails voiced their agreement.

"I agree with you both," the woman said.

"Me as well," the girl murmured.

The man with glasses, by refusing to speak, had already made himself a prime suspect. Was his silence fear, or was it strategy? Arthur naturally took the lead, speaking with the authority of an unspoken leader. The others followed him—including Bernard.

"We still have time before we need to decide," Arthur said with an encouraging smile. "Let's just talk."

'Is this his way of gathering information?' the lazy man wondered.

"Talk about what?" the woman with smudged lipstick asked.

Arthur tilted his head, gazing at the sky as if searching for an answer in the crimson canopy above. Anyone paying attention could tell he hadn't planned this far ahead.

'So, I guess it wasn't a strategy after all,' Bernard thought, until Arthur finally spoke again.

"Let's talk about our past lives."

Bernard allowed himself a small smile, lowering his gaze so his hair obscured his face.

'Ah… so he does know what he's doing.'

The best way to clear suspicion, Bernard knew, was to make yourself the center of attention. No one would accuse the person trying to befriend everyone of being their enemy. But in a game like this, trust was a dangerous thing.

'Trusting no one is the best option,' Bernard mused, 'but making it obvious that you trust no one only makes you a suspect. By acting as he has, the man with glasses has made himself the first target.'

The bespectacled man remained disinterested, refusing to involve himself, but the others nodded in agreement with Arthur's suggestion.

The girl with pigtails spoke first. "I lived a simple life. I was in my final year of high school, but I dropped out because…" Her voice faltered. She curled into herself, hugging her knees as if trying to disappear.

Her expression darkened, her entire body radiating unease. The woman with smudged lipstick scooted closer, wrapping an arm around her in comfort.

"It's okay," she whispered.

For a brief moment, Bernard's usual mask slipped. His expression of sympathy was genuine.

"I guess… I'll go next," Arthur said, his voice uncertain.

'That's a bit insensitive,' Bernard thought.

Arthur stood, dusting off his clothes before speaking. "My family was wealthy, and I had everything I could ever want. But my parents always told me to treat everyone equally, regardless of their class. I enjoyed… I enjoyed playing with my siblings. I was also a great runner."

'So that explains why he acts so high and mighty,' Bernard noted.

Arthur sat back down and turned to the woman with smudged lipstick. Since she was still consoling the girl, he tapped Bernard's arm, gesturing for him to go next. Bernard, ever the performer, complied.

He stood, brushed the dirt from his pants, and spoke.

"I wasn't good in school. Actually, I wasn't good at much of anything. Because of that, finding a job was difficult. I eventually landed a low-paying job, but it wasn't enough to get by, so I started gambling. I kept winning, so I never thought I could lose. Then, one night, I lost everything. I became broke… and homeless."

The weight of his words settled over the group, dragging them into a collective silence. No one else wished to speak.

Their conversation had lasted forty minutes, and for the next hour and twenty minutes, they sat in complete silence.

Then, the voice of the cloaked figure returned.

"I hope you are all ready."

The cloaked figure's voice sent shivers down the spines of the participants. The unknown loomed before them, and what was about to unfold would shake the very foundation of their fragile group.

"So, have you decided who the captain is?" the voice inquired, its tone laced with an unsettling calm.

Confusion spread across the faces of the group members.

"I thought we still had more time!" the man with glasses exclaimed.

Bernard observed him silently. I see what he was trying to do… but unfortunately, it's too late.

The man with glasses had a strategy—to let everyone speak, waiting for even the slightest slip-up before seizing the opportunity to shift suspicion onto someone else. He had been biding his time, believing he still had control over the situation. But time had run out.

"You must now choose one member to be executed," the cloaked figure declared, its voice dripping with menace.