Once again, here you were. In a dimly lit room filled with food, with Gashu on the screen.

You cursed everything.

"Hello, everyone." Gashu said, "Thank you all for participating in this Main Game. Now, before I get into the rules of everything, it seems one of you lost your tablet. Due to the need for fingerprint identification, no one else was able to access your role, but even then, it is a great disadvantage to not know your own, so a replacement tablet has been left on the table if you are that person in question."

Gashu sighed, then continued on, explaining the rules for the Main Game. They were essentially the same as the one before, so you tuned it out until the screen glitched, and suddenly, you could see Miley.

She was angry.

"Gashu!" She shouted, "You've really gone and ruined everything! You've made a flagrant transgression! ...One that shakes the very core of the Main Game! Are you trying to appropriate the Main Game for yours—"

The screen quickly cut back to Gashu, who looked flustered. "Pardon the video malfunction. Please head to the Main Game grounds, now."

A small door opened up, and you made your way through hesitantly.

"Gashu!" Alice yelled, stomping his way into the Main Game grounds. "I demand an explanation. Where are you?!"

"I'm here." Gashu said from behind a similar desk Miley had sat behind last time. "What do you need to ask?"

"What's the transgression Sue Miley was talking about? Explain yourself!"

"Transgression?" Gashu cocked his head, "I'm not sure what you mean."

Alice glared at him, "God dammit, I'll—"

"Just know, that if there were a transgression, it would become apparent during your discussion."

You bit the inside of your lip nervously as you approached a desk. Joe stood at the one next to you, and called out to Gashu, "Can you bring Safalin in here? As another judge. If you're innocent, then it shouldn't matter to you."

Gashu responded quickly, "Of course! If that's what it takes to get this Main Game started, then so be it."

Safalin had made it to the same desk as Gashu by the time everyone else had come out of their rooms.

Or, almost everyone.

"Now, let's get this Main Game star—"

"Wait!" Q-Taro shouted, slowly making his way into the room.

Once Q-Taro had made it to a desk, Gashu officially started the Main Game.

No one wanted to speak, though. Time was already passing, but nobody wanted to talk about killing each other. The first Main Game was one thing, but now you all were closer.

You couldn't just let each other die.

You stared at Sou, who stood at the opposite of the circle from you. He seemed to be scanning everyone's faces, but he flinched slightly when he noticed you staring.

"...Being silent is only going to make more time pass, guys." Sou said, making everyone turn to look at him, "C'mon, we've walked this road before. We'll be fine..."

"But then 'n now... It's completely different!" Q-Taro yelled, his words slurring together, "We're allies, now!"

"Then, will you die for us?" Keiji asked, staring at Q-Taro with a serious expression. Q-Taro opened his mouth to say something, but held himself back, biting his tongue.

"Right. Then, let's find our resolve. As you said before, Q-Taro."

"Rather than using worthless suspicion, we can just reason out who the Keymaster and Sacrifice are." Alice said.

"As long as we're all honest," Keiji sighed, glancing at Sou, "Let's start with the four candidates who will go on to the second vote. We're not gonna worry about cards right now."

"In that case," Alice said, "I say Sou Hiyori. He's the most suspicious."

Kanna began to object, but Alice cut her off, "Regardless of what he'd done to attempt our escape, we're still here. And that doesn't erase his history. He—"

"Fine," Sou said, "Vote for me. After all, I am the Sacrifice."

Joe held back a sound next to you, you looked at him to see him staring at Sou with a confused and suspicious look.

If Joe had the Sacrifice before the Main Game had started, and had just barely enough time to lose it before it started... Why would Sou trade with Joe? What was he hoping to gain?

"Are you dumb?" Alice asked Sou. "Did you not hear what the Policeman said? We're keeping our roles a secret for now."

Sou held his hand over his mouth as if he were embarrassed, "Was there a rule against keeping yours a secret? Oops." He smiled from behind his hand. "Sorry, Keiji. I just didn't feel like letting you take the initiative. I think I'm just gonna go ahead and nominate the next candidate."

"No, Sou," You said, "This isn't how it should work."

He stared at you with his hand on his cheek. He looked so unbothered. He really saw this all as a game. Did he not value his life? Even as shitty as he is... His life was just as meaningful as anyone else's.

So why wasn't he taking this seriously?

"Are you panicking, Mx. Y/N?" You glared at him. His life was worth something, but he really had the worst attitude. He closed his eyes, thinking for a moment, "I nominate Kanna." He said, holding eye contact with you.

You finally looked away, blinking back an eye roll. Kanna didn't deserve this.

Kanna let out a small squeak; a strained sound of surprise.

Sou looked at everyone but Kanna as he spoke, as if he couldn't bare to look at her, "Honestly, this should've been expected. We all know how useless Kanna is. She's timid, easily tricked, and lacks ability for most things. The only thing she'd got going for her is her sympathy."

Kanna looked betrayed. She couldn't look at anyone but him.

Keiji let out a small chuckle, "You brought this up early in our discussion in order to give Kanna a chance to defend herself. How kind." He said sarcastically. "Alright, let's talk about her actions, so we can trust her."

"It's hard for us to really know what she was doing most of the time, since she was holed up in Sou's room a lot." Q-Taro said, and Sou snorted.

"As if Y/N wasn't like that with Joe." He retorted.

Joe glared at Sou, "We aren't the topic, right now. We're trying to defend Kanna."

"There's nothing to defend!" Sou exclaimed, "She's just been deadweight this whole time. What a hindrance..." Kanna whispered something to herself, looking sad.

"Are you just gonna let him say that, Kanna?" Joe asked, "You're really going to sit here and let him shit on everything you've done? You can get mad, Kanna. Defend yourself. You're not what he says you are."

Kanna was hesitant. She didn't want to go against Sou. But,

"Kanna... isn't a hindrance," She said quietly, then louder, "Sou's just... being mean because he knows how to hack... as if I wasn't the one who'd done it first!"

Sou let out a high-pitched laugh as if she'd just told the world's greatest joke. "Really..." He said between laughs, "What a joke..." So maybe she did.

Everyone looked confused by her words. You leaned in, "Kanna, what do you mean? You did some hacking?"

"Goodness, you're so irritating," Sou said, his laughter dying down, "You never make yourself clear."

Kanna looked caught off guard, "What... but... breaking into people's things... is considered hacking, right?"

"That wasn't hacking, you dunce. Don't use words you don't know the meaning of."

"But, I figured out the password for the laptop! I looked at the keys, and how dirty they were, and... I figured out the password!"

It was quiet for a moment before Joe asked, "When did you figure out the password?"

She bit her lip, "Before the Final Attraction."

"So you lied, Sou. About needing the password."

Sou rolled his eyes then leaned forward on the table, glaring at Kanna before looking back at Joe, "Is it really that much of a surprise?"

"But—!" Kanna jumped back in, "Sou truly wanted to reconcile! If... If he hadn't, then he wouldn't have shared the laptop with you all!"

"No." Joe said. "There was a bigger reason behind sharing the laptop. He didn't know my mom's name, and that's what he needed to get into the locked folder."

Q-Taro looked upset. He yelled, "Sou, you excepted my deal without tellin' me none of this?!"

Sou smiled innocently, "And what of it?"

"What deal?" Keiji pressed, making Sou roll his eyes.

"It really shouldn't matter to you." Sou barked, "It's between the two of us."

Keiji laughed, "Not anymore. Explain the deal. Now."

Q-Taro began to explain, "I went to Sou and asked him to share the laptop—"

"—I was honestly surprised," Sou cut him off, "He offered me some of his tokens—"

"—I had a responsibility." Q-Taro cut back in, "I'd been possessed by the need for tokens, and I'd handed Kanna the laptop. I needed to make up for it. That's why... I made that deal."

"Sou wasn't blackmailing you?" Joe asked, and Q-Taro squinted at him.

"What do you mean?"

Joe pulled out the disc of the First Floor footage. "We found this disc that showed you placing the role cards. Sou saw you do it. Was he not blackmailing you for that?"

"That can't be real," Q-Taro rolled his eyes, "We already checked if there were cameras on the First Floor. We didn't find any."

"Well this disc is proof that that isn't true!"

"My ass, it isn't true. That's a puppet show you hold in your hands. We know our kidnappers have dolls of us. We saw what happened with the Reko doll, and the Mishima AI. Our kidnappers want us to distrust each other. I don't know what you guys saw, but it wasn't real."

Keiji was the first to speak up after a few moments of silence. He held the back of his hand against his mouth, hiding his nervous smile, "Talk about a disadvantage."

"My ass." Q-Taro responded sarcastically, "The point is, I told you about my deal with Sou. I was passed out after we looked at the laptop."

"Why were you passed out, meow?"

"I don't remember. No memory from after I entered the room I had been in. Then I wake up in the Main Game... what a rude awakenin'."

"You don't remember who attacked you?" You asked, and Q-Taro shook his head. "We should work on figuring that out, then. You passed out after looking at the laptop? Then let's figure out who was where after that point."

"If you're so certain about that, then you can go first." Sou said, glaring at you.

Guilty.

You would scream it if you could.

"I was with Joe. We were looking for something."

"Something?" He pushed further.

"The chip, you cunt." Sou's eyes went wide but his eyebrows furrowed.

"I beg your pardon?"

"I'm just giving you back the same energy, you sack of—"

"Okay, calm down. We don't have time to bicker. Our lives are on the line." Keiji interrupted. "Let's just continue with alibis." Keiji diffused the situation, but Sou continued to stare at you smugly.

"Sou went to the bathroom, and that left me, Alice, Kanna, and Q-Taro in the lobby."

"After going to the bathroom I found Nao in the Ruined Corridor and was talking to her about our plans for the Mishima AI. Alice came in the middle of it and handed me back the laptop." Sou said.

"I was on the first floor, woof!" Gin said.

So he was down there. But how did he not get caught?

"I talked to Keiji for awhile," Q-Taro said, "But I started to wander and ended up in the Room of Rubble. I'd seen Nao and Sou in there so I can confirm their alibis. After I went into the room though, I don't remember."

You looked forward at Sou who was squinting his eyes at Q-Taro curiously.

You wanted to ask, but you didn't want to make it seem like you were instigating. As much as you hated it, Keiji was right, and you couldn't spend this time arguing with Sou.

But you were also curious.

"What are you thinking, Hiyori?"

Sou glared at you but then turned back to Q-Taro. "I was just thinking... Q-Taro is a big guy. It's amazing that a stun gun would be able to take him out for as long as it did... or at all."

You furrowed your eyebrows, "Stun gun?"

Sou looked at you confused, "Yeah?"

"Sou, we didn't say anything about a weapon," Joe said, pulling a stun gun out of his pocket. "So how did you know that was what knocked him out?"

Sou rolled his eyes while smiling, "Yeah. I didn't think I'd get away with it for long. I just didn't want him to get in the way of our hacking plan, since I thought he might've heard what Nao and I were talking about."

"Fine. Then let's talk more about suspicions." Keiji decided, crossing his arms over his chest. How could he move on so easily?

Nao spoke up, "I have someone... I'm a little suspicious of." Her eyes flickered between her allies, but really stuck on you and Joe. "I, uhm... I don't think... I'm the only one..."

Joe cocked his head slightly, and she nodded a little at him.

"It was, uhm... a victim video I bought." She described the video to everyone, ending with, "The man... he was barely in frame but he... he looked and sounded a lot like Keiji."

She then continued, "But... Like with the First Floor footage... it could've been forged. So... take it with a grain of salt."

"All we need to do is ask, my dear." Sou said, turning from Nao to Keiji, "Keiji, tell us, is that video real? Did you kill that poor policewoman? Or is Nao a liar? I'm doubting you so we can believe you."

Keiji began to throw out excuses, but Joe challenged them as a witness to the video and all his actions so far.

In the end, Keiji stared at Joe with a glare, his chest heaving up and down from how viciously he'd been speaking.

"You want the truth?" He said quietly. "Fine. That video is real. The woman was my boss, Megumi Sasahara. I killed someone once. She just covered it up. I owed her... my life... But I... left her to die..? No, I..."

Keiji bit his lip, holding back his rambling, "I'm no longer a policeman, actually. I quit awhile ago."

Who could've guessed?

You.

"If you vote for me in the prelims, I won't be upset. I understand. I'm... suspicious from every angle." He said, staring at Joe.

"Speaking of voting," Gashu spoke up, " You need to start voting soon. You need enough time to work out cards for the final vote."

"Then we need to figure out who we're leaving out."

"I think we should leave Gin and Kanna out."

"Q-Taro should be left out. He may have been asleep for awhile, but he had the most tokens, and the most control."

"Sou Hiyori should be left out. If he's the Sacrifice, it could be dangerous."

"I think Joe should be left out," Sou said. "He was acting suspicious before the Main Game. He looked hopeless for a moment. Somehow more hopeless than Y/N. Almost as if... he had a terrible card. And then a last minute trade after I watched him and Y/N go downstairs?"

"Last minute trade?" Q-Taro repeated. "Then... I think I know who the Sacrifice is. I have the Keymaster. Joe, I'm sorry for giving you the Sacrifice, but you still have it, don't you?"

"Q-Taro, you... what?"

"Fine." You said, "Then don't vote for him. If he has two votes, that'll prove he's the Sacrifice. And if he doesn't... you're wrong."

"It's time to vote..!" Safalin sniffled.

"We need more time!" Keiji shouted.

"Time that I cannot give you..!!!" She shouted back, worried. "Vote!! Now!!"

You pulled out your tablet. You highly doubted Sou had taken the Sacrifice from Joe.

Why would he?

You voted for Sou, and the votes came out soon after.

~ * ~

Nao — 2

Kanna — 2

Sou — 6

~ * ~

You hadn't gotten anywhere with that discussion, and now you were just confused.

"I'm not the Sacrifice. As I said before... I'm a Commoner."

Everyone was silent, unsure of how to respond to the standings. Of course, Sou being the top vote makes sense... but the other two..?

"For the love... Guys, c'mon!" Joe shouted, "We can't just sit here forever! We can't just kill any one person because we don't like them. We haven't proved anything yet! We need to figure out everyone's cards now."

"Well, there were only four trades, right?" Q-Taro asked, "So, hopefully it won't be too difficult to figure out."

Gin meowed, tilting his head a bit, "No, that's wrong, Muscle Gorilla! There were five trades!"

"O-Oh... Were there two trades while I was out?" He asked, and Gin nodded his head. "Okay... Well, the only reason why I didn't know that is because I haven't been informed on... anything. I need someone to explain what happened while I was out."

Just don't tell him how you failed to escape.

"Cubetaro, when did you give your Sacrifice to Sara?" Alice asked. "Or— did you start with the Sacrifice?"

"No. My first card was a Commoner."

"Oh!" Keiji said, "Cool, I've got most of the trades figured out already, then."

"What are you talking about?" You asked.

Keiji rolled his eyes, "Well, I performed the first trade. I traded Joe's Commoner for the Keymaster."

"Are you insane?!" Q-Taro shouted. "You traded... probably the most powerful card in the game... for a Commoner?"

"I deepened our trust by doing it." Keiji said. He ran a hand through his hair, "I wouldn't change what I did if given the chance. But... yeah. First trade was sending the Keymaster to Joe. The second trade Q-Taro got the Sacrifice, and then the third trade was between Joe and Q-Taro, leaving Joe with the Sacrifice, and Q-Taro with the Keymaster."

"And what a cold-blooded man." Alice spat. "Even despite us all being in the same room and finally getting along... he went and sent his Sacrifice to Sara!"

Q-Taro seemed hesitant to respond, so Joe continued, "You can stay silent." He said, "You always have that right. But your silence means we can only assume the worst about you."

"I didn't give you my Sacrifice, Joe." Q-Taro said, pulling off his hat and ruffling his hair. "I just wanted us all to get along... but I was just used for inconvenience. I couldn't have made the trade, because as Alice said, I was in the same room as y'all. Now, who conveniently left only moments before the trade was performed?" Q-Taro turned and pointed at Sou, "Of course."

"What a crazy accusation." Sou said, trying to play it off.

"Sou was the only person I told about me having the Sacrifice. He didn't leave to go to the bathroom, he left to go to a private ring-up box."

"Wait—" Nao shook her head, "You can force two people to trade with each other?"

"Apparently..."

"But can you say that's for sure?" Sou asked with a smirk on his face.

"I think it's time you cut the bullshit, Sou. Just fess up already."

"Fess what up? My undying love for you? You're so full of yourself, Shinogi. You must be clearer."

"Your real reasoning for sharing the laptop with us."

"What a deeply conscious person you are."

"Sou, it's not worth arguing about. You claimed you didn't want any more of us to die, so why fight?" Keiji barked, "Just pull your head out of your ass."

Sou smiled, "Right. So, firstly... Joe, the footage you were talking about? Yeah, that was real. I watched Q-Taro place the cards. Oh, but I thought you placed them! Okay well, yeah. Technically I did, but Q-Taro did it first. I just had my own fun with them. Secondly—"

"Stop." Q-Taro said, "I'll just... Yeah. The footage is real. Putting the cards down was my First Trial. I didn't realize... it would cause what it did. But once I did... I knew Kai's fate was set. It was like I'd killed him, so I felt