You woke up in a soft bed with warm arms wrapped around you. You opened your eyes, not to see the person holding you, but to see Sue Miley standing in the darkness of your room, setting something down.

You wanted to say something. You wanted to get up and see what she was doing, but you couldn't move.

You fell back asleep, and when you woke up again, the warm arms were gone, and so was Miley.

You cracked your eyes open to see Joe sitting on the floor, looking at some papers.

"What are you looking at?" You asked groggily. He looked up at you but didn't respond, just looking back at his papers. You rolled out of bed and took a spot next to him.

"They look familiar," Joe said. "I don't know what they mean, though."

In his hands, he held four weathered papers. He laid them out for you to see, and you read them.

"15.5% - Joe Tazuna ... HS Student

9.9% - Naomichi Kurumada ... Boxer

9.7% - Y/N L/N ... HS Student

9.5% - Keiji Shinogi ... Ex-Detective

8.8% - Q-Taro B.B ... Baseballer."

"8.2% - Shunsuke Hayasaka ... Office Worker

8.0% - Anzu Kinashi ... HS Student

7.7% - Reko Yabusame ... Singer

7.5% - Mai Tsurugi ... Baker."

"6.6% - Alice Yabusame ... Murderer

5.3% - Ranmaru Kageyama ... HS Student

4.9% - Megumi Sasahara ... Detective

3.0% - Kazumi Mishima ... HS Teacher."

"2.7% - Kanna Kizuchi ... Mid. Student

1.3% - Gin Ibushi ... Elm. Student

1.1% - Hinako Mishuku ... Mid. Student

0.0% - Shin Tsukimi ... Self-Employed."

"These look like what we had in the Main Game." You said.

"Oh! You're right!" Joe exclaimed. "But... I don't know half of these names. Also... There's only seventeen names? But the floor masters said there were twenty-one participants... Wait."

You hummed, but Joe was hesitant to continue. "What's wrong?" You asked.

He pointed at the paper with your name on it, but not at your name. At Keiji's.

"Keiji Shinogi ... Ex-Detective." He said.

You stared at the paper, but even with the information right in front of your eyes, you didn't want to believe it.

"I do remember... When we were introducing ourselves, he said he'd been in the middle of an investigation when he got abducted, but... He's not wearing a uniform." You said.

"So you're saying he's a liar?"

You looked at Joe, and his face was almost sad; As if he really wanted to believe in Keiji.

"...I can't... know for sure. I am saying, though, that he's not good at lying if he is."

~ * ~

You and Joe were the last people to make it out to the lobby, leaving everyone anxious, but they calmed down upon seeing the two of you.

Ranger walked in only a few moments later, sighing and groaning. "Really? You all are stubborn," He said, placing his hands on his hips, "I was hoping at least one of you would die."

"Whatever," He waved himself off, "I want y'all to— actually, you will follow me if you want to live." He said, spinning around gracefully, facing the rest of the lobby.

"Don't tell me we're doing another one of those Main Games again?" Q-Taro asked.

Ranger turned back around and said, "Oh! Of course, not. No, not yet. We're saving the most fun for last!" He giggled. As he turned back around, you noticed that a door had opened in between the medical and relaxation rooms. He began to lead the way into the doorway, which only seemed to lead to darkness, "C'mon!" He shouted, "Like I said, you will be killed if you don't follow me!"

So you followed.

~ * ~

"Why are we all doing this?!" Q-Taro shouted, "We all collected enough clear chips!"

"Yeah, this damn sub-game is over, Ranger!" Reko shouted in support.

"Uh, no." Ranger laughed at the two, "This sub-game is not over, yet. We still have to announce the results! Y'all haven't forgotten that this is a game of buying and selling tokens, have you? The standings will depend on how many other people's tokens you've touched at least once. Meaning, you don't have to have them on you right now."

He cleared his throat before continuing, "Now, I'm going to announce the standings. The person in first place will get a special privilege. That person is..." Ranger paused and Safalin began making a drumroll sound. "...Q-Taro Burgerberg!! Congratulations! Okay, now come stand up here next to me." He commanded.

Almost nervously, Q-Taro made his way over to Ranger but stood tall and proud regardless.

"Now, can I get an interview?" Ranger asked, and Q-Taro glared at him.

"Enough playing around. What's this privilege I got?!" He snapped.

Ranger sighed, ignoring his question, "Everyone except first place doesn't get a prize, so I'll just name off everyone in order after Q-Taro."

Before Ranger continued with the standings, Safalin began her drumroll again, and Ranger paused to snap at her and tell her to stop. She winced at his shout but listened to him.

"The top three beneath Q-Taro are, in this order, Kanna Kizuchi, Alice Yabusame, and... Sou Hiyori. What a close fight!" Ranger walked as he moved, then stopped, "The three of you, come stand over here, in that order, please!"

Alice crossed his arms over his chest proudly, but Kanna and Sou stood timidly by his side. Alice said something amongst the three of them that you couldn't hear.

"Middle places!" Ranger exclaimed, "The two most stunningly average is... Well, Keiji Shinogi. But, also... Hm, Y/N and Joe got the same amount of tokens." His eyes flickered between the two of you as if trying to make a decision. "Y/N, I think I like you more. You and Keiji come stand next to Sou, here."

You were nervous to be standing next to Keiji. After everything that had come up in the last few days, you weren't sure how to feel about him.

And... Ex-Detective.

"And our flunking students are these three idiots: Joe Tazuna, Reko Yabusame, and Nao Egokoro. You guys really suck."

"Hey, who are you calling idiots, you damn doll?!" Reko shouted, "This ain't a fucking game!"

Ranger was unbothered by her shouting, "Okay, three-diots, stand over here." He said, motioning for them to stand a few feet away from the rest of the group.

"And lastly, if you couldn't tell by the dispersed group that Gin is no longer a part of, Gin Ibushi, you're dead last."

"Don't call me dead last!" He barked.

"You didn't get any tokens." Ranger said, "Seems like you didn't accept it from anyone!"

"I didn't want to do anything similar to trading money, meow." Gin cowered.

Ranger rolled his eyes, "Stubborn to the very end. Anywho, let's take a commemorative photo! Gin, come stand here!"

You found it strange that Ranger had placed Gin next to Q-Taro, but you didn't realize it actually meant something until the lights went out, then back on, revealing the two on a target, suspended in the air.

Everyone on the ground stood in silent shock while Ranger looked up with a smirk. Keiji was the first to speak up.

Ever the reliable Mr. Policeman.

...Ex.

"Ranger, let them down!" He shouted.

Ranger turned to face the group excluding Joe, Reko, and Nao, and replied, "How about no?" He stepped towards the group, making the four of you take a step back. Suddenly, a large glass box trapped your group.

"R...Ranger!" Joe shouted, "Let them out!"

The trio began to protest, but Ranger only rubbed his temples, "Okay, three-diots. You're too noisy. Watch over the group from the Impression Room." After he finished talking, the three began ascending on a platform. Once they stopped going up, you could no longer see them.

Your heart sank. You didn't know what was happening. You didn't know if anyone would be okay. But you hoped... You hoped Joe would be okay.

He was smart. Surely... Surely everything would be alright.

Ranger began to explain the rules for this "final attraction." He said that Gin would be shot with poison, and the only person who could take his place was Q-Taro.

But then he also said there might be another way to save him, but didn't elaborate.

Your head hurt. This wasn't how it was supposed to go, but, really, none of this should've ever happened. You moved to the back of the box you were in and sat down. Alice did the same next to you.

You weren't in the mood to talk, so you wouldn't bother him with your chatter, but to your surprise, he was the one who initiated a conversation.

"It'll be fine. I can see your worry, but... Joe and Reko seem to be dependable. Not sure about the pink one."

You hesitated. You weren't sure if you wanted to respond, but you did, "How do you know you can rely on Reko? You haven't talked to her yet, have you?"

He had been making eye contact with you before, but now he faced forward — at the platform Reko stood on, "I haven't. I need to. I really... I need to talk to her. Because I don't know if we'll both make it out of here. I could die. Right now. And I would... regret... everything. It's just... frightening. The last time I spoke to her, she told me never to talk to her again. And now... In these circumstances... That's all I want to do."

"You need to talk to her." You said, "You... can't be afraid. You can't be afraid because... that's what the kidnappers want. And I'm sure... she wants to talk to you. I'm sure she's having the same conflicting emotions."

"As if." Alice scoffed, "I've never seen her want to speak to me less. I've observed her from afar these last few days and... that Reko... is the same Reko I broke two years ago."

"She's probably just putting up a front." You argued, "She doesn't want to be hurt by you again." You paused, regretting your choice of words, "...Sorry."

Alice was quiet for a while.

"No... You're right. I'll... talk to her after this Arbitration Room. I'm going... to tell her I'm sorry."

~ * ~

"I'm sorry!" Alice cried with Reko's bleeding body in his arms. "I'm so sorry! I'm so—" He cut himself off with another sob. He looked up at Ranger, who smiled proudly at the chaos he'd caused. "I'll kill you!" He shouted at him, "I'll kill you!!"

Alice prepared himself to drop Reko's body. He prepared himself to attack Ranger. He prepared himself to lose his life, too.

But a shot rang out. And Alice hesitated.

And Ranger fell.

"My name is Gashu Satou." The Prize Exchange doll said, "I wish you all... good luck."