After an uneventful meal, Ulrich made his way back to his room, scanning his thumb to get in. It worked, anyway, and he walked in, falling back first on his bed. He looked over at Timothy's bed, knowing that it wasn't being slept in for the rest of the game. He sighed at this. He felt like he should be doing more to mourn the guy, but a sigh was all he had the energy to pull off. He put his hand on his face, seeing the blood on his hand when he removed it.
Oh right, the blood.
He took of his clothes, putting them in the washing machine, alongside the bloody handkerchief. He stood in the shower, washing himself for a few minutes until the washing machine stopped making noises. Once that was done, he got a towel and sat down on his bed, checking his watch. The cartoon bunny made it's appearance, and a speech bubble informed him he had five new notifications. Three from NeoBunny, one from Silvia, and one from 'a secret admirer'. He checked the admirer one first.
'A secret admirer has gifted you five coins! How romantic!' The bunny said, having heart eyes.
He checked the one from Silvia next.
'Sorry about giving you a nosebleed here's 50 coins' The bunny was rubbing it's head with one ear drooping.
He checked the first notice from NeoBunny, titled 'popularity rewards' The bunny had stars for eyes, so he assumed it was some kind of good news.
'Wow! You placed 2/19 on the day one popularity polls! Have these 190 coins to celebrate.'
He looked at the polls. Aurora Lundgreen was above him, and Lloyd Clifton was below him. Silvia placed seventh, so she got a hundred and thirty coins. He checked the two 'updates' for Timothy and Yun-Yeong. The information about Yun-Yeong having electric blood and being a serial killer was added, and Timothy apparently got arrested for dealing drugs, while his power was listed as 'Astral Pockets.' He slumped back, and his eyelids grew heavy. He went to sleep, not having much else to do.
"Well, my sir! I must say, the show you put on was quite astonishing!" Huang said to Eric as he stepped out of the shower fully dressed.
"It wasn't that big a deal." Eric chuckled.
"Says the man who defended a serial killer! You certainly are an intriguing fellow!"
"I mean, when you listen to somebody, usually they have a reason for what they do, ya know?"
"Quite an interesting take, I must say. But I have a question regarding Yun-Yeong, if you'll indulge me."
"Sure. Go ahead."
"Splendid. You defended her after it was revealed she had electric blood. Your friend is an electric elemental. Do you perhaps have an attraction towards those types, maybe?"
"Woah, just throwing the main question out there, aren't ya? Well, I mean…Wendy's the sister of an old friend of mine, so…just figured she needs protecting, ya get me."
"I relate, friend." Huang nodded, sitting on his bed.
"And as for Yun-Yeong…I mean, it's a possibility."
"Tell me when you find out, sir."
"I will." Eric sighed with an air of happiness. "But what about you, how come you jumped in?"
"The sword man aims to cause stress. I wish to avoid any unnecessary stress in our situation."
"Oh, I get it." Eric nodded. "Speaking of the sword guy, what are we gonna do with him?"
"Well, in my line of work, making enemies blindly is unrecommended, especially in my position."
For a brief second, his smile waned.
"But in this situation, I think leaving him would be for the better."
"Pretty much." Eric agreed. "So if we ever have to vote for somebody, it's going to be him, right?"
"Certainly." Huang nodded, his smile returning.
Silvia lay on her bed, weeping. Timothy died. Timothy died first, and she had to survive the game without him. Seeta walked into the room calmly, noticing her condition.
"I'm sorry for your loss." She sighed, sitting next to her on her bed.
Silvia shot up, approaching her. "What were you doing out there?"
"Talking to Kapil? My brother?"
"About what?"
"Oh, you know. What just happened, allies, that sort of thing."
Silvia squinted at her. "By the way, I never got your power."
"Why would you need to…oh. Oh, I see."
"Well, did either of you do it?"
Seeta got off her bed, lightly dusting herself off. "How did he die, exactly?"
"Stabbed in the neck. Looked like someone poked a hole in it."
"Well if that's the case…"
The outline of an axe manifested in Seeta's right hand, falling to the ground with a mighty thud when it materialized.
"…I can assure you, I'm not a culprit."
Silvia nodded, removing her hat. "Actually, I need to test something on you. It won't kill ya, I promise."
"What would it be?"
Silvia's hair turned green, and then came together in what looked like dreadlocks, forming into vines. She then whipped the vines into Seeta's stomach a few times, at a sluggish pace.
"On a scale of one to ten, how much did that hurt?" She asked enthusiastically.
"About a one." Seeta replied, looking regretful.
Silvia paused for a second, before screaming and collapsing onto her bed, going back to sobbing.
"Listen, if I hear anything, I'll let you know, and if I find this killer, I won't hesitate to take them out, okay?"
Silvia nodded.
"Good, good." Seeta continued with a soft smile. "Now, I think you should get to the shower, you could do with it."
"You want to use the shower?" Akemi asked, wrapped in a towel.
"Shower?!" Amber asked, looking up from her watch.
"Yeah. The shower." Akemi replied, her tone remaining the same as always.
"Right, right." Amber replied.
"You know, you've been kind of on edge since the challenge ended. Was it you who killed that guy?"
"What, me? A killer? No! My powers don't even work in the dark!"
"But…you could just be saying that." Akemi said. "Can I see your coin count?"
Amber surrendered her arm to Akemi, who sat down next to her on her bed. She didn't buy anything at the first store session, so that was a hundred coins she had. Plus the hundred and thirty coins from placing eighth in the popularity polls. And five coins from a 'secret admirer.'
"Secret admirer?" Akemi asked. She checked her watch, and she also got six coins from this 'secret admirer.'
Akemi turned to Amber. "You think the killer sent these coins out?"
"Yeah!" Amber replied, clapping her hands together. "To avoid looking suspicious with a higher coin count! Akemi, you are a genius! And in…commemoration of your genius, I'm gonna take that shower! See you!"
She walked to the shower in a rapid fashion, and Akemi didn't bother stopping her. She stood up, removed her towel, and got under her covers, going to sleep. If she was up to anything, it was for the others to find out.