"[Wolf change, the wolves are now users 100245, 100258, 100247, 100256...!]
As Jacob had planned, the wolf passed to four of them simultaneously, leaving only Chota as the sheep. In this situation, when the time reaches zero, only one more will die.
"It's done..." Karube looked at the large screen, and indeed, there were four wolves.
"It worked..." Arisu felt weak in his body, and the truth was, he wasn't happy to be alive.
"It's incredible, guys. I'm glad you can survive!" Chota couldn't fake it very well, tears filled his eyes, and his voice became very low.
"[Monitoring players, sensors activated to detect any threats!]"
Jacob smiled upon hearing his intelligent assistant and, after walking over to Usagi, took the knife he had previously taken from the table and threw it towards the mirror.
Crack!
The glass shattered, and everyone turned their heads towards Jacob, who no longer looked at them. "It must be strange. Once, I was about to lose a great friend... Many have given their lives for me, and I can tell you the pain is deep and never forgotten. But what you can achieve after feeling that injection of powerlessness is something you must embrace."
"Are you giving us a sermon?" Karube furrowed his brow, unable to stand watching Jacob act with indifference.
"Not now, I'll do it later..." Jacob paused for a few seconds and said, "Talk to your friend, you'll regret it if you don't."
Usagi felt sorry for Arisu's group, no one should witness the death of a loved one without the possibility of doing anything. However, this taught her a great lesson - you can always save someone if you have a weapon and the will to do it, no matter who stands in your way.
"Three minutes left..." Usagi looked at the timer on her cellphone, and both of them waited.
"We have 14 days on our visa, with this trial, we'll have 21 days... After this game, we'll head straight to the Beach..." Jacob mentioned this as if the death of another person didn't matter to him.
In fact, it was his defense mechanism. After leaving all his worries behind and coming to terms with the fact that everyone could die, he flipped a coin and always preferred his safety over others. After all, this world was a test for him.
He still wasn't sure if it was a dream or something unreal. The deaths in Ai might not be happening in real life. Worse yet, this might not even exist.
What he meant was that nothing was real, even the people around him. If he worried about the people around him now, it might delay him. Chota could have been saved if they had used the girl's corpse as a tool to save them all.
Their eyes were already on her, so they only needed to use her the way they did with Chota. However, Jacob had seen the eyes Chota gave him, so he decided to eliminate him.
"Don't play with the wolf, as the wolf will eat you..." One more minute, and the game was over. If Jacob hadn't interfered, most likely, Arisu would have been the only survivor.
"That's Alice in Borderland - play or die, live or die..." Jacob closed his eyes and waited.
Both he and Usagi had moved closer to the exit, not crossing the play zone, but both didn't want to torture themselves by listening to the conversations of that trio of friends. However, it was useless because the glasses were connected to some kind of open communication, so they heard the whole story of Arisu's friends.
Boom!
When the countdown reached zero, a loud explosion was heard not too far away. After a few seconds, a piercing scream echoed in the surroundings.
"Ahhhhh!"
"[The game has ended, congratulations to the players who survived this round!]"
"Players and not players?" Jacob's eyes turned cold.L
"Will we take them with us?" Usagi didn't believe they would want to come and go to the Beach together now.
"I won't beg them, but I'll invite them. After all, we need allies."
"I'm heading to a place where hundreds of players gather. I'm not sure, but I think that besides players, there are infiltrated administrators from this place."
Jacob's eyes focused on Karube, and he said, "Be strong and avenge your friend's life. If he joins me, together, we can get to the bottom of these games and kill those who made us suffer to this point."
"Can you shut up for a second?" Karube murmured these words with a trembling voice.
"Can't stand this? Direct all your anger at the games; let's win and find out what the hell this place is." Jacob didn't stop.
"I said shut up!" Karube rushed towards Jacob and threw a punch at his face.
Seeing he was being attacked, Jacob dodged the blow and, in return, hit Karube in the stomach, knocking him to the ground.
"Damn it!" Karube yelled, filled with frustration; he just wanted to vent his anger somewhere, regardless of the consequences.
However, Jacob won't be that man. So when Karube was about to get up, Jacob pulled out his gun and aimed it at him. "If you and your friend are alive, it's because of me. Hold on to what you still have and move on."
Usagi looked at Jacob and said, "Let's go; it's not worth it."
"They're monitoring us, so if we go to the Beach, we can gather all the cards and see what happens..." Jacob, who saw Karube hesitate, put the gun away.
"A pity; I thought you guys were more than this..." Jacob turned around.
Just as they were about to leave, Arisu's voice was heard, "Are you willing to form an alliance?"
"Only if you're willing to risk your life in every trial. In the end, it doesn't matter who lives or dies; one of us must win and make all our suffering worthwhile."
"Then we'll go with you..." Karube looked at Arisu, and they both decided to follow Jacob. Both were furious, filled with courage running through their veins, and they were sure they sought the same thing.
"Then let's go..." Jacob said, but before that, he helped these two men bury the corpses. Although not customary, it was a respectful gesture for someone who had just lost a loved one."