"Is it possible that it's in this place?" Usagi's words snapped everyone out of their thoughts.
"That's a very interesting theory. We are the largest group of players, and by far the one with the most knowledge. If someone is controlling the games, this place is the perfect stage for the Ten of Hearts game." Shuntaro Chishiya admired Jacob's way of thinking greatly, realizing it was a good idea not to challenge his choices.
"If the cards don't have any meaning, then why are they offered to us?" Karube asked, still not grasping what was happening.
"To give us a hint about what the games are about. No matter how many people play, our games are stored in the phones we use in the games." Jacob smiled and said, "In other words, our player information is being stored somewhere in this place."
"It's still unbelievable that there could be administrators. That would be unimaginable..." Arisu said in an unnatural tone.
"And what if you're wrong?" Kuina posed this question without knowing exactly what would happen next.
"I never make mistakes." Jacob, looking at the sky, saw how a reddish light fell followed by several others, all surrounding the buildings in the vicinity.
...
Beep! Beep! Beep!
At this moment, a melody rang out in the surroundings, pulling everyone out of their thoughts.
"[Thank you for staying at Seaside Paradise Tokyo! As a token of our gratitude, we will begin a game for the hotel guests.]"
Somewhere in the central building, dozens of cell phones were placed by someone, and that someone must have been a person.
"Do you have it?" Jacob thought after wanting to know if his intelligent assistant knew anything about it.
"[Master, the sensors have detected two female figures who have placed the cell phones, and it is estimated that they could be administrators of this game!]"
"I've got them..." Jacob murmured with a cold smile.
On all screens, a message appeared as if created by artificial intelligence.
[The game is about to begin!]
"The beach is really a playing field?" Kuina couldn't believe it.
"Ten of Hearts!"
"[Game difficulty: Ten of Hearts!]"
"It finally came out!"
Beep.
"[Now we will explain the rules of the game!]"
"[Please, all players must gather in the lobby!]"
"[I repeat! All players must gather in the lobby!]"
Jacob stood up, looked at those who were his companions for now, and said, "Keep your eyes wide open. Anyone except us could be an enemy."
On the way, chaos had taken over the surroundings. People were shouting, others were excited, and many were confused about how things had turned out.
The high-ranking members from the side of number 2, which was subordinate to The Hatter, and Aguni's faction, who were in control of the weapons, slowly approached and each took a cell phone.
"Did you know about this?" Aguni approached Jacob and handed him an assault rifle as he looked around vigilantly.
"I told you, didn't I? There are administrators among us. If you let me take control, maybe I can find them before they escape." Jacob disengaged the safety on his weapon and checked the contents of his phone.
"What is that?"
Aguni narrowed his eyes and saw in the distance players gathering in a circle, as if they were seeing something hard to believe.
"It seems the cake has been served. Isn't this even more exciting?" Jacob slapped Aguni's shoulder, and they both walked toward the center.
"Momoka!" A woman ran towards the body of the girl in a swimsuit, who had supposedly been killed with a knife stuck in her body.
"Momoka! What happened to you?"
Beep-beep!
"[Game: Witch Hunt!]"
"[The evil witch who killed the girl hides among you. The role of the witch is not limited by gender, meaning it can be either a man or a woman. The game ends if you find and burn the witch in the Fire of Resolution!]"
"[The time limit is two hours!]"
Outside the lobby, a fire burned in a bonfire. Who ignited it is unknown, but what they seek is a massacre.
"[The game starts in three... Two... One... Now!]"
"There's a fire outside!"
"Find the one who killed Momoka and burn them in the Fire of Resolution!" Ann, who was one of the high-ranking members, declared.
"A witch hunt? Sounds interesting!" Suguru Nigari said with a smile.
"Will you let me take charge of this game?" Jacob's eyes locked onto Aguni's, awaiting his response.
"Go ahead. If it doesn't lead to anything, we'll handle it our way." Aguni agreed. He cared about nothing more in this life than moving forward.
"Send half of your men to every exit. Nobody should leave the lobby until we find the witch." Jacob stepped forward and shouted, "Silence!"
All eyes turned toward him, and he smiled at the attention. "We'll solve this game if we're together. Remember, every Hearts game is made with the sole intention of playing with our hearts, so we must be smarter than that and pay attention to the rules."
"What is he saying?"
"Will the executives let this new guy take charge?"
"What's your proposal?" Ann looked to Jacob for an answer.
"Read the rules again. They don't specify that we have to kill each other and then burn our bodies to death. Simply burning a part of our body will be enough to know if we are the witch or not." As Jacob said this, disgust spread in the surroundings.
"Why don't you start by burning yourself?"
"Yeah, take a step forward!"
"Go to hell."
A cruel smile formed on Jacob's face. His gaze turned cold as he shouted, "Anyone who speaks now will be considered the witch, and I couldn't care less about burning them to death."
Ann, who wanted to seize the moment to speak, stepped forward and said, "We'll each take turns reporting what we did an hour ago."
A girl in the crowd pointed at her and said, "She has blood on her hands!"
"Don't misunderstand."
"This is getting interesting. Could she be the witch?" Suguru Nigari shouted with excitement.
"You're wrong!"
"This is The Hatter's blood!"
"What?"