~Aron's POV~
Suddenly our phones all showed the same thing.
The rules:
- There are 2 types of participants Cats and mice.
- The game takes place in the school where certain areas will only be reserved for the mouse to serve as a cabin.
- The mouse cannot stay more than 3 minutes in the same cabin or risk being eliminated. And you have to wait 5 minutes before you can return to the same cabin.
- If a cat enters a cabin then it is eliminated.
- A mouse is considered caught if it is physically touched by a cat for at least 1 second. A mouse caught by a cat is eliminated.
- There are several secret rooms only accessible by a mouse. They contain an electromagnetic gun that can only fire once. These guns activate the chip that a cat has, which allows it to be eliminated.
- For the cats to win they must catch all the mice before the time runs out which is 1 hour 30 minutes.
-For the mice to win they must activate 5 hidden computers which allow them to unlock 2 exit doors which are in a completely opposite direction.
- To activate a computer you have to beat it in a game of chess.
- Cats are not allowed to camp for more than 1 minute at 10 meters around a computer under penalty of being eliminated.
- computers are portable and can therefore be moved, but only by mice.
- The more computers activated, the higher the difficulty.
1st computer: 1000 elo
2nd computer: 1500 elo
3rd computer: 2000 elo
4th computer: 2500 elo
5th computer: 3000 elo
This phone is really complete, you can send messages to other players and there is even a GPS application.
After that a second notification appeared to announce our role
Kenta: I'm a mouse and you?
Naomi: Me too, I think that since we are on the same team then all four of us have the role of mice.
Haruki: Yes, you're probably right.
As I was thinking about the different possibilities related to the game, I noticed a countdown.
Me: Look. There are only 10 seconds left before the exam begins. Get ready.
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1
"THE TEST BEGINS"
At this announcement all the players started running everywhere throughout the building but always remaining with the teams they had formed at the start.
Our group was no exception and we found ourselves in a corridor with a door marked with an equation that we had to find in order to unlock it.
Naomi: if we have to find a code then there is surely a computer behind it. I'll take care of it.
Me: Wait Naomi. There is a trap.
Naomi paused before turning back to me.
Naomi: Oh right? However, this equation seems easy to me.
Me: Look closely, there are certain lines that are a slightly different blue from the rest. It's the same color but that means that the ink which forms these lines is still fresh and has not had time to dry. It must be a cat that changed the equation to prevent us from reaching the computer.
Kenta: But why didn't he stay on guard?
Naomi: I think he only had time to change the equation. That would mean the computer is less than 10 meters behind that door.
Haruki: That's right, one of the rules states that a cat cannot stay within 10 meters of a computer for 1 minute straight.
After a few seconds Naomi exclaimed.
Naomi: It's good!
We rush into the room and find ourselves in front of a computer, which confirms our suspicions.
Haruki: I take care of the computer.
Kenta: Why you? You don't seem as smart as the girl.
While Haruki seemed slightly hurt by the comment, he replied with an air of confidence.
Haruki: I may not look it, but I'm a brilliant strategist who is passionate about chess and board games. And a game against a 1000 elo computer is child's play for me.
After winning with disconcerting ease, a voice rang out.
"THE FIRST COMPUTER HAS BEEN ACTIVATED"
Me: Let's get out of here, I don't think the 10 meter protection is still valid on an activated computer.
While we are running away the speakers are picked up again.
"THE SECOND COMPUTER HAS BEEN ACTIVATED"
Haruki: Already! So I'm not the only chess player in this school.
While Haruki was smiling stupidly at the idea of facing a potential opponent his size in chess, a man in white, like the ones who took our phones, burst in front of us.
??? : Don't make things harder, just let it happen.
He lunges at Naomi who seems to be the easiest target among us. But just as he was about to touch him, Kenta kicked him with lightning speed that sent him flying several meters away.
Kenta: Let's get out of here!
After this incident he began to flee at full speed.
Naomi: Was it a cat? But since when have the men in white been involved in the game?
So I was right
Naomi: Do you understand something, Aron?
Me: I think I understand but first you have to find an electromagnetic gun so I can show you.
Haruki: And how do we find that?
Me: The solution to the equation that Naomi solved can also be used in the GPS application built into our phone.
Kenta: Wow but you're really smart actually.
I don't know how I should take it but I end up thanking him anyway before showing them where the coordinates take us.
**********
We arrived in a room where they explained to us that there was a special chess board that was played orally. Each square on the board is coded by a calculation and there is a timer which shows that if the game is not won before 10 minutes then the gun will be destroyed.
Me : Naomi takes care of decoding the boxes and Haruki takes care of winning the game, that seems like the best option to me.
Naomi : yes I agree.
Haruki : Me too.
But suddenly a notification on all four of our phones appeared simultaneously.
"DRAW IN PROGRESS"
Me : Damn, the participant is random.
Haruki : So that means we're supposed to win the game alone!?
Naomi : Yes, I think so.
Kenta : If this falls on me we're screwed.
BEEP BEEP BEEP
A beeping sound from my phone catches my attention.
"CONGRATULATION YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN"
~Aron's POV~
I let the silence linger for a moment before deciding to speak.
Me: Uh...I just got a notification, and it says I've been chosen.
Silence returns again before someone decides to answer me.
Naomi: Well, do your best.
She says it with a smile but I can see that she only does that to reassure me because she thinks I have no chance.
Haruki: This game is really too difficult anyway. It's as if guns are false hope to make us believe we have a chance of defending ourselves.
I ignore what Haruki and Naomi have just said and I turn to Kenta who says nothing and who prefers to turn his head as if to avoid saying something stupid to me that risks sinking me even further.
I sigh then enter the room without a word.
It's a rather ordinary classroom, apart from the fact that it is entirely white and that there is only one desk, with a chair in front of it on which I sit.
The board is actually a screen representing the chess board. As expected, each box is coded with a calculation that must be solved if we want to be able to move on it. On the other hand, I notice that some of these calculations require much more difficult concepts than the mathematics studied in high school. Some even use Schrödinger's equation, and another uses Fermat's Last Theorem! ? But what about so many notions that don't make sense to each other? Finally maybe Haruki resonates, the guns are only there to give hope. Solving these equations is already impossible for a high school student, even a gifted one, so winning a game of chess against an enemy who, according to what is displayed on the screen, is at a level of 2500 elo, all at the same time, plus the allotted time of 10 minutes, then it's humanly impossible.
Hey, they're nice, they left some sheets of paper and a pen to mark the calculations and avoid doing them in your head. Even if it's not really going to be of much use to me.
**********
~Haruki's POV~
I wonder if the cats might come and attack us while we wait for Aron. Let's look on the bright side, the cats won't have time to find us because if Aron loses quickly he will get out quickly.
Suddenly the sound of the door opening takes me out of my thoughts.
I was right, if the player loses then he doesn't have to wait for the 10 minutes to end.
I hasten to go see him.
Me: it doesn't matter Aron, none of us could have done that you know...
I stop in my tracks and stop talking the moment I see the gun in his hands.
Me: You... you succeeded...
At that moment all my face can express is incomprehension.
How did he do it ? Did he really succeed ? Did he cheat ? If so, how did he cheat ? But if he didn't cheat then how did he do it ? Would he be strong enough to do this alone ? If yes, then WHO IS HE ! ! ?
All these questions started to go around in a loop in my head, trying to understand what happened.
Aaron: Are you okay ? You are all pale ?
I want to answer him and act like nothing, but suddenly time stops around me and my eyes widen at the sight of his smile. It's not a reassuring smile, on the contrary it sends an unpleasant shiver down my spine. It's as if he was amused in an unhealthy way by my reaction of incomprehension towards his victory. But strangely Haruki and Naomi who came to congratulate Aron while I was in shock, didn't see him. As if his smile was aimed directly at me, and he doesn't even try to hide it.
Aron: Is there a problem ?
Suddenly Aron's expression returns to normal and I almost feel ashamed realizing that what I just saw was probably caused by my state of shock.
Me: No it's nothing, I'm just surprised that you won, and so quickly too.
~Aron's POV~
Me: It wasn't as complicated as it looked. In fact the calculations were easy and the computer only had a level of 1200 elo.
Of course I'm lying, but the smile I display to hide this lie is more than enough for him to believe it.
He tries to hide it but it's no use, I read him as easily as if I read his thoughts. He felt the fear, the fear that we feel when we find ourselves facing something that we cannot understand, facing the unknown.
FACING ME
Ultimately this school is more interesting than I imagined.
Naomi Ishikawa, Kenta Suzuki and Haruki Tanigawa. I feel like we're going to have fun together.