(3/23)

Where to even begin to explain? Upon reflection, Yuki realized this was the first time she had ever had this opportunity. A fluttering sensation filled her chest, for a different reason than that of the other girls.

“Right… Let me ask, does anyone here not know what’s going on? With a show of hands…how many of you have no clue as to why you’re here?”

Yuki took the lead and threw her hand up in the air. Surely the others were aware of how to raise their hands, so she had done so not as a demonstration but as a way to make it psychologically easier for the others to mirror the action.

Two hands went up after Yuki’s.

“How many of you knew about these games but are participating for the first time?”

Two of the remaining three girls raised their hands.

The final girl opened her mouth to speak. “This is my second game, but you seem more experienced than me.”

“You’re right. I do have experience,” Yuki replied. “…A lot of it, actually.”

“Then the floor is all yours.”

With the spotlight thrust upon her, Yuki scrambled to piece together the right words. “…First off, someone may have mentioned this already…but this building is dangerous. There could be traps set up anywhere.”

The crying maid’s shoulders quivered.

“By traps, I don’t mean anything like those pieces of gum that shock your fingers or those balloons that make farting noises when you sit on a chair. You should consider these traps to be deadly. Is anyone injured already?”

“Nope.”

“That’s a relief. From this point forth, please refrain from moving around more than necessary. Even the act of gathering like this in the dining room is risky for novice players. Thankfully, we all made it here in one piece.”

“So what you’re saying is”—someone spoke up, as if irritated by Yuki’s poorly worded explanation—“we should treat this like an escape game?”

“Precisely.”

Yuki noticed she had begun speaking more formally than usual. Why was that? Perhaps it was human instinct to act more politely when addressing a large group of people, but regardless, she continued on in the same manner.

“This is the sort of game where we have to find a way to exit the building while avoiding getting caught in death traps.”

“Do we…have to escape?” another girl asked.

“Yes,” Yuki responded. “Otherwise, we won’t be able to return to our normal lives, nor will we receive any prize money. There hasn’t been any indication of a time limit, so we can assume there to be none. However, since we have a finite supply of food and drinks, we should consider that our limit.”

“Um… Excuse me!” cried out the teary maid. “Is this really happening to us?”

“Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but yes, it is.”

“How can that be possible?!” The girl raised her voice. “Because… This just isn’t…”

“I also have my doubts,” added the maid stroking the crying girl’s back. “I’m aware these are deadly games where you can make a quick fortune, but what exactly are they? A billionaire’s unspeakable secret pastime? Or something more along the lines of a business venture?”

“I’m not certain of all the details myself,” Yuki replied, shaking her head. “What I do know is we’re constantly being recorded. An audience is watching our every move through surveillance cameras. This is only a hunch, but I think they place bets on which of us will survive, since…the prize money varies depending on the player.”

“Who tends to receive more?”

“Contestants with the cutest faces.”

“…What a cruel world we live in.”

A different kind of silence fell over the room.

“I think each of you stands to win quite a lot if you survive,” Yuki added. She had hoped to lighten the mood, if even just a little, but her attempt fell flat.

“We can’t see how the audience reacts, can we?”

“Nope.”

“No two-way interaction, huh? Guess that means no appealing for donations…” The maid fell silent, pondering something.

“So this really is a thing…,” said another girl. “I’d heard plenty of rumors about this sort of thing before, but I never imagined they actually existed.”

Yuki had shared the same feeling. Still, the idea of these games was by no means unrealistic. History was host to many forms of grisly entertainment. There was a period when executions by guillotine were treated as public spectacle. In another era, slaves were forced to fight against wild beasts to entertain their masters. And in modern times, ethics had fallen by the wayside, with the prevailing attitude in society being that dirty business practices were nothing more than a product of desperation. In conditions such as these, it wasn’t strange that something like death games had come along. Although the industry currently operated in the shadows of society, Yuki wondered if the games might end up going mainstream in another thirty or so years, but that was probably a little too far-fetched. She’d been in this profession a long time, so her perspective was likely biased.

Regardless of what the future held, what existed in the present was real—these were genuine games in which people died.

“It’s probably better not to ask,” the same girl continued, “but what’s the survival rate like?”

“No, that’s a good question. While I can’t deny the existence of games where virtually all players get wiped out…it’s typically around seventy percent.”

“That’s the average for all players, isn’t it?” The maid apparently participating in her second game butted in. “But what about for beginners? Yuki, how do you like our odds of survival for this game?”

“……” The pointed question left Yuki floundering for a response. “It’s true that first-time players are less likely to survive. However—”

Deciding it was time to quit being so distant, Yuki cleared her throat in an exaggerated manner.

“But don’t sweat it,” she continued. “I take an altruistic stance in these games. I’ll do everything I can to ensure as many of us survive as possible.”

(4/23)

“Altruistic?” one of the girls parroted back.

“In death games, players tend to adopt one of three attitudes toward one another…” Yuki paused, deciding instead to turn the lesson into a question. “Any idea what those might be?”

“Manipulating other players for your own survival.”

“Yep.”

“Ignoring the other participants and trying to clear the game alone, while avoiding interaction as much as possible.”

“Bingo.”

“And the third… Helping everyone stay alive?” The girl in her second game cast a skeptical glance at Yuki. “But what does that accomplish? Sure, we’d love your help, but what’s in it for you?”

“It maximizes my odds of survival in the long run. If I help you out here, you may feel more inclined to return the favor the next time we meet in a game.”

“Next time? You don’t know how many of us will even have a next time.”

“I don’t mind. As long as it doesn’t work against my own interests, I’d rather help people than abandon them.”

Although that was what Yuki genuinely believed, her words failed to disarm the doubtful stares pointed in her direction.

“Well, in any case,” she added, “it’s best you stay wary. I could be saying these things while having something far more sinister in mind. Maybe I only see you all as meat shields. I can’t control what you think, so judge me as you wish.”

Yuki reached for the large plate on the table. A diverse array of sweets lay atop it, including chocolates, cookies, muffins, macarons, and other treats whose names escaped her knowledge. Like everything else, the individual sweets were either completely black or completely white, and though the color scheme hardly inspired much of an appetite, how could anyone resist the allure of sugar? Yuki ripped open a wrapper and bit into the dark-colored muffin inside.

“Is that really okay to eat?” The other maids stared at Yuki in disbelief.

“Yep. It’s pretty good,” she answered. “This isn’t one of those kinds of games, so the food we find generally won’t be poisoned. These snacks are here for us to stave off hunger. Sure, our lives are being toyed with, but surprisingly enough, there are some lines these games never cross.”

Yuki took a look around and saw that none of the other girls had reached for the plate. It didn’t surprise her that they were suspicious. After all, they weren’t exactly in a situation where they could easily indulge in food, and in the context of a death game, seeing sweets would normally set off alarm bells in anyone’s head.

After hearing Yuki’s words, one of the other maids slowly brought her hand to the plate. But just before grabbing something, she paused and turned to Yuki. “…This is exactly the kind of thing we should be wary about, right?”

Yuki grinned. “Right. Who knows, maybe I secretly know how to tell which sweets are safe.”

In truth, Yuki had no such knowledge. She had simply reached for a muffin because it looked scrumptious. Food and beverages set up in death games were a safe haven. Although it had never been officially announced that refreshments were safe to consume, it was practically an unwritten rule that they wouldn’t be tampered with. Even though death games represented a human rights violation of the highest order, they still adhered to standards of their own. If not for that consistency, the industry would have never found success, nor would it have attracted regular players like Yuki.

Still, since the other five had no knowledge of that, they were unable to shed their caution in the face of the sweets. In other words, the stage was set for Yuki to monopolize the food. A smug grin spread across her face as she took another bite of her muffin when all of a sudden—

—someone reached out from across the table and snatched the half-eaten pastry away.

“Huh?” Yuki turned to the thief. It was the maid who’d almost reached for the plate a moment prior.

“So this is what you’re suggesting we do,” the girl said.

“Er, no, not exactly…”

The girl offered no additional response and instead took the third bite of the muffin.

“Ahhh…” Yuki groaned.

After shaking it off, Yuki once again reached for the plate but immediately realized her blunder. This time, she couldn’t even rip open the wrapper before the hand of a different maid appeared from beside her. Their skin touched. The next moment, the white macaron was snatched away. The same thing happened three or so more times. Ultimately, the only thing Yuki came away with was the knowledge that none of the others participants’ bodies was as cold as hers.