Belvoir Inn, 7th Floor Banquet Hall

"Tick, tick, tick......"

Time passed, the minute hand on the round dial crossed the arc little by little, the hour hand gradually approached the number twelve, and when the slight sound of the hands moving was swallowed up by the thunder outside the window, the atmosphere in the banquet hall also invisibly increased a bit of tension and unease.

The resplendent ballroom is spacious and bright, with a crystal chandelier hanging beneath the painted ceiling. On the left side of the ballroom, a long reception table with carved Victorian motifs sits in the center of the room. On the table is a golden ornate candelabra, twelve chairs are arranged on either side of the round table, and at the end of the round table is a chair with its back to the door. On the other side of the room, a dark brown sofa sits around, and the crowd gathers around it, whispering or occasionally looking uneasily at the wall clock on the wall.

A blonde man gently lowered the white curtains, the lightning that pierced the sky illuminated his chiseled face, and his lower lip pursed slightly, he inserted his hand into his pocket.

"Icarus, what's going on outside the window?" The beauty leaned lazily on the sofa, holding her cheek with her right hand, and looked at the tall man by the window.

"It's getting heavier, and it looks like it's going to be all night." The blonde man replied quietly.

"Hmph, it's none of your business, can you survive until tomorrow morning?" One-eyed sat next to the beauty and glanced at the beauty beside him, with sarcasm in his eyes.

"Oh, that's a good point, as if you could survive until morning." The beauty glanced at the one-eyed.

One-Eye didn't answer, and the beauty's gaze fell lightly on the new players a few steps away—Colin was standing under the oil paintings on the wall, pushing the thick lenses and looking at the artwork with the traces of time. Not far from him, a little blonde girl with braided hair sat on a chair at the banquet table, dangling her legs, her eyes wandering quietly over the crowd, and when she touched someone's sight, she hurriedly lowered her head, as if she had done something bad and had been discovered. Lorraine, with short silver hair, stood against the wall, staring at the carpet beneath her feet, as if she was thinking about something. In the other corner of the room, a grim-faced man with a scar was looking at Lorraine, his gaze fixed on Lorraine, as if he wanted to see her true identity through that face. In addition to this, a male waiter with black hair and pigtails stood at the banquet table.

The beauty recognized him.

He's the newcomer codenamed [J] that she's dealt with.

Strangely, at first glance she felt as if she had seen this man somewhere.

His face was like a stone tablet in the depths of the sealed memory sand sea, and when this face appeared in front of him again, the sand and gravel on the stone tablet was gently blown away by the wind, and the stone tablet was more and more clearly displayed in front of him......

Especially when you look at him carefully from a distance now, this inexplicable sense of familiarity is even stronger.

(Where am I, seen this face...... ）

The beauty frowned slightly, her gaze wandering over the man codenamed J, and finally landed on the scar on the back of his right hand, and some fragments of broken memories flooded into her mind at an inopportune time......

……

Sharp knives that shimmer......

Someone cursed viciously......

Panicked footsteps......

Someone raised their hand to block it......

The sharp knife instantly cut through the skin and cut the muscles on the back of the hand......

……

“？！” Suddenly opened her eyes, the beauty's breathing became a little rapid, her pupils were a little shaken, she muttered in a low voice, "My God, what the hell is this...... What's going on......"

"What?" The duke, who was sitting next to her, heard her voice and raised his eyebrows, "I heard me right, people with blood on their hands actually believe in God?" ”

The beauty glanced at the duke, and after two seconds of distraction, she withdrew her gaze and put on her usual disguise.

"People always have to have some sustenance to survive in the dark, don't they."

"I advise you not to pour too much hope into it." The Duke smiled faintly, her eyes were a little sarcastic, "Too dazzling light will burn people." ”

Oh, yes......

Moths to the fire.

Everyone longs for warmth, everyone longs for light.

But does the light that can really be held in your arms really exist?

The beauty leaned over slightly, leaning against the sofa, her eyes looked at the lamp next to the sofa, the dim yellow light, as if it could be extinguished at any time in the wind and rain of this night.

Who will die tonight?

"......" behind the sofa, Black Blade leaning against the wall, holding his arms and closing his eyes.

There seems to be a certain amount of low air pressure around him, making it difficult to get close. Although he held his breath, he listened to all the conversations in the room, and although he didn't talk to anyone, he received more messages than anyone else.

Suddenly, he moved his ears, heard the footsteps coming from outside the door, one light and one heavy, opened his eyes, the lone wolf-like eyes looked at the heavy wooden door, the next moment, the handle of the wooden door turned slightly, and sure enough, someone came.

The two guests arrived belatedly, and as the wooden door opened, the people present stopped talking, and all eyes were focused on the two guests—the strange man wrapped in gauze and the little girl with an axe.

It's like a combination of some dark fairy tale.

"Oh, it's Mr. Mummy and Sweetheart." One-eyed pursed the corners of his mouth and said with a smile.

"Mummy? It's a really chic codename. The Duke looked at Arthur.

"His name is Arthur." Caesar painlessly corrected One-Eye's deliberate mistakes.

She and Arthur walked into the room one after the other.

At this moment, 12 players gathered.

Arthur ...... It's a good codename. Icarus sat down on the single sofa and looked at Caesar with an eyebrow, "I didn't expect you to get acquainted so quickly." ”

With his hands in his pockets, Arthur paced a few steps to the wall and stood, not knowing what to say.

Caesar, who was a veteran of the game, did not answer Icarus's words, and sat down in silence on an empty seat at the banquet table, which was next to Ogar.

Ogar blinked and looked at her sister who was six years older than her with a little curiosity: "Did my sister also receive the card?" ”

Caesar glanced at the little girl, noncommittal.

"Ogar also received it. I don't know what's going on, but seeing so many older siblings here, I'm not so scared. Ogar smiled kindly, and thunder rang out the window from time to time, but her smile was still as bright as spring.

“…… You're reassured too soon. Caesar paused, "The 'brother and sister' in your mouth may kill you in the next second." ”

"Huh, why?" Ogar was stunned.

"Rules of the game."

"But Ogar heard that killing people was against the law." Ogar replied in a bold way, "I'm going to be arrested by the police uncle and put in prison." ”

"The law? What is it. Caesar's dark red eyes reflected the figure of Ogar, and she frowned slightly, for the first time she had heard this unfamiliar term.

"Uh, this ......"

This all-encompassing term clearly touches on the blind spot of a seven-year-old girl's knowledge. She froze for a few seconds, pondering the answer to the question.

"Law is a system of social rules, formulated or approved by the state and guaranteed to be enforced by the coercive power of the state, reflecting the will of the ruling class determined by specific material conditions of life. Colin, who had been looking at the painting from the sidelines, replied on behalf of Ogar, "To put it simply, law is the embodiment of the will of the ruling class and the ruling instrument of the state. ”

"What is the ruling class?" Caesar looked at the new face suspiciously.

"The ruling class...... "Colin," said Colin, "is the dominant and dominant person in a social system, who makes the law and maintains his authority through the execution of the law." ”

That is...... Judge? Caesar looked at Colin as if he didn't understand.

"Hmm...... In this world, there seems to be some truth to this. "But I think the so-called 'judge' is more like the role of a judge or a police officer, who is just reading the rules of the game or maintaining the rules of the game, and the person who makes the rules of the game is the real ruling class." ”

Colin's words were too profound, beyond the comprehension of Ogar.

She lowered her head and looked curiously at the goat doll in Caesar's hand. It was a goat's doll, originally with white fur, but it seemed to be a little yellowed because of the original sound that had been used for a long time, and there were some drops in the staggered places of the threads, just an inconspicuous toy, but for some reason it was kept in Caesar's hand.

Caesar sensed Ogar's gaze, and she looked at the little girl.

"It's called Dolly."

"Dolly?"

"When he gave me the doll, he told me it was called that."

He ...... Who is it? ”

Caesar was silent for two seconds, then looked away.

"A dead man."

Oh...... It seems that it has touched on the sadness of others.

The considerate Ogar nodded, put away his curiosity, and didn't ask anymore, but out of the playful nature of children, he also wanted to hug the little doll.

“…… Can I hug this doll? ”

"Nope."

The request was rejected by the other party, and Ogar had to retract his gaze in a sneer.

On the other side, Arthur stood silently by the wall, and Lorraine saw this and stepped forward to say hello.

"Good evening, Arthur."

"Lorraine." Arthur looked at the silver-white haired girl in front of him with a little surprise, "I didn't expect you to be a gamer too." ”

“…… I don't know exactly what this is going on, but it seems to be so. Lorraine sighed, "I thought that the image of me being hit by a black car was just a dream of mine, this is the real world, I didn't expect that it might even be virtual." ”

Arthur listened to her words and fell silent.

True and false, false and true, who can say clearly which moment is real? At this moment, they can really feel the pain, feel the sadness, feel the thunder rumbling outside the window, and who can deny that the perception of this moment does not exist.

Arthur looked up and saw a scarred man staring at Lorraine not far away.

He turned to look at Lorraine and lowered his voice, "There's a man over there who keeps an eye on you. ”

Lorraine followed Arthur's line of sight and saw a familiar figure.

"I know, so I'm a little uneasy, but it's good that you're here." Lorraine pretended to admire the oil paintings on the wall, leaned sideways, frowned, and whispered to Arthur, "He has been staring at me since the moment I arrived at the banquet hall, his eyes are so terrifying, is he planning to kill me later?" ”

At this point, Lorraine's face turned white.

"Don't worry, the rules of the game are still uncertain, maybe you don't have to slaughter players in this game." Arthur paused, "I met him in the corridor just now, and I didn't expect him to be the same as us, but looking at his appearance, he doesn't seem to be a good type." ”

“…… I met him in the last game, and he shot and killed Ogar. As soon as she thought of this, Lorraine had a headache, she looked at Ogar, her eyes were full of sympathy, "Ogar is so pitiful, she is only seven years old, she doesn't even have the ability to defend herself, isn't she a lamb to be slaughtered in the game......"

“…… It doesn't make sense, why is a seven-year-old child sent to the [Minghe System]? Didn't the judge say that we are all felons. ”

"I don't know." Lorraine tucked her sideburns behind her ears and sighed, "I hope you will show mercy and don't do anything to this poor little girl." What's even more pitiful is that she still doesn't know anything about her situation now, with her ability, how can she be the last person to survive and leave......"

"Don't jump to conclusions, though." Arthur's gaze fell on Caesar beside Ogar, "In this world, anything can happen, maybe that little girl named Ogar is a hidden killer...... Look at that little girl in a yellow plaid skirt, can you believe that she is also one of the three giants of the blood list? ”

"What?!" Lorraine's eyes widened in surprise, "She looks like she's only thirteen or fourteen years old, and she's so small that it's hard to deal with an adult male." ”

"Don't judge her by common sense." Arthur rubbed his temples, "Anyone who underestimates her appearance will end up dying at her hands, and in a horrible way." ”

"Please, don't act like you died at her hands too." Lorraine chuckled.

"I did die at her hands, a headshot."

"......" Lorraine's smile froze awkwardly.

While everyone was talking, the hands of the clock on the wall crept towards the number 12, and the bell rang for midnight throughout the hotel. At this moment, there was lightning and thunder outside the window, and the ancient and heavy bell was hidden in the thunder and roar in the next moment.