"This is a test of your dauntlessness, and the preys are the weakling."
"What was that?"
"I don't know either," Second answered First. They heard a scream that seemed to be from another room.
First ran hurriedly outside of the music room, and she followed him. They saw Ninezen with Seventh.
"What's up?" First asked the two of them.
"The sneaky hologram is in the living!" Ninezen reported with a tense.
Second can see the ground floor's living area from the 2nd to the 5th floor because it has an opening and railings like a mezzanine.
"Come on," First called them and went down the stairs together. "Let's tell everyone."
They also called the others who were asleep. Within five days, it was only now that Author showed up again. All of them were assembled in the living area, yet Author hasn't shown up.
"What kind of trip is this, huh?" Ninth questioned irritably. He has silver-gray hair with curly side hair. He was quite arrogant and an upfront person.
"What the?" the girl with short dark hair with bangs, named Twelf, who came last in the assembly area.
"Greetings, battle 22, we meet again." Her attention was caught by the hologram with a big white letter A appearing in the middle of the living area. "How's life?" a naughty question for them by Author.
"How's life? It's awfully awesome, now get the heck out of here!" Thirtwen replied sarcastically. He was the friend of Eleventh and Thirzen, who had passed away because of the monster, Neinuko. The way he responded to Author, he must be holding a grudge against Author because it insulted his two friends.
"Really? Now, that's good news. Glad that you enjoyed your luxurious life here."
"Why are you here?" serious question from Fifth, the twin brother of Fourth.
"Well, well, well. You seem to enjoy the life that you forgot that you are only in stage 1." Ah, yes. They might really forget that they only cleared the initial stage, but she was fully aware that at any moment, another challenge might appear.
"So, to get you to the next level, stage 2 starts…now!"
A what?!
Second felt the slowing of time. They were placed to create a big circle, and Author was in the middle. The floor they were stepping on glowed neon red. The letter A in the middle of the hologram disappeared, and it turned into a big arrow hologram. They looked like a giant round clock, but with 22 people surrounding each other forming a circle, and with one long, big white arrow at the center.
"And now, I will spin the arrow. The arrow will choose the most fortunate one." They can still hear Author's voice, but they don't know where it is because the letter A image disappeared.
The arrow spins while they are just standing. She struggled, but surprisingly, she could not move her body. It was as if she were tied with an invisible rope. She tried to speak, and so did the others, but no voice came out. She could do nothing but keep quiet because she would only be exhausted if she tried to get out of here. Gradually, the arrow slows down. It appears like they're a human roulette wheel, but instead of them, it is the arrow that spins.
What does Author mean by 'the most fortunate one'? What good will someone get if he/she has been chosen by the arrow?
The arrow stopped, and it landed on...
"Fortwen is the one!" Author announced.
In an instant, the neon red light that surrounded them disappeared. The arrow in the middle has also disappeared, and the iconic hologram of Author was back. Fortwen was immediately out of her place from where she previously stood and was in the middle next to Author.
"W-What are you going to do to me?" she stuttered.
None of them has a single idea of what's going to happen
Fortwen's feet seemed to be glued together, so no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get away from her current position.
"The game is simple."
They were shocked at the next thing they saw. Fortwen became…
two… five… nine… t-twelve? She turned twelve!
"Fortwen became twelve because of the clones. After a minute of the process, the mind of the genuine Fortwen will become obsolete and turn into the brain of a monster." Author explained.
Her eyes were stuck on the real Fortwen standing in the front row. They all look the same, wearing the same uniform, and have the same blue-green braided hair. Her eyes were closed as if she were sleeping while standing. Her 11 clones also did the same.
"Search the original Fortwen among the twelve. Remove the necklace attached to her neck. If you catch and seize the wrong necklace, which is from the clone of Fortwen, another clone will be added. To reduce the number of clones, kill them or you will be killed."
They were all stupefied at Author's explanation. She saw that necklaces were hanging around the necks of Fortwen and her clones. It was a silver necklace with a maroon diamond-shaped, 4-inch pendant. They all look identical, and what's disturbing is that the original Fortwen will also have a monster brain, meaning she has the intent of killing them!
"What if the real Fortwen is the one we killed?" Third asked with a stoic voice. They can now speak but still can't move freely.
Author answered his question. "Then... there's nothing that can be done about it."
"What do you mean, nothing? Is she going to live or die?" Sixzen demands an answer. She can sense her deep concern about Fortwen.
"You'll only know the answer if you try."
Second hates that there are times Author answers like this. It doesn't give them direct answers, but it will stir the curiosity and anxiety out of them. Fortwen must not die. They can't let this happen again after two of their members were already dead. They died unreasonably. They might be excused because that was their first time encountering such a life-or-death game, but this time, they must help each other survive. There is still a way... There must be.
While the twelve were processing and standing asleep, she noted Fortwen's position and followed her with her gaze so that they could quickly grab the necklace around her neck.
"Once you get the necklace on the real Fortwen, the game will be cleared. The only chance for you is fight if you want to live."
"How can we fight when we don't have weapons?"
"This is insane!"
"We can't do this!"