"HEY! What about those two?!"
A voice cut through the silence.
"They cheated! They moved after freeze!"
The ever aggressive Player 399 shouted.
A murmur spread across the survivors.
All eyes turned—
Toward Rio.
And behind him...
Player 314.
"…That is correct."
Shadow spoke calmly.
"Player 313 and Player 314 did, in fact, violate the rules."
Tension rose instantly.
"But," Shadow continued, "we must acknowledge something."
"Player 314 was forcefully dragged across the line."
"Therefore… Player 314 will not be held accountable."
"Which leaves only one person in question."
"Player 313."
The air turned heavy.
"And now…"
Shadow's tone shifted.
"Let's make things interesting."
A screen lit up.
"This next phase will be known as…"
"The Vote of Silence."
A countdown appeared above them.
10:00
"All surviving players will cast a vote."
"Should Player 313 be allowed to remain?" A second screen appeared.
Two options:
[ STAY ]
[ NO ]
"There are currently 380 players alive."
"Excluding Player 313…" "379 votes will be cast."
"Oh and one more thing.""If you choose to abstain…"
"You die."
The timer began.
Silence, then, movement
"He saved me…" "How could I ever betray him…?"
Player 314 pressed...
[ STAY ]
"Heh." "Can't let heroes rot in hell."
Player 001 clicks...
[ STAY ]
"Rules without context… are failures."
Player 228, calm, firm, clicks...
[ STAY ]
"FUCK OFF, YOU CHEATING BASTARD!" Player 399 slammed his hand down.
[ NO ]
Votes began flooding in, one after another.
Rio stood alone, siilent and still.
The screen updated in real time.
STAY: 102
NO: 97
STAY: 150
NO: 151
The gap tightened, again,
Again and...
Again.
Rio exhaled slowly…so this is how it ends.
Time ticked down.
00:10
The screen froze.
STAY: 189
NO: 189
A tie.
One vote remained.
All eyes turned toward the final player.
Player 100.
He stepped forward, slowly, deliberately.
No words.
No emotion.
Rio watched him.
...This guy...
The timer hit
00:03
Player 100 raised his hand.
00:02
A single motion.
00:01
Click.
[ STAY ]
00:00
Silence.
"...How exciting."Shadow's voice returned."The verdict has been decided."
"Player 313...will stay."
"But do be careful," Shadow added lightly."If you attempt something like that again…" "I may not be so generous."
Behind him, two shadowy figures appeared just silentlt watching.
"Keep an eye on him," Shadow muttered to them. "We may have a mad dog on the loose."
Whispers spread quickly.
"So we can break the rules?" "That's insane…"
"He saved someone, that's all…"
"No… something's off…"
"And that last guy Player 100…"
"…he waited until the end?"
Player 314 let out a quiet breath.
Player 228 remained calm.
But there was a hint of approval.
Rio, did nothing, no smile, no thanks, no reaction.
He just...breathed. He looked up toward Player 100. For a brief moment their gazes met.
Player 100 said nothing, turned, and disappeared into the crowd.
Half of them see me as a hero, the other half...as a threat.
Rio lowered his head slightly.
I didn't win anything…I just bought time.
"Alright, players." Shadow's voice echoed once more. "You will now return to your shadow quarters." "Meals have been prepared."
The world flickered.
And in an instant
They were gone.