Everyone was shocked by my announcement. Even Yaeko, who so calmly had a counter to everything I said, was at a loss for words.

  “How dare you! I would ne-”

  “That’s enough, Yaeko.” I removed all emotion from my voice. What began as an argument relying on human emotions had now transitioned to an argument based solely off of facts. I knew that when she got flustered and ran out of logical counters, she would rely on an emotional argument to get out of my accusation.

  My monotone voice would suffocate her.

  “I remember it vividly. It was when Mei said "if you have a reason, why can’t you tell us.” ” I paused and looked at Mei to make sure the rest of the group would as well. “More specifically, it was when she started crying.” I turned around to look at Nobu. “It’s because he cares so much about his friends that seeing Mei cry like this was enough to make him overcome his shame. I know that we all noticed it. His voice softened. He said “I” twice and hesitated. He was right about to confess until you went out of your way to provoke him."

  “Excuse me? I would never-”

  “ “Just look at him pathetically trying to cling onto his lie.” Those were your words, weren’t they, Yaeko?” I paused and looked at her. “If those weren’t chosen to intentionally antagonise him, then why did you say that?”

  “I said it because it was the truth! He obviously-”

  Don’t you dare

  “ “If you’re going to commit to a lie, at least have the courage to stick it out.” Those were your exact words. You picked up on the fact that Nobu was embarrassed.

  That he was scared to admit his weakness.

  You used that and intentionally used the word “courage” to bait him into anger.

  To make him look guilty.”

  “As if! You’re twisting my words - that’s just one way of looking at it!”

  “That’s exactly his point.” It’d been a while since someone else spoke up.

  Choko waited to hear out my entire argument before getting involved.

  “Akira never once tried to prove Nobu’s innocence. He even said at the start, this was just one plausible explanation for everything if we assumed Nobu was innocent. Just like you might say that outburst was a sign of his guilt, Akira’s shown how you baiting him into it is a sign of yours.”

  “I-”

  “Yaeko, that’s enough.” Osamu grabbed her arm and spoke to her in a soft voice. “I know you’re telling the truth, and I know that you’re hurt because you think they’re forgiving the person who lied to hurt you. But the truth is, from their perspectives, everything they’ve said makes logical sense. This could all happen while Nobu was innocent, so it’s unfair for them to judge him as guilty.”

  “But I-”

  “Enough.” Osamu took a deep breath. “If you continue to argue, it’ll only make things look worse. Again, they aren’t saying that you’re the liar. They’re just saying that they can’t be confident it’s Nobu either.”

  “It’s so cute that you leap to your girlfriend’s defence at the sign of physical danger, and you comfort her emotionally when she’s hurt in front of all of us, but when you’re talking about anything else, you’re too shy to give any details.” Osamu and Yaeko both looked a little flustered as Yori, Hibiki and Choko started laughing.

  I smiled at Mei as she chose the perfect time to intervene. She’d essentially brought this entire ordeal to an end.

  I told her that she needed to praise Osamu for defending Yaeko publicly when the right time presented itself.

  Letting her choose the time for herself was important for her growth.

  Making her praise Osamu was just as important for his own.

  Mei’s weaknesses are her lack of confidence and her desire to feel needed. Osamu’s weakness is his insecurity about appearing entitled. This manifests as an inability to partake in discussion, and an inability to do the things he wants to do if they have any hindrance to others. This was the first step to dealing with both of those.

  I let Mei be a key part of this plan to make her feel needed, and to give her a confidence boost that she is useful. For Osamu, he just got publicly praised for entering the spotlight. Sure, I could’ve stepped in to help Nobu at the very beginning. But if I had, then Mei and Osamu wouldn’t have had this experience to help them grow.

  “Let’s bring our attention back to the game. We still need to vote for someone or we’re all going to lose points.” Yori spoke up, trying to progress the game. There’s one unresolved problem though.

  Nobu was still in a lot of pain.

  What I did wasn’t enough to prove his innocence. It just added enough uncertainty to disprove his guilt.

  However, if he’s telling the truth, even just suspecting him of lying like this would be perceived as an act of betrayal. He probably won’t return to his normal self unless it’s proven that Yaeko was the one lying. And of course, if Nobu’s the one lying, then he’d have to act as if he was telling the truth. In this case, he’d also have to pretend to be hurt. All of this means that Nobu won’t be cooperative with the group.

  “It’s obvious that it can’t be Nobu or Yaeko. They’d never vote for the other person.” Yori paused and looked at me. “I think the person that should win this vote should be Akira. As of right now, I trust him to be the least biased.” On the surface, Yori was making a good point.

  I’d just advocated for Nobu while the rest of the group turned on him. But there’s a fundamental issue with the fact that this vote has to be unanimous. An unbiased judge makes decisions based on logic, and logic is predictable. In other words, the person that gets hurt by my decision could just vote against me.

  “As if I’d vote for him after all of that.” Yaeko’s voice was soft. Her pride and ego had taken a massive hit.

  “I truly don’t think Akira would take points away from you just to spite you.” Choko looked away from Yori and towards me as she heard that. Yori hadn’t realised it yet.

  “Even if you’re right, he’d still choose me anyway. After all, it’s the “logical” choice, right?”

  And there it was.

  “Alright, then what if he made the second most-”

  “No, if I get voted, I would choose to take points away from Yaeko.” From the second this prompt was read, I knew we’d fail to choose someone.

  There wasn’t any point dragging this on.

  The longer this game went on, the more opportunities for things to get worse. “I’m not willing to compromise and target someone else just to get her vote. I’d rather we all lose 1500 points.” Those were harsh words, so I needed to follow them up to remain impartial.

  “I’m not blaming her. If I was in her position, I would vote against me as well. The fact is, we’ll never reach a unanimous vote because people are too scared of losing points. I could even say I’ll take 3000 points from myself and give them to Yaeko, she’d still vote against it out of fear that I’m lying.” Everyone knew I was right, even if they didn’t want to admit it.

  “So then, what do we do?” Yori was still focused on finding a solution, but there wasn’t one.

  “We start the vote and get it done with. The longer we spend discussing this without actually reaching a conclusion, the more opportunities for people to say things that’ll make the situation worse.” As I said this, Choko and I both tapped our phones to start the vote.

  “The vote is now beginning. You have 30 seconds.”

  I voted for myself, and I expected everyone else to do the same.

  “The group has failed to reach a unanimous decision. You’ll all be deducted 1,500 points.”

  I looked at the votes. I had six, Yaeko had one, and Yori had one. She’d voted for herself, while Nobu voted for Yori. I subtly glanced at Nobu as I got confirmation. Earlier, Nobu looked at Yori when Keiko announced we’d be competing for the prize pool. When he was accused of lying, Nobu looked to Yori as he pleaded his innocence.

  His vote for Yori confirms the amount of trust he has in him. It also confirms how much he cares about Yori’s perception of him. I quickly focussed on Osamu's vote. Osamu choosing to vote for me even though he knew Yaeko would see that was extremely surprising. It showed me that ultimately, his decisions are based on logic and what’s best for the group.

  This information could be invaluable.

  “You voted for him??” Yaeko turned to Osamu.

  “Yes.” Osamu held his ground. “He was the best choice.”

  “You do know that he’d have taken points away from me, right?” Whether or not it was intentional, she’d implied that Osamu was being stupid. I knew he realised it when his face stiffened and he shifted his body away from her.

  “Yes, of course I did.” He sighed and completely turned away from her. “He literally said he would.” He took a second before continuing. “Just because we like each other doesn’t mean I’m always going to side with you.” Yaeko was taken aback by this. No snide remark. No condescending jab. Just silence.

  “Taking points away from you is the fairest thing for the group, and it’s the logical answer.” Osamu knew his words were valid. That’s why he didn’t feel any guilt or fear to say them. However, he realised that his body language was too harsh so he turned back to her before he continued.

  “I understand why you didn’t vote for him, it’s self preservation. For you, that was the logical choice. I already knew you would do that, so why does it matter who I voted for?” He looked her in the eye as he waited for a response. So far, Yaeko’s shown us that when she doesn’t have a logical counter to a logical argument, she switches to an emotional one. I patiently waited to see what would come next.

  “I see…” I saw Yaeko’s face twitch. “I guess you’re right…” She looked down. “I’m sorry…” That was very out of character for her.

  How much power does Osamu have on her?

  “Please check your phones for the next prompt.” Keiko waited until the drama fizzled out to progress the game.

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  “Round Six prompt: If a single player gets a majority vote (5+ votes), they will be given 10,000 points. All other players that voted for them will be given 2000 points. If this happens, two random people’s point totals will be announced, but one of these totals will be fabricated. If the group fails, all players will lose 1000 points.”

  As soon as I read this, I understood why this prompt existed.

  The show wants liars to push away from a majority vote under the pretense that they want the 10,000 points themselves. That’s why the rewards were so disproportionate. The prompt was a trap designed to encourage a majority while giving people reasons to fight against it.

  I need to stop a majority from forming, or my lie could be exposed.

  “That’s one complicated prompt.” Yori chuckled.

  “Yeah, but it sounds like an easy decision, right?” Mei looked at me as she spoke. “We’d get points and information on who’s lying.” She’d fallen right into the trap the show laid for her.

  “I agree”

  “Me too”

  Both Hibiki and Choko voiced their agreement.

  “Well, Akira, if you don’t have any objections, then I’m happy with that.” Yori turned to Hibiki. “It’d make most sense if Hibiki won the vote since she’s already sacrificed 5000 points. What do you think, Akira?”

  He asked me who should win the vote.

  He didn’t bother asking me whether winning the vote was even a good idea.

  The group had already fallen into the trap.

  If I’m careless while I’m dragging them out, it’ll just make me look guilty. It wouldn’t be enough to argue for a different strategy. I need to convince them to back away from “a free win” at all costs.

  “I really want to form a majority, I think it’d be stupid to waste this golden opportunity.” I paused and looked away. Just saying I’m scared and nervous wouldn’t cut it.

  I had to show them.

  I had to make them feel those same emotions.

  “But… I’m scared of what might happen when the point totals get revealed…” Yori looked away, then looked back at me. He seemed confused.

  “Are you saying that you lied and you’re scared of being exposed?” Perfect. He was following the path I’d set him on.

  “What? Of course not, I wouldn’t have lied just to win a single vote.” I paused. “Especially since I wasn’t at any risk of being voted that round anyway.” I feigned ignorance as I twisted the narrative again. I’d done it once during the second round to explain why Osamu sacrificed himself, and I was doing it now to make my ensuing arguments more effective.

  If I made my arguments first, it would have looked like I was trying to cover for my own lie. By making it clear that I was telling the truth, they’d look at my arguments as a genuine way of avoiding emotional fallout.

  “Then what are you scared of?” Yaeko eagerly pressed me. She wanted to regain her status of superiority over me after I got her to back down last time. I wouldn't waste any effort playing her games.

  I turned away from her and back to Yori as I answered.

  “This would be easy if the game only gave us one point total.” I turned back to the group. “The reason why Nobu and Yaeko’s argument was so painful was because we don’t know who told the truth. We still don’t.” I sighed to show my feelings of hopelessness, and to make time for that to sink in. I noted a strong sense of distaste from Yaeko. Clenched fists. Sighs of annoyance. Leaning backwards but keeping her eyes glued to me. As expected.

  “If the game only gave us one point total, then the way I see it, it’s a guaranteed win.” There were some looks of agreement and some of shock. How could it be a guaranteed win after the pain we just went through last time?

  “Two things can happen. Either, we confirm someone's innocence, or we confirm their guilt. Either way, we are absolutely certain whether or not they’re lying. There would be zero uncertainty. In other words, we’d have a clear enemy.”

  As I spoke, I could see Nobu reliving everything. I decided to weaponise this. “Look at Nobu wincing like this.” He looked up to see everyone’s eyes on him. “Even now, we still don’t know whether or not he’s faking it. That’s where all the pain comes from.” Osamu, Choko and Yori nodded while the others all looked away. I had the momentum. Time to wrap things up.

  “However, the way this prompt is designed… it’s designed to use that uncertainty against us…” I took another pause. I needed to shift the narrative of a “free win” into one where we’re up against unbeatable odds. “What happens if we see two inconsistent answers?” I took a moment to let them all imagine the situation.

  “We’d have no way of knowing who was telling the truth. In fact, it would be even worse than Nobu vs Yaeko.” Everyone looked at me, confused by what I meant.

  Perfect.

  “Back then, we knew that one of them was telling the truth. But here… if we see two inconsistent answers… we wouldn’t even know if either of them were telling the truth.

  What if they warped one lie into another?”

  I let that thought linger in everyone’s head. That was the emotional argument completed - it highlighted how badly this could play out. Now I needed to use a logical argument to weigh up the pros and cons.

  “Sure, if we only saw one inconsistent answer, we’d be able to confirm one person’s innocence, but that’d still come at the cost of suspecting another.” In truth, that downside shouldn’t matter. We should be skeptical of everyone in the first place. This was actually a zero loss option, but the way I emphasised how devastating uncertainty would be, they would never see that.

  “And that would be the best case scenario…” I looked down, away from the group. I needed to highlight that this was the extent of my analysis. “That’s simply not enough of an upside to risk the worst case scenario.” Now, even if they refuted my previous argument, it wouldn’t matter. I could still argue against a majority on a risk-reward ratio based argument.

  A few seconds passed and no one spoke. The atmosphere had completely flipped. Osamu was the first to speak.

  “I agree with Akira… and… to be completely honest… even now, I can’t be 100% sure that Yaeko isn’t lying to me.” She turned to him with an open mouth. We were all shocked, sharing similar reactions. He continued before anyone could interrupt.

  “Do you guys know how painful that is?

  We shouldn’t risk something like that happening again.”

  His face twitched as he looked down.

  These words felt so heavy because no one expected it from him. He never would've spoken up like this before I set the stage.

  He was already making sure his voice was heard.

  I didn’t know how to feel.

  This wasn’t like Yuto.

  I put him through pain, and then forced him to grow.

  But here… putting Osamu through growth lead him to this pain.

  It made me wonder for a moment.

  Was that worth it?

  Of course it was.

  If he hadn’t grown, he’d still be in pain.

  He’d be suffering in silence.

  Alone.

  Yaeko’s eyes started watering. She held Osamu’s hand. “Osamu… you don’t trust me…?” I couldn’t help but take another look at the cameras. I took a deep but controlled breath as my fists clenched.

  “Of course I do, Yaeko.” Osamu couldn’t look her in the eye. “I trust you 99%... but this game encourages lying… it’d be foolish to trust anyone 100%.” As he said that, I noticed Yori and Mei both looking away. Nobu looked even more uncomfortable. Hibiki and Choko looked like they already knew that, and just watched the scene unfold.

  I couldn’t help but think:

  Whoever the traitor is, they’re getting exactly what they wanted.

  Watching the tears roll down Yaeko’s face pulled me back into reality. Yori realised everyone was watching and tried to change the topic.

  “I also agree with Akira… I think we should fail the vote. Any objections?” Everyone was silent. It’d be impossible to reject the motion while watching Yaeko cry. You’d basically be asking for the situation to get even worse.

  “Right then… let’s start the vote. Everyone vote for yourself.” As he finished speaking, Keiko spoke up.

  “The voting phase has begun. You have 30 seconds.”

  Even though Yaeko buried her head in her hands to hide her tears, I remembered the vision clearly.

  This is what they wanted.

  The show and the traitor.

  This is what I swore to protect them against, yet I’m the one that created this situation.

  I hated it, but the fall out of a second liar being revealed was far worse.

  Especially if I was chosen.

  How would I be able to lead the group if I wasn’t trusted?

  “The voting is over. As the group failed to reach a majority, you will all lose 1000 points. Please check your phone for the next prompt.”

  We could all hear the sound of Yaeko sniffelling. Not having a break was tough on all of us, but it was much harder for her.

  I checked my phone for the next prompt.

  “Round Seven prompt: Whoever receives the most votes this round will gain 7500 points. However, they will be forbidden from speaking during the next round”

  “Well, is there anyone who wants to win this vote? Personally, I don’t want to be silenced in the next round.” Yori approached this logically. There’s no point making an argument for someone to earn points if they don’t want the silence.

  A few seconds passed without any volunteers.

  “Well, after giving up those points earlier, I am running pretty low…” Hibiki nervously laughed. She didn’t want to seem selfish, but it was a fair choice if she didn’t mind the silence.

  I would personally never agree to win this vote. The next prompt was probably the worst one. Losing your ability to communicate could be devastating. However, Hibiki could be desperate for points. That changes things.

  “I’m happy with that.” I tapped the vote button. This didn’t need any extra discussion.

  “The voting phase has begun. You have 30 seconds.”

  It’s a shame this round was so short. It would’ve been good if Yaeko had more time to regain her composure, but at least this round went by smoothly.

  “The winner of this vote is Hibiki, with eight votes. She will be given 7500 points. If she speaks before the next vote is complete, she will lose 5000 points. Please check your phone for the next and final prompt.”

  I looked at my phone.

  I was right.

  This is terrible.

  “Round Eight prompt: The player with the lowest number of points has 4500 points. In five minutes, they will lose all of their points and be eliminated from this competition. However, if the group can unanimously vote for a player to take that loss instead, that person will pay the 4500 points and the lowest-scoring player will be spared. If even one person disagrees, the lowest-scoring player will be eliminated. The timer will be shown on your phone.”