The word left Deon’s mouth before he could stop it.

Ash continued drifting across Shinso Bridge and the Flag continued glowing behind him. Yet for Deon, everything had stopped.

No...it had to be someone else.

That was the first thought he forced into his head. There were plenty of people in the world. Plenty of stupid aliases.

Hell, with a game like the Miracle Royale pulling people from who knew where, maybe the name didn’t even belong to the Vivian Queen he knew.

It’s just a coincidence. It’s gotta be someone else.

Maybe—

"Deon?"

He turned slightly. Hana was watching him with obvious concern, already starting to walk towards him.

"Something wrong?" she hesitated before asking. "You looked...zoned out."

Jason looked over as well. Celine, who had been catching her breath on the broken concrete, lifted her head slightly. Even Levi was staring at him.

"It doesn’t matter," he said. "It’s nothing."

For a second, guilt flickered through Deon’s chest, but he shoved that away too.

This wasn’t the time.

Vivian Queen was in fifth place. That was all. A name on a ranking. A contestant with Points. Whatever she was doing here, whatever wish she had brought into the Miracle Royale, it had nothing to do with him.

He had left that life behind.

[Waiting Phase Ending.]

[00:03]

[00:02]

[00:01]

And right on cue, confetti exploded above the glowing Chair. Mimi spun into existence with both ribbon-like ears fluttering behind it.

"Thank you for waiting, surviving contestants!" Mimi chirped. "Mimi hopes everyone enjoyed that brief period of rest and trauma processing."

Deon’s eye twitched.

I hate this thing.

"Mimi also hopes all surviving contestants have taken the opportunity to reflect on their decisions, their bonds, their regrets, and the many friends they failed to save!"

"Tch..." Levi clicked his tongue from the side. "Get to the point, Mascot."

"Okay! The First Round of Musical Chairs has concluded! Ten wonderful Teams have successfully claimed and defended their Chairs!"

A panel appeared above them.

[Second Round Beginning Soon.]

[Remaining Chairs: 6]

[Remaining Teams: 10]

[Remaining Contestants: 42]

Jason frowned. "Wait. Six Chairs and only ten teams? Isn’t that too harsh...?"

Mimi’s painted and inky smile widened. "The Viewers asked the same thing! But don’t worry, this round is actually generous for you!"

"Since watching the exact same Teams sit comfortably in the exact same Chairs would be boring, the production team has accepted several exciting suggestions!"

"For the Second Round, all claimed Chairs will be released!"

"Released?" Celine tilted her head. "Does that mean—"

"Correct!" Mimi answered, cutting her off before spinning once in the air.

It simply pointed to the Flag. For a second, nothing happened. Then, the glowing hole beneath their Flag suddenly dimmed before—

Pluck!

It came flying right out and fell onto the ground.

"All Teams must locate and claim a Chair once more! However, to encourage fresh dynamics, new friendships, betrayal, dramatic recruitment, and delicious interpersonal conflict, the seating requirements have been adjusted!"

A new panel unfolded.

[Musical Chairs — Second Round]

[Each Flag must register 7 seated members to claim a Chair.]

[Teams with fewer than 7 registered members may not initiate a Claim Phase.]

[Member registration may be changed freely before Claim Phase initiation.]

[Once Claim Phase begins, registered members are locked.]

"Damn it," Deon muttered. "Can’t these guys let us catch a break with all these new rule changes?!"

Behind him, Hana read it at the same time. "Seven members...?"

Jason looked around at their group, then counted under his breath. "But we only have five."

"So every surviving Team needs more people," Celine said softly from the floor.

"Correct!" Mimi sang. "Mimi recommends negotiating sincerely, recruiting carefully, and betraying efficiently!"

"Well now! Good luck!"

And just like that, the Mascot was gone again, leaving them in silence and the terrible situation that had just gotten worse.

Jason turned toward Levi immediately, "What should we do? M—maybe we can look for two others?"

But Levi didn’t answer, as he was also deeply in thought. It was clear that this wasn’t something within his calculations.

Deon listened to Jason, inclined to believe it.

The answer was simple after all. Find two more contestants and add them to the Flag—then move on.

But the more Deon thought about it, the worse that answer became. There were ten teams left and forty-two contestants.

That meant most Teams were damaged. Some had five. Some had four. Maybe a few had three or less. But anyone still holding a Flag had a reason to keep it. No sane group of five would abandon their own Flag just to donate two members to someone else’s.

And production made the number consistent, too. They were right about being generous.

If every team managed to merge successfully. There’d be six groups of seven...exactly 42 people. If so...

Deon turned the numbers over in his head once more before finally turning towards Hana. "We’re splitting off."

Jason’s eyes widened and Celine stood up immediately, almost knocking over the quiver that was resting on her leg.

"What? Why?"

Deon shrugged. "Five people looking for two more is annoying. Two people looking for five is easy. Three people looking for four is also easy. We split, and suddenly both sides fit."

And besides, if I stay with Levi for any longer, he’s just going to eat all the Points in the area. Can’t let him outfox me again.

Jason and Celine both opened their mouths at the same time. But before either of them could speak, Levi cut in.

"He’s right."

The two of them turned toward him.

Levi’s gaze remained on Deon, his expression suggesting he had reached the same conclusion. "If he hadn’t suggested it, I would have."

Deon blinked. "You would’ve?"

"Yes."

"With who?"

"Celine or Jason," Levi answered without hesitation. "A group of two is easier to absorb into a team of five. A group of three is easier to merge with a team of four. Staying as five only makes us inconvenient."

Jason was the first to find his voice. "But what about the team?"

"It was only a temporary team."

"It was always temporary."

"..."

"..."

For a brief second, the two of them looked at each other. Then Levi snickered softly to himself, not like an actor performing for a camera, but like he had genuinely found something funny.

Deon’s eye twitched. "What?"

"Nothing."

"..."

"Alright, then..."

Deon had just barely taken a step before Levi called out from behind him.

"Deon."

Something came flying at him. Deon raised his hand and caught it by muscle memory.

"Hey, what the hell was—!?"

The words died in his throat as he looked at what the actor had thrown him. It was a Card with a dull blue border, the white letters across its surface immediately revealed its power.

[Analyze]

Is this...the Card he got from the Wheel of Fortune?!

He stared at the Card for a second longer before looking up, "What the...why would you give me this?"

"You’ll need it more than I will."

"What the hell’s that supposed to mean?"

Regardless of what he was saying, this was undoubtedly enormous power and leverage that Levi had given him.

Gifts were never just gifts. Deon knew that better than anyone. Gifts came with strings, and strings became leashes if you let them wrap around your neck long enough.

He clicked his tongue and slipped the Card into his pocket anyway.

Throwing away something useful just because it came from someone suspicious was the kind of pride that got idiots killed.

"I’m not thanking you."

"I didn’t ask you to."

"Good."

Deon turned away again, but Levi’s voice followed him one last time. "Just stay alive, Cockroach."

He stopped once again, staring back at the actor. But all Levi did was shrug, already turning away to do something else. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Deon stared at him, completely forgetting the Rare Card in his pocket for half a second.

Cockroach...?

What the hell did I even do?