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Author's notes

Okay, I think the games played in the LG are great, and that with an other set of characters, they can be played in an other way, with alternate scenarios. This gave me the motivation to write this fanwork.

This takes place in an other bracket of the Liar Game. The characters will never encounter Nao, Akiyama, etc.

Some major differences are to be expected : if the games played are the same, the tone and the characters will be different.


Chapter One : Opportunity

A ringtone.
"Oh god, I overslept" says the man. He then reaches the pre-paid cellphone "Yes , hello?"

"Hello yourself! How much have you gathered, Yamato?"

"Uh, nothing, I just woke up.", said Yamato

"..."

"Sorry, Noboru!"

"Great. Meet me at the usual meeting park" concluded Noboru, before hanging up.

Yamato Hazuki looks at the time. "9:00 am, huh? Let's get to work"


Noboru Soma also hung up, and went back to the subway. He picked up his guitar, paid the
ticket. He needed to pay the ticket, just as a safety measure. He couldn't afford a fine or getting arrested.

Soma positioned himself in the middle of the main passageway of the station and started playing.

He has been homeless for 3 years now. He was a successful lawyer, and was with his friend Shinga a future leader of the firm he
worked with.

"Thank you, and have a great day" he said to a passenger dropping some coins, while still playing the guitar.

Recession was not a problem for him. Quite the contrary, his firm saw that as an opportunity. There's no crisis in the law business.
And that was Soma's downfall. His best friend Shinga got wind of classified information regarding a shipping firm about to go bankrupt. He arranged a scam where the shipping firm paid huge billables to Soma's firm for a fake lawsuit, which would seal the shipping firm's fate. There was a leak and the scam was found out.

"The rush hour is over" thought Soma. "Better join with Yamato"

The paper trail pointed to Soma. Before he knew it, he was fired and disbarred. The lawsuit that ensued took the last shred of money he had left.
His fiancée left him during the trial, and at the age of 34, Soma was finished.

Three years later, Soma is a veteran homeless in Tokyo. Still as smart as ever, he desperatly tries to get his life back.
His only contact with his former life is with a former colleague, Nozomi, who treats him to lunch once in a while.

And today, Soma will get his chance of a lifetime...


Soma left the subway to the meetup point with his homeless friend Yamato Hazuki, who is talking with someone.

"Still asking for money, uh?" thought Soma. He planned to play chess with him. When he started three years ago, Soma vowed to
never drink alcohol and find creative and various ways to earn money. He wanted to become good enough to sit on the street and get
paid for Chess duels. Music, games, speech, smile. Evertything was under Soma's control to maximise his profits.

"Hey, Yamato. Hello, sir."

"Hello." responds the man. He has a mask. "You must be Soma-san"

"Indeed I am. What's with the mask?"

"My name is Suzuki, i'm Hazuki-san's handler."

"Handler?"

Yamato steps in. "He gave me this.."

Mr Yamato Hazuki,

Congratulations!

You are one of the 1 in 100 000 people who have been entered to the amazing LIAR GAME TOURNAMENT!

Yamato continued by showing me a box. Full of cash. With another paper.

Thank you for participating in the LIAR GAME!
By breaking the seal on the box, you have formally acknowledged your desire to play the LIAR GAME
...
You may use any means necessary. Please seize your opponent's MONEY...
...30 days...
What will be collected is the MONEY that was given to both players at the start of this game...

You can obtain at most a reward of 100 000 000 yen
...if you lose...
we will get our money back by any means.

"Wait, what?"

Suzuki interrupted "Given your current situation, I advise you not to spend it. We will be in touch" He then leaves.

Hazuki is scared. "Who are these people?" he asks with a trembling voice.

"I don't know. As a former lawyer, I must tell you that this "seal breaking" agreement is bogus. There's nothing holding you"

Hazuki has sparkles in his eyes. "We should use it to go to the nearest motel and settle in. Then, with an adress, find a job. Awesome!"

"However"

"Uh?"

"People able to lend 100M yen to multiple players are not to be underestimated. I wouldn't be surprised if they were above the law, and maybe connections to the police."

"Oh, yeah... So what do we do?" Hazuki was worried.

Soma was in turn the one with sparkles in his eyes.

"Why don't we just play the game?"

"You mean, steal money for our opponent?" You can tell that Yamato is disturbed.

"Yes."

Hazuki wasn't a shark like Soma. But he knew better. One year on the streets changes you. He saw the opportunity.

"I'll play. But this stays between the two of us. The temptation will be too big for our other friends."

"Okay. Then, the first issue...don't steal money from the stash, Yamato"

"It's about the serials, right?"

"Yes. If you replace a 1000 yen bill by coins or other bills, in regards of the rules, it's not allowed".

"Indeed"

Hazuki was amazed. Soma was the best ally he could find in his homeless circle.

"Our opponent will probably have a house." thought Hazuki aloud.

"And that's probably where he will hide his money." Soma was smiling...

"And where should we hide our cash?"

"Not in one single place. We should separate it in ten 10M stacks. Where? Well, we know some well hidden spots in the Tokyo area, don't we?"

"Why separate it? This means we will have more chances of losing our money!"

"Yes, but if we lose a stack, we can still fight back. And we avoid total defeat this way."

Soma and Hazuki spent the rest of the day hiding the cash. The night was hard, because they had less time to ask for money and had to eat less. But they were motivated. If they hold a month like this, they can both win their lives back.

And three days later, Suzuki came back.

"You are hard to find, Hazuki-san. Here's your instruction card, with the whereabouts of your opponent"

The first game was about to start.


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