After Tenko's ominous words, Kirumi put a hand to her chin and thought a bit before speaking:

"Do you think we should try to focus on getting more puzzle pieces, then?" She asked, though the idea clearly didn't sit well with her, for obvious reasons.

Tenko wanted to say no immediately, but she forced herself not to. She needed to truly think about it, since her decisions could have deadly consequences. Tenko closed her eyes and tried to consider all the information and theories she had in order to make a decision.

She opened her eyes and spoke "No."

Kirumi didn't respond, and only waited for Tenko to explain her reasoning, and that's what she did:

"From what I can tell, the creators of this game, whoever they were, truly developed the specifics very carefully, and from what Monokuma said, this isn't the first time it's been done, so they would have been able to refine the way it works."

Tenko made circles with a finger, in emphasis "And you can tell from the name of this game that they are very proud of it. They have all those mechanics that can be used... And because of that, I don't believe that they would allow people to win by using such a simple strategy as focusing completely on the puzzle pieces."

Kirumi blinked "That... makes quite a bit of sense."

Tenko nodded "I think the best option would be to try and discover as much as we can about each of the mechanics. There should be lots of secrets, and lots of things that can be exploited. That's the impression I got from everything." She joined her hands "With enough information, we can make plans and adapt better to unexpected situations. That way, even if someone monopolizes the puzzle pieces, which I doubt would actually happen, we would still be able to deal with it."

Kirumi took a deep breath and nodded "In that case, you should complete your Task first, since there should be information to be gained by doing it."

"Right." Tenko agreed.

She opened up the task menu on her Monopad and typed the number 4 as the answer. A beep informed her that she had answered correctly, and Tenko saw that two thousand Monopoints had been added to her account. She also got a message box asking if she wanted to lock the safe, to which she responded yes.

"Is it the same thing as the puzzle safes...?" She wondered out loud.

"Let's go and see." Kirumi decided.

Soon, they were back at the physical location of Safe #23. Kirumi swiped her Monopad onto it, and pressed the button to send a message to "the owner". Tenko's own Monopad beeped, and she looked at the message that appeared on it:

"Kirumi Toujou wants to open Safe #23. Do you want to set a Task?"

'So, it really is different...' Tenko thought, hitting the button for yes.

From there appeared a menu where she could choose which type of tasks she wanted to set. Tenko waved Kirumi over to take a look together, since it seemed like there was quite a lot to it, the two of them proceeded to look over each of the categories.

There was information gathering tasks, in which they would have to bring specific information, like who had certain puzzle pieces, or how many Monopoints a certain person had in their account. There were collection tasks, in which they would have to bring certain items (like cards and the other stuff that seemed to be general, instead of the ultimate-specific stuff). And then there was the safe type, in which they would have to complete a specific safe, the rewards of which would go to the person who set the task.

There was also an option of choosing several tasks at once, but that only meant the other person would have several options for which task to complete. There was no option for making someone have to do more than one task.

"Your theory was right." Kirumi said, after they had finished looking over the rules.

"Yeah. And now I'm wondering about the other types of safes..." Tenko replied.

Kirumi pressed a few buttons on her Monopad, canceling the request.

"I want to know what are the results of this." She said when Tenko looked at her "Nothing seems to be unusual on my side."

Tenko looked at her Monopad again, seeing that the task screen had disappeared. Then she thought of something and started going through the menus, quickly arriving at the info zone inside the "inventory". There, she checked the task history, and soon found what she had been looking for:

"Received a Request to open Safe #23 from Kirumi Toujou. Request Canceled."

Tenko nodded "That's indeed it. Even canceled requests get registered here. Information is truly a big thing in this game."

She showed it to Kirumi, who looked at her own task history and saw that her side of the request had been registered there.

Tenko put a finger to her chin and spoke "I'm pretty sure that task information is going to be a very powerful trade item. This is a lot of useful information."

"Information..." Kirumi muttered "That really seems to be an important part of the game." She smiled at Tenko "I can understand why you chose a strategy based on obtaining information. It is truly well-suited for your specialty."

Tenko blushed slightly "I guess that's right."

"In that case, I should really go and do those other puzzles to find out the secrets behind the collection tasks." Kirumi said "What about you?"

Tenko was trying to decide whether to try one of the Challenge type or Game type safes when her Monopad beeped.

Raising an eyebrow, Tenko checked it and saw that Kaede had sent her a message:

"Hello, Tenko. I have a proposition for you. Could you come meet me behind the second building so we can discuss?"

Tenko showed the message to Kirumi, who also raised an eyebrow and looked back at her, waiting for Tenko's reaction.

"I should go and see what Kaede has in mind." She said.

Kirumi nodded "Then I shall see you soon."

The two left. Kirumi to look for suitable safes and Tenko to go towards Kaede.

+0+

When Tenko arrived at the meeting spot, Kaede was already there, leaning against the wall. She greeted Tenko with a smile and a wave.

"Hello to you too." Tenko smiled back "I am here. What is the proposition you're talking about?"

Instead of answering directly, Kaede asked Tenko a question:

"What do you think is the real essence of this game?"

Tenko thought about how she should answer the question "I think the very name covers it. There are multiple essences, such as information and resources, and I don't think any one of them is more important than the other."

Kaede nodded "That's a nice answer, as expected of you. I have my own ideas about the essence of this game, though." She looked at Tenko with seriousness in her eyes "I feel that the essence of this game is Union. A single person cannot win by themselves, not only because there are team objectives to consider, but also because it is divided into so many elements.

"Each person has their own role in this game, and if they can all work together, there would be no threat, regardless of what the 'Wolf' could do." She shook her head "Of course, that is the whole point. It is not easy to ally oneself with others, due to the very rules of the game. How to resolve this contradiction is the most important question in the Multiplicity Game."

Tenko considered what Kaede was saying "Your idea has merit." Then looked into her eyes "I suppose you must want my cooperation in one of those plans, and that is why you have called me here."

Kaede smiled "That's exactly it. The best case scenario would be if I could get everyone to trust each other. But it is unreasonable to expect that when we barely know each other. So..." She showed an open hand to Tenko "For now, achieving cooperation between the major parties, even if on a limited basis... That would do a lot to make things easier."

"Major parties..." Tenko muttered "That means I'm not the only person you have contacted about this."

"That's right." Kaede confirmed "I have no intention of making this an exclusive group. Eventually, everyone should be connected and helping each other. But for now... There is you and two other people I believed should be part of this: Kokichi and Angie."

"I understand." Tenko said, still trying to consider all the possibilities involved.

"As a show of good faith, I shall give you some information that should help." Kaede said, causing Tenko to focus back on her "It is about the true nature of the Game and Challenge safes."

Tenko nodded, indicating for Kaede to continue.

"Most of the Game safes require opponents. However, a few of them don't need for one to face their opponents directly. You can play a game by yourself, and the next people who challenge that game will have to beat your score to win." She shook her head "If they lose, you will receive their bets, but if they win, they take your place in the game but you don't lose anything else."

"Hmm... This is another point in favor of my theories." Tenko said "And I imagine that even in games where you need the opponent present, one can own the specific safe, and someone else could call them up for a challenge via the safe."

"That's exactly right!" Kaede confirmed, joining her hands together enthusiastically "Now, the Challenge Type safes, and doors, are different from all the others." She raised a finger "You can call them a game within a game. They revolve around all aspects of the Multiplicity game, from the other types of safes, to the items you can obtain, and even to the objectives of the game themselves."

Tenko was reminded of something "Does that mean... You were the one who completed Door #4?" She had specifically mentioned doors, and that one was on the challenge section.

"Yes." Kaede shook her head "In my case, the challenge was to complete my individual objective within three hours, and the punishment for failure would be the loss of my eyes." She shuddered.

"But you did it, huh..." Tenko said.

"Yeah. And if you want to know what that objective was... I'll tell after you've finished yours." She smiled mysteriously.

Tenko sighed. That girl really knew how to get people hooked.

"Your information will definitely be a big help." Tenko said "So I'll hear you out. What is it that you want to ask me?"

"Rantaro is having trouble with his individual objective." Kaede said "He got a pretty nasty punishment for failing one of the Task safes, so I would like it if you were to help him get through that rough patch."

A ridiculous number of alarm bells rang out in Tenko's head all at once, to the point where she had to consciously decide in which thing she should focus first. After a moment of thought, she decided on a question.

"Why is that your request?" Tenko asked straight up.

"Multiple reasons." Kaede raised a finger "One, this is a way to start on my plans for everyone to help each other." Another finger "Two, Rantaro asked me for help, so he will be thankful to me for directing you to him." Yet another "And three, this is something you would want to do yourself, so you should have no objections to doing it."

"I would want to do...?" Tenko asked, thinking about her words.

"I knew about you from before." Kaede said "One of my friends was helped by you. Do you remember Takimura-chan, the girl who was set up to take the fall in the Ukrainian embassy case?"

Tenko nodded, surprised. She had talked about that case very recently with Kirumi.

"That girl was one of my online friends, and she ended up becoming one of the most important hidden figures in the revolution." Kaede said "So I became interested and looked up you and your master, Wachisuko."

So that was it. When Kaede talked about getting her talent, Tenko hadn't thought about the case at the time, but it seemed like they had an indirect connection.

"Your master has the philosophy of using deduction to save people, and from what I've been able to discover, you follow in his footsteps." Kaede explained "That means you wouldn't want anyone here to die." Her voice softened "I also would prefer it if no one died."

Tenko looked at Kaede for a moment, and then spoke "You're right about that. In that case, I'll do it, I'll go see what I can do to help out Rantaro."

"That's great!" Kaede smiled.

After that, Tenko left to see how Kirumi was doing, and thought about Kaede's proposal and her plans.

What would be the consequences of such a strategy?