Danganronpa: Algorithmic Alteration

by Otterplay

A Danganronpa SYOC set in space. Ultimates are trapped on a space station, forced to participate in a killing game to try and escape. But not everything is what it seems to be. Who can you trust?

15. Dual Disposition (Part 4)

Chapter 2: Dual Disposition (Daily Life Part 4)

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Warning: This is a Danganronpa fic. There's going to be a good amount of blood, violence, gore, and a little more intense subject matter. You have been warned properly.

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It was a new day, and yet…

Everything seemed to repeat itself.

Not that Melody had too much of an issue with such things, but the schedule was always about something she had no interest in.

"Melody, dearie, are you listening?"

"Hmm?" Melody quickly shook her head, looking back at her mother. They had been talking for about an hour before her mind began to wander off. "Yes, I'm listening." She didn't want to lie, but she also didn't want to make her mother sad.

At first, she doubted this, but there was no point in getting mad. "I know this isn't your cup of tea, but you have to try if you want a chance to inherit the business."

That's the problem…

Melody wasn't interested in inheriting what her family had built up.

Why would she be? She knew that if she wasn't the one to do it, one of her many other siblings could pick up the slack.

She had four of them, after all.

One of them was bound to be able to inherit it. "Yes mother."

Feeling that the excitement that Melody normally had seemed to be absent, her mother let out a small sigh.

When she saw Melody, she didn't see the person she wanted her to be. Compared to her siblings, Melody had the lowest chance of being able to inherit the family business.

Especially compared to her two eldest siblings, who had all already gotten their foot in the door.

Melody? She seemed more like a dreamer than someone who could actively achieve them.

Her oldest brother? He had dreams of achieving his own construction company. And he had already started making headways towards that.

Melody's older sister? She wanted to start her own makeup and cosmetic brand.

Even her two youngest siblings had something in mind.

Her younger brother wanted to be a reality TV chef, and her younger sister aspired to be a writer, even at such a young age.

Melody? She just wanted to dance and live her life. She had dreams. Very big dreams.

But compared to what her family wanted? It wasn't it.

Not that her mother could even blame Melody for it. The life that she was teaching Melody for might not have been for her.

While Melody was normally a rather happy girl, this felt like the only time where she wasn't having fun.

But she wasn't going to give up on her. Maybe this was just because Melody was younger. There was still hope that something would turn up.

For now, she might just let Melody enjoy her time as a young girl.

"We can end our conversation for the day."

Melody's eyes lit up slightly. Now she could do what she wanted to do.

As soon as she was let out, Melody bounced her way down the street, humming a tune to herself.

She had gotten herself dressed with her favourite dress. Something that nowadays seemed out of place, but made sense back in the 1920's.

Almost as if she was in a completely different era.

Turning a corner here and there, she finally arrived at her destination.

The smile Melody had was almost impossible to contain, as were her feet, which kept tapping on the floor in rhythm. "Here we are…"

What she was standing in front of was an old abandoned building… In fact, it looked like it hadn't been open for well over two decades.

However, she was very familiar with this building, given it was a dance studio that her family owned. However, due to shifting trends, it had all but been forgotten in this day and age.

Moving her hand over to the door, she pushed it open, stepping in.

It wasn't her first time in the building, but Melody couldn't help but cough at the amount of dust that lined the floor and counters.

Still, the place was perfect.

"Just needs to be dusted up, and it'll be the cat's meow." She stepped in further, taking in the sights.

No matter how many times she saw this place, she was always eager to see it again.

It made her feel as if she was in a completely different era.

Moving over to the old gramophone, she took one of the records, gently placing it in.

Melody knew exactly what song was on this one, given she had listened to it countless times since she found this place.

Once the music started, the atmosphere was set.

She was ready to dance.

Tapping her feet against the cold floor, Melody managed to create a rhythm with the song that was playing, humming along with it.

Sure, nobody was here, and it could feel lonely.

But when Melody danced, nothing else around her truly mattered.

She was going to dance her heart out.

Away from the stress and pressure that consumed Melody's current life.

She didn't stop until she had played the song a dozen times over.

When Melody finally looked at the time, she had realised she had spent around two hours here doing nothing but dancing.

And you know what? Melody considered it time well spent.

Even if this place was just an abandoned mess, it was always going to hold a special place in her heart.

"One day." Melody hummed out, taking a look around.

While her other siblings had big dreams of the future, and the means to achieve them, Melody was stuck here, surrounded by the very idea she loved.

"One day I will make this into something."

Compared to some of what the rest of her family aspired for, this seemed a little lower on the rungs.

And yet, Melody couldn't help but fill her own head with ideas.

She loved dancing, and this used to be a dance studio.

Maybe after all these years, Melody would be the one to return this place to its former glory.

That was a dream Melody could get behind.

"But…" The only problem is that she didn't have the funds for something like this.

Sure, her family was rich, but would they really spend some money on this?

It would go against the ideals they seemed to have.

If Melody wanted to make this place into something worthwhile, more than it already was, she would need to provide the money herself.

Not something easy for someone like Melody, who was still a bit too young to get herself a job in this day and age.

Thoughts like that didn't dissuade her, however. In fact, they only reinforced what she had to do.

If Melody wanted to even achieve her dreams, she'd have to start working towards it now. It could take years, but every second spent pursuing what she loved would be enough for her.

Melody found herself back at the gramophone.

Fueled by new motivation, she wanted to at least dance one more time before she returned home. "One more, for the road." She hummed out to herself as she got back in place.

One day, this building would be known all around, and she would get everyone interested in the things she loved.

Until then, Melody could only keep dreaming about her future.

---

Motive Room

You should already know at this point what the hell May is even doing. Here she was, awake again, waiting for the coin total to upgrade like normal. After a few seconds, she saw the screen change, telling her that it changed again. "Hmm…"

.

Invalid User: 202 Coins

Atlas: 654 Coins

Benjamin: 100 Coins

Benoit: 16 Coins

Dae-Hyun: 112 Coins

Edison: 214 Coins

Gemini: 312 Coins

Gennosuke: 412 Coins

Gigi: 0 Coins

Hae-Won: 326 Coins

Ian: 1,601 Coins

Laki: 100 Coins

Lorelei: 817 Coins

May: 72 Coins

Melody: 314 Coins

Michael: 1,024 Coins

Seira: 252 Coins

Tatiana: 124 Coins

Winter: 225 Coins

.

Hmm… Interesting. She let out a small yawn as she began to make her way back towards the vacant rooms. She'd likely not share any of the information she's been gathering unless it was relevant.

---

Vacant Rooms

Hearing that same knocking sound, for a second May just assumed that Gigi was knocking on her door again. Had she not learned from last time?

However, upon finally reaching the turn off, it wasn't her room she was knocking on. "Hmm?"

"Benoit?" She called out again, letting out a small sigh in annoyance. When she finally turned to the side, she noticed that May was here now. "Figured as much."

Approaching the group, May looked around. "What's going on?"

Letting out a sigh, Gemini was the one to respond. "Seems Benoit slept in or something." Or worse… But he didn't want his mind wandering that direction.

Soon, the door quickly opened up, and Benoit stepped out with a small yawn. "S-sorry… I must have slept through my alarm."

It was the first time he had slept in, but that still annoyed Gigi. "We can't leave unless everyone is with us." She pointed at him. "Please don't do this again."

"Sorry…" He held his hands together, looking at the ground.

Letting out a small sigh, Gigi moved over towards the elevator. "It's fine."

The entire group of eighteen made their way into the elevator, all intent on eating together again.

---

Cafeteria

However, of course, nothing can go without a hitch?

Tatiana frowned slightly, seeing what was waiting for them in the cafeteria. "I don't recall inviting you."

Sitting down at one of the tables was Monokawa, who was absent last chapter. So now he needs extra screen time. "Yeah, I know. Laki invited me."

She hadn't, but she was going to take credit anyway. "I thought it would be nice to have Monokawa join us!"

Meanwhile, Atlas wasn't going to put him with any of this shit. "Why are you actually here?"

Right, he should get to that, shouldn't he? Slowly, Monokawa lifted himself off the table, hovering above the group of eighteen. "I just wanted to check in on things, see if anybody is dead." He quickly counted all the heads. "Unfortunately, everyone still seems to be alive and well." He let out a sigh, shrugging. "What is an otter supposed to do?"

"Nothing." Hae-Won shrugged, moving over towards the tables. "Who cares if none of us kill."

"That's not how this game is played." Monokawa lowered himself, floating next to Hae-Won. "I thought with the double motive, surely blood would be spilt by now. But nobody has been killed yet."

Edison had a proud smile on his face. "You think too lowly of us! We aren't just a group of murderers, after all."

Letting out a resigned sigh, Monokawa shook his head. "No, I suppose not. What is an otter to do?" He repeated, when suddenly, his red eye lit up brighter, almost as if an idea had struck him. "Oh! I know!" He covered his mouth with his paws, almost as if to hold back a laugh. "I'll just add another factor to the ongoing motive." He floated up towards the center of the room.

Ian tilted his head to the side. "What is this about now?"

"This is regarding the ongoing motive that I provided you all two days ago!" Which meant that it wasn't the motive Nova gave.

"In two days, if nobody has died…. Well…" He let out a small laugh. "Let's just say that I will hold true to my promise."

Michael narrowed his eyes upon hearing that. "You mean…?"

"Yup!" The hooded boy didn't even need to finish his sentence. Monokawa knew where it was heading. "If nobody kills, then all of those secrets will be revealed! I'll go ahead with all the threats!"

"W-what?" Benoit hated the sound of that. "Y-you can't do that!"

"Why not?" Monokawa shrugged. "I did say that I was going to do it, so I see no problem with it."

"Then…" Gigi placed a hand on her hip. "This only affects those who were given that category?"

Slowly lowering himself, Monokawa let out a small sigh. "I see what you are getting at… You seem to think that if you didn't get a category like that, you'd be unaffected…" Long pause.

Tatiana was waiting for a bit before she finally raised an eyebrow. "Well…?"

Monokawa shrugged. "You'd be right. All the information you were given has already been provided to you. Not much else I can really do, can I?"

Hearing that, Dae-Hyun shook his head. "Then can you leave?"

The otter felt his entire body grow heavy. "You guys really don't want me around? I wasn't even there in the last chapter… Did none of you miss me?"

"Not really." Seira shook her head. "Honestly, it's best whenever you're not there."

This is the part where Monokawa would run away crying. But he doesn't cry, nor does he run. Instead, he sort of just slowly floats up towards the ceiling, as if he'd been raptured.

Once he was gone, everyone was able to let out a sigh of relief.

Now that things were settled down, people were back to talking to each other.

Of note, there was a conversation going at one of the tables. "I've come to a conclusion!" Tatiana declared.

Said declaration was aimed right at Dolly. "Oh? What do you declare?" She loved a good declaration.

Twirling her fork in her hand, Tatiana stabbed it into her food. "Given that we are both from the circus. I suggest we form a pact!"

"Oh golly! I always wanted to join a pack of wolves!" Dolly was about to have her dreams become a reality.

The fork almost fell out of Tatiana's hand as she spun it around. "W-what? No! Not a pack of wolves! A…" Well, she could say blood, but that wasn't exactly right, now was it? "A friendship pact! You and I shall keep a watchful eye on each other to make sure nothing goes awry."

"Oooooh!" That made much more sense. However, that was also more boring. "Friend pact? Yeah! I'd be your friend!" She'd be crazy to turn down an offer like this.

"Haha! I knew someone such as yourself could not refuse an offer like that!" Tatiana was ecstatic. She hadn't made a close ally since she's been here, so it was nice to have someone to talk to.

Slowly, Dolly attempted to pick up a knife from the table. "Let's seal it with a blood pact!"

Tatiana's expression immediately dropped. "dolly. no. we can't do that."

As for the other end of the cafeteria, some people were discussing other things. Namely, Michael took the conversation in a completely different direction.

"I… I want to see if we can ask Nova about the drug again." Michael finally said, looking down at his plate.

"Huh?" Winter seemed a bit confused. "Why? You know she will more than likely decline our questioning."

Well, he couldn't just mention she was the entire reason why it happened. "Say, to the others who went under, did you experience any… Weird dreams?"

"Oh!" Dolly called out, turning towards Benjamin. "Master DID have some dreams, I think. But I thought that was just normal sleeping stuff."

Gigi frowned upon hearing all of that. "I thought that they were just normal dreams as well. I wouldn't exactly describe them as… vivid." Her eyes turned to look at the side a bit. "But yes, I had dreams."

Now, all eyes were on Laki, who was just humming to herself. When she realised they were waiting for an answer, she quickly finished her food. "Nope! Not that I can recall. But I don't really dream that often, so that might be why."

"Um…" Benoit turned to look at May. "Didn't you say you had a weird dream a few days ago…?"

Slowly, the sleepy girl nodded her head. "Yes, I did say that. But I don't recall being injected with a drug. Besides, I always have weird dreams, so it's likely nothing." She let out a small yawn. "If I was injected by the drug, I could compare, but… I don't really want that." She already sleeps enough as it is, she doesn't need more.

"There's only one problem…" Hae-Won mumbled out, crossing her arms. "We don't know where Nova even is. Nobody saw her yesterday, right?"

Being met with silence, it only solidified her thoughts.

"Then… Unless she makes herself known, there's not much we can really do, right?" Hae-Won wanted them to talk to Nova, but…

However, as if he was rejected from the Heavens themselves, Monokawa slowly lowered himself back down above the tables.

"Gah!" Tatiana almost jumped out of her seat.. "You can't just appear like nowhere!"

"Sure I can." He shrugged. "There's an entire copyrighted statement just for it! Suddenly! Otter!"

"Huh?" Dolly tilted her head. "But you didn't even use it!"

"Ran out of budget."

Broke ass bitch-

Letting out a sigh, Monokawa shook his head. "If you want to find Nova, I know where to look for her!"

Hearing that, it gave Benoit a bit of hope. "Really…? Where does she hang out?"

"For some reason, she likes to hang around the garden. Don't know why. Apparently she likes flowers or something."

"Then, I will go and talk to her." Gigi spoke up.

Gemini let out a small sigh. "By proxy, I feel like I should go too."

"M-me too…" Benoit felt like he'd be the best person to go, given his knowledge on medication and the likes. "I feel like I'd be able to understand the most out of it…"

Scanning the table, Gigi narrowed her eyes. "Is there anyone else who wishes to join us?"

Michael stood up from his seat. "I'll go."

"As will I." If it was about knowing stuff, May would be on board with learning.

Now that the group was formed, Gigi turned to look at everyone else. "I expect everyone else to meet up upstairs when you are done eating. We don't need anyone else collapsing. Got it?"

"Yes, mom." Lorelei said mockingly.

Once the group of five was gone, Ian slowly stood up. "When is everyone ready to go up? I want to try and increase my coin total soon."

Melody stood up next. "I'm ready to drift whenever."

Seira slowly nodded her head. "I know they told us to finish eating, but it would probably be better if we go ahead right now. I'm still not sure who I'm partnered with, and I wouldn't want to risk it." Three of the potential people she could have been partnered up with went upstairs.

Edison adjusted his goggles, slowly nodding his head. "Yeah, let's go. Besides, we have that game with Gigi to look forward to."

That seemed to change Seira's spirit pretty quickly. "The subclass I went with apparently has to do with stars, so I'm looking forward to it. Or… Maybe not stars, but come on, celestial can only mean what I think it does." Bringing her tray back, she quickly made her way over towards the elevator. "Is everyone else ready?"

Everyone else was finished with their meals, so they had no problem heading towards the elevator with her.

Once the door closed, it slowly rose up, allowing them to travel to the upper floor.

---

Garden

Nova took a look at the group of five that had made their way over to her. "Wow, this sure is scary." Her visor turned to one of joy. "What can I help you with?"

Gigi had her arms crossed, looking at her. "We need to know what you're injecting us with."

"Oh, well, you already know I can't do that." She let out a sad sigh. "I would love to, but it might affect how you do things."

Benoit took a step forward, wanting to steer the conversation away from that. "But… How would us knowing do anything? Unless there's a cure…"

"Well… There isn't exactly a cure…" Nova's expression briefly turned to one of sorrow. "As of yet, no way to fight this drug has been found."

"So… There's no actual reason to keep it a secret from us?" May hummed out.

Ever since Winter had gone down, Michael had been growing increasingly worried. "Please…" He pleaded, looking straight at Nova.

"..." She remained silent for a few seconds, before letting out a small sigh. "Alright, I suppose telling you won't really affect how the drug is utilised anyways." Despite having this sort of reaction, her visor seems to display joy. "I do love teaching, after all."

"You… Do?" That came as a surprise to Benoit. Up to this point, he had seen her as the scary lady who is threatening death over their head. It felt almost… normal.

Slowly, Nova nodded her head. "Yes, teaching is something I do all the time. So, listen up students." She raised her arm slightly, that way she could play around with her screen. After only a few taps, a projection popped out of the screen. "This is the flower used to make the drug." It had a purplish colour, and it looked unlike any flower that the others had seen.

Well, except for three people.

"O-Oh…" Benoit slowly nodded his head. "I've… I've seen pictures of that flower before."

May shrugged, nodding her head along with Benoit. "It's from Japan, isn't it?"

"Japan…?" Michael had definitely seen that flower in person before, but he knew he had never been to Japan before.

A happy expression appeared on Nova's visor. "Wow! I didn't know so many people would know about it."

Gigi and Gemini exchanged a confused glance, before looking back at Nova.

"But yes, it is a flower found mostly in Japan. Although, there have been some attempts to move it over to North America. Some of the attempts have proven successful."

"But, why have we never heard of it?" Gemini thought that he would at least know about that. Especially if the drug's main ingredient was a flower like that."

"It would be expected. It's a new flower species that only began to flourish two decades ago. In terms of lifetime, it's almost unnoticeable."

"How…" Michael mumbled out. "How does it work?"

Ever the eager learner! "Well, the flower has a special property to it." The display Nova had began to expand in size, before it let out what seemed to be pollen of sorts. "As a minor defense mechanic when anything unexpected touches it, it expels pollen, which is known to put any intruder to sleep."

"That would explain what it does to us…" May hummed out, tilting her head to the side. "But… That's not pollen we are being injected with."

"No, it is now. Harvesting of the flower allows us to turn the component into a liquid form. It's less effective, however."

"Less… effective?" That caught his attention. "How potent is the real thing?"

For a moment, Nova didn't answer. Only looking the other way. "The real version, in large enough doses, could induce comas in the victims."

"What?" Gemini narrowed his eyes. "And you're injecting this formula into us?"

"Relax!" Nova shook her head. "As stated before, the formula we use shouldn't do that at all. In fact, you'd need to be injected several times over to even get close to that point."

Gigi held out a yellow card, presenting it to Nova. "Information like that should have been disclosed in the rules. It's not fair for us to not know what we are dealing with."

Nova's visor now displayed a frown. "Information like this is rather sensitive."

"But…" May hummed out, thinking for a moment. "You wouldn't be worried about something like this unless there was a cure."

"Well, there is a cure. However, that hasn't been around for a long time." Nova pressed some buttons on her screen, showing off a different flower. It looked completely different from the one she had just shown. "Also located in Japan, it's in the same family as the previous flower. The only problem…" She trailed off, a visible frown on her face. "That flower has long since stopped existing."

"Huh? It went extinct?" Gemini raised an eyebrow. "When did it do that?"

Nova didn't even have to think to be able to answer. "It went extinct about five years ago. It appeared around the same time as its brother… Unfortunately, some people thought it best to get rid of."

"Can't imagine why." Gigi closed one of her eyes, keeping the other focused completely on Nova. "But doesn't that work in your favour? Now we have no way to be cured from the drug."

Based on her small reaction, Nova didn't seem to agree, but she continued the conversation anyways. "If that's what you believe to be the truth." She held her arms together. "I won't stop you from thinking so. However, you aren't wrong in your assumption. Someone thought of the termination of the sister flower so that there would be no cure for the flower."

"Why would someone want to do that…?" A drug like that… It was dangerous. The cure should at least be kept around.

"Exactly the reason Gigi suggested. So that there wouldn't be a cure."

"That's…" Gemini trailed off, running a hand through his head. "You aren't the ones responsible, are you?"

Nova's visor turned to one of surprise. "Oh! Of course not! However, we do have samples of the flower, which is why you're able to have it with you right now."

May let out a small yawn, before taking a shot in the dark. "This garden… It's not the only one, is it? Is it possible that there's another garden out there that's growing this flower."

For a moment, Nova's visor changed to black, and she remained still. After a few more seconds, it flickered back to a green colour, which showed a happy expression. "Oh, you're so smart. Yes, the flower is currently being grown in this very facility. However, I would be careful about heading into a room like that without the proper equipment. One wrong step, and you might find yourself in a coma."

A haunting warning.

Benoit slowly glanced at the ground. "Why would you use something like that…?" Benoit knew a decent amount of medication… So why resort to something like that? There had to be something else she could have used.

For a small second, a frown expression was visible on Nova's visor. But it quickly faded away, back to her neutral expression. "Because it had to be this one." Looking at the group of five, Nova took a bow. "Thank you for your questions. But that is all I'm willing to answer as of today." She didn't wait for a response as she left the room.

"Should we go after her?" Gemini had several other questions, but he didn't want to act if the others wanted to remain here.

Gigi crossed her arms. "It's not worth our time. She told us what we wanted to know." Her attention changed over to May and Benoit. "You're our best bet in figuring this out." However, she wasn't the only one that her attention was focused on. Instead, she slowly shifted her attention to Michael. "And you."

"Hmm?" Michael had been in a daze up until this morning, so he was almost torn away from his focus. "What's wrong?"

"Something on your mind?" Gigi wanted to get to the bottom of this.

However, Benoit stepped in. "I think he's just as confused as we are…" His eyes shifted over towards the hooded figure. "I can try and see what I can find… but this is all new stuff to me."

"If there were records of this flower on this station… I might be able to read something about it." May pointed out. "But… As it stands… We don't have anything." But a name was the first step. She had only heard it a few times, but it had to have meant it was relevant. Nobody randomly talks about a flower from Japan.

Entirely lost in this conversation, Gemini scratched the back of his head. "Maybe we should just go join up with the rest of the people." He was worried that his coin total might go down. He wasn't sure what the exact distance of this sector was, but he didn't want to take any chances.

Gigi stood still for a bit before turning to look at him. "Very well. Shall we head to my station to start the game?"

Ah. Right.

They were going to be starting that today. "Let's go." Although, he had no objections.

---

Ultimate Referee Station

Ian had presumed he was the first one to enter this room, given he had almost made a beeline here. He hadn't had a reason to come here yet, but he just didn't feel like gambling today. Instead, he had moved over to sit by the monitors. He knew that the other people would have a better use for the table today.

What Ian hadn't expected was that someone else was already here. "What are you doing here?"

Lorelei sat off to the side, playing on their watch. "Hmm?" It's where she had been hanging out these past couple of days. "Being forced here, really." Well, not really, given they had other rooms to go to.

Slowly, Lorelei stood up, turning off her watch. "Although, I'm thinking of going to the casino, my coins are running pretty low." Not that she's put the most effort in keeping them high.

"Oh really?" Ian brought a hand to his chin. "I thought you of all people would have at least made some attempts to increase your coin total."

Checking out their nails, Lorelei shrugged. "Never saw the reason to raise them beyond an absurd amount. That'd just make people think I'm planning something." Then, her eyes slowly drifted to look at Ian. "Got any big ideas, gambling boy?"

Ian shrugged, reaching into his pocket to pull out a deck of cards. "I was just trying to make sure I had enough money to last me until the motive is done. And also, you can't expect me to not gamble." Who did she think he was? Shuffling the cards around, he sat down on the chair in front of the monitors. "I would try and go for some of those unique prizes, but the prices are absurd, and their functionality is questionable."

So he hadn't even bothered going for any of those. "Interesting." They'd keep what they know a secret for now, then. "Well, don't let me get in the way of… whatever you're doing." She brushed him off, hoping he'd leave them alone.

Of course, Ian wasn't one to turn down any form of fun. "Is that so?" A small smile had formed on his face. "You and I haven't really had the opportunity to talk. Not since we explored my station together."

"And that's the way I like to keep things." Why would Lorelei waste her time talking to someone like him, of all people?

But Ian wasn't going to take that as an answer. "You seem like someone who likes winning games, so I was just curious, is all." He had noticed that she was playing on her watch, and it didn't take a genius to figure that out. "You did accumulate a lot of coins, last time I checked."

Quickly, Lorelei moved her watch away. "I never showed you something like that, so why…"

Ian shuffled the cards in his hands, breaking eye contact. "I went to check the total sometime yesterday. You're one of the people who have the highest score, so clearly you are putting in the work."

Lorelei raised an eyebrow. "What's the point of me liking games? Yeah, I play them all the time. I'm pretty good at it."

Slowly, an idea formed in Ian's head. "Then we should play a game of poker when the chance arises. I'd love to see if you can stand up to me."

Not being stupid, Lorelei slowly shook her head. "Yeah, sure, that's like willing to go into a game with a hacker. It's not going to work. You might be the Ultimate Gambler, but I have no doubt you'd resort to cheating if you had to."

An accusation like that did damper Ian's mood slightly. Now, a visible frown was on his face. "Everyone seems to think that, you know. They all think I'm some grand cheater, and I pull cards out of my sleeves." He finished shuffling the cards, putting them to the side. "But your accusation feels a bit more personal… Almost as if it's simply projecting."

Ian wasn't wrong. Lorelei did love to cheat at any opportunity she had. "Great observation, dumb fuck. They should give you an award for that."

Ignoring the main issue, Ian shook his head. "Just because someone like you isn't afraid to cheat, doesn't mean anyone with skills have to resort to such a thing. It would ruin the integrity of the game if I were to cheat." He tilted his head to the side. "Besides, if I did cheat, I'm sure just being in proximity of Gigi would get me caught. As she has not said anything about me, I must conclude I play a fair game."

Yeah right. Lorelei placed a hand on their hip, rolling their eyes. "As if. She's never seen you play a game of poker, has she?"

Guess she didn't know. Ian raised an eyebrow. "I beat her at poker pretty easily. And I did that without the need to cheat. Just because someone is good at something, doesn't mean the path they took is carved with cheating." People are always doubting his skills. This was no different. Slowly, he tilted his head to the side. "Tell me, do you feel like the skills you've arbored have only been achieved by unconventional means?"

How the hell did this turn against Lorelei all of a sudden? Turning around in her chair, she faced away from him. "All my achievements have been earned in the same way as yours have."

Frowning slightly, Ian shook his head. "Please don't insult me. I look at you, and I see someone who thinks the only way someone can even achieve anything is through unjust means."

If he cheated at the games he played, Ian knew he wouldn't have cared enough to become a gambler.

The fact he was so good at it kept him going.

But Lorelei? No. She didn't seem to have anything resembling that sort of determination.

"Heh." Lorelei used their usual laugh, covering their mouth. "Really? Are you trying to bring me down? As far as you know, I haven't done anything out of the ordinary."

Ian was starting to feel like Gigi at the moment. But that is only because of his love for the gambling scene. He could respect the rules in place for the games, and wasn't one to break the rules unless he found it to be unjust. "I don't see that same passion as I see in myself." He had seen himself in a mirror too many times to forget his look of determination before a big tournament.

A look that Lorelei didn't seem to have.

She had no stake in what she did.

Her view from what winning was had been completely warped, to the point that she had to accuse others of being just like her.

Poker was a game of chance, a game of skill, and most importantly, a game of being able to call one's bluff. A game of being able to figure out just what the opponent is thinking with their actions.

And from looking at Lorelei, she was leagues easier than any of the opponents that he had to face over his years of gambling.

"If you ever want to have a poker game with me, I'm always down for it. However, do know that I won't tolerate any sort of cheating against me. I expect a fair game."

Lorelei spent a few seconds looking at him, before switching her focus back over to their watch. No matter what they said, she knew Ian wouldn't budge in the slightest. Thus, there was no reason to even humour him.

She waved her off dismissively. "I have no intention of going against you in poker. You're right. How could I possibly win without relying on cheating." There was a bit of bitterness in their voice. Their eyes shifted back towards Ian, almost as if to shoot daggers.

Slowly, a smile grew on Ian's face. "I'm glad we're on the same page, then." He sat back down on the chair, turning his attention back towards the monitor.

Having enough of this environment, Lorelei stood up from their chair, moving towards the door. She offered Ian no words of departure as she left the room.

It seems the two have grown closer! Probably.

---

Ultimate Soccer Player Station

Most people had decided to go elsewhere, given they weren't very sports oriented. But not Melody! There was just something fun about kicking a ball around. Besides, it was one of the only ways she knew to guarantee she'd win some coins.

With another kick of the ball, she sent it towards the goal, but the cardboard goalie blocked off this one. "Ah applesauce!" She cursed out, waiting for the ball to roll its way back over to her.

She was about to take another kick, but something caught her attention in her peripherals. Someone who was sure to put a smile on Melody's face. "Ah, morning Dae-Hyun."

He hadn't been back here since the day they first explored the new area. "Hey…" He offered shortly, looking the other way. "Is this the only place you hang around?"

Given that she wasn't going to kick the ball anytime soon, Melody hunched over and picked it up. "I'm no good at gambling, so it's the only way I can earn dough."

Dae-Hyun slowly shifted his gaze over towards the goal. "I suppose so… How much money have you earned so far?"

Melody hummed out in thought before shaking her head. "I don't recall. Scores are hidden, remember?" However, she didn't seem to mind. "Where have you been hanging out these past days?" She hadn't seen him here yesterday.

"... Gambling, mostly." Dae-Hyun glanced off to the side, hoping she wouldn't be able to see through his obvious lie.

Of course, Melody noticed something was off. "Level with me, you've been having giggle water, haven't ya?"

"Giggle… water…?" For a moment, Dae-Hyun was confused. He couldn't tell what Melody meant half the time, but it didn't take long to crack it down this time. "Oh, you mean I was at the bar?"

Melody placed a hand on her hip, trying her best to frown at him, but she just ended up looking non menacing. "Yes! We don't need you to be ossified."

Here she went again. Dae-Hyun didn't need Melody to tell him what to do. "That was only the other day." Yesterday he hadn't, nor did he go today. "I haven't been focused on raising my coin count." Dae-Hyun took a look at his own total, seeing that it remained the same for the past couple of days.

"Huh?" What? Why would he do that? "Don't tell me you're some sap." Melody tapped over to him, offering him the ball she had in her hands. "Here! It's your turn now."

Slowly, Dae-Hyun shook his head, lightly pushing the ball away from her. "I'd rather not. Sports aren't really my thing." Honestly, nothing here interested him in the slightest.

There was only one thing that interested Dae-Hyun at the moment. "Is that still a no for what we spoke about the other day?"

They had spoken a few times, so Melody couldn't quite narrow down what he meant. "Which conversation, exactly?"

Right, it had been a few days. "Back in my Ultimate Station, I had spoken about your future."

---

Dae-Hyun had spent a few seconds looking at Melody. Just like some of the other people he had met in his life, seeing her for the first time sort of just clicked.

He knew she had the talent he would be looking for.

"Say… Melody." Although, talking about it to someone could always be the issue. "Have you ever thought of a future where you are known for your talent?"

"Huh?" Melody tilted her head to the side, clearly confused. "As an Ultimate, I'm already known for my talent."

Right, he explained it wrong. "I meant, more so in the context of taking the stage. I've helped a ton of people back in my day." That already felt like such a long time ago. "People who wouldn't have otherwise had a chance soon found themselves on the stage of the world, showing off their talent."

Even now, Dae-Hyun's eyes focused on the idle dance Melody did. It's as if she couldn't stop moving.

"You have the type of energy people would love to see."

For a moment, she frowned slightly. "I would love an offer like that, but my life is much too busy for the likes of that.."

Oh… That was disappointing to hear.

---

Slowly, the memories came back to Melody. "Yes! What about that?" She approached him again after grabbing the ball that fell onto the ground.

"You mentioned one of the reasons you wanted to decline the offer was because of your schedule." He couldn't imagine her being too busy. She seemed more of a carefree girl that went with the flow.

"If I had to focus on something like this, when would I have time to run my club?" That seemed to be what was on her mind at the moment.

"You… run your own place?" Dae-Hyun seemed a bit pleased to hear that. "What's it like?"

"Not sure if you'd like it. But it's a speakeasy." She seemed happy to be talking about it, however.

He wasn't exactly sure what Melody meant by that. "What exactly is a speakeasy?"

"Oh, a juice joint." When confusion was still apparent on Dae-Hyun's face, Melody decided it was probably best to elaborate. "Basically a bar back in the day." Going into any more detail might not be for the best. "The dance studio belonged to my family, but it had long since been abandoned years ago." And it would have been left to dust up had Melody not stepped in to save it. "I turned it into a speakeasy with a dance floor attached to it. To live out the dreams I've always had."

"Your dream was to run a dance studio?" It was certainly a dream. "Is that where your dream stops?"

Melody shook her head. "A dream doesn't simply stop because you achieve something. You have to keep striving."

It was nice to see her be so passionate about this. For a moment, it put a rare smile on Dae-Hyun's face. "Don't I know that…" He had seen that very passion multiple times in his life.

"I want the world to get back into the style back in the day. I know it's been over a century, but it was an amazing era." Melody couldn't contain herself and continued to tap her foot on the floor. "I think you would have loved it. My place has such a spiffy look to it."

Covering his mouth, Dae-Hyun shook his head. "Those kinds of places probably aren't my style." However, it didn't mean he would avoid it. "But are you just going to stop at that one place?"

"You want me to have more?" Melody tilted her head to the side. The thought had always been in her head, but she had been content with just the one location. However, hearing it from Dae-Hyun himself reignited the passion for her dream. "If I could spread it across the country. To show as many people as possible the beauty of the era. Why, I believe I can make everyone a live wire!" She got closer to him. "What about yourself? You're a talent manager, right? What kind of talent have you cultivated."

Dae-Hyun turned his head. "That was years ago. I haven't really had any clients since." Nobody else had popped on his radar. Besides, he was mostly just avoiding the question.

"Well, are the students on the computer the only ones you've had?" Melody kept asking him, growing more curious by the second.

"... You aren't going to stop questioning me until I answer, aren't you?" Dae-Hyun had seen that spirit before from one of his students, and he knew it was pointless to fight it.

"Ab-so-lute-ly!"

Seems Dae-Hyun didn't have any say in the matter. "Four students were the only people I considered even worthwhile, you can say." He stuffed his hands in his pockets. "It's rare that I find someone that I could consider spending time on. Even here, with the Ultimates we have, I only spotted two people I'd want to spend my time working on."

"Two?" Melody knew she was one, but it was the first time hearing another one.

Stretching his cheek, Dae-Hyun glanced off to the side. "Tatiana was another one. Been meaning to talk to her. She seems like she'd be a popular TV personality if she ever made it bigger than what she has right now."

Hearing that, Melody seemed pretty happy. "Then maybe ask Tatiana if she wants to take her fame beyond what she has. I'm sure she'd have plenty of time doing so."

Dae-Hyun shook his head. "How would she not be busy, but you are?"

"Well…!" Melody let out a small laugh, hoping he'd stop asking questions. But the look he was giving her told her otherwise. "I'm not just running that business I started up. There's the entire side with my family."

Oh? That was the first he heard about such a thing. "What's going on with your family?" It wouldn't be the first time that a family got in the way of someone's talent.

"Well… There's expectations for myself and my siblings to inherit the business that my family has had for generations…" However, Melody's shift in tone indicated that she didn't want it in the slightest.

"Just let one of them inherit it. You don't have to worry about any of that." Dae-Hyun shrugged. To him, it seemed like a pretty easy solution. So why was she making a big fuzz out of it?

Glancing to the side, Melody had a sheepish smile on her face. "I want to help them have a better chance at inheriting it, so I try to be there for them."

That sounded like a complete waste of time to Dae-Hyun. "Listen, you should learn to focus on yourself first."

That got a slight giggle from Melody. "That's baloney coming from you! You always go out of your way to try and help others."

"..." Melody wasn't wrong per say. To the point where Dae-Hyun couldn't even counter her argument. So instead, he covered his mouth with his hand. "I suppose you got me there… But only for people I see worth helping. In this day and age, that's next to nobody." His only way out of this argument was to just… "You continue what you were doing." He waved his hand dismissively as he began to leave the Ultimate Station. "Try to keep yourself safe with a high coin total."

"On it!" That was the plan from the beginning.

Turning her focus back towards the scanner, Melody continued the game she was playing with herself.

Seems the two have grown closer.

---

Ultimate Referee Station

Now that the matter of the drug was over with, Gigi, Gemini, and May could finally head over to her station.

Once inside, they were greeted by the usual people. Seira, Edison, and May were all sitting around the table.

"Oh?" Gigi knew that she had shown interest before, but she wasn't expecting May to actually show up. "I never got your character before."

Letting out a small yawn, May shoved a piece of paper towards the center of the table. "I made it last night…" She hadn't had a reason to make one yesterday.

Grabbing the paper, she read it over. "Halfling Elf, Neutral Good. Wizard." Looked good enough for her. The stats were all written out correctly, so she had no issues here. "Then I believe we can start."

The group of five set themselves up at the table, however… Edison spoke up about something else entirely. "Um… Ian." He called out to the gambler, who had set himself up with a chair on the other end of the room.

Ian glanced over at him. "Hmm? What's up?" He was playing solitaire on the camera console. He wasn't doing too bad.

"You don't want to join us?" The chemist asked him.

The gambler gave it an ounce of thought before shaking his head. "Not really. From what I heard, it sounds like a large commitment." Besides, he didn't want to play a game hosted by Gigi. His focus shifted back over to the screen he was sitting by.

Which was fine by Gigi. She wouldn't have wanted him in this game anyways. "Focus."

"Right!" Edison reached over to grab the dice that Gigi had offered to him. "So. How do we start exactly?" This was his first time playing, so he didn't know all the details.

"Be a little more patient." Gigi was still getting all her notes ready, as she felt it was important to get everything in order.

Once she was confident, she let out a small relieved sigh. "I'll set the scene…"

…

…

…

…

The scene was like how most games would start out.

A tavern.

Because, that seems to be where all great adventures await.

Really? I would think they would start elsewhere.

Gemini, I'm narrating.

Oh right, sorry!

Today was like any other day. Just a normal gathering between folks. At this moment, Gemini, your character is alone at the table in the bar. You have been here for the past couple of hours, having a drink here and there.

As a thief, this was your usual hang out place. There was a thieve's guild somewhere in the city you could have been a part of, but you didn't like it one bit. It was always filled with people that just weren't your type. Thus, this had become the place you frequented.

Obviously, even a place like this didn't go without any problems. Since you have been here, two fights have already broken out. And, to add onto that, it seemed like a third fight was getting ready to start.

Edison, your character had just entered the bar for the first time. You had gotten a type that the information you were looking for was in this area. However, based on your approach, some guesses didn't take too kindly to you.

Gah! All I wanted to do was ask them some questions! Huh…! "C-calm down!" He adjusted his glasses.

"You don't know where you are getting your nose into, little boy."

Little? I'll have you know my character is 5'6"! That is very tall!

Edison, you're like 4'11". This doesn't count.

What did you say!?

Focus.

Telling the man to calm down seemed to have the opposite effect. Slowly he pulled out a dagger. Gemini, you are able to see this happening.

I get up from my chair and make my way over towards the fight. This is what I tried to do with the other fights. "What seems to be the problem here?

The large man turns to look at you, narrowing his eyes. Almost as if appalled that you even got involved in the first place. "How about you mind your own business, bud?" He reaches over for the blade on his hip, ready to fight if things get hasty.

"Woah, I'm just trying to avoid a fight here." My character raised his hands in defense. "Can't we just settle this peacefully.?"

The man looks at you for a few seconds, unsure if they should even follow your words. Roll persuasion.

Huh… Alright. The d20?

Yes.

Alright, I got a… two plus four…

How did you mess up your first roll?

You've managed to convince the man from picking a fight with Edison. However, only because he wishes to fight you instead. He quickly draws his blade, ready to attack you. Roll initiative you two.

…

…

…

…

…

"So we're just going to be waiting." Seira didn't mind, but she thought their characters would be involved.

"It would be weird for everyone to be involved in this fight initially." Gigi pointed out, sorting through her notes. "Your characters will be appearing shortly. Please be patient."

Seira frowned slightly, but she couldn't exactly argue here. Maybe it meant that she'd make one hell of an entrance!

…

…

…

…

…

Based on the rolls, Gemini, you're able to act first.

Without any hesitation, I pull out my blade, and take a strike at him.

Your blade holds true as you manage to deliver a blow, barely cutting him in the waist. He seems in pain, but otherwise, still able to fight.

However, given that you were the one to attack him, Gemini, his anger will be aimed at you for this attack. With one swift attack, he's managed to drop you to half health in a single blow.

Jesus Christ…

Don't worry Gemini, I will save yo-

Before you even have the time to react, Edison, you hear some movement behind you.

The thug had a friend, and he was going to focus on you. Looking behind you, you see a person even larger than the one attacking Gemini.

Scientifically speaking, I am screwed!

In an instance, the sword came striking down towards you-

Shield! I use shield!

At the last possible moment, you are able to project a shield in front of you. Redirecting an otherwise fatal blow to you. The thug has now left himself wide open.

Charging up the power of alchemy…! I throw acid at him.

It's a bit intense, isn't it?

Seeing you make a motion to throw a bubble of acid at him, the thug tries his best to avoid the attack. Unfortunately, because he left himself wide open, he didn't have enough time to avoid the acid that quickly drenched his skin and clothes. He wasn't out of the fight yet, but he seemed to be in pain.

However, this wasn't the only place where something was going on, as outside the bar, there were two other characters stuck in their own shuffle.

Seira, your character had been on a mission given to you by your recently acquired patron. Deciding it was imprudent to travel along, you had hired a travelling mage. More specifically May's character.

Unfortunately, funding wasn't that much in your department, so you got stuck with a low level mage.

That isn't very nice…

I'm sure you'll do great! But you said we have run into a bit of trouble ourselves?

Trouble is one way to describe it. Around these parts, the mage guild that May's character is from isn't well regarded in this part of town, so you've garnered some unwanted attention from two people out on the street.

"Don't mind these people, they always want to cause trouble with our guild…" She didn't seem very enthused about dealing with this…

My character looks around, hoping for a way out of this situation.

While it would be best to avoid any confrontation, random passersby were much interested in seeing a fight going on then making room for an escape route. It seems that you'd be unable to avoid this encounter.

Maybe not from traditional means, no, but… "We mean you no harm. We are just trying to get through."

The men don't seem too interested in you. Instead, they seemed almost hell bent on May. While you hired her for help, you knew that on her own, she was almost completely defenceless.

I guess I don't really have a choice, now do I? Before the one closest has the time to react, I'd like to fire off an eldritch blast.

The man clearly wasn't expecting such a sudden attack, so he wasn't ready to brace himself. In one hit, you had managed to deliver significant damage, almost bringing him to his knees in an instant. But he wasn't out of the count yet. In fact, as soon as he got back on his feet, he grabbed his bow and fired a shot… At you May.

I'm going to try and Shie-

As you bring up your shield, you fail to realise just how intense of a shot it is, as it manages to pierce right through your spell, striking you in the shoulder.

I… Am already almost dead.

That is how it feels playing a wizard. But don't worry, it's your turn now.

Alright… Looking at the man who just shot me, I waste no time in raising my staff and firing off a fire bolt at him.

Having expected to kill you in one shot, the man had no time to react to the bolt of fire careening towards him. As the bolt of flames connected with his chest, the man burst into flames, quickly crumbling to the ground.

I- Woah-

The townspeople around don't seem to be too much in a panic. Fights like these normally break out into death, especially when magic is involved.

However, the second man won't take so kindly to such an aggressive act. Realising that the problem here was May, he runs at her, taking a strike of the sword. … I wouldn't recommend shielding here, since it wouldn't save you anyways.

How low is your AC?

… Like… 12. I didn't have time to set up mage armour.

Jesus…

As the man swings the sword into the same elbow that the arrow had embedded itself into, you feel your feet grow weak as you collapse on the floor, unconscious.

I'll-

Moving back over to the boys. Gemini, the last thing you remember seeing was the man facing you attacking you, and Edison fighting the second thug.

Alright, alright. I don't have anything else to do, so my character is going to take another slash at the man standing in front of me.

Once again, you don't seem to have any issues hitting the man. This time, you seemed to have done much more damage than the last. Almost killing him as blood trickled down his side.

But, he still had a bit of fury in his eyes as he brought his sword down again.

Thankfully, being much more prepared, you managed to side step the attack completely, negating any damage you would have taken.

Nice.

Edison, the man you're fighting, takes another swing at you, landing a clean blow on you, but not taking you out of the fight completely. In fact, you've been dropped to only two hit points left. You're bleeding, but you can still fight.

… I throw more acid.

Alright. With another bubble of acid, he's once again unable to avoid the attack. This time, he takes the splash in the back, but he is still standing. It seems like it'll be much harder to kill him than you originally thought. However, evidence that he was on his last leg became apparent.

Switching back over to the girls.

Seira, you just saw May light one of the thugs on fire before the other one took her down. What are you going to do?

I'm going to use my bonus action to use healing light on May, using only one dice… For five hit points.

Somehow, that's almost all my health.

Yes, wizards are very squishy. May, you are able to feel your wounds close up, and you have the energy to get back up. As for you Seira, there's still things you are able to do. What would you-

I'm going to aim back at the thug, hoping to blast him away from May. With another eldritch blast, I take aim at him.

This time, your shot barely seems to miss as the man steps to the side.

Well, in that case, I cast magic missiles on him… making sure all three of them hit him…

You… You obliterate him into nothingness as all the projectiles manage to pierce his skin, sending him falling to the ground.

Are we just better than the guys?

Hey! Hey! You had an easier fight!

May went down.

Shifting back over to the boys, Gemini, you're up.

Alright, alright. With hopefully one last attack, I take aim at the man I was fighting.

Your blade, true to how well you are at handling it, manages to pierce right through his stomach, causing him to fall on the ground. Now, there was just the one guy left. However, upon seeing that you had just killed his friend, and he was growing pretty weak, he quickly raised his hands up in the air. "I surrender!" He pleaded with his miserable life.

I turn to look at Gemini, almost as if to ask what to do.

I see no point in killing him. Leave him alive.

"Excuse me." The bartender called out, polishing a glass. He didn't seem to be too interested in the fight that just happened, nor did he try to stop it. "Can you please take this outside, you're ruining business for me."

Right. "I have some questions for you." I addressed the thug as I tried to shove him out of the establishment.

As the two of you leave the bar, you'll see that two girls were just done with their own fight. They seemed to be fighting two thugs similar to the ones you were fighting.

Like, they were wearing the same clothes and stuff?

With the roll you got, you're able to determine that whoever these people are, they were from the same gang of people. This wasn't just some random attack.

"That man…" I hummed out, taking a step over to him. "Did he randomly attack you?"

"Well, his friend picked a fight with this guy." I point over to Edison. Not sure why, though.

"All I was doing was asking questions!"

I looked at the two people that May had killed. "We were pretty much in a similar situation. The two of us were just walking when we were randomly attacked."

"Hmm… You might have been attacked… Because of me."

I point over to May accusingly. "So this was your fault!"

My character lets out a small sigh. "Let's not point fingers at random people. Why were youattacked?"

"My guild isn't well liked in these areas… It's likely they were just trying to get me…"

"Huh? But I'm not part of that guild!" Wait, Gigi! I'm not part of the guild, right?

You are not. However, you do know somewhat of this guild. Very popular place near the center of the city. But… obviously not around these parts.

"You might not be part of the guild... But it's likely they heard about me being in the area... and only knew a mage was going to be around. They probably didn't have any other information."

"Besides them being short." I pointed out the similar height the two of them had.

Hey!

My character turned around, deep in thought. "We can question this guy here…" I nudge my foot over to the very injured thug.

He makes eye contact with you, Gemini, slowly nodding his head. "We thought he was part of that damn guild. We were told that a short mage would be walking through here, and he fit the bill."

"I am more than some mere mage-"

"You don't have to say it like that." My character twirls around her staff… "I may not be as good as the others, but I can hold my own."

My character wanted to point out that she went down pretty easily, but then she remembers that she also killed both of them, almost on our own.

Can I take a look at the guy who's still alive? I want to see if there's anything telling me what group he might be from.

From a very quick look, you aren't able to find much… Except for a single symbol that you, Gemini, would recognise. While you haven't been there before. It's the very thieves guild you always avoided.

"It's what I thought." My character took a closer look at the symbol. "Thieves guild."

"Oh, actually!" My character took a step forward. "That's what I've been looking for."

"And probably why I was attacked…" My character hummed out, tilting her head to the side.

"Wait…" For a moment, my character looks confused before looking over at May's character. "If I'm the reason why we're going after them, why did they target you instead?"

You know… I didn't put much thought into it. "Maybe we can ask that thug." She pointed towards the one Gemini was still nearby.

"I don't know anything!" The thug lifted his arms up, almost in panic. "I just got told to be on the lookout! Really! I know nothing!"

Can I see if he's lying?

From the roll you got, he doesn't seem to be lying. He seems like he was just given instructions, and didn't care enough to look into it anymore. Must be someone pretty low ranked. "Please! You have to believe me!"

"I think he's being truthful." I stepped away from him. "If you need help finding the thieves' guild, I know where it is."

A smile appeared on my character's face. "Oh, that would be lovely! Yes. If you could accompany us."

"I knew where it was…" My character grumbles out.

"With that, the three of you are ready to set out-

What about me?

Well, you don't seem to have a reason at the moment. So I don't see why you'd join them.

Oh! My character ran up to the three of them. "H-hey! Wait up!" He turned to look at Gemini's character. "Thank you for saving me back there. I feel like I owe you some kind of debt, don't I?"

"Oh! Well, if you want. I'm not going to say no to that. You can help us out with what we're about to do."

My character steps between you two. "You're just here to help us find the guild, and that's it. There's no reason to get involved further than that."

"Hey, you might need someone to get you inthe thieves guild. If they were looking for your group, they won't let you anywhere near there." My character had a plan in mind, and he was hoping to pull it off.

As the group sets off, they had one goal in mind. Getting to the thieves' guild. The reason still remains mostly unknown, as neither of the two people seemed to tell the other two…

…

…

…

…

…

"I think that's a good stopping point for our first session." Gigi closed up her book of notes. "I didn't want to get too far into it. I mostly wanted to make sure you all had a feel of it."

Edison adjusted his goggles. "To think a game like this existed. It was really fun! I got to throw acid at people."

"Edison, you already throw chemicals at things… This isn't too different." Seira pointed out.

May hummed out, slowly nodding her head along. "Despite being knocked out… That wasn't so bad."

Gemini seemed pretty happy with his performance. "My character knew what they were doing. Although, I feel like I missed out on an entire mechanic by not going for magic."

Gigi shrugged. "If you become an arcane trickster, you can acquire magic." Looking through her notes, she hummed out something else. "By the way, because being at level one for so long would be dangerous, I'm levelling you all up to level two." She slid the book she had at her side to the center of the table. "Please make sure you read here to understand what features you've gained."

For Edison, she pulled out a second book. "This one's for you." Given that his class was in a completely different book. "Would you guys want another session tomorrow?"

"Yeah, hold on, let me check my schedule." Gemini opened up his watch to look at nothing. "Strange. It's empty."

Gigi narrowed her eyes slightly. "A simple yes would have sufficed." Her expression returned to neutral. "Very well. You can all head off and do what you want to do now."

With that, the group spit up, with May and Gigi being the only two to stay.

Oh, and Ian. But he was forgettable at the moment.

---

Ultimate Gambler Station

That one session had taken way more time than Seira thought it would have. In fact, it made up a large portion of the word count.

Thankfully, now she was free to roam and do whatever she wanted to do. Which mostly meant GAMBLING! She would have played games with the others, but she kind of wanted to do something else. Maybe mindlessly play slots or something. Even if she knew it wasn't going to benefit her in the slightest.

Something mindless would be nice after having to put all her focus on not dying.

As she sat down, Seira felt a presence standing behind her. Quickly, she turned towards whoever was standing behind her.

"Hmm… No, don't let me get in the way of what you are doing." It was Gennosuke. He slipped into the slot machine next to her. "I thought you wouldn't like something like this. Didn't you get mad at Gemini for something like that?"

He wasn't there, so how would he know that? Then again, it was obvious what Gemini had been doing that morning. "Well…" Seira couldn't exactly give a proper response. "He was doing it with reckless abandon to achieve a goal well out of his grasp."

"And what are you doing?" Gennosuke crossed his arms.

"... Passing the time?" Ah, but there went any motivation to actually pay the slots. Slowly, Seira leaned back in the chair, looking at the display. However, she noticed that not even Gennosuke was playing at the slots. "What are you doing here, then?"

Pulling out a lollipop, Gennosuke stuck it into his mouth. "Eh, who knows. I'm not really interested in playing a rigged game like this. Maybe I was trying to pass the time by talking to someone like you."

What made her so special?

"I'm afraid I'm not that special of a person unless it comes to astrology." In which case, Seira could go on for hours.

Luckily, that's just what Gennosuke wanted to talk about. "Yeah, let's talk about that."

"H-huh?" Gennosuke didn't really seem like the type of person that'd be interested in such a thing. But Seira wasn't going to deny such a conversation. There was almost a sparkle in her eye. "What exactly do you want to know about?" She glanced off to the side. "Oh, there's so much we can talk about-"

"Zodiacs." Gennosuke's answer was short, but straight to the point.

Instantaneously, Seira had begun to sort through her bracelets. "Well, this one is-"

Which Gennosuke had to put a stop to it, lest it get out of hand.

"I know about them, you don't have to tell me what they are."

"O-oh!" Seira let her arm fall down to her legs. "Alright! Then what do you want to know?"

For a moment, Gennosuke didn't answer. Instead, he looked towards the slots. Slowly, he pulled out the lollipop from his mouth.

"From what I've been told… It's possible to determine what kind of person someone is based solely on their zodiac sign." An idea he could hardly believe in. How could your personality be based upon the day you were born on?

It didn't take long for Seira to clue in that there was doubt behind his voice. "Well, it isn't completely an accurate statement, no." She adjusted her Gemini clip before removing it entirely. "But it serves as a good baseline." She put the clip back into her hair. "Besides, from what I've seen, the zodiac sign lines up pretty well with the people we've met. Atlas comes to mind…" Seira's eyes drifted to the side, biting her lip slightly. "Aries are unafraid of conflict, and tend to be extremely competitive." Traits in which she saw with Atlas. "Lorelei is also an Aries, and you can see those same exact traits with her. However, I wouldn't say the two of them have the same exact personality."

Gennosuke had chosen to remain silent, nodding his head along with the explanation. "Guess I've never seen it as such. But those two really do act in similar manners." He moved the lollipop stick around in his hand. "Well, maybe not in the same manner, but they are fueled by the same traits."

Seira had a warm smile on her face. He was getting it! "We can apply this to the other zodiacs too. Gemini's are a group that tend to get along rather well." Hence the official Gemini Squad™. "And when we did our exploration, we were able to get along pretty well."

Moving his head side to side, Gennosuke eventually relented. "I suppose so." He stuck his lollipop back into his mouth. There hadn't been any issues when they explored. At least not any outward problems. But… Ah, he quickly discarded that thought in his head. "This can't hold true for everyone, though.

Seira slowly shook her head. "No, I suppose it can't, but we can at least make some pretty good assumptions from the start." It's worked for Seira so much so far, why stop now? "Why do you ask, anyways?"

Oh? Now he was the one being questioned. He began to inspect his lollipop. "I was just curious, that's all. People are interesting beings, after all. Hearing that you've gotten decent at categorising them just had me interested. That's all."

Seira wouldn't put it like that, even if it's semi true. "What about yourself? Aren't you pretty good at reading people?" There was a bit of doubt in his psychic claim, but he was apparently an Ultimate, so she felt the need to humour him a bit.

"I tend to skip the step about knowing their zodiac. If I see a person, I can figure out what they're deal is pretty easily. But sometimes it's best to just not do it." It got boring after a while, so he would only need it if he had to.

Even then, Gennosuke wasn't sure if he wanted to.

"I guess reading people is in a similar vein as knowing their zodiac." Gennosuke eventually pointed out. "Sure, you need an extra step, but you're seemingly able to figure out what kind of person someone is based on that alone."

"When I woke up with Edison, I was able to tell what his deal was mostly based on his birthday." Seira nodded her head. "It's served me well my entire life. As if the very stars were guiding me on who I should associate with." She offered him a sweet smile.

Nodding his head along, Gennosuke eventually began to shake it. "While it's true, some people hide their intentions very deeply. I'm not sure how far the zodiac signs will be able to carry you."

"Oh?" Seira almost seemed a bit disappointed to hear that. "But the signs should hint at their true personality."

Gennosuke did not believe that in the slightest. And the more he spoke with her, the less he believed. "That may have held true for most of your life, but remember, people have a tendency of putting on a face to show the world. Secrets to hide, and whatnot."

He leaned back in the chair he was in. "Besides, you'd be required to trust that they don't lie about their zodiac sign."

Seira frowned slightly. "But that's cheating. I can't get an accurate read if someone lies to me."

A frown slowly formed on Gennosuke's face. "People aren't fair. They'll lie and do whatever they have to to get far in life. You shouldn't solely rely on something like zodiacs to figure out how a person is."

"Well!" Seira wasn't dumb like that. "I know that. I use my own judgement to make decisions on the people I meet. But… the signs just help a lot." She adjusted her pin.

This didn't go unnoticed by Gennosuke at all. "You play around a lot with those. Any reasons why?"

"Oh!" Seira quickly moved her hand away. "I'm not quite sure. It gives me something to fidget with." Without even realising, her hand went to play around with her bracelets. "I think it's just something I do naturally."

It was amusing to watch, so Gennosuke had no further comment on it. "Don't let me stop you, then." Finally, he scanned his watch against the scanner, allowing him to pull the slot levers. "That's about what I wanted to talk to you about. Mostly how you view people. Seems you are true to your talent, and the stars do truly guide you."

Seira made sure to scan her own bracelet, before glancing his way. "What about you? How do you deduce if a person is good or not."

At first, Gennosuke didn't answer. He just kept watching the slots stop in front of him, informing him that he had lost. "Sometimes, it only takes a single look to know someone's intentions. Other times, the person I'm speaking to buries their thoughts so deep in their mind that it's pointless to even try. I might be an Ultimate, but even I have my limits."

Gennosuke turned to look at her, giving the same chill smile he always had on his face. "But hey, that just tells me to be wary of people."

Seira turned her focus back towards the slots. She had won ten coins! Neat. "Hmm…" From what she spoke about with Gennosuke, seems had a lot to think about…

It seems the two have grown closer.

---

Ultimate Referee Station

The long session of DnD had long since ended, but there were still people who found themselves in the room, unable to leave. May, Ian, Gigi, and by default, Gemini. However, only two of those would be the focus today.

Gigi had been sitting down at the table, reading through the notes she had written for the next session, whenever that would happen, when May sat down across from her.

After looking at her for a few seconds, Gigi finally responded. "It's probably not the best idea to be sitting down here. I'm doing some planning."

"You can wait on the planning…" May had some things she wanted to say after all. "I want to have a serious conversation with you…"

Odd… First time May had approached her about that. "What… about?" She closed her notes, pushing them to the side.

"It's about the drugs that Nova mentioned." Oh, then maybe Gigi should hear May out about this. "Especially the side effects…"

Nobody else was listening to their conversation, which was what Gigi preferred in this case. "What about those, specifically?"

"It's just…" How could May go about talking about this? "The dream part of it. According to what we know, there's weird vivid dreams."

Of course May would want to talk about the dreams. "What about them?" May was being rather vague, so Gigi found it hard to help carry the conversation.

For a bit, May had nothing to say. Either because she had fallen asleep, or because she was trying to figure out her next talking point. "I've had weird dreams since I've been here."

"Oh?" That was the first Gigi was hearing this. "What kind of dreams?"

"I…" May rested her head on the table. "It's hard to explain… really… But I'm thinking this might not be the first time we've been injected by this drug…"

Gigi slowly brought a hand to her head. "More than likely not, no. We all suddenly woke up in this place, so it's likely that it was used to knock us out." At least they had a piece of the puzzle locked down. "Have you never had weird dreams before?"

Letting out a small yawn, May slowly shook her head.

"No, I've had weird dreams before… Tons… in fact. However, this is by far the weirdest dream I've had…"

"Then there's no point in worrying about it." Gigi shook her head. "We know it's from the drug, so there's nothing else to figure out."

May… Didn't seem to think that in the slightest. Letting out a small sigh, she rested her head on the table. "Maybe… But I think something else is up. Recently… I had a really weird dream." To the point that maybe it wasn't a dream at all.

Gigi remained silent, figuring that if May wanted to keep explaining, she would be free to do so.

But an explanation didn't come. Instead, it was a question. "Have you ever felt a sense of deja vu before?"

Looking off to the side, Gigi shrugged. "I presume everyone has at some point." Her eyes focused their attention back on May. "What does that have to do with anything?"

That very thought kept pushing itself into the back of May's head, but she couldn't figure out an answer. "It feels like sometimes… I've dreamed of events that haven't happened yet…" She let out a small sigh.

Out of all the conversations Gigi thought she'd be having with one of the smartest people here, this wasn't one of them.

"Your dreams… come true…?" Even she couldn't believe that.

"Well…" May tapped her chin, thinking back to the dream she had had. "It wasn't completely the same."

Furrowing her brows, it was clear that Gigi was getting annoyed with every passing second of this conversation. "May, you are very difficult to talk to. When it comes to conversation, you seem to beat around the bush about things you know. To the point that it's near impossible to get anything out of you. You're vague, as if you don't trust the person you're talking to."

… That was true. May knew that her way of talking could get on people's nerves.

But in a game like this?

Saying everything she knew? She couldn't bring herself to do that. A killing game required some trust if you wanted to be kept safe, but too much trust could be dangerous.

Instead, May sort of just hummed out some inaudible mumbling. However, when her voice was back to a more normal level, she asked another question.

"If events were set up almost the same exact way, do you think they would play out the same?"

Another vague question that Gigi couldn't begin to decipher. "You're going to need to give me more information than just that."

Tapping her chin again, May tried to find a better way to phrase this. "Say you throw a bunch of people in a room. When they all wake up, everyone starts talking. That's normal. But… What if you took their memories away of an event like that, and threw them in the same room, with a few minor details changed... Would the events play out the exact same or not?"

Despite such an absurd conversation, Gigi was going to humour it. "Any amount of things could change to lead to completely different results. It's the same in sports. Teams could go up against each other with the same exact people… And the results could be different every time."

"I… See…" Did that help May in any way? Maybe she just wanted a theoretical conversation. "That has been pretty insightful."

Gigi's frown only grew. "May. I need to know if this conversation is important. If it can help us…"

She rubbed her eyes, shaking her head. "It was… Just to put my mind at ease… Yeah." May wanted to say some more things, but she knew it was pointless to bring something like that up. "Thank you for your time… I'm looking forward to your session tomorrow…"

Gigi wanted to stop her from leaving, but she knew she had no power to do so. "Yes, I'm looking forward to it as well. Thank you for joining the campaign." She eyed May as she left the room, leaving her alone with Ian.

"Come here often?" Ian was bored, so might as well ignore her a bit.

"Zip it." Gigi went back to looking at her notes. She'd need to have a follow up conversation with May very soon.

It seems the two have grown closer…

---

Ultimate Gambler Station

Because of the scare that happened yesterday, Winter was even more intent on raising her coin total. Of course, she made sure to take things easy. She didn't want to bet too much, so she kept the amount manageable. Of course, she listened to what Ian had told her, and opted to stay at the roulette tables.

"Oh?" Someone had approached her. Turning to look at who it was, they revealed themselves to be Gemini. "Guess something like this is easier than the slots." And better than losing to Ian.

"It's quite calming." Winter's eyes changed back to watching the ball slowly roll around the table, before landing in black. Perfect. That's where her bet was. "Seira isn't with you? Nor is Gigi?" She swore that he had been doing nothing but hang around those two as of late.

Slowly, Gemini shook his head, sitting down across from Winter at the table. "No, Gigi is back in her own station, and I haven't seen Seira around since our DnD session has ended."

Winter did not want to know what that was about, so she ignored it completely. "You know, I see something brewing between you two." She was observant, so even she could tell something was up.

"Between Gigi and I?"

The smile quickly wiped off Winter's face. Was he playing dumb, or was he actually dumb? "No, I meant with you and Seira?"

Maybe there was something there, but Gemini wasn't exactly sure. "Well, we have done all our exploration together. And it feels fitting to hang around her, given my name." Seira seemed to really like his name. "Besides that, we've only known each other for a few days."

Is that all Gemini really thought of her? "Interesting." Winter placed another bet, this time on red. "I don't mean to pry, but I doubt she just views it as such. She started hanging around you more once you were revealed to be Gigi's partner."

That was true, but Gemini didn't find anything odd about it. "Is it really odd?" He had his doubts. "I mean, sure, but that's because we started a group game. So she's tagging along for that."

He really was hopeless in this department, wasn't he? "Girls are much different than that, you know. You might miss obvious signs, but I can tell that they are there."

Wait a second, when did this turn into a romance reading. "What about Michael and yourself?" That's right, deflect, Gemini!

To that statement, Winter briefly lost her composure, turning her eyes to the side. "What do you mean?" She kept a smile on her face. "We've just ended up paired up together a lot. Completely out of our control, honestly."

That was true. The first time had been decided by zodiac signs, and the second time had been decided by picking cards. "It still feels like you two hang out a lot around each other." Gemini was doing what he did best. Escaping questioning. He was almost a master at this point, to the point where Winter seemed to be on the defensive.

Gaining a bit of composure back, Winter shook her head. "Although, I don't mind his company in the slightest." He was sweet, which is one of the things that really mattered.

"Same with Seira, honestly." Although, from what he could see, she could get angry whenever Edison was involved. However, the chemist brought it upon himself half the time, so he couldn't really blame her in this instance. The neutral expression on Gemini's face slowly morphed into a smile, recalling the time he spent with some of the people here. "Despite being stuck here, at least the company is nice." Wouldn't stop him from looking for a way out. The man was DETERMINED.

"Can't say I can disagree either." Winter leaned her head back slightly, looking up at the ceiling. "The company is nice here." Even Gemini, who she hadn't really spoken to until now. Watching the ball land on red this time, she slowly nodded her head. Another win. "Now, don't think you can escape me when it comes to love." Winter wasn't dumb enough to miss the fact that Gemini had changed the subject slightly.

Ah darn! "Let's go gambling!" He decided to add himself in with a bed on black. It spun and spun and sp-

Red.

"Ah dang it."

Winter, on the other hand, had successfully made another correct bet. Her coin total wasn't going up by much, but it was enough that she was feeling safer. "You can't run away from the truth." She let out a small giggle.

Rubbing the back of his head, Gemini let out a sigh. "Still, this doesn't exactly feel like the setting where I should be worrying about something like this." Maybe after escaping.

"True, but as the Ultimate Love Guru, I feel the need to do my job, no matter what is happening around me." She felt it was the only reason she could keep a semblance of her sanity in this place. "Tell me, Gemini, you can't deny you like spending time with her."

Gemini's eyes darted to the side. "I really can't. She's nice to have around, and it feels like a rare source of genuine conversation. Not sure who around can be really trusted at face value." There were a few people that came to mind.

Winter slowly nodded her head along to his words. Yes. Trust. That was the important thing that was needed in a game like this.

She felt like she could trust Michael, which is why she clung on to him… Amongst other reasons.

However, something popped into Gemini's mind. "You know, you're always helping people find who their true love is… But do you ever take the time to find someone for yourself?"

Slowly, Winter nodded her head. "Yes, I'm always on the lookout." Glancing off to the side, she frowned slightly. "Because if I don't hurry up, I fear my parents will force me into a marriage with someone I don't want to be with."

"Oh!" Gemini matched her frown. "Someone awful?"

"Oh! No! Nothing like that." Winter covered her mouth with her hand. "It's just that the two of us don't want anymore more out of the friendship we have. They want us to get together. But for us, there's no romantic interest involved."

It wasn't as bad as Gemini thought, so he was a bit relieved. "Do your parents know this?"

"Even if they did, I doubt it would change their mind. They are very adamant about me marrying him."

"But to be thinking about marriage already…" Gemini shook his head. He didn't really have a chance to even consider that in his life yet.

"Must be cultural differences." Winter hummed out, watching the ball roll around the table. "My parents built up everything they had based around the concept of love, so it's only natural that they would push that onto me the first chance they got." She didn't seem to be happy about it. "Luckily, I have no intention of going with their plans. I'll get myself married when I find the perfect person."

"And that person is Michael?"

Winter narrowed her eyes, before letting out a small giggle. "I could say the same about Seira." Neither would budge on this subject matter…

It seems the two have grown closer.

---

Ultimate Soccer Player Station

Despite spending most of the day here, Melody still wasn't ready to leave. She had earned herself a fair amount of coins, so she was hoping to break out the thousand mark.

Dae-Hyun had long since left, having other things he wanted to do, leaving her pretty much alone.

Almost.

There was one more person here.

Take a wild guess.

Go on.

Having scored seven out of ten goals, Melody turned to look at the only other person in the room with her. "How are you fairing?" She hadn't spoken to Atlas since yesterday, so she was worried that he was still angry.

At first, he didn't answer. He was too focused on his current shot. Backing up, Atlas took one last kick, sending the ball flying towards the goal.

Right into the net.

"Fuck yes!" Finally, a perfect score. Atlas had been at it for a while, but it wasn't until now that he finally managed to get the score that he wanted.

"Atlas?" Melody approached him, hoping to not ruin his victory too much.

However, the smile that had been on Atlas' face quickly faded away as soon as Melody had gotten close to him. "What do you want?" He took a step back, trying to create some distance between the two.

"I wanted to apologise about what happened yesterday." Melody was there, so she felt like part of the blame was on her end.

Why the fuck was she- "You didn't do anything." Atlas narrowed his eyes. "So you don't have to say anything." He turned away, ready to walk away.

"But!" Melody called out, before moving to catch up to him. "I want to play an actual game with you. I'd be swell if you said yes."

It took Atlas approximately zero seconds to figure out why that was a bad idea. "We are in different leagues. A game between us wouldn't be fun."

"Oh, why I don't mean with just us two. I'm sure we can get everyone on board." However, just looking at Atlas made her understand how much he didn't want that. But Melody wasn't going to stop trying. "Ah, come on! Don't be a wet blanket!"

"A wha-" You know what, Atlas didn't care at the moment. "We saw what happened last time we tried, so why the fuck would I want to-"

"We could get Gigi to referee."

Gigi?

The only other person who knew anything about the sport. Besides, he himself was curious to see if Gigi was actually any good at this. "Fine." If she was here, Atlas knew that it would be a fair game without any pointless interruptions. "But I get to choose the teams."

"Do I get to be on your team?" Melody's eyes sparkled slightly at the thought.

"Yeah, yeah… Sure… whatever." Atlas just wanted to get out of here so he could grab some food before he had to head to bed. Making his way over towards the door, he noticed that Melody had followed him. "What are you doing?"

Opening the door for him, Melody turned to look at him. "Well, I thought we should mention this to the others, to see who would like to join."

She was already making it a pain. But whatever.

Atlas needed a good game of soccer after all the time he's spent here…

---

Cafeteria

With the idea fresh in her head, Melody bounced into the cafeteria, almost as if dancing on her way there. The others had just recently gathered to eat before going to bed, so she'd have the whole cafeteria to herself.

Atlas was behind her, but didn't say anything as he watched her make her way towards the cluster of tables.

Clicking her heels on the floor, the sound it generated was enough to drown out some of the conversation, causing most people to look over in Melody's direction.

"I have an announcement to make!"

"You're getting married?" Laki tilted her head to the side. "Congratulations!"

Quickly, a blush formed on her face. "W-what? No! I was going to make a request to everyone here!"

Not completely wanting to be a part of this, Atlas passed by her, moving over to sit away from everyone else.

"I was thinking how neat it would be to have a soccer game amongst all of us." Melody continued on. "I believe it would be the bee's knees, and would help everyone get along."

However, as she explained, most people seemingly lost interest.

Well, except for four people.

"If you need someone to watch over the game, I'd gladly lend my expertise." Gigi was getting tired of staying in her Ultimate Station all the time, so it was time she branched out

"Soccer, huh?" Ian wasn't exactly into sports too much, but if they wanted to play a game, who was he to deny something like that. "Yeah, I could tag along."

Laki raised her hand up. "Me! Me! Me!" She now counted as three people, according to her own logic.

Hae-Won seemed to be interested, but her eyes shifted to Atlas. "I'd gladly join. But know I don't wish to work on a team with him."

"Doesn't matter, fuck face. I wasn't going to choose you anyways." Atlas stood up from his seat. "So what? Is that everyone? We need someone extra."

Gemini was about to say something, but he was cut off by someone else.

"Oh! Oh!" Dolly exclaimed, realising this was her one moment for redemption from yesterday. "Include me! I promise I won't ruin it this time!"

At first, Atlas was a bit sceptical. No way would this skinny freak be any good at soccer.

But, it didn't look like anyone else was going to volunteer, so he was forced to accept facts for what they were. "Fine…"

Dolly turned to look at Laki. "See! Now we don't have to worry about the motive anymore."

"What motive?" It was hard to tell if Laki was joking or not.

"How long do we plan on playing?" Gigi decided she was going to spend the time asking questions. "What time do you want to start?"

Melody hadn't exactly thought that far ahead, but what was the problem with making it up on the spot? "4:00pm sharp tomorrow!" A bright smile on her face. "And maybe we will go on for an hour."

An hour sounded nice. Turning her attention to the four in her group, Gigi spoke up. "After the soccer game is over, we can probably meet up for another session."

Edison adjusted his goggles. "That's fine by me!" He didn't really see himself doing anything else tomorrow except maybe raising his total. However… "Hypothetically speaking, what happens if the game lasts longer than that?"

Gigi shook her head. "We all have the time. I'll make sure the game doesn't take longer than it needs to."

Gemini scratched the back of his head. "I guess I should join up with you, then?" He wanted to play, but the spots were already filled. There went his chance of maybe getting coins that day.

Gigi slowly shook her head. "The other rooms should all be in range of the Ultimate Station, so if you want to go anywhere else, you're free to do so."

That could only mean one thing. Let's go gamb- "I might just try and increase my coin total while waiting."

"Everything is settled, then?" Melody tilted her head to the side.

"It fucking better be." Atlas didn't want to talk about it more than this.

Still, the thought of having something close to an actual soccer game did make him feel at least slightly better.

And now, he could see if Gigi was any actual good. He looked over at her, but she didn't seem to notice as she kept eating.

As the silent chatter that had dominated the room before slowly crept it's way back to the forefront, everyone continued on with their merry way, until it was time to leave for the night.

---

Motive Room

It wouldn't be a normal nighttime if May hadn't left the group at one point to go check up on the scores.

Each day felt like it was inching closer towards something bad happening, and while she had no idea who would be the one to fall, she knew it was going to happen again.

Someone had already fallen, after all.

And, as May had been expecting, an announcement played out. "Don't forget everyone, that tomorrow is the last full day you have before I hold myself to my promise? Don't want your secrets out? Don't want me to kill your loved ones? Then you better start acting now, I want a body dropped tomorrow."

Of course Monokawa was always going to be this intense. But May didn't care about the announcement. No, she cared about the coin total.

.

Invalid User: 160 Coins

Atlas: 1,237 Coins

Benjamin: 120 Coins

Benoit: 0 Coins

Dae-Hyun: 126 Coins

Edison: 316 Coins

Gemini: 512 Coins

Gennosuke: 853 Coins

Gigi: 0 Coins

Hae-Won: 747 Coins

Ian: 1,601 Coins

Laki: 100 Coins

Lorelei: 1,523 Coins

May: 179 Coins

Melody: 623 Coins

Michael: 624 Coins

Seira: 428 Coins

Tatiana: 274 Coins

Winter: 278 Coins

.

"..." May wasn't blind to notice the very obvious fact here, but she didn't feed the need to bring any attention to it. Not like she needed to, nobody else was around to make the same observation as her. With a small sigh, she turned around, leaving the motive room. She had gotten the information she wanted, so May wasn't going to risk being outside her room longer than she needed to.

She'd see what tomorrow brings.

---

Fuck yeah, I managed to get this done before the end of the month (technically missed by a few hours, but who cares). I was hoping to get trial parts one and two done as well, but my motivation was truly shot, and the roleplay Omakin had me sign up for. Luckily, I was totally eliminated when I wrote this. (Actually our team just lost the challenge, so we'll see if I actually go home or not) (I did)

This one felt like a much calmer chapter. Everyone has mostly gotten used to the motive, and nobody was found collapsed on the ground like in part 3. Maybe they've completely mastered how this motive works!

Except now they have to worry about the ongoing motive. Oops.

This chapter was kind of split in two big parts, with one part revolving around Melody, and the other part revolving around the DnD group. It's been a while since Melody was given the most screen time out of everyone, and I felt like she was overdue :D Not because she's dying or anything… haha… why would you think that?

But worry not! As I can almost guarantee that a body will be dropping in the next part! Almost. Maybe I've been lying this entire time and there's actually a sixth part. If that were the case, I'd REALLY be behind schedule right now. Haha…. Oh god wait-

With that said, I'll see you all in the next part! No shoutout because I stopped doing that a while ago and I write these days in advance so I have no idea who to give a shoutout to!

Anyways! Bye!

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Participants Remaining: 18

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Edison Thompton - The Ultimate Chemist [SilverMark16]

Benoit Chevalier - The Ultimate Physiotherapist [Epifanio Therion]

Seira Natsume - The Ultimate Astrologist [WolfieRed23]

Winter Hibiscus - The Ultimate Love Guru [Grandma Sue]

Giustina "Gigi" Giulio - The Ultimate Referee [Nekoja]

Gemini Strela - The Ultimate Escapist [secretnobody]

Benjamin Mason - The Ultimate Ventriloquist [NSPunny]

Lorelei Kaiser - The Ultimate Computer Security Specialist [CandleFire45]

Michael ? - The Ultimate ? [Omakin]

Melody Eleanor Hopkins - The Ultimate Tap Dancer [Prince PokePersona]

Kim Dae-Hyun - The Ultimate Talent Manager [oddlyillregular]

Lakshmi "Laki" Krishna - The Ultimate Lucky Student [Sempi]

May Summers - The Ultimate Academic Prodigy [KadachiNova]

Ian Santiago - The Ultimate Gambler [Animeboy15]

Tatiana Novak - The Ultimate Knife Thrower [ExtraMeme]

Atlas Constande - The Ultimate Soccer Player [ComplicatedYetSimple]

Gennosuke Yagami - The Ultimate Psychic [theotakureader101]

Kim Hae-Won - The Ultimate Tattoo Artist [Weekaro]