I had to make a split second decision. Do I try to think of a reason to justify keeping my point total secret? Or do I tell everyone what it is? No - that’s too careless, of course not. But there’s no good justification either.

  “I hid my point total because I didn’t want that used against me. We can play games with each other to win points off of each other, so I wanted to hide my point total to make it harder for people to eliminate me by taking all of my points.” I managed to frame it in a way that looks like self preservation. No one would be able to hold that against me.

  “What, so I’m being punished for being honest, while you get rewarded for acting selfishly?” That was a good argument. I could feel the pressure building as everyone’s eyes stayed locked onto mine.

  Luckily, I had a strong counter.

  “That’s a fair point, but I already told you. I won in three rounds. Since it’s a best of three, that means I lost at least one round. That means the highest number of points I could have is 16,000 which is still lower than your point total.”

  “Well, how do we know you were telling the truth? What if you won all three rounds and have 20,000 points? Why are we even letting you make the decisions for us if you’re hiding so much from us?”

  She said I was hiding "so much” - it’s an exaggeration but that doesn’t matter. If I chose to stay on the defensive and point that out, it wouldn’t matter if it’s true. The fact is, I’m still hiding something, so people would have a valid reason not to listen to me. There’s also no way to prove that I’m telling the truth about winning in three rounds.

  I only had one option left.

  This round was no longer about making Yaeko realise she can’t always get her way. It's about consolidating my control over the group. It doesn’t matter if I lie about my point total. The only way someone would find out is if they paid points to find it out, and in that case, I could just pay points to get the staff to lie for me.

  “I have 12,000 points.” Choko and Hibiki both looked shocked, while everyone else was too immersed in the back and forth to even react. Keiko looked at me as she smiled before looking up at one of the cameras. She obviously found my lie entertaining.

  “Now, we could both be lying, right? All of us could be lying, we shouldn’t let that impact our decisions unless it’s proven.” Yaeko’s lip twitched. She knew I had her, I just had to finish this off. “So I’ll say this once again, since you’ve claimed to have the most points, you should be the one to win this vote.” I took a deep breath out. There was a lot of thinking on my feet, but I made the right choices.

  It all worked out.

  “I… You’re right, Akira.” She said those words through gritted teeth and avoided eye contact with everyone. “Fine. Vote me. Whatever. I don’t even care.” Just as I was about to press the button that signals I’m ready to vote, Hibiki spoke up.

  “Uh, actually, I never told you guys how many points I had, but I can afford to take the 5000 point hit and still have a comfortable amount of points.” If that was her only reason, it wouldn't make sense. She didn't elaborate, but I knew I had to press her.

  “It’s very noble of you to say that Hibiki, but didn’t you say you lost the first game in three rounds? That means the maximum number of points you could have is 12,000. In a best case scenario. if you lost 5000 points, you’d be left with 7000.” Everyone looked at me as I made my move, but I ignored their stares.

  “Yeah… you’re not wrong… but that doesn’t matter. Something just stood out to me. Yaeko said she feels like we’re targeting her and Osamu. I would hate for them to feel like we’re treating them differently because of their relationship.” She looked away. “We’re all friends, and nothing can change that.” Now she looked towards Yaeko. “Right, Yaeko?” She hesitated a bit before replying.

  “Thank you Hibiki. You’re right. I thought you guys were targeting us because… well… it’s kinda obvious but yeah we like each other. I thought you guys were targeting us out of spite or jealousy, which is why I got so defensive.” As she said this, Osamu gently rubbed his thumb against her hand. A sign of support.

  “Akira, that’s why I want to be voted this round. Is that fine with the rest of the group?” I’d just lost a lot of control over the group, so I had to react quickly to do some damage control.

  “I think I speak for all of us when we say that’s very insightful of you, Hibiki.” I lowered my voice, whilst still keeping a stern and unwavering tone. “I never considered why Yaeko got defensive, which is my mistake.” Taking accountability means people will trust me to make future decisions with everyone’s best interests in mind. “If you’re sure you don’t mind and that you have enough points to deal with it, then sure, I’d be fine with voting for you.”

  Hibiki smiled.

  So did the others.

  Even Yaeko, but hers felt different. Nothing needed to be said. We all knew what to do. I clicked the vote button, and Keiko spoke up.

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

  Hibiki did a great job of defusing a potentially dangerous situation. I wasn’t targeting them over their relationship - that would be far too reckless. In an ideal world, Yaeko would’ve won that vote. But after Hibiki’s emotional argument, I couldn’t counter with more cold facts. I’d look like a villain. That’s why I decided to admit it was a mistake.

  “The voting phase is now over. With eight votes, the winner of this vote is Hibiki. She will lose 5000 points. Please read the next prompt.”

  This was not good.

  I made a mistake.

  I stared at the notification.

  “Round Four prompt: The winner of this vote can choose one other player. They will get to privately see that player’s point total. The winner of this vote can not choose to check Osamu’s point total. Osamu may now speak.”

  I should’ve seen it coming.

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  I should’ve thought about the gameshow.

  It makes perfect sense.

  These first three prompts all seemed generic. No reason to think the prompts had this much power. They even ordered it in a way so that the third prompt encourages lying.

  And I fell for it.

  No.

  Breathe.

  Now isn’t the time to get so caught up by that. I just need to make sure that whoever wins this vote doesn’t choose me. I can’t win the vote. Not after my entire showdown with Yaeko. That would seem too self serving.

  Likewise, it would look like I’m pushing an agenda if I try to make Yori or Mei win. Everyone knows they would trust me enough not to check my point total. As I glanced at them, I felt a bit of unease. I felt bad for lying to everyone about my point total, but I lied for a good outcome.

  I looked over at Nobu, and that’s when it clicked. Yaeko made him fold with minimal pressure in the last round.

  He almost gave in.

  He almost sacrificed himself.

  I need to make sure Nobu wins this vote while pressuring him out of checking my point total. I only had a few seconds to think of this plan.

  No time to double check for mistakes.

  I had to move.

  “I think that Nobu should win this vote.” I paused as I made sure everyone was paying attention. “There’s no point giving this power to someone we can’t trust. They could just lie about someone else’s point total to make them a target.” I paused again, focusing my gaze onto Nobu. I made sure he was feeling the emotional weight of my words. His eyes met mine, and I continued going. “We all know that Nobu is the most trustworthy out of all of us.”

  A few seconds passed and no one spoke.

  “Any objections?” Yori agreed with my sentiment and backed it up. We waited for a few seconds and no one spoke up.

  Step one was complete.

  I made sure Nobu would win the vote.

  That was the easy part.

  Now I had to isolate him.

  “Thanks guys. I appreciate it. But before we carry out the vote, could we discuss who’s point total I should check?” I made sure to cut in before anyone else.

  “Sorry, Nobu, but I don’t think that’s a good idea. If we all discuss as a group to choose one person, that’s basically saying that they're the least trustworthy person in the group. I think it would be best if you chose by yourself.” There were a few nods of agreement.

  Nobu begrudgingly smiled.

  “Yeah… you’re right… Keiko, how does selecting my choice work? Will I get another option after the vote?” It was clear he was delaying his decision, but I wasn't sure whether it was out of guilt or indecisiveness

  “Yes. Once the vote is over, whoever wins the vote will see a list of everyone’s names apart from their own name and Osamu’s. They can click whichever name they want, and that person’s point total will show up on the screen for only two seconds. If they try showing anyone else the point total, they’ll instantly lose 5000 points. However, they’re allowed to verbally reveal the point total after those two seconds are over.”

  Nobu nodded his head to show his understanding, and I took a deep breath as I realised this confirmed my suspicions. This was designed in a way so that the winner of the vote had no way of confirming whether or not they told the truth.

  This was designed in a way to give someone the opportunity to lie, or to get away with one.

  “All right guys, I’ve decided who’s point total I’m going to check. We can vote.” He glanced at me as he said that.

  If my plan failed, he glanced at me because he felt guilty about checking my point total after the trust I showed him. If my plan worked, his glance was simply because I pushed for him to win the vote. I’d be safe. Not only that, but I could start facilitating Osamu’s growth. This was as important for his future as it was for the entire group.

  But if I get exposed for lying, I won’t be able to protect them from the traitor.

  “The vote is now beginning. You have thirty seconds.” Keiko looked at me after she finished her announcement. There wasn’t any emotion behind it. It was a quiet curiosity mixed with analysis. After seeing how clearly she saw things in the first game, I figured that she already knew the why behind my lie, so why was she looking at me?

  Is she staring because she’s simply entertained?

  Or was she staring at me because I made a mistake?

  I quickly double checked to figure out if I missed anything.

  My plan had two steps and one extra criteria for success.

  1 - Make Nobu win the vote

  2 - Make it so the group can’t influence his decision

  3 - Use his weaknesses to make sure he doesn’t check my point total

  He has two weaknesses I could target.

  1 - His desire to trust everyone and to be trusted by everyone

  2 - The fact that he wants to get along with everyone

  He doesn’t get along with Osamu, but that doesn’t matter. Osamu has immunity. He’s close with Yori, Mei, Choko and Hibiki. He wouldn’t check them. That leaves me and Yaeko. We’re both on decent terms with him.

  While my poorer relationship with Nobu was an obvious disadvantage, I found a way to make it a major strength. From his perspective, he’s just seen someone he isn’t close with make a massive show about how much they trust him, and how they trust him to make a decision that’ll impact the entire group.

  Someone more perceptive and colder than Nobu may see through it as a manipulation attempt and choose to check my points anyway.

  But someone as emotional and someone who cares as much about trust as Nobu wouldn’t.

  How would he be able to betray the trust I just showed him?

  He wouldn’t.

  If I was right, he would choose to check Yaeko’s point total.

  “With eight votes, the winner of this vote is Nobu. He will now choose who’s point total he wants to check. Osamu can not be chosen.”

  I watched Nobu as he tapped his phone. He made his choice instantly, without any hesitation or uncertainty.

  He bit his lip.

  He started blinking over and over before glancing at me, then to the rest of the group.

  He just found out that someone lied.