8:00 a.m., Day Two of the Privileged Special Exam.
Except for Sakayanagi Arisu, the remaining eleven participants entered the second-floor conference room of the cruise ship under school staff arrangements. Originally, this room was meant for group discussions during the Privileged Exam, but since discussions were scheduled only for 1:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., it was currently vacant and available.
The surveillance equipment set up in advance inside the room now came into play. All actions of the participants would be monitored in real-time to prevent any form of unfair external interference. Any violations would result in severe punishment.
Kitagawa Ryo, the initiator of the Werewolf Game, was responsible for drawing the game setup.
As one of the most popular social games in recent years, Werewolf has developed numerous variations known in the community as "boards." Among the twelve-player formats, many well-known boards exist, ranging from the classic setup of Seer-Witch-Hunter-Villagers to more advanced versions with roles like the Guard and the White Wolf King. Each board comes with unique roles, factions, and win conditions.
As a side note, due to overwhelming student demand, this high-profile Werewolf Game would be broadcast live in the cruise ship's theater. However, the audience would not have a god's-eye view. They would watch with the same fog-of-war perspective as the players, seeing only player numbers and inferring identities through speeches and deductions.
[This Werewolf Game will use the Twelve-Player Thief-Cupid Setup.]
The conference room speakers began broadcasting the rules to all participants:
[Twelve-Player Thief-Cupid Setup]
Good Faction: Seer, Witch, Hunter, Fool, 5 Villagers
Werewolf Faction: 2 Werewolves, 1 Wolf King
Neutral Faction: Thief, Cupid
- Seer: May check the true identity of one player each night.
- Witch: Has two powerful potions: one to revive a player killed by wolves, and one to poison a player. Each potion can only be used once. Only one potion may be used per night. The Witch cannot save themself.
- Hunter: If killed by wolves or voted out by villagers, may shoot any one player. If killed by other means (e.g., poisoned by the Witch or dying with a lover), the Hunter cannot shoot.
- Fool: If voted out during the day, reveals their role and continues playing, but loses voting rights.
- Wolf King: Belongs to the Werewolf faction. If killed by wolves or voted out, may shoot one player. If killed by other means (e.g., Witch poison or dying with a lover), cannot shoot.
- Thief: When included, two extra Villager cards are added to the deck. On the first night, after roles are dealt, the Thief wakes first and chooses one of the two leftover cards to assume that role. If one of them is a Werewolf, the Thief must choose it. If both are Werewolves, roles are reshuffled, and identities are redealt. Once the Thief makes a selection, both their chosen role and the unselected role are removed from play.
- Cupid: On the first night, Cupid selects two players to become lovers. Cupid may choose themselves as one of the lovers. If one lover dies, the other dies as well. If both lovers are Good, Cupid joins the Good faction. If both are Wolves, Cupid joins the Werewolf faction. If lovers are from different factions, the lovers and Cupid become a Third Party Faction.
Note:
- Lovers know who their partner is, but not their identity or who Cupid is.
- Cupid also does not know the lovers' roles when choosing. They must deduce their faction later through speeches.
- Cupid appears as Good when checked by the Seer.
- Werewolves do not know who the Wolf King is.
This game uses a Sheriff Role:
- The Sheriff has tie-breaking vote power, 0.5 extra vote, and 30 seconds of additional speaking time.
Victory Conditions:
- Good Faction: Eliminate all Werewolves. There must be no Third Party remaining; otherwise, the Third Party wins.
- Werewolf Faction: Kill all Villagers or all Special Roles ("Gods"), or eliminate the entire Good faction ("Full Sweep"). No Third Party may remain; otherwise, the Third Party wins.
- Third Party Faction: Eliminate all players not in the Third Party, including Good and Werewolf factions, for a direct victory.
[Rule Reading Complete]
[Now beginning random role assignment.]
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Sakayanagi Arisu was assigned number 8.
As the only participant playing remotely from school, her monitoring was far more stringent than the other eleven players. Stationed alone in an empty classroom, she was under constant surveillance from eight strategically placed cameras covering nearly every angle. Yet the girl remained calm and composed, kneeling at a long table, quietly awaiting the results of the role assignment.
[Role assignment complete. All players, please check your identity cards.]
Sakayanagi turned her gaze to her phone screen. The message from the school contained just a bold character:
"Thief."
In the game of Werewolf, information control is everything. And the Thief is one of the roles that begins with the most knowledge in this particular setup.
[All players, please confirm your identity cards.]
Sakayanagi reached out and tapped the confirmation button, then stared intently at her screen. As the Thief, she would be the first to open her eyes on Night One.
[Night falls. Please close your eyes.]
[Thief, please open your eyes.]
[The two identity cards you may choose from are—]
[Hunter]
[Fool]
Two special roles. If she chose Hunter, the Good faction would lack a Fool. If she chose Fool, the Hunter role would be removed.
Only Sakayanagi Arisu, the Thief, had access to this crucial information.
With barely a moment of hesitation, she decisively selected [Hunter]. While both were special roles, the Hunter was considered a strong role—proactive and impactful—while the Fool was a passive role. As someone aiming to lead the game to victory, Sakayanagi naturally gravitated toward the stronger choice.
And besides—
A slight smile tugged at her lips.
Although she had selected Hunter, she could easily claim to be the Fool during the day. If anyone tried to counter-claim her, they would almost certainly be a wolf.
Such was the informational advantage of the Thief.
[Thief, please close your eyes. Seer, please open your eyes.]
[Please choose one player to inspect.]
[Seer, please close your eyes. Cupid, please open your eyes.]
[Please choose two players to become lovers.]
Just as Sakayanagi was settling into silent anticipation for dawn, her phone buzzed with a new message:
[You have been selected as a lover. Your partner is Player 4.]
"A lover, huh..."
Sakayanagi pressed her lips together in thought. Originally, her role was simply to aid the Good faction as a special role.
But now that Cupid had chosen her to be a lover, she first needed to figure out which faction Player 4 belonged to. If that person turned out to be a Werewolf, then she, Player 4, and the yet-unidentified Cupid would form a Third Party faction.
She rubbed her temples, troubled for just a brief moment. Then, as if flipping a switch, Sakayanagi broke into a bright, eager smile.
"Now this... is getting interesting."
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[Cupid, please close your eyes. Werewolves, please open your eyes.]
[Please choose your target to attack.]
Shiina Hiyori was Player 5.
Upon hearing the broadcast announcement, she immediately looked down at her phone. Just a minute earlier, she had drawn the role of—
[Werewolf]
"Um... can you hear me?"
The voices that came through the headset were modified to conceal identity but not robotic or flat. Likely due to the importance of emotion in a game like Werewolf, the school had ensured the processed voices still carried emotional tones.
This particular werewolf teammate who had just spoken sounded fairly upbeat, with no trace of nervousness despite being assigned the role of a werewolf.
After all, in this setup, the werewolf faction had only three members. There was also the risk that one of them could be chosen by Cupid and betray the wolves by becoming part of the third-party faction. Compared to the numerous players in the Good faction, winning would be no small feat.
Still, having fewer people had its perks. If the three of them managed to win, each would earn a whopping 26 million personal points.
"I can hear you," another werewolf responded first.
"Loud and clear," Shiina Hiyori added, activating her mic.
"Hmm, this setup isn't very friendly to the wolf side. So unless you're completely sure, it's best not to fake being a special role. With so few wolves, even a one-for-one trade with the Good side isn't worth it."
The werewolf who spoke first seemed very knowledgeable about the game and spoke with an air of authority.
"Pay attention during tomorrow's speeches. If we can find the Seer or Witch early, that would be ideal."
"Oh, by the way—none of us got picked as lovers, right?"
That sudden question caught both Shiina Hiyori and the other teammate off guard. They instinctively answered:
"No."
"I'm not."
"Good. I'm not a lover either. Looks like the couple are both from the Good faction then. That makes things harder for us since Cupid will also be aligned with the Good side."
"Try to subtly steer suspicion toward the lovers in tomorrow's discussion. Because of the third party's unique win condition, the Good faction will be wary of them until they know who they are. After all, no one wants to do someone else's dirty work."
Hearing the teammate's logical and clear breakdown, Shiina nodded in agreement. It seemed they had competent allies this time.
"Realistically, the Witch will almost always save the first night's target, since the Good side doesn't want to lose a special role to a blind strike. Let's just pick someone random."
Unlike traditional Werewolf setups, this version had a stricter rule: if the wolves did not unanimously choose the same target, the attack would be canceled entirely. This rule gave any werewolf who had been made a lover a slim chance to avoid attacking their partner by deliberately voting differently.
However, this was a double-edged sword. Causing a split vote could also make them look suspicious to the other wolves, leading to distrust and a more dangerous position.
"How about Player 10?"
Shiina Hiyori casually suggested a target. The other two agreed without issue.
It was worth noting that the first day of the game included a Sheriff election. If anyone died during the first night, their death would only be revealed after the election concluded.
[Werewolves, please close your eyes.]
[It is now morning.]
[All players who wish to run for Sheriff, please click confirm.]
[This round, a total of ten players have applied for Sheriff. They are: Player 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 12.]
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"Looks like everyone wants to talk."
Ichinose Honami stretched her arms and slumped onto the table in mock defeat, waiting for the other players to start their speeches.
"Still a bit nervous after all."
She murmured softly to herself. After all, this game had gathered elite players from all four classes, and the 80 million point prize pool was a massive temptation. Naturally, everyone wanted to be the first to seize control of the discussion and lead the way to victory.
[Speaking will begin in reverse order, starting from Player 4.]
Ichinose, assigned number 9, quickly calculated that her turn would fall somewhere in the middle.
A decent spot. Speaking too early in the first round was a disadvantage, while the later players had more information to work with and thus more to say.
[Player 4, please begin speaking.]
Ichinose straightened up, refocusing her attention. In all of Class B, only she and Kanzaki Ryuji were participating. Winning would be quite a challenge, and she knew they needed to give it their all.
-------------------------------------
"Being the first speaker is honestly the hardest."
In the cruise ship's theater, the first-year students gathered to watch the screen, where the twelve player avatars were displayed in order from 1 to 12. Whispers filled the room.
"If your opening speech isn't convincing, the later players might refute you, and just like that, you could be labeled a 'werewolf' and voted out."
Hashimoto Masayoshi lounged casually, his usual slacker attitude back in full swing. After days of sulking following the food poisoning incident on the deserted island, he had finally returned to form. Even if people were now calling him by some unflattering nickname, he acted like he didn't care.
"Wonder which number our little princess is."
Only today, with the game underway, did Class A's students learn that Katsuragi Kohei and Totsuka Yahiko had managed to register. This news especially shook the Sakayanagi faction, led by Hashimoto and Kamuro Masumi. If those two performed well and won, it could destabilize the hard-won balance within Class A.
"Sakayanagi will win."
Kamuro Masumi, arms crossed, stood beside Hashimoto. Compared to him, her confidence in Sakayanagi Arisu was rock solid.
"Let's hope so."
While the crowd murmured, Player 4 finally unmuted and began their speech:
"Player 4 is a single Good role, not the Seer."
"Since I'm going first, let me remind everyone of something."
"Good and Wolf factions, don't go too hard on each other at the start. This is a Cupid setup. Identifying the lovers and confirming whether there's a third party is more important."
"It would be best if there's no third party, of course. Then we can play normally."
"But if there is a third party, we need to find and eliminate them first."
"No one wants their efforts to be hijacked by outsiders. So I think both sides can agree on this point."
"Not much time left. Since I'm going first, there's not much else I can say."
"Let me finish with this one thought—"
The voice of Player 4 suddenly rose in volume, laced with fury and disdain:
"We can lose the game, but the third-party lovers must be voted out first!"
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