[Player 9, please speak.]
"Player 9, solo good guy card."
"Player 10's judgment was far too rash. Positional theory is basically a form of pseudoscience. If you really are a good guy, you shouldn't be stirring the pot like that."
"Your earlier comments were fine, but that last sentence makes me want to mark you as a wolf and throw you into the wolf pit."
"You're making baseless guesses about people being wolves and then telling me not to overreact. So tell me—what kind of reaction counts as 'overreacting'?"
"Am I supposed to say, 'Yeah, yeah, you're totally right'?"
Ichinose Honami was acting completely out of character. She had come into this game with a firm determination to secure Class B's victory. Naively trusting everyone in a game of Werewolf would only get her killed faster. Besides, this time, her role was the [Wolf King].
As the theoretical leader of the werewolf faction, the Wolf King had the same take-one-with-you ability as the Hunter. That gave Ichinose the confidence to speak out boldly.
She didn't know Player 10's actual identity, but since he was the first to cast suspicion on her, she had no choice but to fight back.
Ichinose understood that no matter what role Kanzaki Ryuji of Class B was assigned, her own payoff from winning was the highest.
With at most three wolves in the game, dividing the prize pool of 83.5 million points meant each would walk away with over 27 million. No matter how the good or third-party factions split their share, it wouldn't come close to that amount.
So she had to win.
After all, she was just talking to avatars on a screen. As long as she didn't have to look anyone in the eye, Ichinose could lie without flinching:
"I also acknowledge Player 12's identity as the Seer. After all, so far, he's the only one who has claimed the role."
"Frankly, the Seer in this setup has it rough. All they can do is report information, probably won't survive more than two nights, and still have to face constant doubt."
"Given those conditions, anyone daring to claim Seer on Day One is good enough for me, and Player 12's statement had no issues."
"My personal suggestion is that the Thief should reveal themselves as soon as possible, just so we can know which role was buried. It's important to verify whether all the power roles are accounted for in the good guy camp."
"Anyway, Player 10 is already half-marked as a wolf in my book. Let's hear what he says next round."
"I'm done."
After turning off her mic, Ichinose Honami patted her chest and let out a small breath, rubbing her forehead with a strained expression.
As the first [real] werewolf exposed by the good guy faction, the pressure was immense.
[Come on, you got this.]
Taking a deep breath to encourage herself, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small sachet.
The faint scent of iris hovered at the tip of her nose, gradually calming her racing heart.
She had sewn it using leftover scraps after making a similar one for Kitagawa Ryo.
In The Little Prince, the fox would think of the prince every time it saw a field of golden wheat.
Ichinose Honami clenched the sachet in her hand.
She wanted to be like Kitagawa Ryo, who led Class C forward.
She was the class president of first-year Class B.
-------------------------------------
[Player 9's speech has ended.]
[Player 8, please speak.]
Sakayanagi Arisu let out a small yawn. She was quite satisfied with Player 4's speech—whose actual identity was still unknown. Except for Player 1, the other players seemed to have been fooled for the time being, temporarily excluding Player 4 from the couple pairing. This was undoubtedly a favorable outcome for them.
However, Sakayanagi still couldn't determine whether Player 4 belonged to the good faction or the werewolf faction based solely on that speech. Deduction required supporting information, and blindly guessing someone's identity only worked in fiction. Although some people were said to possess astonishing instincts, able to deduce roles from a few words—
Sakayanagi Arisu was not one of those players.
After mentally rehearsing what she intended to say, she spoke with a soft chuckle:
"Player 8, also a single good role. I acknowledge Player 12's Seer claim. After all, in this format, apart from the scenario where a Thief buries a wolf card and pretends to be the Seer, it's nearly impossible for a werewolf to make a bold fake claim."
"Well, sometimes Cupid might jump out pretending to be the Seer to cause chaos, but only after confirming they belong to the third-party faction. Since Player 12 spoke fourth, that possibility is basically negligible. Cupid shouldn't know their alignment yet and would likely stay quiet."
"As for the squabble between Player 9 and Player 10, I think both sides didn't speak very well. While it was Player 10 who started it, Player 9's response was a bit too intense. Didn't you just ask what counts as 'overreacting'? Your reaction just now was pretty over-the-top."
"After all, Player 10 only made a brief comment, and you shot back with four or five sentences. Clearly, you were upset."
Sakayanagi Arisu wanted to capitalize on the tension between Players 9 and 10. For someone like Player 10 who liked pointing out werewolf candidates, letting him stick around a bit longer wasn't a bad idea. Let Player 9 be the one voted out for now.
In Werewolf, the most important part is gathering information, and both the day's voting and the night's killings are the most direct sources.
You obviously can't expect to vote out a werewolf every single day. During that time, good players who can't prove their identity must be eliminated to narrow down the pool.
When Player 9 mentioned the Thief should come out and reveal their buried card, Sakayanagi Arisu sensed danger.
So, it's best to get rid of Player 9 first.
"Here's how I see it. The situation is becoming clearer. Player 2, under the Sheriff, might be a wolf. Player 12 is the Seer, 11 is golden-checked, and I'm a good role. That means either Player 9 or 10 is a wolf, and from Players 4, 5, 6, and 7, we should find one more."
"Player 3 seems good to me, but if Player 12 the Seer isn't sure, feel free to check. If he turns out to be good, my werewolf pool should be accurate."
"That's all I have. Ending my speech."
Sakayanagi Arisu's speech gave the impression that she said a lot, but upon closer inspection, it felt like she said nothing concrete.
Unlike Player 10 who directly pointed to Players 2 and 9, Sakayanagi named three suspects. Yet, her delivery was smoother and less offensive. Player 2 was already under suspicion, and Players 9 and 10 were already at odds. Regardless of her stance, those two would remain in conflict. As for Players 4, 5, 6, and 7, they were simply one among four—none would feel especially pressured.
But if you weren't paying close attention, it was easy to be taken in by Sakayanagi's words, thinking she was being honest and working hard to find the werewolves.
In reality, there was only one piece of information she truly wanted to convey.
-------------------------------------
[8... seems to be signaling Cupid.]
Ayanokouji Kiyotaka picked up on the subtle undertone in Player 8's speech. While she was defending Player 12's Seer claim, she casually mentioned Cupid—as if eliminating a possibility. But it might actually have been a secret message.
The relationship between Cupid and the couple is delicate.
Cupid knows which two players they linked, but the couple doesn't know who Cupid is. So, it's common for couples to try and send messages to Cupid.
Just like in Player 8's case—from another perspective, she might be warning Cupid not to counterclaim the Seer role. That's something only a couple member would do.
The trickiest part about playing as a couple is not knowing whether it's a human-wolf pairing or not. That makes it hard to confirm alignment, so couples usually play cautiously on Day 1.
But there was one exception.
Ayanokouji closed his eyes halfway and began analyzing.
That exception is when a werewolf is selected as part of the couple. This player knows both who their fellow werewolves are and who their lover is.
If their lover is not a werewolf, they can confirm they are in a human-wolf couple.
That way, they can determine their faction and strategy from the very first night.
To Ayanokouji, Player 8 looked like a potential case of that.
[This game might indeed include a third-party faction.]
He concluded.
-------------------------------------
[Player 8's speech has ended.]
[Player 7, please speak.]
"Player 7, solo good guy."
"Hmm… I feel like the discussion started getting messy from Player 10 onward. I have to say, Player 10 really stirred things up."
"Honestly, I think non-role good guys should just follow along quietly. There's no need to overly show off or throw out random thoughts."
"Especially Players 10 and 3. One uses positional logic to guess Player 9 is a werewolf, and the other questioned the Seer's identity."
"To suspect the Seer might be a thief-wolf disguise before the Seer even appears is way too forward-thinking, and it makes one wonder if they're intentionally stirring the pot."
"Player 9's reaction seemed normal to me. This game makes self-verification really hard. A random guess from someone can take a long time to refute, and what if you just get pushed out?"
"Player 8's speech was pretty good. Even though she put me in the werewolf pool, her reasoning sounded like something a good guy would say. Personally, I think one of Players 9 or 10 is a werewolf."
"Player 2 does seem suspicious. We might consider pushing them out during the day. As for the remaining werewolves, probably among Players 4, 5, or 6."
"That's all, over."
Player 7's speech was surprisingly bland. Ayanokouji Kiyotaka felt the player seemed to stop themselves from saying more than once, creating a subtle sense of dissonance.
Especially since their suspected werewolf list was nearly identical to Player 8's, just conveniently excluding themselves.
[Feels like they're holding back on something.]
Not necessarily like a werewolf, but playing with hesitation and caution, providing no truly useful new input.
The style reminded him of Katsuragi from Class A.
[Player 7's speech has ended.]
[Player 6, please speak.]
As he analyzed, Ayanokouji opened his mic:
"Umm, I'm a solo good guy, but I guess everyone says that."
"But really, I am holding a solo good guy card. Hmm, from the previous speeches, it seems like everyone is really focused on finding the wolves on Day 1."
"Personally, I think we should first try to identify the couple."
"Because of the unique mechanics of the couple role, it's hard for them to go against each other. If one gets voted out, the other dies too."
"Following that logic, several players had obvious conflicts in their speeches, so they can likely be ruled out as lovers."
"For example: Players 1 and 4, 9 and 10, 8 and 9, 7 and 10, and so on."
"Remove Player 12 the Seer from the potential couple pool, and then observe the rest carefully. I believe we can pinpoint the couple by analyzing these patterns."
"Finding werewolves is important, but I also hope everyone pays attention to the couple."
"Lastly, I won't be like Players 7 and 8, throwing the remaining unspoken players into the werewolf pool without reason. I'm just a civilian and will follow the Seer's lead."
"That's it, over."
Inside the cinema room on the cruise ship, the students of Class A wore serious expressions.
"That was one of the best speeches so far," Kamuro Masumi exhaled slowly.
Beside her, Hashimoto Masayoshi nodded in agreement:
"Very clear logical thinking, remembered everyone's alliances and oppositions, threw some goodwill to Player 5 who hasn't spoken yet, and expressed trust in Player 12 the Seer."
"From the speech alone, a flawless good guy."
"Also, very sharp mind."
"Actually, the first and last positions in a round of speeches are the hardest. The former lacks information, while the latter is overwhelmed with it. It really tests one's ability to organize and analyze."
"From the style of speech, doesn't seem like it's Her Highness."
"If Her Highness ends up opposing Player 6's faction, it could be very tricky."
-------------------------------------
[Player 6 has finished speaking.]
[Player 5, please speak.]
"Player 5, single good guy."
"Honestly, I think Player 6 did it right. Players 7 and 8 really didn't handle it well—they didn't even listen to the speeches and just threw people into the wolf pit. Player 6 and I aren't even in the same police-side position as Player 2. Player 2 is under suspicion because 11, who is also on the police side, was called out as gold-water. But Player 6 and I didn't say anything, and we still got labeled as wolves."
"Especially Player 7. You got flagged as a wolf by Player 8, and yet you still followed them and dragged both me and Player 6 into the wolf pit. Very suspicious."
"Anyway, I think it's pretty safe to say that one of Players 7 or 8 is a wolf."
"Player 6's logic about analyzing couples makes sense. From my perspective, I see Player 6 as a good guy card."
"Player 10 is a key point. Players 9 and 7 clearly opposed him, while Player 8 supported him. So if something goes wrong with Player 10, then Player 8 is probably a wolf too. On the flip side, if Player 10 is clean, then it might be Players 7 and 9 who are wolves."
"I totally acknowledge Player 12 as the seer. Even though I personally hope he checks Player 10 tonight, checking Player 3 is fine too. I'm just a civilian, I'll follow the seer."
"That's all."
As the ten players competing for sheriff finished their first-round speeches, the broadcast chimed in promptly.
[Everyone has spoken. Begin sheriff voting.]
Fifteen seconds later, the voting results were revealed.
[Players 2 and 11 voted for Player 12.]
[Player 12 is elected sheriff.]
According to the rules, after the sheriff election ends on Day 1, the results from the previous night should be announced. However, no one paid it much mind because on the first night, the witch usually uses the healing potion. After all, the chances of the werewolves self-knifing on Night 1 are close to zero.
[Player 10 has died last night.]
The next second, the broadcast shattered everyone's expectations.
The entire cruise ship's first-year students erupted in surprise.
"The witch... didn't use the healing potion?" "What is the witch doing?" "Did the witch get buried?" "Could the witch be a lover and is saving the potion to protect their partner?"
Amidst the buzzing discussion, even Kanzaki Ryuji, inside the room, wore a stunned and disbelieving expression.
With Player 10 eliminated, his previously blacked-out avatar on the screen lit up.
Kanzaki Ryuji's face appeared, and B-Class students widened their eyes in shock, with even a few girls gasping softly.
[Player 10, please give your last words.]
As the broadcast coldly urged him, the B-Class students were forced to accept the harsh reality:
One of B-Class's only two representatives had already been eliminated before the end of the first day!
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Currently revealed information:
Player 3: Kouenji Rokusuke
Player 5: Shiina Hiyori (Werewolf)
Player 6: Ayanokouji Kiyotaka
Player 8: Sakayanagi Arisu (Hunter, Lover with Player 4)
Player 9: Ichinose Honami (Werewolf)
Player 10: Kanzaki Ryuji (Eliminated)
Player 11: Horikita Suzune (Good Faction, exact role unknown)
Player 12: Ryuuen Kakeru (Seer)
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