I was left hanging by what First thought. I silenced myself for a couple of seconds to absorb what he said. Excellent! He immediately found out the secret behind the game. I was not able to figure it out, and he really outdid himself.
"Does that mean?"
"In volleyball, you experienced mental and emotional pain. It is to challenge you to see if you can keep the game while remaining unfocused. There are traps that surround and prevent you crossing the line. A challenge, if you can save your members from falling into those traps, or you'll just keep playing the game for the sake of others. The scoring is, if which team could handle the mental and emotional pain that your past is tormenting you. That explains why you lose."
It all matches what he said. I already understand why we lost. Maybe the game can be concluded as a tie if Tenth didn't give up; that's why we lost. We all have nightmares from our past, and the game measures our resiliency.
"I'm sorry... You guys still fought to win but we, the girls, lost the game."
"You don't have to feel sorry for that. Honestly, I'm grateful as long as you're safe."
"I didn't play much in that match. I just relied on the team." Yes, I just got carried.
"No, that's not it," he smiled sparingly as if to say that was okay. "When you lose consciousness, you must be... dead."
My eyes widened. "W-Why?"
I saw for a moment that First's eyes couldn't look at me directly. "You are the last victim, and your mental and emotional pain is the deadliest. Your memories are the most painful you have ever experienced. Author said you could've died but you resisted. When you called me to stay by your side… I sit your head on my lap."
Is that so? So, that's what happened—the whole story of it.
I'm just like Tenth. If I hadn't fought back against my painful past, I wouldn't be here. That was really a close one. I smiled because I am still lucky. Just a little mistake I made in the game and my life would be at stake. One of my feet seemed to be buried in a pit. But I am saddened by the loss of Tenth and the rest of our friends.
I suddenly remembered what First had told me before girls started playing volleyball.
"Thank you and I'm still alive maybe it's because of the charm you muttered and gave me. But it doesn't seem to be effective because I still got nervous." I joked with him because the mood of the conversation was too serious.
He smiled. A mischievous one. "Oh, that one? ..." he scratched his head. "Actually, I lied."
"Huh?"
"The true purpose of the charm was not to keep you from being nervous. I said that, but that's not it."
"Then what?"
"I just said those words and wrote it in the palm of your hand but that's not the real meaning of it." He confirmed.
"What is it then?"
"When I reached out and held your hands, I held them close to my mouth and closed my eyes. I mouthed 'Please come back safe'."
***
I woke up late because of the meeting, if it can be called a meeting. First and I have a lot of things to discuss, but I ended it because we need to sleep. He said he still wants to talk as if it's our last night here on nth planet. We seem to be taking advantage of that opportunity to have a late-night talk about the game and our lives.
I went downstairs while squinting my blurry eyes.
"Here's the grand winner!" Seventh and his troops greeted me when I came down the stairs from the second floor. My hair is still messy, and I yawned. I feel like I overslept, yet I'm still drowsy, so I don't have time to play with them. I just went down to drink water to freshen myself up.
"Eat, Second! Your brunch will be moldy," Aeith scolded me. She was sitting with me on the sofa in the living area.
She mentioned brunch. It must have been afternoon by now. That was a long sleep. No wonder I'm getting a headache. I saw First just go down the stairs. He just woke up, which was obvious in his slightly squinting eyes and morning face. He greeted me as well. He hung out in the living area first to see the boys playing some board games. I went to the kitchen and saw a bowl of rice, tofu stew, and mixed vegetables on the table, placed in a container with a lid. I just put the food in the refrigerator first, and I will eat it later after taking a bath.
"Sleeping like a log, huh?" Fifzen scoffed while drinking his drink.
"Hey, Second and Fifzen, we need more people to play with. ,Join us!" Ninezen invited us.
"Are you okay? What happened, and you woke up late?" Fourth checked out on me. She was not used to seeing me wake up this late.
I gave them a hand gesture of 'okay' and went out of the kitchen without saying a word, then went up to my room.
Seventh followed me to speak. "Hmm... I smell something fishy. First and you woke up at the same time. What happened to you last night?"
If I were drinking water right now, I would have choked.
"Nothing in particular," I answered in a bored tone.
"Oh, really?" he gave me a teasing look. What does this guy want? "I heard two people in the art room."
"So, you were eavesdropping?" He should've said sooner.
He smirked and crossed his arms. "It's not like that," And now he's denying it.
"You should've joined us." To make our conversation last night longer, Seventh must've joined us.
"I heard some, but I went back to my room because I got sleepy."
I shrugged. "It's not like we're hiding something, so feel free to drop by some time." I don't know if he would make the conversation more interesting by joining us to discuss our tri-games theories and personal lives.
He just scratched his nape and got nothing in reply. He must be expecting something fishy from us, but he got nothing in return.
I ignored him and went back to my bedroom. I plunged myself into my soft bed. If my estimation is correct, it's our 14th day and the 13th night in the castle.
"Well, our class president is quite busy with the upcoming events."
"All right, let's get good at drawing."
"Miss ***, have you decided on participating in the art contest?"
"***, let's go out"
"Get ready yourself for a vacation in the province!"
My quiet life was disturbed by an incident...
We had a ceremony then, and I enjoyed talking to different people.
Laugh, cry, giggle.
Someone pulled me and we ran to the school garden. I knew him because he is known at school. He was holding a necklace. The surroundings light up. When I woke up...
I opened my eyes and stared blankly at the ceiling. Although I woke up calmly, my mind was confused. I dreamed again. Sadly, I could not understand it well. I sat up from lying down and felt something wet on the side of my right eye. Tears. Did I cry? Unbeknownst to me, I was crying while dreaming. Though my mind is troubled, I am grateful for my dream and my memories have been gradually coming together. Whenever I dream, feel déjà vu, and my memories come back, I immediately write them in my journal.
I lifted the sleeve of my school uniform and saw my tattoo embossed on my skin. The black color fades the edge and turns gold. There is more gold than ever before. I don't know why it changes color so fast. Maybe I'm doing better than expected. This tattoo also seems to tell what rank we are in the game. Whether we are fighting or completely relying on others. In terms of my tattoo, I can say I'm neutral. I am neither weak nor strong enough. I closed my journal and put it on the table next to my bed. How much longer are we going to stay here? Hopefully after all this ...
*tok**tok**tok*
"Second, get out of there. Author is here!"