With this advantage, Saiki Kusuo kept his score close to Chrollo's, steadily reaching 400,000.
The sky was still bright with sun, and the whole scene was faked, but Saiki Kusuo knew the real sky was nearing dusk.
Chrollo deliberately went after gold mines and items, even rocks. By the time Saiki Kusuo caught on, Chrollo had grabbed a few extra diamonds at the end.
Oh man, [was that on purpose?]
"It was deliberate. But instead of deliberate, how about 'intentional'? Anyway, Gotoh, you already have one lord piece, so splitting one each might cause trouble. Plus, making a girl work so hard for my win feels off. If we count, we've mined about 270 huge gold ores, with you getting 190. After hours of the same motion, even with my stamina, I felt tired a couple hours ago, but you kept pace with me."
You're keeping track of that in detail? Do you have some kind of habit?
"I wanted to tell you to rest several times, but I really wanted to win, and 400,000 feels safe, so I didn't say it."
You should have. How am I supposed to know the limits of a normal person?
"From all the signs, it's clear you really want to win, right?"
Not at all.
"I'll give you the lord piece."
What kind of spider leader has no drive to win?
Dusk arrived, settlement time hit, and they were forced out of the game.
The moment he exited, Saiki Kusuo sensed two people nearby.
It was Nobunaga and Machi.
"Leader, how many points did you get? We figure we only hit 150,000."
That low? Why?
Chrollo: "No worries, I thought about it while playing. With the normal strategy, if I hadn't changed the shopkeeper in my stage, the later parts get really tough. Even maxing out, you'd probably only get over 200,000."
"But that's still higher than us."
"We picked Gold Miner to test precision, and my escape room fish gave vision. We just found the right games." Chrollo stayed humble.
"So that's it. Wonder if we can take the lord of this map tomorrow. Leader, how many points did you get?"
"We..."
[Your lord is now player: Saiki Kusuo.]
[Please work with Lord Saiki Kusuo to defend your three territories and conquer others!]
Three? When did I get another headache?
Before he could think more, Pariston slowly walked out of the cave.
"Oh my, I didn't expect you two to get a full 400,000 points! That's eye-opening!"
So the third piece, Pariston's lord piece, gets taken along too.
"Pariston, where's your territory?" Chrollo asked.
"It's right north, next to it. Oh, don't call it my territory anymore—the lord there is now Miss Saiki. By the way, what's her deal? Isn't Saiki Kusuo the young master of the Zoldyck family? Is she his fiancée coming for him? After all, Saiki Kusuo suddenly showed up on the Dark Continent a year and a half ago. Surprising to hear that name again."
Why does Pariston know I came to the Dark Continent? How many people know about Zoldyck family stuff?
Chrollo: [Fiancée? It's a bit dramatic, but pretty likely.]
Don't make it likely. I don't want to marry myself.
Saiki Kusuo sighed.
[They even look like a couple.] Chrollo thought.
Of course they do. It's me.
The territory needs guards, and everyone's first pick was to leave Pariston.
"I don't want to stay! The people in my old territory will come kill me once they hear the notice! Send me anywhere, please, Lord! Spare me!"
It's just one piece. Don't overdo it.
But Pariston's request made sense, so Saiki Kusuo started thinking.
"Staying here's boring anyway, even with games. Phinks and Feitan might stick around."
[Then don't stick around.]
Saiki Kusuo had a god's view and could see how the surrounding territories were laid out.
[The area for soldier 3 is a cliff, south is our land, north is Pariston's old spot.]
[East is endless mountains, so anyone coming would go around. We take west, no need to guard the middle.]
Pariston clapped: "Smart move, Lord. But how do you know the layout? Do you get maps for three territories after three lord flags?"
Think that if you want. Hope everyone else does too.
Chrollo nearby was thinking: "How big's the mountain range?"
[Probably all the real game spots we played are in these mountains.]
"So this range is part of soldier 3's territory?"
...I don't know either.
"If things go smooth, it's easy to defend. But if not, and someone breaks through from there..."
Pariston: "Our allies on both sides can pinch them! Perfect, right?"
"No way. The Troupe doesn't ally with anyone. Without a heads-up, Feitan and Phinks won't just help. In this game's world, factions matter more for decisions."
Pariston: "The Troupe's so isolated... Can't you all get along?"
Chrollo smiled without replying.
Saiki Kusuo looked back and forth.
So what's the plan? His solution?
Chrollo clapped once and spoke: "I suggest sending at least one to the east. If trouble, just call the teams on both sides to protect this unclaimed spot. The terrain gives us an edge without wasting more people—just one person..."
As he finished, everyone's eyes turned to the only "outsider" there.
Connections come first. Hard to trust someone like Pariston.
Pariston: "Hey? Wait, my spot's important, I can help everyone..."
When it comes to mind games, Chrollo's your equal, and nothing slips past a telepath. No need.
[Pariston exiled to the border]
Everyone opened the shop, spent some points on supplies, then headed west to expand...
No! West to claim land and make friendly exchanges.
Easier said than done—the center was a narrow cliff gap, barely territory.
"Didn't expect you'd pick him straight up." In the one-way cliff path, Chrollo walked beside, casually saying.
Your thoughts and words all pointed at him. Stop acting innocent.
Nobunaga stretched lazily: "No idea what game the next area's got. Feitan and Phinks should be out by now."
Machi looked around: "Almost there, right? We'll see soon."
"How do you know?"
"Do I need to explain?"
"Man, intuition again! Hey, Machi..."
Nobunaga whispered, leaning to Machi's ear.
"You think this Saiki Kusuo's connection to the Zoldyck family is more than it seems?"
"Yeah, I feel he's hiding something, but the leader probably noticed first. Don't tell me you're just getting it now."
Nobunaga: ...
Saiki Kusuo: ...
I heard all that.
Suddenly, a light circle appeared under Saiki Kusuo's group.
They'd reached the territory edge.
[Exit success. Arrived at territory, soldier 6.]
The view shifted instantly, and they were in a bustling city.
This time, intro info hit their minds right away.
[Welcome to Love City. Romance targets everywhere—go win them over! 2 days 23 hours till settlement.]
Playing a dating game on the Dark Continent? What kind of setup is that?
At least the scene switched to a city, which was nice.
The city was lively, lights bright even at night. The group, fresh from darkness, squinted against the glare.
"This change is sudden," Chrollo said with a sigh. "What's next, Lord?"
[I decide? Hotel.] Saiki Kusuo said.
"Smart choice. Hotels have all kinds of people, guests used to fast pace—could be opportunity central."
[To sleep on the clean hotel bed.] Saiki Kusuo said.
Chrollo: ...
Machi: "I agree. Let's get a big bed in the hotel and sleep."
[Already planning a big bed room?]
"Hey Machi, shouldn't we start romancing right away?" Nobunaga said.
"If only one can win, hand it to the leader. He's great at fooling girls. Then we rotate shifts for intel, line up targets for Chrollo—one per hour, 70 by settlement. Easy first place."
"Oh... got it. Leader's the best!"
Chrollo: Wait, what about my rest?
"Go for it, leader. I really need a room with a bathroom now."
"You got this, leader! I'll be your wingman. Straight to the bar?"
[You got this, leader. I really need a 1.8-meter bed.]
Saiki Kusuo said, like he slept bad last night.
"Fine, fine. I scout the city with Nobunaga. You rest." Chrollo gave in. [My hand's sore anyway. Could use rest.]
...
Next day, Saiki Kusuo woke on the 1.8-meter bed. The second he did, he noticed something off. He was on a 1.8-meter bed... Wait, that's the opener already. Key point: telepathy was gone!
In this Dark Continent world, dark creatures were common. His clone probably used them, disguised as NPCs. With smarts, their thoughts came clear.
But now, total quiet.
Did he touch some element? Body check: nope.
Slight urge to use the bathroom—normal. Superpowers still gotta go. Hope everyone's mornings are smooth, I mean, bathroom trips easy like mine.
The 1.8-meter bed: walking from center to edge made his feet ache from the effort. The soft mattress sank, needing rarely used muscles for balance. Since they were unused, they tired quick.
Cool, this normal person feeling.
At the bathroom door, psychokinesis... Door won't budge. Had to twist the handle by hand, not just push the lock back.
The bathroom was like a hotel lobby—fancy. The toilet? 800 meters away? What mismatched design—is this the tiger house?
Faint noise from the tub. Stare 5 seconds... No x-ray vision!
So happy, right? This ignorance, this guessing. Logically, maybe water's running—better turn it off.
Saiki Kusuo approached the tub, face full of bliss.
Peeked in: huge cockroach at the bottom, hard shell gleaming, long antennae perking up like whips at the noise, covered in barbs...
!!! "Whoa!"
"Boom!" Ceiling tiles started crashing down.
Wake up*
Saiki Kusuo woke on the 1.8-meter bed.
Telepathy caught nearby thoughts.
[So sleepy, back to snooze.]
[Not up yet? How do I move to pickup? Time's tight.]
[Awake, but leader's not—nap more.]
[Room clean? No? No need for hotel then, trash. You live in a doghouse? Next, next.]
"Knock knock knock."
The cleaning lady was polite: "Hello, need room service?"
Saiki Kusuo stayed quiet, wiping cold sweat.
[Yes, clean it top to bottom please.]
Mornings usually mean bathroom, but now he didn't dare.
Telepathy: still there, working smooth.
Looked up at ceiling 10 seconds—ah, presidential suite setup. Bones feel familiar? One guy, one girl, 2-meter bed, some space between. Guy's awake. Oh, second thought was him.
Such effort. Time for me to get up too.
Teleport: easy to the door.
Psychokinesis... Oh, door's unlocked already.
Saiki Kusuo hadn't x-rayed ahead, so he wasn't ready for a girl in Cinderella outfit, face clean, flashing a shy perfect smile on eye contact—then second look showed non-human bone structure.
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