““…””

We just stood there staring at each other for a little while—then it finally dawned on me. Himeji usually had this cool, composed look on her face, but now there was a subtle difference. She was restlessly swaying back and forth a little, and there was a slight pink tinge to her cheeks as she threw glances at me…which she kept on doing. In a word, she looked embarrassed.

Whoa. That’s so cute…

“Um… I’m sorry, Master, but if you look at me like that…it’s embarrassing.”

“…! S-sorry!”

My face began to feel warm as I turned myself right back around, which put me eye-to-eye with Akizuki again. A mischievous grin spread across her features.

“Eh-heh-heh! I’ll ask you one more time, Hiroto! Who do you think’s the cutest out of all of us?”

This…, I thought to myself, is gonna get me in big trouble if I say the wrong thing!

SFIA, the Academy’s major summer event, was a large-scale Game where all two hundred and fifty thousand or so students on the island competed to earn honor and glory for their school. We were now at the final stage, with players having been culled during every round. About a hundred thousand people had been left after Stage One, ten thousand after Stage Two, a hundred after Stage Three, and only sixteen people after Stage Four—the semifinals—which had taken place two days ago. Minakami and I were the only people from our school to make it through, making us Eimei’s sole representatives in the final. Right now, SFIA was on a short break, giving the remaining participants time to take a breather and the event staff time to get everything in place for the final stage.

The last round was slated to begin next Monday, and the rules of the Game we’d be competing in would be revealed this evening. Akizuki and Asamiya—the two third-years among us—had insisted on hitting the beach during this makeshift summer vacation, so now the whole gang was kicking back here.

…Not that the “how” of it all really matters.

Once we’d had our fill of the beach, we headed for the hotel rooms we’d rented. By that time, it was half past seven in the evening. We split up and went to the large public baths, then met up in the larger room—the girls’—afterward. It was an elegant Japanese-style room with tatami mats and a low, round table in the center, around which the six of us seated ourselves.

“Right,” said Shirayuki Himeji from beside me, back to her usual cool demeanor. “Now that we’re all refreshed, shall we have our strategy meeting for the final round?”

Himeji was wearing the same light kimono as the rest of us and had her hair up in a high ponytail. I wasn’t sure whether it was her clothing or if she was using a different shampoo, but she seemed to smell sweeter than normal.

“Yeah,” I responded. “I’d like to start by going over the rules… But, well, giving them a quick look, the final’s gonna be a sort of real-life escape room, huh?”

As I spoke, I used my device to project the rule text for the final. We’d all gone over it before hitting the baths, but this last Game seemed just as annoying as you’d expect for a huge event like SFIA, so I wanted to go over it again with everyone.

The rules were as follows:

SFIA Final Stage: Tower of Lore

This Game is an escape room/dungeon-style RPG involving sixteen participants. Players will form groups of four and attempt to make their way through the tower. The team that makes it to the top floor first will be the winner of Tower of Lore, and by extension, of SFIA itself.

The Game takes place in the Tower of Lore, a circular tower that looms over Ward Zero of the Academy. The tower consists of ten floors supported by a tall column in the center. Each floor has two concentric circles of equally sized rooms—an inner circle and an outer circle—with the number of rooms in each differing from floor to floor.

Players can travel between rooms on the same floor using the doors in each room, while elevators may be used to travel between floors.

Every door in the tower has a “challenge”—a set of conditions that must be satisfied in order to unlock and open it. These challenges are randomly assigned based on the difficulty of the door and change at regular intervals. Successfully opening a door earns you experience points (see below) depending on the difficulty of the challenge, and sometimes you may also earn items and pieces of Game-related information known as “fragments.” All of these rules also apply when activating an elevator.

Each player will begin the Game in a different room on the first floor; however, players from the same ward may start in the same room.

As a rule, communication is not possible between inside and outside the tower.

After reading all that, I let out a deep breath.

“So those are the basic rules. Players have to work in teams, figure out how to open the doors in the tower, and use the elevators to go between floors. The first team to reach the top floor wins. It’s a pretty simple setup.”

“You’re right, Master. In other words, it’s a scramble to reach the top. All the doors between rooms are locked, and you have to satisfy certain conditions to open them… Like a series of real-life escape rooms. Having the tower be ten floors high is also a classic dungeon RPG trope.”

“Right. It’s like, what’s that game? Mystery Dungeon? I never played it, though…”

“Yeah, that does seem like a good way of picturing it.”

It wasn’t exactly like that—the dungeon layouts didn’t change every time you played or anything—but maybe it was pretty close to something like Etrian Odyssey. Either way, we’d need to search for elevators going up and try to make it to the tenth floor ahead of everyone else.

“But…at least I’ll be able to start the Game with you, Shinohara. That’s a relief,” Minakami said, looking over the rules across the table from me. “I think I would’ve been pretty nervous alone, so…y’know. Let’s work together.”

“…Y-yeah. Of course.”

She bowed her head to me, her flowing black hair swaying as she did. I was a little flustered by Minakami’s behavior. I’d been her mortal enemy up until the semifinals, so suddenly being relied on like this made my heart thump in my chest.

“That’s true,” Asamiya said casually with her arms crossed, showing a complete lack of concern for my inner turmoil. “It might be pretty lucky, actually, that Shino and Marie get to start in the same room.”

“I dunno about luck,” Enomoto countered. “It’s more like an advantage given to wards that had multiple players go through to the final round. Things got really shaken up this year, though.”

“…I guess,” I said with a shrug.

Enomoto was talking about the number of schools that had made it out of the semis. Usually, at most, there were around five schools still in the running at this point, but this year we had double that number. It was going to be a chaotic battle, featuring ten schools and all sorts of different motives clashing against each other.

If we ignore school wards, it’s the Hexagram that has a pretty big advantage…

I lightly shook my head. There wasn’t much point in stewing over how we’d deal with the Hexagram yet. The first thing we needed to do was get a firm grasp of the rules.

I turned toward my device again and read through the rest of the projected text.

Players will find themselves on one of four teams within Tower of Lore: the Angel Team, the Devil Team, the Kingdom Team, or the Revolution Team. Four players must be together in order to use one of the four elevators that lead to Floor 2, and the members present upon activation will form the team associated with that elevator.

Up to four players can be in a team. It is possible to change teams (see below); however, outside of Abilities and other exceptions, players cannot be unaffiliated with a team.

Changing teams: If one or more players from different teams are in the same room, the “Request Transfer” command will be available on their devices. Transfer requests can be made without anyone else being aware of them, and the request is automatically granted after one minute so long as the requested team is not at capacity. Even if both teams are already full, it is possible to swap members between the two teams using the appropriate skill.

Experience points and skills are shared among team members in Tower of Lore.

Experience points (EXP): The sole resource in this Game. Earned by unlocking doors, activating elevators, and fighting other teams. They have three general uses, the first of which is for forcing doors open. In addition to being unlocked by completing the set challenge, all doors can be forced open for a certain amount of EXP, letting you bypass challenges entirely. The second is for powering up avatars (see below), and the third is for acquiring skills.

Skills: There is no limit to the number of times players can use skills in Tower of Lore. All skills have predetermined conditions required to obtain them, and once these conditions are met, you may spend a certain amount of EXP to acquire the skill. Skills belong to teams, rather than individual players, and all team members have access to their team’s skills. Once you spend EXP to acquire a skill, you may use it for no cost as often as you wish, except during the cooldown time between uses.

All in-game activity is generally done with a team acting as a single unit. If a team is spread across multiple rooms, one group is designated the “main team,” which becomes the only group able to consume EXP or use skills. In order to split up a team without penalty, a skill such as Parallel Movement is required.

“Hmm…” Akizuki’s hair bounced a bit as she looked at the rules, a finger against her cheek. “So basically, we have four teams competing in the final! Angel, Devil, Kingdom, and Revolution Teams… The teams are decided when you go from the first floor to the second, and beyond that, you can switch teams under certain conditions. Team-movement Abilities ought to be pretty useful here! ”

“Yeah. That means you could move to the team that looks like it’s going to win right at the very end. Either way, putting together as strong a team as possible is going to be a big factor in this Game.”

“I—I agree,” Minakami said, seemingly lost in thought. “It looks like experience points and skills are shared within teams, too…”

As the girls had said, this was even more of a team-oriented contest than the semis were. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that the difference between winning and losing would come down to the team members you assembled on Floor 1 and the formation you came up with for Floor 2 and beyond.

Asamiya, sitting across from me, pressed up against the table and stretched her hand high in the air. “Me, me, me!” she cried out, her silky blond hair swaying. “Hey, Shino, can I ask you something? Like, this Angel and Devil stuff… It showed up in the promo video for the Game, right? Does it have anything to do with how to win?”

“Ah… You mean this?”

I tapped the screen of my device. She was probably talking about the video that had been released along with the rules to Tower of Lore. It was a sort of flavor text that revealed the setting for the Game world.

The story of Tower of Lore was your typical fantasy thing. An unknown force, the Devils, is gradually taking over the world. Having lost a great deal of land and people, the Kingdom wages all-out war and enlists a group of heroes to defeat them. The Angels, rulers living in the skies above, find themselves caught up in the situation as well. Meanwhile, the humans aren’t all on the same side; some people are affected by the supernatural presence of the Devils and Angels and have awakened magic powers of their own. Pursued by the Kingdom, this group of heretics unite under the flag of Revolution and begin to fight back against all those around them—human, Angel, and Devil alike.

The world is plunged into a war waged among these four different factions. They are all evenly matched, and even after several centuries of war, no end seems to be in sight. Tired of fighting, the factions turn their attention to the legend of the Tower of Lore. Long before anyone lived in this world, a Reaper of souls built the tower as an inescapable dungeon to hold a young girl from another world captive. Rescue the girl, it is said, and the world will be yours.

“So, the idea is that a group of people from the same world as the imprisoned girl have been assembled to conquer the Tower and save her…and that they’re the players in this final round,” Himeji said coolly when the video ended. “Put simply, it’s a proxy war. The four factions are trying to make it to the top of the Tower of Lore so they can take over the world. However, the girl in question is, quite literally, living in a different world, so people from their world can’t even perceive her. Hence why Master and the other players are challenging the Tower for them instead.”

“Right… So, yeah, I’m sure the factions will play a big role in the Game. This Reaper also seems important—they show up in the rule text later on—and I think the real focus of the Game is getting the girl out of that tower.”

“Agreed. Thus, I think the fragments earned for unlocking doors may contain further hints related to the story. Escape rooms are all about solving puzzles, after all; I’m sure any information on offer is going to be of significance.”

“Hmm, good point…” Enomoto crossed his arms, looking as grumpy as usual. “Nanase, that was a surprisingly decent question coming from you. Did you eat something that disagreed with you?”

“H-huh?! That’s just rude! Besides, Shinji, it’s not like you said anything.”

“Hee-hee! Try not to get too angry at him, Miya. The president’s just pouting a little ’cause he got beaten to the punch giving the answer! ”

“Wha—?!”

“Geh… Stop talking nonsense, Akizuki. We’re still going over the rules, aren’t we? Besides, this is where we get to the crux of the Game. I don’t have time to joke around with you.”

“Awww! Why can’t you ever be honest with yourself, huh? ”

“…Hmph.”

Enomoto scoffed, trying to hide his emotions, then projected the remainder of the rule text.

Jobs: There are three jobs in Tower of Lore, chosen by players before the Game begins. Most skills can only be acquired by players with certain jobs. If you use a skill obtained by someone else that is not suited to your own job, its effect will be halved.

Job 1: Caller

Able to obtain avatar-related skills, making them suited for battle against other teams. Non-Callers can also perform summons, but the effect of their skills is reduced.

Job 2: Explorer

Focused on moving through the tower. Excel at information warfare, such as scouting out enemy teams’ capabilities and the locations of elevators, and can also deploy traps and other obstacles.

Job 3: Supporter

Gifted in support actions that Callers and Explorers do not have access to. Able to obtain skills that boost EXP earned, communicate with other teams, and execute player transfers.

Avatars: Other selves that are summoned by the players. These look like the players themselves by default but can also be made to appear as other players so long as they are the same gender and from the same school as the summoner. Players are able to give an avatar EXP to boost its base stats. If a player changes teams, their avatar will also go with them, but half of the EXP it has been given will be returned to the original team.

Combat: Battles automatically begin when two or more teams are in the same room and one team sends a battle request. Battles in Tower of Lore are turn-based and fought by avatars using skills. Details will be provided within the Game itself. The winning team can seize half of the losing team’s EXP, as well as apply one of the following penalties:

• Headhunt one player from the losing team by forcing them to send a Transfer Request.
• Stun the team, leaving them unable to move from their current room or use skills for one hour.
• Steal one item from the losing team, which will be moved to the winning team’s inventory.

As can be surmised from the rules above, losing a battle does not knock a team out of Tower of Lore. However, the Game also features a Reaper, a type of hidden job that possesses a skill to eliminate other players. The Reaper job will be assigned to a player who meets a certain condition, the details of which will not be revealed at this time.

As usual, up to three Abilities can be installed on your devices. Furthermore, as in the semifinal round, all players not on the winning team will lose one star. All stars lost during SFIA will be awarded to the winning team and the schools to which they belong, along with the orange Unique Star.

“…That’s everything,” Himeji almost whispered as everyone raised their heads. “Like with the different teams, it seems some of the rules won’t be revealed until you reach a certain point within the Game. Regardless, the Reaper has the power to knock people out, but while losing battles penalizes you, it won’t cause you to lose.”

“Right. And I don’t think that Reaper job is gonna be held by the same person the entire time, either. It wouldn’t work as a Game otherwise. So what I think we should discuss now is the normal jobs. Minakami and I should at least decide before the end of the day which ones we want to choose.”

“O-okay!”

Minakami’s spine went rigid as I brought her into the conversation…though she was already sitting up pretty straight.

“Um, well, before anything else…if we’re starting in the same place, should we be on the same team as well, Shinohara? You…and me?”

“…? Well, sure. No reason why not to.”

“Y-yeah, you’re right! Heh, eh-heh… Ah, sorry if that was a weird question!”

Minakami’s flustered response was pretty strange. She almost looked a little happy, but I couldn’t really tell, so I decided to just get back to the topic at hand.

“Now, since there are two of us, we should probably pick different jobs. That’s one other advantage we have, being two people from the same school… Do you know which one you want, Minakami?”

“Um, well… I…”

Minakami fell silent for a moment. She looked around at the group, her long black hair flowing down around her face.

“I have two things I want to accomplish in the final round. One is to teach a lesson to Kaoru and everyone else in the Hexagram. I want to make them stop with their fake justice and apologize to everyone on the island. I’m just as guilty myself, though, so I’ll apologize with them…!”

“As serious-minded as ever, aren’t you?”

“It’s good to be serious… The second thing is to repay what I owe to my upperclassmen in Eimei. Shirayuki, Noa, Shinji, Nanase…and to you too, Shinohara. I want to show how grateful I am to all of you, so I’ll do whatever it takes to win this for Eimei,” she said, clenching her fist.

I didn’t know why I was the only person she’d addressed by their last name, but whatever.

“So those are my two goals—and maybe that’s asking for too much as a Three Star. But if I put limits on my own Abilities…if I focus all their effects on a single point, I think I might be able to compete with higher-ranked opponents.”

“Focus them all on a single point? You mean…?”

“Yes. Call it an all-out strike against the Hexagram. That’s why I want to be a Caller, Shinohara. I can prepare an Ability that makes me super strong only when I’m fighting Hexagram members, and that’ll allow me to compete with Kaoru and the others. The rest of my Abilities will be defensive in nature like usual, but just that one… I want to use it to demonstrate my will to ‘fight back,’ just like you taught me.”

Minakami looked me straight in the eyes… She really was strong. There was no way she could’ve gotten over being double-crossed by someone she trusted so much in just a few short days, yet she was already fired up by her own sense of justice and trying to help us out.

“The term ‘all-out strike’ is a little too abstract,” Enomoto said, seeming just as impressed with her spirit, “but they do all wear those little Hexagram emblems. You could use that as the trigger for your Ability. I can help you craft your Ability and fine-tune it. Nanase will be a good test subject, or at least provide moral support. We’ll be happy to help you out all day tomorrow, Minakami.”

“…! O-okay! Thank you very much, Shinji! And you too, Nanase!”

“Hey! I’m no test subject, but I’ll help out too! At least say ‘no’ to him sometimes, Marie!”

I listened to their cheery little conversation as I quietly thought things over. So Minakami had her direction set in stone. No matter how intricate of a strategy we came up with, we’d have to run into Saeki at some point, so we needed to prepare for that. But in the end—whether I wanted it to be true or not—the final round wasn’t going be easy enough for that to be all it’d take to win.

“There’s sixteen people left in SFIA,” I said with a sigh, “and I can’t let my guard down around any of them.”

“…Very true,” Himeji said next to me. “First, there are the Hexagram members to whom Ms. Minakami was just referring—the so-called ‘defenders of justice’ who have cast all kinds of false aspersions upon you and whose fate is deeply entwined with Eimei’s. Their remaining members in the final are Mr. Kaoru Saeki, their leader; Ms. Ako Ishizaki, a third-year from Ohmi School; Mr. Soma Yanagi, a second-year from Otowa School; Mr. Kanade Yuikawa, a third-year from Ibara School…and Ms. Miyabi Akutsu, a third-year from Suisei School.”

“…Miyabi’s really strong,” Minakami said softly. Miyabi was the only one she knew personally. “She’s got a sharp mind, and it’s so reassuring just having her on your side. It’s almost scary how she seems to see right through everything… She’s Kaoru’s assistant, sort of like the shadow leader of the Hexagram.”

“Oh, I think I know what you mean,” Akizuki said. “I was on a team with Akutsu in the semifinal… When we were discussing strategies, all it took was a word or two from her to steer the whole conversation. She makes it seem so natural, you know? Like, it’d be super scary if she can do that on purpose! ”

“I think she can. That’s the sort of person Miyabi is.”

I scowled internally as I listened to their conversation. If Akizuki was telling the truth, Akutsu would be too much even for Saionji to handle. Clearly, after Saeki, she was who I needed to be most cautious of.

“Now…outside of the Hexagram, I believe the Seventh Ward is our biggest threat.”

I’d just reached the same conclusion, but Himeji had beaten me to the punch, raising the point with a finger on her cheek.

“Shinra High School, third in the school rankings. They’re a powerhouse, and they have the most students of anywhere in the final: Mr. Toya Kirigaya, Mr. Mitsuru Fuwa, and Ms. Sumire Fuwa.”

“…Hmm. I wasn’t familiar with the Fuwa siblings before now, so I did a little research. They’re twins in their second year at Shinra, and they’re both Four Star players…but I couldn’t dig up anything else about them. This is their first appearance in public competition. They haven’t received any coverage at all before now.”

“I see. I don’t know what sort of a relationship these twins have with Kirigaya, but the three of them working together is a clear threat. Ohga’s dangerous for a similar reason…”

“Hee-hee! And we all know how good the Empress is. ”

…We sure did.

We’d need to keep a particularly close eye on the Shinra and Ohga contingents, but we couldn’t afford to ignore the players representing their schools solo, either. There was Hell’s Priestess, Senri Kururugi; Shizuku Minami, the sleepy-eyed former Academy number one; Misaki Yumeno, the dark horse from Amanezaka… None of them would be pushovers. If a fake Seven Star like me wanted to come out on top, I would need at least a little bit of support.

“It sounds like they’ve made it so players can’t communicate with anyone outside the tower. That makes sense, given the puzzle-solving aspect of this…but I really wish we could do something about that,” I said slowly.

“…I’m following,” Enomoto said with a nod. “I hear Libra will be livestreaming the Game on its channel with a two-hour delay. If you could contact the outside world, it would be easier to see how other teams are doing and how best to work your way up the tower. Plus, once the Game starts, we’ll begin working to destroy the Hexagram from our side as well. I’d like to be able to coordinate at least a little bit.”

“The ‘when the cat’s away’ strategy, huh?”

“Exactly. The leader of the Hexagram and his number-two should both be cut off from communication. This will be our only chance to get them back for sullying the name of Eimei’s ace last year… We’re going to completely dismantle the Hexagram.”

“Hee-hee! That’s right! We’ll tear them limb from limb! ”

Enomoto’s steadfast speech was contrasted by Akizuki’s brutal threats, said in her usual devilishly cute tone of voice.

“You say you want to coordinate…but how?” I asked Enomoto. “All communication’s going to be blocked, right?”

“Yes, so it seems,” Himeji said. “We can’t do anything about that…”

“Not necessarily. Think about it, you two. Players might not be able to communicate with the outside world and vice versa, but it’s not as if they’ll be out of service range. People will have access to their devices during Tower of Lore, and Game footage is going to be relayed all across the island… Across the world, even. It’s just a matter of getting access. Players’ devices will be restricted from accessing anything outside the tower, but Libra’s won’t have any restrictions at all. It’s also worth pointing out that the broadcast isn’t live—it’ll be delayed by two hours. Couldn’t you take that to mean they’re saying it’s okay for players to get tips from the outside, since it’ll all be two-hour-old information anyway?”

“…! So whoever notices that will have an advantage?!”

“Right. In other words…”

It wasn’t against the rules.

I picked up my device on the table, motioning to the rest of the Eimei members to be quiet as I called someone. She immediately picked up.

“…Hwuh? Is that you, Shinohara?”

“Yeah. Sorry to contact you out of the blue, Kazami. Got a moment?”

“Oh, yeah! I was just about to take a break anyway! You’re real lucky, Shinohara!”

Suzuran Kazami, a top-level member of the Libra cross-island network, eagerly agreed to take my call. She was a second-year from Ohga School, just like Saionji, and had a number of different roles including commentating and adjudicating on events. I was sure she was extremely busy, what with it being just before the final, so I really was lucky to have caught her on the first try.

But back to business…

“So, Kazami, I wanted to ask you something about the final. Those avatars… We’re going to be using them to battle, right? How do those things work? They’re not gonna be all AI, are they?”

“Great question! The controls for the avatars will be handled by Libra members in motion-capture outfits! The animation’s gonna be super smooth!”

“I see… So the people acting as these avatars will be outside the tower?”

“All I’ll say to that is ‘yes.’ I’d be playing favorites way too much if I gave you any more hints!”

Kazami sounded like she was enjoying herself…but based on her reaction, my assumption was correct. Having confirmed that, I pressed on.

“By the way, how’s all that gonna be handled? Like, in a Game where stars change hands, third parties aren’t supposed to be involved at all, are they? Normally they’d be treated the same way players are in the Game, but if they’re taking part as avatars, it must be more like they’re acting as indirectly supporting players, right?”

“Boy, you sure are sharp, Shinohara! That’s right, the people controlling the avatars will be considered pseudo-players in the Game. Of course, they won’t be able to make any sound, though, just move around as ordered… Why do you ask?”

“…Nah, it’s nothing. That’s all I needed to know. Thanks, Kazami. I’m looking forward to the final.”

“Hnyah!”

Hearing her energetic (?) response, I smiled a bit as I put my device down. It was true. It would be humans puppeteering the avatars in Tower of Lore, just like what Shiina had done in ASTRAL. That meant the avatars were the one window in the tower that connected it to the outside world, whether they were meant to be or not.

“…So how’d it go?” Minakami asked, worried. I didn’t blame her for being concerned. After all, if we lost, her sense of justice would be trampled over and the fakers in the Hexagram would affirm their place in Academy society.

But despite that—or maybe because of it—I smiled.

“Don’t worry, Minakami… We just got the greatest assistant possible to join our team.”

“Zzz… Hee-hee, Hiroto… Mmm…”

It was ten at night, and with the meeting having wound down, Himeji and I had gone to a different room in the same hotel.

We hadn’t told the others, but Kagaya and Tsumugi Shiina, two members of the Company, were staying here. They’d come with us in secret to make sure the strategy meetings and Ability construction all went smoothly.

But right now, Shiina was burrowed into her futon, sleeping soundly.

“She was playing pretty much the entire day… I’m sure she’s beat.”

“I would assume so. You look tired yourself, Ms. Kagaya.”

“Well, I was with Tsum-Tsum all day, and I don’t have half her energy… One false step, and perhaps I would’ve fallen asleep in your arms, Hiro, just like she did that one time.”

“…I wish everyone would stop trying to seduce my master like that.” Himeji pouted, and Kagaya jokingly apologized. Despite her total lack of interest in taking care of herself, Kagaya was an incredibly beautiful woman, so I wished she’d stop blindsiding me by saying things like that.

But back on track…

“Shirayuki filled me in already,” she said. “Basically, you want an adaptive Ability that changes based on the makeup of your team?”

That’s right.

As we’d been looking over the rules for the final round, the first thing that had stuck out to us were all the random factors in the Game. People from the same school started in the same room, so that at least you could rely on—but who your enemies and allies ended up being came down to pure luck. There was a chance I’d even wind up on the same team as Saeki or Kirigaya.

“…Hence our request,” Himeji had said softly after I explained all that. “If any number of possibilities may occur, we need to prepare for all of them. However, only three Abilities can be set for this Game…so based on Master’s concept of an ‘adaptive’ Ability, we’ve come up with one potential idea: an Ability that has multiple slots. For example, effect A if your team has someone from Ohga School, and effect B if you have someone from Otowa.”

“Yeah. That would give me a lot more flexibility and make it easier to figure out who I want to recruit for my team. I’m hoping to combine Predict Behavior’s foresight with Inferior Copy’s reproduction effect—using two color stars to make this possible. Of course, that’ll use up two Ability slots, but logically, it should work. There’s just one thing…”

“The problem is whether we can finish on time,” Himeji explained. “…I know this is asking a lot.”

“Hmm, hmm… Mmmm…”

Kagaya crossed her arms, looking like she was hugging a pillow as she thought over our request. The way I saw it, this was my best option. It would come with a lot of compromises, but that was just how tough the fight ahead of us was.

Kagaya looked into my pleading eyes.

“…It’s gonna be tough.”

“Ngh… You think so?”

“Well, customizing the effect for each player…no, for each school would give us ten different patterns to implement. And we’d have to make sure they all work properly and don’t make the whole package too big. It’s impossible to do all that in a single day… At least it would be if it was just me.”

“I figured as much… Wait, what? If it was just you…?”

“Yeah! Meaning it’s no problem at all! I’ve got you and Shirayuki now, and most importantly, Tsum-Tsum’s here! We’re gonna give you the most perfect piece of software you ever saw, so hang tight, Hiro!”

“Ah… Okay. Thank you very much.”

I bowed my head to Kagaya, breathing a sigh of relief as she flashed me a peace sign.

That’s all the preparations taken care of… There’s just one other person I need to talk things over with.

With that thought in mind, I reached for the device in my pocket.

Late that night, I left the room that I shared with Enomoto after making sure he was asleep.

“I can see the logic in your strategy.”

On my device, I was talking to none other than Sarasa Saionji, the fake little rich girl and former Seven Star. We were each other’s biggest rival, trading barbs every time we met in person…or that’s how we acted anyway. The truth was that we were both liars, with secrets so big we’d be dead to society if they ever came to light. If either of us ever lost a star, we’d be facing our doom, so we needed to be on the same page for this Game.

Saionji, on the other end of the line, looked as unaffected as always. “An Ability that contains several effects… You don’t know what Saeki and Kirigaya will try, so you want to be prepared for everything.”

“Pretty much. So…what sort of strategy have you come up with?”

“Me? Oh, I’m going to treat this Game just like any other. Though I suppose I’ll be focusing more on the role-playing aspect of it all.”

“…The role-playing aspect? Like how?”

“Tower of Lore isn’t just a dungeon RPG, right? It’s got the escape-room element to it as well…so I don’t think the puzzle-solving aspects are just window dressing. A girl who’s spent centuries locked in this tower without anybody saving her…? I mean, how do you explain that in a world with magic and everything? If nobody could reach her until now, there must be some condition you have to meet to get to the top floor, right? …That sort of thing.”

“Ah… That’s what you mean?”

“It seems like a good way to look at it, don’t you think? Hee-hee! Feel free to heap praise upon me.”

“You’re the best no-Unique, Six-Star rich kid I know.”

“Hey! Stop riling me up when it’s just the two of us, you idiot!”

Saionji shot back at my usual ribbing, the resentment clear in her voice. She was smart to pick up on that, though… If we needed a certain item or piece of intel to reach the top floor, then it would be impossible for whoever controlled that to lose.

“Honestly… Anyway, that’s my plan. I’ll devote most of my time to solving the riddle, which should let me secure whatever it is I need to beat the Game and ensure nobody else can win. I’ll kindly let you deal with Saeki instead.”

“Oh wow, that’s so nice of you. I’ll gladly accept this gift from the Empress. If I have space in my team after beating Saeki, maybe I’ll even let you join.”

“Hee-hee! If you wanted to team up with me, you could’ve just said so.”

“Hah! Never in a million years.”

We were practically following a script by this point, but as we spoke, I thought things over a bit. It went without saying that for us, this Game was do-or-die. If I wanted to remain a Seven Star, and if Saionji wanted to remain Saionji, there was absolutely no way we could afford to lose.

We know the Hexagram’s going to use whatever tricks they’ve got against us…and if they’re not holding back, we have no choice but to make our move. I’m sure the frustration has to be building up for Kirigaya, too. There’s also those twins to consider, who I’m sure are both lethal. But I can’t focus solely on them. There are lots of other people who are just as liable to snatch victory away from me. Meanwhile, Saionji and I can’t work together publicly. We’re supposed to be bitter enemies…but ultimately, we both have to win this.

I was in such a tight spot, nobody could blame me for grumbling over it. This situation was a much more dangerous than ASTRAL and, without a doubt, the biggest crisis I’d faced since arriving on the Academy.

Yet even so…

“Well, I guess I trust in your talents.”

“Oh? Well, same goes for you, I guess.”

With the same casual tone as always, we ended the call at the same time.

“Hmm. Hmmmm. ”

“…What’s up, Yuzuha? You seem pretty chipper today.”

“Well, sure I am. The SFIA final’s just about to start! And half the schools are still in it. It’s unheard of. I can’t wait to see how it turns out.”

“I’m glad you’re so untroubled. I thought you’d be worried sick about your brother losing. There’s the whole Hexagram thing, too… You’re sure you want to let that go unaddressed?”

“Why not? They haven’t crossed any clear lines yet. They’re really good at keeping the balance that way. As for Hiroto…well, they’re still going pretty easy on him, aren’t they?”

“Uhh… How much of a sadist are you, Yuzuha?”

“No, it’s not like that. I just mean Hiroto looks a lot cooler when his back’s against the wall. And…in a Game as big as this, don’t you think it’s more fun if people rock the boat a little?”

“…I’m not sure an administrator like you should say stuff like that. But I get what you mean.”

“Right? That’s why I like you so much.”

“Haah… By the way, who do you like more—me, or your brother?”

“Hiroto.”

“Yeah, why’d I even ask…?”

“This is Suzuran Kazami from Libra, and the time is nine o’clock on Monday, August 8. I’m sure a lot of you have been waiting for this day to arrive. In these last two weeks since that blockbuster opening ceremony, SFIA, the island’s summer festival, has been glowing white-hot with excitement…!

“The action kicked off in Stage One with Random Chase, a Game that tested players’ targeting and photo-taking skills. Stage Two, Rate Radar, was all about people manipulating the value of their weapons, and there we saw the dark horses start to rear their heads! Stage Three, Blank Code, was a battle for information among the wards, with each school sending out its best and brightest to fill the few qualifying slots available. Only a hundred people made it to Stage Four, Dropout Tamers—a Game no doubt still fresh in your minds, given the big-bang-level clashes from start to finish!

“And now! And now, and now, and now…it all comes down to the SFIA final: Tower of Lore! Sixteen players have been to hell and back to make it here, but only one team—four players maximum—can emerge as the victors! These four will stand above all two hundred and fifty thousand students on the Academy to call themselves the best!

“Viewers, I hope you’re ready for what’s about to unfold! I know I am! I’m so excited I didn’t sleep a wink all last night, and my heart’s pounding like crazy! And I know I’m not the only one, either!

“It’s the final sprint before the curtain comes down! Tower of Lore, the last competition in this year’s SFIA…begins now!!”

“Hmm…”

It was nine in the morning, and the world appeared around me as the Game began.

I blinked and stretched my arms, taking in my surroundings. I could see the interior of a rather blandly decorated room, shaped like a slightly bent rectangle. Taking a closer look, one of the curved walls and one of the straight walls had a door in it, pure white in color. There was also a beautiful young girl with black hair practically clinging to my side.

“Wha—?!”

“Hm? What’s wrong, Shinohara? Were you really that startled…?”

“Well…yeah. I couldn’t see anything until just now. In fact, why weren’t you surprised?”

“Why would I be? I mean…I was the one who walked up to you because I was afraid of the dark.”

“…You could’ve at least called out or something.”

Minakami had been completely silent, so I hadn’t noticed her at all before now.

Regardless, now that the Game was underway, it was time to get our thoughts in order. This was Tower of Lore, the final Game in SFIA. The Game field covered ten floors, and the only goal was to reach the top.

Minakami and I had been brought here about ten minutes ago. We’d gone to the meeting point in Ward Zero at seven this morning, and from there, we’d been guided by the staff to the circular tower where the Game would take place. After we waited for what was probably close to half an hour in a standby room in the basement, they had used the Blind function on our devices to take away our sight and put us on an elevator. The next thing I knew, I was here.

“So the Game’s started, huh…? Kazami must have just announced it.”

“Oh, I’m sure you’re right. I wish I could’ve heard it, though… I love a big spectacle like that.”

“Hm… Well, you’ll get your fill of that in the post-Game highlight reels.”

“That’s true,” Minakami said, smiling a bit at my attempt to lighten the mood.

We took out our devices and went through all the information available to us.

“Looks like we have six basic options here to choose from: Map, Team Data, Acquire Skill, Battle Request, Transfer Request, and Communicate.”

“Yeah. Map is pretty obvious, I think…but I don’t see any information about the room we’re in right now. Are we meant to draw it in by hand?”

“No… We probably need some kind of in-Game skill. The Explorer job would be a lot less useful otherwise.”

“Oh, right, that makes sense! Um, Team Data is straightforward, too. We don’t have a team yet, so all I see is my own stats, but I guess it shows how much EXP you have and which skills you’ve obtained and stuff.”

“Yeah. That’s where Acquire Skill comes in, I suppose. Any skills you get are added to the Acquired list, and you can use them from there.”

I looked back at the rules. In Tower of Lore, you only needed to use EXP for skills when you obtained them. Once you did, that skill became the property of your team and could be used at no further cost, though there was still a cooldown time. I tapped Acquire Skill, which brought up a nested list containing what seemed to be dozens of different skills divided into three trees, one for the Caller, Explorer, and Supporter jobs. Each skill had its own set of conditions for acquiring it outlined in these trees, and they were separated by color to show whether they were currently obtainable.

“Wow…,” Minakami murmured. “There sure are a lot.”

“?! …Y-yeah, there really are,” I agreed, trying hard to keep the surprise out of my voice.

Minakami had put her device away and was now staring straight at mine. That was more efficient, maybe, but the way she’d just naturally sidled right up to me made my heart race a little. She was a first-year and still had a bit of a childish cast to her face, but the way she brushed her hair behind her ears showed a certain maturity and elegance.

“…? Um… My job is Caller, and you’re a Supporter, right, Shinohara?”

I nodded back. As Minakami said, I’d chosen the role of Supporter for myself.

Tower of Lore wasn’t a simple ward-against-ward kind of Game, so I needed to think in terms of four-person teams at all times. For players who were acting alone, was it better to be an Explorer since they could perform more actions by themselves or a Caller because of their usefulness in battle? Chances were good that anyone who made it to this final event as their school’s sole representative would pick one of those two jobs, meaning that I didn’t need to. We should have no problem filling those roles on our team.

I looked back down at the list of skills.

“Looks like Mapping is one of the Explorer skills. There’s also Searchlight, which tells you if other teams are nearby, and Detect Elevator, which shows you where the elevators are.”

“It really is the best job for exploring the tower, that’s for sure,” Minakami commented. “There are a lot of skills to impede other teams, too, which seem pretty handy. As for Supporter skills… Mm, a lot of their permanent buffs seem pretty powerful. There’s EXP Up, which rewards you with a little more EXP when you unlock a door, and Economizer, which reduces EXP consumption. Both of those skills are also prerequisites for obtaining more powerful skills, so effects like that should ramp up quickly the more you grow!”

“Not bad. Other than buffs, there’s Long-Range Contact, which seems useful; it lets you communicate with teams that are far away. There’s also Parallel Movement, which lets you split up the team… Oh, what’s this?”

Looking at the Team Data screen, I’d found a similar-sounding skill that was already acquired: Parallel Movement EX. Apparently, you could use it as long as someone else from your ward was in the Game. Its cooldown time was listed as “infinite.”

“…I guess it’s a version of Parallel Movement we can only use once. Another little advantage, I suppose.”

I nodded to myself. If they were giving us something, I wasn’t going to turn it down.

After looking over the Supporter skills, I moved on to the Caller skill list.

“The first thing I’m noticing is all the avatar-related skills you’ve got, Minakami.”

“Yeah… Anyone can obtain Summon Avatar, but unfortunately, you can’t get it until you reach the second floor, and it’s a prerequisite for every other Caller skill… Basically, I can’t do anything on the first floor but walk around.”

Minakami’s shoulders drooped a little. It seemed like she was eager to repay me for helping her out in the semifinal, but I didn’t see the need—we were from the same school, after all. Still, I knew all too well by now just how tenacious Minakami could be.

“Well, I’m gonna be relying on you from the second floor onward. Do you have an idea of which skills you want?”

“Oh… Yes, of course! Ice Rain and Blazing Fireball both have short cooldown times, and Sacred Weapon could be a good finisher move based on the situation. For defense, it’s hard to pass up Round Shield and Backstep!”

“…! You already sifted through all these skills to find those? That was fast.”

“Y-you think so? Eh-heh… Truth is, I like games with these sorts of dungeon-RPG mechanics, so this is kind of exciting for me…”

Minakami sounded a little bashful, but her excitement and anticipation were written all over her face. I could understand how she felt.

“I guess…the only skill I really want to buy right now is EXP Up,” I said. “Not that I don’t need any of the others, but skills are shared with your team in Tower of Lore, so if someone else already has the skills I get, that’d just be a waste of experience points.”

“That’s true. If you use up all your EXP, you won’t be able to force open a door if you have to. I think hanging on to some is a good idea!”

Minakami clenched her hands into fists as she spoke, her voice impassioned. She was right. Each player was given one thousand EXP to start with, but if you let that drop to zero, you might end up totally stuck, not even able to move to the next room.

“Some skills I have the experience points for but can’t buy yet, so I’m guessing I need some sort of information to unlock them. We should start exploring as soon as possible…”

I tapped on my device, trading 800 experience points for the EXP Up skill. With that, we’d pretty much covered all the information we had so far. Now we needed to start actually playing the Game.

At long last, I approached the closest door.

“Huh…?”

The next moment, the blank door emitted a faint noise as it displayed a few lines of text in digital neon-green lettering. It was such a realistic effect that Minakami couldn’t help but let out a “Whoa…!” as she gazed at the words, her eyes aglow.

I read the top line.

“‘Difficulty: I / Genre: Riddle’… So this is the condition for unlocking the door?”

“Looks like it. The doors in the tower seem to have different ‘genres’ of conditions to open them. This one’s a riddle—so if we answer correctly, it should open right up!”

Hearing Minakami’s explanation, I nodded to myself and thought over the rules again. The doors could be unlocked by satisfying certain conditions, awarding EXP, items, and other perks when you opened them. Unless particular skills were in effect, the doors you opened could only be used by the members of your own team for a short period of time, essentially meaning you could lock other people out. That wasn’t really necessary right now, but I was sure it’d become a lot more important in the later stages of the Game.

“Well, here’s door number one,” Minakami said. “The riddle is… Here, I’ll read it out loud:

“You are being pursued!

“Despite not being a wizard, you have seen one of your pursuers use a spell enough times that you are able to cast it yourself. With the right activation code, you will be able to cast it and escape.

“OTTFFSS. Which letter of the alphabet comes next?

“That’s all of it!” Minakami said excitedly.

“Huh… It’s a more straightforward riddle than I was expecting.”

This was the first door we’d encountered in the Game, and it really did seem like a riddle that had come straight out of an escape room. It outlined a scenario, then asked you to think about how to get out of it—a common type of problem that often came up in tabletop role-playing games and gamebooks.

“So there’s something like this on every door in the Game…? They really put a ton of work into this.”

“Isn’t it exciting? I think it all connects to the in-Game story, too… It’s difficulty one, and the problem itself is pretty easy.”

“…Oh?”

My cheeks twitched, though I kept up my usual carefree expression. Apparently, my schoolmate here already had the answer. We were on the same team, so I was happy to rely on her, but I was going to look like a pretty shoddy upperclassman if this kept up—and a shoddy Seven Star, too.

Seven letters… One O, two T’s, two F’s, and two S’s. Is them being in pairs important? But then the O doesn’t make sense.

“Um… Ahem. If you don’t mind, may I…?”

It must be the order that matters. OTTF… The O is first, T’s second. There’s one O, two T’s… Ah!

“The answer to this puzzle is—”

“—E.”

Minakami was standing in front of the door with her right hand on her chest. She had just been about to give the answer, but I’d figured it out in the nick of time and cut her off.

“It’s the first letter of numbers in order: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven… Eight comes next, so the answer is E. Maybe E stands for Escape, given the spell we’re trying to cast.”

“Wow… Good one, Shinohara! Well figured out!”

“…I mean, I can do this much at least.”

Minakami’s eyes gleamed with respect as she turned to look at me. She’d figured it out, too, so I didn’t see what the big deal was…but that was a close one. I’d managed to maintain my reputation, but if the riddles got any trickier, that would all come crashing down.

Still, nailing that first question is key. Minakami will probably try even harder from now on. And once she can summon avatars, well, that’s where I come in…

It seemed like I’d be able to weather this well enough.

A faint sense of relief spread through me as I watched the door open quietly.

On the other side of the door stood…nobody, which wasn’t really surprising. There were over twenty rooms on this first floor, and as more players started to team up, the less likely we were to run into anybody at random.

As a side note, the EXP I’d earned for opening that door—awarded entirely to me, since I wasn’t on a team yet—had been increased to 750 points thanks to EXP Up. There weren’t any item rewards, but having this EXP boost from the start was a nice little bonus.

Anyway, Minakami and I decided to spend a while exploring the first floor. We weren’t really trying to find other players; our main priority was to locate an elevator to Floor 2. There were four on this floor, each of which activated when a full team of players stepped on it at the same time. In other words, if we found an elevator, we’d find players there, too. What really mattered, though, was who we’d find there…

“That reminds me—ideally, who do you want on our team, Minakami?” I asked as we went through our fourth door, having checked that the room beyond was empty.

She conscientiously turned to face me. “Hmm… Well, I’m against teaming up with Hexagram members, but otherwise, I’m not too picky. More than anything, I’m worried I’ll slow other people down.”

“I don’t think that’s a concern… But yeah, you can forget about us teaming up with the Hexagram.”

There was no way they’d be all buddy-buddy with us—and if they were, I’d find it incredibly suspicious. If I ended up in a situation where I had no choice but to join their team, I’d aim to transfer off it the first chance I got.

If possible, I also preferred not to have to team up with someone from Shinra—that is to say, Kirigaya and the two unknowns that were the Fuwa twins. I’d had the Company look into the pair for me, but they’d barely managed to find anything. My ideal teammates were Saionji or Fujishiro, Minami, Kururugi, and then maybe Kugasaki… If I could put together a team like that, things would be looking pretty darn good for me.

But back to the present.

“We’ve opened enough doors now that I’d expect us to find an elevator soon,” Minakami said. “…Well, let’s just keep going. This door says ‘Difficulty: I / Genre: Set Skill.’ It unlocks if one of us has the skill Economizer.”

“Economizer… The skill that reduces EXP usage? It costs 1,250 EXP… Hmm. Well, I have some EXP to spend now, so maybe this is a good time to buy it.”

“Yeah! I think so, too!”

With Minakami’s staunch agreement, I spent some of my EXP to buy Economizer. It cost over half the EXP I’d earned opening doors so far, but as permanent effects went, it was pretty powerful and would benefit my finances for the rest of the Game.

Immediately afterward, the digital text disappeared, satisfied the condition was met. The door made a classic ka-chak unlocking sound effect and slid into the wall. Minakami promptly stepped through the doorway into the next room, barely able to contain her excitement, and I followed close behind.

““…Huh?””

There, we were greeted with quite a shocking sight.

Two girls were already in the room, each wearing a different school uniform. One was playing with her shiny blue hair, which went down to her shoulders, while the other had pink hair that curled out at the sides. But what really surprised us was the way they were positioned: The blue-haired girl had her companion pressed up against the wall, a hand planted close to the other girl’s face. Her expression looked completely relaxed…or almost sleepy, actually, but there was no way the girl against the wall could have possibly kept her cool. Her face was bright red, her voice unsteady.

“Wha…? Wh-wh-what are you doing?! What is this?! I’m the protagonist, and I’ve suddenly found myself trapped?! This is bad! What’s going to happen to me in the next installment?!”

“Nothing… You’ll be fine. I’ve been thinking since the semifinal that you’re pretty cute… Just my type. Us meeting like this is probably fate at work…”

“I—I don’t think so! You’ve got that all wrong! All I did was pass by you in this tower! Fateful encounters are part of any protagonist’s life, but I’m a girl, too, so if I’m gonna have a chance meeting, I want it to be with a hot guy, please! Someone that sends sparks shooting through me at a glance!”

“I’m the only one here, though…so it’ll work out better for you if you just choose me. Right?”

“I don’t live from moment to moment like that! Also, you’re… You’re too close! Are you sure you want to do that?! This is all going on IslandTube, isn’t it?! We’re on the air!”

“They’ll just have to set the NSFW tag…”

“I’m not going to let that happen! My story’s rated A for All Ages!!”

“…”

Shizuku Minami kept looming, her expressionless face close to Misaki Yumeno’s, who was blushing from ear to ear. But just before Yumeno gave up for good, her gaze wandered in our direction.

“—Ah!”

She’d finally noticed our presence, and her eyes opened wide, pleading for help.

“Final boss! That is you over there, isn’t it?! I hate to count on you, but I can’t afford to be choosy right now! Help me, please! If you don’t save me, the protagonist, God will punish you within the next three days! Boom—struck down by a big bolt of lightning!”

“…Haah.”

I let out a quiet sigh as I stepped farther into the room, caught in Yumeno’s tirade. Minakami followed a few steps behind, her mouth wide open and both hands pressed against her face.

“Honestly… What do you think you’re doing?” I asked.

“Is that you, stalker…?” Minami retorted. “And nothing. I was just making Yumeno here an offer. Though, if you’re going to get in my way, I’d be happy to put you in your place…”

“You were making her an offer? Because it sounded like you were trying to seduce her.”

“Same thing…and I haven’t done anything yet. Everything so far has been suitable for ages fifteen and up…”

“O-of course it has! Anything beyond that…isn’t something you should just casually go around showing people!” Minakami exclaimed.

She shook her head, her flowing black hair whipping around her slightly red face, and Yumeno used that as a distraction to slip out from under Minami’s grasp. She hid behind me, then poked out her head and growled at Minami.

“Gah… She got away. No matter how you look at it, this is clearly your fault… Are you gonna take responsibility?”

“Huh?” I said, dumbfounded. “Me?”

“Hmm…? So you won’t, then? You really are the worst, you know.”

“…That’s a bit harsh.”

I shook my head, trying not to get caught up in Minami’s pace.

Anyway, it turned out that the first players we ran into in Tower of Lore were, more or less, people I knew. One was Shizuku Minami, a second-year at St. Rosalia Girls’ Institute in the Fourteenth Ward. She was a Five Star with shiny blue hair and eyes that always made her look like she’d just gotten out of bed. Minami had been passing herself off as a normal student at first, but over the past few months, she’d started to demonstrate her skills as the so-called former best on the island.

The other girl was Misaki Yumeno, who had been drawing attention since the start of SFIA as a potential dark horse to win it all. Yumeno was a first-year from Amanezaka School in the Seventeenth Ward, and despite being young, she was bursting with intelligence and was already a Four Star. She seemed to see herself as the protagonist of her own story…or something like that. It made her seem pretty weird most of the time, but she must be incredibly talented to have made it out of the semifinal.

“B-but… Um, this is great!” Minakami said next to me, trying to move things along. “Me, Shinohara, Minami, Yumeno… That makes four people. If we form a team, we can be with you guys the whole Game!”

“Ohh… That’s not a bad idea,” Minami said. “Your name… It’s Minakami, right?”

“That’s right! …Wait, did I already introduce myself?”

“No… I just heard a little about you from my stalker over there at the end of the semis. I never forget a girl’s name…especially when they’re cute.”

“C-cute…? Uh, okay…”

“…Can you stop trying to hit on anything that breathes, Minami?” I said. “Minakami’s a first-year at my school.”

“Pfft… Jealousy… Never a good thing. And you have a girl for each arm…plus a leg, actually. You should just be happy… Normally, you’d have to pay for that.”

“I’m not paying them anything. And what do you mean, one on my leg?”

That said, I didn’t really know where another girl would go if your arms were too full…

“…So? What’re you gonna do, Minami?” I asked. “Do you agree that the four of us should form a team?”

“Mm… Whatever. As long as I can fight strong players, I don’t care what team I’m on…”

A pale blue flame flickered in her sleepy eyes as she spoke. Minami always did things in her own sweet time, but she didn’t seem against joining us. I was about to ask Yumeno the same question—but just then she let out an “Ah!” and pointed a finger at Minakami.

“You! You’re Mari Minakami, first-year at Eimei School… My rival who’s blocking my path as the protagonist! I’m not gonna let you beat me… Grrrrrr!”

“M-me?! I don’t know why you think I’m your rival—”

“Don’t give me that! People were going on about how much of a dark horse I was until Round Four, but you’re a first-year like me and only a Three Star, and your attention meter’s at two hundred percent! It’s not fair! There’s no way I’m gonna lose to you!”

“O-oh… Then, could you maybe go easy on me…?”

Yumeno was clashing with Minakami in ways I couldn’t really understand, but it didn’t sound like she was opposed to teaming up, either.

This actually might be a pretty good sign of things to come…

I put my right hand to my lips as I surveyed my team members. Considering they weren’t affiliated with the Hexagram or Toya Kirigaya and didn’t clearly have it out for me, it was pretty lucky I’d run into Minami and Yumeno. Not to mention they were both incredibly skilled.

“Um…by the way, which jobs do you two have?” Minakami asked.

I was curious about that as well. Jobs were an important factor in this Game, to the point that some players might be reluctant to give that information out freely…but at least on the first floor, you couldn’t form a well-balanced team unless you knew. I didn’t see how concealing your job would benefit anyone right now.

“I’m a Caller, by the way,” Minakami added, “and Shinohara is a Supporter. So if one of you is an Explorer, I think that’d be pretty handy for us, you know…”

“Heh-heh-heh… I predicted you would say that three reincarnations ago! I, of course, am an almighty Explorer! Just imagine you heard a ba-bam sound effect when I said that!”

“Whoa! That’s really great to hear! What about you, Minami…?”

“Me? I’m a Caller… Same as you, Minakami.”

“Oh, you are…? Hee-hee, what a coincidence! Let’s both do our best, okay?”

Minakami sounded delighted by both of their answers. She wasn’t just overexaggerating, either—she really did seem to feel that way. It reflected well on her personality.

“Hm… Hey, Yumeno. How many Explorer skills have you got so far?” I asked.

“Just Mapping and Detect Elevator! A lot of other attractive skills are trying to seduce me, which is a pain, but I wanted to form a team before I bought any more!”

“Detect Elevator,” Minakami murmured, looking at her device. “…Here it is. It’s a skill that lets you search for elevators within two rooms of your location and put their coordinates on the map if you find any. That’s a good one…”

“It really is just like you’re an Explorer,” I said. “By the way, Yumeno, have you used that skill on the rooms around here?”

“No, I haven’t touched it yet. I was too busy running from that girl before she dragged me into her own story…”

A slight shudder ran through Yumeno’s body, and she took out her device to try to distract herself from what had happened. She wasted no time using Detect Elevator, which didn’t use up any EXP since she’d already bought it. The results immediately appeared on Yumeno’s map.

“Aha! …There is an elevator! Right in the next room! Heh-heh-heh… I’ve done it again! Having amazing luck at times like this is another classic example of protagonist behavior!”

“Wow…”

Minami clapped indifferently (or at least that’s how it looked with her sleepy eyes) at the smug Yumeno. There were three doors in the room, and since we could discount both the door that Minakami and I had come through and the one they’d used, that left just one correct answer.

All four of us lined up in front of the door, which emitted a now-familiar noise.

“‘Difficulty: II / Genre: Riddle.’ I’ll read it,” Minakami offered.

“You are all alone and lost in the woods. This is the Witch’s Forest—a place from which escape is impossible without a guide.

“A fork in the road lies ahead of you. One path leads into thick, overgrown foliage, while the other is slightly more open and follows a river. The path you came down to reach here also stretches away behind you.

“What should you do to survive?”

“Huh… That’s it? This is tough…”

“It takes a lot to confound someone like me, but this is a worthy opponent. Hmmm…”

Our two new team members sounded pretty stumped.

Mm… This does seem like a pretty different style of question from the alphabet riddle earlier. The paths are described for us, but I’m not sure that really counts as a hint…

In other words, this wasn’t going to be a simple riddle. We needed to focus not only on the important-sounding part in the middle but also the question as a whole. This was a Game, meaning the wording of the question functioned as the “rules” for opening the door. There had to be a way to beat it.

“You’re lost all alone… You can’t escape without a guide…”

“…Oh! That’s it!”

All I’d done was repeat the first part of the riddle, but Minakami was smiling brightly.

“It’s like this! You can’t escape without a guide, so the first thing you need to do is search for one! And in this Game, you’re allowed to use skills to open doors, so…Yumeno!”

“Say no more! Skill, skill… Ah, yes! Detect Player! This skill costs 1,800 EXP, which is a bit on the high side, but desperate times call for desperate measures. The protagonist always needs to escape alive! So hurry up and come save us, guide!!”

With an excessive amount of energy, Yumeno acquired the Detect Player skill, then immediately activated it. The moment she did, there was an electric noise as the message on the door changed:

You were lucky enough to run into a guide who showed you how to get out of the forest.

Mission accomplished, I guess.

“Wow…,” Minami said next to me, sounding completely unconcerned. “You three are pretty amazing… I was thinking something else entirely.”

“Oh? Like what?”

“I was gonna set fire to the woods… I mean, if it’s a witch’s forest, there’s no way it’s good. I picked up a consumable item, Matchbook, at a door earlier, so I just thought…light one, throw it, problem solved.”

“That’s so reckless… Also, wouldn’t you die in the fire in that scenario?”

“…? No way. They said there was a river… Didn’t they?”

Minami cocked her head in confusion and stared at me with her blue eyes as I thought back to the riddle… She was right, actually. That was another solution to the problem. The text implied that you needed to find a guide to escape, but all it said you had to do was survive.

Coming up with that first thing unnerves me a little…but maybe this proves there’s more than one right answer.

I shook my head to myself at that reminder of just how utterly inscrutable Shizuku Minami was.

Regardless, we’d solved the riddle, and the door unlocked with a satisfying ka-chak and slid into the wall. If Yumeno was right, the elevator should be right here in this room. I wanted to head up to the second floor as soon as possible, and to do that, we’d need to form our team.

But just as those thoughts were going through the back of my mind—

“Well, lookie here… We’ve been waiting for you, Hiroto Shinohara.”

“—?!”

A familiar, aggressive voice reached my ears, making my eyes bulge even before the door had fully opened. We hadn’t checked to see whether anyone was in the next room. In fact, I’d even been considering the strategy of ambushing other players near an elevator.

But…did it really have to be them?!

I clenched my fists, screaming internally.

Standing in front of us, blocking our path to the elevator, was Toya Kirigaya’s team.

There were several important aspects to consider in Tower of Lore, the final event of SFIA. Needless to say, one of these was the team element. Unlike in the semifinal round, people could form a team with anyone else. The lineup was set once they took one of the four elevators on the first floor up to the second…meaning players could actively decide who they wanted on their team.

For this reason, team construction was top priority on the first floor. Finding strong allies would give you an advantage in the Game, while conversely, putting together a group of people who weren’t fully invested could lead to betrayals when it mattered the most. In a situation like that, you didn’t try to compete with speed.

That’s why he ambushed us…even though he already has enough people!

It was true. Kirigaya wasn’t alone on the other side of the white door. The first people I saw were a boy and girl behind him—Mitsuru and Sumire Fuwa. Not even the Company had been able to ferret out very much about that mystery pair. Mitsuru had been on the same team as Saionji and Akizuki in Round 4, and I recalled running into him at one point back then. Sumire I’d only seen in the highlight reels, but she looked almost identical to her brother.

““…””

They were a step away from Kirigaya, silently watching the situation unfold…which was fine, I guess. There was nothing unusual about Kirigaya going around with his Shinra schoolmates. What concerned me more were the two people standing at the far side of the room.

“Heh-heh… I thought you’d come here, Seven Star. Looks like my intuition’s sharp as a tack today!”

“It wasn’t intuition, man. It was my Explorer skill. I knew all along they’d be coming.”

The first guy was wearing a collared cloak and sneering at me as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. Next to him stood another boy, his hands sullenly stuffed into his pockets. I didn’t know him too well, but he was wearing a shiny hexagonal emblem on his chest.

Seiran Kugasaki…and Soma Yanagi of the Hexagram. The two players from Otowa School?

I eyed them from across the room as I thought things over. Shinra from the Seventh Ward, Otowa from the Eighth—two powerhouses with multiple students in the final. Taking a closer look at the pair, I realized that Kugasaki and Yanagi already had their feet on the elevator platform.

“Hya-hah…!”

By the time I realized that, Kirigaya had walked right up to me, his shoes tapping on the floor. His black, slicked-back hair made him look as imposing as always, and those cheerless eyes of his bored into mine.

“Welcome to the Devil Team elevator room, Shinohara. I was planning on going head-to-head with you in the semifinal, but those weirdos got in my way, so I had to wait for another opportunity.”

“…You’re all weirdos, as far as I’m concerned. And you can wait forever for all I care.”

“Hya-hah! Man, why you always gotta be such a party pooper? I told you, didn’t I? You have a duty to entertain me. After all this waiting, I can’t stand any more delays. I’m gonna settle the score with you right here, in this Game. You can count on that.”

“…”

“Sadly, the rules say we can’t do any fighting on the first floor. Ah well, when in Rome, right? I’ll just create the ultimate team before I deal with you.”

Kirigaya’s lips twisted into a smile as he took his device out from his pocket. He silently raised his arm, pointing it not at me—but at Yumeno and Minami nearby. Seeing this, a look of confusion or perhaps panic crossed Mitsuru Fuwa’s face, but Kirigaya didn’t stop.

Yumeno was the first to react.

“…Hmm! I’m having the worst feeling about this right now! I’m running away! I don’t have any business with the Devil Team’s elevator, anyway—I want to find the one belonging to the Kingdom, where the protagonist belongs!”

Yumeno quickly disappeared back through the door to the room we’d just come from. She was surprisingly fast when it came to running away. It even flummoxed Kirigaya, who shrugged and gave a wry smile.

“She got away, huh? Well, fine. We have an extra person here anyway. Now, getting back to it—Activate Ability: Compulsory Command V2… Shizuku Minami, was it? Get on this elevator right now. Otherwise, I’m gonna steal half your EXP every minute.”

“Huh? …Me?”

“Yes, you. You should be glad, you know. I’ve chosen you to join the Devil Team—my team. You can run if you want, but if you do, you’ll be all out of EXP in no time.”

“A compulsory invitation… Guess I’m popular again. You’re after my body…aren’t you?”

“Cut the crap. Like I have any interest in your scrawny frame.”

“Hmph… That’s just mean,” Minami muttered, turning back toward me with her usual blank expression. She put her hands on her breasts, then lifted them up (!) and ordered me around in an indifferent tone of voice.

“You should be sticking up for me, too… My body is supremely huggable. It’s soft, smooth, jiggly… Tell him you wouldn’t give it up for anything.”

“…I don’t care how huggable you are. It’s not like your body belongs to me in the first place. Shouldn’t you just go join them? I’ll miss having your firepower, but it’d be a huge disadvantage for you to stay with me.”

“Yeah… You’re right. And if I go with them, I’ll get to fight you. Still…”

Minami seemed a little dissatisfied with my response, and she took a step closer to me, looking like she still had things she wanted to say, but then stopped. She stood up a little straighter and put her lips to my ear, her voice as much of a monotone as ever.

“…I might get a little lonely.”

“…!”

“Heh… That’s all the sugar you’ll get from me today… Too bad, so sad. Regret it all you want, it’s over.”

After that brief moment feeling her moist breath against my ears, Minami stepped back and walked farther into the room. I, meanwhile, forced my racing heart to calm down as I attempted to keep my cool. Now we were down to three people. And based on the flow of the conversation, it was pretty obvious who our new fourth team member was going to be.

“…Hya-hah!” A huge grin spread across Kirigaya’s face. “Later, Shinohara. My team’s complete. Come find me again once you’ve put together a worthy one of your own. Otherwise, I won’t be able to prove I’m at the top!!”

Kirigaya sounded like he was enjoying himself immensely as he strode toward the square elevator platform. The moment he set foot on it, the elevator with the demon logo hummed to life as LED lights pulsed across it. Seiran Kugasaki, Soma Yanagi, Shizuku Minami, and Toya Kirigaya—the Devil Team had been formed.

“…Why are you leaving?” I heard the beige-haired Mitsuru Fuwa ask. But I had questions of my own.

…Damn it.

The Game had only just begun, but I was already in pretty much the worst possible situation. I mean, what other way was there to describe it? Not only had I lost Shizuku Minami and Misaki Yumeno—two friendly, capable teammates—but Kirigaya had already put together his own team. Even worse, the replacements Kirigaya had forced upon me were these two twins from Shinra.

No… That’s not all.

There was more to it than that. Kirigaya may have left the Fuwa twins here to keep me in check, but you could also read it as him prioritizing Soma Yanagi as a team member over either of them. Had he let Yanagi join his team rather than his schoolmates because he wanted to work with the Hexagram in this Game? The two sides might be connected in some way. After all, Kirigaya was just as hell-bent on defeating me as they were.

Of course, this was all guesswork, and I had no way of knowing how true it was. For now, everything was clearly going just how Kirigaya wanted it to.

I didn’t think it’d all be smooth sailing…

But I hadn’t expected it to fall apart this fast.

The elevator slowly went up, and I saw Minami crouched down, waving at me from inside. I averted my eyes—otherwise I’d be looking straight up her skirt—and let out a quiet sigh.

Chapter 2

I was on the first floor in Tower of Lore, the final SFIA competition. After Yumeno fled the elevator room and Minami was taken by the Devil Team, Minakami and I were left all alone with the twins from Shinra.

“Luckily, we’ve still got four people here… How much of this was your plan?” I asked.

“Mmm, hard to say,” Mitsuru Fuwa responded. “But can you really call us the bad guys after everything you just saw? It was clearly all Toya’s doing.”

“That’s basically the same thing as saying it was Shinra’s doing, isn’t it?”

“Even if it was, why are you being so hostile to us out of nowhere? We’re potential teammates, you know,” he said with a shrug, not looking put out in the slightest.

Unable to see eye to eye, we exchanged a brief, tense glance—but the next moment, Sumire Fuwa stepped in between us.

“…Ugh! Enough, enough! We can’t have this! We can’t! Mitsuru, why did you start talking without even saying ‘hi’ or anything? I’ve been waiting all this time to introduce myself!”

“Huh? Oh… Right. Sorry, Sumire.”

In the face of his sister’s fierce protest, Mitsuru’s expression reverted to his vague smile from earlier. He scratched his cheek with an index finger, then turned back toward me and Minakami and cleared his throat, as if starting over.

“Well, it’s a bit too late now, but anyway… My name’s Mitsuru Fuwa, and I’m a Four Star second-year student at Shinra High School in the Seventh Ward. The job I picked is Explorer.”

“Okay! I’m Sumire Fuwa! I’m a Four Star, too, and my job is Supporter! As you can see, Mitsuru and I are twins, but I think it’ll probably be hard to tell us apart if we go by last names here, so feel free to call us by our first names instead! I know it won’t be for very long, but I hope we can all be friends here!”

Sumire used both hands to spread out the skirt of her uniform—which extended a few inches below her knees, though I didn’t know whether this was the standard length or not—and smiled happily at us. Her long, light-beige hair spread out around her face in voluminous waves. If Mitsuru was the classic androgynously beautiful young man, Sumire came off as the hapless beauty or hidden-away daughter of a rich family.

“It’s very nice to meet you,” Minakami replied politely. “My name is Mari Minakami. I’m a first-year at Eimei School, and my job is Caller. I’ll do my best not to let the team down. I look forward to working with you both!”

It was a straightforward introduction, and Minakami’s flowing black hair swayed as she gently placed her right hand to her chest. She gave me a look indicating that I was next.

“I’m Hiroto Shinohara, a second-year student at Eimei. I’m a Supporter.”

I kept it short on purpose, and the moment I finished, Sumire, standing directly in front of us, stepped forward. She approached Minakami, hands clasped behind her back, and stared at her for a few seconds before breaking into a delighted smile.

“Wow… Mitsuru, Mitsuru! This girl’s amazing! I’m so close to her, and I don’t sense any malice at all! She’s definitely a good person! I’m sure of it! In fact, I guarantee it!”

“U-um… What? I don’t have any…malice?” Minakami asked.

Sumire nodded vigorously. “Right! That’s right! You must be an angel or something!”

Minakami and I exchanged glances, unsure what to make of this exchange, but help came from an unexpected source.

“…Are you two familiar with the concept of an empath?”

It was Mitsuru. Apparently, he was used to explaining Sumire’s behavior to people.

“It’s someone who has a skill…or a kind of sense, I guess, that allows them to perceive other people’s emotions as though they were their own. Sumire’s incredibly empathetic, and she’s particularly sensitive to intense feelings like hostility or malice. It’s even stronger right now because she’s using an Ability to boost it.”

“…Wow. That’s pretty incredible.”

Sumire was empathetic enough that she could sense people’s hostility and malice? In card games like poker, you could learn certain ways to gauge your opponent’s hand based on their facial expressions and gestures, but she was basically doing the same thing on instinct. There was no greater asset for a Game of psychological warfare like this.

Seeing my reaction, Mitsuru smirked.

“Are you really sure you should be acting so confident? Because if you’re planning to betray us, she’d be able to tell, you know.”

“That’s right! Leave it to me, Mitsuru!”

Sumire instantly spun around and rushed toward me, coming up close enough that I could see every one of her eyelashes. I stared intently at her as she examined me…but soon, her expression changed to one of confusion.

“…Huh? I don’t feel anything…”

“Nothing? Really? So Shinohara doesn’t have any malice toward us?”

“No, no, it’s not that! It’s not just malice I can’t sense—there’s no hostility, no compassion… It feels like everything’s covered in this big fog! I know something has to be there, though… Maybe this’ll work!”

“Ah! Wha—?! Sumire?!”

Ignoring Mitsuru’s attempts to stop her, Sumire stepped forward to press an ear against my chest, her long beige hair flowing behind her. It had all happened in an instant. I froze to the spot as if I was being hugged, but Sumire didn’t seem to care.

“Mm… Hmm…?”

“…Hey, how long do you plan to do that? Are you trying to seduce me or something?”

“Hm? …Ah! I-I’m sorry! I didn’t have any bad intentions! I really didn’t!”

After listening to my heartbeat (which I think I just barely managed to keep calm) for a good ten seconds, a blushing Sumire jumped backward. The acting skills I’d developed over time must’ve made my emotions pretty hard to read.

“Hiroto… You’re such a mysterious person…”

…That was probably why she’d acted so strangely intimate with me just now.

Anyway, now that we’d introduced ourselves, I thought I should try to get a read on the situation. I didn’t know the true intentions of these two Shinra students in front of me. Normally I’d expect them to be working with Kirigaya, but it felt like he’d abandoned them just now, so…

“Hey, tell me one thing: What’s your relationship with Kirigaya? Because depending on your answer, I might decide to work with you to reach the second floor, or I might split up with you right now.”

“Huh…? But, Shinohara, we don’t know who’s left on the first floor. Everyone else might have already gone up. It’d be a waste of time to keep wandering around here,” argued Mitsuru.

“Yeah, I know, so I want a serious answer. Losing time here is bad for you guys, too, right?”

“…I knew you’d bring it up. Either way…there’s no ‘relationship’ between us and Toya; we just go to the same school. Toya has his way of doing things, and we have ours. He doesn’t seem to like you much, but as far as we’re concerned, we just want Shinra to win… In that regard, being on a team with you would help us a lot.”

“That’s right, that’s right! Mitsuru’s absolutely right! You can trust us completely!”

Sumire looked totally innocent saying that, but I couldn’t be sure.

…Are they dodging the question? No, I don’t think what they said just now was a complete lie…

I kept my expression blank as I thought it over. It seemed true that they weren’t cooperating with Kirigaya, but I also had trouble believing that the three of them were acting completely independently, either. Still, as long as they weren’t clearly my enemies, they fit the bill as teammates.

It’s a far cry from the ideal team I had going with Minami and Yumeno…but what’re you gonna do about it?

I shook my head slightly to myself. Glancing over at Minakami, I saw her clenching her fists with determination.

“Okay, then let’s form a team! Our first goal is reaching the second floor!”

With that declaration from Minakami, our provisional team was formed and we continued our search for an unclaimed elevator room.

The elevators on the first floor served to separate players into teams. The one that had taken Kirigaya and the other members of the Devil Team up to the second floor had stopped there, so we had to find another one to use. However, thanks to Mitsuru’s Detect Elevator skill, it didn’t take us long to track down an unused elevator. The logo on the side read Revolution Team, and since we had the requisite four players, the elevator started up no problem.

“Phew…”

And just like that, we arrived at Floor 2 of the tower.

Once we got off the elevator, we immediately broke into a quick strategy meeting. The first floor had been like a tutorial of sorts, where players couldn’t even summon avatars until they were on a team. The real Game started on the second floor, so we needed to rethink our strategy.

“Um, looking at our Team Data… Wow! It’s been updated already!” Minakami said excitedly, peering at her device beside me. “Revolution Team—Members: Shinohara, me, Mitsuru, and Sumire. Our total EXP is 6,940, and it looks like all our skills have been pooled together. The Supporter’s EXP Up and Economizer are automatically activated at all times, and the Explorer’s Detect Elevator and Detect Player are also available to everyone!”

“Yeah. Since I’m the only Explorer, it looks like those are both skills I bought,” Mitsuru said. “Sumire’s another Supporter, but she hasn’t bought any skills yet, so there won’t be any skill overlap with Shinohara… Now we’ve got our team together, we don’t have to worry as much about losing EXP, so I’m thinking of getting the Power Scout skill. What do you think?”

“Hmm… Give me a minute.”

I brought up the details of the skill Mitsuru had mentioned on my device. Power Scout was a skill that let you investigate the strength of other teams. It cost 2,500 EXP, which was pretty expensive, but it gave you an immediate understanding of the members of the other teams. It looked like you could get even more detailed information about them if you bought some of the higher-level skills that branched off from Power Scout. In terms of its capabilities, I certainly had no complaints.

“Sh-Shinohara, Shinohara!”

“I know, Minakami… All right, go ahead. No objections here.”

I looked at Minakami, who was nodding her head vigorously, as if to say “We sooooo need this,” then gave Mitsuru my own nod of approval. Although Mitsuru had asked for permission this time, players were free to use their team’s EXP to acquire skills without actually telling anyone about it. It was a system that was easy to abuse—yet another reason why we needed to carefully screen our team members.

Having been given the go-ahead by me and Minakami, Mitsuru bought the Power Scout skill. The moment he activated it, we were greeted with a projection of the players in each team, along with their icons.

Angel Team: Miyabi Akutsu, Kaoru Saeki, Kanade Yuikawa, Senri Kururugi

Devil Team: Toya Kirigaya, Seiran Kugasaki, Soma Yanagi, Shizuku Minami

Kingdom Team: Sarasa Saionji, Keiya Fujishiro, Ako Ishizaki, Misaki Yumeno

Revolution Team: Hiroto Shinohara, Mari Minakami, Sumire Fuwa, Mitsuru Fuwa

“Hmm… I see.”

I pondered the list before me. At this point, all of my opponents were strong, but it was good news for me that Saeki, Kirigaya, and Saionji were neatly split up among three different teams. Our team was clearly at a disadvantage in terms of star count, but when I examined rosters a bit closer, the Hexagram members were also pretty well scattered across the other teams… And just as she’d hoped, Yumeno had managed to nab a spot on the Kingdom Team.

“Well, that’s how things currently stand. The cooldown for Power Scout is three hours, so let’s make sure we keep using it to check up on everyone—especially the Hexagram members and the Empress, since they’re most likely to make moves early on.”

“…Right,” I said, agreeing with Mitsuru’s plan. In this Game, changes in teammates would be a clear sign of the shifting power balance. No matter the situation, we needed to pay close attention to the teams.

There was one other major component to the Game that had been unlocked now that we were on the second floor.

“I-is it okay? Can I get it now…?!”

Minakami swallowed hard, her fingertips trembling with excitement against her device.

That’s right—after completing the first-floor tutorial, she could now buy and use Summon Avatar. Anyone could summon an avatar, but Callers like Minakami and Minami were best suited for it.

The strength of an avatar was determined by two different factors. The first was its total EXP—a kind of “combat power” stat, which improved the avatar’s battle performance as we poured more EXP into it. The second had to do with the skills in our possession. That was completely up to the Caller; their skills basically dictated how the avatar behaved. Since Minakami hadn’t done anything yet, her summoned avatar would be a blank slate. The rules also said we were allowed to set up our avatars’ appearance before the Game started. If you didn’t customize it at all, it would automatically look like the summoner, but you could also make it look like someone else, as long as that person was the same gender and came from the same school as the summoner. We’d gone through all the details during our discussion yesterday.

But…before we could get started, I figured we should get permission from the Fuwa twins, even if it was only a formality.

“So we’re going to buy the Summon Avatar skill. Is that okay with you two?”

“Yeah, of course. There’s not a whole lot Callers can do without avatars.”

“Totally! I totally agree! I’ve been so looking forward to this! Go ahead, Mari!”

“Thanks! Okay, here goes…”

Minakami swiped a finger across her device, spending 1,500 of the team’s EXP to buy Summon Avatar. She activated it immediately.

“Come to me—Shirayuki!!” she intoned, as if in prayer.

The next moment, Minakami’s device, held high in the air, began to emit a faint white light. Then, as if answering her plea, lines of fluorescent light raced across the floor of the room at high speed. A magic circle appeared, consisting of a six-pointed star and a number of concentric circles with words in a language I’d never seen before etched between them. The design was drawn on the ground with artistic brushstrokes, and once it was complete, a giant pillar of light appeared in the center of the circle.

“…?!”

There was a blinding flash, so bright it nearly burned our retinas. As it faded, I saw someone standing in the center of the magic circle. It was a girl I knew well—or rather, an avatar modeled after her. She wasn’t actually here, of course; this was just a re-creation of her appearance. Avatars had no will of their own and couldn’t even speak.

Her clothes differed from what she usually wore. In the flavor text for Tower of Lore, the Revolution is an army of heretics who awaken magical powers due to the influence of the Devils and Angels—in other words, a band of wizards. Reflecting that backstory, the girl in front of me was now dressed like a stereotypical witch. A large, pointy black hat rested atop her silver hair, and a gothic black robe covered up most of her curvy body. She held a knobby staff in her hands, and the front of her skirt seemed unusually short to me, though maybe that was the personal preference of the avatar’s designer.

In any case, Shirayuki Himeji remained silent as she stepped forward, heading straight toward me. Her clear blue eyes locked onto mine, and she smoothly removed her hat, a faint smile playing across her lips. When she spoke, her voice was as cool and calm as always.

“Thank you for your patience, Master.”

“Whoa… Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute. That shouldn’t be possible, right?”

Immediately after Minakami summoned the Revolution Team’s avatar of Shirayuki Himeji—or rather, witch-girl Himeji—Mitsuru cried out, a look of genuine confusion on his face.

“I mean, I get it. The avatar that Minakami summoned is Shinohara’s maid… Himeji, right? And it’s cool that it looks like her and all, but that whole bit just now was weird, wasn’t it? Why does an avatar have a will of its own? Why’s it talking? You’re not cheating, are you?”

“…That’s a pretty normal reaction for anyone, I guess.”

She wasn’t wearing her usual maid outfit, but the witch’s robe still looked great on her, of course. After I waited for Himeji to take her usual spot on my right, the corners of my mouth curled up into a faint smile. Just having Himeji there by my side did wonders for my mood—even more so than normal, since we’d been separated for the entire duration of the semifinals.

“I don’t want you guys suspecting us, so I’ll explain what’s going on. First off, we’re not cheating, okay? We’re following the rules… I mean, if we were cheating, I wouldn’t be able to do it so openly like this, would I?”

“Well, sure, maybe…but there’s gotta be some sort of trick.”

“There is. Listen, Mitsuru…what you said is mostly correct, but there’s one thing you’re missing. The avatars in Tower of Lore are projected images, but they’re not controlled by AI or anything like that. All their actions are carried out by members of Libra.”

“So it’s real-time motion capture or something? That much I get…but this avatar’s different, right? It’s not someone from Libra; it really is your maid, isn’t it, Shinohara?”

“It is. I told you, didn’t I? You didn’t know that one part of it, but everything else you assumed is correct.”

I glanced at Himeji. She took a small step forward and bowed her head respectfully toward the Fuwa twins, who still looked shocked.

“Nice to meet you both. I am Shirayuki Himeji, Master’s personal maid. I must admit I’m awfully suspicious of you two because you attend the same school as Mr. Kirigaya, but we should only be together for a short while, so I hope we can get along.”

“…!”

“Wow… Amazing! That’s amazing! Are you a maid? A witch? Which is it?”

“Hmm. Well, at the moment, I’m probably more of a witch. I can even cast magic.”

Himeji casually waved her staff around. The smoothness of the animation was no doubt thanks to all the high-end technology running all this, but the voice was all her.

The secret behind this lay in one of her Abilities.

“There’s this Ability called Pinch Hitter,” I explained. “It was made for personal use and isn’t available on the public market, but it’s a very special Ability that lets you replace a player from outside a Game. Admittedly, it’s a bit of a gray area, but it hasn’t been deemed illegal yet.”

That’s right. Pinch Hitter was an ability I’d bought at that sketchy-looking store Saionji had taken me to a while back and later given to Himeji as a gift. It allowed the user to replace a player from outside the Game they were playing. It was far from the most straightforward Ability in terms of ease of use, but it was a valuable tool we’d used to outwit Akizuki back in the Fourth Ward Challenge.

“Himeji is using it to replace the person who would normally be controlling this avatar. According to Libra, avatar controllers are treated as pseudo-players in this Game, which means they fall under the jurisdiction of this Ability. Pinch Hitter also won’t work without the consent of the player being replaced, but they agreed to it once we explained what we wanted to do. The Game admins are probably aware of it, as well.”

“…Hey, Sumire. Is Shinohara lying?”

“No, no! It doesn’t look like it. I can’t sense any good or bad intentions from him, but I can tell he’s very calm right now! He doesn’t think he’s doing anything wrong, at least!”

“Of course Master isn’t. Do you really think the strongest player on the Academy, a Seven Star, would cheat?”

Himeji casually shook her silver hair, still holding her witch’s hat in both hands. We had the Hexagram watching us, so we couldn’t cheat, but we were still free to exploit any loopholes we found in the rules.

“Pretty amazing, don’t you think, Mitsuru? If we can communicate with Himeji, that means we’re connected to the outside world. The Libra stream’s delayed by a couple of hours, so we can’t use it to monitor our rivals, but it’ll make exploration and data gathering a whole lot easier. Plus, we can keep our avatar summoned even when we’re not in combat.”

“…I see. All right. Sorry I doubted you.” Mitsuru raised his hands and shook his head, chagrined.

And just like that, the Revolution Team gained a fifth member.

After running through all the checks with the avatar, we began exploring the second floor.

With the addition of Shirayuki Himeji’s “outsider” perspective, the efficiency of our exploration efforts improved by leaps and bounds. Libra’s coverage was on a delayed broadcast, with footage from the cameras in each room being edited before it went out, in effect creating a two-hour time difference inside and outside the tower. Despite the lag, every team would be progressing at a different rate, so we would still have the upper hand in terms of information.

And when it came to getting doors open, Mari Minakami was proving to be the standout performer.

“This door’s ‘Difficulty: III / Genre: Riddle’… I’ll read the question:

“You are being attacked by a magical beast!

“In your hands is a legendary holy sword that you took from the creature, but you can only swing it when the beast opens its mouth. You must defeat it in that single moment, or else you will be swallowed whole.

“You can attempt to escape, but the magical beast is much faster than you.

“How do you plan to make it out alive?”

Minakami tucked her chin in slightly and gave the riddle some serious thought for a few moments. Mitsuru and I followed suit…but Minakami was the first to raise her head again. She gave me a smug look, as if to say “Watch this,” then stood in front of the door.

“I throw away the sword!”

“…Huh? Huh? What do you mean, Mari?”

“I mean exactly what I said. Why am I being attacked by this magical beast in the first place? It’s clearly stated in the problem: Because I stole the legendary sword from it! Stealing’s wrong, so let’s give it back right now!” Minakami said resolutely, slashing her right hand horizontally through the air. It was just the sort of response I’d come to expect from her.

“I see,” said Himeji, sounding impressed. “There is logic to that. Regardless of how we may feel about it, the only goal presented is to survive…in which case, Minakami’s choice seems to be the most correct.”

“Yeah. By the way, what would you have done, Himeji?”

“Hmm… I think I would have poured all my EXP into the ‘you’ in this question, as one does when powering up an avatar. If they can only strike once, then they need to be sure to defeat it in that single strike.”

So that was an option too, huh? I thought with admiration. Minakami’s was likely closer to the “correct” answer, but the riddles in Tower of Lore were open-ended enough that there was often more than one solution.

“Sh-Shinohara! Uh…what do you think this is?” Minakami called out, interrupting my thoughts. She was standing in front of the door, her black hair swaying as she spoke.

When I looked up, the text on the door from earlier had disappeared, replaced by something we hadn’t seen before:

Fragment obtained.

Fragment 14: The captive girl is the same type of being as the Reaper.

“These ‘fragments’ provide more of Tower of Lore’s backstory,” Himeji seamlessly explained when she noticed that I didn’t respond right away. “Simply put, they serve as clues for us—pieces of information related to the Game world, additional rules, or hints on how to advance. It’s outlined in the rule text that you can obtain them by opening doors.”

“I—I see!” Minakami replied. “But…this doesn’t really explain anything. The girl and the Reaper are the same kind of being…?”

“Well, it doesn’t make much sense on its own, but maybe it’ll unravel as we keep going. Let’s just file this away in the back of our minds for now. Anyway, good job, Minakami.”

“…! O-oh! Thank you, Shinohara!” Minakami said, her face lighting up in a smile.

I nodded back to her as I briefly thought things over. Had we been awarded the fragment for not defeating the magical beast? If we’d gone with Himeji’s approach, it probably would’ve disappeared once the dust settled. That would’ve made it difficult to obtain the fragment…but maybe we wouldn’t have lost the sword.

So for these “riddle” doors, the reward changes depending on how you solve the puzzle…?

Judging by how much work had clearly gone into Tower of Lore, it wouldn’t be surprising for it to include a gimmick like that.

In any case, seeing that the rewards we’d gotten along with the fragment had brought my team’s experience points to over 10,000, I slowly shook my head. We’d already recovered all the EXP we’d spent acquiring skills. Considering how far into the Game we were, it was probably about time we moved on to the next floor.

“Hey, Minakami, now that we’ve got the chance, why don’t we buy some combat skills? We can use them on both ‘riddle’ and ‘battle’ doors…and it’s still just the second floor. We don’t know when we’ll encounter other teams.”

Now that the Summon Avatar skill was unlocked, we were sure to face combat soon. According to Himeji, every team had at least one Caller, so if we ran into another group, it would undoubtedly turn into a fight.

Minakami spun around, her black hair fanning out behind her, and nodded energetically. “Okay! We have enough EXP now, so I think it’s about time!”

“I agree,” Mitsuru said with a slight nod. “But there are so many skills to choose from, we’ll have to be decide carefully…”

He slid open his device, and I watched Sumire peeking at it from the side as I projected my own screen in front of me.

As Mitsuru said, there were quite a few combat skills available only to Callers—temporary buffs, weapon-based special attacks, various types of elemental attacks, and a large number of support and defense skills. And according to Himeji, battles in Tower of Lore were structured in a rather unique way.

“The system is called Logical Quest. In Tower of Lore, when a battle begins, the Game reveals the EXP of the avatars summoned by each Caller, and the situation and conditions for the battle are set based on the EXP difference between them. The ‘situation’ mainly refers to the penalties imposed on one avatar or the other. If the EXP difference is too great, this manifests as a restriction placed on the weaker avatar—being handcuffed from the start of the battle or being prohibited from using items, for example.

“The ‘conditions’ are essentially special settings applied to both avatars for the duration of that battle. This includes things like being invincible while their feet are on the ground or only taking damage from fire-element attacks. How severely these conditions affect avatars also depends on the difference in total EXP.

“Once the situation and conditions are set, the two avatars engage in turn-based combat. The attacker and defender each select one skill from their list, then battle for a total of five minutes. When that time expires, the roles are reversed. If you have a higher total EXP than your opponent, you might be able to overwhelm them with force, but if your EXP is lower, you’ll need to find a way to overcome the battle conditions. Otherwise, you won’t be able to deal any serious damage.

“As such, the key to skill selection is versatility. For example, if your opponent is an angel dancing through the air, the optimal choice would be a lightning-element spell. Throwing or jumping attacks might also reach them, or you could conjure a storm to prevent them from taking flight or manipulate gravity to pull them down to the ground. Even a long staff could do the trick. The key here is flexible thinking.”

So in order to win these unusual Logical Quest battles, you had to figure out the best way to beat your opponent based on the conditions applied to them—a sort of condition-based battle system, I guess you could call it. There was clearly a puzzle element to it all as well, which was typical of Tower of Lore.

“Hmm… In that case, maybe magic would be more versatile? Of the skills we can get this early on, the most useful ones are Blazing Fireball and Ice Rain. Blazing Fireball provides fire and heat, and we can use Ice Rain to create a lot of different weapons.”

“Yeah!” exclaimed Minakami. “I also think those two are good for the attack skills! The defensive skills are all pretty expensive, so it might be better to focus on building up our total EXP rather than getting those…but I think it would be good to at least get Absolute Defense, just in case.”

“Wow! Just wow! There are so many support skills that I can’t make up my mind!”

The two girls excitedly expressed their thoughts, Minakami sharing my device and Sumire looking on with Mitsuru. With so many choices on offer, there was no “right” way to build up an avatar…but it seemed like the basic strategy was to keep increasing its total EXP while acquiring an assortment of different skills. Getting defeated in Tower of Lore didn’t mean instant elimination, but you’d lose half your EXP, the Game’s most important resource—including half of all the EXP you’d poured into your avatar. It would be pretty difficult to recover from that.

“All right, so to sum things up, the attack skills we’ll use for the time being are Blazing Fireball and Ice Rain. For defense, we’ve just got the one—Absolute Defense—and for support, Go Again… That’ll cost 6,500 EXP. The Revolution Team has 12,700 EXP in total, so how about we allocate 5,000 EXP to strengthening our avatar and bank the rest?”

“Sounds good,” Himeji said with a swift nod, her silver hair rippling. “Your total EXP forms the foundation for your strategy on each floor—you need a certain amount to move up in the tower, a formula given by your current floor number squared, multiplied by a thousand. For Floor 2, that would be 4,000 EXP. So, as long as we have more than that, we should be fine.”

“…Yeah. No objections here,” Mitsuru agreed a moment later.

They both seemed to have thought it over carefully, but figuring out how much EXP to invest in your avatar was actually a pretty thorny question. Once you put EXP into an avatar, you couldn’t get it back, so if something happened and Minakami moved to another team, we’d lose her avatar as well. It was important to make the right decision here.

In any case, with our team in agreement, Minakami began to work her device.

“O-okay! In that case, I’ll get the skills now… Wait, what?”

“…? What’s wrong, Minakami?”

“Um, well… I can’t get them.”

…Huh?

Minakami looked at me with a mixture of sadness and confusion, and I peeked at her device from the side. The page had Acquire Skill at the top and displayed a vast, branching list of skills. Once you had completed the conditions to obtain a skill, it glowed brightly—but on Minakami’s device, almost all of them were grayed out. I hadn’t thought anything of it back on the first floor because the prerequisite skill Summon Avatar hadn’t been available. However, even now that Minakami could summon Himeji, she still couldn’t buy any skills.

It’s not because we’re short on EXP… So is there some other condition we need to satisfy?

To test out my theory, I opened the details screen for Ice Rain.

“‘Attack skill: Ice Rain. Requirements: Caller only / Chaos level 1 or higher’… Chaos?”

“Wh-what’s that…?”

Minakami and I both raised an eyebrow at this mystery word—but no matter how hard I thought, I couldn’t remember seeing it in the rules or anywhere else in the Game.

“Is this…something that unlocked when we reached the second floor?”

“Yes. That seems to be the case,” Himeji said, standing beside me. “Some information was secretly added to your device in the form of Fragment 1, which is among your items. This ‘Chaos’ is basically what you could call a hidden stat. It’s automatically calculated based on your actions in Tower of Lore, but the exact values are never revealed to you. I searched STOC to see people’s reactions, and it looks like viewers treat Chaos as something similar to ‘contribution points.’ In other words, the more you play the Game, the higher your Chaos level becomes and the more powerful skills you can acquire.”

“…I see. So it’s not a team-based stat, but one applied to each individual player?”

I’d been taking another look at the skill list while listening to Himeji’s explanation. In my case, there were a bunch of Supporter skills I could buy right now. Skills requiring Chaos level 20 were lit up, but those needing 25 or higher were gray.

“In that case, my Chaos level must be between 20 and 24…”

Having realized that, a sudden thought made me glance over to my other side, where Minakami was standing. There, I was greeted by a sight I’d more or less expected to see.

“N-nooooo…!”

Minakami slumped in disappointment. She couldn’t hide her shock, and I could understand why. Not even being able to buy Ice Rain, which required Chaos level 1, was tantamount to being told that she’d contributed nothing so far.

“Ugh… Why? I’m trying my best…”

“…Well, you know, you can always get those skills later. Right now, it’s enough just increasing our avatar’s stats.”

“Yeah… Sorry. Thanks for consoling me.”

Still looking dejected, Minakami bowed her head to me, her black hair swaying in the air. I felt a bit sorry for her as I watched her solely use EXP to strengthen her avatar.

It’s true, though… She is trying her best. In fact, she’s played a huge role in this Game since the first floor. I’m sure she’s unlocked more doors than me… So why is there this much of a difference?

My Chaos level was in the low twenties, while Minakami’s was at zero. I wasn’t saying it should have been the other way around, but that was way too big of a gap. If it was based on how much a person had contributed to the Game, it didn’t make sense that Minakami’s level wasn’t higher.

“Hey, Himeji, do you have any more specifics on how people’s Chaos level is calculated?”

“No… As far as we’ve seen on IslandTube, at least, none of the teams have figured out the details behind the Chaos stat. Based on estimates circulating on STOC, Kirigaya seems to have the highest Chaos level so far, but that’s just going off his skill tree. There is one thing we do know, though… A certain fragment was obtained by Kaoru Saeki’s Angel Team. Do you remember the Reaper mentioned in the rules?”

“…? Yeah, of course.”

The Reaper was the person responsible for imprisoning the girl from the story in this tower. In terms of gameplay, it was the only job that could eliminate other players from the Game.

“The Reaper is closely connected to the Chaos stat. According to the rules, it’ll be unlocked at three PM on day one…so, not long now. The job isn’t assigned at random, either. Fragment 6 says that the player with the highest Chaos level will become the Reaper.”

“…So that’s how it is?” I said in what was practically a groan. I suppose there wasn’t anything completely unreasonable about that. The player with the highest Chaos level—in other words, the player who had contributed the most in Tower of Lore—was being rewarded with the strongest in-Game job. In a sense, it was the fairest, most natural way of deciding.

Once the Reaper appeared, we’d start to see more of the “escape room” aspect to the Game. It was all over if you got caught, so we’d have to figure out how to progress without the Reaper catching us—or else build up enough power to negotiate with him.

But just as the thought crossed my mind—

“Kya-hah! Bingo!”

The sound of a door unlocking echoed across the room, and at the same time, an annoyingly high-pitched voice rang out. I turned toward the voice so violently that it almost felt as if I’d been yanked in that direction and, unsurprisingly, saw the members of another team—but instead of a full quartet, it was just a boy and a girl.

“Ha-ha! There’s the traitor! That’s hilarious.”

“…Ako?”

The girl who’d provoked Minakami wore a mocking smile on her face and a hexagonal badge on her uniform. It was Ako Ishizaki, a third-year at Ohmi School in the Tenth Ward. Like Soma Yanagi, she was a member of the Hexagram, which meant she knew Minakami to some extent.

“…And you too, Shinohara? This must be the Revolution Team, then.”

The other figure walked through the doorway, his voice deep and menacing. He looked like a delinquent with dark-blond hair—Keiya Fujishiro, the Final Weapon of Ohga. I’d learned during Rainbow Pâtisserie and the semifinal round that he wasn’t a bad guy at heart, but even so, the idea of going up against him in a game was seriously scary.

Ako Ishizaki and Keiya Fujishiro… If I remember right, they’re members of the Kingdom Team with Saionji.

I faced them, my expression calm. Normally, in Tower of Lore, members of the same team were supposed to stay together and act as a single group. However, with the skill Parallel Movement—obtainable only by Supporters or students from schools who’d had multiple players in the final round—it was possible to split the team into two or more groups and have them move around separately. Saionji’s team must have been using that to speed up their exploration work.

Not that any of that really mattered. If two teams ran into each other in this Game, there was only one thing to do…

“Now then—ready to get crushed?”

I clicked my tongue softly as a delighted Ishizaki took out her device.

We were on the second floor of SFIA’s Tower of Lore, and this was the first time our Revolution Team had run into another team since the start of the Game.

Standing before us were members of the Kingdom Team. There should have been four of them—Saionji, Fujishiro, Ishizaki, and Yumeno—but they must have split up to explore, because only Ishizaki and Fujishiro were here now.

As far as their roles went, Ishizaki seemed to be the Caller. A blue flash erupted from the device she’d raised into the air, and after a showy performance, an avatar appeared. This being the Kingdom Team, their avatar was dressed like a great hero of yore. The figure appeared agile yet dignified, with a cloak bearing a royal crest fluttering from her back. She was clearly female, but it wasn’t based on Ishizaki or anyone else I knew, and the sword at her waist added to her stern demeanor.

In response, Minakami turned toward Himeji, looking deadly serious.

“I—I guess…you’re up, Shirayuki!”

“…Very well. However, I must say, acting on orders other than those of my master goes against my pride as a maid.”

“R-really?! I’m so sor—”

“Just kidding. I fully understand those are the rules. And besides, there’s no reason to refuse a request from my adorable underclassman,” Himeji said in a tone that sounded slightly mischievous.

She gave Minakami a gentle smile, then turned toward me and bowed. “I’ll be off, then.”

Himeji walked out in front of us, her steps quiet. The hero and the witch now faced each other, separated by only a few yards.

Having watched our exchange, Ishizaki raised her voice reproachfully from behind the noble hero. “Ohh? The avatar of the Revolution Team is a witch? Wow, she’s super cute…but what’s going on? Why’s she talking normally? Don’t tell me she’s connected to the outside… Isn’t that cheating? Oh, I know! A coward like you who betrayed the Hexagram probably sold your body to the admins to get away with this, right? That’s seriously messed up! It’s criminal!”

“What…?” Minakami looked shocked. “Wh—? No way I’d do that! I’m just following my own sense of justice! The fact that Shirayuki is talking—I can’t tell you how it works, but it doesn’t violate the rules! You need to open your eyes, Ako!”

“Huh? What are you talking about? You started this fight, and now you’re acting all righteous with me?”

“…!”

“Listen… You understand, right? We’re the Hexagram. An organization built on justice. Absolute justice, where we crush the bad guys and protect the peace of the island. Anyone who defies us is automatically evil. You’re no different from any other liar out there… Actually, this is pretty funny. You were abandoned by us, and now you’re with the Seven Star? That’s just pathetic—”

“Excuse me, Ms. Ishizaki. Would you kindly shut your filthy mouth right this moment?”

Himeji smacked down Ishizaki’s insults with a punishing counter of her own. The other girl was unable to react quickly enough, so Himeji just kept going.

“I am able to speak not because of any cheating on Ms. Minakami’s part but because of my master’s clever plan, which is entirely within the rules. You can kick up a fuss if you want, calling all of these things which you know nothing about ‘cheating’ or ‘fraud,’ but I do hope you understand that it only reveals how shallow your own thoughts are.”

“Wha…? What? What are you talking about?”

“Furthermore, we were the ones who invited Ms. Minakami to join us. Someone as minor as yourself would hardly be considered worthy of my master’s attention, but Ms. Minakami’s power is invaluable if we are to destroy Kaoru Saeki and the Hexagram. In that sense, all of your assumptions and insults are completely off the mark. But nice try.”

“…! S-so what?! You’re seriously starting to annoy me!”

After what happened in Stage 4, Himeji had no room in her heart to forgive the Hexagram—and her counterargument, delivered with her ever-so-cool expression, caused Ishizaki’s shoulders to tremble. But even then, it seemed like Ishizaki had no intention of apologizing, and once Himeji realized this, she sighed and opened her mouth again to keep going.

But just before she could, Minakami spoke up.

“Wait. Uh…that was mean of us. I apologize. I take it all back, so let’s forget about it and start the fight, okay? It’s not good for either of us if we waste time here.”

“…You seem rather composed,” Himeji remarked. “I would expect nothing less of a friend of Ms. Sarasa and a former teammate of my master. Well, if Ms. Minakami is fine with it, then so am I.”

“I, uh… I am. I never thought we’d ever work this out with words anyway.”

“What?! Maybe you’re fine with that, but I’m—”

“Shut up, Ishizaki. I won’t say it again,” Fujishiro uttered from his perch against the wall, causing Ishizaki to jump.

“Ah…ahh… A-all right. All right! Stop staring at me like that…”

She caved immediately. I could see why; there weren’t many people who could keep calm with Fujishiro glaring at them.

In any case, it was finally time to start the battle. Going over what we knew so far… The Logical Quest battle system in Tower of Lore was condition-based, with the specific situation and conditions of each battle based on the difference in total EXP between the two avatars. The “situation” was a visible representation of the power difference between the avatars, and if the difference in EXP went beyond a certain threshold, a penalty was imposed on the weaker avatar. The “conditions” were special settings applied to the avatars—temporary rules that only remained in effect during that battle. Strength was based on the difference in total EXP as well, and the stronger the opponent, the more difficult it was to inflict damage. That’s why, in Tower of Lore battles, the total amount of EXP spent on avatars was the most important factor in determining the outcome.

I wonder, though…

The hero and witch avatars stared each other down. As everyone focused on them, their stats appeared above their heads.

Tower of Lore 2F, B-2: Kingdom Team vs. Revolution Team – Battle Start

2F Completion Requirements: 4,000 EXP

Kingdom Team—Ako Ishizaki. Avatar: Shion Yamane. Total EXP: 4,700

Revolution Team—Mari Minakami. Avatar: Shirayuki Himeji. Total EXP: 5,000

Situation: Equal

Condition (Shion Yamane): No damage taken while touching her sword

Condition (Shirayuki Himeji): No damage taken while touching her staff

My thoughts raced as I gazed at the neon-green text… Overall, it was more or less as expected. The avatars’ EXP were nearly equal, so there were no clear advantages or disadvantages in terms of the situation or conditions. It looked like it was going to be an evenly matched fight. However…

“No advantages either way… Hmm. This might be a little tricky,” Mitsuru said with a scowl.

We had the slight upper hand in terms of stats, but the tone in his voice implied we were at a disadvantage. The reactions of my other two teammates, on the other hand, were much easier to gauge.

“I… I’m sorry! I should have tried harder…”

“No, no! It’s not your fault, Mari! Don’t cry! Don’t you cry!”

“I’m not crying… B-but at this rate…!”

It was time to strategize, so Minakami returned to us, biting her lip in frustration. Since the total EXP and battle conditions were already revealed, this should be when we chose which skills to use. But, as we’d confirmed earlier, our Revolution Team hadn’t even acquired a basic attack skill like Ice Rain. In other words, we couldn’t actually do anything. Things would be different if we had a significant EXP advantage, but unfortunately, we were almost evenly matched.

Himeji said that none of the other teams know how to up their Chaos stat. It’s not Minakami’s fault that she hasn’t acquired any skills.

“Kya-hah!”

As I was lost in thought, a harsh laugh suddenly struck my ears.

“Well, well, well… What do we have here, huh? I didn’t think that was even possible, but you don’t have a single skill to choose from? Oh, man, you’ve gotta be kidding me! Didn’t you prepare for this, like, at all? Or is your Caller really just that incompetent?”

Hearing Ishizaki’s taunts, Minakami looked down at the ground, a pained expression on her face. Watching from close by, I quietly spoke to Minakami.

“…According to the combat rules of Tower of Lore, the attacker and defender have to select two skills each turn. But skills have a cooldown time, so anybody—not just you—could end up with no usable skills. What happens then?”

“Oh, um… Right. In that case, the default skills—Attack for the attacking side and Defend for the defender—can be used as much as needed. But all the avatar would do then is swing a weapon or try to block with one, so I don’t know if I could even do any damage that way…”

“I don’t think it’s as bad as it seems. We’d be dead in the water if running out of skills meant automatic defeat, but if not, then we should be good. You’ve done all the prep work you need, right, Minakami? Because I don’t think you’ll lose at all.”

“…!”

I looked back into her anxious black eyes. Sure, it would normally be pretty reckless to engage in combat without any skills. However, at least against our current opponent, I had reason to believe that Minakami actually had an overwhelming advantage.

“All right,” she said, looking me in the eye. “I was a little unsure, but if you say so, Shinohara, I think I can do it. Watch me, okay?”

“Yep. Good luck,” I called out as she ran back to Himeji, long black hair streaming behind her.

Minakami immediately tapped on her device as we all watched. As soon as she and Ishizaki had both set their skills, the Game decided who went first, and the battle finally began.

“Kya-hah! It’s my turn first! How lucky am I?!”

After winning the draw, Ishizaki had the first move. In Tower of Lore, the attacking and defending sides changed every five minutes. The first person to reduce their opponent’s health to zero was the winner, giving the player attacking first a pretty significant advantage. This draw to determine who went first was inherently skewed toward whoever had the higher total EXP—like a sort of biased roulette wheel—but this time, Minakami’s slight advantage hadn’t paid off for her.

“You better prepare yourself, traitor. I don’t have the time to waste on someone like you—so I won’t even give you a turn to attack. Go, Shion, use Combo Fang!”

Ishizaki had set the skill Combo Fang, and when it activated, the hero avatar began to emanate a different sort of aura. Keeping her right hand on her sword, she lowered her hips slightly and exhaled a few times. Then, accompanied by a tremendous gust of wind, she leaped forward.

“—! Shirayuki, Defend!” Minakami responded automatically.

“Understood.”

Defend was the default skill here, and Himeji the witch held her staff in front of her body just as the hero’s sword swung down with incredible speed and force. She executed a series of slashes—ten, twenty, showing no sign of stopping. Himeji took them all, a cool expression on her face, but at the very last moment, her staff was knocked out of her hands.

“…!”

“Hah! Kya-ha-ha-hah! I got you! I knew it! Using your default skill on the first turn… That’s so lame! I can’t believe how weak you are! It’s hilarious! I guess you’d call it divine retribution for betraying the Hexagram, right?!”

“…I hardly think fake ‘heroes of justice’ like you could bring down divine retribution on anyone!”

“Hmm, starting to defend yourself a little, huh? So what’re you gonna do now?”

The smirking Ishizaki continued to taunt Minakami. The expression on her face seemed to suggest Ishizaki thought she was close to winning, though that wasn’t really surprising. After all, Himeji, the Revolution Team’s avatar, had lost her staff in the previous clash. The only thing that had been protecting Himeji was the condition that she couldn’t take any damage while holding her staff. Now, she was defenseless.

“One turn is five minutes, so there’s still over three minutes left. I’ve already used my skill, but I have a combat Ability handy, too… You made fun of me earlier, so now it’s your turn to suffer. You’re just getting what’s coming to you!”

I could see Himeji narrow her eyes at Ishizaki’s words, but she probably knew there was no point in arguing back. She didn’t say anything in response—just waited for that moment to arrive.

“M-Mitsuru!” Sumire cried out. “What should we do in a situation like this?! How can we help her?!”

“Hmm… It’s probably best to just retreat. We need to figure out how this Chaos stat works first…”

Mitsuru and Sumire seemed to think the battle was already lost. I could understand why they’d think that way. In fact, from an outsider’s perspective, that was really the only way to think. But I—or rather, Himeji, Minakami, and I—had a completely different outcome in mind.

…You were lucky, Minakami, to go up against a member of Hexagram in your first match.

“And now…,” Ishizaki continued, “I’ll activate my Ability, Tactical Pursuit! Go, Shion, Circleslash Fang!”

She instantly swung her device down with all her might, a triumphant look on her face. Tactical Pursuit let Ishizaki add one attack skill to her turn. In response, the hero avatar raised her sword, which she’d just used to knock away Himeji’s staff. She threw it ahead of her with incredible force—but it wasn’t just a brute force attack. The sword flew around the room in a circular pattern, as if it had a mind of its own, targeting Himeji with its complex trajectory. If she took that attack head-on, it would definitely be fatal.

But Minakami remained calm.

“Ako… You’re right. I might just be a burden to my team. As you said, I don’t have a single combat skill.”

“It’s just like I said! Then give up, why don’t you? You never should’ve made it to the final round in the first pl—”

“However,” Minakami said, cutting her off. “…In that case, I won’t rely on any skills!!”

With a defiant smile on her lips, Minakami thrust her device straight ahead. She seemed like a completely different person from the girl Kaoru Saeki had torn apart and made cry just a week ago. She was no longer a weakling waiting to be preyed upon but a player resolved to hoist the flag of rebellion.

“Activating Ability: Single-Point Breakthrough!”

Her loud, clear voice echoed around the room…and in that moment, light spilled out from Minakami’s device, surrounding Himeji’s body. It was so overwhelming, I could barely keep my eyes open.

“…I see.”

Himeji, enveloped in the light, suddenly seemed to realize what was going on. She grasped the brim of her hat with gloved fingertips, then swung it lightly toward the hero’s sword as it flew toward her. The sword was immediately knocked away with a dull clang, and Himeji carefully settled her hat back on her head as everyone watched on, shocked.

“With such a difference in EXP, attacks are almost completely ineffective. I expected nothing less from a Unique Star-level enhancement Ability like this,” she said calmly, not breathing hard in the slightest.

That’s right. The Ability Minakami had brought into the Game was Single-Point Breakthrough, a super-enhanced, limited-use skill she’d developed with the Eimei team to get payback for the semifinals—or, really, for everything she’d suffered up to that point. It boosted her stats an astonishing ten times but was restricted in that it only worked against Hexagram members. It far surpassed what a Three Star would normally be capable of and had been honed to perfection as an Ability geared toward duels. In a battle like this, any change in total EXP meant that the situation and conditions would also change to match.

2F Completion Requirements: 4,000 EXP

Kingdom Team—Ako Ishizaki. Avatar: Shion Yamane. Total EXP: 4,700

Revolution Team—Mari Minakami. Avatar: Shirayuki Himeji. Total EXP change: 5,000→51,000

Situation change: Avatar Shion Yamane is now unable to move

Condition change (Shirayuki Himeji): No damage taken while touching her staff

Condition change (Shion Yamane): Cannot touch opposing avatar

It was overwhelming.

Following the in-Game formula, 51,000 EXP was enough to break through the seventh floor. The difference in stats between Himeji and her opponent was now more than tenfold. Not only was the hero avatar completely restrained, she couldn’t even touch Himeji. With this clear of a difference, it didn’t matter whether or not Minakami had any skills to use—she’d win the moment the two avatars clashed.

“Huh? What? No way…”

“Give it up, Ako. There’s still time. You can apologize to everyone with me! It’s just wrong to follow Kaoru. I mean, he’s—”

But just as Minakami tried to persuade Ishizaki again…

“Hello to everyone currently working their way through Tower of Lore. This is the Hexagram.”

“—?!”

Minakami stopped talking, surprised by the sudden voice.

Huge virtual monitors appeared, filling the walls around us, and a video began to play. The screens showed a room inside the tower, empty and sterile with nothing but white walls and doors, just like the one we were in. He wasn’t the only one there, either—there were four people in total.

“Heh… Sorry, folks. I’m glad everyone’s expecting so much from me, but I’m not the star of the show today.”

The first to speak up was Kanade Yuikawa, the ace of Ibara. He flashed a smile as he brushed the bangs out of his eyes. He’d betrayed us in the semifinal so he could earn his spot in the final ahead of us, and unfortunately, he was still as annoying as ever. The only thing that had changed was that he was now wearing a hexagonal badge on the left side of his chest.

“…”

Standing a little behind Yuikawa was Senri Kururugi, a second-year from Tsuyuri Girls’ Institute with her black hair tied in a ponytail. She still had her trademark wooden sword hanging from her waist, but her usual sharpened gaze was more subdued now. It didn’t seem like she was going to speak in the video.

No, the spotlight was clearly on the two in front: Miyabi Akutsu, a third-year executive member of the Hexagram, and Kaoru Saeki, their leader. They were both from Suisei School in the Second Ward, and together they formed the core of this “justice” organization.

After waiting long enough to draw everyone’s attention, Saeki smiled and began to speak.

“This video is being streamed to all rooms on the second and third floors. We apologize for interrupting the Game, but please listen closely, as this is important. Otherwise, Miyabi will have wasted a slot adding that broadcasting Ability to her list.”

Saeki took on a joking tone as he said that, and his eyes narrowed slightly. In front of the camera, he slowly spread his arms wide and gave a benevolent smile.

“Well, we don’t have much time, so let’s get right to it. In Tower of Lore, you won’t be eliminated unless you’re caught by the player with the hidden job of Reaper…but don’t you think that’s a little boring? It’s the final round, after all. I think we need to make things a bit more…extreme.

“That’s why we’ve decided to make a few changes. We will now invoke the special ability Countdown… Simply put, it lets us apply our own set of conditions on everyone who isn’t a member of the Hexagram, which will force them out of the Game if satisfied. These conditions follow a set pattern—if you perform X action Y number of times, you will be eliminated. In other words, each player has a prohibited action, and if they commit that action a predetermined number of times, they will be eliminated from Tower of Lore.

“Just so you know, as the name ‘Countdown’ suggests, your devices will notify you of your remaining count every hour. You can use this as a hint to figure out exactly what it is you’re prohibited from doing. Finally, as for how to cancel the Countdown, there are two main ways to do this. One is to defeat my trusted ally Miyabi in battle…though I wouldn’t recommend trying that. Right, Miyabi?”

Saeki turned to the side, the smile frozen on his face. Miyabi Akutsu, the silver-haired girl next to him with her arms loosely folded against her chest, raised her cold gaze to the camera and sneered dismissively.

“You even have to ask? I’ve loaded myself up with combat-specialized Abilities to enforce the Countdown. There’s no way I’ll let some savage trying to defy Kaoru get the better of me.”

“Ha, you really are so reliable,” Saeki said with a satisfied nod.

Then, narrowing his eyes again, he turned back to the camera.

“As you just heard, I think it will be quite difficult to defeat Miyabi. But don’t worry, there’s one other way to cancel the Countdown…and that is to eliminate Hiroto Shinohara, the Seven Star.

“…Ha-ha! What else did you expect? The only reason we’re participating in SFIA in the first place is to expose his crimes. If he’s eliminated and that Seven Star facade of his is stripped away for good, we’ll have achieved our goal. We have no particular interest in winning the Game. That’s why, if Shinohara is eliminated, we promise to lift the Countdown conditions for everyone, regardless of who did it or how it happened. A much better alternative to trying to defeat Miyabi, don’t you think?

“So—what do you say? Don’t you want to join the side of justice?”

Saeki’s smile revealed just how confident he was that he had an overwhelming advantage.

“…”

I stared at the video until it ended, then shook my head. This was pretty much about the worst situation imaginable. Saeki’s Countdown would potentially doom all non-Hexagram members with every action they took. They would have to remain constantly vigilant of these invisible conditions that could eliminate them at any moment.

All this was to say that—

“Kya-ha… Kya-ha-ha-ha-ha!”

Not long after the video ended, a delighted laugh suddenly cut through the silence. Without even needing to look, I knew it was Ishizaki cackling in triumph.

“I knew it! See? Trust in Kaoru, and you’re guaranteed to win! Forcing those conditions on everyone except the Hexagram… Oh, man, that’s seriously amazing! There’s no way we’re gonna lose now!”

“I don’t know about that…”

“Huh? What, you’re still not giving up? Well, fine. Go ahead and attack me…but, ooh, what if that’s your prohibited action? You don’t know, do you? And if the number of times is set at one, you’d be eliminated immediately. Are you really willing to take that risk?”

That was the thing—as long as we didn’t know what our prohibited actions were, we couldn’t afford to do anything reckless. Like Ishizaki had said, if Minakami attacked her, that could be a fatal mistake that forced her out of the Game. Losing the battle would cost resources, but there was no coming back if you were eliminated.

Ishizaki, fully aware of this, held up her device with a sadistic smile. “Well, you still have time, but you’re gonna pass the rest of your turn, right? You’ve been lording it over me the past few minutes, which frankly has been really pissing me off. If you want me to forgive you, I wanna see some tears…and an apology!”

Minakami kept her head bowed as Ishizaki delivered her death sentence…but then she said something so softly it was almost impossible to make out.

“…No.”

“Huh? …What did you just say?”

“I said ‘no,’ Ako. My turn isn’t over yet!”

“What…?!”

Ishizaki was convinced she had the upper hand after Saeki’s announcement, but now her eyes bulged as Minakami raised her face, undaunted. Minakami’s expression was neither relaxed nor confident, but filled with a clear determination. Her right arm was raised in the air, and she forcefully swung it down.

“Go, Shirayuki—use Attack!!”

It was a choice that could lead to instant defeat, but the witch, Shirayuki Himeji, replied with her back still turned.

“Good decision, Ms. Minakami… You can leave the rest to me.”

With that kind affirmation, Himeji leaped toward her opponent. Still temporarily enhanced by Single-Point Breakthrough, she moved behind the hero avatar with an impact that generated a shock wave. Himeji had both hands raised in the air, and in them was the witch’s staff that had been knocked away earlier. In no time at all, it had been returned to her…or, more likely, restored by the Game. With such a difference in total EXP—a second-floor avatar against a seventh-floor one—even absurdities like that were completely possible.

“Hya.”

The next moment, Himeji gently brought both hands down, and the default skill landed with a light thud—violently blowing away the hero. The Kingdom avatar’s health was instantly reduced to zero, and she dissolved into the same blue light from which she’d been summoned.

“…Enemy defeated.”

“Th-that… That was so cool! You were amazing, Shirayuki!”

Himeji turned back around to us playing it cool, but Minakami couldn’t contain her excitement and admiration. Ishizaki, meanwhile, was having trouble accepting the truth.

“What…? How could you attack?! Don’t you know what fear is—or caution?!”

“Of course I do, Ako. I certainly don’t want to be eliminated.”

“Then why?!”

“I’m not sure what you mean by ‘why’… We have no idea what actions are prohibited, right? Yes, the condition for me might be attacking, but for all I know, it could also be surrendering or running away from you.”

“That’s right, Ms. Minakami. In that moment, all actions were equally risky—which is why it made sense to prioritize the choice with the greatest return: victory.”

“Gah…!”

Between Minakami’s response and Himeji’s explanation, it seemed like Ishizaki had finally realized the tables had turned, and she bit her lip, averting her gaze. Regardless, the battle between the Kingdom Team and Revolution Team was now over, and Winner: Revolution Team flashed in green above our heads.

“…! Sh-Shinohara! I did it…!”

Minakami turned toward me, her smile a mixture of relief and joy. Objectively speaking, it was just a single victory, but this one meant a lot to her. Minakami had just proven to herself that she was fully resolved to take on the Hexagram.

So I returned Minakami’s joyous smile with a faint one of my own.

“Yeah—you did great.”

Tower of Lore, Floor 2.

Having defeated the Kingdom Team, we’d moved to a room a short distance away to discuss the situation.

“I know we played it off as not being a big deal earlier…but those forced elimination conditions really are rough,” I said, sighing and shaking my head.

Tower of Lore had originally been designed so that anyone could win as long as they didn’t encounter the Reaper. But now, with his Countdown, Saeki had imposed an invisible elimination condition on everyone except his fellow Hexagram members.

Standing opposite me, Mitsuru shrugged his shoulders, a vague expression on his face. “He really just does whatever he wants… This is likely nothing more than a way to slow everyone else down. We’re pretty much flying blind when we don’t know which of our actions are prohibited. We get notified every hour of how many infractions we have left, so even if we don’t want to, we’re forced to be careful.”

“Yeah. In this Game, it’s really all about who can get the upper hand. The team that gets out in front of everyone else can set all the traps they want and ambush people easily.”

“Traps, ambushes…? That’s scary! It’s so scary!”

Sensitive to the malice in other people as she was, Sumire anxiously ran to Mitsuru’s side. Absently watching her, I picked up my device.

“Just now, at three o’clock, we received the first Countdown notification. My number’s at five, Minakami’s at three, and Mitsuru and Sumire, you’re both at four. These numbers might already have gone down from what they originally were, but at least we won’t be out after a single mistake.”

“That’s true… Still, these numbers aren’t exactly reassuring,” remarked Himeji. “So, for the time being, I think it’s best if we mentally keep track of everything we do and try to take as few actions as possible. We should be especially vigilant about any actions to do with conquering the tower, like those related to skills and battles.”

“Yeah… It’d be best if we could determine what our prohibited actions are, but…” I trailed off, letting out a small sigh. This was Kaoru Saeki behind the Countdown, after all. I didn’t think he’d make the conditions things that would be easy for people to identify.

“Well, there’s no point racking our brains over it. Let’s just keep all that stuff about prohibited actions in the back of our minds and continue exploring for now. Himeji, can you give us an update on the other teams?”

“Yes, Master.” Her silvery hair shook lightly as she replied.

Himeji was outside the tower, so even with the two-hour time lag, she had a clear picture of the overall situation in the Game. I could use skills to get the latest information, but we were still narrowing down the potential list of prohibited actions, so I wanted to avoid doing anything unnecessary.

“First,” she said in her calm voice, “as of two hours ago, only one team has reached the third floor: the Devil Team, led by Mr. Kirigaya. They took the shortest route through the second floor and are heading straight for the top without any hesitation. The Kingdom Team, led by Ms. Sarasa, seems to have split into two groups and is carefully exploring the second floor. They’re moving slower than the Devil Team but have completed more of their skill tree than anyone else.”

“Ah… The usual tactics from both of them, then.”

Kirigaya was aiming for speed, while Saionji was being as thorough as always. As she’d mentioned during our conversation two days ago, Saionji seemed to be keeping the escape room aspect of the game firmly in mind. She was carrying out her search methodically, careful not to miss any useful items or information.

“Finally, the Angel Team, who made that inflammatory announcement to all the players inside the tower just a short while ago. There’s one thing that doesn’t add up with them: In the stream currently being broadcast outside—that is, the events from two hours ago—the Angel Team has already discovered the elevator leading up to the third floor, but they’ve shown no sign of using it. It seems they’re intentionally staying on the second floor.”

“Huh…? Y-you can do that? What’s the point…?” Minakami asked.

Himeji raised her gloved fingertips to her lips. “Hmm… That’s right. I heard you’re fond of dungeon-style Games like this. If you were in their shoes, Ms. Minakami, what would you be doing? Why would you be staying on the same floor if you already knew how to move on?”

“Me? I guess, maybe collecting items or something… Oh! Are they…farming?”

“…I see. Just as I suspected,” Himeji responded, sighing and shaking her head.

Farming—that was probably the answer. If they weren’t prioritizing exploring the tower, then the main reason to stay on one particular floor was to hunt down other players. And they weren’t doing it just to defeat them in battle.

“…The Reaper.”

“Yes. Three PM on the first day—that’s when the Reaper, a secret job with the power to eliminate other players, is released. The Libra stream still has a little while before that happens, but in real time, someone has already received that role. And the player to inherit the role of the Reaper is whoever has the highest Chaos level. An hour ago, it would have been Kirigaya, but that all changed after the announcement about the Countdown. Now, I’m afraid to say, the first Reaper will undoubtedly be Kaoru Saeki.”

“…”

I surreptitiously bit my lower lip. Himeji was right—Saeki’s strategy wasn’t just to slow down everyone else; he’d also wanted to boost his Chaos level and secure the Reaper role for himself.

“B-but…!” Just then, Minakami, whose face had paled slightly, spoke up. “The Reaper can’t just eliminate all the players he wants, right? If there were no restrictions, whoever became Reaper first could just eliminate everyone and the Game would be over on the spot.”

“No, of course it’s not that one-sided. It seems that when the Reaper eliminates a player, they must pay ninety-nine percent of their Chaos stat as a penalty. And since the Reaper is always the player with the most Chaos, that naturally means they’ll immediately lose their Reaper status to someone else.”

“Oh…? It’s like that, is it? So you can’t stay the Reaper for long, huh?”

“No. But Saeki obviously knows that,” I said. “So, if he’s trying to hunt down players regardless, there’s only one possible reason.”

“…Which is?”

“This is his only chance. If everyone’s Chaos keeps increasing as the Game goes on, ninety-nine percent will eventually become a ridiculous number. Right now, though, it’s still early days. Even if you lose most of your Chaos, it’s still possible to earn it all back. Plus…there are two players that Saeki wants to eliminate here. It isn’t enough for him just to have the Reaper power once.”

“Two people? Um, by that, you mean…?”

“…Yeah. Me and you, Minakami. Who else? The Seven Star the Hexagram wants to paint as a big cheater, and the traitor who tarnished their justice. Saeki wants to use this Game to get rid of us.”

“I—I see… So it’s us against him.”

Minakami swallowed hard. She seemed a little scared, but it didn’t look like she was about to give up.

“In that case, I have a question,” Mitsuru said. He’d been silent for a while, but now he looked at the map on his device and ran a hand through his light-beige hair, the same color as Sumire’s.

“How come we haven’t been found yet? Between Saeki, Akutsu, Kururugi, and Yuikawa… I can’t believe there isn’t a single Explorer among them.”

“Right! That’s right! You can’t really hunt players without any Explorer skills!”

“Mm… Yeah, about that,” I said, slowly shaking my head.

It was understandable that Mitsuru and Sumire would wonder about that, but it wasn’t just a coincidence. There was a simple reason for it.

“No search skills have caught us yet because of an Ability I brought in with me—Different Strokes. It’s a custom-made Ability related to my Unique Stars whose effect changes depending on which ward the players in my team are from. When I’m teamed up with Shinra students, it activates Conceal. I can’t be detected by enemy search, and I won’t trigger any traps, either…though it can’t help if we run into people like we did just now.”

“Huh… I see. So that’s it.” Mitsuru nodded a few times, satisfied by my explanation.

Yes, the Company had created Different Strokes for me, an outstandingly adaptable Ability that could function as ten different Abilities depending on the schools my allies belonged to. The effect assigned to Shinra’s slot was Conceal, and while it was very situational, it worked well as a defensive Ability.

Conceal made it possible for us to avoid being detected by other teams, but wandering around a floor where the Reaper was lurking was still a pretty scary proposition… So we decided to head for the third floor as quickly as possible. Fortunately, it took us less than an hour to discover the elevator room, and Minakami, in another flash of brilliance, quickly figured out the puzzle to activate it. We were still making really good time as we left the second floor.

“Hey, Shinohara?”

Just as I felt the platform begin to move upward, Mitsuru suddenly spoke to me. He sounded casual, as if trying to strike up a conversation, and although his expression was calm, his head was tilted slightly to the side.

“That Ability you mentioned earlier… Different Strokes, was it? It activated Conceal because Sumire and I are on your team, right?”

“Huh? Yeah, that’s right.”

“Okay—so if I did this, Conceal would deactivate?”

Unsure of what he meant at first, I let out a “Huh?” A scowl creased my brow, and the next moment—

“I’m buying the skill Temporary Withdrawal and activating it. Sumire and I won’t count as being on a team for a while,” Mitsuru said, facing me with a slight smile on his face.

The Explorer skill Temporary Withdrawal let you quit your team for three hours and act as a neutral party. That would leave Minakami and I as the only players in the Revolution Team, removing the effect of Conceal.

Minakami was stunned. “Wh-what are you doing, Mitsuru? Sumire?!”

“You’ll both understand soon enough.”

“Yes! Oh, yes! I’m so excited!”

While we Eimei students were still processing what had just happened, the elevator quickly reached the third floor. We heard a clank as the shaking beneath our feet stopped, and the color drained from Himeji’s face.

“Master… It’s a trap. I believe it was set to activate the moment we entered this room. All actions that consume EXP are now blocked.”

What…?!

My eyes widened in shock. But…well, thinking about it, this sort of strategy made perfect sense. There were so many rooms in the tower that some doors might never be opened. Only a comparative few contained elevators, and they would see a lot more traffic, making this the perfect spot to lay a trap.

And the one who’d set this up was right here, currently shielding Sumire behind him and smiling that same vague smile of his.

“Whew! That was seriously bad for my heart. I went through all that trouble getting things set up, only to find out the trap wouldn’t even work on you. I’m really glad I figured something out in time… If I’d failed after coming this far, I never would’ve been able to face Kirigaya.”

“…Kirigaya? Then you’re…?”

“That’s right. When I said I had different goals from Toya, that was a total lie. We’re allies—all three of us belong to the same organization. Fate just keeps putting us in your path, huh? You met Kurahashi in the previous Game, too.”

I unconsciously clenched my fists… There was still that murky organization Toya Kirigaya belonged to, a troublesome group that had once included Mikado Kurahashi, provost of the Twelfth Ward. It had been relentlessly pursuing me since the selection stage of ASTRAL in the May Interschool Competition, and right here in front of me, Mitsuru and Sumire had just revealed their affiliation with it. They were Kirigaya’s allies.

It wouldn’t have been difficult to carry this out if Mitsuru and Kirigaya were coordinating with each other… Kirigaya’s Devil Team is already on the third floor, after all. They could’ve easily set up an ambush at any time. I can’t believe I fell for this!

I exhaled deeply, forcing myself to shift my focus. There was no point in dwelling on it. I plastered on my usual cocky smile and spoke as casually as I could.

“Well, I knew you’d betray me at some point, but I didn’t expect it to happen this soon. Was your hand forced by Saeki’s Countdown?”

“Pretty much, yeah. That’s the biggest reason. But it’s probably a little different from what you’re imagining, Shinohara. Saeki is partly to blame for me acting now, but I’m not doing it out of panic. I’m angry.”

“…Angry?”

“Yeah. Because this takes the whole spotlight off our plans.”

With that vague smile of his, Mitsuru—actually, Mitsuru and Sumire—simultaneously raised their devices, and an intense light spread across the tower, going right through all the doors and walls. Overcome by a bad premonition, I peered at the screen of my device and saw a short message appear.

Anti-Camping Limit activated.

Watching me, Mitsuru smiled slightly.

“We were prepared for this, actually. It’s called Anti-Camping Limit—a standard rule in dungeon RPGs. With this, if you stay on the same floor for a certain amount of time, you’re automatically eliminated. Of course, it applies to students from all wards except Shinra… You see, just like Toya, we wanted to make this Game a true spectacle. We’re not interested in taking baby steps or working with those who are disloyal.”

“Ugh… You guys are forcing conditions on us, too?”

“Yeah. That’s why I’m angry. Why’d they have to do the same thing we were going to? Honestly…”

Mitsuru gave an exasperated shrug, but all I could do was scream internally. Saeki’s Countdown was already making the Game difficult enough, and now we had the Anti-Camping rule on top of that. I didn’t know if this was a sign of collusion between Kirigaya and Saeki, or if it was just two whack jobs hatching the same sort of scheme.

“By the way, this attack wasn’t Toya’s idea. It was all ours. Toya decided to stay out of it. It’s true that Sumire and I are his allies, but he didn’t let us join the Devil Team. If we can defeat you, then maybe Toya might recognize our talents finally, you know? So…yeah. It’s an important battle for us, too.”

“Yeah, yeah! We’ll gonna pull out all the stops and make you and Toya eat your words!”

“Eat my words, huh…? But now you guys aren’t part of any team—and your jobs are Explorer and Supporter. Neither of you are Callers, so you can’t even fight properly.”

“Well, if it was just us, then yeah…but obviously, I didn’t do all this prep work by myself.”

As if in response to Mitsuru’s words, the three doors to the room simultaneously burst open. Appearing from behind them were none other than the members of the Devil Team. Seiran Kugasaki came through one, his cape flapping around him; Soma Yanagi emerged from another, a bored look on his face; and from the last door appeared the sleepy-eyed Shizuku Minami. Kirigaya was nowhere to be seen, but that was a minor detail. If all the doors had been opened from the other side, Minakami and I were now clearly trapped in this room. There was no escape.

Mitsuru smiled a little wider. “So come on, Shinohara. It’s time to settle this… Oh, and since we’re here, I’ll tell you something else. The name of the organization that me, Sumire, and Toya belong to is—”

“—Albion. And don’t you forget it!”

Mitsuru and Sumire gave me that little presentation in unison, malicious smiles on their faces.

Whoa… Wait a minute. We’re pretty much screwed, aren’t we?!

I accepted their declaration of war with a relaxed attitude, but the muscles in my cheeks were drawn tight…and right at that moment, the first day of Tower of Lore came to a close.

Chapter 3

Evening. Day 1 of Tower of Lore.

Minakami and I had been betrayed by the Fuwa siblings and surrounded by the Devil Team the moment we’d reached the third floor—but, whether you could call it lucky or not, it had happened just at five o’clock, so the Game ended for the day right at that crucial moment.

We were currently in the basement floor of the Tower of Lore. The structure had an elevator in the center that connected all the floors—the same one we’d used to reach our starting position earlier this morning—and now the staff escorted us back down the same elevator.

The basement was structured quite differently from the floors above. There was a comfortable communal space in the center, with tables and sofas available for use, making it feel like a lobby lounge at a fancy hotel. In one corner was a buffet-style dinner spread, and each player was assigned a private room along the outer wall for sleeping purposes.

“Mari, Mari! Hey, will you be my friend?!”

As soon as she reached the basement, Sumire Fuwa rushed over to us and practically jumped on Minakami, grabbing her hand. Sumire’s long, light-beige, fairy-tale-princess-like hair floated around her head, and a refreshing, floral scent tickled my nostrils.

“Ah… Wh-what?! Your friend…?”

“Yes, yes! I want to talk to you more, Mari! And Hiroto, too, of course! I want to be friends with both of you!”

“…Uh, why? You were just fighting with us a moment ago.”

“That’s exactly why! We had a Game together, so now we can be friends!”

Sumire’s eyes were full of innocence. Minakami and I were confused by her rather nonsensical claim and trying to figure out what to do when Mitsuru finally arrived a beat later.

“Here we go again… I’m sorry, guys. Sumire’s never really been good at taking things seriously.”

“No, that’s not it! That’s not it! A Game’s a Game, but now is now, right? I’ll do my best in the Game because I want you and Toya to heap praise upon me, but right now, it’s perfectly fine to sit and chat with other people!”

“Well, true, but… You sure like Minakami, don’t you, Sumire?”

“Oh, yes! It’s the first time I’ve ever met someone so free of malice! That’s why I definitely want to be friends with her!”

Sumire leaned closer to Minakami. Minakami, on the other hand, was clearly flustered.

“Well, if you really want to…”

The two were complete opposites, to be sure. Maybe that was why Sumire, the empath, found Minakami so endearing.

“Sumire,” Mitsuru said with a light shrug. “It’s fine if you two get along, but shouldn’t you wait until after SFIA’s over? Shinohara is an incredibly talented opponent, you know. We need to strategize for tomorrow.”

“Ah… You’re right, you’re right! You’re absolutely right, Mitsuru! I totally want to beat Hiroto and Mari! Yes! I’m soooo motivated!”

Sumire clenched her fists and flashed a broad smile at Mitsuru. That, I suppose, was how they saw this whole situation. They didn’t have any particular grudge against Minakami or me, but that didn’t mean they were willing to accept defeat, either. That was the way Games normally worked out, after all—Saeki and Kurahashi were simply the exceptions to that rule. But just because they were friendly opponents, that didn’t mean I could let my guard down.

“Well, then…”

“…See you both tomorrow! I’m really looking forward to it!”

With that, Mitsuru and Sumire turned their backs on us. I thought they’d head to their respective rooms, but then I saw Sumire suggest that they stop by the buffet first.

“Guess they’re not going to let us off that easily,” Minakami said.

“Well, it’s only to be expected. We need to strategize.”

Shaking my head slightly, I turned my attention to a screen in the center of the room. Libra was replaying the highlights from today and reporting on the floors we’d all reached by the end of the first day. The Devil and Revolution Teams were on the third floor, while Angel and Kingdom were on the second. The latter two teams had deliberately chosen to remain on the second floor, though, and Mitsuru had just activated Anti-Camping Limit, so the action was bound to move to the third floor and higher tomorrow.

Libra provided a ranking of people’s Chaos levels, too. They didn’t disclose the specific numbers, but as Himeji had told us, the stat was a measure of how much you “contributed” to the game—the higher the rank, the more active that player was in the Game.

“Ugh… I’m so embarrassed, Shinohara…”

Minakami hung her head. We didn’t need to check it to know that she was dead last, sixteenth out of sixteen. We still didn’t really understand why.

“Well, that’s one question we’ll tackle tomorrow. If we can find a way to earn more Chaos, that’ll solve the problem on the spot. And looking at the list… All the usual guys are up top, yeah. Saeki is first, Kirigaya’s second, and Mitsuru’s third. If Saeki’s in the lead despite sticking to Floor 2, I guess how far you advance doesn’t matter much—”

“Oh? I’m sorry, were you talking about me?”

Just then, a kind voice interrupted me from behind. It sounded intelligent and friendly, like you could imagine a smile behind it, but Minakami immediately tensed up next to me. I steeled myself as well, and after a short breath, I silently turned around.

“Yeah, I was,” I said with a fearless smile. “Glad you’re still staying busy in the final, Saeki.”

Standing in front of us was Kaoru Saeki, a tall boy with a relaxed smile on his face. He looked sharp in his Suisei School uniform, and even at a glance, anyone would no doubt think he was a truly upstanding young man. In fact, he was the leader of the Hexagram, that organization for “justice.”

And he wasn’t alone.

“…Disgusting. How dare a savage speak to Kaoru like that?”

…?! Whoa, that’s a little too unfriendly, isn’t it?!

Miyabi Akutsu, one of the top brass of the Hexagram, was right next to Saeki. She showed absolutely no interest in me whatsoever as she shook her silver-gray hair out of her eyes. It didn’t stop Saeki from narrowing his eyes at me, still smiling.

“Oh, yes, I’ve been very busy. This Game is an important stage for us, where we’ll prove to everyone just how right the Hexagram is. If I didn’t stay busy, people would worry about me.”

“I’ll bet. Of course, you might wind up proving something else entirely.”

“Something else? What do you mean by that? All my organization seeks is justice, pure and simple.”

“Justice, huh…? Funny to hear you say that. What was up with the semifinal, then? You went through all that trouble to create this situation where there was no possible way to win unless I was a true Seven Star. Right? And yet, here I am. Doesn’t that kinda mean you lost already?”

“Y… Y-yeah, he’s right!”

Minakami, who so far had been quietly moping next to me, raised her voice. She had partially hidden herself behind me, but still managed to keep staring up at Saeki.

“Shinohara’s not a liar. The only one doing anything wrong here is you, Kaoru… You and the other upperclassmen in the Hexagram!”

“…Hmm? The moment your position changed, you started whining all the time…and now you’re calling us the bad guys? That’s quite selfish of you, Mari.”

“Selfish…? That… That may be true, but—!”

“No buts about it. Anyway, Shinohara, let’s go back to your earlier question. Why did we, the Hexagram, allow you to advance to the final round despite everything you’ve done? Well, that’s simply because a certain heartless member betrayed us. The biggest traitor in the semifinal—the Werewolf—was you, Mari.”

“No…”

Minakami’s lips trembled slightly as she faced up to Saeki. His tone wasn’t aggressive, but it was still openly hostile. I instinctively took a sizable step forward to protect her.

“Yeah? That means she’s my biggest ally. And once we prove that the Hexagram are the evil ones here—not me—well…Minakami, you’ll be the hero of SFIA.”

“…! Shinohara…”

“Ha-ha… You’re quite the talker, Shinohara. Or maybe Mari’s just too gullible…” Saeki shrugged his shoulders a bit. “Well, that’s all I wanted to say. Either way, there is no ‘next time’—whoever conquers the Tower of Lore wins it all, and whatever they say goes. Falsifying a Seven Star rating is the greatest form of cheating I know… Don’t think you’ll get away with just being banished from the island.”

“Hah. I could say that right back at you—”

The retort was reflexive, but a slight feeling of unease kept me from going on. I mean, in the first place, why was Saeki so obsessed with me? Of course, I was a Seven Star (at least outwardly) with four Uniques, so there were plenty of reasons for him to target me. Still, according to Enomoto’s investigations, Saeki had barely ever appeared in public before all this. Why would he risk his neck to take me down? I decided to steer the topic in that direction.

“…Hey, Saeki. Why’d you start to think I was doing something wrong, anyway? Maybe you think it’s impossible to become a Seven Star right after transferring in, but even so, the Academy’s ranking system is absolute. It’s got a perfect, unbreakable security system behind it…so if it says I’m a Seven Star, is there any room for doubt, really?”

“…? Well, if you want—”

“…It’s okay, Kaoru. I’ll explain the rest.”

Akutsu, standing right next to him, kept Saeki from continuing. Her cold gaze descended upon me as she spoke.

“Hiroto Shinohara, you are a liar—that’s the only conclusion one can reach. We haven’t found concrete proof yet, but there’s more than enough circumstantial evidence. We don’t even need to consider any other possibility.”

“…Circumstantial evidence? What are you talking about?”

“It’s right there in front of you. Or rather, it’s my firm belief. After all…I know what the red star can do.”

…?!?!

Akutsu’s words made me feel like someone had my heart in a death grip. I had trouble catching my breath. She knew what the red star did? If that was true, then it was no wonder the Hexagram suspected me so much. The red star allowed you to make a single lie the truth, after all—a pretty critical part of the puzzle for me. I had become the “fastest Seven Star in history” right after Saionji passed it on to me, and I couldn’t really claim those two events were wholly unrelated, could I?

But…is she serious? The red star was hidden away in the Saionji family until just last year. We couldn’t find anything about it at all in the STOC logs. If she’s telling the truth, though, I’m in deep trouble. And not just me, but Saionji too…

“…Haah.”

Just as my thoughts reached that point, I noticed Akutsu letting out a bored sigh. I narrowed my eyes at her a bit as she continued, her tone dismissive.

“You’re clearly skirting the rules, but I’ll admit, you sure know how to pretend to be calm. I was just joking with you—or, I suppose, I was trying to trick you. You reached Seven Star status after receiving the red star from Saionji, and I just inferred what it could do based on those events. I thought talking to you might help me confirm that a little, but this is clearly a waste of time. You’re such a boring man…”

“Yeah, sorry about that. But you’re sounding like a pretty sore loser.”

“Please don’t provoke me. I don’t want to bother dealing with you… But whatever. Either way, only Kaoru can win this year’s SFIA. Only he is worthy of being the best on the Academy…so give up your futile efforts and crawl back into the hole you came from. Both you and the Empress.”

“…The Empress? Why bring Saionji into this?”

“Why? Don’t think you can fool me, cheater. If the red star does what I suspect it does, there’s no reason for you not to team up with the Empress, now is there?”

This girl…

Akutsu’s sharp mind left me speechless all over again.

“You don’t have to be all silent with her… Of course that’s not true. Ugh!”

A familiar, confident voice interrupted us. Her luxurious red hair swayed gently in the air, and her face, beautiful by any standard, was twisted into an annoyed scowl as she placed her right hand on her waist in exasperation. The girl, Sarasa Saionji, gave me a carefree glance.

“Me, working with him? The stars would have to fall from the sky before that ever happened. I’d gladly commit seppuku before I worked with Shinohara.”

“…You show up out of nowhere and that’s what you have to say, Saionji? I’d never want to team up with you either. It’d ruin my good name as the Academy’s best.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? I’ll have you know it’s a great honor to fight alongside me. I suppose you’re too airheaded, incompetent, and reckless to understand that.”

“If I’m airheaded, incompetent, and reckless, and you lost to me, why the hell do you keep calling yourself the Empress?!”

“P-please, guys! Don’t fight! It’s not good for either of you!”

Minakami intervened, putting her body between us. At the same time, I stole a glance at Akutsu, who shrugged like she’d had enough.

So that was another bluff from her? But whether it was another test or not, she thinks Saionji and I might be connected. That would make sense why Saeki’s taking action now…

It all came down to the potential reward. From the Hexagram’s perspective, I was just a low-down cheater, but Saionji was a super-VIP with connections to the Academy’s chairman. If Akutsu knew we were colluding somehow, then exposing my lie and labeling me a cheater could ultimately lead to something huge for them. They could dominate the entire island, even, ruling it like their own backyard.

In any case, this exchange made Saeki narrow his eyes slightly. “Well, the Game’s already underway, so there’s no point questioning people’s motives like this. We think you’re a liar, Shinohara, and that’s why we want to expose you through SFIA. You’re on our side, aren’t you, Empress?”

“If I say no, will you be investigating me next? I’d like to stay out of all this, thank you very much.”

“Very well. That’s just the sort of answer I expected from the Empress. Anyway, see you both in the tower, I hope. And between the Revolution Team’s avatar and everything else, I hope you don’t even think about cheating. We’re watching you.”

Saeki flashed a malicious smile at Saionji and me—not even giving Minakami a second glance—before stepping away. Unlike the Fuwa siblings, he didn’t stop at the buffet, instead opting to return to his room with Akutsu. The rest of us watched them leave.

“W-well…,” Minakami said. “I don’t know about you, Shinohara, but I’m really hungry…!”

We decided to check out the buffet, albeit a little late to the party.

It was just past eight in the evening. After a light dinner with Saionji that didn’t involve much conversation, just keeping a wary eye on each other, Minakami and I went to my room in the outer perimeter of the basement.

“S-sorry to intrude…”

Minakami crossed the doorway with a nervous look on her face as she followed me in. Both hands were gently settled on her chest as she restlessly looked around.

“Um… I’m sorry if it makes things awkward, but this is my first time entering a guy’s room alone. I guess I’m a little nervous… I’m sorry.”

“What? No, like…it’s not my room, really. All I’ve done in it so far is drop my stuff off this morning.”

“Yes, but it’s just… You know. There’s just something about it!”

Minakami shut her eyes tightly, trying her best to squeeze the words out… Though I kinda got how she was feeling. I suppose I’d be pretty nervous in her room.

“Well, have a seat on the bed or something. There’s only the one chair over there, sadly.”

“Ah…yes. If you don’t mind, then…”

Minakami nodded slightly and sat on the bed. Watching her, an unwelcome thought crossed my mind—no matter whose room it actually was, having a teenage girl younger than me sit on that bed in her school uniform was pretty much verboten no matter how you slice it, right? But I didn’t let it show on my face as I continued.

“I’d like to discuss strategy with you, but before that, there’s something I wanted to try. Minakami, could you summon Himeji for me?”

“Uh… You mean use the Summon Avatar skill? But it’s after Game hours.”

“Just try it. I have a hunch the time doesn’t matter.”

Minakami raised a confused eyebrow at my words, but did as I asked and took out her device. The next moment, the scene we saw play out inside the Tower of Lore a few hours ago replayed itself before our eyes, and Minakami’s device glowed brightly, casting its light onto the bed and desk to form a complex magic circle. The next moment, Shirayuki Himeji, in her witch’s hat and robe, appeared in the afterglow.

“Thank you for summoning me after approximately two and a half hours, Ms. Minakami. By the way, I can’t help but notice this rather shocking scene—Master and Ms. Minakami about to share a bed in a private hotel room. Would it be possible for me to join you?”

“Huh?! No! It’s not what it looks like! And what do you mean join us?”

“I was joking.”

“Hwuh?! You were…? That’s not fair, Shirayuki! Jokes are the first step toward lying, and lying is the first step toward theft! It’s not nice to hurt people like that!”

“…? I thought it was a rather witty remark. Did I hurt someone’s feelings?”

“What? No, it’s just… Well, Shinohara is probably disappointed in you!”

“…I’m not,” I replied with a sigh. This had all happened so quickly I hadn’t even had the chance to interject.

“Sorry for calling you out at this hour, Himeji, but I figured Tower of Lore skills must still work outside of Game time, so now we know.”

I was actually a little curious about the wording of the rules. They’d said that there was “no limit to the number of times players can use skills in the Tower of Lore”—the only thing specified was the location. Whether it’s after hours or not, as long as we were inside the tower, we had full access to our skills.

“That seems to be the case, yes.” Himeji moved closer to me as I sat on the desk chair. “This makes all that time spent waiting in the Libra communication room after today’s Game ended worth it. I’m sorry I can’t offer you two a cup of tea.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry about that, too…but I’ll be patient. If we can communicate right now, that’s more than enough.”

“Yes, I agree. I’m very happy just to hear your voice, Master.”

“…Oh?”

I was taken aback by her sudden, direct approach. It kept me from hiding my confusion for a moment. I took a breath to restart my brain, gathering my thoughts before we got down to business.

“Well, the first day of Tower of Lore is over, but it looks like we’ve got our work cut out for us.”

Minakami nodded solemnly. “We reached the third floor, so I think we’re making decent progress, at least. But my Chaos level is still zero…and then there’s Kaoru’s Countdown.”

“Yeah. Another invisible axe over our heads, in addition to the Reaper. At this point, none of us have any idea what actions are prohibited. Or, really, there’s no way we can identify them very readily.”

“Exactly. It’s best to think of this as an additional rule for Tower of Lore. Players are assigned certain prohibited actions, and if they perform those actions a certain number of times, they are removed from the Game. If someone defeats Akutsu in battle, they can remove their own elimination condition—and if you are eliminated, Master, the conditions will be removed for all players.”

“Ugh…” Minakami groaned. “This is just too much. How is that even fair?”

“With all due respect, Ms. Minakami…if Master was ‘evil,’ then it is undoubtedly ‘fair’ to do everything in your power to defeat him. That is why the Hexagram is so desperate. If they make all these boasts and then lose, their claims will never hold water again. It would effectively prove that they are the ‘evil’ ones.”

“Yeah, I suppose…”

I certainly couldn’t claim to be on the side of fairness and impartiality, but the Hexagram’s self-proclaimed justice was no joke. What they’d done to Eimei’s ace last year was a prime example. If left unchecked, they’d cause massive damage.

“That’s why, at first, our basic strategy was to defeat Akutsu while being careful not to violate the rules. But…unfortunately, that’s no longer feasible.”

“…Thanks to the Anti-Camping Limit?”

Minakami kept her hands squarely on her knees. Right at the end of today, Mitsuru had thrown another monkey wrench into the Game—the Anti-Camping Limit. To use Himeji’s words, this was another new type of rule. Players were prohibited from staying on the same floor for over a certain amount of time. Violate this condition, and they would be immediately eliminated.

“It’s a real headache, yeah, because it dovetails so well with Saeki’s trap. If we rush too much, we might trigger the Countdown, but if we’re too cautious, we’ll be treated as camping.”

“Yes. It’s such a powerful restriction, I’m not sure how a mere Four Star like Mitsuru can invoke it.”

“It must have been modified with Kirigaya’s black star…or maybe that Albion group’s involved. Ugh… We already had our hands full with the Hexagram.”

I sighed and muttered under my breath. First the justice-obsessed Hexagram, and now there was this shadowy Albion organization. They had different goals and credos, but both of them had their sights set squarely upon me, and I was doomed to encounter them somewhere or other.

Just as I had come to that conclusion, Himeji spoke up next to me in her calm voice.

“However, the immediate problem is neither of those rules, but Mr. Fuwa’s surprise attack. In addition to leaving the Revolution Team, he and his sister worked with the Devil Team to set up the perfect ambush. They clearly planned it out well. I’m sure they’ll squeeze as much EXP out of our team as possible, then keep us confined in that room in some way until the Anti-Camping Limit kicks us out. That’s probably what they’re thinking.”

“…Yeah.”

You couldn’t stage a betrayal as bold as that one multiple times in a tournament. We couldn’t expect some kind of happy ending where they failed, then joined our side again. Mitsuru and Sumire must both have been determined to put an end to our team right here and now.

Minakami, holding onto the edge of the bed, looked up at the ceiling, searching her memory. “We were with Minami for a short time on the first floor, but I’m pretty sure she was a Caller, right? Do you know what jobs Soma and Kugasaki have, Shirayuki?”

“Yes, Libra included that in their coverage. Mr. Yanagi and Mr. Kugasaki are both Explorers. I believe we’ll mainly fight Ms. Minami as we battle against the Devil Team.”

“Yeah,” I said with a nod. “By the way…that girl’s really good. Don’t treat her as just your typical Five Star.”

“…Yes. She was featured in the semifinal highlights. She’s got a lot of fans on STOC, too. They call her the Calm Blue Flame.”

“…”

I hadn’t known that. Shizuku Minami always looked like she was ready for a nap, but she was pretty cute, so I could understand why she was popular.

“Anyway…we don’t have any combat skills, and Mitsuru just sprang a trap on us. The Fuwa siblings are tough competitors even under normal circumstances. As it stands now, we have no way of beating them.”

“That’s right. In other words, there’s only one possible strategy: We lure Ms. Minami back.”

“…Huh?”

Himeji kept her expression as blank as always. Minakami looked puzzled, but Himeji raised her index finger and kept going.

“Don’t you see, Ms. Minakami? First of all, there’s almost no chance of winning in a fair fight against the Devil Team. If we continue like this, we’ll be defeated in battle, disadvantaged by the resulting penalty, and then eliminated by the Anti-Camping Limit. Even if we weren’t eliminated entirely, we’d have to start over with a staggering EXP loss.”

“Yeah. And only Minakami and I will be left in the Revolution Team. Mitsuru’s Temporary Withdrawal will expire in about three hours, but there’s no way we can continue working as a team when he returns, so we’ll have to split ourselves up with Parallel Movement. In that case, wouldn’t it be better to try to recruit Minami from the start? With Temporary Withdrawal, you’re treated as not belonging to any team, so if we can recruit Minami right away, she can’t be forcibly removed from the team later.”

“Oh… I see! Instead of going straight for the kill, you’re using the Game to your advantage! That’s amazing, you two!”

Minakami’s eyes sparkled with excitement. This, I think, was the crux of Tower of Lore. If your strategy was working, then it was all well and good, but even if your opponent had gained the upper hand, you could always switch sides. Manipulate the battle to your advantage, and you could even make players from other teams do what you wanted them to do.

Of course, that meant we’d have to figure out a way to take Minami back by tomorrow…

“…Oh, that reminds me.”

As the strategy meeting was about to come to a close, I tilted my head slightly and glanced at Himeji beside me.

“How’s the situation outside the Game? I heard you were planning to launch an assault on the Hexagram.”

“Yes. We are receiving regular updates from Mr. Enomoto. For now, our ultimate goal is to deal a fatal blow to the Hexagram. In preparation for that, we are currently contacting potential accusers—people currently suffering due to the Hexagram. In other words, those in the same situation as Ms. Minakami was before.”

“But…isn’t the Hexagram watching them?”

“That was the case until the semifinals ended, but not now. The two leaders of the Hexagram are locked in the Tower of Lore, so their surveillance is far more lax at present. Mr. Enomoto said everything’s going so well, it almost seems as if we’ve got invisible fairies helping us.”

“…Fairies, huh?”

I smiled slightly at the metaphor. It sure didn’t sound like the sort of thing Enomoto would normally say. Kagaya and Shiina were probably supporting all of us behind the scenes, too, so I was sure the investigation would proceed smoothly.

“So, for now, we’re still getting the accusers together. We’ve also gained the cooperation of the former ace of Eimei Academy and Minakami’s older sister.”

“Whoa, Mayu?! Even though she’s out of school?”

“Yes. Apparently, she’s very eager to help out her cute little sister. She’s surprisingly well-connected, too… Ms. Mayu Minakami may even be able to negotiate directly with the Academy administration. Of course, they’re not about to act with incomplete evidence…”

“…So it all depends on having solid proof. I see.”

I nodded at Himeji’s explanation.

“I have a message for you, then… Could you warn Enomoto and the others to stay on their guard? Even if Saeki and Akutsu aren’t there, it doesn’t mean the Hexagram have no surveillance.”

“…Do you think so?”

“Probably, yeah. Saeki gave me a warning about you earlier, Himeji. We haven’t encountered the Angel Team yet in the Game. It would’ve been one thing if they’d heard about our avatar from Ishizaki, but Saeki had only just come down from the tower when he’d approached me. They shouldn’t know anything about you unless they can communicate with the outside.”

“…! Then I fear there’s a possibility that the Hexagram is doing the same thing as us, Master. I will be sure to relay the message. Thank you.”

Himeji gave a silent bow, holding her witch’s hat in both hands. I had so much to think about that I felt like my head was about to explode, but even so, it was important to keep an eye on what was going on outside. Winning the Game, after all, wasn’t good enough—we had to completely destroy the Hexagram organization. If they could regroup and position themselves as “defenders of justice” once more, we’d end up in the same situation all over again.

Glancing at the clock on my device, I saw that it was already past ten in the evening.

“Well, let’s call it there. We can all individually think about how to win Minami back over, and we’ll have another meeting tomorrow morning.”

“Yes! …Hm? Um, what do you mean ‘individually’…?”

“Uh…I mean we’ll all do it in our own rooms.”

“Oh, I see… Umm…”

Minakami frowned, as if presented with a difficult mathematical equation. Then, still sitting on the bed, she leaned forward slightly.

“Actually,” she said timidly, “I… I can’t sleep very well when I’m alone.”

“What?”

“No, that’s not it! I just mean that I’ve become a really light sleeper! It’s like I have bad dreams or something. I tend to wake up every half hour…but when I sleep with my sister, I’m fine. I’ve never had this happen before now…”

“When did it start?”

“Um…last week, I think.”

Minakami looked down, seemingly unable to speak. Last week was when Saeki had cruelly betrayed her. It wasn’t so strange, really. She was putting on a brave face around us, but there was no way that wound could heal in just a few days.

“Um…so you can sleep if someone’s nearby? It doesn’t have to be your sister?”

“Yes! I can sleep just fine then. I had no problem at the beach. Just having you nearby makes me feel…you know, really safe.”

Minakami raised her gaze toward me, blushing as she spoke softly. I knew she had no ulterior motives, but I couldn’t help but sense my heart racing and my protective instincts kicking in.

“Ugh… All right.”

So I half-heartedly agreed, feeling a bit like I was waving a white flag at her. Knowing what happened to her in the semifinal, I couldn’t just brush her off. But Shirayuki Himeji, in her Halloween-like gear, pouted a bit.

“Master, I understand the situation…but you don’t plan on sleeping in the same bed, do you?”

“Hyaah?! The same bed…with you, Shinohara?!”

“…No way. That would be…well, bad, for all sorts of reasons.”

“Th-that’s right! Anything could happen!”

Minakami nodded repeatedly, her face bright red. Seeing that, I got up from my desk chair and sat down on the floor on one side of the bed with my back against the frame.

“Would this count as being close enough to you?”

“Yes, of course! But then you won’t be able to…”

“I’m fine. It’d be a lot more trouble if you couldn’t sleep and it affected your Game performance.”

“…All right. Thank you, Shinohara.”

With that, Minakami bowed slightly, her black hair flowing down her back. Then, perhaps to hide her embarrassment, she said, “I’m going to take a bath first!” and stood up with a burst of energy.

I let out a sigh as I watched her rush into the attached bathroom.

“Phew…”

“Ms. Minakami certainly is cute. I would have offered to sleep with her, but if something went wrong and I disappeared, she’d be left all alone. It’s not my first preference, but I’ll allow you to stay close to Ms. Minakami instead. I was thinking I might sit next to you as well.”

“Huh? You’re planning on staying here all night?”

“…Would you prefer I didn’t?”

“No, it’s not that… I’m just concerned it’ll be a lot on you.”

“There’s no need to worry. Falling asleep while reading a book on the sofa used to be my daily routine, so I’m used to sleeping while sitting. Besides, I can’t leave you and Ms. Minakami alone. It is my duty to prevent you from being unfaithful.”

“Unfaithful?”

“I’m kidding. The thing is… It’s not on the level of Ms. Minakami, but even I feel a bit creeped out being alone in the Libra communication room. I can’t disturb Kagaya and Tsumugi, either. So if I can’t stay in the same room as you, I’d at least like to be next to you. Let me ask you again, Master: Is it okay for me to stay here?”

“…Of course it’s okay,” I said with an almost imperceptible nod.

Himeji slightly relaxed her lips, whispering, “If you’ll excuse me, then,” in a voice so soft it was barely audible, and sat down on my right side. She closed her eyes, leaning slightly toward me. It was a projected image, so of course I couldn’t touch her. Yet somehow, it still felt warm.

It was the start of the second day of the Game, and Minakami and I were on Floor 3 of the Tower of Lore, once again facing the gathered members of the Devil Team.

“It’s finally time to get back at it.”

Mitsuru Fuwa, the slender, beautiful boy standing next to the Devil members, flashed that ambiguous smile at me again. Having previously been on my Revolution Team, he was currently neutral due to the effects of his skill. He probably had no intention of teaming up anymore. In fact, if he could squeeze some more EXP out of us, it’d give Kirigaya even more of an advantage.

“Yes, yes! I can’t wait!”

Next to Mitsuru, clenching her fists tightly, was Sumire Fuwa. She had long, flowing hair that gave her a sort of “rich, young heiress” look. Contrary to her friendly attitude last night, she was now ready and determined to defeat us.

“This is a trap room I set up,” Mitsuru explained. “As long as you’re here, you two won’t be able to do anything that consumes EXP. You can use the skills you already have, but you can’t acquire any new ones, and we know the Revolution Team doesn’t have any skills that can get you out of this situation…or rather, you didn’t acquire any. Trap-related skills are the domain of Explorers, after all.”

“Amazing! That’s amazing! With this, we’re all but guaranteed to win!”

“That’s right, Sumire.” Mitsuru shrugged his shoulders a bit in response to Sumire’s praise. “It’s all thanks to the preparations I put in place. Toya said he’d be ready to clean up for us if need be, but I definitely won’t let that happen.”

At the same time, a girl from the Devil Team, their allies, stepped forward and approached us. It was Shizuku Minami, the sleeping fairy of St. Rosalia. She looked as tired as always, and her short blue hair swayed slightly as she spoke.

“It’s the stalker who abandoned me… Long time no see. How’ve you been?”

“Your opinion of me is getting worse and worse, isn’t it?” I responded. “Well, I’m fine for now. How are you?”

“What a mean question. Think about it… What happens if a girl as cute as me is thrown into a group of three voracious boys? It’s simply traumatic…,” she said, shaking her head.

“Heh-heh… Whose side are you on, Calm Blue Flame?” Kugasaki, in his collared cape, responded disdainfully. “Sadly for you, I’ve only been interested in the Empress since well before I was even born. Besides, you’re not the type to be intimidated just because your opponent is a man, are you? And you keep acquiring all those useless skills…”

“Mmm… That’s because you’re too imperceptive to see. All the skills I’ve acquired are useful… A perfect ten out of ten. I’m sure my stalker over there would understand…”

“…Like what?”

“Like Cat Walk. When I use it, our avatar’s footsteps sound like a cat meowing. It’s cute…”

I internally shook my head, partly out of sympathy for Kugasaki, as Minami said this with a completely straight face. Shizuku Minami was undeniably great at Games, but she wasn’t the easiest to deal with as a person. She was clearly delighted by her new skill, though.

“But that reduced my EXP a lot…so I’m gonna steal some from you. That cute skill was just a strategic move. The whole island’s probably gonna cheer for me… Get it? If so, then let’s hurry up and start the fight.”

“…Just so you know,” I replied with a sigh, “the reason we haven’t started fighting yet is because you’ve been spouting all that nonsense.”

I turned my gaze to the girl next to me.

“Minakami, I’m counting on you.”

“Right! In that case…go ahead, Shirayuki!”

Minakami instantly thrust her device in front of her and used her Summon Avatar skill for the third time. The avatar of the Revolution Team, Shirayuki Himeji, appeared from the otherworldly magic circle, adjusting her hat slightly with her gloved fingertips.

“Good to see you again, Ms. Minami.”

“Hmm. The maid has become a witch…? How cute. But why are you talking? Did you hit puberty?”

“If you read the rules carefully, Ms. Minami, I’m sure you’ll find the loophole.”

“Hmm? Again with your evil tricks, huh, stalker…? But when it comes to cute, you can’t beat me.”

After Himeji appeared, Minami quietly pointed her device to the side. At the same time, a lightning-like effect shot out, and a distorted magic circle—this time black in color—was drawn across the floor. From it appeared a girl with somewhat childish features. She wasn’t wearing the prim, proper uniform of St. Rosalia, but an ominous black robe and had small horns sprouting from her head. The avatar of the Devil Team, no doubt.

“Hee-hee! The model is a first-year student at St. Rosalia. She’s so cute… I guess you could even say I’m in this Game so I can spread her cuteness around… That wouldn’t be too much of an exaggeration, right?”

“Why’re you asking me? Actually…Minami, if you’re going to say that, why don’t you just give us the win right here? She may not look it, but Minakami trounced Ishizaki from the Kingdom Team in a battle yesterday. You don’t want to see your cute classmate get beaten to a pulp, do you?”

“That’s okay… I probably won’t lose.”

Minami turned around. Her sleepy blue eyes naturally fell on Minakami.

“In yesterday’s Chaos-level ranking…you were in last place…so you probably don’t have any strong skills. Yesterday’s victory was just a fluke… Right?”

“Ugh… That may be true, but I’ve got a lot of EXP!”

“I think I beat you there, too…because my Ability is specialized for combat. I joined SFIA to fight strong people…so I don’t want to lose to anyone.”

Minami sounded as calm as ever, but her drive to fight was clear to me. Perhaps being so easily defeated by Saionji in the semifinal had given her some much-needed motivation. The former strongest on the Academy was clearly starting to awaken, and in terms of skills, stats, and ability, Minakami was no match for her.

“…I look forward to fighting you.”

Even so, Minakami didn’t flinch. She clenched her fist tightly, and with a newfound determination in her voice, she gave that short reply. Minami seemed a little surprised but said nothing more and quietly took a fighting stance.

But at that moment…

“Hey, can we wait a minute?”

A sudden time-out was called just as the battle was about to begin. The voice belonged to Soma Yanagi, a member of the Hexagram who had been watching from the sidelines.

“I’ve got a proposition. How about we make a slight change of rules for this battle?”

“…A rule change?”

“Yeah. According to Tower of Lore rules, the winning team gets half the loser’s EXP, but you can’t challenge the same team twice in a row. So, with this surprise attack, our plan was to have the Devil Team attack the Revolution Team, then once that was over, Fuwa would return to the Revolution Team and challenge us to battle. Then we’d just repeat that forever.”

“Yeah, that’s right,” Mitsuru responded. “Is there something wrong with that?”

“Of course there is, you idiot. Listen…we didn’t hear anything about this Anti-Camping Limit bombshell. We only found out when we got the notification on our devices at the end of yesterday. If there’s a time limit like that, it changes things a whole lot. How do I know you weren’t trying to destroy the Revolution Team and the Devil Team with the camping penalty, huh? What’s the point of even doing something so ridiculous?”

“Ohhh, that? Well…it’s not that strict a time limit.”

“Yeah, right. I don’t trust you.”

Mitsuru’s argument fell on deaf ears, and Yanagi stubbornly shook his head at him.

“So here’s my proposal. I have an Ability called Free Rate. Basically, it allows me to freely change the stakes of a battle. The original bet is half our EXP, plus the possibility of a penalty, but with this Ability, I can go all-in and suck our opponents dry. That’d be a lot easier, wouldn’t it?”

“…I see.”

I looked at Yanagi and silently raised my right hand to my lips. It was a proposition that also benefited the Revolution Team. I wanted to eliminate the possibility of being eliminated by the Anti-Camping Limit as much as possible.

Still, I dunno…

“…What’s wrong? Don’t just stand there. Well, whatever. In order to activate Free Rate, I need the approval of players outside of my own team…but I’m not here to obsess over beating the Academy’s best. So come here a sec, Fuwa. You’re an important ally of ours, aren’t you?”

“Hmm… Okay.”

Mitsuru glanced at Sumire beside him for a moment, then took a step forward. He took his device out of his pocket, stood in front of Yanagi, and raised his right hand. But right at that moment—

“…Wait, Mitsuru,” a small voice called out.

It belonged to none other than Sumire Fuwa. She stared intently at Yanagi and Mitsuru, her eyes deadly serious—a complete change from her usual fluffy, sparkly demeanor.

“You can’t. You can’t! Mitsuru, you have to get away from him right now! I feel nothing but intense malice from him, and it’s all aimed at you!”

“…Huh? What do you mean? What’s going on, Yanagi?”

“Wha… What the hell’re you two talking about? You’re saying I’m lying? A Hexagram member?!”

Yanagi indignantly raised his voice as he thrust the screen of his device toward Mitsuru.

“Look! Where does it say anything here that would hurt you guys at all? I’m just trying to save us all some time! There’s no ulterior motive to this!”

“…No, it doesn’t seem like an Ability that’d attack us at all. Its effect is to rewrite the stakes of combat after obtaining the approval of a third party…”

“That’s what I just told you! So go tell your stupid sister to—”

“But Yanagi…I’ve decided that no matter what happens, I’ll always believe what Sumire says. No matter what. Your Ability’s definitely harmless, but if Sumire still feels such intense malice from you…it can only mean one thing.” Mitsuru smiled, his short hair—identical in color to Sumire’s—swaying slightly. “Could this offer have something to do with my prohibited action?”

“…!! N-no…”

“Bingo. You’re a terrible actor, Yanagi. I’m going to guess that my forbidden action is engaging in a contract-type Ability with somebody. I feel like I should have more than one infraction left, though, unless I get penalized once per clause of the contract or whatever. If that was the case, you could get rid of me just by adding a bunch of useless conditions to Free Rate, right?”

“…!”

Mitsuru was no longer speculating. There was real certainty to his voice as he faced down the shriveling Yanagi. Saeki had probably tipped Yanagi off about each player’s forbidden action, so now he was trying to goad people into sealing their own demise…but Sumire’s skills as an empath had thwarted his plan.

“Still, though…why is the Hexagram trying to rub me out? I thought I was cooperating with you guys.”

“…Cooperating?”

Yanagi, stunned into silence for a moment, practically spat out the word. He readied his fierce gaze and swung his right hand down, pointing his index finger at the approaching Mitsuru.

“Don’t give me that crap! If you were cooperating, you would’ve told us about your plans first! If I’d known about the Anti-Camping Limit, I never would’ve teamed up with you in the first place!”

“Why would I ever tell you? That’s our ace in the hole. Besides, it’s a big help for you guys, too. It increases the likelihood that people will trip their forbidden actions, right?”

“That doesn’t matter! The Hexagram’s going to win—that’s a foregone conclusion. There’s no chance of it not happening. The problem now is that Kaoru—and more importantly, I—now have conditions on our heads that could get our asses eliminated! It’s totally goddamn unacceptable! I only want to fight in Games I know I can win!”

Yanagi argued selfishly, and all the while Mitsuru stared at him with a cold gaze. But even so, Yanagi managed to keep a smile on his face.

“Well, great. You found us out. But it’s too late now, Fuwa. As you worked out earlier, you’re prohibited from engaging in contract-type Abilities with other players. Your count is four, with one taken off per clause—and of course you’re going to turn down my Free Rate contract now. But guess what? I’ve got this Ability here called Force Action, and I’ll use it to— Huh?”

The moment Yanagi said those words, brandishing his device, a low buzzer-like sound echoed throughout the area. It was coming from Soma Yanagi’s device. Immediately afterward, familiar neon-green text appeared above his panicked head.

Otowa School (Eighth Ward) second-year, Four Star, Devil Team—Soma Yanagi. Status: Eliminated

Reason for elimination: Fulfilled the conditions for forced elimination due to Countdown. Prohibited action: Revealing another player’s prohibited action. Count: 1

“Wha…? What the hell?!”

Yanagi, as expected, was the first to react.

“What the…? What’s going on?! ‘Reason for elimination’?! Me?! Why the hell did he set a prohibited action for me?! I’m a goddamn member of the Hexagram! My skill… Why won’t it activate?! Are you serious?! I’m really eliminated…?!”

“…”

“He told me nothing about this! NOOOOTHIIIIING!!”

Yanagi’s roar was so loud his voice almost cracked. Just to be sure, Mitsuru invoked his Power Scout skill to check—and sure enough, Soma Yanagi’s name had disappeared from the Devil Team’s member list.

So Hexagram members have elimination conditions set for them, too…and in secret, no less.

I clenched my teeth at the scene. Yanagi’s elimination was hardly bad news for me, but it definitely made me even warier of Saeki. Exploiting his allies as much as possible, then booting them out so callously, as if to say “If you’re going to be used by the enemy, get out of my sight.” There was a certain logic to it, but it was still just too harsh.

“Damn it…”

Yanagi shuffled to the corner of the room and threw himself on the floor, muttering like a spoiled child. Normally, the Libra staff would come pick him up immediately, but the central elevator was offline because a battle was technically still in progress, and that took priority.

“Hmm…?”

Minami, who’d been watching the whole thing disinterestedly, turned toward us with a sigh.

“Now,” the listless blue-haired beauty said, “we can finally begin…the battle I’ve been waiting for. Are you ready?”

This was Shizuku Minami, the Calm Blue Flame, a second-year Five Star from St. Rosalia—and formerly the top student on the Academy.

However, in response to her calm tone, Minakami defiantly raised her voice.

“Yes, Minami! And I’m not gonna lose!”

…This is bad.

Meanwhile, on the tower’s third floor, Sarasa Saionji and Misaki Yumeno from the Kingdom Team found themselves facing an unprecedented crisis.

“Ha-ha! Well, well, well, if it isn’t the Empress! What a surprise to see you here!”

Standing in front of them were the members of the Angel Team. They were led by Kaoru Saeki, who had his arms spread wide before Sarasa. Next to him was Miyabi Akutsu, her long, dull silver-gray hair flowing behind her, and near the door stood Senri Kururugi, her gaze as sharp as a prison guard watching over an inmate. Kanade Yuikawa was nowhere to be seen; he’d been out on a “special ops” job for them. His sole mission had been to chase Sarasa and Misaki here.

Why…? Why did this happen?

Sarasa hid her expression behind her bangs and clenched her right fist tightly.

Up until earlier—just two hours ago of in-Game time—the Angel Team had been chasing after Shinohara and the Revolution Team. However, they’d turned their sights on Sarasa’s team right after Shinohara moved up to the third floor…almost at the same time that Mitsuru Fuwa’s Anti-Camping Limit notification came out. In which case, it was easy to guess their motive.

They probably changed their target. Saeki originally intended to use the Reaper’s power for his hunt, but because of the Anti-Camping Limit, he can’t stay on the same level for too long. Therefore, he abandoned that plan, and now he’s quickly forming a strong party he can use to storm to the top of the tower.

Thinking about it that way, it made sense. Misaki had been the dark horse across all of SFIA, and Sarasa was the Six Star Empress. Their strength in combat was beyond question.

In any case… Sarasa tossed her long hair aside, clearing her mind.

“What a coincidence. You say that, but you’ve been chasing me ever since I went up to the third floor. Isn’t it a little mean to take pleasure in chasing a couple of girls around?”

“Ah, I’m sorry. I thought you must have noticed. But actually, I think my meanness is understandable in the context of the Game. After all, I’m the Reaper now.”

Saeki got straight to the point, brushing off Sarasa’s sarcasm. His narrowed eyes were locked right on hers.

“Let me be blunt—Sarasa Saionji, will you join our team? With your strength, our victory will be even more certain.”

“Hmm… Maybe. There’s a good chance we’d be completely incompatible, you know. Besides, no one from the Angel Team has defected, have they? There’s no room for me.”

“Not necessarily. Kanade, our member who’s not here right now, is such a wonderful ally that he’d gladly sacrifice himself for the sake of the Hexagram’s victory. If I were to ask that small favor of him, I’m sure he’d gladly give up his spot.”

“…Huh? What? Hey! What about me? I get why you’d want to recruit Sarasa, but are you just going to forget about me, the other protagonist? This isn’t an idle RPG! You can’t just leave me out!”

“Eh? Oh… I’m sorry, Yumeno. Teams in this Game are up to four players.”

“I—I hate you! You’re evil! Grrrrr!”

Misaki growled indignantly hearing Saeki casually discard her. Sarasa wanted to back her up, but she was in no position to.

Of course he’s negotiating peacefully now, but Saeki’s still the Reaper. He can eliminate either one of us at any time… If I don’t want that, I have no choice but to listen to his demands.

It was true. If Sarasa lost, after all, everything would be ruined. The real Sarasa would have to return to the island, the Saionji family’s reputation would be in tatters, and her strange partnership in crime with Shinohara would come to an end—though she didn’t really care much about that last part. In any case, both of them would become social pariahs, and there was absolutely no way she was going to let that happen.

Her long red hair swayed silently in the air.

“Your demand is that I join the Angel Team…right? And what do I get in return?”

“Oh, more than I can explain. Because you see, if you don’t agree, I’ll use my power as the Reaper on you. Are you sure you want the undefeated Empress to lose that easily?”

“No. And unfortunately, I always bring emergency escape Abilities to any Game I play. You can attack me if you want, but don’t blame me if it fails.”

“You do…? Well, then… Since she doesn’t like being left out, I might have to eliminate your teammate Yumeno instead. If you refuse to join our team, I have no choice but to weaken your forces… Quite the conundrum, isn’t it?”

“…You’re a despicable man.”

“Ha-ha! Of course, that’s just a hypothetical. But if Yumeno is eliminated, it will be troublesome for you, won’t it? Ako from the Hexagram is in the Kingdom Team, too.”

Saeki was circuitously trying to cut off Sarasa’s escape route.

“Shall I offer a clearer benefit to you? If you join our team, the Countdown I imposed on you will be lifted immediately. Also…”

“What?”

“Referring back to yesterday’s conversation, we know the effect of the red star. Of course, it’s just speculation at this point. But if we in the Hexagram emerge victorious in SFIA, that speculation will become the undeniable truth. The red star is a star of falsehoods—and yes, Hiroto Shinohara is a false Seven Star. So what about you? What have you been hiding?”

Saeki spoke eloquently, almost condescendingly, with a smile on his lips.

“Look, Saionji. I’m sure someone as intelligent as you must have figured it out by now…but don’t you think we could work together? You must have some kind of reason for invoking the red star and teaming up with Shinohara.”

“…How can you talk so much based on nothing but a delusion like that?”

“I’m very confident in my deductive abilities. But unfortunately, Saionji, Shinohara’s lies will all be exposed at the end of this Game. You should be joining with us, not him. Whatever your secrets may be, we have ways of covering them up. We are justice, and our word as the arbiter of justice is absolute. Won’t you join us in creating the ideal Academy?”

Sarasa remained silent for a moment, facing this invitation offered with Saeki’s unshakable confidence. Perhaps this had been Saeki’s goal from the start—to label Shinohara as a cheat, kick him out of the limelight, then approach Sarasa and make his way into the very core of the Academy. He had both orchestrated the actions of the Hexagram and taken advantage of SFIA for that very purpose. And…true, if Sarasa were to go along with his plan, her lies would all be covered up. The red star would be given to the Hexagram, so the lies of the “fake” would never be exposed. Even if Shinohara were to speak out, he’d be dismissed as a liar, and that was that. A flawlessly logical progression of events.

But still…

“No. Sadly for you, I’m not interested.”

Sarasa flicked her red hair aside to make her refusal clear.

“Thanks for sharing your delusions with me, but I didn’t understand more than half of what you said. Aren’t you supposed to be the ‘defender of justice’? And you want to create an ideal island? Are you sure you don’t just want to rule this whole place?”

“Isn’t it a good thing to be ruled by justice? Besides, regardless of whether you choose to call it ‘ruling’ or not, I think the desire to be on top is common for many people. Especially for students on the Academy.”

“That’s true. But don’t you think that’s something you have to achieve on your own, instead of having it given to you? I lost to Shinohara and got stripped of my Seven Star rank. Now I’m trying to defeat him and get it back. That’s all there is to it. I don’t want you bringing other people’s circumstances into this.”

Sarasa made her statement with unwavering force, leaving Saeki speechless. It was mostly just a bluff, but it seemed to hold up well enough. Was this all thanks to the influence of a certain someone she knew who was really good at acting…? No. Even just the thought of it was too irritating to entertain.

But as that thought was going through Sarasa’s mind, Saeki took out his device.

“…I see. And I understand your point. I was thinking of settling this amicably, considering the future, but since we can’t come to an agreement, I’ll have to resort to force. Activating Supporter-only skill: Hostage Trade. I will forcibly switch the affiliation of one member of my team with another player who’s touched this device.”

Saeki closed the distance between himself and Sarasa, a broad smile on his face. Sarasa and Misaki slowly backed away, but soon their backs were against the wall—or rather, the white door.

Please hurry… No, don’t hurry—just show up already!

The desperate wish flashed through her mind.

“…Sorry, Empress. I had some trouble shaking off Ishizaki.”

His low, menacing voice echoed through the room—but immediately after, Sarasa and Misaki disappeared from Saeki’s field of vision. Of course, it wasn’t teleportation or anything of the like. They had just tumbled through the doorway when it opened. A figure silently passed by Sarasa and Misaki, who were now on their butts, and laid a finger on Saeki’s device.

“…?! You…”

“Does this mean I switched sides to your team? Well, don’t take it the wrong way, Saeki. I don’t care who wins, as long as Ohga School has a hand in it…but our ace just doesn’t want to stand side-by-side with you.”

“…Hmm. I shouldn’t be surprised. Even against the Reaper, Saionji didn’t give in.”

“No way. She’s been above me for two whole years, so why the hell would she be scared of someone like you? And by the way, I’m also a Six Star from Ohga. People call me second-best, comparing me to the Empress all the time. If that’s not good enough for you, I’ll take you on… What do you say?”

Keiya Fujishiro, the blond delinquent, threw the question out like a threat. Saeki mulled it over, staring down the threatening aura emitted by the Final Weapon of Ohga, but eventually he came to a conclusion.

“I see… In that case, fine. If it’s just a matter of strength, someone like you won’t get in our way. Still, we can’t cancel the Countdown we set for you guys. With Hostage Trade, Kanade is now in the Kingdom Team, and Ako was there already. I’d like them both to serve me as outside collaborators for the Angel Team. Would you be agreeable to that?”

“…Yes, of course,” Sarasa replied. “There’s no way we’d want to go around with two teammates who are bound to betray us.”

“Good. I’m glad we could come to an agreement.” Saeki turned to Fujishiro and Ako. “I’ll see both of you upstairs, then.”

Saeki quickly ended the conversation as if he’d lost all interest and turned his back to Sarasa, then walked out of the room. With him was the brand-new Angel Team: Miyabi Akutsu, Keiya Fujishiro, and Senri Kururugi. It was a group that may as well be called the strongest, and they’d also taken two members of the Kingdom Team as “outside collaborators.” To top it all off, Saeki hadn’t even invoked his Reaper power yet.

“Ugh…”

The door in front of her closed with a whir. The moment Saeki and the others disappeared from view, Sarasa finally exhaled the breath she’d been holding in. She felt like she had used up all of her focus for the day. She wouldn’t be able to recover her energy without resting for a while.

“Ugh… What should we do, Sarasa…?”

Misaki had sat up and was peering at Sarasa, looking similarly uneasy. Even after witnessing the exchange, her fighting spirit hadn’t wavered at all, showing just how much of a threat she was.

After everything, though…Misaki staying behind was a stroke of luck for me.

Sarasa gazed at the pink hair swaying close to her face. That’s right… They’d run into the last group they wanted to see, but things could have ended up a lot worse. After all, Misaki Yumeno—the dark horse of Amanezaka—had an Ability that no one else had even considered yet.

Sarasa looked straight into the girl’s anxious eyes.

“Are you okay, Misaki? I think the Angel Team will aim straight for the top floor now. They have the team they want, so all that’s left is to conquer the Tower. If we clash again, they won’t let us off as easily as they did just now.”

“But… With all your protagonist power, didn’t you have a bunch of emergency escape Abilities?”

“Don’t be silly. That was obviously a bluff.”

Sarasa chuckled. This Game was full of strong opponents. She couldn’t fill up Ability slots with that kind of nonsense.

“So, considering that, it’s too dangerous to go up to the fourth floor right now…but it’s a bad idea to continue exploring here, as well. We don’t know exactly how long it’ll take for the Anti-Camping Limit to activate, so we can’t take any unnecessary risks. Besides…”

Sarasa suddenly looked down at her device.

“I don’t think we have enough. If we continue like this, we won’t be able to get everything we need to break through to the top floor. Don’t you think it’s strange? It’s not like Mystery Dungeon where the room changes when you enter…but the elevators only go up. They should go down, too, but they don’t. That tells me the tower’s lower floors are more difficult to explore than the higher ones. It’s not like a normal dungeon.”

“Ah… So does that mean I’m going to play a big role? Am I the real protagonist?!”

“That’s right. You have the Ability to reverse the elevators…which means we’re the only one of the four teams that can go down. And if we need something specific to complete the top floor, it won’t matter how fast the Angel Team gets there. They’ll just have to wait forever.”

That was why Shinohara would absolutely stop Kaoru Saeki’s advance. And as she promised, Sarasa would gather everything necessary to escape from the Tower of Lore.

“Let’s go, Misaki—back to the first floor!”

Tower of Lore 3F, D-1: Devil Team vs. Revolution Team – Battle Start

3F Completion Requirements: 9,000 EXP

Devil Team—Shizuku Minami. Avatar: Konohana Tohno. Total EXP: 13,500

Revolution Team—Mari Minakami. Avatar: Shirayuki Himeji. Total EXP: 9,800

The battle on Floor 3 of the Tower of Lore between the Revolution and Devil Teams began with us at a slight disadvantage. The circumstances—or maybe “adversity” was a better word to describe it—facing our Caller Minakami and avatar Himeji hadn’t changed much since yesterday. We’d been actively aiming to gain EXP and strengthen our status, but Minakami’s Chaos level was still at zero, so she hadn’t been able to acquire any combat skills yet.

And to make matters worse, we were facing Shizuku Minami.

“Variable Control and Recycle…activated together.”

That blank voice of hers invoked two familiar Abilities. She’d used the same combination in the semifinals, too, creating a semi-perpetual machine in which the two Abilities complemented each other perfectly to create an effect several times greater than any normal power-up Abilities.

With this intense support, the total EXP of the Devil Team was rewritten as follows:

Revolution Team—Avatar: Shirayuki Himeji. Total EXP: 9,800

Devil Team—Avatar: Konohana Tohno. Updated total EXP: 13,500→66,200

Situation change: Shirayuki Himeji avatar’s hands restrained

Condition change (Konohana Tohno): No damage taken while in the air

Condition change (Shirayuki Himeji): Cannot attack opposing avatar

“…Heh. The key to combat is to level up and physically punch your opponent out… That’s all.”

…?! Sixty-six thousand two hundred EXP… Eighth-floor-level?! This girl is unbelievable!

Sizing up the updated situation and conditions, I inwardly gritted my teeth. The difference in total EXP was huge. The sense of despair was so overwhelming, it felt like I’d switched positions with Ishizaki.

But this battle wasn’t something we could win by fighting fairly from the start. As we’d discussed at yesterday’s strategy meeting, our Revolution Team couldn’t win unless Minami switched sides to join us. The maximum number of members in each team was four, but Mitsuru and Sumire were currently under the effect of Temporary Withdrawal, so the transfer was completely possible. The question was, how could we successfully recruit her?

Tower of Lore makes it possible to switch team members at any time. If you want to recruit someone, the most straightforward approach is to make them think your team’s stronger.

I tried to think as calmly as possible. If transfers were not only possible but this easy, we could show that we were closer to victory as a team, and our opponents would beat a path to our door. At least in theory, it made sense.

But Minami doesn’t think that way. She just loves to fight powerful opponents. She’s preoccupied with winning, of course, but what’s even more important to her is that her opponents are a real challenge. It’s the whole reason she participates in Games at all.

We’d talked about that back on the first floor. Minami’s mind just worked a little differently from other players. If she didn’t care about her opponent, she wouldn’t take the fight seriously. She had only used this Ability combo once before, in the semifinal against Saionji. The fact that she was using it here meant that Minami was wary of Minakami, or maybe that she expected her to put up a tough fight.

I lowered my hand from my lips and took a small step forward, smiling defiantly. Minami, picking up on this, tilted her head slightly.

“…What? You’re going to step in and join the battle?”

“No, nothing like that… You know, Minami, I got some good news for you. You see, Minakami brought along a super-enhanced Ability specifically meant for fighting the Hexagram. It’s the optimal solution, one Minakami put together through her own research and fine-tuning. It’s got some restrictions, but it’s still way stronger than your Ability combo.”

“What? No, that’s not true, Shinohara. It wasn’t just me. Enomoto helped a lot, too.”

“Hmmm… You mean Minakami’s stronger than me? Are you dumping me for her?”

“I never had any feelings for you to begin with. But that doesn’t matter in this battle. You’re not in the Hexagram, so you’ll never be able to experience Minakami’s true power…unfortunately.”

“…Minakami’s true power…”

Minami lowered her gaze slightly, muttering to herself. My needling was clearly paying off. Mitsuru and Sumire, watching nearby, both raised an eyebrow, not understanding what this was about…but Minami certainly understood my intentions. There were more important things to her than winning and losing…which is why I knew she’d act on what I’d told her.

“Hmm… I can’t let that go, no.”

Suddenly Minami changed position. She started walking quietly, then stopped in front of Soma Yanagi, who was sitting against the wall.

“Hey…”

“…Huh? What? You want something?”

“Yeah. Can I borrow that? It’s okay… It’s just for now. I’ll give it back right away…probably.”

“What? Hey, wait!”

Before Yanagi could resist, Minami deftly took it from him with one hand… Yes, she’d snatched the Hexagram badge that Yanagi had pinned to his uniform. Minami fumbled with the silver hexagon for a bit before pinning it on her own shirt.

“Heh. Now I’m a member of the Hexagram… An ally of justice. How’s it look on me?”

Seeing Minami return with a smug look on her face, I clenched my fists tightly. So far, so good. I knew that if I portrayed Minakami as being unable to use her full potential, Minami would do whatever it took to fight her at her best.

But Minakami was probably the most surprised of all. Her eyes went wide.

“What are you doing, Minami? You can’t help your opponent like that… I mean, stealing’s a crime, too! It’s wrong! Give that back to Soma!”

“That’s just like you, Minakami… You’re such a good girl,” Minami teased. “But I didn’t steal it; I’m just borrowing it for a little while. Besides, if it makes my enemy stronger, I’ll aid her all I can… Right? I’m the type who always plays every video game on hard mode first. I guess I’m a masochist that way. Keep that in mind for later…”

“…Don’t look at me when you say that,” I complained.

She was always teasing people without a care in the world, but maybe she was more of a passive partner in real life. Who knows?

“Anyway…are you ready, Minami?” I asked. “If you wear that badge, you’ll be a member of the Hexagram. Her Ability will work just fine on you.”

“Yes. I’d prefer that, even… I know you’re better than this, Minakami.”

“…!”

Minakami clenched her fists as she looked straight into the other girl’s eyes. Then she lifted her face as high as she could, her black hair dancing in the air.

“All right. I’ll take you up on your offer… Single-Point Breakthrough!”

With that resolute declaration, Minakami’s device began to emit an intense light. Single-Point Breakthrough was a super-enhanced Ability designed specifically to counter the Hexagram. Minami had borrowed Yanagi’s badge to fulfill the conditions for activating this “secret weapon” of Minakami’s, causing Himeji’s total EXP to take a huge leap.

Devil Team—Avatar: Konohana Tohno. Updated total EXP: 66,200

Revolution Team—Avatar: Shirayuki Himeji. Updated total EXP: 9,800→95,700

Condition change (Konohana Tohno): No damage taken while in the air

Condition change (Shirayuki Himeji): No damage taken while standing on the ground

“Huh… Didn’t expect that. You’re above me…”

Reading the updated display, Minami’s sleepy expression showed a hint of joyful surprise.

In any case, after a series of enhanced Ability activations, the conditions for both avatars were set in stone. Next was skill selection, but Minakami was still only able to choose from the default ones…and even worse, the Game had her going second. No matter what she did, she had to get through those all-important first five minutes.

“So can you do it, Minakami?”

“Yes, I’ll be okay, Shinohara. With these conditions, I’ll make it work…!”

Minakami looked back at me and nodded meekly. Then, in a flowing motion, she picked up her device and moved to select the Defend skill. At the same time, Yanagi, who had been watching her every move, seemed to smile slightly for some reason. The next instant—

“N-nooooo!!”

“What? …Whoa!”

I stared at the scene unfolding before my eyes. But to be honest, anyone would in this situation. Sumire, who had been intently watching the battle, suddenly jumped into the center of the room with a shout, stamped her feet, then jumped up and gave Minakami a flying hug. Sumire was light enough that she didn’t bowl her over, and she clung to Minakami pressing her face against her chest.

“You can’t, you can’t! You can’t do that, Mari!”

“I, ah, um, uh… I—I don’t think you can do that, Sumire!”

“No, no! I can do this all I want! But listen to me, Mari—you’re about to do a certain thing, aren’t you? That’s your forbidden action!”

“““…Huhhh?”””

Almost everyone in the room gave them astonished looks—pure surprise, followed by confusion. They didn’t understand. Among them, Mitsuru, who had managed to remain somewhat calm, put his index finger to his forehead and sighed.

“Hey, Sumire? If I could ask…how did you know that?”

“Easy! I’ve been watching Soma’s face closely for a while, and you know what? When Mari was about to choose a skill, I felt this really strong sense of malice coming from him! Mari’s forbidden action is choosing a defensive skill. I’m sure of it!”

“Oh… Yeah, I get that, but why’d you tell them? We’re trying to trap Shinohara and knock him out of the Game, you know?”

“…Ah!”

Sumire’s eyes widened, as if she’d just been struck by lightning. She quickly moved away from Minakami and returned to Mitsuru’s side. Apparently, she hadn’t had any particular reason for telling Minakami; she’d just blurted it out without thinking. I glanced over at Yanagi, who was now even paler than before.

Mitsuru clapped his hands together in apology.

“I’m sorry for interrupting the Game. I told her to hold back while it’s in progress, but she just…”

“Forgive me, forgive me! She’s just such a wonderful person!”

Sumire continued to gaze at Minakami with her sparkling eyes as she pretended to apologize. Maybe she saw Minakami as her savior or something.

But that’s about the worst forbidden action ever, isn’t it? I’m glad we identified it ahead of time, but based on the rules, there’s no way we can continue this battle until she picks a defensive skill. That’ll whittle down her infraction count, but at the same time, if we surrender here, we’ll be milked for all the EXP we’ve got…

We had to choose the lesser of two evils. The attacking and defending sides switched out every five minutes, so as long as the fight continued, Minakami would be forced to choose Defend over and over again. She might even run through her infraction count right here, for all I knew. I didn’t want us to be exploited by Mitsuru and the Devil Team like this, but if we lost Minakami, I’d also lose any chance I had at beating the Hexagram.

That’s why…

“I… I concede.”

Clenching her fists tightly, Minakami bowed her slightly and surrendered.

Mitsuru nodded with a relieved smile. “Okay. With that, half of the Revolution Team’s EXP will be transferred to the Devil Team. Normally that’d be the end of the battle after the penalty was assigned, but as Yanagi said earlier, that’s not the case here. Our Temporary Withdrawal will expire pretty soon, so now it’ll be the Revolution Team’s turn to request a battle—”

“…? Nah, that’s not gonna happen, actually.”

At that moment, Minami interrupted Mitsuru’s words with her usual sleepy tone. Her blue hair shimmered as she opened her device, projecting the team information at the top of the screen.

Player: Shizuku Minami. Affiliation: Revolution Team

“…Wh—?”

“Just now, my transfer request was approved… Since you two left, there was an opening on the Revolution Team…so I just slid in there… Good use of an empty space, you know…”

“No, but… Why?”

“…? No reason. The battle just now… If it had continued, I probably would’ve lost. I could see my stalker was trying to do something… I was only saved by that Hexagram Ability. That means there are two players in the Revolution Team who can beat me… That’s amazing.”

“Well, that may be true…but you want to fight strong opponents, right? Wouldn’t it be better to be on a different team than us?” I asked.

“That’s true, but still… The fact that you’ve prepared so much means your opponents are just as strong. I thought it’d be more fun to join your side…and I want revenge. The semifinal, the final round… I’m finally getting the chance to fight someone strong, but the Hexagram keeps getting in the way. Yeah, I’m a vengeful woman… I want to pay them back. Double…”

“…Oh. Man, you’re not the easiest to deal with, are you?”

“I know… If you don’t want me, I’ll go, but…?”

Minami provocatively (yet still expressionlessly) cocked her head at me. Of course I wanted her on our team. In fact, her reaction was even better than I’d expected. I’d wanted to show her Minakami’s strength and make Minami admit that she was at least her equal, then I’d persuade her from there—but Minami had figured it all out on her own.

So, with a fearless smile on my face, I turned my gaze toward Mitsuru Fuwa.

“Well, Mitsuru, it’s a draw. You won the battle, but we got Minami in return. So what are you guys gonna do now? There’s one spot left on the Revolution Team.”

“…I’m not that brazen, you know. We can’t fight without Minami, so we’ll stop for now… Maybe we’ll officially join the Devil Team, actually. We were going to present them with your defeat as a gift, but I guess…”

“Huh? That’s pretty disappointing if you thought we’d drop out in a prelim battle like this.”

“Yeah… I know. We underestimated you… Don’t get too comfortable, though. We know just how strong you are, but Toya’s still way stronger. The real battle starts now…and Albion will win in the end.”

Mitsuru turned his back on us. At the same time, both he and Sumire submitted their transfer requests to the Devil Team. With Yanagi and Minami off their roster, there were two spots open on that squad, so following the rules, their requests were accepted a minute later.

And just like that, the clash with the Devil Team ended with the teams literally split in a draw.

Back on the third floor…

“…Oh? Soma was eliminated?”

Saeki was informed by Explorer Senri Kururugi’s Power Scout skill that a Hexagram member had just been knocked out. He didn’t sound surprised. In fact, he hadn’t expected much from Soma Yanagi in the first place. It didn’t particularly matter if he’d been eliminated…but Saeki was concerned. He was the Reaper, and there was no sign that anyone had tripped the Anti-Camping Limit, in which case Soma must’ve been eliminated due to a Countdown violation.

“Soma’s prohibited action was telling a non-Hexagram player about their prohibited action.”

Miyabi Akutsu, standing next to Saeki, let out a faint sigh.

“A condition like that was designed on the assumption that it would never happen. He was so useless, wasn’t he? He probably got tricked into blabbing about it.”

“I wonder. He’s usually too cautious to take unadvised action like that… Hmm.”

Saeki opened his device and reviewed the player data he’d gathered so far. This data had been collected through his organization’s connections, via channels that could hardly be called clean. It contained far more information than what was publicly available…and Saeki’s attention was now drawn to one particular entry.

“Sumire Fuwa, second-year at Shinra High School in the Seventh Ward. She’s known to be highly empathetic… Supposedly she can read your emotions with just a glance. If she’s sensitive to malice and hostility, she’d be able to read Soma’s expressions pretty easily. I bet she’s using an Ability to help with that, too.”

“That’s bad for us. If more info about prohibited actions starts to leak out, it’ll weaken your position a little, Kaoru… They’re all such a pain, aren’t they? It feels like ever since we started Tower of Lore, we’ve had all these barbarians at the gate playing detective…but we’ve taken measures to avoid that, of course.”

“It’s not a good trend, no. We may need to teach them all another lesson.”

Saeki nodded quietly in agreement with Akutsu. Then he smiled, narrowing his eyes.

“Well then, shall we begin the hunt?”

SFIA Final: Tower of Lore – Progress Report (middle of Day 2)

Angel Team: Miyabi Akutsu, Kaoru Saeki, Keiya Fujishiro, Senri Kururugi

Devil Team: Toya Kirigaya, Sumire Fuwa, Mitsuru Fuwa, Seiran Kugasaki

Kingdom Team: Sarasa Saionji, Ako Ishizaki, Kanade Yuikawa, Misaki Yumeno

*Ako Ishizaki and Kanade Yuikawa working alongside the Angel Team

Revolution Team: Hiroto Shinohara, Mari Minakami, Shizuku Minami

Eliminated: Soma Yanagi

Chapter 4

Halfway through Day 2 of Tower of Lore.

Having managed to keep the damage from Mitsuru’s betrayal and the ensuing battle against the Devil Team to a minimum, we proceeded at a much quicker pace through the tower. Minakami, as usual, was doing a lot of the hard work. Thanks to Sumire’s assist, we now knew that her prohibited action was using defensive skills, which meant she could invoke exploration and door-opening skills without any risk at all. Since EXP was expended in Tower of Lore only when acquiring skills, we were able to recover the EXP we’d lost to the Devil Team pretty quickly.

“I wonder, though…”

Minakami had just solved a Difficulty V door and was looking at her device, sighing to herself. Her Chaos level was still at zero. With Minami back on the team, we now had another Caller, so that wasn’t such a big problem any longer, but I still had a lot of questions about it.

“If I had to guess… I mean, the stat’s called ‘Chaos’ and all, so maybe there’s some chaotic condition you need to satisfy before you earn any. Maybe you get a bonus for blocking another player’s actions or something.”

“Hmph… I’m not just gonna pretend I didn’t hear that… Are you saying I’m doing nothing but getting in your way…?”

“No, Minami. The way most Games work—not just this Tower—is that you get ahead by keeping other players from doing as they please. However, I don’t think Minakami’s done that once so far. She hasn’t invoked any debuffs, any jamming skills…and with every door riddle, she’s always come up with a solution that doesn’t hurt anybody.”

“I… What? I have…?”

“Yeah. In your case, though, you might be doing it unconsciously.”

For someone as dedicated and justice-minded as Minakami, she probably wouldn’t dream of deliberately getting in someone else’s way. That must have been why her Chaos level wasn’t going up at all. Logically, it made sense. A more traditional player like Saionji wasn’t up very high in the Chaos ranking either, but Mitsuru, who put that Anti-Camping Limit on us, was in third place—more evidence that I was on the right track.

“But if so, that means I can earn Chaos after all, right? Maybe I could use the Jamming skill Mitsuru obtained for me…”

“Hmm… Yeah. There’s one thing, though… Sorry, Minakami, but could you hold off on that for a sec? This is just conjecture on my part, but if Chaos level is different from contribution points, it may not necessarily be a stat you want to build up very high. There might be situations where it’s helpful to have a low Chaos level.”

“You think so…?”

Minakami’s flowing black hair tilted back a bit as she looked up, thinking. Like I said, there was no evidence to back up this passing thought. It just kind of stuck in my mind.

“But…well, thanks to Minami being here, we’ve at least addressed our lack of combat skills. So I’d like you, Minakami, to focus on opening doors—taking care not to raise your Chaos level as you do—and Minami to acquire combat skills for us.”

“A-all right! I’ll try my best…”

“You got it, boss… I’ll try to pick cute spells for your maid.”

With that agreement from my Caller pair (and Himeji offering her own thanks), we now had a plan. It was time to go over our current status once more. Right now, we were on the fourth floor. After that last fight, we’d explored Floor 3 for a while before finding an elevator to take us up, and now we were wandering around here. All in all, it had taken us over four hours to wrap up down there, so Mitsuru’s Anti-Camping Limit probably wasn’t very tight, after all. However, considering we might run into another team at any time (or an elevator that had horrendously challenging conditions to activate), we still couldn’t let our guard down.

Besides… I hadn’t confirmed this yet, but I had a bad feeling about my own prohibited action. As of three PM yesterday, the infraction count on my device was listed as five…but this morning, it was down to four, and now it was at three. I’d done lots of things twice in that time period, but what mattered to me was that this count likely remained active even during the evening and night. And in terms of Game-related things I did after five PM yesterday…about all I could think of was summoning Himeji. It could be either me using Summon Avatar, or her accepting it. And if Saeki knew I was using Himeji to interact with the outside world, it seemed like a distinct possibility that my prohibited action would be tied to that.

“…So, I think it’s about time we try to defeat Akutsu,” I said slowly, having gone over things in my mind. “If my prohibited action is summoning Himeji, then I’ll need to remove the Countdown on me either today or tomorrow at the latest. The same is true for Minakami’s prohibited action, too—if you get in a battle, you’ll have to select a defensive skill once every two turns, so if a fight drags on, that could be it for you. It’s a lot more restrictive than mine.”

“Yes, Master. You’re right.”

The silver-haired Shirayuki Himeji nodded next to me.

“You could have Ms. Minami handle regular combat for your team, but when fighting the Hexagram, Ms. Minakami’s Single-Point Breakthrough will be an absolute must, so we’ll want her Countdown removed as soon as possible. However…as far as I can tell from the Libra stream, Ms. Akutsu’s avatar has some quite unfair capabilities of its own.”

“Unfair…? How unfair are we talking, Shirayuki?”

“Well, for example, do you recall the mid-boss we defeated before going up to the fourth floor? Ms. Minami and I took about five minutes to wrap that up, but Ms. Akutsu finished the same quest in two seconds.”

“Huhhh?! That’s…”

“…Hmmm? Pretty audacious of her.”

Minakami reacted to Himeji’s explanation with abject shock, while a hint of hostility crossed Minami’s blank face.

If I had to guess, the insane strength of Akutsu’s avatar was probably the result of both its EXP amount and her Chaos level. A lot of skills in Tower of Lore had a minimum Chaos level to unlock, and that, in turn, meant players with more Chaos enjoyed access to more skills. Things that might get called “finishers” or “final strikes” in RPGs would be no problem at all for them to obtain.

“Hmm… I guess we can’t rely solely on Single-Point Breakthrough, then.”

“No. Also, if they realize how destructive an Ability it is, they might use a trap skill to take it off the board. Kaoru Saeki and Ms. Akutsu both know your personality well, after all, Ms. Minakami…”

“Oh no… Shinohara!”

I could tell those words had sent a chill down Minakami’s spine. She looked up at me, as if she wanted to reach out and cling to me…but Himeji was right. If Saeki and Akutsu knew about Single-Point Breakthrough, they were bound to try to neutralize it.

Even so, I smiled confidently at the anxious-looking Minakami. “I don’t know what kind of tricks they’ll pull, Minakami, but let me tell you something you’ll wanna hear: Different Strokes is all about dealing with whatever kinda situation I run into. If our opponents are going to set traps, we just need to bring along the tools to evade them.”

“That is correct,” Himeji continued, backing me up. “Conceal is the Ability assigned by Different Strokes for the Seventh Ward. In other words, if a player from Shinra High School joins the Revolution Team, we will be able to nullify Kaoru Saeki’s traps, no matter what form they take.”

Right. Different Strokes changed its effect depending on the ward my team members belonged to. As long as we had this Ability, we could respond to any situation we came up against, if we meet the required conditions. In that regard, teaming up with a Shinra student seemed like a good idea as we took on Saeki. Plus, based on our confrontation with Mitsuru and Yanagi earlier, the possibility that Hexagram and Albion were connected had all but disappeared now.

“Different Strokes… Yes. You always have the most useful things… By the way, what’s my effect?”

“For St. Rosalia, the corresponding effect is Iron Wall. That can completely nullify the effects of a skill one time.”

“Just once…? Lame…”

It wasn’t the worst effect, but Minami seemed pretty dissatisfied with it. Still, she glanced at the device in her hand, her blue hair framing her face.

“So I looked into some stuff…but I don’t think we can recruit the Fuwa-Fuwa combo. They’re being chased by the Angel Team, along with the guy in the cape. It’s probably because their prohibited actions are known. Stalking’s all the rage around here…”

“…Oh. Sumire.”

I nodded at Minami. Sumire would certainly be an unexpectedly strong threat against Saeki. With her skills as an empath, she demonstrated remarkable precision at reading people’s Countdown assignments. She was the exact type of person Saeki would want out of the Game as soon as possible, for reasons far different than me and Minakami.

“That means the only Shinra player we can really reach out to right now is Kirigaya, huh?”

“…Are you serious, Master? I don’t think there’s any way Kirigaya would join us, even if the world ended right this minute.”

“Well, I don’t expect him to do it willingly, no. But either way, there’ll be a fight next time we see him, right? So, depending on the outcome, maybe we can demand he join us. If he refuses, we can force him to transfer as his penalty for losing.”

“I see… That makes sense.”

“Yeah. If that could happen for us, maybe beating Akutsu isn’t just a dream any—”

Ka-chak.

I heard a sudden, unpleasant sound, forcing me to stop mid-sentence. There was no mistaking it as the sound of a door unlocking. Someone was trying to enter this room.

We tensed up in anticipation…and then, with a low whir, the door in front of us opened. A female student suddenly came into view. She had dull silver-gray hair, a hexagonal badge shining on her chest, and a cold, condescending gaze that seemed to look down upon everything it saw.

“Hey…did you just call for me, you worthless savage?”

There she was: Miyabi Akutsu, the Six Star member of the Second Ward’s Suisei School and a proud member of the Hexagram. The worst possible person we could’ve encountered at the moment. We did have to defeat Akutsu sooner or later, but we didn’t have any plan against her yet. If we fought her now, we’d lose, no doubt about it.

So, instead—

“Make a run for it.”

I used our team’s EXP to force open another door next to me.

On Floor 4, the hunt carried out by the Angel Team—or more precisely, the Hexagram—was finally coming to an end.

“Ha-ha…”

They’d been completely outnumbered, so the outcome had been clear from the start. Although Miyabi Akutsu was on her own pursuing Hiroto Shinohara, her fellow Angel Team members Kururugi and Fujishiro were still free, as were their “outside collaborators” Yuikawa and Ishizaki. They had a considerable number of exploration skills between them, so their hunt was executed incredibly efficiently.

Which had led to:

“Thirty-five minutes and twenty seconds…? You managed to evade us for quite a long time. I suppose you didn’t coast into the SFIA final on sheer luck alone.”

Kaoru Saeki narrowed his eyes upon the trio now corralled into one corner of the room.

“Seiran Kugasaki, leader of the Self-Styled Holy Knights… It’s an honor to meet you.”

“Heh-heh… I’d say the same to you—Kaoru Saeki, leader of the Hexagram. To think you’d force me into attempting to flee from a confrontation. Rejoice, for you shall be etched into my history for all time!”

“Ha-ha… Thank you. Indeed, I don’t recall you ever fleeing from anything at all.”

Kugasaki laughed loudly, his cape fluttering in the wind, while Saeki shook his head with a smile.

“However, it seems that I have the upper hand this time. Both the Angel Team and Devil Team are currently toothless, with their Callers away from the main team…but fortunately, I retain the power of the Reaper.”

“Heh-heh… The Reaper, huh? How ironic that the leader of the ‘defenders of justice’ is given such an ominous title…” Kugasaki paused for a moment, then pushed up his glasses with one fingertip. “Let me ask you something, Kaoru Saeki. As the leader of the Self-Styled Holy Knights and the ordained protector of Otowa, do you really think I wouldn’t have a plan devised to repel the Reaper? Because I’d be very disappointed if you thought so.”

“No, I don’t think that at all… I’d never think that about you, Kugasaki,” Saeki said with a gentle smile.

There was a reason Seiran Kugasaki, the Five Star student from Otowa Academy, was nicknamed the “Phoenix.” It was hard to tell whether he really had a plan to deal with the Reaper or not, but it didn’t matter anyway. He wasn’t Saeki’s true target.

““…!””

Saeki turned his gaze to the person next to Kugasaki—no, to the person next to them. There stood Sumire Fuwa, her legs trembling as she cowered behind her brother. Judging from her reaction and the color of her face, she’d probably known from the beginning that Saeki was interested in her and her brother, not Kugasaki. Perhaps that was her empath abilities at work—not that they were particularly welcome right now.

In any case, Saeki smiled—not at Sumire, but at Mitsuru.

“Listen, Mitsuru. You’re the one in control of the Anti-Camping Limit, right? That Ability can certainly do a lot to propel the Hexagram forward, but I would still prefer to take all potential headaches off the table as we proceed. Would you mind turning it off for me?”

“…I see. So that’s your goal?”

Mitsuru had the confirmation he wanted, although he wasn’t interested in answering that question. He looked down for a moment to think, then raised his face again and firmly shook his head.

“No way. I mean, I’d never agree to that in a million years. The Anti-Camping Limit is the core Ability that powers our whole strategy. Do you really think I’m just going to shut it off?”

“Yes, I do, because I am the Reaper. Whether you turn it off or I eliminate you, the Ability will be shut off all the same. The method makes no difference to me.”

“It’s not the same thing at all. If you eliminate me, your position as Reaper will be transferred to someone else. I want to pass on the baton in whatever way benefits Toya and Sumire the most.”

“…All right. You always were clever that way, Mitsuru. And you never did know when to shut up.”

Despite being in an overwhelmingly weak position, Mitsuru didn’t so much as flinch. Saeki lifted up his device with a smile and activated his Reaper-exclusive skill, Scythe of Judgment. An augmented-reality effect immediately enveloped Saeki’s device, making it look like a grim reaper’s scythe. Any player who touched the tip of its blade would be banished from Tower of Lore in an instant.

“So, in response to your request, I will choose the latter method. This is all so we can expose Shinohara’s cheating. I trust you have no complaints, for you will help form the foundation of our justice…”

“…Noooooooo!!”

But before Saeki’s scythe could cut through Mitsuru, Sumire—who’d been trembling behind him just a moment ago—pushed her brother with all her might. Not forward, of course, but into the corner of the room. With Mitsuru lying on the floor in shock, she took a step forward and raised her hand to the Reaper’s scythe, fulfilling the condition and being executed from the Game. The words “Shinra High School (Seventh Ward) second-year, Four Star, Devil Team—Sumire Fuwa. Status: Eliminated” flashed above her head in neon-green letters.

It was all exactly as Saeki had planned it.

“Ha-ha…”

Saeki narrowed his eyes, looking down at her with a wry smile on his face.

“I’m sorry, Sumire. I was aiming for your brother, but then you jumped out, and I couldn’t stop it in time. What a regrettable accident.”

This must have rubbed Mitsuru the wrong way, because he reacted by slamming his fist down on the floor. Sumire, alarmed, rushed over to him, but Mitsuru just hung his head and couldn’t say anything back to her.

“But… Hmm. This is a problem. I wanted to have you lift the Anti-Camping Limit here, but… Oh, that’s right! Mitsuru’s prohibited action is very easy to trigger, isn’t it? Engaging in a contract-type Ability with another player… I can do that right now, can’t I?”

“Heh-heh! You better quit while you’re still ahead, Hexagram.”

At that moment, Seiran Kugasaki, who’d been keeping quiet for a while, stepped in front of Saeki.

“After using your Reaper power, your Chaos level is practically zero. Do you remember yesterday’s Chaos level rankings? The next in line to become the Reaper will be either Toya Kirigaya or Mitsuru Fuwa right here in front of you. Don’t you think you should leave as soon as possible?”

“I wonder… You’re sure you don’t mean I should eliminate him as soon as possible?”

“Heh-heh… Don’t be ridiculous, Kaoru Saeki. According to a fragment obtained by the Devil Team, the time between the Reaper using his power and the birth of the next Reaper is approximately thirty minutes—and I don’t think I’m so useless that I’d need a whole half hour to defeat you.”

Kugasaki continued to negotiate with Saeki, his cape fluttering in the breeze as if to shield Mitsuru and Sumire. His tone was mocking, but his eyes were filled with defiance, and seeing Kugasaki’s expression, Saeki casually shrugged his shoulders.

“…All right. I’ll let you go…until next time.”

Those last few words sounded almost like a curse, and with that, Saeki and the Angel Team turned and left. Among their numbers, only Senri Kururugi, the girl with the ponytail, looked back at Mitsuru and the others as if she wanted to say something. For a moment, she even looked like she was reaching for her device, but she left without further delay once Saeki called after her.

All Mitsuru could do as he watched them go was clench his fists tightly.

On the fourth—no, sixth floor of the Tower of Lore…

“…I got it! The answer is to use the Heavenly Flight skill, then immediately follow it up with Thunderclap! That way, we can escape from our pursuers without anyone getting hurt!”

“Wow… You’ve done it again, Minakami. Even a Difficulty VII puzzle door is no problem for you.”

“Oh, n-no, it’s not as easy as it looks… Hee-hee-hee-hee…”

“You’re so cute when you’re shy, Minakami… I’ll cherish this moment forever…”

All of us in the Revolution Team were on the run from Miyabi Akutsu, our pursuer from the Angel Team, and we weren’t being given a moment’s rest. We had managed to close the door behind us on the fourth floor before she could initiate a battle, and since then, we’d been on the run for several hours, jumping between floors. Once a team member unlocked a door, only members of that team could pass through it for a certain amount of time, which gave the mice the advantage over the cat in this chase… That said, if the cat could use another route to ambush the mice, we were done for. We had to constantly scurry around the floors with no time to rest.

Of course, we had good reason to carry out this semi-forced wild chase.

“Ms. Minakami is very clever. I feel like she’s already well past the Three Star level,” Himeji whispered to me behind Minakami, who was trying to open the next door with Minami.

Mari Minakami hated lies, had trouble understanding jokes, and was totally incapable of bluffing…but when it came to puzzle solving and other noncompetitive tasks, no one could hold a candle to her. Practically without hesitation, she briskly opened doors that made even Himeji and Minami pause to think. She was completely modest about it as well, claiming that she was still no match for her sister when Mayu got serious, but her talent was undeniable.

Anyway, we continued on our way like this.

“Oh… Finally got it. It looks like the elevator room’s next to here, Minakami. Let’s go for it!”

“Right, Shinohara!”

Minakami turned around, her black hair swaying in the air, and smiled at me before rushing for the door. She had a sort of puppylike energy and first-year meekness, which I really liked.

“Um… Oh, it’s a battle door? Our mission’s to defeat the monster that comes through in just one turn…and every time we fail, we’re confined to this room for ten minutes.”

“Combat…? Then it’s my turn. Stand back, Minakami…”

“O-okay! Good luck, Minami!”

Minakami quickly did as instructed, watching on nervously beside me. This, too, was part of the plan we’d agreed on. In order to ensure she wasn’t forced into using a defensive skill, we wanted Minakami to avoid combat as much as possible. Of course, if the opponent was too dangerous for Minami to handle alone, we’d have no other choice. I briefly looked down and thought about it for a moment, and by the time I looked back up, Minami had turned around and flashed me a peace sign.

“Ta-daa!”

“What? You already won? Just like that?”

“You didn’t see it…? You are so awful. I wanna file a protest…if there’s a place to…”

“She did, Shinohara! That… That was amazing! She was brilliant!”

“Yes… I’m glad someone here understands true talent. Any male student who saw that would have no choice but to become my fan… That was how lovingly charming the attack was. There might have been a sexy pose or two, even…”

“Was there?!”

Minami loved throwing curveballs at me with her whining, and Minakami was surprisingly eager to play along. They were completely different types, but it seemed like they made a pretty good combo in a Game.

“Well, anyway, good job, Minami. I didn’t see any fan service myself, though.”

“Huh. That’s how little I mean to you…? I guess I am just the sub-heroine… The sort of character who meets a tragic end midway through the story, only to linger in the protagonist’s heart forever…”

“Not even trying to be humble any longer, are you?”

Despite the teasing, I couldn’t help but feel she genuinely resented me not watching her in action, so I thanked her again. She silently nodded back, clearly in a better mood, and turned away from me.

According to my exploration skills, the elevator room leading to the seventh floor was past this door. We were pretty high up now, but there was still a long way to go.

“Okay, so the conditions for starting this elevator… Wait, what’s this?”

Minakami looked at the display text and let out a confused little yelp, turning back toward us with a puzzled look on her face. It was no wonder, though. The neon-green text in front of us was giving us a set of conditions completely different from any elevator before now.

Activation difficulty: 0—no genre. Conditions: Prepare yourselves and get in.

“What do you think, Himeji?”

I wasn’t sure what this meant at first, so I turned to Himeji next to me to help collect my thoughts. She lifted the brim of her hat slightly and replied to me in her usual cool tone.

“I believe the activation conditions have been overwritten by someone. It didn’t say this when the player who first made it here boarded the elevator—that being Mr. Kirigaya.”

“They’ve been rewritten…? But we’re only the second group to reach the sixth floor, right? That means Kirigaya must’ve tinkered with it.”

“That’s correct. And as Libra has already revealed to the public, the seventh floor is somewhat different from the rest. In short, it’s almost impossible to avoid combat up there…and Kirigaya hasn’t moved from there for several hours.”

Hearing Himeji, I couldn’t help but twitch a little. Kirigaya, our front-runner in terms of tower progress, had now hit the brakes for some reason. It was a special floor where combat was unavoidable, and he’d rewritten the elevator to make it super easy for anyone to get up there. Considering the facts, there could only be one answer.

“He’s giving us a warm welcome…or maybe setting up a wedding proposal for me?” Minami said.

“…I think we can ignore the second possibility,” I countered. But she was basically right. Toya Kirigaya was up there lying in wait for me, ready to pounce. He was sick of dragging this on any further and wanted to settle things here and now.

Guess I should have prepared a little more…but there’s no time. Akutsu’s hot on my heels. This is a pretty lethal pincer attack…

I cursed to myself and shook my head to clear my mind. I’d known well enough going into this Game that if I wanted to win, I’d have to defeat both the Hexagram and Albion. We also had the current goal of recruiting a Shinra player for the Revolution Team. If anything, I almost welcomed this confrontation with Kirigaya. And so—

“Let’s go, everyone. We’ve been ready for this since before we got here.”

With a defiant smile, I stepped onto the elevator without hesitation. Himeji and Minakami followed, and finally Minami joined at her own leisurely pace.

With a dull whirring sound, the elevator rose for about ten seconds.

“Huh…”

As we reached our destination, I let out a faint sigh of admiration. This sure was a special floor. There were no smaller rooms lining the inner perimeter; the whole thing was wide-open, and I only saw three doors leading to the seventh floor’s outer ring. In other words, there were only four rooms on the entire floor. “No escape” was right.

And, of course, waiting for us in this strange space was a single battle-crazed player.

“Hya-hah! Welcome, Shinohara.”

Toya Kirigaya, the Absolute Monarch, stood there smiling in utter delight.

We were on the seventh floor of the Tower of Lore facing Toya Kirigaya, the Six Star tyrant leader of the Devil Team.

“Hey, Kirigaya. Long time no see, huh? Not since the last floor, anyway. It’s real nice of you to wait here for me.”

“Well, yeah. Just look at this floor. It’s like a special venue prepared for us to settle the score. I actually figured we’d duke it out at the top, but I have a bad feeling we’ll have a lot of unnecessary distractions up there. So let’s finish this thing between you and me before all that—to prove who’s superior.”

“Who’s superior, huh…?” As I spoke, my lips curled into a small smile. “I might take you up on that offer, but if I do, I have some bad news for you.”

“Oh…?”

“I’ve got someone else on my tail I can’t shake off. I’m not the only guest you’ll have.”

No sooner had I finished speaking than a rumbling sound echoed behind us and the elevator behind me began to move again. It was bringing up the next player straight away.

And who would it be, but—

“Oh…? Looks like some barbaric fools are getting themselves worked up over a trivial argument.”

Miyabi Akutsu, the Six Star Hexagram member. As soon as the elevator stopped, she walked off the platform with a firm, steady step. Her demeanor was calm and ruthless, her silver-gray hair gracefully flowing behind her.

“Normally, I wouldn’t want to get involved in such a vulgar fight…but Kaoru asked me to, so I have no choice. Mind if I join?”

“…Huh? Saeki sent you?”

“Yes. Kaoru’s the only person I take orders from…but in this case, I would have come either way. Tower of Lore has to end in victory for Kaoru. Hiroto Shinohara, you’re only here to play the villain who makes a fool of himself losing to Kaoru…and Toya Kirigaya, you’re just someone who gets in the way to spice things up a bit. You’ve both done enough already, so you can die quietly here.”

Akutsu was being equally harsh with Kirigaya and me. It was typical of Saeki to leave things like this to his henchmen…but in any case, Akutsu’s purpose was clear.

“So,” I said, “what’s the story, Kirigaya? You were waiting here on purpose, so you must have something cooked up for us. Is it something that needs to be one-on-one?”

“Huh? Hey, don’t ruin the mood here, Shinohara. This was supposed to be our final showdown, and here you are bringin’ other people into this, no reservations whatsoever!”

“Of course. Are you really that afraid of Akutsu?”

“Don’t provoke me. I’ve been ready to go from the start… But whatever.” Kirigaya turned to face Akutsu. “If you think you’re good enough to go up against me and Shinohara, I’ll gladly let you join.”

“…That’s a pretty arrogant way to talk. I don’t much appreciate that tone from a savage like you.”

“Hya-hah! Hey, did you forget that you invited me to join your team before this event even got started? So we could all take down Shinohara? The dumbest invite I ever saw in my life. But just because I said no, why d’you have to treat me like this, huh? Ain’t it a little too harsh?”

“Of course not. Kaoru seems to like you for some reason, but as for me, I hope I never have to call you ‘comrade’ for as long as I live. Don’t let him make you think you’re something you’re not.”

“…Okay, fine, you ass. Go ahead. Butt in on my fight with Shinohara. I’ll show you high-and-mighty bastards what it really means to be on another level.”

“Pathetic… And, really, a savage like you putting himself above me? Come on.”

Kirigaya’s not-so-veiled threats were greeted with icy rejections from Akutsu. Of course, neither of them was looking down on the other. Kirigaya’s strength as a Six Star player with two Uniques was indisputable, but Akutsu was also extremely powerful, being the top student from the Second Ward’s Suisei School and a core member of the Hexagram. In terms of actual combat experience, she was far above most other players.

With this invite now accepted, Kirigaya let out a little cackle of glee.

“Now let’s get down to business. We’ll engage in battle here on the seventh floor, but it won’t be a normal battle. No, it’s gonna be a real special one, with my own custom rules.”

“…May I say something, Mr. Kirigaya? There are predefined combat rules in Tower of Lore. It shouldn’t be possible to change them…”

“Not normally, no. But why do you think I came here ahead of everyone else?”

“To stick out from the crowd, of course…or perhaps to prepare something?”

“Got it in one.” Kirigaya grinned and kicked the floor, making a loud thudding sound. “This seventh floor has a certain Ability applied to it, called Reconstruct V2, which combines the characteristics of my two Unique stars. As long as this Ability is active, I can set the rules, specifications, and rewards for any battles on this floor, any way I see fit.”

“Hmmm… So basically, you’re the gamemaster…? You’re as much of a dictator as ever. The pinnacle of tyranny…”

“Shut up, brat. You’ve got no right to whine after betraying the Devil Team.”

“…Hmph. You’ve got a point, actually.”

Minami shook her blue hair casually, her face expressionless as usual as she fell quiet.

It was indeed the pinnacle of tyranny, just as Akutsu had said—but for me, it wasn’t such a bad development. If we engaged in a normal battle against her as things currently stood, our chances of winning were slim to none. In a special three-way battle, though, maybe the rules would favor me a little more.

After thinking it through, I decided to get back on topic.

“Anyway…the point is, the three of us are going to fight each other, right? If it’s just a battle, not a ‘Game within the Game’ sort of thing, then the penalties for losing will remain the same, right?”

“Yeah. Half your EXP, plus one of the preset penalties… At least, that’s what I was thinking, but you know what? That’s not all that exciting any longer. So I decided that instead, the winner can choose any reward they want. For example, if I win…I want Hiroto Shinohara and Miyabi Akutsu kicked out of the Game.”

“…Yeah, sure.”

“Hya-hah! I don’t need anyone weaker than me. I only wanna fight strong opponents, okay?”

At least he was being straightforward about what he wanted. I gave a shrug.

“Okay. Then if I win, Kirigaya…I want you to join me.”

“…Huh? What do you mean by that?”

“You know what I mean. You’re not my only enemy. We’re not strong enough to defeat the Hexagram yet, so if I win, I’ll have you join the Revolution Team.”

Kirigaya remained silent for a long moment, looking puzzled at my offer. I’d been wondering how he’d react to it, but finally, he started laughing, no longer able to hold it in.

“Hya-hah… Hya-ha-ha-ha-hah! You’re so funny, I could just die! Ahhh, this is why I can’t quit playing Games… Fine, Shinohara. If I lose, I’ll join your army until Tower of Lore’s over. So what’ll you do, Akutsu? You guys all act like you’re the bosses of us, so I’m sure you got something devious in mind if you—”

“If I win, both of you will kneel before Kaoru Saeki and offer him your words of worship.”

““…””

“The ceremony, of course, will be shown live on Libra. I don’t see any value in either of you, but I can at least have you sacrifice yourselves to elevate Kaoru’s name.”

“That…might be worse than elimination,” I said bitterly.

“I agree, but whatever. Everything’s gonna work out my way anyway.”

Kirigaya gave us a competitive sneer…and with that, I suppose, we were ready.

“Hya-hah! Well, I can’t wait any longer. We gotta get going! It’s battle time!”

So it was Devil Team vs. Angel Team vs. Revolution Team—a special three-way battle that would greatly alter the fate of Tower of Lore.

SFIA Final Round: Tower of Lore 7F – Special Battle

Each team selects one player to participate in the battle. Players not selected cannot influence the battle in any way, and player substitutions are not permitted.

The seventh floor contains four rooms, each with three doors. All of these doors can have the conditions for unlocking them arbitrarily rewritten by players.

The battle proceeds in turns, with one of the three participants acting as the “questioner” and the other two as “answerers.” After everyone takes a turn as the questioner, each side’s points are tallied up, and the player with the most points wins the battle.

The questioner sets the unlock conditions for each of the three doors individually. The genre for each door is Quest—condition-based combat—and the backdrop and setting are the same for all players. Based on the opening conditions set by the questioner, each door is assigned a difficulty level from I (easiest) to X (hardest).

Answerers select one of the doors, having been given no information about them apart from difficulty level, and attempt to unlock it. Players use avatars to take on these challenges, but to ensure no player has an advantage or disadvantage due to their job, no skills can be used. However, total EXP is still a factor, and avatars can use special battle-specific items instead of skills.

These items assist players in unlocking doors. There are ten provided for each Quest, which players can obtain by drawing from their item box. Rarity is divided into four tiers from S to C, with the drawing probabilities set at 1:2:3:4 for S, A, B, and C. In other words, the item box you draw from contains four C-rank items, three B’s, two A’s, and one S. S-rank items possess enough power to unlock doors on their own without further gameplay.

After drawing an item, players can choose to either immediately attempt the Quest or draw another item. This drawing can be performed multiple times as long as the Quest has not been started, and all items obtained during this period are available for use.

Points: If a player fails to unlock a door, they receive zero points. If it is unlocked, the player receives points equal to the door’s difficulty level (I to X) multiplied the number of items remaining in the player’s draw box (1 to 10).

E.g. Unlocking a Difficulty VIII door with seven items remaining gives 8×7 = 56 points.

“…Phew.”

After committing the rules to memory and exchanging a few words with Himeji about our potential strategy, I caught my breath and began to focus.

“Please do your best, Shinohara! And you too, Shirayuki…!”

Minakami was cheering us on. Her cheeks were slightly flushed, and her tightly clenched fists were trembling. Being put in a spectator role must have frustrated her a lot, but in this three-way clash, only one player from each team was allowed to participate. And I couldn’t leave this battle to anyone else.

So I smiled, trying to ease her anxiety.

“You got it. I mean, there’s no way I’m going to lose, right? I’m the best on the Academy.”

“Yes! You are! I’ll be cheering with Minami, okay?”

“Huh? I don’t really care about this… Like, I can change sides at any time.”

“Hey!”

“…Sorry. That was just my inner voice. I’ll be rooting for you a little…”

Minami quickly looked away as she and Minakami walked over toward the wall. It was hard to tell if she was serious or joking, but I decided to take her at her word.

“Well, shall we begin, Master?”

Even in her witch costume, Himeji’s posture remained unchanged. Hearing her voice, I turned back around…and saw my two opponents already preparing for battle. Toya Kirigaya, the third-year Six Star from Shinra High School in the Seventh Ward, Miyabi Akutsu, the third-year Six Star and Hexagram executive from Suisei School in the Second Ward…and me, the absolute Seven Star who was just as good as the both of them. Wait, no—I mean better than them. It was my job to kick both of their asses.

It’s not gonna be easy, though…

I had no choice. After all, this was still just a warm-up on my way to beating Kaoru Saeki.

“Anyway… Sorry to keep you both waiting. I’ll be playing for the Revolution Team.”

“Hya-hah! No shit you will. If anyone other than you had stepped up, I woulda used my Reaper power to knock you out right there.”

“Reaper power? Wait… Did it transfer from Saeki to you?”

“Yep! Just a moment ago. He musta booted someone outta the Game…but that doesn’t matter. I don’t need the Reaper power to eliminate you both—as soon as this battle’s over, you’ll be done for.”

“…”

“So let’s choose the first questioner. We’ll pick at random.”

At Kirigaya’s words, a giant roulette wheel was projected in front of us. The needle spun rapidly, then gradually slowed down and stopped, pointing to one person.

First questioner: Toya Kirigaya from the Devil Team.

“Ha-ha! Nice, I’m first. Not a bad way to start.”

“Oh…? Does it matter what order we go in?”

“Nah, not really. But here’s the thing, in this battle, only the answerers can earn points. The questioners are playing defense, in other words. And I love winning, y’know. I love a come-from-behind win—and I hate it when people do that to me.”

“…Fine. Whatever.”

I was an idiot for taking him seriously.

Anyway, Kirigaya, the first questioner, was given some time to set up the unlock conditions for the three doors. Any type of “conditional combat” situation was acceptable. The doors were then assigned difficulty levels according to what he chose, and the answerers used that information to pick a door.

“So it’s like a game of chicken,” Himeji observed softly, “except we get choices. Questioners can make a door more difficult to reduce the chances of answerers beating it…but it also raises the stakes if someone does complete that door. The choice given to the answerers is a key part of this battle. A low-difficulty door might be easier to conquer, but it won’t give you as many points. On the other hand, if you go for a tougher door and you have bad luck with the items you draw, that’s just about the worst possible scenario.”

“Yeah… Those items are basically just like drawing from loot boxes in a mobile game. You get one out of ten at random, and it’s all just pure luck. And your score’s the difficulty of the door multiplied by how many items are left in the box, so if you don’t get good items, you’ll wind up wasting points trying to draw better ones.”

“That’s right,” Himeji thoughtfully said, a gloved fingertip to her lips. “A lot depends on the Quest you’re presented with…”

While we were speaking, Kirigaya finished setting things up. He turned back toward us, quietly holding up his device.

“Okay, we’re good to go! I just set the conditions for the three doors in this room. The difficulty levels are III, V, and X, from left to right. Now you two each need to pick a door.”

“Sure. Come to think of it, Kirigaya… What happens if we both choose the same door?”

“Nothing special. One of you gets picked at random to go first, then you’ll both attempt the same quest. You both have different avatars and items, so watching someone else take it on won’t help you at all.”

“…I see.”

Meaning there was no particular penalty for choosing the same door. In that case, I was free to choose based on my own needs, and Akutsu’s strategy didn’t really matter to me.

Like Himeji said, which door I choose is incredibly important. The luck of the draw comes into play too, so it’s not just about choosing the highest difficulty door all the time. Still…

I shook my head slightly, then—

“Well, there’s nothing to think too hard about. I’ll choose the X-difficulty door. No other choice, really.”

“Hya-hah! Good pick, Seven Star! That’s how the best on the Academy should act!”

“…My rank doesn’t really matter,” I muttered, exasperated. I wasn’t just trying to show off—in terms of the number of points on the board, there was too much of a difference between doors. If you drew four items from the box and beat an X-difficulty door, that was sixty points, but if you beat a V-difficulty door with no items at all, that was still just fifty points. With those odds, it was much smarter to take a risk and go for the higher difficulty.

“…All right. I’ll go with that door too, then. Not that I particularly like picking the same option as this savage.”

Akutsu punctuated her decision with a resigned sigh. Her tone was sharp—spiteful, even—but in any case, that was her pick. Since we’d both chosen the most difficult door, we had to pick who went first, and I managed to win the toss.

“Hya-hah… Well, off you go!”

Kirigaya raised his hand high in the air, and then the world around me changed.

Huh…?

I was greeted with the sight of a vast plain, a barren flatland, forests, and even a mountain range with a castle town in the distance. Himeji the witch was all alone on the slope of a hill that offered a commanding view of all the terrain. It took me a moment to realize that this was an AR image that had expanded to fill the entire chamber. Every possible element from a traditional RPG seemed to have been mined for this scene. That said, the view wasn’t exactly what you would call idyllic. The sky above was dyed crimson, and a rumbling could be heard in the distance. Himeji had to press down on her hat to keep the strong breeze from blowing it off.

And then, before our eyes, a message in a familiar neon-green color appeared.

You have angered the dragon that rules over this world. The dragon is attempting to kill you, and his anger will never be appeased unless you sacrifice your life to him. Foolishly defying your fate, you now seek to destroy the dragon…but you have yet to find the Holy Arrow, the lone weapon capable of piercing his heart. If you still intend to challenge the dragon, take up your weapon now.

7F Completion Requirement: 49,000 EXP

The Dragon That Rules Over This World—Total EXP: 250,000

…A quarter million?! That’s beyond the requirement for Floor 10! Is this some kinda post-game bonus boss, or what?!

I inadvertently tensed up as the enemy’s strength was revealed. It was simply impossible. I had been constantly powering up my avatar during our chase with Akutsu, but Himeji’s EXP was currently at 47,000—slightly below the floor clearance requirement. There was a gaping chasm between that and the dragon’s EXP.

Still, I calmly began to analyze the situation.

“The Holy Arrow can pierce his heart in one strike? I guess that’s probably the S-rank item of this quest.”

The unlock conditions had clearly stated that the Holy Arrow could defeat the dragon, so that must be the S-rank item I had a one-in-ten chance of drawing from the box. If we managed to draw it, the quest ended right then and there.

“Yes, that understanding is correct. The other items are also useful in terms of combat or turning the tide of battle. If we draw the right ones, we should still be able to win.”

“Right… Well, let’s keep trying until we get a good item.”

Urged on by Himeji, who gave me a nod, I decided to give the item box a try.

This box was a pitch-black cube floating in front of me. I held my device over it, and the draw began immediately. My avatar in the augmented reality world was granted one item from the box, the details of which flashed on my device.

“Right…”

My first draw was a B-rank item called Saint’s Cloak which could cancel out a single attack. But defense alone wouldn’t cut it, so I drew another item. This time, I received the C-rank Flash Pipe, which momentarily stunned the opponent and kept them from moving. Not bad, but still not good enough to land a finishing blow.

Then—

“Third draw… There we go.”

I’d drawn the S-rank Lightning Bow. The quest called it the strongest item available, so I was done with the item box.

I swiped at my screen and pressed the Start Quest button. Himeji, who moments ago had only been holding a staff, was now wielding a large bow and arrow shrouded in crackling electricity. The Saint’s Cloak and Flash Pipe were lying nearby, but I didn’t see much need for them.

As I watched, the wind in the AR world gradually grew stronger. Tornado-like gusts erupted everywhere, and a hellish shade of red stained the sky. And from within that chaos, a furious dragon descended like a god—

“Hyah!”

—and was instantly struck by Himeji’s arrow, taking fatal damage and crashing to the ground.

Revolution Team: Hiroto Shinohara – Unlock conditions cleared

Points earned: X-difficulty × 7 items remaining = 70 points

Oh, wow…

The words slipped from my lips, born from a sense of relief and the overwhelming sight before my eyes that drowned it out. We had unlocked Kirigaya’s door and scored a decent number of points. However, Miyabi Akutsu, watching nearby, looked a little miffed.

“What a boring strategy. What were you gonna do if you didn’t get an S-rank item on the third draw? Even a One Star player could’ve done the same thing.”

“…Oh, yeah? You sound pretty confident, Akutsu. You’re up next.”

“How many times do I have to tell you to stop dodging my questions? …Whatever. There’s no point in talking to you anyway. This is a good opportunity for you to learn your place.”

After dismissively taunting me, Akutsu walked quietly to the center of the room. She summoned an avatar modeled after herself, and the world was restored. The dragon’s carcass was gone, but the AR fantasy realm remained, with a large crater where the beast had fallen previously. The Lightning Bow employed by Himeji was also lying nearby.

Oh… It’s the same setting, so the in-quest events get carried over? I’m sure the item effects are gone, though…

I silently pondered this while recalling the rules of this battle. But then Himeji, who was watching Akutsu’s avatar, let out a gasp.

“Oh, no…”

“What’s wrong, Himeji?”

“No, it’s just… Master, the avatar Akutsu is using has over 200,000 EXP. Even if that’s Ability-enhanced, it’s just too much…”

…What?!

The unbelievable revelation made my thoughts grind to a halt. Two hundred thousand total EXP? That far exceeded even the requirement for clearing the top floor. It was off the charts! If this was a temporary, Ability-driven number, the effect might even outclass Minakami’s Single-Point Breakthrough.

So did she apply some kind of restriction to this skill to make it more effective…? Maybe a limit on how many times you can use it, or some other trade-off…

Either way, Miyabi Akutsu’s avatar was more than capable of defeating the dragon barehanded.

“I suppose I can draw items first, but…I can elect to skip that step, right?”

“…Oh? You’re saying you can win without items?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying. That dragon’s pretty dumb, after all. The arrow killed him in one shot, and he didn’t even try to dodge it last time. In terms of speed alone, my avatar easily beats it.”

“But…that doesn’t mean you’re sure to win.”

“Oh, I’d say it does. The rules of Tower of Lore don’t say anything about fatigue or the like affecting your total EXP. In other words, if we’re faster than him, no matter how long the fight goes on, he’ll never be able to hit us. With that kind of advantage, it’ll be easy to find a way to defeat the dragon. Isn’t that how you’re supposed to enjoy this Game?”

Akutsu’s voice was so cold, it sent a chill down my spine.

As she’d confidently declared, Akutsu and her avatar ended up challenging the dragon without any items, and over the course of the next hour, they analyzed its attack patterns, weaknesses, and battle habits, putting all that data together to mercilessly defeat it.

Angel Team: Miyabi Akutsu – Unlock conditions cleared

Points earned: X-difficulty × 10 items remaining = 100 points

…This is bad.

The game continued, and I was chosen as the second questioner, wasting no time setting the doors’ difficulty levels to I, VII, and X. Kirigaya and Akutsu both chose the X door, of course. I tried to give them challenges that couldn’t be solved by brute force, but Kirigaya unlocked the door with five items left in his box, and Akutsu beat it with eight items remaining.

That gave us the following scorecard:

Miyabi Akutsu: 180 points

Hiroto Shinohara: 70 points

Toya Kirigaya: 50 points

“Phew… So, what happens now?”

Staring at the bright green display, Akutsu idly ran her fingers through her silver-gray hair.

“You can earn a maximum of 100 points per round. Even if you both get a perfect score with me as the questioner, the winner’s already been decided. Do we have to keep going?”

“Huh? That makes no sense.”

Kirigaya sounded genuinely exasperated at her.

“I knew you were too run-of-the-mill for this. What are you even doing, gloating about such a trivial achievement? You seriously thought I’d make up this boring-ass Game where you’re capped at 100 points per round? The only rule I set was that the points are determined by multiplying the difficulty by the number of remaining items. If you got any other ideas in your mind, that’s your own fault… So shut up, outsider, because we haven’t gotten to the good part yet.”

“Quit rambling, you delinquent… And what’s ‘good’ about it?”

“What? Well, duh. Clearly, this is gonna be the final showdown between me and Shinohara, okay? The next question round’s the last one. We’ve both finished one answering round, and there’s just twenty points between us. Hya-hah! This can’t get any more exciting. Right, Shinohara?”

“…I guess.”

I quietly nodded in agreement with Kirigaya, who was going on like Akutsu was the last thing on his mind. There was no doubting Akutsu’s strength, but in this battle, at least, she wasn’t the one I had to be wary of. That was Kirigaya, who knew the rules well and wouldn’t hesitate to exploit any loopholes.

“Go ahead, Kirigaya,” I said. “No matter how many points you get, I’ll still beat you.”

“…Hya-hah!!”

Kirigaya laughed even louder, clearly pleased with my answer. Watching on, Miyabi Akutsu looked more than a little irritated.

“Fine… I understand now. It’s useless to say anything to you barbarians. The difficulty level of my doors will be I, II, and X from left to right. It might’ve been safer to keep them all on the low side, but that’s just too boring a way to beat you. No, it’s time to make you realize just how powerful Suisei and the Hexagram are… After all, anyone who defies my justice is evil.”

Having finished her lecture, Akutsu snapped her fingers in front of her cold expression.

“You two don’t seem to understand why my avatar has such outstanding capabilities. Listen carefully—I’m using an Ability called Runaway Control. It lets me trigger ‘runaway’ states for certain things, and here, it’s providing me a temporary stat boost. You can see how effective it is…but in return, I’ll stop being able to do anything once three days elapse from the start of the Game.”

“…So there is a downside, after all. You’re sure it’s okay to reveal that?”

“Of course. All the Hexagram needs is for Kaoru to be here at the end; I don’t care if I can’t fight. I’m ready to hand over my avatar whenever I have to.”

I detected some sort of hidden meaning to that retort.

“But back to the Game. I’ve used Runaway Control to distort the X-difficulty door here. It’s basically on the scale of a natural disaster. The items in the box are what you’d normally see for the X-difficulty, but the problem you have to solve is way beyond what they can handle. If you can survive at all under these conditions, then maybe I’ll admit you’re a decent player.”

“…Sh-Shinohara!”

Minakami’s voice behind me almost sounded like a warning. As her despair showed, Akutsu appeared completely in control of the situation. But, as I’d said many times before, this battle was between me and Kirigaya.

“…Okay. Mind if I go first, Shinohara?”

“That’s up to the luck of the draw, isn’t it? We both chose the same door.”

“Hya-hah! Guess so, yeah. I can think of maybe a few ways to come from behind here…but this’ll be a good chance to see which one of us is better, right? You or me.”

“…What?”

Akutsu frowned slightly, and Kirigaya gave her a mocking grin.

“Greedy Ghoul V2—activate!”

He swung his device down through the air. In the same moment, the unlock conditions for the doors were revealed—not just the X-difficulty one he’d picked, but the other two as well.

Difficulty I: Save one or more residents from the approaching threat

Difficulty II: Save one or more towns from the approaching threat

Difficulty X: Destroy the approaching threat

Approaching Threat—Total EXP: Unmeasurable

“All the doors at the same time…? No! You—!”

“Yes, that’s right! Greedy Ghoul lets me up the number of things I can select at one time to the maximum limit. I told ya at the beginning, didn’t I? Your points are the difficulty of the doors you open times the number of items you have left. So if you force open more doors at once, the score skyrockets!”

“…!”

Kirigaya immediately summoned his avatar, ignoring Akutsu, who—for the first time—showed an emotion close to shock. His avatar was a figure dressed in black with large horns, and Kirigaya didn’t even look at the item box as he declared the battle underway.

“…No items? You’re really looking down on me. How do you plan to win?”

“Huh? It’s obvious, you idiot. If the threat’s already at a runaway state, it’ll destroy itself over time. It’s not even worth getting my hands dirty over. I don’t care how many residents or towns get destroyed, y’know? As long as even one thing’s left on the map, I win.”

Akutsu responded to Kirigaya’s bombastic reasoning with irritated silence.

After a short while, the “approaching threat,” pumped up with energy beyond measure, collapsed upon itself, just as Kirigaya had predicted. In no time at all, he’d simultaneously cleared the conditions for opening all three doors. There were ten items left in the box, and multiplying that by the difficulty of each door gave a total of 1×2×10×10 = 200 points, putting Kirigaya at 250 points, well past Akutsu.

Our mutual opponent crossed her arms, looking a little disappointed. “You really got over 100 points…? No. You were aiming for this from the start…”

“Well, you see how it is. But you’re the one I’m fed up with. If I choose three doors, of course it’s gonna take me longer to beat them all…and then I’d get taken out by the Anti-Camping Limit, right? Was that your plan? Making it so I’d destroy myself?”

“Of course. Don’t compare me to those barbaric fools who get tunnel vision in battle. Besides—”

“Laa, laa, laaa! Sorry, but I don’t have time to argue with you right now. C’mon, Shinohara,” Kirigaya said in a low voice, turning his belligerent gaze on me.

He looked like he was expecting me to do something, apparently hoping I had some kind of secret weapon. He saw me as a formidable enemy, and he was ready to crush me head-on—that’s what his grim smile told me.

However…

“Yeah. I know, Kirigaya.”

If 250 points was about the best he could do, then I’d already won.

With a faint smile, I decided to step forward as the last answerer. I only had 70 points to Akutsu’s 180 and Kirigaya’s 250. It seemed impossible to turn the tables at this point…but Kirigaya had already shown me one way to do exactly that. And there was more than one way to play the Game.

“Basically, it’s just like Kirigaya said earlier,” Himeji listlessly began, her hand on her hat. “The points earned in this battle are the difficulty of the door times the number of items left. It’s a multiplier, so if you have a way to select multiple doors, that’d be the easiest way to earn a lot of points.”

“Yeah. The thing is, though, I can’t do that with the Abilities I have on hand. And besides, copying Kirigaya wouldn’t look very cool. If I’m going to mess with the Game mechanics, I’ll do it another way.”

“That’s right. There’s another scoring factor besides the door difficulty—namely, the items.”

Himeji quietly stepped into the augmented-reality world unfolding before her. Glancing briefly at the item box floating in front of me, she began walking toward a certain destination.

“The item multiplier is calculated based on the number of remaining items in the box. It originally contains ten items, so if you perform one draw, the remaining item count is nine, then eight…and so on, with the points gradually decreasing. But strictly speaking, the number of times you draw has no bearing on the number of points you can earn. The calculation’s based solely on the number of items remaining in the box.”

“Yeah. So that means if there’s more items in the box than there were at the start, the multiplier could go up past ten. Right, Kirigaya?”

“…Huh. So that’s your logic?” Kirigaya muttered at me under his breath, but still gave a reluctant nod. “Well, you’re right. I didn’t expect the number of items to ever go past ten, but the score calculation’s done the same regardless.”

“…Wait. What are you guys doing, talking about hypothetical scenarios this whole time? I get the reasoning, but you can’t just create more items out of—”

“Hey, Akutsu?” I said, cutting her off.

Akutsu closed her mouth, looking irritated at me.

“It’s written in the rules, so it might go without saying by now…but each round takes place in the same in-game world, and it’s all connected. Back when Kirigaya was the questioner, the crater Himeji created was still there during your turn.”

“…So what?”

“What do you mean, ‘So what?’ If we’re all competing in the same arena—if we’re inheriting the results left by the previous player—then previously-used items should still be lying around, right?”

“Yes…and here they are, Master.”

As I spoke, Himeji crouched down and picked up something. It was the Lightning Bow that had fulfilled its purpose by bringing down the enraged dragon earlier.

“I also found the Saint’s Robe and the Flash Pipe. Including those belonging to Kirigaya and Akutsu, there are a total of ten items that were dropped in this battle. If we return all of these to the item box, the number of remaining items will be twenty, and the multiplier will become 20 points.”

“…! I see. So you have some sort of Ability that lets you take discarded items and return them to their pre-drawn state? Like, manipulating time itself? …No. Seven Star or not, there’s no way your device has the capabilities to do that over and over again.”

“Nah. I don’t need any fancy Ability like that.”

I glanced at Minami behind me, silently thanking her as she blankly stared at me. Then I spoke up again.

“Activate Inferior Copy… This Ability will duplicate Minami’s Recycle. Minami normally uses that in combination with Variable Control, but the effect of Recycle alone is to recycle items that have already been used once. The perfect Ability for this situation, right?”

“…!”

I was trying to be as provocative as possible, and now I saw Akutsu quietly close her eyes and exhale deeply, as if giving up. She must’ve realized there was nothing she could do now. As Minami’s half-hearted “Whoaaa…” reached my ears, I started to Recycle all the items through Himeji. Just like my maid had said earlier, there were ten items scattered throughout the AR world, and if she dumped all of them into the item box, I’d obtain the maximum number of points currently available.

Just then, Akutsu, resigned and dejected, suddenly spoke up in a reproachful tone.

“…Hey, are you planning to Recycle all the items? Maybe you’re going at this the same way he did earlier, but we’ve been on this floor almost three hours. If you’re gonna wait for that ‘approaching threat’ to go into runaway mode again, the Anti-Camping Limit’s bound to get us all.”

“Oh, I know. That’s why I’ve already taken measures against that. I’ll be done in less than a minute.”

“A minute…? Are you kidding?”

“Hya-hah… If you mean that, even I’m a little shocked.” Kirigaya turned to me, a fierce smile on his lips. “So what the hell did you do?”

“Oh…it’s no big deal.” I grinned and shook my head slightly. “When I was the questioner and set the conditions for the three doors, you both immediately chose the X-difficulty door, right? That’s what I figured you’d do, so I set things up with that in mind…but neither of you learned the conditions for unlocking the other doors, did you?”

“Of course not. That’s how this battle works.”

“That’s right…and Master took advantage of that. In fact, the object of the I-difficulty door he set up was to defeat an enemy equivalent to the ‘approaching threat’ that appears in Akutsu’s quest. The total EXP was also ‘unmeasurable.’”

“…Huh? Then what’s the logic behind it being Difficulty I?”

“It’s because the question my master posed continues like this: However, in this world, there exists an ‘all-powerful spell’ that can sweep away everything. It is a divine feat that anyone can use simply by uttering the correct words. You don’t need to be the chosen one; once you cast it, any threat will be powerless before you. Then, after that, the description wrote out the specific text that serves as the activation key.”

“What?! So you’re saying that carried over too…?!”

“Exactly. You’d have no way of knowing this without choosing my level one door, but in this world, there exists an all-powerful spell that can defeat even that approaching threat with a single strike. To be precise, I created that spell in my door description. I was free to write anything I wanted there, so when I was the questioner, I was free to create as many cheats as I wanted to like that. All I had to do was figure out how to pass it on so it could be used during my turn as the answerer.”

…And that’s what it was.

Once the secret was revealed, it was almost insultingly simple. When I became the questioner, instead of nerfing the difficulty on some of the doors by weakening the enemies, I simply gave the avatar access to god mode—a power I had defined so anyone could harness it by chanting the activation key, ensuring it’d work regardless of who the questioner was. This strongest of spells, capable of wiping out everything, was now in the hands of Shirayuki Himeji, who crushed the approaching threat.

It had all happened in an instant.

“…And it’s over. With that, I now have 270 points. You satisfied now, Kirigaya?”

I quietly stood there, smiling, in a virtual world where everything was collapsing around me. Kirigaya, on the other hand, remained silent for a while before speaking up.

“Aww… Guess you’re still outta reach.”

His tone was quiet, his expression revealing deep-seated regret and anger…but at the same time, he seemed relieved. Then he brushed back his black hair and smiled a little.

“I’ll admit it, Shinohara. This time, at least, you win.”

His tone indicated that he didn’t think he was beaten at all—but his words, at least, were the truth.

And so, the battle among the Angel, Devil, and Revolution Teams ended in a victory for us.

Even though it was a “special battle,” defeating Akutsu meant that the Countdown restrictions set for myself, Minakami, and Minami no longer existed. What’s more, in accordance with the reward agreed upon before the battle, Kirigaya left the Devil Team and transferred over to our Revolution Team.

After silently watching all of this unfold, the defeated Akutsu heaved a sigh.

“So you defeated me…stopped your Countdowns…and even recruited a Shinra student, the one threat Kaoru has to worry about. Yes…I have to admit it. You’re quite extraordinary.”

“Well, thanks for that. In a normal battle, you know, I wouldn’t have stood a chance.”

“There’s no point comforting myself with hypotheticals. So what will you do now? Knowing how twisted you all are, I imagine you’ll hurl abuse at me before executing me. You have a Reaper among your ranks now.”

“Huh? Oh. No, sadly, that’s not gonna happen.”

Kirigaya shook his head in the face of Akutsu’s cold stare, one hand on the back of his neck.

“I’m, uh… I’m not the Reaper any longer. I changed position in the middle of that battle. Someone somewhere must have caused enough chaos to zoom up the ranks.”

“Someone…? Hmm.”

Akutsu shook her silver-gray hair, a shrewd look on her face. She seemed to be pondering over a few things, and I thought she probably had a pretty good idea of who that “someone” was and how they’d taken the top spot in the Chaos levels.

“Right. No need for me to stay here. You barbarians showed some potential, but…well, it’s not enough. Kaoru’s still fated to win it all.”

Without another moment of hesitation, Akutsu turned on her heel and walked away. She approached a wall, leaned her back against it, and gently closed her eyes. The penalty for being defeated meant she couldn’t leave here for another hour, so it wasn’t like she could go anywhere else. Once that time elapsed, though, she’d undoubtedly head right up to the next floor. With the present Reaper threat gone, nobody was left to stop her.

But who could the new Reaper be?

I gently lifted my right hand to my mouth, feeling slightly impatient. But I didn’t really need to think it over much. Considering Akutsu’s behavior, there was only really one possible answer. Still, common sense told me that it’d be impossible for a player who’d already invoked the Reaper’s power to earn enough Chaos to reach that level again.

“…Um, Shinohara? There’s actually something I’d like you to take a look at…”

Minakami timidly spoke up, having approached from behind without me noticing. She looked a little concerned as she gently turned the screen of her device toward me.

“I, uh, just received this message.”

“A message? …This is…”

Peering at Minakami’s device, my expression changed ever so slightly. I could understand her alarm now. In fact, we needed to address this new development immediately.

But just as I thought that…

“Yo, Shinohara, I need to talk to you.”

Now Kirigaya wanted my attention. That was the last thing I needed right now. I turned my gaze back to him, but he had his device pointed straight at me. It showed a video chat created with the Remote Communication skill, and the name in the sender field was Mitsuru Fuwa from the Devil Team.

Between Mitsuru reaching out to Kirigaya and the message Minakami had just received, there was only one thing to do.

“Let’s move. Right now.”

We needed to get out of Miyabi Akutsu’s sight, so our entire team moved up to the eighth floor.

“…! Sumire’s out of the Game.”

As soon as we got up to the eighth floor, Kirigaya switched his device to speaker mode, which played a blunt message without warning. The voice was on the verge of breaking—mentally exhausted, wanting to run away and give up, but still clinging on somehow. It was nothing like the calm, carefree voice I remembered, but it definitely belonged to Shinra second-year Mitsuru Fuwa.

“It happened a little while ago,” he continued hoarsely, “but it was Saeki. The leader of the Hexagram used the Reaper power to force Sumire out of the Game. It happened right in front of me… She was protecting me from him…!”

“…”

“And that’s not all. He abandoned his own allies. The two guys from the Kingdom Team who were helping him corner us…Ishizaki and Yuikawa? He eliminated them, too. Their prohibited action was just saying certain words, and that was that. It’s incredible… I thought it was similar to our strategy at first, but I was just kidding myself. Countdown can actively fulfill the necessary conditions. It’s way easier to force people out that way than with our Anti-Camping Limit.”

“…Yeah, I’ll bet. You and Saeki are on whole different levels of deviousness.”

As Kirigaya reacted to Mitsuru’s revelation, I tried to get the order of events sorted out in my head. It seemed to go like this: Sumire Fuwa, a girl gifted at reading people’s emotions, had the power to neutralize the threat of Countdown, so Saeki had used the power of the Reaper to dispose of her. As a result, the Reaper job had been transferred to Kirigaya, but Saeki had a plan to quickly regain the Reaper position—by killing off his own allies. Essentially, he’d made Hexagram members drop out by forcing them into doing their prohibited actions, earning a huge amount of Chaos for himself, taking a scorched-earth approach.

“But Mitsuru, how do you know all this?” Kirigaya asked. “Even if Sumire was eliminated right in front of you, the other two weren’t. Were you in the same room when it happened?”

“No, Toya… Kururugi from the Angel Team told me. She used her Distress Signal skill to send out a message to the last player she encountered. I think she saw her allies get picked off one by one, and she was afraid she’d be next… But anyway, she told me everything she knew. And according to her, Saeki’s trying to end the Game right now.”

“…Huh? What do you mean?”

“I mean exactly that. It’s a multilayered strategy. First, he slowed everyone down with the Countdown rules. If even one person was eliminated from that, then all well and good, but if not, he had a second plan. He was using that Define Conditions Unique Star to give himself an express ticket to the top floor. The condition he defined was the number of people. Once three players were eliminated by the effects of Countdown, that’d satisfy the conditions, and he’d instantly gain the ability to use the central elevator in the Tower of Lore all he wants.”

Wh…? What?!

I managed to keep it from showing on my face, but the shock and surprise made me ball up my fists. The tower’s central elevator, at first glance, seemed like it was out of bounds Game-wise, accessible only at the start and end of each day’s gameplay. We were given no instructions on how to activate it, and we hadn’t yet found a door that led to it…but you couldn’t argue that it was definitely an elevator in the tower. That meant you could activate it as long as you satisfied the right conditions. The central elevator also gave you access to everything—from the basement all the way up to the top floor.

“For now, though, I don’t think he can access it. Maybe it’s too powerful to activate that easily or something. Tomorrow, though… At the start of tomorrow, Saeki will have everything set up to activate the elevator, and Tower of Lore will be as good as over.”

“Hya-hah! Yeah, I’ll bet,” Kirigaya said, his smile seeming downright hostile. “Saeki never makes any moves unless he’s out to win.”

…He was probably right. Tomorrow, Saeki would activate the elevator in the center of the tower and reach the top floor before all of us. He’d been using Countdown and Akutsu’s interruptions to stall for time so he could get everything just right for his inevitable victory. It was a perfect plan.

Ignoring me as I silently thought things over, Mitsuru gave Kirigaya an embarrassed smile.

“You know, I really didn’t think I was this incapable. I was supposed to help you, Toya, but I acted on my own—and not only did I fail to defeat Shinohara, I couldn’t even weaken him at all. Then I was dumb enough to pick a fight with the Hexagram, and let Sumire fall on a grenade for me. I’m just the worst. Sumire’s empathy was a real threat to the Hexagram, too… I should’ve protected her at all costs.”

“…At all costs, huh?”

“Yeah… Listen, Toya. To be honest, I don’t really like you. You’re a selfish, egotistical show-off, and all you care about is winning…but you’re a great player. I’ve looked up to you for a real long time. That’s why I wanted to stand by your side and fight alongside you. I wanted you to accept that I was as good as you. But now look where my arrogance got me… I’m not wishing for that anymore, trust me. I mean, if you lose because of my mistake, I’ll—”

“Hya-hah! …Why the hell were you worrying about something so stupid?

Kirigaya wasted no time dismissing Mitsuru. “I’d lose because of you?” he asked, his smile as fierce as ever. “You’re getting way too full of yourself. That’ll never happen, and even if it did, we’re both at fault for it, okay? And stop portraying yourself as some kinda ‘assistant’ to dodge responsibility. You and Sumire have always been my allies, man!”

“Huh? B-but…”

“Shut up. I wouldn’t entrust such an important Ability to someone I didn’t see as a full teammate. Letting someone you can’t trust in on your plan to win is something only fools and wimps would do. And I— No, Albion is neither of those things!”

“…!”

Kirigaya’s rebuttal was greeted only by a profound silence from the other end of the call. If I had to guess, the realization that Toya Kirigaya saw him as a peer must have given Mitsuru a pretty intense rush of confused shock.

“And one more thing… If you wanna show up Saeki, you’re barkin’ up the wrong tree with me.”

Kirigaya turned back toward me.

“Well, Shinohara, you heard us. From now on, Albion will lend you a hand. Normally I wouldn’t dream of being under your command, but even I’ve had it with the goddamn Hexagram. We’re building a special anti-Saeki front, you hear me?”

“…Huh. Okay.”

“Huh? …Wait, what?! Shinohara, you’re there?!”

I nodded quietly at the surprised voice from the device. If things continued as they were, Tower of Lore would undoubtedly end in victory for the Angel Team. If people were willing to work with me to stop them, I had no objection—or, really, if the message Minakami received was to be believed, we would definitely need Mitsuru’s help to keep Saeki from running away with the Game.

“All right. In that case, I’m not gonna hesitate to ask for your help. All the players left in SFIA—our Revolution Team, your Devil Team, and Saionji’s Kingdom Team—all need to band together to stop the Hexagram.”

“Uh… Not just us, but the Kingdom Team too? You want all the players to help…?”

“Yeah. Listen, Mitsuru, from here on out, it’s an all-out battle. It’ll take all of us together to make the Angels fall.”

I gave Mitsuru a defiant grin, and he nervously gulped in response.

The final round of SFIA, Tower of Lore, was entering its final stage. Saeki and the Angel Team had already secured a shortcut to the top floor, and the other teams, kept in check by the Countdown, had been completely outmaneuvered. Under normal circumstances, this would be a hopeless situation, but we still had a chance at a comeback. If we could collect a few key pieces of the puzzle—and pull everything off perfectly—it wouldn’t be impossible for us to defeat Kaoru Saeki.

I surveyed the people around me and smirked.

“Okay… Brace yourselves, everyone. The climax has already begun.”

SFIA Final Battle: Tower of Lore – Progress Report (Just before the end of Day 2)

Angel Team—Miyabi Akutsu, Kaoru Saeki, Keiya Fujishiro, Senri Kururugi. (Current location: Akutsu on 7F, rest of team on 5F)

Devil Team—Mitsuru Fuwa, Seiran Kugasaki (Current location: 5F)

Kingdom Team—Sarasa Saionji, Misaki Yumeno (Current location: 1F)

Revolution Team—Hiroto Shinohara, Mari Minakami, Toya Kirigaya, Shizuku Minami (Current location: 8F)

Chapter 5

Day 2 of Tower of Lore was in its final stages, and with Kirigaya now on our team, we were holding a strategy meeting in an eighth-floor room. The topic of discussion was, of course, how to defeat Kaoru Saeki. Tomorrow, the Angel Team would activate their shortcut and reach the top floor, so if we were going to prevent them from winning, we had to act now.

The meeting consisted of me, Minakami, Minami, and Kirigaya—the members of the Revolution Team—and our avatar, Himeji, with Mitsuru and Kugasaki from the Devil Team joining via video chat through their devices. But as I’d told Mitsuru earlier, they weren’t our only allies…

“Hello? This is Sarasa Saionji from the Kingdom Team. Who is this? Oh, you sound a little out of breath. Nervous because my voice is so charming?”

“No, Saionji. If I sound out of breath, it’s because I’m sighing at the thought of having to deal with you. If possible, I wanted to talk to the dark horse who’s getting all the attention right now.”

“Uh-uh. Forget it. I don’t care if she doesn’t go to my school—I can’t let a promising first-year student fall prey to your poisonous fangs. You’ll have to put up with my voice, and that’s final!”

Sarasa Saionji was scoffing and berating me as usual. Needless to say, we’d been secretly working together from the beginning. It had been a tough battle for both of us—only four people were able to win Tower of Lore, and if we both weren’t among them, we were done for. That’s why I was focusing on defeating our enemies and advancing through the tower, while Saionji was figuring out the conditions we needed to fulfill to get to the top floor. Basically, I was the brawn, and she was the brains.

I gave her a rough outline of the situation.

“…And that’s pretty much how it is. Essentially, if we don’t do something now, Tower of Lore’s gonna be over real soon.”

“Hmm… I see. So he could use that Ability to slow people down, but also activate a shortcut for himself by killing his allies? I can’t believe what a lowlife he is. I’m almost speechless!”

The low rumble in her voice made me picture her trembling wherever she was, her luxurious red hair shaking around her. Saeki’s methods were certainly beyond extreme, but at the very least, they didn’t violate the rules of Tower of Lore. As long as they didn’t, almost any action could be justified in the name of “justice.”

“By the way, Saionji…how are you doing over there? You’re supposed to be the Empress and all. You’re not gonna start crying and saying you haven’t figured anything out yet, are you?”

“Don’t you dare make fun of me! I’m not a one-hit wonder like you, becoming a Seven Star after one lucky break. I’ve been gathering all kinds of information, in fact. You’re the one who should be crying and thanking me!”

“…”

I was being deliberately crass to create the image of a hostile relationship between the current and former Seven Stars, but Saionji counterattacked with a voice so full of joy that I didn’t think she was acting. She had been playing the “rich young genius” role for a while now, and I was sure it had become tiresome.

“…So? What have you found?”

“Most of the conditions for escaping the Tower of Lore. From the fragments scattered throughout this tower, I’ve discovered that there’s an elevator on the top floor as well. If you activate it, you can get out of the tower, which is how you complete the Game.”

“Okay… So it’s not enough just to reach the top floor?”

“Nope. And since it’s inside the tower, this elevator has certain activation conditions, too. Three, in fact. Two are items; there’s a quest to obtain the first one on the floor we’re currently on. The Angel Team already has the second one though, so we’ll have to wrest it from them in combat.”

“I see. One’s part of a quest on the first floor, and the other’s in the possession of the Angel Team… So what’s the third condition then, Saionji? If you’re describing them like this, it can’t just be another item.”

“That’s right. Out of the three conditions, the last one may be the most difficult…or rather, we don’t really know what it is yet, exactly. We’re still investigating.”

Saionji paused for a moment, lowering her voice.

“The Sword of the Crusade and the Dispeller Talisman—when the captive girl reaches the deepest part of the Tower of Lore with these two items in hand, it will reward her courage by breaking its thousand-year seal… That’s how the clue goes anyway. I get that the sword and talisman are the items you need to activate the elevator, but the last bit’s too vague. The captive girl… What does that part mean?”

“The captive girl, huh…?”

I began to think hard, listening to Saionji’s whispering voice. Then Minakami beside me looked up.

“It’s that captive girl, right? I’m sure it came up in the Game’s backstory…”

“That’s right,” Himeji said. “The girl that all the teams—Angel, Devil, Kingdom, and Revolution—are after. She’s been locked in a tower by the Reaper, and whoever rescues her will become the ruler of this world.”

“Ah, right! That’s it, Shirayuki! If that’s how the story goes, we probably have to be with her on the top floor, or there’s no point staging an escape at all. I have no idea what she looks like, though…”

Minakami paused, thinking about something.

“But then, how’s Kaoru going to escape from the Tower of Lore?”

“Hmm… That’s easy. He’ll use his EXP to break through…”

“Yes, I’m sure. The rule in Tower of Lore is that all doors can be forced open with enough EXP. However, according to the estimates circulating on STOC, it seems that the top floor will require nearly 200,000 EXP.”

“Oh… Seems like an anticlimactic way to end the Game, but all right.”

I continued to think about the captive girl. So far, I hadn’t heard anything about anyone coming into contact with someone like that. It’s possible we just hadn’t searched enough, but another theory now came to mind.

“Hey, Minakami, do you remember the fragment we got a while ago? The one about the girl and the Reaper?”

“Huh? Oh, yes, I remember! Fragment 14: The captive girl is essentially the same type of being as the Reaper.”

Minakami recited it without even bringing it up on her device. I hadn’t understood what it meant at the time, but now we had a little more insight.

“In short, I think this is a clue to finding her. We can’t identify anything with just this, but all these fragments have a little bit of information in them, so…”

“Oh! Right! If we combine everyone’s fragments…!”

Minakami flicked her black hair and turned to Kirigaya, who was standing nearby. Kirigaya gave her a puzzled look, but when he saw the gleam in her eyes, he shrugged his shoulders.

“Sorry, I don’t remember. I’m part of the Revolution Team now, so I can’t access the Devil Team’s data. Anyway, if you wanna ask someone, I know a guy who’s a lot more suited for it.”

“R-right! So, Mitsuru, um…”

“I can hear you. There are only two fragments in the Devil Team’s possession that seem to be related to the captive girl. Fragment 2: The captive girl cannot be defeated by the power of the Reaper. Fragment 9: The captive girl may be anywhere in the tower.”

“Anywhere…? Hmm… That’s tricky.”

Minakami groaned, her expression troubled. Mitsuru’s contributions really hadn’t given us much more to go on. The part about the girl being impervious to the Reaper’s skill sounded just like window dressing to me, and the fact that she could be anywhere in the tower meant our search would be even harder than what I’d already been anticipating.

But…maybe that’s not what it means. If she could be anywhere, then she’s not in a specific location…which means she can move around. And since she’s essentially the same as the Reaper…that could mean…

My eyes widened slightly as I thought it through. Yes. It made sense. The captive girl in the Tower of Lore was—

“ “A player.” ”

Saionji’s voice came through the device, almost in sync with my own muttering. I had to stop myself from smiling.

“I hate to agree with Saionji, but…well, I guess that’s how it is. In this Game, the Reaper’s a special role given to a player…and since the captive girl is ‘essentially the same type of being,’ she’s got to be a player, too, or else that’d be a contradiction.”

“Very true. I agree with you, including the part where you don’t like how we agree with each other. The captive girl is one of the players…and actually, we’ve already obtained a fragment that tells us how to identify her.”

“What?! What kind of information do you have?!”

“Heh-heh. Don’t rush me, I’m just about to tell you. Fragment 20: The captive girl is the purest of beings. Based on what we just discussed, this can be interpreted in the same way as the fragment that says the Reaper is the player with the highest Chaos level. If the captive girl is the purest being…that would make her the player with the lowest Chaos level.”

“…So Minakami, then.”

“Huh? …Me?!?!”

Minakami, who’d been leaning forward to hear my conversation with Saionji, let out this crazed kind of shout. We wouldn’t need to wait for the rankings at the end of Day 2 to know it for a fact; thanks to her concerted effort not to give anyone else a hard time, her Chaos level was still right at zero. That’s right—Mari Minakami was our “captive girl,” essential to conquering the top floor of Tower of Lore.

“That means we have two things to do. First, we need to secure the item on the first floor. Second, we need to catch up to Saeki and the Angel Team and fight them before they activate the elevator to the top. If we win, we can steal their EXP, preventing them from activating the elevator…and then, if we take their sword or talisman as the penalty for losing, we’ll be able to meet the escape conditions first.”

“That’s how it’ll have to work, yes. But what are you going to do? Because whether you have a plan or not, the second day is almost over. If the Angels reach the top floor first thing tomorrow morning, we won’t make it in time no matter how fast we go.”

“That’s true…but you seem unusually calm despite that, Saionji.”

“Heh-heh! Well, yeah? It’s not my job to stop Kaoru Saeki, after all. Any Seven Star who defeated me is surely capable of that much, isn’t he?”

I heard Saionji give a playful laugh and a sigh. Apparently, she really did trust in me. I took it almost as a given that Saionji would pull through for me, and she felt the same way about me. She was betting it all on me…and I sure couldn’t let her down.

“If we want to win, we have to catch up with Saeki. But like Saionji said, there’s only a few minutes left for today. Normally, there’s no way we can make it in time…but…”

“But?”

“Mitsuru, be honest with me. You…or you and Sumire, I mean…have a special Ability that’s meant for this Game, right? And depending on how you use it, you can turn this whole thing around.”

“What?! How did you know that, Shinohara…?”

“I didn’t. Minakami told me.”

I looked at her. She timidly moved her mouth close to the microphone.

“R-right. The truth is… While Shinohara and Kirigaya were fighting, I received a message from Sumire. It was sent using Famous Last Words, a Supporter-only skill that automatically sends a message of your choice when you’re eliminated from the Game.”

“…Did it say anything about our Ability?”

“Yes. It said, ‘I’ll tell you our secret, and I trust you won’t misuse it…so please help Mitsuru!’”

Mitsuru was speechless. It was true, though. While I’d been fighting Kirigaya and Akutsu, Sumire had used Famous Last Words to send a message to Minakami. It was a straightforward SOS-type thing, but it also had some info about a hidden Ability of theirs. It was a bit disjointed—she must’ve written it in bits and pieces over time, hiding it from Mitsuru—but it expressed her emotions in vivid detail.

“I had Himeji look into it, but I couldn’t find a single record of you guys using an Ability like that. You were probably hiding it…or probably saving it for later, right? To use at the right moment.”

“…Yeah. You’re right.”

“Well, I think this is the right moment. The last stage of the final round. We’ve come this far, so we can’t hold anything back now. But don’t worry, Mitsuru. You and Sumire have a secret weapon, and I’ll make sure we don’t waste it.”

Mitsuru remained silent for a while, no doubt mulling over my words. Then, finally…

“…All right. If Sumire trusts you that much, I will, too.”

He decided to fight back. With a small sigh, he began to tell us his secret.

“So I—or rather, we—have a Unique Star. A pink one.”

“Pink? I’ve never heard of that before.”

“That doesn’t surprise me. Like Shinohara said, it’s a little special—maybe you could say there’s one star shared between the two of us. The pink star’s held by me, and also by Sumire. I know I’m being vague…”

Mitsuru smiled, looking a bit bashful. It did sound like a special situation.

“So…it’s kind of a ‘one for all’ thing, I guess. We can only use its Ability when one of us—either me or Sumire—is left in a Game. The effect gives you an Extra Turn, or the Ability to act outside the normal Game time. Basically, you get to keep playing as if the Game was still in progress, even after it’s paused for a break. It’s really powerful, but of course there’s a price to pay. The amount of time you use during your Extra Turn gets deducted from the next day’s Game time—meaning if I use an hour of overtime now, I’ll only be able to keep playing until four PM tomorrow instead of five. I’d be defenseless for the remaining hour.”

“…Whoa. That’s an insanely powerful Ability, isn’t it?” Saionji commented.

“Yeah. But I’m always too scared to use it. There’s this restriction where you can’t interfere with other players during your Extra Turn, so you have to wait to use it until victory’s guaranteed. I’m always afraid someone will turn things around.”

Mitsuru spoke in a slightly self-deprecating tone. I could understand what he was saying, but in this situation, there was no need to be shy. If we didn’t move now, Saeki would win, and the Game would be over. Taking a risk and using this “overtime” was our best bet.

“Considering the drawbacks, we’d have four hours at most to use in your Extra Turn… Any more than that would impact tomorrow’s Game too much. In that case, we should split up into two groups, one on the first floor and the other on the eighth or higher. Mitsuru, how many people can Extra Turn be applied to?”

“Four… And I have to be one of them.”

“Four…? Then it’ll be a little difficult for all of us to go to the top.”

“Oh, not necessarily. There’s a Supporter-only skill called Door Stopper. It keeps doors open after you go through them for as long as you want until another teammate uses them, so we can use that to create a path. The two players farther up can explore the eighth and ninth floors while keeping open an express lane with Door Stopper, then the other two can rush down from the eighth floor to the first using Door Stopper on the way… If we do that, by tomorrow morning, we’ll have a clear path from the first floor all the way to the top.”

“Wow…! Th-that’s amazing, Shinohara!”

Minakami’s eyes sparkled with excitement. Saionji, on the other side of the device, was less enthusiastic.

“…Yes. I mostly agree with your plan. By that logic, it doesn’t matter who’s exploring the upper floors…but since Fuwa needs to be there, can we have the two Shinra students handle things up top?”

“Tch! You got a lot of nerve, treating me like your errand boy…but whatever. I don’t care. It’s not like there’s anyone else suited to take care the higher floors anyway.”

“I agree,” Mitsuru chimed in. “I’m still on the fifth floor, but I’ll try to meet up with Toya as soon as possible.”

With Kirigaya and Mitsuru in agreement, we had our crew for the upper-floor assault…but Saionji still sounded rather concerned.

“The problem is how we’ll tackle the lower floors. I forgot to mention it earlier, but there are restrictions on the jobs that can take on the first-floor quests. Only Caller/Supporter combos can attempt them, as it turns out… As a Caller, I can be one half of that pair, but Misaki, an Explorer, can’t.”

“Ah, that’s why you left it for later, huh? In that case, one of us Supporters, either me or Kugasaki, will have to go down to the first floor. But the elevators in the tower only go up… Actually, how did you get down there, Saionji?”

“That was Misaki. She has an Ability called Descend that lets her reverse the direction of the elevators. Even now, I think the Kingdom Team’s the only one that can go down this tower, not just up.”

“…Oh?”

I understood the logic behind that. There was one problem, though.

If Yumeno were here—or rather, if I could join the same team as her, I’d have access to Descend, too. However, you can only transfer teams if at least one player from that team is in the same room as you. The Kingdom Team is Saionji, Yumeno, Ishizaki, and Yuikawa, and the two not on the first floor have already been eliminated… In other words, there’s no way for me to join the Kingdom Team at this point. So it’s impossible? This plan was doomed from the start…?

That’s what I thought. But just then—

“…Huh?”

I suddenly heard an odd sound. Lifting my head instinctively, I realized it was the low-pitched hum of an elevator in motion. The movement restriction I had imposed on Miyabi Akutsu hadn’t been lifted yet, meaning there shouldn’t have been any player ascending from the seventh floor right now.

After I waited with bated breath for a few more seconds, the elevator arrived, bearing an unexpected passenger.

“Phew… That was a scary floor. I didn’t expect all that unnecessary verbal abuse just for passing by. Anyone but me would be in tears by now.”

“You…”

“And… Hey, it’s the guys from the Revolution Team, huh? This must be fate at work. Yes, I’ll gladly join your team! And by that I mean, please let me join!”

It was Kanade Yuikawa, third-year from Ibara School in the Fifteenth Ward, coming up from the seventh floor. This breezy, handsome guy had been poached by the Hexagram in the middle of the semifinal and was now working as Saeki’s pawn in Tower of Lore. He was also one of the “victims” who’d been eliminated by Saeki’s Countdown just a moment ago…or so I thought.

“…Why are you still here?”

“Well, that’s a rude question. I knew something like this might happen, so I invoked this ‘one-time revival’ Ability I brought in. Ha! You can’t expect to defeat the ace of Ibara that easily!”

“Huh… You’re pretty resilient, after all,” I said, half in shock and half in admiration… But that didn’t matter; we had more important things to do right now.

“Hey, Yuikawa. This is, like, a really important question…but which team are you on at the moment?”

“Me? I’m on the almighty Kingdom Team, of course. Why?”

“…Perfect.”

Just then, all the pieces fell into place. So we held a quick strategy meeting on the spot—and as Mitsuru invoked his Ability, the second day of Tower of Lore came to its scheduled end.

♯

Now began the Extra Turn in Day 2 of Tower of Lore.

With the power of Mitsuru Fuwa’s Unique Star allowing us to keep playing into overtime for a little while, I immediately headed for the first floor, where Saionji was. I used my EXP to forcibly open all the doors along the way, except for those that didn’t need any time to unlock, and I also invoked the Door Stopper skill to keep them all open behind me. The regular Game time had already ended, so Libra wasn’t streaming any of this. I didn’t have to worry about anyone watching.

And so, at 6:12 PM…

“…It’s about time, you idiot.”

It was, of course, Sarasa Saionji yelling at me as I reached the ground floor. She was wearing her familiar Ohga uniform, her luxurious red hair making her look like a proper rich young lady. Her right hand was on her hip, as if to express her inner feelings, and her strong, ruby-colored eyes were fixed upon me.

“I didn’t think you’d make me wait this long. Leaving a girl alone for over an hour? Have you no heart?”

“I’m sorry! What do you want from me? I had to come all the way down from the eighth floor. I know the shortest route, but that’s still a long way, you know.”

“Of course I know that… I’m just venting, is all. It’s not like I was lonely, or wanted you to come sooner, or anything like that.”

“…”

“What are you so quiet for, Shinohara?! When you react like that, it makes me feel like I’m saying something embarrassing—”

“Pardon me…”

““!!””

At that moment, Saionji and I both jumped in the air at the reserved voice that interrupted us. It belonged to Shirayuki Himeji, the witch. Since avatars in Tower of Lore weren’t regular players, they weren’t subject to the limit on the number of people in an Extra Turn…which meant she could join me no problem and help me run down the tower as fast as I could.

In any case, Himeji quietly approached us, tipping the brim of her witch’s hat in greeting.

“I may have decided to give you a moment alone so Rina could have some privacy…but did you really have to flirt so much just seconds after you reunited?”

“We weren’t flirting! I was just complaining about him!”

“You say that, but your face looks a bit red…”

Puffing out her cheeks a bit, Himeji approached Saionji, who struggled under her clear blue gaze. But then, Saionji briskly shook her head and raised her voice, trying to change the subject—or perhaps trying to cover up her embarrassment.

“Anyway! This isn’t the time to be playing around. We have to get the item down here before the Extra Turn ends.”

Saionji cleared her throat, her cheeks still red.

“So the thing we’re looking for is straight ahead. We can take any of the three doors in this room to reach it, but the unlock condition is a little tricky.”

“Hmm… Difficulty: EX. Genre: Quest. Restrictions: Can be attempted by a Caller/Supporter pair only… Why did no one notice this room on the first floor yesterday?”

“Naturally, because there were several conditions that had to be met for this room to appear. When you complete a specific route on the first floor, the Game draws a magic circle that traces the route you took. Then, when you use the right skill in the circle, you summon a familiar that guides you here… That sort of thing. Thanks to the Anti-Camping Limit, I had to retreat to the second floor at regular intervals, which reset my progress each time, so it was really hard. It’s not like I have all the clue fragments, either…”

“I see… So you filled in the blanks with your imagination? You never change, Saionji.”

“Huh? Why’re you being so unusually honest, Shinohara? Have you finally come to see how amazing I am?”

“No. I’m talking about that smug face you put on whenever you think you’re sooooo smart.”

“Ugh… It’s okay to brag a little, okay?! This was hard work!”

Saionji puffed out her cheeks at me as she whined. Of course, I really did know how amazing she was, but whenever I tried to praise her, I’d always have this sudden bout of shyness and wind up teasing her instead. It was some kinda complicated psychological thing.

Whether she knew what I was thinking or not, Saionji crossed her arms over her chest. “Besides,” she continued, “this quest was supposed to be cleared by us—me and Misaki. But because of this restriction on our jobs, you know… And we didn’t have enough EXP to force it open, so we had no choice but to invite you. Don’t you dare treat it as anything else.”

“Okay, okay. I brought Himeji down here for this, too, you know. If it were just me, I’d probably drag you down and mess everything up, but with her, I’m sure we can work it out.”

“That’s true. I don’t think my master is that useless, but compared to Rina, it’s no wonder he pales in comparison. I’ll do my best to support him as well.”

“Hmph! As long as you understand that… But you know what, Shinohara?”

Saionji swept away her long, luxurious hair with her right hand and approached me. She poked at my chest with a fingertip, defiantly staring me down.

“Just remember this. No ordinary player could ever keep up with the Empress—not even with Yuki’s support. The fact that I’m trusting you here means I have a certain amount of confidence in you, all right?”

“…Hey, you trying to put the pressure on me or something?”

Her ruby-red eyes, staring straight at me, were dazzling. I opted to avert my gaze, smiling mockingly at her.

Quest complete

Player Sarasa Saionji receives the Dispeller Talisman

About two hours later, Himeji, Saionji, and I threw ourselves on the spotless floor beyond the open door in exhaustion, having just barely managed to complete the quest in time.

The difficulty was set at EX—what that meant on this scale, I had no idea. One thing was certain, though: It had been a grueling ordeal. Things had kept changing constantly, with enemy monsters showing up nonstop. A single mistake meant instant defeat, so my mental strength was being constantly used up, whether I liked it or not.

“…I’m beat.”

“Yes… I’m completely drained as well.”

Next to me, Shirayuki Himeji was looking unusually fatigued. As our avatar, she’d had the most active role, and now she was half sprawled out on the floor just a few inches away from me. It was a very delicate sort of distance between us—like she was almost cuddling up to me, but not quite.

Then Saionji, also sitting on the floor, brushed back her red hair. “I’ll at least say thank you, Shinohara. We kept things pretty efficient thanks to you—and your ideas in the latter half especially were pretty good. You used attack-reflecting enemies as a shield in front of us and the short cooldown Ice Rain and Fireball to create that concealing mist… A very cowardly way to win, as usual, but it was certainly exciting.”

“…You didn’t have to call it cowardly.”

She may have meant it as a compliment, but she always had a way of saying things that rubbed me the wrong way.

Regardless, with that current quest behind us, we had fulfilled the second of the conditions for escaping the Tower of Lore. We had secured the “captive girl,” Mari Minakami, and one of the key items, the Dispeller Talisman. The remaining item was in the possession of the Angel Team…meaning that in the end, it’d still come down to a one-on-one battle with Kaoru Saeki.

“Kirigaya and Mitsuru are tackling the upper floors,” I told Saionji. “So we can assume that the path from here to the top is completely open for us. I think that rounds out the bare minimum amount of prep work we needed to do.”

“Yes…but the problem is what comes next. Even if we catch up to those guys, it won’t matter if we can’t defeat them in battle. Do you think we can win in a head-on match against Akutsu’s avatar?”

“No, probably not. Akutsu’s Runaway Control is an Ability that hurts the user. She’s sacrificed her own safety to the extreme in exchange for incredibly high stats, so even with Minakami’s Single-Point Breakthrough, it’d be real hard to defeat her head-on. Impossible, actually, unless a miracle occurred.”

“I think so, too. Kaoru Saeki’s Unique Star is probably involved as well…”

Himeji gently pressed a gloved fingertip against her cheek. Saionji shook her red hair slightly.

“So…we can’t win after all?”

“If we fight like normal, then no. That’s why there needs to be some cheating.”

“What are you talking about, Shinohara? If we do that, we’ll be playing right into the hands of the Hexagram.”

“No, I’m not doing the cheating this time—we’re going to make them cheat. We’ll drag them into a situation where they have no choice but to, and then we’ll deliver our punishment from outside the Game.”

…Right. In fact, that was probably our only chance of winning. We knew Akutsu’s avatar was way too strong. No matter what strategy we came up with, a straightforward approach just wasn’t going to work…so instead, we needed to rely on some dirty tricks.

“Eimei is also looking into it now, but the Hexagram has done some pretty nasty things in the past, too. They’ve kept their social standing because they haven’t crossed that final line—in other words, they’re staying just within the rules. There’s no way Saeki’s the one maintaining that balance. It’s almost certainly Akutsu.”

“…Yes, I agree. I don’t think Kaoru Saeki is capable of such delicate maneuvering.”

Saionji nodded at my assumption. True, Kaoru Saeki was the leader of the Hexagram, but it was highly likely that Miyabi Akutsu was actually the one in charge. She was the lifeline that kept this organization’s “justice” functioning. In other words, if we could eliminate Akutsu, that alone would give us a chance to win.

“But to do that, we have to take away the Reaper power. We gotta find a way to make Saeki use that Ability and have someone on our side be the new Reaper. Then, if we can expel Akutsu from the Tower, we’ll corner Saeki, and he’ll have to resort to cheating…hopefully.”

“Hmm… But this is Kaoru Saeki we’re talking about. He may have other ways of boosting his Chaos level.”

“Yeah. That’s why we need to come up with a way to force him to use that Reaper power. For example…”

Saionji listened to my proposal until the end, then gave a subtle smile.

“……I see. Not bad. But it’s a bit violent for your tastes, isn’t it? It makes sense, but the plan relies heavily on me, Yuki, Minakami, and a lot of other people, too, doesn’t it? It could be asking too much.”

“Ugh… Well, what can I do? Our usual cheating won’t work, so we have to cover for that somehow. Besides…I figure it’ll turn out okay. If we can tap into your abilities, not just Himeji’s…and if I can openly cooperate with you, someone I usually have to fight against, then an opponent like this should be no problem.”

“!!”

As soon as the words left my mouth, Saionji buried her face between her knees, her long red hair scattering around her. The next moment, I heard a groaning sound.

“My master has that side to him, too, surprisingly enough,” Himeji told her with admiration.

“…What?”

“No, no, I can’t say it to you myself…”

Himeji brushed her silver hair aside and smiled softly, appearing to be in a good mood for some reason.

“…Ughhh!”

Immediately after that, Saionji, who had been writhing in agony there for a while, stood up. Her face was red, and her dazzling thighs hung right in front of my eyes, making it hard to breathe as she pointed her index finger at me.

“Hmph! Well, I’m glad you understand that, Shinohara! With us working together, we’re truly unbeatable! And with a team like this, there’s nothing we can’t do on the Academy!”

There was a firm conviction behind those words as she cast her glittering ruby gaze upon Himeji and me.

Late at night on Day 2, after the Extra Turn was over, I returned to the basement and sat across from Himeji.

“I owe you one, Shinohara. Thanks to you, we’ve gathered quite a few ‘informants.’”

That was Himeji speaking in her usual cool tone, but those weren’t her own words. She was reading out the messages she was receiving from Enomoto in real time. I could only communicate with the outside world through Himeji, so it was either this or nothing, sadly.

“‘As you reported, the Hexagram’s surveillance systems were still partially active. However, thanks to your tip-off, they weren’t too difficult to deal with.’”

“Okay. Good work, Enomoto.”

“‘That’s Mr. Enomoto to you, Shinohara… Well, I’ll let it slide this time.’”

“…Great.”

I was well familiar with that line by now, but hearing it whispered in Himeji’s voice gave me goose bumps.

In any case, Himeji—or actually, Shinji Enomoto—continued.

“‘Your theory that Miyabi Akutsu is the keystone of the organization also seems quite likely to me. We infiltrated the server managing the Hexagram’s data, and all the important files were listed as owned by Miyabi Akutsu. If we can just take her down, the whole Hexagram will likely collapse.’”

“Yeah, I know. We’re still working on a plan for that.”

“‘Well, I’m counting on you, Shinohara. If you can catch Saeki cheating red-handed, we can make our move right after that. We’ve got the cooperation of not only Minakami’s sister but also Keiya Koga, the former ace of Eimei who got drummed out by the Hexagram, in our efforts to influence the administration. You might even call it an all-out assault.’”

“Good. You truly deserve your title as student council president.”

“‘Just doing my job. Anyway, go take ’em down, Shinohara—and be thorough with it.’”

With that, Enomoto ended the message. “That seems to be all,” Himeji said, but I kept on thinking for a while afterward hearing Minakami’s breathing in the background. How could I defeat Kaoru Saeki and bring down Miyabi Akutsu?

That second night in the Tower of Lore ticked by one second at a time.

SFIA Final Battle: Tower of Lore – Progress Report (end of Day 2)

Angel Team: Miyabi Akutsu, Kaoru Saeki, Keiya Fujishiro, Senri Kururugi (Current location unknown)

Devil Team: Mitsuru Fuwa, Seiran Kugasaki (5-9F)

Kingdom Team: Sarasa Saionji, Kanade Yuikawa, Misaki Yumeno (1-8F)

Revolution Team: Hiroto Shinohara, Mari Minakami, Toya Kirigaya, Shizuku Minami (1-8F)

Day 3, on the top floor of the Tower of Lore.

The elevator in the center of the tower was activated not even an hour after the day began, and the Angel Team wasted no time using it to climb all the way to the top.

“O-ho… It looks like we’re on the top floor.”

Senri Kururugi, a second-year student at the Sixteenth Ward’s Tsuyuri Girls’ Institute, looked down at her device. The so-called Hell’s Priestess spoke cautiously, her distinctive wooden sword tucked into her waist, but Kaoru Saeki, the leader of the Hexagram, just smiled back.

“…Ha-ha. Did you still doubt me? I suppose I’m not as trustworthy as I thought I was.”

“Of course not, you fool. Whether we’re on different teams or not, how can I fully trust someone who didn’t bat an eye at sacrificing two of his teammates?”

“Oh? Then why didn’t you just switch to the Devil Team during the hunt?”

“Hmph… No, I couldn’t do that. For me, and for Tsuyuri, the outcome of this event is of utmost importance. To schools like Ohga or Suisei fighting it out at the top, it might be a laughing matter, but we at the bottom have our own pride to uphold. We’ll even use a fiend like you if it brings us closer to victory.”

“I see. That’s a brilliant way of thinking about it. You’re the kind of talent I’m sure Suisei would want.”

“…You know there’re things you can joke about and things you can’t, right?”

Kururugi shook her head, disgust on her face. Fujishiro, who was watching nearby, didn’t particularly react at all.

Perhaps in response to that, Saeki betrayed a slight smile. “Anyway, as you can see, we were the first to reach the top floor. It looks like we have three conditions to satisfy before we can activate the elevator on this floor…but we’re not working on those, nor do we plan to.”

“You’re going to use EXP to force it open, huh…? Well, that’s probably the only option.” Kururugi frowned. “But will that be enough? Inflation is pretty common in Games like this, and Tower of Lore’s no exception. The elevator on the top floor has to be the most expensive one in the tower…but we haven’t explored much, and we’ve taken lots of shortcuts. I really don’t think we have enough EXP.”

“Ha-ha! That’s a very astute point, Kururugi. One, of course, that we’ve taken measures to address.”

Saeki calmly shook his head, betraying no sign of panic. He slowly approached Kururugi, gently placing his right hand on her shoulder.

And at that moment:

Tsuyuri Girls’ Institute (Sixteenth Ward) second-year, Five Star, Angel Team—Senri Kururugi. Status: Eliminated

Reason for elimination: Fulfilled the conditions for forced elimination due to Countdown / Prohibited action: Being tapped on the shoulder by the opposite sex / Count: 1

“…What?”

“I believe that will suffice to answer your question. To tell the truth, there’s more than that to Countdown’s effect. The more players this Ability eliminates, you see, and the higher the Chaos level for each eliminated player, the more EXP I stand to gain. Thus, Senri Kururugi, the EXP we received from you will help toward our victory.”

“You… You bastard…”

Kururugi was in a daze…but her elimination now seemed indisputable. She knew that she’d be kicked out at some point, but she’d let her guard down at a pivotal moment.

Then, in the next moment, a low vibration made itself known across the floor. There was no mistaking the sound of the elevator. Kururugi quickly turned around and saw a familiar figure standing there—the final member of the Angel Team, wearing a hexagonal badge shining on her chest.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Kaoru.”

It was Miyabi Akutsu, the Six Star player from the Second Ward’s Suisei Academy. Her cold demeanor was tinged with a faint hint of seductiveness as she walked steadily toward Saeki, her steps steady and measured as she gently swept her silver-gray hair aside.

“Some people were working overtime last night… It seems they’re up to all sorts of tricks, just as we expected. I thought I’d sealed off all possible paths leading here, but there’s a chance they might catch up. Looks like they’re not ready to admit defeat quite yet.”

“Ah, I see. They’re quite tenacious, aren’t they?”

“Indeed. Even though it has long since been decided that you’d be the winner of SFIA.”

Akutsu snickered. The overjoyed expression on her face was a side of her that she only ever showed to Kaoru Saeki.

“Now, Kaoru… Enough of this silly sideshow. All that’s left is for you to take your place at the very top. Show them what justice is, and soon, the entire world will belong to you and me…”

“Ha-ha… That sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? Very appealing.”

Satisfied with Akutsu’s whispered dream, Saeki nodded and turned away without even glancing at Kururugi. His gaze was fixed on the elevator leading to the outside. Step by step, he moved closer toward it, and to victory. Akutsu’s interference must have worked, because there was no rumbling sound from the elevator they’d taken up to this floor.

But then—

“…Oh?”

A man stood in front of the serenely smiling Saeki, blocking him from the victory he was about to claim. It was Keiya Fujishiro, the Six Star Final Weapon of Ohga. With his hands in his pockets, he blocked Saeki and Akutsu’s path, looking supremely annoyed.

“Fujishiro…? What do you think you’re doing?”

“I’m not doing anything… I’m just standing here. Isn’t it obvious?”

“I see. Then let me rephrase that. Why are you getting in my way? If you come with me, Ohga will be the winner of SFIA. You’ll maintain your top spot in the school rankings, and it’ll do wonders for your own rep, too. What possible reason could you have for obstructing us?”

“I don’t know. I’m just not the type to care about rankings. If I’m gonna act, it’ll be for more personal reasons.”

He glanced at Kururugi.

“I was asked to do this by the person who got me that cheesecake. He said all I had to do was keep you busy for five minutes.”

“Cheesecake…?”

“What?” Kururugi cried out. “F-Fujishiro, you mean…?”

“Let me make one thing clear: I’m not the kind of person who feels obligated to do something just because someone asked me to. I want to win the Game, and it’d be stupid to throw away my chance for personal reasons. But this time, things are different. Whether I win or the Empress does, it’ll be Ohga’s victory anyway…so I’m gonna bet on Shinohara instead of you.”

Saeki bit his lip for a moment before quickly regaining his composure. “Ah… I see. Very well. It seems you’re not quite as intelligent as I thought. If you refuse to step aside, I will be forced to eliminate you. Let me remind you of the power of the Reaper…”

“Three minutes and twelve seconds, huh? That was fast.”

The sound of the elevator motor humming echoed from down below, drowning out Saeki and Fujishiro. Immediately after, just as they had planned, Hiroto Shinohara and his team appeared in front of Saeki and the other Angel Team members. Well, maybe “just as they had planned” wasn’t quite right—there were actually several times more people here than Hiroto had originally expected. Shizuku Minami looked as sleepy as she always did, Toya Kirigaya was his usual casual self, and Kanade Yuikawa was breezily annoying everyone like normal. Mitsuru Fuwa had terrible bags under his eyes, looking like he hadn’t slept for a while, and he was supported by Seiran Kugasaki, who was nudging him gently on the shoulder. Misaki Yumeno, on the other hand, was bursting with energy, and Sarasa Saionji had her usual relaxed expression on. Then there was the ever-resolute Mari Minakami, and finally Hiroto Shinohara, who stood there with a defiant smile on his face.

There were nine people in total: all the non-Angel Team players still in the Game, led by Hiroto Shinohara standing in front. He quietly raised his device, keeping his gaze fixed on Kaoru Saeki. The device responded by summoning a bewitching witch avatar. Together with the girl named Shirayuki Himeji, who was fidgeting with her pointy hat as she bowed, he took a step forward. Then, in a tone that seemed suitable for the climax to this Game, Shinohara said:

“I’ve caught up with you, Kaoru Saeki. Now…are you ready to regret and repent for everything you’ve done?”

It was Day 3, and we were on the top floor of the tower. Having made it all the way there, we found ourselves immediately face-to-face with Kaoru Saeki.

The time was now ten fifteen AM. Originally, I’d planned to rush to the top floor as soon as the Game resumed, but Akutsu had beaten me to the punch. Still, though, I’d managed to make it in time, so I think I could say we’d made excellent use of Extra Turn last night. Of course, since we’d spent so much time moving around the tower the previous evening, today’s Game would be pretty short—just the four hours allotted for this battle—but at this point, time didn’t really matter. After all, whoever won this battle would win the entire SFIA event.

“Hmm…”

I took another look around the top floor. Like Floor 7, it had a unique structure. All the walls and doors had been removed, leaving a single room that spanned the entire floor. Aside from the central elevator—which was presumably how the Angel Team had made it up here—there were only two other elevators. One connected to Floor 9 where we’d just come from, and the other, which Saeki had been heading toward, was the only way outside the tower. Now that I had just declared a battle, though, the Angel Team couldn’t escape just yet.

“I know you were trying to end the Game right now, but sadly, before you go, you’re going to have to fight us. And if I recall, Akutsu’s your only Caller, right?”

Having said that, I turned my head, feeling something strange about the scene in front of me. What was it? I knew why Fujishiro was standing with his back to the elevator—I’d asked him through Saionji if he could do that—but I didn’t understand why Kururugi was standing a few paces away with her head bowed.

“Well, well, well. How nice to see you all here.”

As I stood there silently surveying the scene, Saeki turned toward me with a kind smile. He looked at us with slightly narrowed eyes.

“If you’re standing with Shinohara, does that mean you trust that sneaky little rule breaker over us, the defenders of justice? Surely you don’t think that the aces of each school would tolerate a cheater like him… This is a very serious matter. Do you have any justification for this, Saionji?”

“Oh, me? I don’t know. I hate cheating, and I don’t necessarily trust Shinohara, either. But more than that, I just don’t like your methods.”

“…Is that so? Even though we seek justice?”

“Yes. Because if you’re the ones defining justice, then there’s no value to it at all.”

Saionji rejected Saeki’s credo, her face resolute as she brushed away her luxuriant red hair.

Stepping up next to her, I quietly raised my device. “I knew it—Kururugi’s eliminated. Did you do that, Saeki?”

“Yes, I did. But there’s no reason for you to give me that reproachful look, you know. This Game is a battle among school wards, isn’t it? Just because we’re on the same team doesn’t mean we were ever friends. Thanks to her sacrifice, Miyabi’s avatar has become even stronger.”

“It sure has… Summon Avatar.”

With Akutsu’s cold command, an intense white flash covered her device, and a giant magic circle filled the spacious room on the top floor. Inside it appeared an angelic avatar enveloped in a divine light.

Top Floor Completion Requirements: 100,000 EXP

Angel Team—Avatar: Miyabi Akutsu. Updated total EXP: 972,000

…! This is getting ridiculous…

I clenched my teeth in silence, staring at the EXP display. The number was far higher than what I’d seen on the seventh floor. The avatar’s skills were likely off the charts as well.

“…Indeed. So, as you see, we have no particular reason to refuse a battle.”

Standing beside the angel avatar, Saeki narrowed his eyes at us.

“There is no way Miyabi will lose in a fair fight. It’s a bit disappointing that this win couldn’t come more smoothly for us, but defeating Shinohara head-on would better emphasize the Hexagram’s justice. However…aren’t you forgetting something important?”

“Important…? Like what?”

“I’m talking about the rules of this Game. In Tower of Lore, the player with the highest Chaos level becomes the Reaper—and the Reaper can eliminate any player they choose,” Saeki said, gently smiling at me.

Right… There was no way we could have forgotten, of course. Kaoru Saeki was the Reaper. With just a flick of his device, he had the power to eliminate any player in front of him from the Game.

“Yeah, I know. You want to eliminate either me or Minakami, right? I already have a countermeasure for that—the Iron Wall effect of Different Strokes. As long as Minami is on the Revolution Team, we can nullify the effect of that skill once. Even the Reaper’s scythe is just a skill, after all.”

“Oh, I’m aware. The Explorers in the Angel Team are extremely talented, so I’ve had access to an overview of everyone’s skills. That’s why I’ve had to shelve all the trap skills I acquired… Anyway, Shinohara, I’m not after you. No, my focus is on you at the moment, Saionji.”

“…Me again? You really are the most persistent little pest, aren’t you?”

“Well, I like to think that I choose my opponents carefully. Besides…Saionji, you’re not really using any emergency-evasion Abilities, are you? Your build is specialized for exploration; it’d be impossible to include evasion skills as well. Ha-ha! You’re quite a good bluffer.”

“Huh? If you think so, then try killing me.”

“Yes, I think I’ll take you up on that.”

Responding to Saionji’s foreboding words with a calm smile, Saeki raised his device. The next moment, a dark, sickle-like effect appeared over it—the blade of death. If Saionji was defeated here, I was just as doomed… Even so, I didn’t dare move an inch.

“Farewell, Empress. I thought we could work together…but, ah, what a pity.”

I didn’t move…because I knew exactly who would jump out.

“Don’t make me laugh!!!”

The moment Saeki swung down his Reaper’s scythe, someone stepped in front of Saionji. With a loud voice that seemed to beat down upon us, he spread his jet-black cloak in front of himself, shielding Saionji from Saeki’s deadly blade. A moment later, a system message indicating that he’d been eliminated was displayed above his head…but even so, Seiran Kugasaki didn’t wipe the smile off his face.

“Heh-heh… How dare you try to defeat my goddess with such a dull weapon! What an incomparable idiot you are! You’re far too inexperienced a fighter to dare step on this stage! Come back when you’re actually ready to fight, you trash!”

“…Quite a unique approach, Kugasaki. Is that really something to say after being eliminated?”

“I don’t care about my own victory or defeat. The only thing that matters is that my goddess wins!”

“Ah, yes… I see. The world really is full of unusual people.”

Saeki shrugged his shoulders, as if in surrender. As he did, Saionji chuckled and winked at Kugasaki. “Thanks for that,” she said, and Kugasaki responded by clutching his chest with both hands like he was having a heart attack.

“Ahhh,” he responded, his voice trembling as he staggered against the wall. “My goddess, my goddess thanked me…”

But anyway…

“With that, you’ve been stripped of your position as Reaper. The next one will be picked in thirty minutes…and it’ll definitely be someone other than you.”

“Indeed. That will torpedo my Chaos level. In other words, Shinohara, the threat of the Reaper is gone. You’re one step closer to your goal.”

“Yeah… But is that really true?”

“Come on, Shinohara. If you doubt me like that, it’ll make me look like a liar.”

Saeki glared at me, then looked around at the rest of the crowd. With Kugasaki falling prey to the Reaper, there were eight of us left on our side: me, Minakami, Minami, and Kirigaya from the Revolution Team; Saionji, Yumeno, and Yuikawa from the Kingdom Team; and Mitsuru, the sole survivor from the Devil Team. Our four Callers were Minakami, Minami, Kirigaya, and Saionji.

The Angel Team, meanwhile, had a total of three members: Saeki, Akutsu, and Fujishiro—a dangerous trio. Akutsu was the only Caller, but the avatar she controlled could only be described as unbelievable. We might outnumber them, but we couldn’t possibly take it easy for a single second.

Still, there was no backing down now.

A number of voices all cried out at the same time, overlapping one another:

““““Let the battle begin!””””

Tower of Lore, Top Floor: Angel Team vs. Kingdom/Revolution/Devil Teams – Battle Start

Top Floor Completion Requirement: 100,000 EXP

Kingdom Team—Sarasa Saionji. Avatar: Sarasa Saionji. Total EXP: 35,000

Revolution Team—Mari Minakami. Avatar: Shirayuki Himeji. Total EXP: 67,300

Revolution Team—Toya Kirigaya. Avatar: Toya Kirigaya. Total EXP: 84,800

Revolution Team—Shizuku Minami. Avatar: Konohana Tohno. Total EXP: 28,900

Angel Team—Miyabi Akutsu. Avatar: Miyabi Akutsu. Updated total EXP: 972,000

Situation: Five-second lag applied to the actions of all non-Angel Team avatars

Condition (Miyabi Akutsu): Cannot be interacted with, unless with certain skills

Condition (all others): Cannot touch opponent’s avatar

So began the final battle of Tower of Lore—and of SFIA, too. Seeing the total EXP values revealed all at once, we exchanged looks with one another.

“Ugh… How’d they accumulate so much EXP? I thought they were saving it all up to activate the final elevator after skipping a bunch of floors.”

“Well…”

Shirayuki Himeji, in her witch’s hat, was the first to speak, the confusion clear in her voice. She stared intently at the Angel watching her with those clear blue eyes. It made her stiffen her tone a bit.

“Perhaps that was how much they stood to gain from defeating Kururugi…or maybe they didn’t have any EXP left to put into the elevator. Either way, if they take the items we’ve secured, they’ll be able to activate it the intended way.”

“…I see.”

That was certainly a possibility. But even if I understood the logic, there was nothing I could do about it. Resolving not to dwell on it, I turned toward Minakami next to me.

“Minakami, just to be sure, how much total EXP would we get if we used Single-Point Breakthrough?”

“Um… Yes, well, the total EXP would be about ten times more, so with Single-Point Breakthrough, it’d be around 650,000… I’m sorry, Shinohara, but that’s not nearly enough…”

“…No, don’t say that. You have nothing to apologize for.”

The super-enhanced ability Single-Point Breakthrough was specifically designed to counter the Hexagram. I once thought that alone would be enough to do the trick. If we couldn’t beat an enemy with that, well, I figured they were just freaks of nature and that we could ignore them—but sadly for us, Miyabi Akutsu was one of those freaks.

“It looks like I’ll be going first.”

While we were talking, Akutsu, with her huge EXP lead, had naturally won the right to go first—or, strictly speaking, to go first in the first round, since it wasn’t a one-on-one battle. She selected her combat skills with practiced ease. Since three teams—Angel, Kingdom, and Revolution—had all sent out avatars, three skills had to be selected each turn.

Pulling her silver-gray hair back, Akutsu fixed her cold gaze upon me. “What’s wrong? You can’t start the battle unless you choose your skills…or could it be that you don’t even know how to choose them? I didn’t expect you to be that incompetent.”

“…Of course I’m not. I was just thinking about the most efficient way to beat you.”

“Uh-huh,” Akutsu said dismissively. “I wonder how long you’ll keep bluffing.”

Then she glanced at Minakami. It made her shrink back for a moment, but she quickly shook it off.

“Yes… I hope you’re looking forward to this, Miyabi. I—no, all of us—will help you open your eyes!”

She slid her finger across the screen of her device to invoke Single-Point Breakthrough. This was the “secret weapon” that had turned the tide of battle several times before, and now it was being absorbed into Himeji’s body, instantly rewriting her total EXP.

Revolution Team—Avatar: Shirayuki Himeji. Updated total EXP: 67,300→654,000

Situation change: Stun time for Shirayuki Himeji reduced from five to three seconds

“…Hmm?”

Seeing Himeji’s total EXP jump, Akutsu’s expression changed slightly.

“So that’s a limited Ability that only works against the Hexagram…?”

“Ha-ha. We were allies just last week, but now it seems you’ve wholeheartedly rejected us. Though, perhaps it’s the fate of the just to be shunned by evildoers…”

“No, that’s not true! The Hexagram isn’t defending justice at all!”

“Oh, no? …You truly are a stubborn one, Mari.”

Saeki shrugged his shoulders. His expression showed nothing but composure, but that was to be expected. True, Single-Point Breakthrough was tremendously effective, but all we’d proven just now was that it still couldn’t reach the level of Akutsu’s avatar. With Eimei’s ace in the hole falling short, we now had almost no chance to defeat the Angel Team…

At least, that’s what they think.

But I just smiled, as if to laugh off such foolhardy predictions, and took out my device as I stepped up next to Minakami. The first step to defeating the Angels was to create a situation where we were at least in the same ballpark numbers-wise.

“What are you two so relaxed about? Did you think this is our only plan?”

“…Isn’t it? As I said earlier, I have a rough understanding of your Abilities. The only ones that can rewrite avatars’ total EXP are Mari’s Single-Point Breakthrough and Minami’s Variable Control…and the latter is too insignificant to have any effect at this point. There’s no way for the Revolution Team’s avatars to catch up to ours.”

“Yeah, I’m sure. I didn’t bring along any simple enhancement Abilities either. However…”

I smiled and swiped on the screen of my device. Then, just like when Minakami invoked Single-Point Breakthrough earlier, a major change appeared on the display.

Revolution Team—Avatar: Shirayuki Himeji. Updated total EXP: 654,000→981,000

Situation change: Avatars Shirayuki Himeji and Miyabi Akutsu are now considered equal

Condition change (Miyabi Akutsu): Cannot be interacted with while using certain skills

Condition change (Shirayuki Himeji): Movement speed increased when opposing avatar is using a skill

“…How about this?”

I looked up with a smirk. Now, we were “equal.”

“I’m not irresponsible enough that I’m gonna have Minakami fight this battle alone. From the beginning, my goal here has been to handle any situation that comes up.”

“…Don’t tell me. Different Strokes again? And you applied that skill to Eimei members…?”

“That’s right,” I replied to the skeptical Saeki.

Different Strokes had various effects depending on the members of our team. The slot for Eimei School—which I could activate at any time—was assigned a basic Ability called Strengthen. I hadn’t used that one before now to avoid arousing suspicion.

“So, here are the details. I can consume 10,000 of our team’s current EXP to temporarily boost the EXP of our avatar by one and half times for one minute. Of course, this doesn’t do much in terms of permanent enhancement…but in a final battle like this, temporary boosts are better than base boosts anyway. Basic RPG strategy, right?”

“…I see. It’s certainly not a bad plan.”

Saeki nodded his agreement…but he kept on smiling, showing no weakness.

“However, that also means a time limit is in place. The Revolution Team currently has about 50,000 EXP, which means the effect of Different Strokes will only last for five minutes at most. And what, may I ask, can you do in just five minutes against Miyabi’s avatar?”

“Nothing, probably. But you’re forgetting one thing, Saeki: This battle isn’t just between you and me—it’s all-out war involving all the remaining players in SFIA.”

Saeki furrowed his brow slightly at my pointed remark…and in that instant, a familiar neon-green system message projected itself between us.

Team Transfer – Shizuku Minami: Revolution Team→Devil Team

Team Transfer – Misaki Yumeno: Kingdom Team→Devil Team

Team Transfer – Mitsuru Fuwa: Devil Team→Kingdom Team

“…Oh?”

Saeki tilted his head slightly, looking confused. I understood how he felt, but from my perspective, everything was going to plan. This was our second strategy for bringing down the Angel Team. I looked over my shoulder with a defiant smile to see Minami and Yumeno boarding the elevator going down to the ninth floor.

“I’m counting on you two.”

“Leave it to us, Final Boss! When you first asked me to do this, I spent a bit of time wondering why it had to be a protagonist like me… But your witch maid said that fetch quests are an important part of a protagonist’s job, too, and that snapped me right out of it! If this fetch quest will help me become a proper protagonist, then I’ll give it my all!”

“And I’ll be your escort…or your date. This is my big chance, having you all to myself… By the time this Game is over, you’ll surely be head over heels for me.”

“Huh?! Uh… Umm… Ummm! Hey, is it too late to transfer again?”

“Yes. See you guys later.”

Minami blankly waved at us and descended to the ninth floor with Yumeno. After waiting until the elevator was out of sight, I turned back to Saeki.

“You probably don’t know this because you were so focused on shortcuts, but dungeons like this usually have places where you can farm resources. In the Tower of Lore, that’s the ninth floor. A smart player can clear it out in less than a minute and earn nearly 5,000 EXP per run. If two people do it together, we can get 10,000 EXP a minute—and that means we’re never gonna run out of resources.”

My fearless smile never wavered as I made the declaration. This was entirely thanks to Mitsuru and Kirigaya, admittedly. Of course, since Minami and Yumeno had switched to the Devil Team, this EXP farming seemed pointless at first glance…but in fact, they had acquired the EXP Transfer skill from the Devil Team before climbing to the top floor. In short, the EXP they earned would be automatically added to the Revolution Team’s total.

We’re finally on equal footing… Well, technically, only Himeji’s a match in a direct confrontation, but we have the advantage in numbers. If we keep pushing forward…

“Haah… Well, great.”

But at that moment, Saeki elegantly shook his head, as if reading my thoughts.

“Whether you’re a cheater or not, you’ve certainly demonstrated great tenacity, clinging to that Seven Star rank as you have. However, I’m afraid it’s all in vain. An organization of justice will never bow to evil, you see. Miyabi?”

“Yes. At once, Kaoru.”

At Saeki’s words, Akutsu, standing right next to him, took out her own device. She let her long, silver-gray hair sway slightly as she turned her cold gaze toward us.

“As I explained on the seventh floor, my avatar is under the influence of Runaway Control. I won’t be able to fight much longer, but in exchange, I’ve achieved extraordinary enhancements in every way. And the effects of Runaway Control aren’t limited to avatars, either. They apply to skills as well.”

After pausing for a moment, Akutsu silently raised her device. Her gaze fell unflinchingly upon her winged avatar, bathed in divine light and possessing an unthinkable amount of EXP.

“Attack skill…Seraphim’s Roar!”

…!!

The moment Akutsu sent the order, her angel avatar released some sort of shock wave that rushed toward Himeji. It was pure force, nothing special about it. Minakami, realizing she couldn’t dodge it, sprang right into action.

“Shirayuki, Unbreakable Shield…!”

But the next moment—

“Aaah…!”

The defensive skill activated just in time, but despite having her staff at the ready, Himeji was easily blown away. Of course, due to her significantly enhanced total EXP, she had enough in the tank to kick off the wall in midair and return to her original position, but the edges of her black robe and hat were torn in several places.

“Well? This is the difference in power between the Angel Team and the rest of you. Do you understand now?”

“I’m sorry, Shirayuki! Are you okay?!”

“I am fine, Minakami. It may look a little painful, but my pain receptors aren’t linked to this system. However…”

Himeji glanced at me with her clear blue eyes, looking concerned… I understood why. If Akutsu could mass-produce skills like this with Runaway Control, there was no way we’d win even if our total EXP matched hers. We needed a more powerful move to turn the tide.

And so…

“…Come on out, Saionji.”

“All right. I hate to obey your orders, but just this once, I’ll play along.”

Saionji nodded, like it was only natural that I’d be asking for her. Then, with her red hair swaying around her face, she used the Transfer Team command. Her new home was, of course, the Revolution Team. With the change of teams, the avatar standing in front of her—whose appearance was set to the default Sarasa Saionji—changed dramatically. She transformed from a dignified female warrior to a cheerful, cute witch girl who still looked a little fancy. She appeared quite different from her fellow Revolution Team avatar Himeji, but that was probably a reflection of Saionji’s image as a “witch” in her own right.

“This is just… I feel so weirdly awkward about it. I really should’ve chosen a different appearance…” I could hear Saionji muttering next to me. Fortunately for her, it was too quiet for Libra’s cameras to pick up.

At almost the same time, another Team Transfer was taking place on the top floor.

“Hya-hah…! Don’t you dare slow me down, Mitsuru.”

“…Yeah, I’ll try not to. But…wow. I’m finally going to fight alongside you, Toya… I gotta fight harder than I ever have before…”

“Huh? Damn, you really are a huge drag, aren’t you?”

“What? But I—”

“Welcome to the team, Kirigaya! Let’s show Saeki what we’ve got!”

“…You can be unbelievably stubborn at times, Yuikawa. You know that?”

Team Transfer – Sarasa Saionji: Kingdom Team→Revolution Team

Team Transfer – Toya Kirigaya: Revolution Team→Kingdom Team

That’s right; Toya Kirigaya himself had transferred over to the Kingdom Team, essentially getting traded for Saionji. As he awkwardly reacted to Mitsuru and Yuikawa’s warm welcome, Kirigaya’s avatar, dressed in the garb of a medieval hero, appeared in front of him—though it wasn’t a dignified knight, but a rogue outlaw.

“Okay, that wraps up our team reshuffle. Now Minakami and Saionji—in other words, Eimei and Ohga students—are on the same team as me. In addition to the Ability Strengthen, Different Strokes has now activated Seal, which disables one of my opponent’s Abilities. I’ll apply that to Runaway Control. We can’t undo effects that have already been activated, but you won’t be able to invoke new Runaway effects from here on out.”

“…I see. They say that grouping together is a sign of weakness, but in the case of Different Strokes, it seems to bring nothing but benefits. After all, it allows you to gauge all your opponents’ moves beforehand, then select the best way to counter them from your arsenal.”

Saeki narrowed his eyes and thought for a moment, resting his right hand on his chin. This was the third part of our strategy. By bringing all surviving players with me to the top floor, I was now in position to take full advantage of Different Strokes. It was like having an infinite number of cards in my hand: No matter how powerful my opponent was, I always had something to deal with them.

And now that the battle had gotten to this point, we could finally see at least half a chance at actually winning this. Our main fighting force, Minakami and Himeji, was now on par with Akutsu’s avatar in terms of total EXP, and with Saionji joining the Revolution Team, Akutsu no longer had access to that broken skill of hers. Saionji and Kirigaya’s avatars couldn’t compete in terms of EXP, but they were nimbly invoking support skills to interfere with our enemy’s movements. And as long as Minami and Yumeno kept farming EXP for us on the ninth floor, we didn’t have to worry about running out.

I guess you could say we’ve cornered him… So what’ll Saeki do now?

“…Hmm. Let’s get things started, then.”

At the start of the second combat turn, Saeki suddenly averted his gaze. With that elegant smile still on his face, he turned to Miyabi Akutsu beside him.

“Say, Miyabi… It seems like the time has come for us to use our trump card as well.”

“…Are you serious? I never expected you to actually commit to it, Kaoru.”

“Commit? When you say ‘commit,’ are you asking whether I’m committed to standing at the pinnacle of the world? If that’s the case, then of course I am. We, the Hexagram, are the ones who will conquer SFIA.”

Saeki narrowed his eyes, and Akutsu nodded, her long hair swaying behind her. Then, as he swiftly looked away—

“Supporter-exclusive skill, Sacrificial Ritual… Activate. Player Miyabi Akutsu is eliminated.”

“…What?”

I was the first to react to this unbelievable statement…and the next moment, Saeki’s device emitted an intense white light. A neon-green message promptly appeared before our eyes: Angel Team: Miyabi Akutsu—Status: Eliminated. With all the strength and intelligence she brought to the Hexagram, she was now making a shockingly muted exit from SFIA.

“…What are you doing?!”

“What do you mean? I’m going to win the Game, of course. First, Miyabi has brought into the Game an Ability called Reincarnation. When she’s eliminated, she can entrust the avatar she’s been using to someone else, with all of its enhancements intact. Thus, Miyabi’s avatar is transferred over to me. The Runaway Control was applied to Miyabi, not me, so I’m not subject to any of its disadvantages. Besides… Don’t you see, Shinohara? It’s been twenty-five minutes since we started fighting. That’s right—the Reaper is about to return.”

“What…?! So that’s why you did it…?”

“Yes, exactly. After quite a bit of experimentation, I found that killing my own allies was the most effective way to build up my Chaos level. As a defender of justice, it is a tad distressing…but rest assured, Miyabi will be avenged once I reveal your cheating to the world.”

Saeki smiled, silencing any objections… I see. So this was the plan he had in mind. He’d used Akutsu’s Runaway Control to supercharge her avatar, then invoke Reincarnation to avoid the associated penalties. Then, by eliminating her when she was no longer needed, he’d earn a huge amount of Chaos and regain the Reaper job. It was a supremely logical plan—and unlike before, Minami wasn’t here on the top floor, so I no longer had access to Iron Wall.

“Once again, it’s time to bring the traitor to justice.”

With that, Saeki narrowed his eyes and quietly approached us. The dark effect on the device in his right hand was unmistakably the Reaper’s scythe, and its tip was aimed not at me, but at Minakami, our Caller.

“Hey, Mari,” he said calmly. “I’ll give you one…just one more chance.”

“…A chance?”

“Yes. You betrayed us, the messengers of justice, and even went so far as to join the ranks of the cheater Shinohara. But I think we can forgive such a betrayal…one time. Everyone makes mistakes, after all. Judging evil is our business, but our beliefs are not so childish that we think one mistake makes you incorrigible.”

“…”

“So I want you to swear it here and now: Admit that Shinohara is a cheater and swear never to doubt us again. Do that, and we’ll gladly welcome you back.”

Saeki made the offer with a smile, holding the dark, projected Reaper’s sickle to Minakami’s throat. It wasn’t an offer at all—but a threat. If she said yes, Minakami would return to the Hexagram, but if she refused, she’d be immediately eliminated from the Game. It was a completely unfair choice. Saeki’s mocking grin—a smile that said he was undeniably the strongest—beat down on Minakami.

But…

“Kaoru, I… I already made my decision a long time ago.”

With everyone watching, Minakami raised her face, her flowing black hair elegantly swaying around her face.

“Because I will never lose to fake justice!”

“…Is that so?”

At this clear rejection, shouted out by Minakami with her eyes shut tight, Saeki lost his smile for the first time this Game. His expression looked colder now—like he didn’t want to be here—and without another word, he swung his scythe horizontally with almost no windup. However—

“…Huh?”

As soon as the menacing light of the effect touched Minakami’s body, it was purified, turning into sparkling particles of light. It left Saeki in a state of open-mouthed astonishment. To him, this was an absolutely impossible sight—but of course we’d all known how this would turn out. It was exactly what we’d been aiming for. We had been waiting for the power of the Reaper, which Saeki had regained by casting away Akutsu, to be used against Minakami.

Why? The answer was simple.

“Fragment 2: The captive girl cannot be defeated by the power of the Reaper. Did you know that, Saeki? The captive girl is the player with the lowest Chaos level, and that’s Minakami.”

“What…?!”

I smiled and took a big step toward the now clearly paler-looking Saeki. Minakami was his complete opposite—a true paragon of justice who had fought through this entire Game without hurting anyone else. Only she had the power to end the Reaper’s tyranny.

“In the end…”

It was the third turn of the battle, and we were on defense. While watching the projected avatars of Himeji, Saionji, and Kirigaya ready their weapons out the corner of my eye, I continued talking, a light smile on my face.

“Your ‘justice,’ Saeki, is nothing but arrogance. You say you want a just future, but you only accept a world that fits your own ideals. It’s fine to pursue your ideals, of course…but that’s something you should pursue on your own. Don’t drag others into it.”

“…Ha-ha. The moment you seize the advantage, you start lecturing me, Shinohara? The only reason I wish to stand at the pinnacle of SFIA is to expose your injustice. I’m not saying I don’t have my own ideals, but what’s wrong with that? Is it so wrong, seeking a world where everyone acts fairly and there’s not a single villain to be found?”

“That’s exactly why I’m saying it’s twisted—you alone deciding what’s good and what’s evil. Wasn’t the Hexagram supposed to maintain balance? Now, it’s just your own little dictatorship.”

“I see. Your delusions are quite impressive. However…”

Saeki, who’d had his head slumped, slowly lifted his gaze. The expression on his face wasn’t one of anger or irritation; it was the same old, calm smile, filled with composure.

“Aren’t you misunderstanding something? Tower of Lore isn’t over yet. If you don’t believe in my ideals, that’s fine, but as I’ve told you many times, the side that wins this Game will have the final say. If you want to look down on our—no, on my Hexagram, at least defeat this avatar first!”

With that, Saeki raised his device high, and…

“—!!”

A voiceless, heart-wrenching roar erupted as the angelic avatar—identical to Akutsu—was enveloped in blinding light. Then it transformed, as if evolving, into a larger, more complex form. Holding my breath, I checked my device’s display—her total EXP had long since reached an “Unmeasurable” status, and as expected, the situation had changed to match.

Situation change: Any avatar that comes into contact with the avatar Miyabi Akutsu will be instantly annihilated.

“…Ha-ha.”

Saeki spread his arms elegantly, looking down upon the scene before him.

“Ha-ha… Ah-ha-ha-ha… This is amazing. I never thought it’d go this well. What do you think, Shinohara? This is the righteous hammer that will shatter all of your hopes. Mari’s ability, Single-Point Breakthrough… I used that as a reference to create an Ability with the restriction that it only works when fighting a traitorous enemy. Though, compared to Mari’s ability, it may be, oh, just a little less restrained…”

“A little? Where? That’s blatant cheating!”

“Cheating? What a harsh word to use. When dealing with violators like you, a righteous organization deserves to have this much power. Miyabi might have stopped me if she were still around, but I feel we usually err a bit too much on the side of caution anyway. Still, I am rather enjoying the expression on your face. Should I take that to mean you have no more tricks?”

With a confident smirk, Saeki pointed his device toward the angel beside him. From EXP to skills and Abilities, there was simply no way to break out of this. With a single flap of its wings, that angel could easily destroy our united force.

But that was exactly why I had to step up.

Yes… Good. Now the last condition is in place…!

Feeling a great relief from the bottom of my heart, I suppressed my emotions and stared at the scene before me. The sequence of events up to this current situation was actually almost exactly as I had pictured it. Saeki had lost the Reaper job, lost Akutsu, then lost his composure, resorting to a certain taboo. At this point, it was safe to say that the conditions for defeating his angel had already been met. However, unfortunately, I wasn’t the one who could deliver the fatal blow.

“Ha-ha…! Good-bye, Shinohara,” Saeki said with a smile that couldn’t hide the evil within him. “Your reign ends here.”

He raised his arm toward the angel beside him—

“Ahh, hello, testing… Hey, you mind waiting a moment?”

—but just before he could swing it down, a faint, staticky noise rang out. It wasn’t coming from anyone’s device; instead, it sort of echoed throughout the entire room. The voice sounded computer-generated and genderless as it continued, as if reading from a document.

“Are you Kaoru Saeki? No, you can’t do that. There are so many error logs involving you right now that it’s almost laughable. It’s a complete mess, you know. I’m sorry to interrupt all the excitement during the final battle, but as part of Game administration, I can’t overlook this. And to think we only noticed because we were tipped off! You’re pretty skilled at this sort of thing, aren’t you? Do you usually have a more talented player at the reins? …Well, anyway, you need to be penalized. And in the name of the Academy administration, I will execute the punishment.”

After saying that, the voice abruptly cut off—and immediately afterward, a significant change occurred around us. The angel avatar, once enveloped in divine light, suddenly lost its luster, followed by its ability to fly, landing weakly on the ground with a thud. It was a literal fall from grace, with the total EXP displayed above its head now a mere 45—a precipitous drop if I ever saw one.

“What the…?! That’s crazy! What’s going on…?!”

The thoroughly confused Saeki couldn’t make sense of what was happening. I, on the other hand, took a moment to assess the situation before stepping forward and bursting out into a smug grin.

“Didn’t you notice? You went a little too far just now. You moved outside the rules of Tower of Lore. If you resort to cheating like that, it’s gonna stop the Game cold, y’know?”

“…Don’t tell me you were counting on this total coincidence.”

“Coincidence? Of course not. I planted the seeds before the Game even started.”

…That’s right.

While we had been working our way through the tower, Enomoto and the other Eimei students—covertly assisted by the Company—had gathered informants who knew the truth about the Hexagram. With the cooperation of Minakami’s sister and Eimei’s former ace, they’d taken this information to the Academy’s administration. My task in this whole project was to collaborate with all non-Angel Team players to confront Saeki. If Saeki resorted to unfair means at that point, then all conditions would be met.

“So you see, Saeki? Your downfall was your arrogance. I’m guessing Akutsu was the one making your reckless moves work in your favor all along, right? She made certain adjustments so you always stayed on the right side of the rules…and you mistook that for your own talent, which is why you didn’t hesitate to eliminate her. You abandoned your allies for the short-term gain the Reaper job got you, and because of that, you lost the one person keeping you in line. It was only a matter of time before you made an error like this.”

Saeki’s expression contorted violently. He gave up trying to cover it with a smile. For once, he was clearly angry.

“Shut your mouth! Why…? Why does everyone keep getting in my way?! I know how to lead this island in the right direction! How to eliminate evil! How to ensure the righteous are rewarded! Don’t you dare deny me that ideal future, you worthless cheater!!”

“Ha… Well, you’re finally being honest, Saeki. I think that suits you better.”

“Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up! Hiroto Shinohara! What do you think my justice means? What do you think my ideals and reforms are…?!”

“What do I think your justice is…? Well, if you’re asking, I’ll tell you.”

I decided to pause for a moment. Minakami, who had been watching the conversation in silence for a while, had run up to me. We now stood side by side in front of Saeki. Then, smirking as if to get back at him for everything he had done, we said in unison:

“It’s a lot of crap you’re forcing on us!”

“—a lot of crud you’re forcing on us!”

“Ngh… Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!”

With that animalistic roar, Saeki collapsed to his knees, as if all the energy had just left him.

Things happened quickly after that. Following the administration’s judgment, his EXP was reset to a figure that was practically zero, preventing him from so much as moving his angel avatar. Himeji let out a quick “Yah!” with her staff, and the angel quickly evaporated without a trace. A short while later, the Reaper job shifted from Saeki to Kirigaya, who couldn’t wait to break out that dark-scythe effect and send Kaoru Saeki packing for good.

And so, on August 10 at 11:57 AM, Kaoru Saeki, leader of the Hexagram, suffered the first defeat in his life.

Tower of Lore, Top Floor: Angel Team vs. Kingdom/Revolution/Devil Teams – Battle End

Winners: Devil/Kingdom/Revolution Teams

It had been a short while since our battle against the Angel Team—or, I suppose, the Hexagram—came to an end.

Only a few players remained on the top floor. The Revolution Team consisted of me, Minakami, and Saionji, while the Kingdom Team was Kirigaya, Mitsuru, and Yuikawa. Having successfully defeated their mutual enemy, Minakami and Mitsuru in particular were far more relaxed than before.

However, at this point, it was still hard to say that everything had been settled. Until now, after all, we had been able to work together strictly because we’d all been working against the Angel Team.

“Well, this is tricky…”

Saionji, standing a little away from me, crossed her arms, a pondering look on her face.

“Even if we think about it in terms of school wards, we have Ohga, Eimei, Shinra, Ibara…and Shizuku and Misaki will be back up here soon too, so St. Rosalia and Amanezaka are also in the mix. We need Minakami, the captive girl, to activate the elevator, but the other two items are divided between the Revolution and Kingdom Teams.”

“…I suppose we won’t be able to talk this out, huh?”

That’s right. One of the items needed to escape the tower was the Sword of the Crusade, which Saeki had had, but it wound up going to the Kingdom Team instead of us. That battle just now was a free-for-all involving all the teams in the Game, so the victory rewards had been distributed randomly among us all. That meant that even if I wanted to try making a run for the finish line, we wouldn’t be able to get the elevator to work. Logically speaking, we had no choice but to have another fight—but after our Extra Turn last night, me, Saionji, Kirigaya, and Mitsuru would have all our actions shut off in an hour.

Just as I was deep in thought, pondering over what to do, my device suddenly vibrated.

“…? Hello? Minami? What’s wrong?”

“…! That’s strange… I didn’t say anything yet. How did you know…? Can you identify me just by my breathing or something? Do you get off on hearing girls breathe?”

“No, I… Look, never mind that. What do you want, Minami? You know we don’t have much time, right?”

“I know… That’s why I’m doing this. I’m so playful that way…”

I gave her the silent treatment until she continued.

“Actually, stalker, I have some good news for you… We’ve been earning EXP in the ninth-floor quests, but this place seems like some sort of trap… Once you earn a certain amount of EXP, you’re locked in and can’t escape for a while. So now we’re being punished by these slimy tentacles…”

“Ahh! M-Minami, where are you touching me?! I think you’re more hands-on with me than the tentacles now… Eek! I know I’m the protagonist, but I don’t wanna be the protagonist of this kind of game!”

“Heh-heh… I can hear you nervously swallowing, stalker. If you want to join us, come on over and—”

“Nope.”

“Really? What a waste… But if you’re not coming, I have a message for you. We’re trapped, and we can’t move…so you can leave us behind, okay? Let everyone else decide the winners for us…”

“…! You’re okay with that?”

“No, I’m not. You’ll have to make up for it next time…”

With that, Minami ended the call without further comment, so I summarized the message for the rest of my team.

“Hmm…” Minakami gave me a thoughtful look. “So, if Minami and Yumeno won’t be coming, we’ll have to decide which four out of us six will be the winners?”

“Yeah, basically. As the captive girl, you’re required to be on that elevator, so that’s one out of the four right there. That leaves three spots to fight over.”

“Right. There are four schools involved, so we could just keep it fair and pick one from each, but…”

The only wards represented on the top floor now were Eimei, Ohga, Shinra, and Ibara. It seemed possible to come to a peaceful solution, but if we did that, Eimei’s spot would go to Minakami, meaning I wouldn’t be able to join the winning team. As someone who couldn’t afford to lose, even in this situation, I wasn’t going to accept that.

But just then…

“All right. I get it. In that case, I’ll forfeit my spot.”

Kanade Yuikawa gave us a refreshing smile, pretentiously brushing back his bangs.

“I may be the man at the top of Ibara, but I’m more than just a good player—I’m even better at picking up on signals. I don’t want a victory that was won thanks to the suffering of young women.”

“Oooh, yeah, aren’t you so cool… So what do you really think?”

“I think exactly that, of course. But there’s just one thing—one thing that I, being so intelligent, also understand. If I join the winning side, I know how much I’ll be raked over the coals for it on STOC! If that happens, my reputation will be ruined, just like it was back in ASTRAL! So I’m perfectly fine with my current finishing position, thank you!”

Now we were seeing Yuikawa’s more cynical side. I’d always figured that stirring up online drama was his specialty, but if that’s what he wanted, then so be it.

Mitsuru Fuwa couldn’t help but stifle a chuckle. “Well, if you’re out, then perfect. Actually, I can’t join the winning team either.”

“…What do you mean?”

“That’s the price I pay for Extra Turn. I told Shinohara that it lasted four hours…but actually, I was active a little longer than that. That’s how I found that farming exploit on the ninth floor. So I got frozen out earlier than everyone else. I can’t perform any Game actions at all, so there’s no way for me to transfer to your team.”

“Hya-hah! What the hell, Mitsuru? Laaaaame.”

“Well… To be honest, you’re the one who told me to search for that, Toya.”

“I wouldn’t have given you that job if you didn’t keep bitchin’ at me to give you something to do, man! Sheesh. Well, as long as one of us wins, so does Shinra. Not how I imagined it’d work out—like, at all—but I’ll take it.”

Kirigaya waved his hand to emphasize his point. He seemed satisfied enough with this, at least. Then, using his Supporter-driven skill, he transferred the Sword of the Crusade to the Revolution Team and immediately used Transfer Team. His destination was, of course, the same place—and with that, the winning team roster was set in stone.

“Well…let’s go!”

Then, with Minakami leading the way, Kirigaya, Saionji, and I stepped on the elevator platform one by one. The captive girl, the Sword of the Crusade, and the Dispeller Talisman were all where they needed to be, and the elevator began to make a familiar whirring sound.

Immediately after, a gentle floating sensation enveloped our entire bodies…and victory in SFIA was ours.

SFIA Summer Event – Final Results

Total participants: 250,239 from twenty wards. Finalists: 16 from ten wards.

Tower of Lore winner: Revolution Team

Players: Sarasa Saionji, Hiroto Shinohara, Mari Minakami, Toya Kirigaya

LNN – Librarian News Network – Special Bulletin

Breaking News! SFIA Final Round—Tower of Lore Final Results!

After a string of surprising developments, the large-scale SFIA event ended in an incredibly unpredictable fashion. It’s time to go over the results! The final victors were Sarasa Saionji (second-year, Ohga School, Six Star), Hiroto Shinohara (second-year, Eimei School, Seven Star), Mari Minakami (first-year, Eimei School, Three Star), and Toya Kirigaya (third-year, Shinra High School, Six Star) from the Revolution team!

Shinohara Makes a Dazzling Comeback!

Since the Hexagram accused Hiroto Shinohara of cheating, the entire Academy has been debating his supposed crimes. Now that the event’s over, however, Shinohara is still on top, demonstrating imaginative strategy and natural charisma along the way. Thanks to his tenacity, his archrival Kaoru Saeki (third-year, Suisei School, Six Star) was heavily penalized for cheating, earning Shinohara a dominant victory!

The Standard Bearers for Justice Turn Out to Be Evil?!

The Hexagram has earned adulation across the Academy as the “watchdogs of justice,” maintaining a clean image at all times. Their public squabble with the Seven Star attracted attention from start to finish, but after the administration pointed out Kaoru Saeki’s cheating within SFIA, the entire island couldn’t hide its disappointment. The floodgates opened soon after, with an organized group of victims coming clean about all the Hexagram’s nefarious activities. This controversy isn’t simmering down anytime soon, folks! And it remains to be seen what Hexagram figures like Saeki and Miyabi Akutsu (third-year, Suisei School, Six Star) will do next.

New Rising Stars Lighting Up the Summer Event

Mari Minakami (first-year, Eimei School, Three Star) played a key role in Shinohara’s battle against the Hexagram, while Misaki Yumeno (first-year, Amanezaka School, Four Star) played spoiler for many competitors across the tournament. Shizuku Minami (second-year, St. Rosalia, Five Star) used her cool demeanor and erudite play to gain popularity, while Kanade Yuikawa (third-year, Ibara School, Five Star)—whose new nickname “the Zombie of Ibara” is starting to gain traction—has found lots of passionate new fans and even some haters!