Chapter 107, Twentieth Round (26)
Bourbon is dead.
This was something no one expected.
Even the people who voted him out were stunned.
At that moment, everyone else truly realized the seriousness of the situation.
But it was too late.
Lei got out of bed and glanced at the time.
Today is October 31st, at 7:00 AM.
Four days have passed since Bourbon's death, and this is the fifth day.
But Ray still felt a sense of unreality, a vague yet intangible absurdity that lingered with him.
How could a man like Bourbon die so easily?
He even suspected that he had unknowingly entered a virtual game world, such as the game called "Danganronpa," the second part of which was about the events that happened in the virtual world.
However, no matter how you look at it, this cannot possibly be a virtual game world.
Although holographic games have been mentioned before, even the organization hasn't developed them to the point where he hasn't noticed anything strange about them after all this time, right?
Ray trusts his observation skills and intuition.
This is a very real world; it can't be virtual.
He stood in front of the mirror tidying his long hair, then put on his knitted hat, turned around and stood by the window, where he could clearly feel the cold wind and the smell of snow with each breath.
The wind and snow were real, as were the pain and taste. The flesh and blood when they interrogated the man and the corpse of Calvados in front of them were all very real. Even the organization's advanced technology could not achieve this level of realism.
The virtual world can never be so real.
So, there are only two possibilities...
Ray lit a cigarette, bit it as he went out.
It was just dawn, and breakfast wasn't served until eight o'clock. There weren't many people outside.
Ray first encountered Gil.
Kiel looked unwell, as if he hadn't slept well the night before.
That's understandable, since she could very well be the one voted out tonight, or it could be Scotland.
“I have a question I’d like to ask you,” Ray said, standing next to her.
Kiel, who was reading a book, turned and glanced at him: "What? I might not be able to answer you."
“Why did you vote for Vermouth instead of Bourbon that night? Bourbon voted for you without any mercy,” Ray asked.
Kiel raised an eyebrow: "Didn't you vote for Vermouth too?"
“Because no matter what, Bourbon and I are still teammates, so of course I won’t vote for him,” Ray said.
Kiel twitched the corner of his mouth: "Partner... well, it doesn't matter now, because I once did Bourbon a favor, and he owes me one. I thought I might be able to use him to vote for Vermouth, that's all."
Ray nodded, left the study, and after a few steps saw Scotland sitting by the window drinking.
He looked like he hadn't slept all night, as if he had been sitting there drinking all night.
But there was still more than half a bottle of wine left on the table, and he didn't seem completely drunk, so he was probably just spacing out.
What is Scotland thinking right now?
Tonight is Halloween, and after midnight it will be Halloween. Will he want to see Bourbon's ghost?
After all, that spot was where Bourbon used to play guitar for him. On the table was a bottle of Four Roses Bourbon whiskey and two glasses filled with ice balls.
Scotland was slumped over the table, staring blankly ahead. In front of him, sitting on the empty seat opposite him, was a glass of wine with most of the ice ball melted.
Rye has a good relationship with Scotland, and he plans to go over and have a chat with them.
Just then, the sun rose fully, and its bright, warm rays shone directly on Scotland.
Scotland snapped out of his daze, propped himself up, and turned to look out the window.
"The sun is rising..." he murmured softly.
Lai stopped in his tracks, sensing that such a simple sentence contained some astonishing emotions and thoughts.
Scotland remained silent for a long time, as if recalling or in a daze. After a while, he picked up his glass, raised it, and gently clinked it against the empty glass in front of the person sitting opposite him.
Looking at the expression on his face, Lei felt that it might not be appropriate for him to go over now, let alone sit in the seat opposite him.
However, if no changes are made, Scotland is the most likely team to be voted out tonight.
Although Scotland probably doesn't care about death now, and might even be more willing to reunite with Bourbon after getting revenge.
Yes, revenge.
Of the people who voted for Bourbon before, only Gin is still alive now.
It started with Chianti. When Chianti jokingly said, "Bourbon has become a bourbon pancake," Rye was worried that Scotland would erupt in protest.
But at the time, no one suspected that Scotland was behind it. So when Chianti finally lost her temper and smashed the Rum robot, was drugged, and taken away for execution, no one suspected that Scotland was behind it.
The second was Cohen. Cohen also couldn't hold back and exploded, but after shooting Curaçao, he was knocked unconscious by Curaçao even faster than a tranquilizer dart, and then executed.
The third was Ireland. By this time, they had realized something was wrong and began to suspect Scotland, but they had absolutely no evidence.
It wasn't until last night, when Vodka was executed, that the remaining people were finally certain that Scotland was behind it.
When he realized this, the hairs on Lei's body stood on end.
Scotland is far more terrifying than they imagined. He might have just been playing around before, only not going crazy because Bourbon was there.
Moreover, it was an extreme form of calm madness.
Scotland couldn't possibly be an undercover agent.
He had nothing but bourbon on his mind.
An undercover agent's emotions wouldn't be so fragile; they wouldn't be so emotional or reckless for a member of the organization, completely disregarding the consequences.
Hidden beneath the gentle smiles of Scotland lies a madness more terrifying than Bourbon's.
Lai held the cigarette and slowly exhaled swirling white smoke.
Although I knew the Scottish Blacks were coming out, I didn't expect them to be this terrifying after their outburst.
I have a feeling that when he was at odds with Bourbon before, Scotland didn't do anything dirty to him because of their decent working relationship.
Thinking about it this way makes my feelings even more complicated.
Lei eventually went over, pulled up a stool, sat down next to him, and offered him a cigarette.
"Having a cigarette at a time like this can make you feel better."
Scotland turned to look at him.
"Bourbon doesn't like the smell of smoke."
As he said this, he reached out and took the cigarette.
Ray lit a match to light his cigarette.
Scotland took a deep drag of his cigarette, then tilted his head back and slowly exhaled.
In just a few days, his demeanor underwent a complete transformation.
The man's black hair was a bit messy, and he had more stubble. The smell of alcohol on him was not absurd but very obvious.
The man's sharply defined face was faintly visible through the smoke, his upturned blue eyes sharp and cold. He took a puff of his cigarette and then stopped, his gaze fixed on something in the void.
Suddenly, Ray remembered that, quite the opposite, Bourbon had a pair of droopy eyes that looked very innocent.
Both of them were smiling a lot, so the differences weren't that obvious.
But since Bourbon's death, Scotland has never smiled again.
Lai suddenly didn't know what to say, so he simply remained silent and sat with him quietly, smoking.
After the time it takes to smoke a cigarette, Lei quietly left again.
Scotland tossed his nearly burnt-out cigarette butt into the glass opposite him, where the ice puck had completely melted.
"Who told you not to drink?" he said, feigning anger.
After a while, his straight back slumped again, and he leaned on the table, reaching out to touch the red rose on the bottle of Four Roses Bourbon whiskey.
Zero, today is Halloween, tomorrow is Halloween.
I wonder what's going on with Matsuda and the others, and whether something has happened to them.
What if, after I get out of here, I find myself the only one left alive?
This feeling is really hard to bear, it's really painful. I often doubt whether I can keep going. Zero, did you endure this and keep working hard alone until the end?
Four days have passed since that day, and today is the fifth day. I think I've reached my limit.
I think I've done a good job; no one suspects I'm an undercover agent now. If this is just a test in the virtual world, I'll probably be able to infiltrate the organization even deeper once I get out.
If it really is a virtual world.
But all of this feels so real, Zero.
All those previous speculations, such as it not being a parallel world or the game's timeline being restarted, were just guesses, weren't they? There is no conclusive evidence to prove that those speculations are 100% true.
Over the past few days, I have carefully recalled the memories of the five cycles I have, and I am certain that the world will continue to operate after Zero dies, but it will not exceed 12 hours at most, which is probably a buffer process for the world to restart.
But how many 12-hour periods have passed now?
Is it possible that the unknown system and the unfathomable rules of the world might change uncontrollably at any time? That was indeed the case originally, but the situation has changed due to the influence of the red butterfly that we are unaware of?
Therefore, it is possible that the world continues to function after Zero's death.
...Every time I think about this, I feel like I can't breathe, and my heart hurts.
There's one more possibility that can't be confirmed until the very end, and I'll get the answer tonight.
I'm actually a little afraid of that answer; afraid that it's a truth I can't accept.
But I believe in Zero, so I will persevere to the end.
*
Midnight.
Voting begins
[Voting Results: Scotland is the mole]
[Execution begins]
[Selection of Execution Methods]
[Execution Method: Piercing the Heart with Thousands of Arrows]
When Scotland awoke from the anesthesia, he found himself tied to a pillar.
He could turn his head and see that he was indeed in an interrogation room. There was a laptop on the table next to him, and the screen showed the four people who were left in the movie theater.
Scotland wasn't interested in their expressions; he turned to look at the row of men in black in front of him.
The men in black drew their bows to their fullest extent, the gleaming arrowheads all aimed at him.
Scotland wasn't interested in Rum's nonsense; he simply observed everything carefully, feeling every detail of his body.
However, everything is also very real.
The speculation that the execution would take place in a virtual world after anesthesia is also beginning to falter.
Rum realized that Scotland was completely ignoring him and remained silent for a few seconds.
"Let it go," he said.
Countless arrows, drawn taut, shot towards the bound black-haired man in an instant.
Scotland remained expressionless, his eyes fixed on the arrows, watching them abruptly hover in the air before him before slowly disappearing.
But looking at the screen on the computer next to them, their expressions were as if they were seeing him being pierced by a thousand arrows and dying.
Scotland's fingers trembled slightly, and his cold heart was instantly filled with boiling hot blood.
The bet was won.
“Bourbon is still alive,” Rum said, trying to soften his tone with a emotionless, synthesized electronic voice. “Don’t worry, this is a virtual world, just a game to test undercover agents.”
"Scotland, I hope you won't blame the organization, because undercover agents are really hard to catch, so we can only try to use the latest electronic virtual world technology to test everyone's reaction."
"The organization also believes that you are not undercover agents, but in order to put on a show for the real undercover agents, we still have to go through the process."
"Look, the execution methods we've prepared for you are all painless. At most, you'll experience some psychological stress. This is no problem for outstanding codename members of the organization, right? On the contrary, you'll become even stronger because of it and gain more of that gentleman's appreciation. This is a good thing."
"What about Bourbon?" Scotland simply asked.
Rum paused for a moment: "..."
Tsk, how come such a talented Scotsman is so love-struck? And his object of affection is that troublesome Bourbon, what a waste of talent.
Just then, the movie theater finished showing the footage, and Rum had Scotland brought out of the virtual world.
Scotland watched as the world before him crumbled bit by bit, then felt a wave of dizziness, before snapping back to reality and opening his eyes wide.
He was still in the interrogation room, and in front of him was still a group of men in black with bows and arrows.
But a man in black stepped forward, untied the ropes binding him, and led him away through another secret passage.
Before leaving, Scotland glanced back and saw the group of men in black shooting arrows at a mannequin tied to it, staging an execution scene.
He withdrew his gaze and followed the man in black who was leading the way through the secret passage, all the way down to an unfamiliar room.
As soon as the door opened, a figure draped in a white sheet rushed out.
"Trick or treat!" The blond, dark-skinned youth, whom I thought I'd never see again, draped in a white sheet, lunged at me, grinning wildly. "Hahaha! Scotland! Happy Halloween! Were you scared? I—"
Scotland suddenly stepped forward and hugged him tightly, burying her head deep in his chest with a force that almost made him disappear into her body.
Zero is still alive, truly alive beside him.
Zero, lively and energetic, with a warm body, a beating heart, and familiar voice and breath, all proved that he was still alive, not the pool of blood and the only remaining strand of golden hair that repeatedly appeared in his nightmares under the press.
The blond youth was interrupted by the incredibly tight hug and trembling body. After a moment of stunned silence, he helplessly hugged the other back and gently patted his back.
"It's alright, it's alright, I'm still alive. This was just Mr. Rum's prank." As he spoke, he glared at the man in black behind him, telling him to get lost.
Scotland took a deep breath, her body gradually relaxing under his soothing touch. She released the embrace, looked up, and reached out to fiercely pinch the other's cheeks, pulling them apart.
"But Mr. Ghost scared me."
He smiled happily as the blond youth exaggeratedly cried out in pain and begged for mercy.
"So I need to give you lots and lots of candy to forgive you."
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