Retaliation on the Board
The board game consisted of twenty-four squares in a race-to-the-finish format.
The rules were simple.
Roll the die and move your piece the number of spaces shown. Every time the piece lands, draw a card and perform whatever is written on it. Fail to complete the task and your piece cannot move. The game can be paused, but it never truly ends until someone clears it. The player who finishes last receives a penalty.
…Up to that point, it sounded like any ordinary game.
‘But the cards you draw…’
During class I slipped one of the cards out of the box to examine it. On the outside it looked exactly like a playing card, yet the illustration inside was completely different. Written on the card was the task that had to be performed.
[Spin the roulette and listen to the chosen target’s scream five times]
At a glance it seemed like a straightforward mission, but the content was anything but ordinary.
‘Most of them are designed to torment either the opponent or yourself…’
If you cannot complete the mission, your piece stays put. Stay put long enough and you become last place, earning the penalty. That realization gave me a clear strategy for winning.
Whenever an opponent draws a mission card, make sure the designated target cannot fulfill it. Take the scream mission, for example. If the chosen player refuses to scream, the person who drew the card cannot move their piece. From there the outcome is obvious: the player with the mission will do everything possible to force a scream, while the target will fight desperately to stay silent. A vicious cycle of torment is born.
━ They have to taste the same thing.
‘Something like this… to Sera, and to those two…’
Unforgivable.
They had forced Sera and Miel—two girls who used to be friends—into a game created solely to inflict suffering.
━ Make them play…
‘I’ll pay them back in full.’
I waited only for the school day to end. I had heard that Sera and Miel were only forced to play for short periods after class each day. I was different. I could keep the game going from sunset until sunrise. I would make the three of them experience exactly what they had done to Sera and Miel.
‘I wish class would hurry up and finish.’
Time passed, and lunch arrived.
“Ares, would you like to have lunch together today?”
“Today?”
Claire had come to the classroom to invite me. I glanced at Lana. We already had plans.
“Mm… sorry, but I’ll have to pass. I’m eating with Ellie.”
“With Ellie…?”
“Yeah. We’ve been getting along really well lately. Right~?”
“U-uh… yeah.”
“……”
Lana gently stroked Ellie’s hair while Ellie smiled softly at me. The two of them were having lunch together? ‘Have they really gotten that close?’ Well, if they were getting along, that was a good thing. I would rather support it than watch the atmosphere turn hostile every time we were together.
“Then shall we go?”
“Yes, let’s.”
Claire and I left for the cafeteria.
“Ares, would you like to try this?”
“Huh? Water?”
“…It’s good for your body.”
While we were eating, Claire offered me a water bottle. ━ It’s not a lie, so… For a moment her inner voice reached me. I looked at the bottle she held out. It looked like ordinary water. If it wasn’t a lie, then it probably wasn’t harmful.
“Sure, thanks.”
My throat was a little dry anyway, so I accepted it without hesitation. Claire was one of the few people I could trust. I took a sip.
“……This water… isn’t it a bit salty?”
“Is it…?”
“It’s salt water?”
“Y-yes. Salt intake is important too.”
“…Isn’t that usually for when you’re exercising?”
Aside from the saltiness, nothing else seemed strange. My tongue tingled slightly…? Or maybe that was just the salt.
━ It didn’t work…
“…What exactly is in this water?”
Claire’s thoughts had reached me again, so I asked her carefully. Even if I trusted her, this was suspicious. She answered in a flustered voice.
“It really is good for you…! It’s water filled with the Lord’s love!”
“……”
“I swear it on the Lord!”
“……I see.”
Claire might have become more… open-minded lately, but she was still a devout believer. She wouldn’t lie while swearing on God. Besides, aside from the salty taste, the water hadn’t caused any obvious problems.
“Um, Ares. This is a gift.”
“…A necklace?”
“Yes. It’s thanks for helping me recently… Let me put it on you.”
Claire gently fastened the necklace around my neck. A cross hung from it. Some kind of charm, maybe?
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome…”
━ No reaction to this either…
━ So it really is different from a demon…
“……”
“……”
“Claire…”
“Y-yes?”
I finally asked her directly about the thoughts that kept leaking out.
“Are you testing me with all this stuff?”
“Eep…”
“What’s going on? I’m fine.”
“Ah, well… I-it’s about the evil spirit! I was worried some remnant of the one we exorcised last time might still be inside you!”
“Really…?”
“Yes!”
━ ……
Her inner voice had gone silent. It felt like her thoughts were harder to hear today. Was it because of the water?
“Anyway, I’m really okay, so don’t worry. Still, thanks.”
“…Yes. If you feel anything strange, please tell me. I’ll help.”
That was how lunch ended—with a small incident involving Claire. Thinking back, that water… had it been holy water? Literally water filled with the Lord’s love. Still, she had done it out of concern for me, so I decided not to dwell on it.
━ The game…
━ Hurry up and start the game…
More importantly, the game. Making those girls play it was my top priority right now.
“All right, everyone. You all know the school atmosphere hasn’t been great lately, right? Don’t cause any trouble and head straight back to the dorms.”
After the final class, during homeroom, the teacher gave her usual closing remarks. The moment the bell rang I grabbed my bag and left the classroom. I couldn’t risk them noticing something was off and fleeing to the dorms. If I wanted all three of them to play together, I had to catch them now.
But when I reached their classroom—
“Y-you came…?”
“What, were you waiting for me?”
“…I told you not to run.”
The three girls were still inside, waiting for me. Maybe the punishment I gave them yesterday for trying to escape had worked. Either way, it was convenient. If they came along quietly, that was fine by me.
“Then follow me.”
I led the three of them toward the duty room. It was the only place where we could keep playing through the night without interruption.
Click.
“……”
“……”
“……”
Even after entering, the three remained strangely calm. What was going on? They weren’t resisting, but I had expected at least a little fear. I still didn’t know the reason, but what I had to do was clear.
Make them play.
I locked the door and looked at them.
“You three… made Sera and Miel play this game, didn’t you?”
“……”
“……”
“……”
Only after I spoke did they finally show signs of tension, their eyes trembling. I grinned and pulled the board game out of my bag.
“From now on, you’re going to play. Exactly the same way you made Sera and Miel play.”
“Hik…!”
The girl with the ponytail let out a small whimper and took a step back. She must have remembered what Sera and Miel had gone through. Good. They should be scared. Because from here on, they were going to experience everything they had done to those two—
Knock knock knock.
“……”
Someone was knocking on the duty room door. A clear, deliberate sound. Then a voice came from the other side.
[Ares…? Are you in there?]
“Ellie…?”
It was Ellie’s voice. Why was she here? ‘Is it that monster…?’ The Jangsanbeom grandmother that ruled the school at night. But that creature only appeared after dark. It was still right after homeroom—sunset was still a while away. So it couldn’t be the Jangsanbeom.
‘Lana…? But there’s no reason she would suddenly do this either…’
Another knock.
Knock knock knock.
[Ares, I’m here too.]
“Claire too…?”
[Yes. May we come in?]
“……”
Claire was there as well. I asked her a question only the two of us would know, just to be sure.
“…What was the second movie we watched together?”
[It was the deserted-island movie… The slightly lewd one.]
“……Slightly?”
[V-very lewd…]
━ So embarrassing…
“……”
It really was Claire. Once I heard her inner voice, I finally relaxed and unlocked the door.
Creak…
“What’s going—?”
“Hi, Ares. You don’t mind if we come in, right?”
“Eek, Lana, uwaah!”
The moment the door opened, Lana’s smiling face appeared in the gap. Before I could react, she pushed the door wider and walked right in. Ellie and Claire followed.
“Excuse us…”
“Sorry, Ares.”
“Ehh~, what’s this? Ares, were you trying to play a game with your friends without us? I’m hurt~.”
Ellie, Claire, and Lana each spoke in turn as they entered, then casually sat down around the board game.
“Hold on! What do you mean, just walking in like that?!”
“You opened the door, so that means it’s okay, right?”
“I only opened it because you said you had business!”
I answered Lana’s shameless question with frustration. More importantly, this was a problem. I had been planning to force the three girls to play. Having these three in the room made everything far more complicated.
“Look, can you all just say why you came and leave? This is actually important.”
I spoke coldly. I felt bad, but this time there was no helping it. This was a dangerous game meant to drag players into suffering. I couldn’t let them get involved.
“Hey, Ares… Can we play this game too?”
“……What?”
At that moment, Lana grinned mischievously, opened the board, and read the text written in the center.
“—I swear to abide by the rules of the game, and to offer my soul to the game should I become the last one remaining.”
“What the hell are you doing—!!”
I rushed forward and knocked Lana’s hand away from the board, but it was already too late.
Tap. Click.
“……”
“…She did it. Now what?”
One of the pieces on the board had moved by itself and settled onto the starting space. Lana’s participation had been confirmed.
“Does this mean I’m in danger now?”
“……”
I stared at her blankly. Lana simply smiled, gently took my hand, and whispered.
“Then… you’ll protect me, won’t you, Ares?”
“……”