Solidarity-5
"A woman knocks on the base door. Having seen our survivors scavenging the mart, she came here to join the group."
The title was a bit suspicious, but it didn't seem like an event with penalties.
"She begs the group's leader, a man, promising to do anything if he'll take in her and her young sibling."
Survivor addition event. For me, who'd skipped the first turn with no spare survivors, this was a pretty welcome one.
Choice 1. You like this woman and tell her you'll spare her life if she promises to become a slave and offers her body. Gain one slave survivor and one vulnerable token; add a sex token to the survivor.
"No, the vibe's getting weird... Anything else?"
I didn't know what a sex token did, but I didn't want the conversation heading that way.
Choice 2. You decide your group isn't ready for more people. The woman is chased away, left to wander the cold winter streets until she freezes, starves, or—if she's unlucky—turns into a zombie. Roll one die; on a 1, add one zombie near the secret base.
Yukiko's clear pronunciation and icy voice suited narrating these lines perfectly. It was just a bit sad that such lines were being read in that beautiful voice.
"Knew it would be something like this..."
I subtly asked if there was a 3, but that was the brutal option of killing the woman, looting everything, and kicking her out.
"Hah, fine, Choice 1 it is."
The moment I drew a card, Yukiko swiftly handed over the matching line. The illustration of a collared woman in tattered clothes bowing her head was pretty, but it felt out of place.
"There are additional items, but they're impossible right now."
"Okay. Got it."
It was high-quality art that would've made me go "pfft" on an old community site, but I kept questioning why we had to see this now.
"Then it's my turn. I'll move the lawyer survivors to the library. Rolling the die. Injury. Proceeding with scouting."
Yukiko executed her pre-planned plays smoothly. Her turn zipped by in an instant. She rolled the prepped dice swiftly, showing no joy at good results or panic at bad ones. It was hard to believe this was her first time; she knew exactly what to do.
"My turn is over. This crisis card is... food shortage. We need 4 food."
The game had cooperative elements, but plenty that sabotaged them too. The traitor disrupted cooperation, but crisis situations did it differently—like group projects. Everyone had to "collectively" spend a set amount of resources, or face huge penalties on failure. But no one had to contribute equally, and you couldn't check others' resources. Like claiming "My grandparents passed away" in a group project with no way to verify, saying "I have no food in my deck" was impossible to disprove. Desperate players had to overcontribute to fill the gap, leading to mind games between the selfish and those avoiding penalties.
Or at least, that's how it should've gone.
"I-I'll put in two food cards, Oppa! I want to do more, but I don't have any left... Hehe..."
"Then I'll cover the remaining two."
Before I could even speak, Mikoto and Yukiko had "voluntarily" covered everything.
"Hey, it's a game... Be a little more selfish..."
Yukiko aside, Mikoto hadn't scouted well and had few cards left after I took some—yet her last two were food, and she used them without hesitation. No chance for suggestions like "You have more cards, contribute extra" or "One per person."
"In that case... I'll add 4 more food. Doubling the target lets you raise morale by one, right?"
"Yes, but is there any need?"
"Yeah. I think it's necessary."
"Weren't you the one who said to enjoy the game as a game, Master?"
I gave a wry smile. Lies in Mafia were innocent, but guilt still gnawed at me.
If morale hit 0, the traitor won, and everyone else lost. Morale dropped with every survivor death. But paradoxically, I had to kill survivors while keeping morale up. My Executioner goal was to wipe out one player's survivors entirely. If morale wasn't maxed, I could hit victory only for it to drop to 0 and lose.
"I'm just playing my best to win?"
The atmosphere was full of distrust, but that's how I saw it.
"Hmm... How about the loser grants the winner's wish? When the game's stakes feel low, betting raises them."
Yukiko suggested casually.
"There might be no loser, or multiple winners?"
"We could base it on you, Master. Karin, Mikoto, and I have no demands of each other anyway."
Karin raised her hand in objection.
"Huh? Speak for yourself. I'd love to see Yukiko with cat ears, three whisker lines on her face, and meowing aegyo at the end of every sentence?"
A broken Yukiko was hard to picture. I couldn't form a clear image, but I couldn't help laughing.
"Barring a mutual loss or win, I won't lose while you win. Don't worry."
"Scared?"
"Naturally. If you win and I lose, I'll accept it. If you win."
Yukiko tilted her chin up with a smirk. Karin grinned back, glaring.
A few turns later, the game hit midgame. Karin roamed, massacring zombies. Yukiko gathered resources. Mikoto fought hard but had rotten dice luck—survivors slowly dying of frostbite without meds, or forced into risky choices by bad events.
I kept my main character tucked safe at base, but my growing slave characters bustled. They handled zombies with pistols, scavenging fuel from gas stations.
"I'm done. Mikoto, your turn."
"Uh, y-yeah!"
Mikoto's survivors were dropping like flies; only two left. No greed, no mistakes—just bad luck.
"Okay, first, uh... To use this trash cleanup item, I gotta go back to base, so, roll the danger die..."
Mikoto fidgeted, rolling. Her beaming success smile was a silver lining.
"Event. Triggers on return to base."
"Again?"
Mikoto triggered negative events nearly every turn. Library trips, zombie kills, noisy scouting—events keyed to her actions only. If money was on the line, I'd have grabbed Yukiko's wrist and checked her sleeves.
Come to think of it, Yukiko's slender white wrists looked soft to the touch.
"Why... me?"
Mikoto tried snatching Yukiko's card in disbelief, but her tiny frame just jiggled her huge chest; no card grabbed.
You finish scouting and return, but the man watching you doesn't look pleased. Your haul isn't enough, and with cold eyes, he says, "You're not needed."
"Whoa, Seongha's scary..."
Karin glanced at me warily, chipping at my sanity.
"I'm completely unrelated to that character. The text has no connection to real people."
I tried damage control, but things escalated. Mikoto paled; Yukiko smirked faintly.
Smirking?
Choice 1. You won't tolerate this rudeness. Steal three cards from the male player, then continue as an exile.
Yukiko read the text coldly, like a judge devoid of mercy.
"Hey, Yukiko..."
Choice 2. You think killing one disliked woman lets the rest stay. Kill the returning survivor and hand all held cards to the male player.
I reached to calm Mikoto, but she yelped at my touch on her shoulder.
Choice 3. You decide to prove your worth with your body. Strip, cuddle into his arms, and carefully start sucking his cock.
"Huh?"
Something off about that choice sent a bad feeling flashing through my head.
"I-I'll take that one!"
Mikoto shot up, hand raised like she'd found salvation.
Roll the die. On 1, your teeth graze his cock during the blowjob, enraging him into wiping out your survivors. On 6, the satisfied man gifts you three cards.
"D-Die?"
Hearing "die," Mikoto trembled. But her careful roll showed six neat black dots.
"Success!"
As Mikoto cheered, Yukiko placed a sex token on her character card.
"Nice, good roll. Save it for joint goals later?"
I handed Mikoto three fuel cards from gas station scouting.
"Oh, and for Choice 3, female players must serve the male player until next turn."
"Huh?"
Before I could react, Mikoto crawled under the table and yanked down my pants. I panicked, but seeing Karin and Yukiko's sly grins, it hit me.
I'd been had.