Confinement King

Chapter 166: The Last Chance was Futile

The result of the vote was despairing.

I thought that the President, who was confident that he had a majority of the votes, had been outvoted. Until the result came out.

But the result was not Fumijima-san, whom the President tried to defeat, nor the President, whom we tried to defeat, but Yamauchi-san, the manager.

To be honest, I didn’t know what had happened.

One thing I can say is that the damage it caused to me was much bigger than I expected.

No matter how hard I tried, I could not get what I wanted.

It was as if I was being played, as if the President had seen right through me.

It would have been a relief if Fumijima-san had dropped as the President had intended. After all, he lost the round by a small margin. I could feel that way.

But that result was like being hit suddenly in the dark.

There was nothing to do but cower.

I go back to my room and think desperately about what happened to make the vote go the way it did.

I thought about it a lot, a lot, a lot, and it wasn’t until a long time later that the situation finally came into focus.

I don’t know the exact time, but I think it was around evening.

The conclusion is that the four members of the Modero project are in on it.

That’s all I can think of.

The fact that Masakey-chan and Natsumi-chan were pushing Misuzu-chan away is also probably an act.

Misuzu-chan’s cooperation to the President on the condition of Fumijima-san’s defeat was also a stepping stone to betray the President at this moment.

President Kurashima had planned to bring down Fumijima-san with Kyoko-san, in addition to him, Akira-chan, Yamauchi-san and Misuzu-chan.

However, Kyoko-san and I took advantage of this and tried to defeat the President.

If I, Kyoko-san, Natsumi-chan, Masakey-chan and Fumijima-san had voted for the President, the result should have been four votes for Fumijima-sawn and five votes for the president.

However, this did not happen.

Four votes were cast for Yamauchi-san.

These four votes were definitely cast by Fumijima-san, Misuzu-chan, Masakey-chan and Natsumi-chan.

Why they chose Yamauchi-san as a target, I could not understand at all when I thought about it.

Fumijima-san was saying that the President and Akira-chan had voted for Yamauchi-san, but if Yamauchi-san dropped out, there was no point in worsening the relationship between the President and Yamauchi-san.

There is no way she can complete such an absurd the mission’s quota.

There is no possibility for Yamauchi-san to complete the mission.

At this point, if Fumijima-san’s actions are to be given any meaning, it would be a simple harassment…

However, if I think this far, I can come to one conclusion.

The mastermind of this death game are the four members of the Modero project. It’s one of them.

Because otherwise it wouldn’t be right.

The four members of the Modero Project created the situation up to this point behind the scenes, while making it look like they were fighting.

If I unravel their preparations, they started from the time of the first vote for Misuzu-chan.

Normally, I think the mastermind is Fumijima-san, but there is also the possibility that it is Masakey-chan.

I don’t know why, but I’m afraid of that girl for some reason.

Sometimes she smiles at me, and that scares me a lot.

（If I want to survive, I’ll have to cut down those four… if that’s the case, I’ll have to cooperate with the others…）

The four of us, excluding the Modero project team – me, Kyoko-san, President Kurashima, and Akira-chan – were eliminated in turn, and the game was over.

If this is the scenario, then the next chance to fight against this scenario is the next round.

Assuming that the four members of the Modero project will vote for someone, we’ll concentrate the votes of the remaining four members on one person.

Then, somehow, it’s four to four.

（To be honest, I don’t like the idea of cooperating with President Kurashima… but wait a minute. What happens if it’s a draw?）

On second thought, I haven’t checked the rules in case of a draw.

Will there be a re-vote, or will both players be out?

Ideally, both sides would be out.

For example, in the next vote, if President Kurashima and Fumijima-san disappear at the same time, there are only six girls left.

Misuzu-chan, Masakey-chan, and Natsumi-chan vs. me, Kyoko-san, and Akira-chan.

Then it’s just a mud fight. The draw continues, and finally the death game ends with one person from each camp surviving.

（Or, if the voting continues that long, one of the remaining members of the Modero project will be the mastermind…）

Hopefully, Fumijima-san will be eliminated in the next vote, and the death game will end with Fumijima-san as the mastermind.

I don’t think I’ll be able to bear such stress if the game is dragged to the end and it becomes two against two.

Just thinking about it makes my stomach hurt.

（Anyway, I have to talk to President Kurashima and Kyoko-san…）

Almost at the same time as I was thinking this, I heard someone shouting behind the door.

It must have been quite loud, but I could only hear it faintly on the other side of the door.

「I’m going to vote at Fumijima next time! You got it!」

That was President Kurashima’s voice.

（I guess the President came to the same conclusion…）

In other words, he is telling me and Kyoko-san to vote for Fumijima-san. I guess there is no need to sneak around anymore.

Considering the possibility of a trap, I opened the door and saw the President’s back walking toward his room.

◇ ◇ ◇

（It’s almost… the time）

Probably, it’s almost nine o’clock in the evening.

Before Aramaki-san’s announcement, I walk out of the room.

Everyone was already gathered at the round table.

I guess they couldn’t stay calm.

The next vote would almost decide our fate.

I sat down next to Kyoko-san and looked around at the faces around the round table.

The President and Akira-chan’s expressions were dark.

Misuzu-chan and the other three sat side by side, whispering and giggling to each other, as if they thought that acting was no longer necessary.

The Modero project group, the President and Akira-chan, and I and Kyoko-san, were divided into three groups around a round table.

「Kyoko-san…」

「Fumijima, right? I know」

I opened my mouth, and Kyoko-san gave a small nod. But her expression was quite stiff.

In the midst of the tension…

『Good evening! Aramaki-san announces that it’s nine o’clock in the evening… and everyone’s already here, Jake! I feel a little lonely, Jake!』

Aramaki-san’s face appeared on the screen in a close-up, but towards the end of the scene, her tone became a little sullen.

Aramaki-san’s sullen was not our concern.

Staring at the screen, the President shouted.

「Hey, Salted Salmon. I have a question for you. What happens if the vote results in a tie?」

『Really… you’re impatient, Jake. Well, I can understand your frustration, Jake. First, to calm you down, I’ve been compiling a wedding-slide memory of Aramaki-san from the time she was a pure salmon egg to the present, with Ave Maria playing in the background..』

「You’re annoying me even more! What’s with the pure salmon eggs? If you want to play it, just play it in the Salmon Museum!」

「The Salmon Museum…」

The President shouted, I chuckled, and Aramaki-san came back into the picture.

『Of course I sent it to the Salmon Museum, Jake!』

「「「There’s one!?」」」

『There are five of them in Japan! They’re all sacred places for salmon lovers, Jake!』

「I can’t be patient! I asked you what happens if there’s a tie!」

The President finally lost his temper, banging the round table and raising his voice, and Aramaki-san let out an exasperated voice.

『It’s obvious, Jake. Both of them are eliminated, Jake!』

（Yes!）

I clenched my fists involuntarily. Now Fumijima-san has been eliminated.

All that’s left now is to wait for the man himself, Fumijima-san, to come out of the room from the red door.

The President exhales loudly and quietly reaches for Akira-chan’s head, stroking her hair.

The look of determination on the President’s face suggests that the Modero project team will vote for him. Perhaps it is because he thinks so.

If that happens, the President and Fumijima-san will have to stab each other.

To Akira-chan’s anxious face, the President said.

「Don’t worry. Akira, I’ll protect you」

However…

There was a crash, and the red door opened.

Fumijima-san walked out with a deep sigh, and from behind him–

「…You look like you’ve seen a dead man, President」

Yamauchi-san appeared with a lascivious atmosphere of after-action.

『Kiyoka Yamauchi has survived』

Aramaki-san’s comment caught us off guard.

「What?」

「Why…」

『Let’s announce the voting results, Jake!』

A close-up of Aramaki-san is shown, and as usual, the words “Total Result” are drawn with flashy movements, with flame effects.

The first thing that appeared was…

『Fumijima Pheasant Man – 4 votes』

Then, with an explosion-like effect――

The words “Akira Mizuki – 5 votes” appeared.