SURVIVAL 9: SCHEME

The fourth round has already begun. There are four victims of unexplained sudden physical pain that they felt every round. Ninth's left hand was still covering his face. Fifth is also back in the game because he doesn't want to lose. All the girls from the silver team take care of our hurt silver team players.

02:20

"Player Third, rule number 5, defied. Castigation will begin at any moment.”

Third has been called by the timer machine.

"Players, continue the game.”

The game continued.

Third approached us, suppressing the pain he was feeling. "My right arm broke."

We sat him on the bleacher and supported his right arm. I wrapped the two towelsaround his twisted arms up to his neck to support the injured arm. We just let him rest so he can return to the game.

Round 4 is over. No one scored.

"Looks like it worked," Ninezen appeals to everyone.

"Good job!" – Seventh

"Same method for next round," said Firstwen.

I sighed in relief that their small plan worked. Their plan is simple. Everyone thought that every time someone shoots and breaks the rules, the specific body parts of a certain someone are suddenly in pain.

First, when you break a rule, the timer machine will detain you, and you will be removed from the game. Not because you were disqualified, but because your body part will hurt. Part of the body where no organ is involved, only tissues and muscles, so the pain will be milder.

Secondly, earlier, before round 1 started, the color of the ball was dark blue, but it turned to silver when Seventh fell ill. It’s dark blue because the ball has not yet detected which team will shoot. Dark blue is the color for the 'unknown' team that will shoot. It became silver before Seventh, Fifth, and Ninth got sick because the gold team shot and scored. The pain depends on what flesh or organ is inside the ball.

We also observed that in about a minute, the pain disappears when someone violates a rule. Two minutes after the opponent shoots. Random members in a team will be chosen by physical pain. Instead of scoring, when you shoot, some opponent members will be hurt. I noticed that Seventh mentioned that the pain disappeared suddenly, but it seemed to have a side effect, that is because Author wanted to know which team would remain stable despite having physical pain.

Firstwen’s plan is not to score or shoot the ball so that no one would get hurt. They plan to finish this strategy by round 5, which seems to work.

More than three minutes have passed, so Third's injury is finally okay.

"Players, back to the game. I repeat, players, back to the game. Round 5, the last round will start in 10, 9,”

Wrong timing

"8, 7, 6, 5”

I just went back to my sit.

"4, 3, 2, 1,”

The ball went back to being dark blue.

"This last round will be a special one. Previous rules were eliminated except for one new rule: There must be one team... who will win this game.”

*whistle*

"If you intend to carry out your scheme, then sudden and unforeseen events will occur.”

After saying that by the timer we heard an explosion. I turned to the left and saw that the two pompoms that Aeith was holding earlier had exploded. Fortunately, no one was hurt.

We got caught. If they continue with the plan, the gold team will win. If the silver team doesn't fight and give the chance to the gold team, we could all die from the explosion. The timer is smart enough to notice the strategy. The girls were used as bait to force the players to fight.

00:56

"Yes! Finally," Tenth muttered with excitement.

We scored. I saw that the ball turned gold, and what was inside it was... a brain?

"Huwaaa!” Thirtwen screamed.

We immediately aided Thirtwen. They continued playing to prevent the explosion.

"I-It's like my brain is being pierced by worms!" I sympathize with Thirtwen.

02:05

It's only a minute and Thirtwen's headache will be gone as well. Just a little patience.

03:00

"A moment of second," the timer interrupted in the middle of the game.

"This two-minute last game is the most critical one. Play to your heart's content... The two-minute game will start in 10, 9,”

"I'm okay." Thirtwen stood up and ran to the center.

We only scored once while the gold team scored thrice. If in two minutes we have not scored two or more points, we will lose this game.

First looks dedicated this time. It's like he's just playing normally.

01:37

Still no score.

01:45

Only fifteen seconds remaining.

"Whoa, First got the ball!" – Aeith

"Hopefully, he'll shoot that" – Fourth

Even if he’ll shoot the ball to the gold team’s ring, we still lose. The ball is gold in color, but I wonder why there is no human organ in it.

I observed First.

15, 14, 13, 12

He runs into the opponent's ring as Ninezen blocks him.

11, 10, 9,

He dodged and was close to the target.

8, 7, 6,

First raised his hands holding the ball and threw it.

5, 4, 3,

The ball flew in the air.

2, 1

It even hit the metal ring and rolled.

*whistle*

The ball was shot in the ring and the game was over.

Why did he even do that? He can hurt other people even more even though we still lose. I noticed something, earlier the ball, it was only gold when First dribbled but when he threw it in the air, there was some kind of red circle in the middle of it.

"It’s over!”

"Who won?”

"*buwaarrllkk*”

Firstwen sat down. He is on his knees, and his chest heaved.

"Firstweeen!" Sixth ran down from the bleacher and went near him.

We gathered in the middle of the court.

Firstwen is coughing... blood.

"H-Hey, what happened to you?”

"The game is over, ah.”

"What the?!”

We are concerned about his situation. This is not common and looks severe.

"I-I don't know... my chest hurts," Firstwen coughs.

I look at the ball that has just landed on the floor. It is gold in color, but before, there was no organ; now it has a heart.

"Firtwen’s having a heart attack!" I shouted and pointed the ball at the floor.

The ball broke into pieces as if it were made of crystal. Its crystals were scattered, and a red liquid inside came out of it.

The target organ this time is the human heart.

"Hey, Author! What did you do to him!" Fifzen shouted into the air.

I am also wondering not why Firstwen had a heart attack, but why he was the only one to suffer so badly. He has also been enduring the pain for more than two minutes, whereas the others only had it for a minute.

Author’s hologram suddenly appeared in the middle.

"Wealth Level Stage 2 is about to be cleared!”

"What did you do to him?!" Sixth is furious.

"He has been attacked in the most fatal part of the human body. After two minutes, it's already game over.”

"What? Why is he suffering like this?" Sixth is crying and angry.

"He's been chosen and attacked his heart because he lacks courage and wit. His strategy on round 4 is inexpiable. His life will be his atonement for it.”

"Just because of that?!" Sixth is angrier now.

"If he has a strong mind, body, and spirit, he could have survived it. A chance of 50/50. His corpse will be dispatched when he can't do a thing about it. The winning team will be announced tomorrow. Stage 2 for girls will also be held tomorrow, same time, same place.”

And the Author is gone. The whole basketball court became an empty space again. The boys’ jerseys became their school uniform again. Firstwen was dying. What’s worse is that we can’t do anything.

"'Don't leave me," Sixth sobbed.

"I-I remember who I-I..." Before he could finish what, he wanted to say, he died.

A few seconds after Firstwen's death his body disappeared in front of us.

My eyes caught Sixth's stare at First. This is not good.

***

Some rested in their respective rooms while others remained in the living area. First is in the music room and is currently playing a piece.

"Ironic, isn't it?" My feet were nailed to the floor as he suddenly spoke. "Come in," he invited me.

I opened the door and entered, then closed it.

"W-Why?" I stuttered and looked at him.

"Sit here," he tapped his chair and moved to the left so I could sit down.

I approached and stood beside him. “Why are you acting strange this afternoon?"

He paused for a while. "You’re right. Ask me about what's bothering you." He looked at me.

"Before the game started, you didn't talk to others, even to your teammates. You seem you haven’t had physical pain during the two-minute game. You shot the ball even if we were about to lose the game. You're not too puzzled by the weird things that happened in the game. And… Sixth cried. She looked at-”

"She’s mad at me." He finished my sentence. "I was also a victim during the two-minute game, with a stiff neck. I just pretended not to be hurt and stayed focused. I quietly listened to my teammates' strategy, that's why, even though I'm not good at playing basketball, I managed to play. I'm not surprised by the unforeseen events because I already predicted some of them. As for why I shot the ball for the last fifteen seconds?” He stared at me. “I did it to win the game.”