Legacy of Forgotten Times 163 Cooperate or Betray?

"Oh? Then tell me, miss flat chest. What doesn't make sense?" Linri asked sarcastically.

"You! *Inhale* If you really are planning to betray, why would you declare it? Wouldn't it have been more beneficial to keep silent and make your choice?" Rina held back her anger and asked the most obvious question. If Linri was really planning to choose the betray option, the fact that he had announced it in the first place was a flaw in his plan.

"It would, but here is the thing: who is to say that, despite agreeing with cooperating, you wouldn't choose betrayal? What if everyone chooses betrayal? In that scenario, I would lose. This way, I backed you guys into a corner. This game is more like chess and I already made my move. So, what's it gonna be? Are you going to betray or cooperate? The clock is ticking."

One of the things Linri was most proud of about himself was the fact that he had a good grasp on human psychology. After all, without knowing what they think, you wouldn't be able to manipulate others. Making him play this game was akin to returning a fish into the water: he was in his element and he already created a momentum. Following this, it would really be hard for others to control the flow of the game.

"I-I say we cooperate. He must be bluffing! There is no way he would take the risk to bet all 5 of his antidotes," said Jason. He was another sophomore student.

"Pfft! Is that it? Did you really think that? Me? Bluff? Maybe you are right. Maybe I really wouldn't bet all of my antidotes, but what's stopping me from just measly betting 2 of them? The only way you could survive next round would be if you only bet 1, but let's be real. With a single antidote left, you wouldn't really be able to do anything. At that time, your only option would be to betray and I will simply keep betraying. The others would do the same and every betrayer would lose their antidote, but unlike you, I would still have some. The only sure way to win this game is to eliminate every other person and bet the maximum amount in cooperating when you are the only person left. So tell me, was I really bluffing when I said I was planning to betray?"

"That..." Jason became flustered. He had not thought about that before.

"Then what if we all choose betrayal?" Ryan asked the critical question.

"If you do, we would be playing a game of chicken. I won't stop choosing betrayal and at the time, if you don't have enough guts to keep doing so, you will lose," That was when a notification appeared on their tablet. 

TIME IS UP!

They had to vote immediately or they would be penalized. There was no mention of any penalties in the rules, but everyone could guess that it wouldn't be anything good, so they hastily cast their votes.

After the round, a new notification appeared on their tablets showing the current point tally.

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1- Linri Harclaw: 13 Antidotes

2- Rina Hagane: 3 Antidotes

3- Sasha Romanov: 3 Antidotes

4- Jason Grey: 3 Antidotes

5- Yui Yukio: 3 Antidotes

6- Ryan Moore: 3 Antidotes

7- Matt Meese: 3 Antidotes

8- Lilly Aldrin: 3 Antidotes

9- Akihito Watanabe: 3 Antidotes

10- Hayato Kurogane: Eliminated

---

"WHAT! You liar!" said Jason after seeing the number of antidotes.

"What do you mean? I don't understand what you are talking about," Linri acted like he was innocent.

"Didn't you say there you were going to betray and turn this into a game of chicken!?"

"Oh, I am the most cowardly person in the world. Even a chicken would be an understatement in describing me. I am so scared that I might have a heart attack right this second," Linri said sarcastically.

"You!" Jason said while grinding his teeth. His face was so red that you could mistake him for a tomato.

"Me? What? Is it my fault that you guys were idiotic enough to believe what I said?" Linri stopped acting like an idiot and said seriously.

Jason did not reply, he was so angry that he wasn't able to think straight. If he wasn't afraid of the collar on his neck, he would have jumped there and beaten the shit out of this guy.

"Okay, let's do this one more time. I am betting 3 on betrayal. Does anyone care to humour the little old me?" Linri declared his move one more time, cornering them again.

This time they weren't even able to make any guesses about his move. What if he really did bet 3 on betrayal? Then they would have to keep betting 1 on betray, but, if he were to do the same thing again, he would win!

"Hey, how about we make a deal?" said Ryan.

"What kind of deal?" Linri replied back. From his tone, it was pretty obvious that he was uninterested.

"You want to win and go to the next round right?"

"Duh!"

"Then bet 1 on cooperate. Everyone here will bet 1 on betrayal and, with that, you would get 20 antidotes. Just enough to win the game and go into the next round. We would still have 1 antidote left at the start of the next round and we would play our own game afterwards."

Linri looked surprised at first before he looked at the kid like he was looking at an idiot.

"Did you really just suggest that?"

"Yeah! We all want you to get out of here. Otherwise, we wouldn't be able to cooperate and gain antidotes. Isn't that right?" Majority of the other players nodded their heads.

Linri just slapped his own face. He couldn't believe that he was playing this game with a bunch of idiots. At least in the club, the game was fun. Since their lives weren't on the line, the players could think clearly and make smart moves.

"So let me get this straight! You want me to bet 1 on cooperating so that I would advance to the next round and you guys would cooperate after you guys only have a single antidote left. Is that right?"

"Yes!"

"Dude, can't you even make a simple calculation? What did I say just 5 minutes ago? In order to win the game, you have to bet at least 2 on each round! Otherwise, you won't have enough to pay the antidote fine for the next round. Even if you cooperate and no one betrays, you would only have 2 and you would lose 1 of them next round, returning you back to square one. How the heck are you supposed to win the game in that position? The only way would be to betray and, if everyone else does the same, it would be game over for everyone."

Ryan looked like he swallowed something sour. He didn't like the fact that Linri outed him just like this. He wanted to get rid of him and betray the others, gaining their antidotes. Most of them would be too panicked to notice this loophole in cooperation and would be too scared to betray. Even if there was someone smart enough to betray just like him, at that point they could just make an agreement amongst each other.

"Then what do you suppose we do?" Ryan asked.

"Simple, you just have to die. I am keeping my vote of 3 for betrayal. If anyone has the guts, they can try what I did last round, but don't forget: if there is even a single other person thinking the same, you would instantly die. Not seeing the next round. At this point, my win is guaranteed, so decide amongst each other," Linri said and then he started to pick his ear. He really didn't care what they would decide on doing. Currently, his victory was assured, but he wanted something more than that. He wanted them to die so that he would be the sole winner. If they also advanced to the next round, there was a chance that they could be competitors and he didn't want to take the risk. The fewer people there were advancing to the next round, the faster this event would end… also he needed to make sure that Snow was paying attention to him at all times, otherwise the thing with Hayato might not work. Linri was sure that, if he decided to kill all of them in here, Snow wouldn't be able to take her eyes off of him. He didn't know the reason why, but for some reason this was what she wanted. Seeing the students kill each other.

"How about we choose a sacrifice?" Rina said breaking the silence in the room.

Even Linri stopped picking his ear and paid attention to her. Sacrifice, is it? This was something that didn't happen in the club, but he could see where she was going with it. A little smile appeared on Linri's lips. Suddenly this game became all the more interesting.

Chapter end