"Looks like not everyone can leave this place..." Gray whispered in a tired, emotional, and pitying voice.
He sounded like a brokenhearted man, feeble and all that... if not for how big his body was. His gaze swept across the room, still acting as the absolute leader, and he spoke.
"We need five volunteers to sit on the throne so that everyone can escape. Anyone?"
Although he didn’t say it directly, his offer was basically a death sentence.
The five couldn’t exit the trial space since they needed five people to sit on the throne at the same time, or the exit would close. Everyone knew this from seeing what just happened.
As such, nobody was willing to become the sacrifice.
Or at least, not until...
"I-I will stay, sir..."
A little girl raised her hand—Hershey. She looked scared, hugging the black-and-white teddy bear in her arms tightly, but there was a quiet conviction hidden in her gaze.
But Gray just glanced at her a bit, then nodded, before asking again.
"Anyone else?"
The fact that he didn’t even question the girl’s reason for staying was proof enough that he didn’t really care. As long as someone other than him sits there, that’s all that matters.
"Then I’ll stay too." This time, it was Therese who stepped up.
Since they both volunteered to sit down on the throne in the first place, their volunteering again didn’t really feel out of place. It worked as a good smokescreen... But she didn’t end it at just that.
"If such a little girl is brave enough to sacrifice herself for the greater good, then as a widow who lost both my husband and child, accompanying her is the best I could do."
"That’s..."
Her words made everyone feel a prick to their hearts.
After all, what she said was true.
A little girl volunteered to offer herself as a "sacrifice" for everyone else to survive. Such a brave act, and nobody even said thanks or acknowledged her sacrifice at all.
They just heard she was volunteering, and rejoiced that they could exit the trial soon enough.
"Then me too."
This time, it was the blue-haired girl, Shymine Azure, who stepped up.
She glanced around, her eyes cold and sharp, as she admonished them lightly.
"Rather than going with you bastards who only think about yourselves and be considered one of you, I’d rather stay here and die."
Gray frowned hard. It felt almost as if her words were aimed right at him, after all. However, he stayed quiet. She was already sacrificing herself, after all. There’s no need to start a fight just because of a few words.
"I’ll take the fourth seat..."
Right then, a fourth voice rang, making everyone look over.
They saw a balding man with sunken eyes move toward the closest seat to him and slump over it, heaving a deep, tired sigh.
"I don’t have much longer to live, either way, so dying for others might be a great way to exit instead..."
With that, four of the five seats were taken.
Only one spot remained.
Gray shook the rising sense of disgust toward himself and asked one last time. "Only one left. Anyone else?"
Just one more sacrifice, and everyone could finally escape. As such, the others didn’t want to volunteer. Seeing that nobody was stepping up, Gray turned to the furthest end, locking eyes with a random guy.
"You. You be the fifth one." He ordered.
His voice wasn’t asking, but rather sounded like he was reporting something already decided on. The man’s face paled as he shook his head, stammering.
"P-Please, not me, sir... I have a daughter waiting for me outside...!"
"Huh?" Gray, hearing him protest, stared at him with a dry gaze.
He walked closer and closer, making the man step back from intimidation. Then, when he was backed to the wall, Gray was just a meter away from him.
BAM!
His fist sank into the wall, barely missing the man’s face.
It was such an intimidating act that the man literally pissed himself. If the fist was just an inch to the left, then half of his face would’ve evaporated!
"You think I’m asking you? I said, you’re the last sacrifice. DON’T YOU DARE TALK BACK!!!"
"...!"
The man was scared shitless. He couldn’t even speak anymore.
Just as Gray was about to toss him to the last seat.
"That’s enough. I’ll take the last seat."
Raive stepped forward, grabbing Gray’s wrist to stop him. "So let him go." He added.
Raive and Gray stared into each other’s eyes before...
"Tsk! Then go to your seat, bastard!" He clicked his tongue and walked away.
Seeing his figure move away, Raive sighed in relief. After all, it’s not like he had a heart of steel. Scary things were still scary.
Anyway, not even glancing at the intimidated man, Raive just walked straight to the final throne, sinking deeply with a long sigh.
’Good...’ He thought. ’We’re now at the final step of the plan.’
Nobody even suspected the five of them as they all raced to be the first to exit. Even Gray didn’t bother sending a glance to Raive or any of the other four. Even the man who pissed himself didn’t even bother to thank Raive for his help.
’As expected... Humans are selfish creatures.’ He sighed.
And then, the moment the last person went through the "exit," the glowing red door disappeared. Instead, it was now glowing white.
"...Did it succeed?"
Finding the silence awkward, Therese whispered in a low, trembling voice.
Raive stood up from the throne just to test and saw that the white door didn’t close this time. He smiled, glancing at the other four, and declared confidently.
"Yes."
Hearing his short answer, everyone went silent for a moment.
Then, after a bit longer.
"Y-Yes! We can survive!"
"I... I can finally see mommy!"
"With this, I can finally go home...!"
"Looks like I’d be living a day longer, huh..."
The four chanted different motivations for their survival while following behind Raive. They all headed for the white door, but Raive stopped before it for a moment.
"..."
He was worried.
When he entered the red "exit," he died without knowing what happened.
Now, the door is white. But... He was still scared that it was still another trap. Even if he knew he’d only restart the loop, he still didn’t want to die.
"Mister...?"
But after hearing Hershey’s quiet doubt, he slowly closed his eyes... and smiled.
"Nothing." He said, before taking a deep breath and stepping forward. "Let’s go!"
The next moment, he crossed the white door’s boundary.
He closed his eyes, expecting the worst, but...
"...What?"
He... was still alive.
It was something he should be proud of, but...
"W-What is that?!"
"Urp...!"
Although they survived, the scenery around them was anything but peaceful.
The room was just like the one with the five thrones. A circular room about 50 meters in diameter. However, what was different from before was...
"The walls..."
On the walls... no, "inside" the transparent walls, were the bodies of everyone who was with them earlier. All of them broken to pieces and beyond recognition. Almost as if they went through a giant blender before getting "crystallized" into the wall.
It wasn’t a pretty sight.
Rather, it was revolting.
[Congratulations to the five of you!]
But the next moment, the Archangel bitch’s figure appeared before them, one last time. This time, her smile was so refreshing, as if she had just returned from a fulfilling vacation, or just finished watching her favorite movie.
[With this, you five survived the first trial! The gods are pleased with your display! Please get your rewards and leave through that door. It shall teleport you back to where you were before getting summoned here!]
Raive paused, frowning hard.
After all, he just heard a weird word from her.
"...Reward?"