Alice in Borderland: The Cycle Continues

40) Aftermath ✮

===Maeda Mihoko===

"Everyone, I understand that following last night, you may feel tense," Kazetani began, "but rest assured, we have sorted everything out."

I stretched, covering my mouth as I yawned. It was 12 p.m., and the executives had gathered everyone in the lobby once more to update us on the situation concerning Erina.

But regardless, the plan went smooth; the members of Maindo had been subtle in their celebrations, but there was still a final roadblock–actually stealing the cards.

After that, it was simply a matter of having everyone who incorporated from Maindo gradually choosing to leave the Beach, or pretend to die off in games, whilst regrouping in a new, distant location.

There would come a day where even I could leave, yet I barely had done any hard work other than scaling the Beach with Zakū—I was too lucky, and the thought put a smile on my face.

"We have locked..." Ryota paused. "We have locked Erina up, as per our vote. She is being kept in the basement, behind a constructed cell. If you want proof, you may go down to verify yourself after this announcement is over. We will facilitate an organized system of viewing her."

"Anyways, I'm sure you're all curious to know the new system in place now that we know the truth behind the cards." Kazetani said. "Like what I said last night, we will be using the same system that Maindo and the ruined Beach used before, which is a numbering system. The Number One will be first in line to leave after a full deck of cards is assembled. Then the second-in-line will step into place as the new leader and each person will shift upwards one. The same is true if a person leaves or passes in the game."

He cleared his throat, continuing to talk while pacing the platform. "However, there's more ways to move up than just waiting. Contributions of high-value cards or resources will also get you promotions."

After he finished, a man wearing a light jacket with shagging hair—who I presumed must've been Chihaya—pulled forward a projector, while Haga followed, flipping a few switches after it was in place. The lobby lights dimmed, as the projector switched on, showcasing a list of names.

In first place was Ryota, followed by Kazetani. 'So it appears we weren't lucky enough to have Kazetani or anyone else in Maindo automatically assume number one.' I concluded.

"What?" Someone in the crowd shouted. "How can we trust Ryota wasn't colluding with Erina this whole time?"

"Because not even I knew where the cards were." He responded. "Think about it: If I knew the true location of the cards and the condition to leave the Borderlands, why would I work with her to this point? Why would I have not betrayed her at an earlier point and made off with the cards when most of the deck was already assembled?

"Now," he continued, "I understand that that evidence is likely not enough, so to quell any residual suspicions, we had the location of the card safe and its combination revealed to three other people as a control, so you can be sure I'm not colluding with Erina for her to simply pass the code down to me. Those three people are Kazetani, Gabura, and Haga.