System:
Death Game: Boom and Explosion — Started.
The arena warped into a wild forest. Trees stood like silent sentinels, leaves rattling in an air thick with smoke. Kars immediately vanished into the undergrowth, hunting for a hiding place.
"I can't let my guard down — I've died here five times already," Fujimiya muttered, breath ragged.
From somewhere in the foliage, Kars hurled a bomb. Fujimiya saw it and dodged with ease. He drew his sword, surged forward, and stabbed.
"Got you." Kars' voice sounded confident.
Fujimiya's strike met a sudden flash. Kars' body emitted light — not flesh, but a humanoid bomb Kars had set as a decoy.
Duuuaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
A massive explosion ripped the forest, fire and dirt spraying in all directions. Kars peered through his spyglass from afar, lips curled into a small smile.
"Easy victory," he said, lowering the glass and moving away.
Krek.
"What—?" Kars froze. One foot would not lift. He looked down and realized he was standing on something that clung fast.
When he glanced around, the clearing was ringed with time-bombs.
"Since when—?" he choked.
"Yo. How do you like my plan? Pretty good, right?" came Fujimiya's voice from above.
Kars' confidence crumbled. He had thought himself the hunter — but the trap had been set long before.
Duuuaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
"It was one of my plans," Fujimiya explained, his voice calm as if he were reciting a lesson. "In the first loop I fell for Kars' humanoid bomb. In the second loop I used deduction to guess Lears' position and pretended to die when his trap triggered; when he relaxed I lunged and pressed the sword to his throat — but Kars stuck a sticky bomb to my leg and detonated it. In the third loop I realized I always returned to the start and my stats increased; so I teamed up with strategy players to fight him, but at the last moment he used an atomic bomb and wiped us out. In the fourth loop I got frustrated and relied on brute force with just my sword, dying pointlessly. In the fifth loop I fought desperately — I neutralized most of his bombs but made one mistake and he killed me with a tracking explosive. I memorized all his moves, analyzed every bomb he had, and then copied them."
A tracking bomb shot toward Fujimiya. He threw his dagger, striking the device and shredding its casing.
Kars remained badly wounded — his leg was blown off — and only a black barrier protected him now.
Fujimiya lunged. Kars, panicked, tossed a handful of grenades. Fujimiya danced through them effortlessly.
"You're rushing," Kars snarled, forcing a strained smile.
Kars trapped Fujimiya inside a detonating barrier — a sphere of explosives that would shred anything inside.
"I admit your plan is good, Fujimiya. But you're still reckless and far too hasty." Kars' voice dripped with triumph.
Duuuaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Kars smiled wickedly. "You were a hard opponent, Fujimiya. But I'm afraid you'll die quickly."
Then he frowned. Something was wrong — why hadn't the victory notification appeared?
A blade slid into Kars' back.
"This is over," Fujimiya said.
He set a grenade to finish the game.
System:
Game Over.
Winner:
Fujimiya.
Eliminated:
Kars.
All of Kars' wealth — without exception — transferred to Fujimiya.
The forest arena dissolved, returning to its ordinary appearance.
Lears and Elsyia stared in shock. Fujimiya had defeated Kars in a Death Game.
Riene watched him with newfound interest.
"I expected as much. He isn't an amateur player," she murmured.
The three approached Fujimiya, curiosity written plainly on their faces.
"Hey, Fujimiya — you pulled that off even though you clearly fell into Kars' trap," Elsyia said.
Fujimiya only gave a sly smile. "It was a diversion. Kars is cautious — he doesn't act rashly."
"So why did you still win?" Elsyia pressed.
"Luck smiled on me," Fujimiya said coolly.
Riene laughed at that.
"Why are you laughing?" Lears asked, glancing at Riene with a puzzled expression.
"Luck?" Riene said. "No — your planning and strategy were clever, and your deduction let you guess where Kars would vanish and place traps at his hiding spots. You were suddenly behind Kars even though you'd been trapped and bombed a moment ago."
Fujimiya's grin widened.
"Seems I shouldn't underestimate a strategy-game player."
"I figured you set up a meticulous strategy and trapped Kars," Riene added.
Fujimiya pointed to Kars' house — now his by right of victory.
"Come in. This house is mine now. I'll explain my strategy to you."
They entered and sat in the parlor. Riene leaned forward. "So — what trick did you use, Fujimiya?"
"Exchange magic," he replied.
"You swapped your position with something else?" Kars — who, despite being eliminated, had been dragged out and was still conscious — spat.
"You're from another world too; how do you even possess exchange magic?" Elsyia asked incredulously.
"That's one of my blessings," Fujimiya said casually. He relaxed as if talking about the weather. "Well, not exactly. During my loops I gained ten stats each time, and my Focus increased, which boosted my magic and speed. I learned to teleport at a speed beyond light itself. I deliberately stabbed Kars' bomb and then planted an explosive at his hiding spot. When I got trapped, I almost died because my Exchange was on cooldown — but the cooldown ended in time and I survived."
"Now, let's begin our first steps," Fujimiya said, his smile turning sly.
They all nodded.
"Let's raise our nation to prosperity, to be like other countries," Fujimiya added, expression sharp and calculating.
To be continued.