Part 103: Meow

_{content warning: emetophobia}

[BGM: Rat's Awakening]


I began to hyperventilate. It felt like a compressor in my stomach was squeezing me to death. I physically felt ill, like vomiting. ...Actually? Yeah, no, I was about to vomit. I've heard some people describe vomiting as 'cathartic'. Those people should be locked in a prison on an island forever. It's a horrid feeling, your insides falling out of you. And when it was done, I didn't feel better, but much, much worse. My head felt so heavy, I almost fell right onto the puddle of vomit.

Why? What did I do to deserve all of this? Why can't I just get my life back? I never did anything wrong! I was a good kid! I had a life! I had friends, dreams, enemies, struggles, fears, deadlines! My life felt like a slog at times, but at least it was my life! Never before had I so desperately wanted something. I just wanted to return to normal. I didn't want to do... to do this.

But. How productive is this?

Like a switch had been flipped, my body stopped shivering. That's right, me. That's a talent of yours. You can flip that 'fear' switch off. Freaking out accomplished nothing. I could only move forwards with a steady hand. Breathe in. Breathe out.

...Okay. I thought about what had happened.

[BGM: Hear No Evil]


When I didn't freak out over remembering the death of Dog, I knew my technique had worked. Still, I felt bad about it. Dog... he was a weird dude. He had kidnapped me without my consent for seemingly half-decent reasons, but there was definitely more to it than that. He had known about a lot of dirty secrets for a long time. He claimed not to care much for life, but... the look of fear that crossed his face that day? No one deserved that. In the end, he was someone who had been murdered. He would be missed.... but thinking any more about his death would be a waste.

So, what was strapped to my stomach? I lifted up my shirt and took a look. It was... some sort of metal device. If we were to go by precedent, it was probably a device that could kill me. Awesome. Was it even worth trying to get it off me when I already knew the outcome of such an attempt? Probably not. I decided to go check out the computer. Last time it was a tablet. Now a computer? I tried interacting with it, but it was powered down. Great. Well... there was but so much that could be done inside this classroom. At some point, I'd need to move forwards.

Exiting the classroom, I found myself in a hallway. It was at this point that I was certain that this school was a separate one from the place I had previously been imprisoned on. I was clearly on the first floor of the building... It was hard to tell from my current location, but it seemed like this school was a lot smaller than the one I had been at before. Looking on the floor, I noticed a trail of taped arrows leading me, well... somewhere.



I guess that's where I was supposed to go. However, before I could move anywhere, I noticed a familiar face walk out of a nearby classroom.

Ox!

Mouse!

Relieved to see someone I knew, I rushed over and hugged him. He responded a little awkwardly, but ultimately responded by embracing me in kind.

I'm so glad to finally see somebody else!

And I'm glad to know you're not dead. ...Although, I must say, I have a number of questions.

Uh, yeah, that makes two of us. It seems we keep finding ourselves in thoroughly unreasonable situations, huh?

Indeed.



Say, why's this school empty? Is it not a school day?

Mouse, how could you be so foolish?

It's winter break.

...Really? I swear it hasn't been that long since the Zodiac Race.

It has.

Maybe winter break starts earlier nowadays. ...Anyways, probably more important things to talk about.

Indeed.

I gave Ox the short version of everything that had happened with me. As I explained it to him, he nodded, as if he had expected something like what I was saying. In turn, he gave a brief recap of everything that had occurred on the outside since I was kidnapped. He also talked about how all the past victims had been summoned to Dog's bar, how another mysterious voice spoke over the speakers, and how they were all ambushed.

So... basically, it looks like it's starting up again?

Ox took a deep sigh.



That would appear to be the case, yes.

To what end, I remain entirely uncertain. The supposed mastermind of the previous incident should be dead, and yet we are all here. A true mystery.

At this point, I think we don't really have any choice but to roll with the punches.

That's about where I'm at with things at this point. But hey, if we're doing a repeat, we should all be able to get out again, right?

...If we're doing a repeat.

Well, I admire that you're able to bounce back from being cast into hell so quickly.

Pouting's not gonna solve anything, right? My father used to say the only way out when you're in the middle of the forest is through.

I suppose you're correct. As absurd as it is, we've not much choice but to play the proverbial game once more. ...Very well then. I suppose these arrows are leading us to the “start line”?

It would stand to reason.

Resigned to our fate, we followed the arrows. They took us down a long, straight, winding hallway that passed by a number of classrooms. Eventually, we took a right turn, and then two left turns up a short staircase that brought us to a second floor. Moving a bit forwards from there, the arrows led into a library. And, in that library... were 9 familiar faces.

[BGM: Bullfighter]


Mouse! Ox!

Ah, there you two are. I was wondering when you'd join us.

S-so we really were all brought back...

Were you expecting something else?

God, this fucking blows!

...Anyways, I guess it's nice to see that you haven't died yet, Mouse.

What about me?

You can go fuck off and die any time you want, you classist prick.

Okay then.



This feels oddly familiar. ...I don't mean that as a good thing.

It's almost like all that work we did to not die the first time was for nothing!

Almost.

So, all of us were brought back.

Except for Dog. Which, uh, makes sense.

Actually, ugh...

Pig looked sick.

He... was brought here. Just not...

I didn't need to finish her sentence.

Christ, that's messed up.



What's the point of transporting a corpse like that?

To keep things truly thematic, I suppose.

I guess.

In the back of the room, Rooster was leaning against a wall, looking furious. Well, it was an understandable reaction, but compared to how he took things seemingly in stride last time...

Are you okay there, Rooster?

Okay?! Do I look okay to you?

Fuck! Things were finally going right again, and then this bullshit starts up again?! The hell is this?! Dying before was one thing, but now that my star was finally starting to rise?

Hey, hey, calm down. We got through things before, right? We can do it again!

Seriously Mouse? You told me to face reality last time, I think. Well, who's not facing reality now?

[BGM: Silence]


We got through things last time by a fluke. A random loophole we were lucky enough to catch early on. You really think things will go that smoothly this time?

That's...

Before I could say anything else, a voice played over the speakers.

???: Attention, bidders. Please, be silent. A very important announcement is about to begin. Anyone who disrupts said announcement shall be punished.

And just like that, a projector stacked on a bookshelf nearby turned on, and began to project a bizarre video on the whiteboard. Last time, we were greeted with a live feed of Brian in a mask and hoodie.

[BGM: Rat's Awakening]


This time, however, we were shown an image of what looked like a cat burning in hell, drawn in a very crude art style. Gothic horror wouldn't be the term to describe this style... ...Snake would be better suited to describe it than me.

Hello, dear friends! Glad to see you all back, together again. I'm sure you've missed each other. And I'm sure you missed the thrill of the race.

I know you previously met with the Jade Emperor. He put you all on trial, and you passed his gauntlet fine enough. So then, are you all free to rejoin the world? ...I think not. I think he was too kind on my fellow sinners.

And so, it falls on me, The Cat, to truly put you all to the test. I'm sure you're –

Suddenly, Monkey spoke out.

Okay, that's enough! I can't do this whole thing again! Whoever's behind this, stop hiding behind these masks! I'm sure with an earnest discussion, we could figure out ho–

AAAAAGH!!!

All of a sudden, Monkey winced in pain, clutching her stomach.



That, my friends, is what you call a warning. The next person to interrupt my explanation will be silenced in a much more permanent manner.

We all got the point.

Very well then. I understand that you all have been through a similar experience before... so no need to slow things down going through all the gritty details.

You all already know that the device strapped around your stomach can not be removed. You already know that it can be used to execute any of you at my will. You all already know that exiting the building before the game has finished will result in execution. Let's just get to the juicy bits, shall we?

That is to say, the rules of the game you will all be facing off in... The rules of the Zodiac Bid!



The screen changed to an image of a wheel, with the Zodiac Animals all wrapped around it.

First things first, I want to explain how scoring will work in this game. It's a little complicated, and it's absolutely critical to understanding how to play, so we'll start with this.

Throughout the game, you may be able to collect 'Animal Cards'. The thing about these cards, though, is that their point value is dependent on who has them. Let me explain through example...

Say the Mouse collects a Mouse card. To her, it will be worth three points. Say she also collects an Ox card and a Pig card. Since each of these animals is one space away from her on the wheel, these cards would be worth two points each.

Following this pattern, for her, the Tiger and the Dog card would be worth one point. The Bunny and the Monkey would be worth nothing. The Dragon and the Rooster would be worth negative one point. The Snake and the Sheep would be worth negative two points. And Horse, a full negative three points.

However, as I said, the points awarded to a card is based on distance on the Zodiac Wheel from that owner. So, if Ox or Pig got their hands on a Mouse card, it would be worth two points. If the Horse got their hands on a Mouse card, it would be worth negative three points.

Simple, is it not? If you understand these basic rules, then you already understand half the game.



This game will take place over the course of 12 rounds. There are a total of 48 cards – four cards of every animal.

The first two rounds, 9 cards will be dealt on a 'communal table'. The next three rounds, 6 cards will be dealt. The next four rounds, 3 cards will be dealt. The final three rounds will commence without any cards being dealt.

Every round will last for thirty minutes. At the end of the round, the cards present on the communal table will be displayed on everybody's computer. Then, for the next 33 seconds, everyone will be forced to take an action.

Failure to take an action in a round will result in an execution. Operating a computer that doesn't correspond to your animal will result in an execution.



There are a total of four actions you can take during a round.

You can attempt to TAKE any card currently on the communal table. If you're the only person to take that card, congratulations, it's transferred to your 'hand'. However, if multiple people attempt to take the same card, it will be ripped in the struggle, and nobody will receive the card.

If nobody attempts to take a card, the card will remain on the communal table until someone attempts to take it.

If you have cards in your hand, you can choose to SET a card on the communal table. If you do this, the card will appear on the communal table in future rounds until it is taken.

Alternatively, you could just directly GIVE a card to a fellow player. That will transfer the card directly from your hand to theirs.

Finally, if all this card transferring business is too much for you, you could always choose to CHECK another player. If you do this, you'll learn how many cards that person has in their hand.

That's also not the only way of getting info. At the end of even-numbered rounds, the current point total of every player will be projected in this room.



Anyways, the game continues until someone can amass a hand worth 9 points. At that time, the animal with the winning hand will be considered the “dominant animal”. Then, we'll check who has “dominant animal” cards in their hand.

Whoever has the most “dominant animal” cards in their hand will be proclaimed the winner! And, in the case of a tie, there can be multiple winners. The winner(s) will be able to leave this building peacefully.

On the other hand, all non-winners will be faced with execution. How exciting! ...So that's that, basically. The rules are pretty simple, don't you think?

Anyways, the first round will begin shortly. ...Oh, I suppose there are two more things I should mention.

Firstly – if all twelve rounds pass without somebody assembling a 9 point hand, I'll just have to declare the game null and void. In that case, I'll just execute everybody!

Secondly – it'd be mean if people got caught off guard by the 'action phase' of the round starting. To help with that, a warning will play throughout the school two minutes before the action phase begins.

Okay then, ready to have some fun? Show me a game that's a little less predictable, why don't ya?

And just like that, the projector shut down.