TWLPOD 38

Confirming the added phrase ‘Lives at stake,’ Aran narrowed his eyes.

‘It’s changed. I guess this means they haven’t been idle for the past three years.’

The surprise attack right before the fortress opened, the internal structure that was different from his memory, and even the trap installed on the floor. He had not thought it would be the same as last time, but if there was one thing that had changed the most, it was the ‘Key’s’ ability itself.

‘This has become tricky.’

Until three years ago, it was an ability that was only used as a password by asking ‘awkward questions’ on the way to the core.

He had never imagined it would be converted into this kind of offensive measure, and in the end, it was also a way to apply psychological pressure by making it possible to kill his allies with a single finger depending on whether the answer was true or false.

‘I’ll be fine, but I’m worried if that guy can concentrate.’

After confirming that communication was impossible due to jamming, he dodged the attack of the ‘enemy’ written in the question.

“Well, for now…”

He pressed the [O] button and, as if treating the dozens of machines blocking the path to the door as transparent, he began to walk.

As machines that had just been made after repeated developments, they brandished a wide variety of weapons, more flexible, faster, and stronger than humans.

Aran nimbly dodged and steadily moved forward. White footprints were left on the floor following his steps.

And when he arrived in front of the door.

At the end of the pure white shimmer, a suspended, regular hexagonal, opalescent light shot up.

As thousands of spears embedded themselves into the ceiling without any gaps, a dazzling curtain, like an aurora, was created.

Drip, drip drip—

The android machines, hung from the ceiling like beheaded corpses, began to drop a rain of green oil.

With time still left after felling all the machines, he slowly took off his coat, put it over his head, and grasped the doorknob to the next room.

“…”

He then raised his eyes and stared at the camera above the door for a moment, before proceeding as if nothing had happened.

Next, Kay, who had entered a pitch-black room, checked the new question on the violet screen.

Question: Can you kill the enemy in this room within the time limit?
Lives at stake: 30
O, X
Time remaining to answer: 01:00:00

As soon as he read the question, Kay reflexively lowered his body. His instincts had sensed killing intent, and in the darkness, what appeared in the spot where he had been standing was a silver line.

“Ugh.”

It was a paper-thin difference. A few strands of his hair having been cut off, he generated a small flame to light up the space.

‘…A sealed room?’

Since his ability to use fire had been revealed, it was a natural mechanism if they were to create a confined space.

Espers’ abilities are practically close to superpowers, but they are not invincible, and they require conditions and costs to balance physical side effects and their powers. Similarly, Kay’s pyrokinesis could not escape the laws of physics.

Oxygen is inevitably required to burn something, and if the oxygen runs out in a sealed room like this, the only one who would die would be the human, Kay.

‘I can’t use a large fire.’

Staring at the approaching android, Kay collected his breath and fiddled with his bracelet. Then he detached the firmly attached red jewel and held it in his hand.

— It’s a gift.

Aran had purchased two items at the Boreum auction. One was the memory chip his father had requested, and the other was this very jewel called [Armorium].

It looked like a small, shiny stone, but it was a rare ore that, when imbued with light, would restore itself into a remembered shape it was once forged into. The jewel, having absorbed the light of the fire, blazed up and took the form of a sword. He grasped the scabbard, which came with red, ornate decorations and a long strap that could be tied around the waist, and drew the hilt.

Clang!

With a sharp sound, a spark flew, and the android was thrown back by a stronger force than it had expected.

‘An opening.’

Kay gripped the still not fully tempered longsword with both hands and slashed cleanly in a straight line. Screech! Metal was caught beneath the surface that seemed to mimic human skin. He put his strength into it, but his wrist only twisted and it would not go in any further.

Whirrr—

The lens inside the android’s eyes, which had taken a counter-attack stance, rotated, and a swift sword strike flew at him.

Kay pulled out the blade and retreated. In the moment his body was in the air as he dodged with light movements. The enemy did not miss that brief instant. Kay repositioned his sword to block the machine that flew at him at a precise angle after finishing its calculations. His body was flung back with the impact.

The human body, flying at an explosive speed, slammed into the wall, and a dull thud echoed throughout the entire space.

The wall surface cracked and fragments rolled on the floor.

[“Verifying biological activity.”]

The android machine confirmed the figure amidst the dust through its eyes, which had been replaced with infrared lenses.

“…Hah.”

The android, which looked sturdy and heavy, was far faster than expected. It was certainly stronger than the ones he had seen so far, and its attack patterns somehow made Kay uncomfortable. As if it were saying, ‘You’re weak to this, aren’t you.’

‘Still, if I were to answer, it would be [O].’

Kay stared alternately at the system window and the attacks, without pressing the button.

‘What is this feeling.’

A situation not much different from the last one. All he had to do was answer, defeat it, and if it was determined to be the truth, move on to the next room. But something was bothering him.

‘Something…’

The feeling of missing something important.

‘Truth and lies. The time limit. And… belief.’

[“Kill. Kill. Kill.”]

Watching the machine that was repeating its command, a thread-like possibility suddenly occurred to him.

“Perhaps…”

Time limit: 00:26:53

This truth game might have a different, real meaning.

‘If my prediction is wrong, thirty people will die. Besides, confirming this won’t change anything. But…’

He loathed the situation where he had to calculate and weigh human lives.

But the difference between knowing and not knowing was beyond comparison, and he needed confirmation. Watching the constantly falling numbers, Kay wanted an answer he could accept.

Time limit: 00:12:39

He hesitated. Time did not wait for him and flowed by helplessly. From thirty minutes to twenty, from twenty minutes to ten. And he decided to endure whatever answer came back from this decision.

— Just endure the blame.

Even if words directed at someone sometimes change course and fly back at oneself.

“Hoo.”

Kay threw away even the remaining time.

Dodging, dodging, and dodging the charging android in a purely evasive manner, when the remaining time became [00:00:01].

That was when he pressed the button.

And the floor was dyed violet for the appraisal.

[Appraisal Result]

The violet light shone on the floor, and a faint vibration occurred once. Not long after, clank—!

[It is the truth.]

With a creaking sound, the door to the next room opened.

“…Right. So this is the truth.”

Question: Can you kill the enemy in this room within the time limit?
Lives at stake: 30
O, X
Time remaining to answer: 00:00:01

Kay looked down at the [X] button he himself had pressed.

And he passed into the next room, dodging the android that was still swinging its sword at him.

He frowned as he heard the door close and lock behind him.

It was the moment a twisted antinomy was determined to be the truth.

‘I thought it was strange.’

From the moment he heard that the anomalous entity’s ability was the <Truth Game>, one question had constantly existed in Kay’s mind.

‘How will it determine the truth?’

When he saw the first question, he thought it was possible.

Can you see this question?

Because that could be clearly divided into true and false. But.

Are androids your enemy?

Can you kill the enemy in this room within the time limit?

From the moment he saw the successive questions, the crack that had formed became a level he could not ignore.

If the countdown had started after he pressed the button, Kay would have pressed the [O] button without much thought.

‘With my ability, I can obviously kill an android like the one just now.’

That is the truth.

But right before placing his hand over the [O] button, watching the continuously decreasing timer, it suddenly occurred to him.

‘Within the time limit.’

What if, at the moment of answering, it was absolutely impossible to kill the android within the remaining time?

While calculating the remaining time, he once again recalled the given proposition.

[“The god of this fortress proclaims.”]

[“I shall test your belief.”]

The answer was in the problem.

‘Belief.’

That word struck him squarely in the mind.

‘Because it’s impossible to kill the android in the remaining one second.’

By creating a physically impossible situation and having him answer that it was impossible, the Key’s ability determined Kay’s answer to be the ‘truth.’

This made it certain.

Belief.

This massive fortress was, in itself, a lie detector, and it determined truth and falsehood based on the ‘tester’s belief.’