The Nebula's Civilization

Sung-Woon said, "...And it’s probably Hegemonia leading that team."

"Is that what you think?"

"She has the most points and is actively trying harder as a mafia in this game."

Hegemonia judged that Sung-Woon hadn't appointed Aldin by mere coincidence. f reenovelkiss.com

Identifying the insiders to some extent could reveal who the mafia were. Moreover, Hegemonia's hand signals, despite being highly secretive, could still potentially be recognized.

HumanTracker slowly said, "...If we accept that theory of insiders, it's true that the civilians wouldn't have much leeway."

Hegemonia raged through the internal network.

Hegemonia: Why would you admit that?

HumanTracker: Should we have denied it? It's more important that the internal network remains undiscovered than giving up on one round.

That was reasonable.

Krampus: But aren't we still at an advantage?

Hegemonia: Right, we already have four votes.

With nine players remaining, four votes were just one short of a majority.

However, when the discussion time ended, the voting results deviated from Hegemonia's expectations.

[The vote has been completed.]

[Result of voted from 9 players:]

[Hegemonia 5, Sung-Woon 4]

"Are you joking?"

[Agree 5, Disagree 4]

[Hegemonia was hanged by the civilians.]

[Night has fallen....]

But the game wasn't over. Wisdom could kill a civilian overnight and lead public opinion with Hegemonia's insiders, whom he was unaware of.

The player Wisdom randomly chose to kill was Lakrak, which turned out to be bad luck because unfortunately, Lakrak was saved by the doctor.

Hegemonia ultimately raged from behind the curtains again. "Why would anyone save Lakrak! He hasn't even been mentioned once in this entire round!"

Because they were added midway, the roles of the doctor and the police were not revealed even after the game ended.

Then Lakrak said, "I was the doctor." Everyone was dumbfounded, asking why he saved himself instead of someone else, to which Lakrak just shrugged. "...I didn’t want to die unjustly by the mafias."

Aldin muttered, "...He’s nuts."

Meanwhile, the one who had declared themself as the police was Ovenwave, who was one of Hegemonia’s insiders.

Because of this, it was revealed that the police had died on the first day, and Sung-Woon was questioned by the other players on how he, as a fake police, managed to find the mafias.

However, Sung-Woon just laughed awkwardly without answering.

‘Wait.’

Due to this, Hegemonia couldn't help but consider a new possibility.

‘What if Nebula was the real police?’

If that were the case, the recent game would unfold entirely differently.

‘...What if Ovenwave, who first claimed to be the police, was actually not the police?’

Hegemonia looked at the three people in the internal network.

Krampus: Well, this is....

HumanTracker: There’s nothing else to say other than it was bad luck.

Ovenwave: That’s unfortunate, Hegemonia.

Hegemonia: It's just a storm passing.

Hegemonia said that, but she could no longer ignore her suspicions.

‘Surely she wouldn't betray me now, would she?’

***

After four more games, a smile was nowhere to be found on Hegemonia's face. It was because she had lost five consecutive games following Sung-Woon's fake police game.

On the other hand, Sung-Woon had gained 2 more points, reaching 7 points and closely followed Hegemonia.

‘There's definitely something.’

Hegemonia tested Ovenwave with careful observation and clever probing, but there was no conclusive evidence that Ovenwave had betrayed the insiders.

‘There's only one way left to find out.’

Hegemonia created an additional chat room in the internal network. Then, she left only herself and Ovenwave in it.

Hegemonia: Hey, you.

Ovenwave: Yes?

Hegemonia: Have you ever owned a dog?

Ovenwave: ...Pardon?

The game was ongoing.

However, Hegemonia was among the civilians, and Ovenwave also claimed to be one. Coincidentally, since both Hegemonia and the insiders were all civilians, there was no apparent strategy, and HumanTracker and Lunda were in an argument, so she had some spare time.

Hegemonia: I've had a dog before and at first, when you tickle it gently, it smiles, rolls over, and it's just all over the place. It listened well, too. Like, if you say come here, it came, and if you say go there, it went. But this damn dog....

Ovenwave: W...what happened?

The voting among the civilians began, and Hegemonia and the insiders decided to vote against Lunda.

Hegemonia: I threw a ball and asked it to bring it back, but when it did, it wouldn't let go and just growled at me, showing its gums. Funny, isn't it? The ball was originally mine. So, I reach out my hand to take it back, and would you believe it, it bit my finger.

Ovenwave: ...Oh, that must have hurt.

Lunda started making excuses, and Hegemonia lightly clicked her tongue. Due to the majority of agreement votes, Lunda was killed and got blurred.

Then night fell and the curtain was drawn.

Hegemonia: That's not the point. The lesson of the story is....

Ovenwave: Th...then....

Hegemonia: ?

As the curtain lifted, day dawned.

Ovenwave: You should have taken better at feeding it.

[...Day has dawned.]

[The victim of the third night is player Hegemonia.]

Hegemonia got up from her seat. However, since she was already blurred, the other players didn’t notice.

Ovenwave: You found out later than expected. Or did you find out but confronted too late?

Hegemonia: ...You jerk!

Ovenwave: With...all due respect, I don't think now is the time for you to be angry.

Hegemonia: What do you mean?

Ovenwave: The promised amount, you don’t have it at all, right? Not even enough to pay one person, let alone three....

Bribery was done with money, but Hegemonia had none.

Hegemonia: Fool! I already paid you a deposit, didn’t I?

Ovenwave: I heard you went into a lot of debt... How were you planning to pay the success fee?

Hegemonia: There's a way for the success fee to come in after I win.

Ovenwave: From where?

Hegemonia explained, appearing somewhat desperate.

Hegemonia: Outside this game, bets are being placed on us. A lot of money is at stake. Gold, shops, and even coins. If I just win, the money bet on me will multiply, and that will come to me, earning me more than enough.

Ovenwave: Then give me five times the promised amount.

Hegemonia: What?

Ovenwave continued,

Ovenwave: If what you're saying is true, then I'm not just receiving money for participating in the game, but I'm actually the one earning it for you, right? If the conditions of the contract have changed, then naturally, the success fee should change too, shouldn't it?

Hegemonia: ...Even if I win and receive the money, I can't make five times the amount. It's not that much.

Ovenwave: Then how much can you give?

Hegemonia: 1.5 times.

After a moment of silence, Ovenwave said,

Ovenwave: I know you. You're not the kind to stoop your pride beyond a certain point for me, nor do I think you'd ask Sung-Woon to borrow some money after winning the game, so I'm gonna quit helping you.

Hegemonia gritted her teeth.

Hegemonia: ...Who told you?

Ovenwave: I'm actually a Constellation myself, so I keep my communication networks open.

If Ovenwave knew about Hegemonia's financial situation, there was no guarantee that the other insiders didn't know as well.

Hegemonia pondered how to escape this difficult situation.

Ovenwave: Don't worry. I won't tell the other two. There are no permanent friends or enemies in this game, right? I’m just gonna leave the internal network without any explanation and continue to participate in the game sincerely. This game is fun.

Hegemonia: ...Do you expect me to say thank you?

Ovenwave: No way.

Ovenwave sent an additional message,

Ovenwave: But it's quite noisy outside. Are you sure you'll be alright?

Hegemonia immediately cut off contact with Ovenwave and opened the communication network window with her Apostles, which she had closed for concentration. Even though it was just for a brief moment of playing the Mafia game, the volume of messages was enormous.

Hegemonia checked the message at the top.

Hegemonia: What happened?

Hegemonia's Apostle, Alma Alloy, said,

Alma: We've been caught!

Hegemonia: Caught?

Alma: It's the Empire guys again!

***

"I've known since a long time ago."

At the central stadium of Little Orazen, usually one could see athletes running on the track, but that wasn’t the case right now. The audience who filled the stands were cheering at the sight of the Constellations' game displayed on the large screens located on each side of the stadium.

Hwee-Kyung, occupying one of those seats, said to Sairan, "People in desperate need of money always dream of becoming rich overnight."

"So, you predicted that the Angry One would bet on herself? Well, I guess you did gamble a lot in the old days."

Hwee-Kyung lightly tapped her antlers. "Thanks to these."

The spirit that dealt with the Demonic Magic of Probability had now left Hwee-Kyung’s antlers but it was still present in the Hall of Myriad Stars, and they occasionally met.

Sairan said, "Then what was the call you made earlier...?"

"Since I know someone at the Central Bank, just asking a few questions lets me know about the Angry One's financial status and where the money has flowed. Before the game, apparently Alma had withdrawn all of the Angry One’s money from a secret account. And why would they need so much cash?"

Hwee-Kyung gestured toward the stadium.

Among the cheering people in the stadium, there were undoubtedly those supporting Sung-Woon and the other Constellations, but there also would have been those who had bet a significant amount of money.

"It's gambling."

"Now, all that's left is to secretly communicate that fact without the Angry One knowing it was me!"

Knowing that Hwee-Kyung disliked making a fuss in crowded places, Sairan didn't show much reaction other than a slight smile. And Hwee-Kyung was satisfied with Sairan's tail wildly wagging and tapping him on the back of his head.

Sairan said, "It's just a matter of time now."

"Well, that's that, but...."

"Is there something else?"

Hwee-Kyung turned to Sairan and said, "Shall we make some money too? Does our lizard have some money in his pockets?"

At that, Sairan scratched his chin and said, "Hm, Hwee-Kyung...there's actually something I haven't told you...."

***

HumanTracker: Well...I had somewhat expected this.

Hegemonia: ....

HumanTracker: Since I've taken the deposit, I'll make sure not to tell Krampus.

Hegemonia: ...Alright.

HumanTracker: I'll continue participating in the game. It's not bad for entertainment.

With that, HumanTracker also left the internal network.

Hegemonia then proceeded to say that Ovenwave and HumanTracker had just left due to different contractual conditions not being met, and Krampus seemed to believe it as he didn't make any further comments.

'Does he still not know? I guess he was always a bit oblivious.'

Fortunately, not all was doom and gloom for Hegemonia. Somehow the game turned out well, and Hegemonia gained another point, moving ahead of Sung-Woon with 9 points.

'It's done. I don’t need to worry about the insiders anymore. The game is practically over. No point in regretting the money spent to get here.'

As always, a healthy mentality was a condition of a great gamer. And Hegemonia was a great gamer.

'The only problem is...'

The first to die in the next game was Lakrak.

Possibly due to Hegemonia losing power, the game was somewhat chaotic, and in the recent few games, players other than Sung-Woon were dying. This was a common development as the Mafia game went on, so it wasn't surprising.

Hegemonia looked at Sung-Woon across the round table.

'I'm on the same team as Nebula.'

If Hegemonia were to win, the game would end that way. And that was the problem.

"What, is there another police besides me?"

"Dang, I'm also a police."

"...Why are there three police?"

The players who came forward claiming to be the police were Wisdom, Yummy, and Aldin. One could potentially be the real police, and another could be a mafia.

'...Then the other one is just a civilian trolling.'

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