"Sixth…" Aeith spoke. "It might be unfortunate to all of us, but I know that she died happily."
Some of them were confused about what she said, so she continued. "Come on, don't tell me you guys don't know?" They still had the same expression of confusion. "I guess it can't be helped. She told no one after all, but I know some of you are aware." Aware of what? "Sixth and Firstwen, the other leader, are now finally together."
Oh, was that what she meant?
Yes, Second was aware that Sixth and Firstwen had a thing for each other. The proof of that was when Firstwen died and Sixth glared at First during the boys' basketball game in the previous stage. First took a last-minute shot that made Sixth blame First for Firstwen's death. After that stage, Sixth grieved and isolated herself for a time. Her behavior changed, but she gradually went back to her old self as the game progressed.
At the castle, there were subtle hints and glances that they gave one another. Their relationship was discreet, yet their feelings were real, even for the short time that they'd been together here on the nth planet.
She couldn't help her overflowing emotions and cried. She bowed her head to hide her face from them. This was too much to bear. And what made it worse was that they couldn't do anything about their deaths but try to prevent it as much as possible. They couldn't even grieve properly because there would be another game that demanded their lives to be at stake.
"Congrats!" Someone spoke, but she was too preoccupied to listen or see who it was. "This is really ill-fated for all of us, but… we need to get going—not to be absorbed by our pessimism. I, therefore, congratulate the silver team for winning!"
"Huh?" She raised her head.
Did they win? Weren't they the winners? Did she reach the finish line? No, it couldn't be.
She gazed at the red ribbon clinging to the two sticks stuck in the sand, the ribbon already cut.
But who got there?
*bell rings*
"Congratulations, silver team! You won the Wealth Level: Stage 3 water category! The gold team scored a total of 130 points, and the silver team scored 140 points. That means the silver team won!"
She frowned. Aeith spoke to her. "In the land category, we have 70 points. In the air category, the gold team has 100 points. In the water category, you and Sixzen reached the finish line together. Sixzen holds three flags, but you did something to her, so she only holds two small flags with 30 points each, but the big flag you hold is 70 points."
By 'did something to her', she remembered what Aeith meant. The spitting she did in Sixzen's eyes immediately flashed back to her. She spat salty seawater into Sixzen's eyes to stop her from pulling her away. She found out that when the glass bubble burst, there was nothing to protect your eyes. When Sixzen was holding the needle, that must have been the thing that burst her glass bubble.
She was told that Third secretly hid their two small silver flags to defeat the other group after they fought with the shark, but Sixzen got them when she warned Third that they were holding them hostage. Third tracked down their base because of what Sixzen did.
"As for your deceased friends, they died not only because of those sea creatures but also because they used that needle to their advantage," Author stated.
It had to be talking about the gold team's needle that was given at the beginning of the game. The needle that bursts the glass bubble. Sixzen was holding one that she must've gotten from Sectwen when Sectwen could no longer catch up to her.
"I did it," Ninezen uttered. "I'm the one who blew Sixzen's bubble."
Her eyes widened. "Why did you do that?" They could be grouped. She remembered that Sixzen had no glass bubble on her head when she was nearing the finish line, yet she was holding the needle.
"I stopped Sectwen from swimming, but I couldn't stop Sixzen, so I stole Sectwen's needle and blew Sixzen's bubble." He paused for a moment then resumed. Wait, why would he do that to his teammates? "They're being unreasonable, so you deserve to win."
"This stage is supposed to be public schools vs. private schools, but it turned out some of your team members had their own way of winning," Author added.
So, that was how it was. Second had no idea when she got captured when the gold team cornered them; Ninezen was simply standing with no solid reaction to what Sectwen's group was doing to them. But in his mind, he was already plotting something against his team. She didn't know if she was supposed to be glad for what he did or feel sorry for his team.
"You traitor piece of crap!" They gasped when Sectwen slapped Ninezen.
Ninezen didn't dodge, as if he was already expecting it from her. "You, Aeizen, and Thirtwen are nothing but no damn good!" Ninezen betrayed them. Aeizen and Thirtwen did nothing to help. Sectwen's attitude started to change as the game went by, as they slowly regained their memories. Was this the real her?
Author interrupted the heated argument. "That's why you will be the remaining battle 12. Prepare for the next level, the Health Level."
They really won, didn't they? Although she couldn't believe it, sacrifices, deaths, and sufferings seemed to have paid off. So here they were now, facing another game.
"Proceed to the elevators to return to your respective place."
There were twelve elevators made of transparent glass floating in front of them. They entered, and she experienced an extreme elevator ride again, but unlike the previous ones, it was going upwards. She closed her eyes and embraced herself to alleviate her fear of this extreme ride.
When the elevator stopped, they got out, and it sank from the ground again.