Regret?

What was there to regret?

Losing the game wouldn’t cost anyone their life — that alone made this a hundred times gentler than the games outside.

Bai Youwei was fairly certain there were people here who had been forced into the preliminary round against their will, pushed in like ducks being herded.

Just like Tan Xiao and Pan Xiaoxin — they did have puzzle pieces, but they had no particular interest in fighting over anyone else’s. Losing just meant withdrawing from the Maze War. There wasn’t much at stake.

As for collecting all the puzzle pieces to clear every Doll Game and make them disappear — that kind of save-the-world business could be handled by someone else. When the sky falls, the tall ones hold it up.

The Inspector seemed to read the thoughts crossing Bai Youwei’s mind. It asked in a long, drawn-out tone:

“How strange… Everyone seems so lacking in motivation. You’re not thinking that losing doesn’t really matter, are you~?”

The crowd fell into silence. They stared tensely at the stone ball, not one of them speaking.

The ball gave a shake, mimicking a slow shake of the head.

“That won’t do at all!~ A game without the will to win is boring! Dull! Meaningless! Are you really going to hand victory over without a fight? Are you really indifferent to what this world becomes? Once all the puzzle pieces are gathered, anything could happen~”

From within the crowd, someone immediately asked: “If all the puzzle pieces are gathered, doesn’t that mean every game clears and disappears? What else could happen?”

“Hmm?” The stone ball tilted. “Who told you that gathering all the puzzle pieces would make the games clear and disappear?”

The crowd answered: “The Inspector from the preliminary registration said so!”

“That can’t be right.” The ball shook again. “As an Inspector, how could incorrect information ever be stated? Think more carefully — what did the Inspector actually say?”

Bai Youwei furrowed her brows and tried to recall.

Those words had indeed come from the rabbit-headed figure — but its exact phrasing had been, “I’m sure you’ve all heard…”

*I’m sure you’ve all heard…*

Gathering the puzzle pieces to clear all the games was merely something they had *heard*.

She thought for a moment, then spoke up: “I know someone who once obtained a special item — holding it would allow the Inspector to answer any question. His question was: how can the Doll Games be made to disappear? And the Inspector who answered him said: gather all the puzzle pieces.”

The ball let out an unsettling laugh, drawing out its words: “Once all the puzzle pieces are gathered, anything can be done — and that naturally includes making the Doll Games disappear~”

Bai Youwei’s expression shifted. “Anything… what does that mean exactly?”

The stone ball spun in place, its three-colored eye symbols whirling with it. “Goodness, you people really are hopeless! The Maze War divides you into Kings and Subjects — of course there’s a reason for that! What is a King? A King is a ruler! A ruler can do anything they want. Want the games gone? Done! Want the games to continue? Also done!”

It rolled to a stop in front of a short-haired woman and asked her: “You — tell me what your wish is.”

The woman froze, caught completely off-guard.

“Say anything at all, go ahead~” The ball urged her.

The short-haired woman hesitated. “I… I want my family to come back to life.”

“Possible!” The ball said brightly. “A King can do anything they want!”

It rolled to a stop before a bearded man and asked, “And you? What is your dream?”

The bearded man answered gravely: “I want my country to become the most powerful nation in the world. Every last one of those white bastards — dead!”

“Ha ha ha! Sure, sure!” The ball laughed delightedly. “A King can do anything they want!”

The ball rolled and rolled until it stopped in front of Bai Youwei. “And you? Tell me your dream as well!”

It asked with a voice laced with malice: “Do you want the games to disappear? Do you want your loved ones brought back to life? Do you want the world to return to how it was — as if none of this ever happened — so that you can go back to being that lonely, forgotten girl who can’t walk, who can’t go anywhere without diapers, who secretly stockpiled sleeping pills and yet didn’t dare swallow a single one?”

Bai Youwei pressed her lower lip hard between her teeth.

—