Light and Darkness
We will now hold the fourth vote.
I felt a weight hanging over me.
The fight was over.
I would lose.
It was unavoidable.
Let us tally the votes.
Yuji Fukunaga Tetsuzo Sato Takayoshi Miura Shingo Fujita Hiroto Kitamura Kosuke Tsunoda Teruyuki Eda Takahiro Kikuzawa Nao Kanzaki
Fourth Vote
Hiroto Kitamura Kosuke Tsunoda Tetsuzo Sato Takayoshi Miura Shingo Fujita Teruyuki Eda Takahiro Kikuzawa Nao Kanzaki
Fifth Vote
You look pathetic, Nao.
Your loss is now an inevitability.
You don't have to rub it in.
But all this sitting and waiting is boring, don't you think?
Well?
How about going one-on-one with me?
If you win, I'll give you all thirty of my votes.
You'll give me your votes? Is that possible?
Votes belong to the player who's earned them.
They can be freely bought and sold...
using these M Tickets.
Yes, it's possible.
If both parties agree, we'll change the vote totals on the board
at the next tally announcement.
You see?
But what if I lose?
You'll pay me 30 million yen with your M Tickets.
That's so much.
But I'll still be stuck at zero votes if I don't at least try...
Well? Up for it?
What exactly do you want to play?
The game couldn't be more simple.
Playing cards?
I brought them to kill time.
But my deck has an unusual feature.
A double-backed card!
It's a misprint that got mixed in with the others.
My game uses two cards: the double-backed one and a joker.
Incidentally...
Which do you prefer, light or darkness?
Well... light, I suppose.
Oh?
The game is simple.
I put the two cards in this bag where they can't be seen
and mix them up.
Then you draw one of them.
When you do, make sure we can't see its face side.
Right.
What we see here is the back of the card,
and its face side could be the joker or a copy of this design.
There's a fifty-fifty chance of either.
If the card comes up as your preferred "light" side,
the card's face side featuring the joker, then you win.
If it comes up the "dark" side, the reverse design, then I win.
If the card is face-up when you draw it, it won't be fair,
so we'll return it to the bag and try again.
First to ten wins takes the game.
Simple, no?
There's no way to cheat you in this game.
I mix up the cards. You draw them.
It's unimpeachably fair.
Well? Up for it?
Let's do it.
If I were to win, I'd get thirty votes.
If Fukunaga-san did, I'd give her 30 million yen.
We drew up the contract on M Tickets, and the game began.
Go on. Flip it over.
It's the face side! Yes!
I won!
Goodness. You're going to take my thirty votes, you little thief.
Nao
Fukunaga
|
Well, it's a fifty-fifty game, so it's bound to happen.
Nao
Fukunaga
|
The game continued swiftly on.
And in the end...
Nao
Fukunaga
|||| |
|
||||
|
||||
|
You're inept at trickery and unlucky to boot.
Transaction with: Yuji Fukunaga
Nao Kanzaki
Amount
Terms: Prize if Nao Kanzaki loses in a one-on-one card game
Well, I'll be taking this now.
I lost.
It was my only hope, my last chance,
and I still lost.
Are you crying again?
A-Akiyama-san!
Akiyama-san...
What are you doing here?
All those annoying calls I was getting suddenly stopped.
I asked the LGT Office, and lo and behold, you'd entered the revival round.
And here you are with that doomed expression.
You're losing big-time, aren't you?
Akiyama-san!
Good grief.
I told him everything that had happened.
Even luck has turned against me.
Luck, huh?
You think you lost that game because of luck?
The very notion you had a fifty-fifty shot at that game was BS.
Fukunaga set that all up so she'd win.
What?!
How did she do that?
Let me ask one question.
Why were you assigned the face side?
I chose it.
She asked if I preferred light or darkness,
and I said light.
So "light" means the card's face?
And if you'd picked "darkness," you would've gotten the reverse?
Wouldn't I?
No.
If you'd answered darkness, she'd have said the joker symbolizes darkness
and still assigned you the face side.
The game is designed for the reverse side to win.
What do you mean?
Think back on how you played.
Fukunaga mixed up the cards, and you drew one.
At this point, the chance that you'd pull the double-backed card was indeed 50%.
But when you drew a card face-up, you returned it to the bag.
You see the trick now?
Fukunaga's card had two backs to it.
It couldn't be drawn face-up, so it would never be returned to the bag.
But your card had a face and a back.
There was a baked-in 50% chance of it being returned to the bag.
Which means you were only getting the joker a third of the time.
Reverse
Reverse + Reverse
Reverse + Reverse = Fukunaga Wins
Reverse
Reverse + Reverse
Reverse + Reverse = Fukunaga Wins
Reverse
Reverse + Face
Reverse + Face = Nao Wins
Face
Face = Restart
Your chances of being the first to ten with one-in-three draws
were a mere 6% or so.
It was extremely unlikely that you could ever win.
Why am I so stupid?
Why did I agree to play that crooked game?
Well, don't sit here crying about it.
Go take back what you lost.
We can't even play the games?
Fukunaga-san.
I want to play that game one more time.
Does she realize I rigged it?
No way. I could have easily lost the first time.
I understand your reservations.
So I'll give you even better terms than before.
If I win, you only have to give me ten votes.
But if I lose, I'll pay you 50 million.
You know there's no way to string ten votes into a victory.
But compromising is the only way you'll agree, isn't it?
You think you can win?
I don't know about that...
But it's really a fifty-fifty game, right?
You won the first round, so I figure maybe it's my time.
She really can't get any dumber!
Very well, but on one condition.
Can we keep the rules of the game the same?
Sure!
Then I'll play.
And so began the second duel between me and Fukunaga-san.
Another one for me!
Looks like I'm almost there.
Nao ||||
Fukunaga |||| ||||
|
And you're practically done for.
This is supposed to be fifty-fifty...
Why can't I seem to draw the face side?
It's strange...
Something's funny here.
There's no funny business whatsoever.
Now, let's keep the game going.
I've got her!
There we go!
Yes!
I did it!
Another for me!
Nao |||| ||||
|
Fukunaga |||| ||||
That's strange...
Something's funny here.
Are you... cheating?
It's a fifty-fifty game.
Why wouldn't it turn out nine to nine?
If you think something's funny about that...
Is it because you're cheating somehow?
Certainly not.
Now, let's move on to the final draw!
Nao just got a lucky streak.
I have twice the chance of winning.
I'll take this last draw for sure!
All right, flip it over.
Yes! I win!
Why? How?!
Nao |||| ||||
|
Fukunaga |||| ||||
This is weird.
You did something. You cheated! I know it!
What makes you say that?
We both had a fifty-fifty shot.
What's so weird about me winning?
If you don't make good on your M Ticket within three minutes,
I'll tell the dealer that you broke our contract.
Though I'm afraid that will come with a 100-million-yen penalty.
Damn it!
I had won.
I'd put one over on that sneaky Fukunaga-san!
Let's give her a taste of her own medicine.
Challenge Fukunaga to the game again.
You want me to challenge her?
But I only have a 6% chance of winning.
That's why you're going to cheat.
Cheat?!
In mahjong, there's a form of cheating called "ganpai."
You mark the backs of tiles and use that to tell them apart.
But I'm pulling cards out of a bag.
I won't be able to see any markings.
You'll tell by touch.
For example, I've put a small notch in the side of this card.
You're right! It's so obvious to the touch!
Right?
At the start of the game, you'll mark a card.
Just make sure the one you mark is the double-backed card.
With that, you can pull whichever card you want.
Right.
You just need to be mindful of one thing.
Be sure to pull the double-backed
Nao ||||
Fukunaga |||| ||
|
and regular cards in a ratio of about two to one.
|
Why should I do that?
Fukunaga knows the game's odds are rigged two to one in her favor.
As long as things proceed at roughly that rate, she won't get suspicious.
Of course!
If I let Fukunaga-san take the lead, she won't realize anything's off.
Once she gets to nine and you have five, begin drawing only your card.
Nao ||||
|
Fukunaga |||| ||||
Nine to six, nine to seven...
|
Fukunaga might start to get suspicious at this point.
But she won't be able to find anything amiss,
because the only marked card will be the one inside the bag.
Of course! That's why I'm marking the double-backed card!
|||| ||
|||| ||||
|
Then you'll hit nine to eight.
|
At this point, Fukunaga will become deeply suspicious.
But by then, it will be too late.
It will be impossible for her to discover the trick with only two draws left.
Nao |||| ||||
Fukunaga |||| ||||
|
She fell right for our plan!
I will now reveal the results of the sixth vote.
Yuji Fukunaga Tetsuzo Sato Takayoshi Miura Shingo Fujita Hiroto Kitamura Kosuke Tsunoda Teruyuki Eda Takahiro Kikuzawa Nao Kanzaki
There has also been a change in the vote totals,
Yuji Fukunaga Tetsuzo Sato Takayoshi Miura Shingo Fujita Hiroto Kitamura Kosuke Tsunoda Teruyuki Eda Takahiro Kikuzawa Nao Kanzaki
which we will now display.
A change in the votes?
What's that mean?
Tetsuzo Sato
Takayoshi Miura
Shingo Fujita
Hiroto Kitamura
Kosuke Tsunoda
Teruyuki Eda
Takahiro Kikuzawa
Yuji Fukunaga
Nao Kanzaki
Nao Kanzaki got ten votes?!
And Fukunaga's votes went down!
How?
The next vote will be in one hour.
Until then.
Hey, what's the story here, Fukunaga?!
You've got your measly ten votes, but you still can't win.
Amazing work. You really put one over on ol' Fukunaga.
But still...
Ten votes doesn't help me.
Untrue.
Those ten votes are how you carve a path forward.
Tetsuzo Sato Takayoshi Miura Shingo Fujita Hiroto Kitamura Kosuke Tsunoda Teruyuki Eda Takahiro Kikuzawa Yuji Fukunaga Nao Kanzaki
Seventh Vote
Tetsuzo Sato Takayoshi Miura Shingo Fujita Hiroto Kitamura Kosuke Tsunoda Teruyuki Eda Takahiro Kikuzawa Yuji Fukunaga Nao Kanzaki
Eighth Vote
Well?
How does it feel to sit helplessly on the chopping block?
I wasn't really just sitting helplessly.
I had to play the doomed victim in front of Fukunaga-san,
all while I was quietly working behind the scenes.
Kikuzawa-san!
I need to ask you a favor.
Uh...
We can talk about it after the game's over.
Wait!
I'll give you 70 million yen!
Just hear me out. Please!
As you know, I've only been able to earn ten votes.
There's no way I can win.
Yeah, that's a real shame.
It's all right.
I've accepted that I'm going to lose this game.
But there's one thing I can't stand...
At this rate, Fukunaga-san will enter the third-round game
with an advantage over the rest of you.
You know that she's getting money from all of us?
Yes. And not just that.
She also stole 30 million from me!
Th-Thirty million?!
So she's got more than 70 million over the rest of us?
That's right!
She's going to have a 70-million-yen lead and easily sweep the third game!
Yeah, that's not good.
Right?
For the person who deceived you all in the second game to come out on top...
I find that deeply unjust.
Yeah, agreed.
So...
I want to give you all of my remaining 70 million.
What?
After observing everyone over the course of this game, I picked you.
You're the best person to beat Fukunaga-san in the third game!
Y-You think so?
You're an automotive engineer.
You understand machines.
I think that's a powerful weapon to have.
Most of all, you had the determination and courage to stand up to that LGT official!
The only thing Fukunaga-san has over you is money.
So if I give you my 70 million, you'll be even.
Then, since you're the stronger player, you can beat her in the third game!
Yeah, I think you might be right.
But... you sure you wanna give me 70 million?
I can't give it to you for nothing, of course.
In exchange, I want ten of your votes.
Ten of my votes?
Wait, I can't do that!
But you can.
Votes belong to the player who's earned them.
You can buy and sell them at will.
Remember the sixth vote?
That was because I won a bet against Fukunaga-san and took ten from her.
Transaction with: Nao Kanzaki
Amount
Yuji Fukunaga
Terms: Give ten votes to Nao Kanzaki if she wins in a one-on-one card game.
Hey, yeah.
Still, why do you want ten of my votes?
An official told me there are other revival rounds being played.
It's a tournament. That makes sense.
And apparently there's been a dropout, so there's an open seat in the third game.
That open seat
will go to the revival round loser who managed to secure the most votes.
Okay...
The other games have already concluded,
but the current loser with the most votes has nineteen.
So if you get just ten more...
I can move on to the third-round game.
We all know I'm going to lose here,
so it makes no difference where exactly the rest of you place.
Which means that over half the votes in your total are meaningless.
Isn't it only logical to sell some of those votes for money?
And I get to use them to save my place in the game!
Yeah, that's a win-win!
And that's not all.
If I make it to the third game, I'll do everything I can to support you.
I promise I will!
I can enter the third game with money to rival Fukunaga and an alliance?
What do you think?
I'm down! Sounds great to me!
Thank you so much!
We added a number of clauses to the contract.
The payout of the 70 million would only take place after the votes were moved.
In other words, after the tally of the ninth vote
Transaction with: Nao Kanzaki
Terms: To be paid after ten of my votes have been moved to Nao Kanzaki after the ninth vote. Payment may be made anytime before the tenth vote. This agreement may not be spoken of with any other players.
Amount
and before the tenth vote began.
And we agreed not to discuss the nature of our agreement with anyone else.
Okay, that'll do it!
All right, let's work together in the third game and take down Fukunaga!
Yeah!
Then came the ninth vote.
I will now reveal the results of the vote.
Tetsuzo Sato Takayoshi Miura Shingo Fujita Hiroto Kitamura Kosuke Tsunoda Teruyuki Eda Takahiro Kikuzawa Yuji Fukunaga Nao Kanzaki
Next, I will reveal the movement of votes.
Here we go!
I'm going to lose ten votes, and Kanzaki will gain ten.
What the...
Nao Kanzaki Tetsuzo Sato Takayoshi Miura Shingo Fujita Hiroto Kitamura Kosuke Tsunoda Teruyuki Eda Takahiro Kikuzawa Yuji Fukunaga
Wha...
What the hell?!
Hey! What's going on here?!
What do you mean?
I got ten votes from each of you!
Ten votes... from each of us?
You tricked me!
And what's wrong with that?
This is the Liar Game.
It's all about tricking people.
Right?
A-Akiyama?!
When did you...
You'd better come to terms with it.
The paradigm just shifted.
The person in full control of this game is Nao Kanzaki.
Your lives are completely in our hands.
Next Time
Salvation