The west monitor flickers and a video begins to play.

Welcome to the [Werewolf Game]

Twelve zodiac animals live in a village in harmony. However, three creatures are vicious Wolves in disguise. When night falls, the Wolves will gather and select an animal to ‘murder’, removing them from the game.

This situation may seem dire, but the Townspeople have two weapons they can use to fight these wolves.

The first weapon is the daily Trial. Every day, the players will search for the Wolves and vote for who is suspect. The player with the most votes will be executed.

The second weapon is that two Townspeople will be Blessed with powerful hidden abilities at midnight. One will become the ‘Healer’, who can choose another player during the night and protect them from the Wolves. The other will be the Seer, who may choose another player each night and understand if they are Town or a Wolf in disguise.

The Wolves win if their numbers are equal to or greater than the Town, since at that time the Wolves would completely control the flow of the game. The Town wins if they successfully execute all the Wolves.

Check the Card provided to see your role. Beware: showing the Card to another player leads to gruesome death from the [Gods].

A slot pops open in the wood, dispensing another device about the size of an iPhone. I glance at the image that flickers on it before sliding it out of sight.

[https://i.imgur.com/7vmvnxW.png]

Town. That’s my role.

Preventing another player from voting in the Trial, refusing to vote in the Trial, or telling someone your ‘real name’ also leads to Death.

You may also use your Card to view more detailed rules and review your role.

Otherwise, we wish you luck as you outwit one another in this deduction game.

The video shuts off.

DAY ONE ⌂ VOTE TIME

It says that simply in big, wide, text. The monitor at our knees flashes and changes to a new UI.

[https://i.imgur.com/jL50Ha6.png]

The timer, however, remains the same. It continues ticking, ticking…

56:40

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

56:39

56:38

[Tiger]: Hey, what do they mean by Death? They can’t mean death death, right?

[Yuri]: Isn’t it natural in a game of mafia to say that people die? It’s probably just a phrase.

A tall, blue-haired girl interrupts, speaking in a steady voice:

[https://i.imgur.com/vsoZ7kv.png]

[Rooster]: This is an organization that drugged us and kidnapped us. I don’t want to believe it, but killing us isn’t out of question either. The only way we’ll know is by testing the rules…

[Rooster]: But the first person to do so will take on a great risk.

At this, the [Rat] stands, half-slouched. He’s a scrawny guy with mussed up hair and a lazy grin. Despite his shrouded face, he seems oddly familiar.

[https://i.imgur.com/1AaZzZN.png]

All eyes are on him.

[Rat]: I know, I’m just oozing charisma.

His footsteps ring out in the chamber until he’s by the double doors.

[Rat]: I’m not breaking any of the rules. I’m just trying to, uh, go to the bathroom.

He tugs on the handle.

*click*

[Rat]: Tch, locked.

*click* *click* *click*

[Tiger]: They can’t cage us!

She swaggers towards the door and kicks, skirt fluttering.

*thud*

It doesn’t budge.

[Tiger]: Fuck!

[Ox]: Let me try.

[https://i.imgur.com/alTuxaH.png]

The [Ox] is opposite of the [Rat]; stout, reliable, and clean.

He cracks his knuckles, backs away, then hurtles shoulders-first into the door.

*thud!*

*thud!*

A brown-haired girl who had been quiet until now speaks up, and quite loudly at that.

[https://i.imgur.com/PwaOOFU.png]

[Horse]: If we all do it together, maybe we can escape!

[Rooster]: Rather than escape, wouldn’t that mean we’d all just die…?

[Rat]: Nah. We’re not escaping. We’re all just trying to ‘go to the bathroom’, that’s all.

As we crowd around the door, pounding, scratching, and clawing, two people stay behind. One is the [Rooster] who writes in her notebook, slowly. She presses her pen to her forehead and sighs; she had moved her chair closer towards the door for a better view.

The other is the [Goat]. His face, which was pale before, is now near-vampiric.

[https://i.imgur.com/Wx95Li1.png]

[Goat]: I’m not feeling too good…

His glasses slide off and clatter onto the floor. He begins to cough, blood-flecks spattering the table.