"No! That didn't count, or more like...!" Throne fumbled over his words, "Who cares about the game in this situation!? Are you not seeing this?!"
"Yeah, sounds like something a loser would say." I mocked him, though we still stood a way's away from him and the bat roach, "Isn't that right, Gale?"
Surprisingly, Gale was just as silent as before. He hadn't uttered a single word ever since I had everyone start the game. He does realize the game ends when someone says something, right? You can talk now, dummy! Actually, his sullen silence was quite noticeable, no matter how paradoxical that might sound. It was as if he was lost in thought, his body moving on instinct as it cleanly pierced the bat roach's head with the mandible sword.
"Whoa, whoa!?" Throne shoved him, "I had it under control, you didn't have to get Gray matter on me!"
"..."
"Just because it didn't wanna attack you doesn't mean it wasn't gonna attack us soon after." Vastoria pouted, "Throne, quit acting childish."
"What she said. Now's not the time." Sheep summed it up perfectly, "We got lucky this time, so let's not waste our chance and leave before any more of them show up."
With a begrudging click of his tongue, Throne had to let slide Gale's kill just now. Really, thinking of taming one of these things is just asking to get killed. I expected such a stupid idea from someone like Gale, or heck, even me, but Throne? This Shrine really does change people from their very core, it seems. Regardless, given this round of "Who utters" is over, I figured it would be for the best to start a new one.
"Who utters a word, steps..."
"Shut up with that stupid game, it almost got us killed!" Throne chewed me out, "Tch, all because of Gale wanting to make me lose. His damned competitive nature would've been my end had my arm not saved me..."
"The game...? N-No, that wasn't-" Gale finally spoke up properly, "I didn't want that beast to attack you guys, so I had you keep quiet as much as possible. Needless shouting would have attracted it to you, and I was the only one with a proper weapon."
"Eh? And here I thought you were just trying to win." Sheep grinned.
"Thank you for that, Gale." Vastoria smiled warmly at him, "I'll admit I misinterpreted the order as well, but it was your call that ended up saving us. Thanks a bunch!"
"Same here." I smiled.
"Hm?" Throne glanced between Gale and Vastoria, "Am I sensing something between you two? No wonder Vastoria's been sucking up to you so much, Galey! A real charmer knows how to get them under his spell!"
Come again, dumbass? You want a free nose job courtesy of my fist in your face? I can't exactly blame you for being ignorant, since we never announced it to the team, but Vastoria is MY girl! ...Oh, but it still really ticks me off, given the way he said it! So what, just 'cause Vastoria has been consistently choosing Gale's good ideas instead of your bad ones means they must be romantically inclined? By that logic, I'd be such an easy woman to the point where it wouldn't even be funny! Tch, if he wanted to get under Gale's skin with this stupid comment, then I'm afraid he struck the wrong target!
"Fueh?! N-No, Gale and I aren't...!" Vastoria got flustered, "To begin with, M-Migu... uhm..."
"Are you freaking deranged?" Gale said with a calm, yet stern response, "It's one thing to call me out constantly, but don't you dare get the others involved, jackass."
"Don't worry, I didn't actually mean it." Throne teased, "You'd never pull a girl as good as her!"
"...What?" Gale facepalmed after an uncomfortably long pause, "The hell do you think this is, a love drama novel? We're escaping a goddamned dungeon filled with death traps and giant man-eating bat bugs, where the hell did love talk come in to play? Seriously, you goddamned troglodyte, I'm genuinely asking you if you hit your head on the way here, 'cause there's no other plausible reason for you to be this freaking dumb!"
"...."
"Pfft." Vastoria and I stiffled our laughter.
"...Tcheh!" Sheep was the first to crack fully, "Bahahahaha! Troglodyte, he said! Heh, you tell him, Gale!"
"Shut your mouth, you!" Throne pointed a finger at Sheep.
"Nah, I think you ought to do that." He shot back instantly, "Don't make fun of Vastoria next time, unless you want Gale to tear you a new one."
"Gale is a dear friend, so hearing you say that really hurt me." Vastoria added, only to realize what she said could've been taken as an insult to Gale, "A-Ah, no offense."
"Of course, after all..." Gale glanced at me before winking, "I don't go after taken ladies."
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
"Whuh-"
H-How did he know!? Gale, he's a perceptive one, sure, but this is borderline omniscient levels of knowledge! Wait, was it back while I was trying to wake her up? No, that can't be the case, unless...? No, he couldn't have gotten that impression from our conversations, so then what exactly gave it away?
"Taken? There are no relationships in Heaven 2.0, fool." Throne confidently crossed his arms as the rest of us ignored him, walking right past him to the stairs leading to the second floor, "Huh? W-Why is everyone snickering to themselves!? Objectively speaking, there is no way to remember a loved one from your past lives!"
"Objectively, you're an idiot." I laughed, "Your theory falls through once you realize people can find love after death."
"L-Love..." Vastoria got all Red in the face once she heard such an explicit word.
"Well, isn't that a fun way to end such a NICE chapter?" Gale stubbed his foot from constantly looking back at us as he joked, "Roasting Throne, validating a relationship, and then a wonderful reaction from Vastoria! An all-rounder, truly the best of its kind! Thanks all for reading!"
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"...Huh?" Gale looked around after waving at a random direction, "Oh right, we're only at halftime. My bad, guys."
"What are you on about now?" Throne was pretty sick of hearing his voice by this point, "And you people still choose to listen to a crazy lunatic like him?"
"Beats following you into more danger." Sheep sighed.
Stumbling up the stairs as we awkwardly traversed through the darkness, I couldn't stop wondering what it was that gave Vastoria and me away. We weren't exactly the most showy type of people, and despite me fully expecting someone like Sheep to get it immediately, I didn't expect someone like Gale to even accept it, much less notice and protect it. He's surprisingly sharp and progressive, in that sense. Did he have someone rooting for the other team in his past life?
"Hey, psst." I ran up ahead of the others so that I could catch up to him at the front, "Are you gay?"
"Urk!" He missed a stair the moment I asked, stumbling and falling flat on his face, "Ngh, that came outta nowhere..."
"You alright?" The others got scared.
"Yeah, just slipped is all." Gale reassured them before going back to whispering to me, "Nah, why ask?"
"Well, usually in a group like ours, people don't assume the two girls are the ones that get paired up." I tried talking quietly to not spoil the surprise for Throne, "I wanna know how you figured us out so quickly."
"It's really not as big as you're making it out to be." He pointed to somewhere, "I just heard it from the author."
"Who?"
"Nothing. If you don't get that much, then you're not ready to break the Fourth Wall yet." He shook his head half-disappointedly, "Heh, just kidding. I really don't know how I figured it out, it just kinda looked like that was the case."
"In what sense...?" I sighed with a wry smirk.
This guy's a bit too free spirited. To just go with his gut on something as intricate as human relationships, not to mention get it right on top of that... It's just too crazy to be true. Regardless, I do trust him as the leader a lot more than Throne after this. Not just 'cause he saved our butts on multiple occasions, but also because he cares about us as individuals. Throne's a capable leader, but Gale's just a good guy. And I think I prefer the one that sees me as an equal a lot more than the stuck up guy with a superiority complex. Just my opinion, though. Right, since I got this chance to talk 1on1 with the guy, I should ask Gale that thing that's been bugging me for a while now.
"Hey, what was that about the Gods' offer you were talking about earlier?"
Immediately, his smile disappeared from his face. It definitely killed the cheery atmosphere we had going on around us, but I needed answers. Since I consider him my leader, he should have no qualms about being transparent about this much at least. If anything, just the fact that Throne knows something I don't already pisses me off enough to warrant me asking this question.
"...I don't-"
"Answer the question, please." I kept pressing him to give a reply, "If you could tell Throne, you can tell me too."
"...It's a... no, I wouldn't call it a mistake, per se." He thought about how to phrase it, "Before I went back to the Shrine, I met up with the Gods. They told me some stuff, and offered a reward if I did something in a specific way. The reward was tempting, but seeing what I was doing to you guys just to get it opened my Eyes and made me realize it really wasn't worth it."
"So you're still not gonna actually tell me what that reward is." I chuckled.
"I told Throne, and look what it did to him." He glanced back with his Eyes.
"..."
"...I don't want you guys to hate me, especially not after I decided not to follow through with the offer." He sighed.
I can appreciate him giving me even this much, but I can't shake the feeling that this tiny tidbit of information he's keeping from us is super important. He makes it sound like it's no big deal—like it's all in the past now—but the past can come back to haunt you regardless. This needs to be addressed properly.
"I'd hate you more if you didn't tell me and I found out for myself." I smirked.
"You wouldn't. Trust me, it's that bad." He exhaled, "Besides, how can you be so certain you'll figure it out "all on your own", huh?"
"Mnn, I dunno..." I teased, "Maybe I'll ask the author."
"You... Heh, not bad." He dropped the heavy attitude in favor of a more lighthearted one, "But I doubt he'd answer you. He only likes me."
"What is he, a God?"
"How should I know." He shrugged.
"So, you're not gonna tell us, then?" I asked once more.
"No, sorry."
"It's okay." I said with a bit of a louder tone, "I'll just ask Sab, then!"
"H-Huh?"
"Oh~?" Throne immediately perked up once he overheard us, "Ask Sab? Whatever are you two talking about?"
"Sab, he isn't..." Gale started panicking.
"Hehe, thought I forgot about him, did ya'?" I returned a smug smile, "But if you went to the Gods before the Shrine, then Sab had to have been with you there. I'm just gonna ask him!"
"Oh right, I totally forgot all about that guy!" Throne spoke with his golden snake tongue slithering out, "What about you, Galey? Do you think that guy's still waiting for us up at the entrance?"
"Hrmm..."
"Or do you think he's... No longer there?" Throne approached him with sharp glares, "Do you feel that? Your past is coming back to bite you, and I'm afraid it's about the right time to crack open that nasty can of worms."