Genius of the Generations (A Project: Eden's Garden x OC Story)

Prologue END: The Killing Game?

(Matteo POV)

All of us stepped away from our podiums trying to get a grasp of what was happening. The mysterious man over the speaker, who we now knew as Tozu, gave off an aura of malice with how grandiose he was making the whole situation we were in seem. And what he said stirred more fear into our minds than anything that we had gone through before since we were taken here. 'The Killing Game...'

"...Or you can call me 'Tozu', for short," the man said.

"H-Hey, what do you mean 'killing game!?" Damon spoke out.

"Did you really think the story would end once we reached the climax of the case? Quite the contrary, this is only the beginning!"

"Of what!?" Damon pushed.

"Isn't it obvious?" Tozu hummed, "You my dear subordinates..."

Tozu looked us in the eyes.

"...are going to kill each other."

......What?

"U-Uh..." Kai was too shocked to speak properly. "That's, like...that's not...."

"...That's not funny," Wenona said, unamused.

"...B-But, you said we could go home if we solved the mystery...!" Diana trembled.

"I gave you peasants an incentive. It's not my fault you took it the wrong way," Tozu responded.

"What are you talking about? You lied to us!" Jett shouted.

"Lied? Oh no, no, absolutely not! I'm a fair man - a man sworn to the truth - and if I recall correctly..."

"'Should you all agree on the right answer, you'll be free to leave this place,'" I quoted him, "You purposely kept it vague, so we would continue with the trial without any protest. But in actuality, you never intended on letting us go at all."

"Well, aren't you just a smart little cookie~!" Tozu taunted, "I specifically said, you could leave this room, not go home."

"You...sneaky son of a bitch!" Grace snarled.

"That's...you're full of shit, man!" Kai shouted.

"There you go, losing control of your voice. That's how you know you've lost the argument," Tozu gloated, "Logic is a cowardly thing like that. It'll jump ship the moment it's confronted with a challenge."

...What he said, before... That he was an honest man, that he's never told a lie... If that's true...maybe this really IS Eden's Garden Academy. But then...what is the purpose of all this...?

"H-Hey, why didn't you tell us about your dumb game sooner!?" Cassidy shouted.

"...And watch you peasants run away? Pft! I can't host a game without any contestants!" Tozu scoffed.

"P-Please don't do this... I-I just...wanna go home... I want to be with my family..." Eloise sobbed, "Please...just let me go home...!"

"There's no need to cry, Ms. Taulner," Wolfgang reassured her.

"H...Huh?"

"We're all civilized here. No one is going to kill simply because they've been ordered to."

"What's this? The peasant has a rebuttal?" Tozu mocked.

"A match between unprepared, unfit players... You could hardly call that a match," Wolfgang explained, "In much the same way, this game you've proposed...a 'killing game' between students who don't have the heart to kill... Do you seriously think we'll abandon our morals so quickly?"