Fantasy Realm [One Piece] [Harry Potter] [Naruto] - [Progression] [LitRPG]

Chapter 116: Rules x Isolation - Inevitable Loss! I'll Take You Down With Me!

Democracy?! Alex thinks, a confused look on his face. What the hell is that supposed to be? An election? This sounds bad!

Bushidora steps forward further to explain the rules: "For now, you 50 examinees will be randomly assigned to one of the 5 buildings you see in front of you. This will be your playing field, so to speak. Each of you will randomly draw a ball with a number from this bag. You! Bring the bag and let them draw."

Alex silently pleads to the system and his LUK stat, No Shalnark, no Melody, no Palm—I don't care about the rest.

A man walks from examinee to examinee, each pulling a small ball with a number. Finally, Alex—who positioned himself at the very back—draws the last ball. He pulls it out and sees the number 1 written on it.

"Now, each of you, go to the building corresponding to your number. I'll explain the rest of the rules once you're inside. Before you enter, grab a wristband placed in front of each building—you'll need those."

Alex walks toward his assigned building, a big smile spreading across his face. He watches as Shalnark, Melody, Linus, Patricia, Eirini, and—thankfully—even Palm head toward different buildings. Looks like Melody, Shalnark, and Palm are all separated, he notes. Eirini and Patricia are in Palm's group, and Linus isn't with any of them.

The only person Alex recognizes in his own group is Emma. Taking a good look at the other examinees walking beside him, he notices they all seem weak. Not bad. I can handle this!

But something feels off. Every single candidate, including Emma, is smiling—and they're all glancing at Alex in particular.

Alex can only quote Obi-Wan Kenobi in his head: "I've got a bad feeling about this." He silently whispers the line to himself.

The groups enter their assigned buildings. Each building is circular, with a smaller, equally round structure attached to it—about four times smaller than the main one.

Alex grabs a wristband labeled 7 and steps inside. The room is unremarkable, though he notes 10 beds arranged in a wide circle, spaced apart from each other. There's a small amount of food, drinks, and basic supplies for daily life, along with some cleaning items.

As everyone settles in, Bushidora's voice echoes through speakers installed in the building:

"Now, this exam is called Democracy, as I've mentioned. The rules are very, very simple. Each day, every one of you must vote twice. First, you'll vote for a leader for the day. Second, you'll vote to eliminate someone from play. Needless to say, anyone eliminated is out of the exam. You must vote every day at 12 AM, and you'll have exactly one hour to cast your votes. So the next exam will be in around 18 hours. The door to the voting room will open at 12 AM and close at 1 AM. If you don't leave the voting room before the door closes, you will also be eliminated."

"There's also a special vote you must hold right now to decide your leader until the next vote. You have less than an hour until 7 AM. If anyone fails to vote, they will be immediately disqualified."

"Here's an important detail: you are required to vote every day. If you fail to vote on both questions, you will be eliminated immediately. Votes are registered using your wristbands. Each wristband has a visible player number, and you are not allowed to hide it. You must also allow others to see your number."

"To vote, stand near the console in the voting room and input your vote using the wristband."

"One final rule: if the person elected as leader also receives the most votes for elimination, they will be spared, and the person with the second-most votes will be eliminated instead. If there's a tie in any of the votes, the results will be decided by random chance."