Nightmare Game
Copyright© 2025 by CaffeinatedTales
Chapter 87
From the moment they entered this game, Ethan had puzzled over why Arachnis targeted him to open the first chest. Sure, her spies likely pegged him as the group’s linchpin, someone to eliminate to break their spirit. But was it that simple?
As his companions fell, turned into monsters, the pressure mounted. He racked his brain for a way to break the game.
To win, know your enemy.
If beating Arachnis within her rules was impossible, he’d need to step outside her framework, disrupt her balance.
Using the Ape’s Imitation skill, he slipped into Arachnis’s mindset, tracing her motives.
First, her powers: she could transform humans into spider monsters and control them. Her spies blanketed the village, feeding her every detail. Yesterday’s traps with Tessa and Wesley hinted at her ability to drag people into Illusions.
Illusions. A thread to pull.
If he were Arachnis, what would he do with that power?
In theory, Illusions couldn’t affect reality. No point in wasted effort. So, she’d need a way to make Illusion events real, likely through a rule.
The rule: find the Black Pearl Necklace to clear the game, ending the Illusion.
She’d use the win condition as her tool, seamless and natural. Once the game ended, the Illusion’s events would solidify into reality, with no one the wiser.
With control over the Illusion, she could swap the chests’ contents at will, toying with them effortlessly.
But the game had a weakness. If someone spotted the Illusion, her plan could unravel.
Among them, Ethan posed the biggest threat.
Whether for tomorrow’s Ceremony or to keep her game intact, she’d want him gone first.
...
His reasoning aligned, but lacked hard proof. How could he confirm they were trapped in an Illusion?
Hazel and Wesley’s transformations seemed seamless, no obvious flaws. If this was Arachnis’s Illusion, she’d ensure it felt real.
As he mulled, Oliver’s cigarette pack caught his eye. If this was an Illusion, Arachnis could only conjure what she understood. Cigarettes weren’t common here; Oliver rarely smoked. She might slip up.
Then came Oliver’s missing coin, cementing Ethan’s hunch. He had one last check: his Nightmare Game card, vanished along with its pocket.
The cigarette pack and coin were the final clues.
Gripping the axe, Ethan swung it down on the Ivory Effigy’s head.
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