Hunter's Game 2: Terror Valley - Chapter 3

“The third round begins now. Video duration: two minutes.”

The video started. This one showed a traffic accident.

A serious pileup had occurred on a highway, seven or eight vehicles crushed together. Paramedics were carrying the injured into ambulances while police directed traffic.

Suddenly, fuel began leaking from one car and caught fire. Everyone screamed and ran. Chaos swallowed the scene.

Then the video ended.

“Here is your question. A warning sign stood beside the highway. What did it say?”

“There are eight choices.”

“A: No Parking. B: Speed Limit. C: Slippery When Snowing. D: Don’t Drink and Drive. E: Bears Crossing. F: Don’t Drive Tired. G: No Overtaking. H: No Littering.”

“You have one minute. Sixty, fifty-nine, fifty-eight…”

Everyone was dumbfounded.

“What sign? Where was it?”

“I think it was on the left side of the highway, near the top of the screen.”

“Who had the left and the top?”

The tattooed Southeast Asian man raised a hand. “I had the left, but I was watching the crashed cars.”

The Japanese girl raised hers too. “I had the top. I think I did see a sign, but it flashed by so quickly I couldn’t read it.”

“Damn it!” The American slammed a fist onto the table.

I stared at the choices, my mind racing.

The cars in the video had been driving on the left. The people were white and spoke English, so the accident had most likely happened in Britain.

As far as I knew, Britain had no wild bears, which ruled out Bears Crossing. The highway ran straight into the distance with no tunnel or sharp bend that would call for reduced speed, so I could probably eliminate Speed Limit as well.

The other six were all common signs. Honestly, none would have surprised me.

The ten-second countdown began.

I chose G, No Overtaking, at random.

“The answer will now be revealed. H: No Littering.”

A triangular sign appeared on the screen. It read, “No littering!”

“Congratulations, Miss Fujii Sakura. You have cleared the stage and will receive a three-star badge and two hundred Katre coins.”

The Japanese girl, Fujii Sakura, cheered. Under the other players’ gazes, she accepted her badge and coins.

“Keep trying, everyone! I’ll be rooting for you.”

She waved and headed for the exit. As she turned, I caught a sly glint in her eyes.

No one knew whether she had guessed or genuinely seen the answer in the video.

I leaned toward the latter.

Four players remained. We quickly redistributed the screen, leaving me the lower-left corner.

There were still two minutes before the next round, but I sank into thought.

We had played three rounds, and every video had been crammed with scattered information. Without knowing the question in advance, watching and memorizing it all without a focus was pointless.

Even four players working together were just blind men feeling an elephant.

Nothing would change if we played another dozen rounds like this.

But Black Goat did not normally create games that depended entirely on luck. There had to be a way to crack it.

What connected the rounds?

I was still racking my brain when the dealer’s voice sounded.

“The fourth round begins now. This video is ninety seconds long.”

This time, a bustling city appeared on the screen: rows of skyscrapers, quiet cafés and bookshops, crowded sidewalks, a dating couple carrying red roses as they passed an old man walking his dog.

There was too much information, scattered everywhere. I did not even know what I was supposed to remember.

All I could do was dutifully memorize my assigned corner.

The ninety seconds passed quickly.

“Here is your question. How many star shapes appeared in the video?”

The instant the dealer finished, the other players groaned.

The American spread his hands. “What kind of goddamn question is that? Who watches for stars?”

The Russian searched his memory. “I think a shop sign had a star on it.”

“The dog’s collar had a star-shaped pendant,” I added.

The tattooed man pursed his lips and indicated that he had seen nothing.

I selected three on my iPad.

“The answer will now be revealed. Five star shapes appeared.”

Four stills appeared: the shop sign, the dog collar, a decoration in a café window, and the shoes worn by the young woman on the date. Each shoe had a star on it.

I stared helplessly at the stars and sighed.

This blind-guessing approach was doomed. You could never know what bizarre question the dealer would ask.

“The questions the dealer asks…” I murmured.

Something struck me like a bolt of lightning.

In that instant, I saw the pattern connecting all four rounds.

So that was it!

That was how they were related!

Understanding flashed through me. But one vital question remained. Unless I solved it, I still could not be certain of winning.

Just then, the dealer spoke again.

“Unfortunately, no player answered correctly this round. You now have a five-minute break. The final round will begin shortly.”

The Black Goat logo returned to the screen.

I stared at it, my eyes widening as excitement blazed in my pupils. Every question that had been tormenting me suddenly fell into place.