Tadashi's return shocked everyone as if they'd seen a ghost.
Shouta: "How are you standing here? I saw you get crushed to death!"
Tadashi: "Oh, did you~?"
Shouta: "Stop playing games!"
Shouta looked at Ayano and found her equally stunned.
Shouta: "She's not acting either... She didn't know about this..."
Tadashi: "Alright, let me explain. First, the trap I left - why do you think I did that?"
Shouta: "You were trying to make one of us fall into it."
Tadashi: "Correct. But you discovered it. So what do you think my next move was?"
Shouta: "Searching for more dice?"
Tadashi: "No. I never changed my plan. Even after you found it, I still planned to use it against you."
Gurin: "Huh?"
Tadashi: "It started when you kidnapped Ayano and waited on the third floor. That made me suspect whether you knew about the trap. I needed confirmation, so I attacked from the opposite side. Earlier, I'd rigged the lights to cut out temporarily. When I walked with my head down, I kept my eyes closed to adjust to darkness. When I approached you, I deliberately touched your pocket to make you think I wanted the dice."
Shouta: "But that doesn't confirm whether we knew about the trap."
Tadashi: "Right. That's why I needed you to tell me yourself."
Tadashi pulled out a walkie-talkie.
Shouta immediately checked his bag and found that one device missing.
Shouta: "You stoled one of them... in the dark..."
Tadashi: "Yes. I heard you talking about wanting to kill me. You revealed yourself to me."
Shouta: "That explanation isn't enough."
Tadashi: "Right, let me continue. After confirming you knew about the trap, I attacked again - this time from the trap side. Repeated the same movements: closed eyes, looked down. The only difference? I planned to step on it deliberately."
Shouta: "Wait, what?"
Tadashi: "The trap launched me into a ventilation shaft. The darkness hid everything."
Shouta: "Those shafts are extremely narrow. How did you know one could fit a person?"
Tadashi: "I Found blueprints in the surveillance room."
Shouta: "What about the blood?"
Tadashi: "Oh, you mean the blood bag I stole from you before we even started?"
Shouta: "..."
Shouta swallowed his words. His oversight of small details had caused his defeat.
Gurin: "But the points..."
Shouta: "He must have gone upstairs after the first blackout... No need to ask..."
Shouta spoke with complete defeat in his voice.
Tadashi: "The blood bag, surveillance room, your walkie-talkie, ventilation blueprints... I wouldn't have gotten any of these without you."
Tadashi took a 10 dice from his team's box.
Tadashi: "Found this inside a light fixture. It was above our heads the whole time. You can have it."
He tossed it to Shouta, who caught it mechanically.
Was this from the broken lamp he'd found earlier?
Shouta stared at the dice, deep in thought.
What truly caused his defeat? Overconfidence? Neglecting details? Underestimating someone worse than him? If this was an ordinary person's level, what about the King himself?
Ayano: "Why didn't you just place the dice and win normally?"
Tadashi: "If I did that, who would be my partner?"
Ayano: "You're such an idiot..."
Referee: "Enough talking. Winners, prepare to leave."
Two referees approached to blindfold Tadashi and Ayano.
Gurin: "If you think I'll let you leave, you're dreaming."
A referees blocked Gurin's path. When Gurin tried to punch him, the referee tasered him unconscious.
Shouta knelt to check on his brother while watching Tadashi.
Shouta: "Don't leave yet."
Tadashi ignored him, walking away blindfolded with the referees.
Shouta: "Tadashi"
No response. A group of referees surrounded Shouta and his unconscious brother.
Shouta: "Tadashi..." He said it one last time, with utter despair.
Tadashi and Ayano departed with the referees, leaving Shouta and Gurin behind.
...
On their way back, both sitting with eyes covered:
Tadashi: "Why so quiet?"
Ayano: "Nothing."
Tadashi: "Don't tell me you're feeling bad for them."
Ayano: "No but... I was completely useless. He said if he defeated you, no one would care because I'm a terrible partner..."
Tadashi: "Don't let his words get to you. You're just new."
Ayano: "If you say so..."
Tadashi: "If you were truly useless, I wouldn't have come back for you."
Ayano: "I guess that's..."
Tadashi: "Come on, who would be my partner without you?"
Ayano: "Me..."
Tadashi: "Of course we'll continue till the end."
Ayano: "We will."
...
I just hope the rumors I heard about him aren't true.