32 The Golden Ticket

'KABOOM'

The news fell on Haruki's head like a nuclear warhead.

His whole being reacted. His mind spun, creating several responses that his mouth immediately gushed out, before Haruki choked in anger.

The fury was such that his body came to life, and he expressed himself by gesturing his arms and hands, emphasizing his outrage,

"What do you mean, Abe-san? 'The deserving one.' What about the other five men? How can you think of taking one of us and leaving the others? No, Abe-san, please tell me I was wrong, and that's not what you said," the singer could not believe in such nonsense of a man who was said to be one of the greatest philanthropists in the world.

"Miyake Takao-san, it's a noble wish that everyone could win the prize and take part in the event. However, this is an individual game. And only the winner will be allowed to go to 'Tanabata Matsuri Destiny'. Where you will enjoy its services and products, accumulating experience and gold. And the winner will take part in the Masquerade Ball with my sweet Miyu-chan, ahem I mean, Niko Sawada-chan, as his companion. The vessel is currently anchored on the east side of the 'Princess Island' waiting for its illustrious passenger to join and leave on an unforgettable five-day trip. But first, you must go to your respective room. There you should look for the next clue, which will take you to the 'Golden Ticket'. Whoever finds all the clues and gets to the Golden Ticket first will win. Good luck, gentlemen, and may the best opponent win."

Abe straightened his spine, ending his speech with a small content smile.

Haruki jumped from his place, near the wall to the center of the room in front of the screen,

"What? Wait, Abe-san, don't hang up. I want to talk to you. Your first appearance is to put us in a competition?! And the grand prize is to take part in a party and an ocean liner tour? Well, what about the fact that we are real people trapped within your game, do you have anything to tell us Abe-san? I am so disappointed with you, Abe-san! I want to make it clear that, A) I am not 'The Athlete'; B) nor am Miyake Takao; C) I am Takeda Haruki; D) we are all real human beings here, and not toys; E) we are trapped in this otome game. And last and most importantly, F) we want to be released! We want to go home!" the singer spoke with his arm raised with his hand next to his face, enumerating each point, without evaluating the consequences of his words.

At the same time, Abe Hiroshi was twisting his head as if each letter of the alphabet was a lash. His eyes were wide open. He jerked away from the table, taking everyone by surprise, and came to the front of the table and knelt,

"Sorry," Abe Hiroshi bowed. With his face on the floor, he said,

"I didn't want to believe it was real, and that people could be absorbed into a game."

"There is no need to kneel, Abe-san! Please get up" the singer asked with his face burning. He didn't expect this reaction from the tycoon.

Abe-san got up slowly, running his hands through his hair.

He looked to the side, gesturing yes. There were definitely more people with him. Standing, he turned to the video call,

"I don't know how it happened. But those responsible are already working to get you all out of the game," Abe Hiroshi spoke looking at a fixed point beyond them. His expression was empty. Which left many doubts about his sincerity for Haruki.

"My daughter doesn't have much longer to live. Miyu knew you from your social networks and admired you, so I ordered this game to be made. I requested it to be as real as possible, and they did it better than I could have expected. So I ask you to treat her well, and especially not to talk about this situation with her. She thinks you are the Artificial Intelligence of a system. Miyu is too sensitive and the truth can kill her."

And looking into each of them in his eyes, he concluded,

"I will reward you for everything."

The singer confirmed his suspicions. Abe Hiroshi wouldn't admit he had deceived them, nor that he trapped them within the game to fulfill his daughter's last wish. For he would admit to having committed a crime _ several crimes, in fact. And Abe-san believed it would be enough to pay them for their trouble and everything would be fine.

'Breathe', he thought, calming the anger inside him. Haruki thought about his family, his friends. How much they should have suffered from his disappearance. 'What was this man thinking? He's inhuman.'

The transmission has ended. And an ad appeared on the screen. They were supposed to go to their rooms.

"The 'show' must go on," said Saito wryly.

"Well, since we're still here, I want to visit Tanabata Matsuri Destiny," said Hinata, and left the game room.

"I don't know what you're going to do, but I believe if Miyu-chan gets upset or sick because this game, our chances of being rescued are zero," pondered Takashi.

"I also want to go aboard Tanabata Matsuri Destiny. I go to my room. I agree with you, Takashi-san," Yamada Daisuke informed them.

"Takashi-san, don't you want to run for the prize too?"

"No, Saito-san. I prefer to do a little exercise. Does anyone else accompany me?"

The remaining four men in the room agreed and went for a run on the beach.

"I also agree if Miyu-chan is not spoiled by us, we may never leave," Saito revealed his thoughts to the other three men.

"But there's no guarantee that Abe-san will take us out after she dies,"

Sasaki Jun looked out to sea, where the vessel waited for the 'best' of the group, "That hypocritical hammy son-of-a-bitch."

"Jun-san, the reality may be this. But we will remain optimistic," Takashi asked, "The optimistic are the ones creating strategies to resolve crises. And I don't want to disappear into an Otome game."

Haruki looked at 'the Nerd' remembering with regret that he foolishly had labeled him a loser. He was a pleasant friend to be around, always sincere and reasonable. The singer shrugged off his whining mood to think of something useful. As Takashi said, it was better to think in a way to circumvent that stupid contest.

"Gentlemen, I have a challenge for you," he who walked alongside the companions of misfortune, ran ahead of them to turn around and face them.

"Let's find the Golden Ticket and tear it up in six parts, so we will all go to Tanabata Matsuri Destiny!"