Future Diary Survival Game

Chapter 17: Investigation (3)

She hesitated for a moment before replying.

“Yeah. I have a bit of a connection with him.”

“There’s no way Her Highness the Princess would have ties with a gang leader like that.”

“As Aina just said, up until ten years ago, Matets was the master of the Tower of Knowledge. And… ugh. There was a bit of an incident ten years ago. When I came here.”

She paused for quite a while before continuing.

“There ended up being a competition between us as scholars.”

“And then?”

“Well, how should I put it… I, in my youthful arrogance, went a bit too far and…”

“You crushed him.”

“…Yeah.”

Then Aina cut in.

“Ah, right. Now that you mention it, I heard from my father once. That the Imperial Family’s treasure caused quite a stir at the Tower of Knowledge.”

“The Imperial Family’s treasure. It’s been a while since I heard that.”

“Well, compared to your current situation, I suppose it’s hard to believe there was ever such a time.”

“You’re quite sharp-tongued, aren’t you.”

“Thanks.”

Anyway, it seemed that Dwayne—whose real name was Matets—had been thoroughly defeated by the young Armelia.

If he was the master of the Tower of Knowledge, he must have devoted his entire life to study.

It must have been a tremendous shock—and humiliation.

“I heard he stepped down after that incident. Then he disappeared, and His Majesty personally ordered a search.”

“To think he rejected even the Emperor’s search and ended up running the night scene in Mogiren. That man must have had quite the skill.”

“He couldn’t have done it on his own strength alone. But as I said before, the Tower of Knowledge is a gathering place for many influential figures of the Empire. Since Matets was the master, it’s certain he received help from some of them.”

She let out a light sigh.

“A brilliant talent of the Empire strayed down the wrong path. In the end, it’s my fault.”

“Your Highness has a bad habit of thinking everything is your fault.”

“This is the first time someone’s said that to my face. But… yes, I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you.”

I waved my hand lightly and thought to myself,

‘So that’s why, in the Future Diary, Matets tried to kill Armelia.’

He hadn’t merely sought his own advancement—he had truly wished for Armelia’s downfall.

In the Future Diary, I hadn’t known that fact. But now, I did.

That difference in knowledge would be what saved the Princess’s life.

‘Come to think of it, when does the third game start?’

[Let’s find out. Try using the search function.]

‘No. It’s pointless to only know the start time. Who knows what kind of trap this game might have. I’ll wait for now. I’ve only got 100 points left anyway.’

[You’re stingy.]

‘Then why don’t you give me a bunch of points?’

Anyway, we finished our meal and returned to the fifth floor.

But something felt strange.

“There’s no one here.”

“It is dinner time, but… the Tower of Knowledge is supposed to be open 24 hours, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. I don’t see any staff either.”

“It’s weird, but… isn’t this a good opportunity?”

Aina’s eyes gleamed.

“Let’s head straight to the sixth floor.”

“Hmm. Will that be all right, Your Highness?”

“I don’t mind, of course.”

Feeling somewhat uneasy, we went up to the sixth floor.

Even the guard who always stood at the entrance to the staircase was nowhere to be seen.

I felt an inexplicable chill as I reached the sixth floor and grabbed the doorknob.

And then—

Clack.

As soon as the door opened, a voice greeted us.

“Finally here? I’ve been waiting forever.”

It was Magireta.

She spoke softly to our frozen group.

“It’s time for the third quest.”

This quest began on the sixth floor of the Tower of Knowledge.

I couldn’t hide my confusion as I addressed Magireta.

“I understood the first quest being in some unknown field. And the second one being in remote places across the continent—that was fine too. But the Tower of Knowledge is a place where countless ordinary people come and go.”

“I sent them all away. No one will enter until the quest is over, so don’t worry.”

“I’m not worried about that… I’m worried about how people will talk about this strange phenomenon later.”

“No one will talk about it, little brother. To those who don’t know about the game, today will remain just an ordinary day. How many times do I have to tell you I’m omnipotent?”

“……”

“Anyway! Everyone, gather around!”

Perhaps similar games were taking place elsewhere, but here in the Tower of Knowledge, about 200 participants seemed to have gathered.

“How’s everyone been? Missed me a lot, didn’t you?”

“……”

“Tough crowd.”

Magireta grumbled and snapped her fingers.

The familiar bulletin board floated up in midair.

For the next three weeks, there will be one quiz each week, totaling three in all.

The quiz questions will come from the range of books participants have read.

Anyone who prevents others from reading books will be disqualified.

Each quiz has 100 questions, 1 point each, for a total of 100 points. The duration for each quiz is 2 hours.

All questions are multiple-choice with five options.

After each quiz, the bottom 25% of scorers will be eliminated.

Those who remain in the top 75% for all three quizzes will pass.

Any act of cheating during the quiz will result in immediate disqualification.

It was exactly the same quest as the one described in the Future Diary.

People began murmuring among themselves.

Then one man shouted in an indignant voice,

“W-wait a moment! This is unfair!”

“What is?”

“I can’t read. I can’t read any of the books here either. So how am I supposed to take this quiz?”

“Really can’t read? Why don’t we test that? Take one of those books next to you. Don’t worry, what you read now won’t be included in the test range.”

“What kind of nonsense is that…”

The man protested, but under Magireta’s steady gaze, he hesitated and picked up a book.

Soon, his eyes widened like a full moon.

“Th-this can’t be. How am I even understanding this?”

“What? M-me too.”

“Wait. Me as well!”

People all began grabbing books in confusion.

They must have all been illiterate.

And yet, unbelievably, every one of them could now understand the text written in the books.

Magireta spoke.

“I didn’t just make you able to read the words. You can now comprehend all the complex expressions, philosophy, history, mathematical symbols—everything in those books.”

“……”

“To set a standard, I’d say you’re now at about the level of a mid-tier scholar in the Tower of Knowledge. At the very least, there won’t be a single book from the sixth to the eighth floor you can’t understand.”

She yawned lightly and continued.

“However, even though I’ve made sure your starting point is the same, how well you memorize the material will depend on your original intelligence.”

“Memorize?”

“Yeah. Note Tests are all about memory. They don’t test deep understanding, just whether you studied faithfully or not.”

“……”

“And as it says on the bulletin board, all the exams are multiple-choice. If you don’t know the answer, just guess. You only have to avoid being in the bottom 25% each time. Unless your luck is really terrible, you’ll be fine, right?”

Well… that was true.

Under those conditions, you didn’t need to be a genius like Armelia.

Just memorize as much as you can, and if something unfamiliar comes up—pray and pick randomly.

A proper mix of skill and luck.

With only a 25% elimination rate.

Hope began to show faintly on people’s faces.

‘But I can’t let myself be that hopeful.’

According to the Future Diary, Aina was eliminated in the first week.

She couldn’t memorize as much as others, nor was she as lucky.

When I glanced at her, she frowned and asked,

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“No reason.”

“That means there is a reason. You’re thinking something like, ‘She’s going to struggle,’ right?”

“Yeah. A bit.”

“When someone asks that kind of question, you’re supposed to deny it.”

Well, what could I do when the future already said so?

Clack.

Then—

“May I ask a question as well?”

It was a middle-aged man I hadn’t seen before.

But Armelia recognized him immediately.

“Machet Boltram…”

Ah. So that was him—the former master of the Tower of Knowledge, now going by the name Dwayne, real name Matets.

He definitely looked the scholar’s part.

Well-groomed mustache, neat attire, composed expression.

Not the face of someone who led a rough life.

Magireta shrugged.

“Seems everyone caught that habit from my little brother. So many questions these days.”

“……”

“What’s your question?”

“You said earlier that you set everyone’s starting line equally. But there’s one thing missing.”

Machet pointed precisely at Armelia.

“That woman there—Armelia. The Empire’s Third Princess, once called the Treasure of the Imperial Family.”

Whisper, whisper.

The surroundings grew noisy as her identity was suddenly revealed.

Of course, the participants couldn’t talk about anything that happened inside this game, so it wasn’t a big problem—but it was still quite unpleasant.

Machet continued.

“She’s someone with what you’d call perfect recall—she never forgets anything she’s seen or heard.”

“Hm. And?”

“Long ago, that Princess visited the Tower of Knowledge and read every book from the sixth to the eighth floor. With that exceptional memory of hers, she must have remembered every bit of it.”

“I see. Fascinating.”

“Of course, it’s been ten years since then, so many books would have been added or changed. But even so, the starting line isn’t equal. To make things fair, you must erase all of the knowledge she’s read before.”

Aina muttered under her breath.

“I want to kill that guy.”

“Do it later. After the quest.”

“So you’re not saying not to do it, huh.”

Magireta folded her arms and nodded.

“He’s got a point, though. Former master of the Tower of Knowledge.”

“...! W-what do you mean?”

“Why? You’re the one who revealed her identity, right? Said it wasn’t fair because she’s familiar with all the books here?”

“……”

“Then shouldn’t your identity be revealed too, for true fairness? You probably know these books quite well yourself, don’t you?”

I almost agreed out loud.

Honestly, if anyone other than Magireta had said that, I would’ve clapped.

Machet, caught in his own trap, began to sweat coldly.

Magireta waved her hand dismissively.

“Anyway, I know what you’re worried about. But it’s unnecessary.”

“Excuse me?”

“The books here—I replaced them all with different ones.”

“W-what…?”

“Just what I said.”

“The Tower of Knowledge houses all the world’s books! Even if not originals, at least copies! There can’t possibly be that many missing.”

“Well, I wrote new ones myself for this game.”

For a moment, I grabbed the nearest book.

The Definition of Desire. Author: Magireta.

Ah. My head hurt again.

She had replaced all the books in this place.

By personally writing them.

Swish.

Then Magireta walked toward a certain spot.

She pulled out a ring of keys from her bosom.

I squinted and counted—eight keys dangled from it.

She picked one and inserted it into the door leading to the staircase to the sixth floor.

Clack.

Whirr, click.

We were now locked inside.

Tossing the key ring and catching it, Magireta said,

“Proper studying should be done under pressure like this. It’s all for your own good. You get me, right?”

“……”

“Lastly, a few simple notices. The bathroom’s over there. I stocked plenty of food right there. Eat whenever you want.”

“……”

“Now then, begin. Study hard, everyone. No one studies for someone else’s sake, right?”

Magireta let out that irritating laugh of hers and floated up into the air.

Then she lay down, her back pressed against the ceiling.

From that position, she spoke to us.

“Don’t mind me. Just study. I’ll take a nap.”

Of course, she probably wasn’t actually sleeping.

If anyone broke the rules written on the bulletin board, she’d deliver judgment instantly.

I carefully reread the rules on the board.

‘Hm? Wait a second.’

With those rules…

A sudden thought flashed through my mind.

Maybe this quest would end up leaving far more survivors than expected.