But is it truly possible to end the game? Not to mention…
“Hold on. How exactly do we do that? That’s important here.”
Yu shared Takuto’s same misgivings. He immediately questioned Vagia. Takuto wanted to ask the same thing. Not that the Succubus faction hadn’t already prepared a pretty sounding answer…
“End the game, silly. It’s a smidge complicated, but not impossible. Simply put, all we have to do is surrender without deciding a winner♡.”
“Surrender… Are you trying to kill the game early?” Yu asked.
Eternal Nations also had a surrender system. In the game, surrendering means you lose, but what would happen if every Player surrendered at the same time?
Takuto didn’t know what refusing to play the game would entail. He didn’t take Vagia at her word, but still found the concept fascinating. He shifted his gaze back to her and gave his chin an upward jerk to signal she should continue. He wanted her to present why she believed she could convince the gods to play along.
“The game can end if the Player wishes, darling. Although this world is run by the gods, there are rules in place. Common rules that must be adhered to, defined by the governing god known as The Board God. Consequently, none of the gods can overtly intervene with the world♡.”
In other words, they can intervene if it’s not overt.
It was impossible to examine everything that had happened around Takuto until now to see how much divine intervention was involved, but Vagia’s theory was somewhat convincing. If the gods had been able to intervene unchecked, things would be far more chaotic. Besides, if the gods valued the journey over victory, then they would want to avoid needless large-scale intervention.
“And one of the most important things in this board game is to respect the Players’ decisions. The gods will have no choice but to agree if everyone desires it from the bottom of their hearts.”
Takuto replayed what Yu had told him back in Mynoghra. It was highly probable that the gods were so-called game “enjoyers.” They were probably getting a kick out of observing how each of their Players—their pawns—danced in the world. If that were the case, then abandoning the game and ending in peace with everyone should also be an acceptable route. It lacked excitement and thrill, but if viewed as a piece of entertainment, it could be accepted as one of those anticlimactic endings that crop up sometimes…
“It’s not like you’ll die or disappear or anything because we suspend the game♡. Why not just ask your assigned god? You have all spoken with your gods, even if it’s at different frequencies, right?”
Yu nodded, so Takuto rushed to do the same. His hands grew cold and clammy with the worry that they would find out he was lying, but they didn’t notice. Now he had another, very important problem to figure out.
I haven’t spoken to my assigned god…
This was where Takuto was faced with his greatest handicap. If he could just communicate with his assigned god, his problems could be solved by talking to him. He would have to think about how to handle this later. Things should be okay as-is for now. Since, unfortunately, his assigned god never tried to get in touch with him.
Maybe he sucks at communicating like me? Takuto mused idly before lobbing his next question at Vagia.
“Just because we end the game doesn’t necessarily mean peace will be achieved after, does it?”
“You just poked my soft spot, aah♡. But can’t you just feel it? As long as the game on the board continues, fate will forever direct everything toward us fighting, darling.”
That makes sense… Her comment made everything clear.
“I’m sure you can both think of situations where that applies, no, little Hero boy and boy-king Takuto Ira?”
Takuto thought they had run into an incessant amount of trouble since coming to this world, so it made sense if that was all due to yet another mechanic of this world. Mynoghra’s initial plan was to increase its national power through Domestic Affairs without letting anyone know about its existence. Their starting territory, the Accursed Lands, was the perfect environment to remain undiscovered. Yet despite their attempts to stay out of things, they were dragged into various events and enemy encounters, and now they were faced with a conference that would decide the fate of the world.
People often say that too many coincidences is not a coincidence at all, and it appeared that what was happening to and around Mynoghra was no coincidence either.
Going by that logic, the incidents with the Demon Lord’s Army and the TRPG faction were all intentionally set up from the start? No…the way she phrased it makes it sound more like the odds of us clashing are increased. So, they directly influence the probability variation…RNG. It figures beings that call themselves gods would mess with things on a grand scale…
Every Player who came to this world had been involved in some sort of conflict right out the gate. Takuto had his fair share of conflict, Yu had his fatal run-in with the TCG Player, and the TRPG Player, Keiji Kuhara, also fought Qualia and Mynoghra. The Succubus Army immediately invaded the Elven empire. Only the mysterious final Player’s experiences were a mystery, but as far as Takuto was aware, every Player had experienced conflict in one form or another.
It was almost as if they were fated to clash, as Vagia claimed… And that same Witch was also alleging that they could void that fate if they so wished.
“That’s why my proposal isn’t merely an ideal or a pipe dream,” Vagia insisted. “Big changes will happen to us if you accept. That’s our guaranteed future, darlings♡.”
Simultaneously resigning from the game would cancel out their fate to clash. And then the creation of a new order and peace would follow.
It sounded good on paper. If only his god were there to give their stamp of approval, but Takuto had to give up on that prospect. He could have always had Yu confirm the situation with his assigned god, but the credibility of third-hand information wasn’t even worth considering.
At any rate, Witch Vagia’s brand of peace was clear. Takuto now understood why she opted to hold an All-Faction Conference. Everything would be over if all the Players could reach an agreement.