"I straight up don't trust you."
"How do we know you're not lying to us?"
"How is this even possible?"
The young man with glasses held his hand out to stop the murmurs of hesitation and suspicion.
Even he looked slightly hesitant.
But when he spoke up, his voice was firm.
"Do we have a choice at this point?"
The murmurs quieted.
"I'm asking you. Do we have a choice?"
"We will absolutely be dead before five days have passed if we continue like this."
"Plus, do none of you remember? Was she not among us at the beginning?"
"Why would she have any particular liking for that Benson fellow?"
A few beats of silence followed his words.
Slowly, the others began to nod.
Indeed.
Of course any one of them would have been, would still BE willing to cozy up to Benson.
That was for survival.
But after experiencing that kind of degrading treatment?
To truly get them to join his side?
Impossible.
Even the one day that they endured him was enough for them to etch the humiliation deep into their hearts.
They all instinctively knew.
To that fellow, they were worth less than a grain of sand on the bottom of his boots.
But that didn't mean that appearing out of thin air with some official looking card of the game was enough to get them to trust this mysterious woman.
The sharp-eyed old woman who had first spoken immediately voiced her doubts.
"Then what were you talking about with him? Why did he let you join his group?"
The young Insurgent woman with the red aura glanced at the woman calmly.
She took a deep breath.
"He wanted me to be his spy."
Then, she looked at each of the contestants in the eye, and said,
"He gave me two tasks."
"One. To check if any of you had any special tasks that came with special powers."
She lowered her voice further,
"He seemed especially wary of these 'special' powers."
"It's just…"
She revealed a smirk,
"He picked the wrong target."
"Second, to make sure none of you had anything to bribe his 'men' with. Water, magic tools, even money. Especially his bodyguards."
The group nodded in realization.
Indeed, that was one plan they had considered in an attempt to destabilize Benson's control over the environment.
If his iron fist was no longer strong enough to grasp all of the water in his hands, there was a chance he'd be betrayed.
Because one of his biggest strengths right now was his men.
If Benson couldn't directly attack the others, it wasn't hard to form a blockade around the lanes that specifically ensured that only he could not enter.
If that happened, he might even be put on the chopping block and voted off…
Even his so-called inside knowledge wouldn't allow him to escape such a fate.
But Benson would never allow such a thing to happen.
The group thought it was only natural that he took advanced precautions.
At this point, even though not everyone had come to trust the new Insurgent woman, they definitely realized that there currently wasn't much of a choice.
Seeing the doubt in their expressions shift to acceptance and resignation, the woman nodded.
"The plan begins in two days. You all remember the signal?"
"In two days? But that's…20 more of us might be dead by then!"
The others nodded, expressions writ with concern.
None of them wanted to be the ones to die.
The Insurgent nodded calmly.
"This is unavoidable."
She looked over towards where Otto was standing. They saw his gaze sweep over to their group every few seconds.
"He is currently on high alert. As time goes on, his guard will inevitably begin to drop. Our job is to capture that moment."
"For now...can't you fight?"
"Steal the lanes from right under his nose. Guess what? There's not a thing he can do about it if your feet are faster than his group's."
"Remember to spread the word quietly. Preferably at night, when the others can't keep anything like a watch."
"Don't forget, there are only rewards if the insurgence is successful. Everyone needs to participate."
"I'll take care of Benson myself."
Her eyes glinted with sinister intent.
"The more you kill, the better your rewards…"
The group exchanged gazes and quickly dispersed.
The Insurgent stood stock still for a minute in the sand, her head slightly cocked as if she was listening to something.
At the same time, Otto's mouth moved silently, his gaze lowered to conceal the calculations running through his mind.
Finally, a group of extremely sweaty Throskarts exited from their lanes.
A few even sported scratches and small wounds from where they had carelessly let the spider monsters injure them.
All looked exhausted from exerting themselves in such intense heat.
Of course, there was also no water upon returning…
Otto's bodyguards immediately strode out to surround him once again.
Despite the heat, they looked rather pleased with themselves.
At the least, they would certainly be spared the possibility of dying on the second day…
Another hour passed as the light of the sun began to fade.
The temperature climbed to its highest point.
A few Throskarts were beginning to sport light burns on the exposed parts of their bodies.
It was impossible to prepare for such a terrible heat.
Otto's [Heat Wave: Unlimited] constantly poured into the surroundings, intensifying the struggle, little by little.
Otto himself was beginning feel a small rise in temperature even under his combat suit.
Thankfully, this didn't count as anything to him yet.
Still, he poured more mana into the suit to maintain its full charge and keep the cooling unit activated at maximum strength.
His body cooled down again slightly just as the 'death stage' appeared in front of everyone for the second time.
The Throskarts with zero merits vanished from their spots in the sand.
The stage was quickly filled with the over fifty Throskarts who still had yet to gain merit.
Otto's 'posse' watched them with disdain.
They even began to jeer at the people who stood awkwardly on display.
Perhaps they had learned something from Otto's behavior.
Perhaps they wanted to intentionally disdain these Throskarts to lessen their own guilt.
Either way, their words were cutting.
"That's what you get when you don't contribute."
"Try and help out a little more in your next life."
"Survival of the fittest. The weak and the lazy get cut down."
Otto didn't know if they actually believed their own words, but he did know that if the Throskart mind was anything like the human mind, it worked in odd ways.
Oftentimes, the more one repeated a lie to themselves, the easier it was to believe it.
Otto was unbothered about it as he carefully [Analyzed] the survivors once more.
His goal remained the same.
Otto picked out only the weakest members to be killed.
His finger pointed at ten individuals in turn as thirty small droppers emerged in his other hand.
Yesterday's situation repeated itself.
The ten candidates he picked out were almost unanimously 'voted' to their deaths.
This time, Otto did not try to purposely anger them, though.
For he saw that the rage and resentment in their eyes was already almost thick enough to spill over onto the stage.
The vague 'hope' they'd been given mere hours before was translating perfectly to the spark he needed…
Night soon arrived.
A mansion, a few small house structures, the tents, and the water stations appeared from the sand once again.
This evening, the temperature didn't drop as much when the sun set.
The group had Otto to thank for that development.
Though they didn't know it.
Otto looked at the sand beneath his feet.
The water decreased day by day.
The number of spots at the mansion remained the same, for now.
There was one less house and two fewer tents.
Otto's eyes glinted.
He and his four bodyguards strolled over to the mansion with leisurely steps.
Otto paid the required merit points.
He and his bodyguards entered the mansion under the jealous eyes of the onlookers.
But this time, Otto didn't immediately disappear.
After a couple minutes of preparation, he raised his voice and, as usual, cast [Imbue Persuasion].
His voice carried through the small area of desert.
"To all those with no merit, you are invited to stand outside the mansion."
"I shall provide each of you one glass of water."
He smiled warmly.
"This gesture is merely from the kindness of my heart. I know it's been a tough couple of days out here for some of you."
Otto's smile remained congenial.
But although everyone felt wary, their legs obediently brought them over.
It couldn't be helped.
They were too thirsty!
A crowd of 41 people lined up one by one in front of the mansion.
The doors opened wide.
To reveal a literal fountain of water placed right inside the entrance.
Water flowed constantly and was replenished immediately, clearly some sort of magic tool.
Their breaths quickened.
Never in their lives had they found a mere magic fountain so desperately appealing.
Otto quickly stepped up to partially block their view.
"Oh, I hope you don't mind! This water is normally used as our bathing water."
His smile held not a hint of condescension.
Which somehow only sharpened the sting,
"We weren't going to use it all, so I decided it would be best to give to the needy."
There was nothing in the game rules about not handing out water to others.
Once the mansion was rented, the game seemed to consider it Otto's 'property.'
He could do whatever he wanted with it.
A kindhearted member could even take the water and dole it out to every single contestant in the group.
As long as that kindhearted member didn't mind that he would be aiding his competition.
The caveat was that any water taken outside the mansion after it disappeared in daytime would vanish along with the mansion.
Otto personally filled a small glass of water for each person who lined up.
Despite the clear abundance, even overabundance of water, Otto made sure to give everyone exactly 8 ounces of water.
Not a drop more.
The Throskarts in front drank the water with smiles and spoke words of gratitude to Otto's face.
But after he shut the mansion doors again, their eyes burned ever fiercer.
To display that kind of waste on purpose in the midst of their desperate struggle with thirst.
To specifically indicate that this water was used for his bathing.
To give each person a single glass of water, and not a drop more, when their fountain clearly wouldn't run out…
It was all intended for a single purpose.
Debasement.
Otto closed the mansion doors as the sinister glint in his eyes intensified.
It was an act of charity…that reeked of conceit.
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