—
I stared at the message glowing on my phone screen:
One line. Anonymous. No name, no signature. But I didn’t need either to know who sent it.
The Onlooker.
The timing wasn’t a coincidence. To send this during the special exam only means they were clearly referring to one of the participants. More specifically, someone from the festival committee.
Savannah, Ayaka, Tomiko, and Nagamine were people I knew, sure, but none I was close to. Natsumi? We were getting close enough for her to be a possible target.
If I were the Onlooker, though, the choice would be obvious.
Diya.
But how? They said which seemed to mean direct involvement, not some behind-the-scenes manipulation. I couldn’t see any way for them to manipulate the exam from the outside, which could only mean one thing: they were one of the participants.
But that didn’t add up. Phones weren’t allowed during the exam, so sending a message from inside should’ve been impossible.
It might’ve been a bluff, but knowing who I was dealing with and factoring in Warren Mars’ growing interest, I doubted it was that simple.
Something else was in motion.
And one thing was certain: Diya was the target.
I shoved the phone into my pocket and stormed out, the door thudding shut behind me as I made my way to the observation room.
As I approached the door, a staff member moved to block my way, but I stopped short.
“I need to speak with Sato-sensei. It’s important,” I said.
He gave me a quick once-over, then disappeared inside. I waited, fingers tapping against my thigh.
Minutes later, he returned.
“He said to wait at your station.”
“Alright. Thanks.”
My station was a cramped side room with a single terminal and a scaled-down interface. It was a stripped-down version of the observation room. I dropped into the seat and powered it on. I didn’t have access to full data streams or participant stats. Even the map had no team indicators, just glowing blips scattered across a blank map.
Limited or not, it was enough. Patterns emerged if you looked closely. Piece by piece, I began deducing the team formations and their sites.
I didn’t have to wait long before the door creaked open and Sato-sensei stepped inside, rubbing the back of his neck with a groan.
I glanced up. “Are you underpaid or something?”
He chuckled. “Not at all. Just didn’t sign up for all this extra work.” Then his demeanour shifted. “So… you’ve cracked the cypher already?”
I shook my head. “No, not yet. This is something else.”
I handed him my phone without another word. His brow furrowed as he read the anonymous message.
After a moment, he exhaled and returned it. “Seems like you’ve got a storm brewing around you.”
“I figured it was best to come to you directly,” I said. “You’re the exam supervisor, so I need to hear it from you. Is this exam being conducted fairly, with the assurance that no one is being aided or sabotaged by outside manipulation?”
“The school sets the rules, and I follow them,” he said, exhaling. “But because of my position, my decisions still carry weight in this exam. I can tell you this much—it’s as fair as it gets.” He paused briefly before adding, “I can’t speak for future exams or other supervisors, but as long as I’m in charge, no one’s rigging anything.”
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The certainty in his voice was enough to make me believe him.
“Then I’ll trust you,” I said with a nod. “But one more question.”
He waited.
“Is it possible to track who sent the message?”
“Yes,” he said without hesitation.
I straightened. “Then—”
“Hold your horses.” He raised a finger. “It can be tracked, but only by staff with special clearance or explicit permission.”
I frowned, already guessing the answer. “I take it you’re not one of the people with clearance?”
Even before I finished the question, he was already shaking his head. “Even if I were, giving you that information would be a direct violation of school policy. I’d be in serious trouble.”
I sighed. “Right. Worth a try.”
Sato-sensei stood and reached for the door, pausing to glance back.
“For what it’s worth, the school already knows who this sender is. If their threat turns out to be real…” He trailed off, then gave a short, dry chuckle. “On second thought, let’s not manifest anything crazy after I just gave you my word.”
And with that, he pulled the door open and walked out.
I exhaled slowly. My thoughts were a storm of possibilities, each one circling the same core issue: if the Onlooker was targeting Diya, her only lifeline was the cypher. But could she crack it in time?
That was the problem.
If my deductions were right, I might have already solved it myself. I just needed to test my theory tonight to see if it actually pointed to the badge’s location.
My eyes drifted back to the map and the anonymous dots moving across the terrain.
And at the back of my mind, one thought lingered:
I need to make sure she comes back.
—
—
It was noon on day two of the exam, and everything was running far smoother than yesterday. The sun was high overhead, casting sharp shadows through the canopy as I moved, and a mild breeze kept the heat tolerable.
I’d kept the same formation, with one change: Priya now held the centre, taking Ayaka’s previous position. It kept her close to base and significantly lowered the risk of her getting caught out late at night.
I was at P3, having just secured 15 points from a newly spawned blip at O2. Pulling up my tablet, I checked the team’s progress. Everyone was on track. Tylan had just claimed 20 points from a blip and was heading back.
I spent 30 points to activate the full map scan. It was my first time using this feature as the scan loaded, revealing each participant’s position in real time. Almost immediately, a cluster of three players near K18 caught my eye. It was either a confrontation or something else had drawn them in. Whatever it was, it caught my attention.
Unfortunately, it was too far to reach at the moment, and I had other priorities to attend to before resuming full command of the team.
Two players had drifted close to our site—one at R2, another at P9. Still, if my concealed totem held, they would find nothing but dirt.
After that, I activated location masking for myself and checked the map once more. My first destination: G15. I had two hours before the masking expired and less than an hour before the next blip was set to spawn.
This time, I didn’t take it slow. I sprinted through the forest, weaving between trees and leaping over roots and fallen logs. With the full map scan, I could chart a path that let me move fast and unseen.
One formation stood out to me: four players moving clockwise around the map. They were clearly avoiding the centre… or circling it. It screamed of misdirection, as either the site was in the middle, and they were guarding it, or they wanted others to think that. It was too obvious, though, and maybe that was the point.
After seventeen minutes of fast traversal, I reached G15. Slowing my pace, I crouched low, sweeping my eyes across the area. The forest floor showed clear signs of disturbance with flattened grass shaped like standard-issue tents. This was a site.
I circled the site, searching for anything out of place. If the totem was hidden nearby, it had to be well camouflaged. I checked the moss, sticks, and tree bases, but found nothing.
Standing, I pulled up my tablet and checked the scan before it expired. Most players had shifted positions, but the cluster at K18 had changed. One dot had vanished completely, likely someone who’d activated location masking, while one was moving toward the centre, and the last was fixed at R19.
The trek to K18 took about ten minutes. A quick scan of the surroundings told me everything I needed to know: that this wasn’t a site, just a meeting point. Whatever they had talked about, and whoever they were, remained completely out of my reach. Without wasting time, I headed for R19. If I moved quickly, I might still catch the lone signal.
By the time I arrived, I was winded and ten minutes too late. Whoever it was had either moved or masked their presence. I considered using a nearby scan to sweep the area, but my point count was already slipping into dangerous territory. I couldn’t afford to overspend this early.
Then Tylan’s voice came through the walkie-talkie. “I came across Anri.”
I froze. “Anri?” I murmured under my breath before thumbing the button. “Describe the encounter.”
“Seems we just ran into each other,” he said.
As he spoke, I flicked my eyes to the map and pinpointed his location—F2. “What direction was she coming from? And where was she headed?”
“Uh… she was heading toward the map’s edge. Hard to tell where she came from since her movements were all over the place.”
“That’s strange,” I muttered, marking the path she’d taken. “I would have suggested following her, but the next blips could spawn any moment. Hold your position.”
“Alright,” he replied, though a faint sigh slipped through.
A moment of silence followed until I felt it.
I turned my head slightly. “You’ve been watching me for a while. Are you coming out, or planning to hide forever?”
A soft chuckle answered, followed by a figure stepping from behind a tree.
“I was even trying to be stealthy,” she said, brushing dirt off her shirt. “This kind of exam really doesn’t suit me.”
She stopped a few feet away. “How are you, Diya?”
“Spare me the pleasantries,” I said, narrowing my eyes. “What do you want… Tomiko?”