No one fully understood how you could like this man so deeply. The truth is, he was seriously confused himself.

Shin—currently known to you only as Sou—stopped acting agreeable since the first floor, basically, holding up the 'nice guy' attitude solely for the start. Then, his true nature blew up on the surface. He was a coward—a desperate one, a selfish one. People, for the sake of looking good, were ready to pity weaklings, but not when they try to put up a fight and be egotistical for once. You're loved until the moment you start caring about yourself. Sou scoffed at that idea. He wasn't a saint; he realized it perfectly, just as the fact that no one was even half as holy as they claimed. He did come up with rather dirty tricks, but he blames it on the conditioning this Death Game put you into.

They've said he has no chance to live. He mulled that thought over and over in his mind, locked away in the depths of his brain so no one would be able to make him feel neck-naked again. He'd better prove everyone wrong by merely surviving.

Even if it means everyone will hate him.

Or almost everyone. There were exceptions, like in any existing phenomenon. Kanna, the poor little girl, openly supported the rat due to the bona fide purity of her heart, and she was also quite happy at your formed 'alliance' with him. That couldn't be said about Sou himself. He never planned to make you his victim of manipulations, yet you latched onto him yourself like a stuck gum in a hair without any apparent reason. It would've been a great tool for his further schemes; it would've been perfect, in fact. Except, it was incredibly irritating. Every boy in the modern age has fantasized numerous times about being popular or having unexplained powers of attraction, as if in a hentai world, especially as in a hentai world—yet the difference between the anime and the reality was quite drastic.

'Things should happen at the right time and place.' Obsessing over a boy falls into neither category when it is about your current situation. Alas, you can't order a heart around!

You've reached the third floor, through sweat and pain and a few deaths. A good bonus was the existence of bedrooms. Positive matters end.

Sou have found another, gladly: technology. Being a shut-in nerd brought some advantages, and he relied on them to drag him out of this mess as well. The Monitor Room was one of the spots available to every participant, although those who truly desired to visit it were probably the most broken ones. Every TV screen featured an AI according to each one of you—a perfectly replicated face, voice, and personality. Sou destroyed his, unsurprisingly.

It wasn't solely sentimental: it was useful for watching victim videos (for sadists specifically?) and, perhaps, it could force open a route. Where the wires are is where the keys are!

Sou, wrapped in his thick clothes, was currently rummaging in this exact location.

You were watching him, of course. Sou stoically ignored you for a few minutes, addressing you only later:

"Are you seriously going to stand there and gawk?" He sighs. At this point, he grew used to it—figured that it's easier. "Not like I care. Just don't interrupt."