Chapter 98
To be exact, it was slightly different from the Truth Game I knew.
The English-speaking World's Truth Game,
Truth or Dare.
The basic rules were simple.
The person asking the question asks, "Truth or Dare?"
The person answering can choose one of the two. If they choose truth, they must Answer the question honestly, and if they choose dare, they must faithfully Carry out the Punitive Command given by the questioner.
[Then, starto (start)!]
Dragon President, for some reason full of excitement, shouted that and placed Plastic Chopsticks in the middle of the table.
[I'll be the First Batter. Spinning!]
Suddenly? I hadn't even said I'd play yet?
But The Die Is Cast. There was no taking it back!
Dragon President used the Snap of Thumb and Forefinger to spin the chopsticks, and the chopsticks that had been spinning in place soon stopped.
Drumroll!
With a loud sound effect, the tip of the chopsticks pointed at a person.
Dragon President let out a laugh that somehow felt evil and asked.
[Truth or Dare?]
I Was Unsure.
I kind of understood why Dragon President had offered the Truth Game as a solution... but would it be effective?
And would Tony, Sey, and the Bartenders willingly Accept the game?
Making my worries seem pointless, a Cold yet languid voice brushed past my ears.
"Truth."
The game's first target, Dragon's Lair Head Bartender Sey, who had just finished her meal.
She raised her chin with a Haughty Demeanor, as if telling him to ask anything.
Was she feeling generous because she was full? Fortunately, it was a quite Cooperative Attitude.
Dragon President showed a very wicked smile toward Sey, who obediently accepted the Game Rules.
[Oho, so you chose truth. Good. Sorenara (If so)...]
Gulp.
Just what kind of question was he going to ask to take such a long pause?
Perhaps I might be able to find out one of the secrets of that Utterly Suspicious Head Bartender right here.
In a situation where everyone's Attention was focused, even Tony, who had been sprawled on the table just a moment ago, subtly raised his head, Pricking Up Ears as he watched.
Dragon President blurted it out at the Heightened Tension Timing, as if pulling out a secret weapon he had hidden for a long time, as if delivering a Soul-Stirring Speech.
Indeed—.
What was his choice?
[What are your Three Sizes!]
And a brief silence flowed.
For a moment, I Doubted My Ears, wondering if I had misheard.
The Truth Game... was this kind of Truth Game?
* * *
There is probably no need to explain how fierce a Thought Process occurred in my head during that short time.
Did I mishear? No, that couldn't be. Anyone here would have heard it clearly. Dragon President's Altered Voice loudly spitting out, “Three Sizes.”
Could the meaning of Three Sizes that I know have a different meaning here? It was possible.
Like a culture that calls the Total Weight of the Big Three Lifts the Three Sizes, something like that. Since the questioner happened to be the Gym Rat Dragon, it might be a Plausible Hypothesis...
...My ass, there was no way.
Just looking at the Shocked Expression of Tony sitting right next to me, he was expressing with his whole body that it wasn't that, that it was the Three Sizes I knew!
Or was the Truth Game originally all like this?
They talk grandly about Truth or Dare, but it was a game created in the first place to ask this kind of Suggestive Question!
...But then why did Dragon President say this was a “Perfectly Suited Solution” for the current situation?
No matter how I looked at it, it didn't seem like this kind of Truth Game could solve my worries and problems.
No, there was no way the Truth Game was all like this.
I could tell just by looking at Tony's Dark-Circled Eyes widening and his mouth dropping open in surprise.
Just a moment ago, when Dragon President was explaining the rules of “Truth or Dare”, he hadn't been like that.
The Truth Game wasn't originally like this; Dragon President had poisoned a normal Truth Game.
That Crazy Hentai Dragon had committed a Sudden Action that no one expected. The game itself had done nothing wrong!
"..."
A Chilling Silence flowed.
Everyone fell quiet and looked at Dragon President, who was pointing at Sey with a Dignified Posture.
[Uh... it's embarrassing if you look at me like that.]
"..."
[What, why, what. In a Truth Game, something like this has to come out at least once! You guys would know if you've seen anime. A question like this has to come out to make it moderately fun, relieve the tension...]
"..."
[Honestly, you guys were curious too! You shouldn't make me out to be the only weirdo like that!]
"..."
[Haha, actually it's a joke. I just played a prank to lighten the mood. Jodandayo, jodan (It's a joke, a joke). I'm not a real hentai (Pervert), why would I ask something like that seriously.]
"..."
[I'm really not!]
"..."
Only after going through a Desperate Self-defense that lasted a full ten minutes was Dragon President able to clear himself of the suspicion of being a Shameless Pervert Employer.
[That was almost a disaster... I Almost got preserved online on a Net Site as a hentai President! I heard you can never erase the record unless you hand over hundreds of thousands in huge sums to a Digital Undertaker.]
"If you know, be careful from now on."
Tony, who had been about to spread Dragon President's atrocities to the whole World on a Net Community via his Neural Interface, left a word of WARNING and deleted the post he had half-written.
And Sey, The Person in Question who had received the Shameless Question... surprisingly Seemed Unimpressed.
How should I put it.
I had the thought that if Tony and I hadn't strongly protested, she might have just answered the 'truth' straightforwardly,
and conversely, the scene of her pouring beer right into the Hentai Dragon's face as a Sign of Refusal with that Expressionless Face was also too easy to imagine.
If it was the Sey I knew, neither would seem strange.
"So, the game. We should continue, right?"
And unexpectedly, she expressed enthusiasm for the Truth Game, which had somehow been pushed to the back burner while conducting Dragon President's hearing.
[Right! Then starting with the Answer to my question—.]
"I'll change it to dare."
[No, originally you can't change it once you've decided...]
Dragon President, who had been timidly resisting, had no choice but to raise the white flag at the sight of Tony trying to access the Net Forum again.
[...But! There can be any number of Exceptions. Applying our House Rules, let's make it so we can change between truth and dare even after hearing the content of the question or command. Hahaha.]
Wow, look at that agility.
[Now, then it's a dare? What should I make you do to get rumors going that I made a good choice.]
Dragon President seemed to ponder for a moment about what to make Sey do for her dare,
then, perhaps mindful of Tony, who had been staring at him with a Sharp Gaze since earlier, he suppressed his inner Hentai Dragon as much as possible and gave a Normal Command.
[Some Difficult Movement—right. Do a One-Finger handstand!]
...Was that a Normal Command?
I shook my head in disbelief.
"One finger on each hand, or using only one finger?"
[The latter, of course. If you use fingers on both sides, that's two fingers.]
"Understood."
I knew Sey was amazing.
Since she could use High-Output body acceleration cyberware, her Physical Ability must be incredible.
But even so, a One-Finger handstand made no sense.
That wasn't something you could do just by being strong—.
Stop.
I, who had been about to say it made no sense, was speechless.
Sey Calmly conversed with Dragon President, then soon placed both hands on the Ground and showed a Perfectly Vertical handstand.
Then she applied Force to her palms to lift them, supporting her body with only her ten fingers, and in an instant, she folded her fingers to stand upside down using only the Index and Middle Fingers of both hands.
From that state, she removed her index fingers to maintain her body with only her middle fingers.
Soon, she lifted one hand and succeeded in doing a handstand with just a single finger.
It made sense? Why did this Make Sense?
She couldn't maintain that state for long, at most about 5 seconds... but that Alone was the Realm of Superhumans.
At that level, wasn't she not a human but Spider-Woman or something? Honestly, I wasn't even that confident in a normal handstand with two hands.
Clap, Clap, Clap—.
Perhaps because I had witnessed such an Overwhelming Level, I ended up just clapping with my Mouth Agap until my palms hurt.
The sound of clapping was so loud that I wondered what it was, and it turned out that not only Tony and I, but also the Guide Robot at the entrance and Tom and John on the Kitchen Display, the two Virtual AI Chefs, were clapping with their Eyes Wide Open.
Acknowledged. That kind of reaction was warranted. You can't hold back at a One-Finger handstand.
The most surprising thing was that even though she was The Person in Question who had performed that ridiculous feat, Sey Calmly returned to her seat and sat down without a single Excited Demeanor.
It was as if she was saying, “This isn”t even a big deal, it's Just the Basics.'
It was quite a contrasting sight to Dragon President, who had done nothing but give the dare, acting all high and mighty as if he had done it himself.
Was this a Girl Crush?
Seeing her tidy her disheveled Blue Hair and wipe away the slight sweat, my heart almost pounded like a seventeen-year-old boy for a moment.
And next.
The game continued.
"Then it's My Turn now."
Sey, who had successfully carried out the dare, grabbed the chopsticks on the table and spun them while receiving the Attention of everyone present.
Whirring.
"...!"
The chopsticks spun a little and soon stopped, pointing in my direction.
To be exact, it was somewhere between Tony and me, but it was minutely closer to my side.
So, it was me.
"Truth, or dare?"
Sey parted her Red Lips, looking at me and asking.