The Judgment Chamber

Everyone turned to look at me, their eyes filled with suspicion.

"No, it really wasn't me!" I tried my best to defend myself. "I was just trying to…"

"Shut up! Stop making excuses!" Before I could finish, Dwayne cut me off sharply.

Only his bloodshot eyes remained fixed on me with pure hostility.

Dwayne started directing everyone.

"Listen to me. We vote him out first. Think about it. Oliver died, but the game didn't end. That means Oliver wasn't the undercover agent. And who pushed us to vote him out? This guy. He pointed all the suspicion toward Oliver. If it weren't for him, none of us would have voted at all. He directed the whole thing!"

Cheryl nodded in agreement, and suddenly, my situation became dire.

"I noticed something wrong with him from the start. When Oliver suspected Helen, he defended her and provoked Oliver on purpose to shift all suspicion. He's definitely the undercover agent."

Cheryl sounded completely convinced, and judging from the logic, I really had become the most likely suspect.

"Wait, let me explain. I…."

"Shut up!" Dwayne cut me off again. "There's nothing to explain. You're just trying to confuse us. You're the undercover agent!"

Rebecca, who had been silent the entire time, finally spoke, her voice trembling. "Why won't you let him finish? What you're doing now is trying to force us to turn against him. You're the one confusing everyone."

"Shut your mouth, you stupid woman! Do you even know what you're saying?" Dwayne snapped and kicked Rebecca hard.

Rebecca grabbed her stomach, her face twisting in pain as she collapsed.

"My stomach… It hurts… It really hurts…"

"What the hell are you doing?" Helen screamed at Dwayne.

"Oliver already said that you took huge fees to defend criminals, just to make money. You're the kind of person who'd do anything for profit. Who knows if you sneaked into this game for money or for some filthy reason? You'd even attack a pregnant woman. Who knows what kind of rotten heart you have?"

Cheryl covered her mouth while staring at Dwayne in horror.

His face had turned an ugly shade, and in an instant, the balance shifted. His position became far more dangerous than mine.

I didn't know whether he was the undercover agent, but I did know one thing: I wanted to survive.

"In this game, the last one standing wins. The undercover agent would definitely know all of our identities from the beginning. They'd work as hard as possible to eliminate us in the early rounds. So think carefully. Who's been stirring up alliances and confusion from the start? All of you know the answer," I said.

When I finished, the situation became clear.

Dwayne was now completely cornered.

"You stupid women! Do you even know what you're doing? What kind of poison did that loser feed you? You're a bunch of brainless idiots!" he snarled.

Dwayne thrashed wildly, the chains on his body rattling loudly. His neat suit was hanging crooked on him, making him look pathetic.

I pushed my glasses up and looked at him calmly.

"If I remember correctly, the person you defended back then was the son of the former city commissioner. Do you know what that guy did? He and his friends assaulted a 17-year-old girl, and they murdered her afterward. For your own gain, you forged medical records and claimed he had mental issues. Because of you, that monster walked free!"