Young Master's PoV: Woke Up As A Villain In A Game One Day

Chapter 284: Monty Hall Death Game

It wasn’t until much later that we figured out what had actually happened.

You see, all of Juliana’s daggers were coated in the venom of the giant two-headed serpent we hunted on the day we set up camp after escaping the Temple of the First Rebellion.

As soon as we killed that serpent, the mist began to grow dense, slowly swallowing the entire region.

After laying out those facts, it was easy to deduce that the two-headed serpent and the Mist Monster were probably natural enemies.

They were two apex predators locked in a war for dominance — each keeping the other in check.

For whatever reason, the serpent’s poison had evolved to corrode the intangible.

This meant the serpent was the only beast that could truly wound the Mist Monster, preventing it from expanding its hunting ground, even though it was the weaker one.

On the other hand, the Mist Monster was a rank above the twin-headed serpent, so it could still put up a fight despite having its advantage rendered useless. It could stop the serpent from going on a ravenous hunt and ascending a rank to level the playing field.

They were countering each other.

But then we sauntered in and killed the serpent.

We killed the only thing holding the mist back.

We shattered the balance.

After that, the mist grew thicker with each passing moment, its reach spreading farther and farther until it swallowed the entire region.

The Mist Monster had expanded its hunting ground.

Of course, we didn’t realize all of this back then because we were too busy resting and surviving to think like ecologists.

In hindsight, we were being foolish. Because we had been taught all this at the Academy — we had been taught how to hunt and traverse the Spirit Realm.

We had been taught the basics of what to do if we were ever stranded there — and at the top of that long list was to never stay in one spot for too long after slaying a predatory creature.

Because there’s always another predator in waiting.

…Okay, well, I wasn’t taught all that since I never attended our survival instructor Selene’s classes.

But hey! The rest of my companions did! So whatever hell we had to go through for the last three to four days was on those idiots, not me!

Also, I made a half-hearted resolution to at least attend Selene’s classes from now on.

We’ll see if I actually keep that resolution, though. (Spoilers: I didn’t.)

•••

We stayed in that ruined village for the rest of the day and through the night. No one suggested moving. No one had the strength to.

By morning, the exhaustion was so thick it felt physical — like a damp cloak none of us could shake off.

Ray was half-asleep, leaning on a tree stump. Kang looked like he’d been exorcised.

Michael was gone somewhere, probably gathering food again because apparently, near-death experiences hadn’t taught him to rest.

Juliana sat with her back against the cracked wall of a hut, quietly sharpening one of her knives. Her leg was still a bit stiff but improving.

Lily had passed out mid-prayer, drooling against Alexia’s shoulder.

Yeah, one important thing I forgot to mention about Lily is that she was very religious and prayed, like, three times a day.

She was a devout follower of the First Light’s Creed

And that’s one more reason it wouldn’t have worked out between us — because she wouldn’t have believed I was indeed a god and had worshiped some false deity in the sky instead of me.

A little idolizing is the least I ask of my future wife, after all.

Anyway, Alexia herself was exasperatedly muttering something about needing actual shampoo in this godforsaken jungle.

“Highborn girls and their priorities,” I rolled my eyes.

Overall, it was a peaceful, miserable morning that wasn’t a morning at all — because no sun ever replaced that bleeding moon in the shattered sky.

•••

After a while, I sent Kang and Ray to scout the area and decide our next route because Michael was taking his sweet time hunting something for dinner and coming back.

I mean… I sent Ray. Kang didn’t listen to me, so I had to go to his mistress.

Regardless, when the duo finally returned, they came stumbling out of the overgrown underbrush with expressions somewhere between irritation and relief.

Ray flopped onto the ground, chest heaving. “Okay… good news, bad news.”

“Start with the bad,” I said because good news rarely survives in our group.

“We spotted at least three caves in the distance,” Kang began, talking to Alexia as she came to stand beside me instead of addressing me directly. “Which means potential shelter far away from here. But…”

Ray lifted a finger. “But one of them is filled — and I mean filled — with enormous bees.”

I blinked.

“…Bees?” Alexia echoed.

“Yep. Giant, furry, winged demons.” Ray nodded and stepped suspiciously closer to Alexia’s side, much to Kang’s visible annoyance. “What skin product do you use, by the way, Lady Alexia? I hope I’m not being too forward, but even here, your glow hasn’t dimmed a bit.”

I rolled my eyes and cut his pathetic attempts at flirting short. “And the good news?”

Ray turned to give me the kind of tired look that one man often gives another for ruining his obvious chance with a woman way out of his league.

Then he shrugged. “The other two caves are empty.”

That’s when an idea — terrible and questionable, yet far too wonderful to ignore — formed in my head.

The thing is, after the whole Nightmare Trap incident and then being chased by a murderous fog monster for over a day, everyone’s morale was somewhere between “barely alive” and “please let me die.”

So… I single-handedly decided to lift their spirits.

Of course, I roped Alexia in first. Then, the two of us forbid Ray and Kang from telling anyone else a thing.

When Michael finally returned, dragging the corpse of some giant scorpion-like beast on his back like the noble idiot he was, I gestured grandly toward the others and rounded them up.

“Michael, our residential hero!” I announced. “We’re going to play a little game to brighten everyone’s mood.”

He looked wary immediately. “What kind of game?”

“The Monty Hall Death Game!” I declared.

Vince groaned. He was the first and only one to realize what the hell I was talking about. “Oh no. Oh no, no, no! Look, I’m all for gambling, but only when my life isn’t at stake!”

“Seconded,” Michael nodded, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I’m not playing any death game.”

“Come now, Michael. Don’t listen to Vince. It’s not a gamble — just a simple probability game,” I said, smiling like the devil offering a coin flip to a saint.

“That’s exactly what gambling is!” he protested.

“Just hear me out. If you don’t like it, I won’t pressure you,” I lied with a smile. “So there are three caves. One filled with bees, two empty. You choose one. If you choose correctly, we will rest safely. If you choose wrong…”

“Bees,” Ray whispered dramatically, his camera already zooming in on me.

Michael folded his arms. “Yeah, absolutely not.”

“Come on, Mikey. Don’t be such a buzzkill,” Alexia said, slapping his back. “Pun intended.”

“Not you too, Alex!” he scowled. “I’m not playing.”

He then walked away to gut the monster he’d brought back.

But of course, I wasn’t giving up that easily.

…So I started pressuring him with Alexia on my side, who was all giggles and cheers in my support.

Ray joined in as well — partly because of Alexia, but mostly because he was surely going to get some exciting content from this.

In the end, poor Michael had no choice but to bow down to our majority of three versus his and Vince’s voices of reason.

He put the meat aside and sighed like a man about to regret every life choice that led him here. “Fine, godsdamn it! Fine! If no one else wants to be sane, why am I even trying?”

•••

We packed up and set off toward the caves after a quick meal — or what passed for one. Burnt scorpion meat. Crunchy on the outside, regret on the inside.

The jungle was much quieter now. There was no mist, loud screeches, or eldritch horrors.

Just the faint hum of harmless insects too frightened to get closer to two [B-rankers] and the wet squelch of our boots through the sludge of mud and decomposing leaves.

Following a thirty-minute walk, we arrived at an intersection of three dense trails — each passing by or leading to a dark, mossy cavernous cavity in either a tree or on the ground.

“Behold your options, brave hero!” I said with a flourish. “Cave Number One, Cave Number Two, and Cave Number Three! One holds certain doom. Two hold… relative safety.”

Michael looked like he wanted to throw me off a cliff. I wouldn’t have blamed him at this point. “Let’s get this over with.”

“Alright, brave hero,” I grinned. “Choose your destiny.”

He studied the caves like a man facing a moral dilemma.

“Middle one,” he said at last, pointing to Cave Number Two.

“Excellent,” I said. “But before we enter, let me explain the Monty Hall Problem—”

“No,” he said flatly.

“Yes,” I continued anyway. “Statistically speaking, your odds of survival improve if — after I reveal one of the remaining caves to be empty — you switch your choice.”

“I’m sorry, why are we playing a death game with our lives?!” Lily cried out from somewhere in the back.

“Because, dear Lily,” I said, “boredom kills faster than monsters. And also because you didn’t object before.”

“I was asleep before! And no one told me anything when I woke up to eat!”

“Tragic,” I gave my sincerest mock pity, then conjured a fire arrow.

Without another word, I hurled the flaming projectile into Cave Number One. The arrow lit up its rocky interior for a split second before exploding upon impact.

We felt the ground tremble from where we were standing, but nothing came out of the now-smoking cave.

Nothing happened.

“See? It was empty,” I said. “But now that I’ve half-destroyed it, it’s useless. So, will you stick to your choice, or switch? Let me remind you again — switching is strategically the better choice.”

Michael gave me the deadest look imaginable. “You just want me to get stung, don’t you?”

“Of course not,” I said, grinning a little too hard. “I’m just saying, mathematically speaking—”

“Fine.” He threw his hands up. “I’ll switch. Happy?”

“Ecstatic!” I clapped.

•••

We walked for another few minutes to reach Cave Number Three.

By now, Michael seemed convinced he’d picked the safe option.

Because sure, in his eyes, I was insane and totally, unreasonably unpredictable.

But even I wouldn’t let us walk into a swarm of angry monster bees, right?

Of course I wouldn’t.

…Or would I?

Even Michael had that question written all over his distressed face when the buzzing started.

A low, droning bzzzzzzzzz that grew louder and louder until the air itself began to vibrate.

“Ah, fuck!” Juliana muttered beside me.

Ray slowly panned his camera. “And here comes the twist.”

Monstrous bees — each at least the size of a grown man’s head — surged from the cave in overwhelming waves like a hurricane of wings and stingers.

“Run!” Michael roared, and we did.

Everything went to hell behind us — branches snapped, mud splashed, and to my right, Kang screamed something about allergic reactions.

“WHY DID YOU SWITCH?!” Juliana shouted mid-sprint.

“BECAUSE HE SAID IT WAS STATISTICALLY SMART!” Michael yelled back.

“WHY WOULD YOU LISTEN TO HIM?!”

“I DON’T KNOW! I DON’T KNOW!”

We didn’t stop running until we got to Cave Number Two and dove inside it as the angry swarm thundered after us outside.

Then… Michael did something that scarred Lily for life.

He drew a Card and spat a sticky web-like substance straight from his mouth, sealing the cave’s entrance shut.

Lily froze, then she turned so red I thought the nerves on her forehead might explode. “You… still didn’t throw away that fucking Card!?”

Michael, panting, wiped his mouth. “Yes. Because I said it might come in handy like it just did!”

And I… was having a blast!

I patted Lily’s shoulder as I walked by, wheezing between laughs. “My sympathies.”