Flag Game Chapter 25

The twenty fifth chapter of the Darwin's Game ~Flag Game~ novel.

## Summary

More than 10 years ago, Fuli first learned about the Darwin's Game from a yakuza member he'd been indebted to. He'd entered into his elder years and thought that his inquisitiveness had gone away, nevertheless seeing actual superpowers caused him to be excited. Fuli decided to use his alias of "Fuli" as his user name and started the game. Darwin's Game back in the day used to only be known to a select few in Japan's underworld and wasn't as big a game as it currently was. In addition, functions like clans and rankings didn't exist, as the only feature was one on one battles. Fuli obtained the sigil Fake Mortal which allowed him to regain his strength from his prime and rendered him effectively immortal. Although Fuli was enthusiastic about his sigil, he didn't care that much about the Darwin's Game itself since there weren't that many points in the game, instead using his sigil in underworld jobs. He wouldn't have to prepare a weapon if he transformed his hand into a blade, and changing his face would allow him to evade the police.

Several years passed and the Darwin's Game began to stagnate due to players beginning to not invite new players into the game. At the time, Darwin's Game was operated similar to an invitation only SNS, and the only way for new players to join was for them to be invited by an existing player. However, the existing players began to prioritize keeping sigils for themselves, causing them to stop inviting new people. Fuli himself still didn't play the game as the low amount of points weren't enough to make him play the game for money.

However, one day he received a message from the Darwin's Game management, asking him to assassinate a prominent government official. The message came with a large amount of points and promised to pay three times that amount if he was successful. Although Fuli could've taken the points and ignored the request, he decided to accept, as he was bored because the yakuza group he'd been indebted to had been dismantled, and the amount of "clean" money he'd receive would make it worth it. He easily completed the job, but before he could report it the next morning, he realized that they'd already paid him, though he didn't care much about how they knew.

The Darwin's Game management continued to employ him several times a year to assassinate people such as politicians, government officials, journalists, and business owners. Through these jobs, Fuli's skill with his sigil grew, allowing him to transform into various types of people and even non human things. In addition, as if it were keeping pace with Fuli's jobs, the Darwin's Game began to expand, giving out more points to players and inviting new players through chain emails with an unknown sender. The game also received updates including brainwashing, corpse teleportation, the clan system, and rankings.

Eventually, Fuli began transforming into the people he'd killed and taking over their identity, living life as them. By doing so, he gained their assets and living space, and it let him save the time it'd take to create fake identification. He continued to use and throw away names and appearances, though doing so began to eat away at his mind. Fuli rarely used his true elderly appearance anymore, and he'd forgotten his actual name, causing him to simply be "the Darwin's Game player Fuli". Rather than a human, it was as if remnants known as Fuli clung to his sigil.

On that day, Fuli finished another job for the Darwin's Game management. He had no need for any more wealth, but the jobs he took were the only attachment he had left in life. However, in addition to his usual payment, the management told him that he could have any privilege he wanted, causing him to feel desire for the first time in a while. He spent the night thinking about it, then sent his reply, asking for him to be able to take over the accounts of players he killed. Since he took over the lives of people he killed, he didn't like the fact that killing players didn't allow him to take over their accounts. The Darwin's Game management accepted his request and granted him a privilege to take over accounts.