Amid the collective held breaths, I spoke up.
“…Hokkaido.”
…No one uttered a word.
That means… for now, I’ve survived this turn! Yes!
Early summer. The air is somewhat refreshing, though the weather has been unstable lately.
Today brought a sudden rain. I checked the forecast and knew it would stop soon, so I decided to kill some time in the lab, opening the lab door. I figured others would have the same idea and gather here too.
…Yeah, but I didn’t expect everyone to be here. Yeah, it’s kind of creepy when everyone thinks the same. Haha.
The slightly warm temperature cooled with the rain, making the lab comfortably cool, albeit a bit too humid due to the rain. And the air was oddly tense.
…In the midst of this, we take turns saying the names of prefectures.
The game we are currently playing is “Kokon Nanboku”!
“Kokon Tozai”, known as the Yamanote Line game, is pretty famous, but the “Nanboku” version isn’t so well-known. Actually, I didn’t know about it until Kariya brought up this game.
The rules are not so complicated.
First, you decide on a theme. This time it’s “prefectures”. It’s better if the number of items within the theme is limited. (When we tried “flowers” earlier, it didn’t really work as a game!)
Then, each person writes down one item from the theme on a piece of paper and keeps it hidden.
Once that’s done, everyone takes turns saying an item from the theme out loud…
…When someone mentions the item you’ve written down! The person who wrote it announces loudly and reveals their paper! And the person who said the word is out of the game! It’s like stepping on a landmine.
Basically, the game is about “writing down a word others are likely to say” and “saying a word that others are unlikely to have written”. It’s a winnable game if you can manage that… but it’s not so simple, especially with this group. Haha.
“Uh, so, Saitama.”
“Gotcha, boom!”
“Ah, I blew it.”
“Hahaha, serves you right!”
First, Toriumi exploded due to the Saitama landmine set by Maito.
“Shiga!”
“Sorry, boom.”
“We really targeted the same pinpoint, didn’t we?”
“Impressive, Suzumoto! I’m paralyzed with admiration for that sniper precision!”
Next, Maito exploded due to the Shiga bomb set by Suzumoto.
“Kagawa… can I go?”
“Unfortunately. Boom.”
“Ahh—so frustrating…”
“Look, after Kochi, Tokushima, and Ehime were mentioned, you should’ve figured the last one was risky, you idiot…”
And then, Kariya was taken out by Hagasaki-kun’s Kagawa cannon.
Now it’s my turn!
“Hokkaido was safe so let’s go! Okinawa—!”
With full confidence, I declared! And then!
“Boom”
“Boom”
“Boom”
…
Toriumi, Kadomi-kun, and Katori all flipped their papers over simultaneously…
“Three explosions at once, huh…”
“Wait, why did three of you write ‘Okinawa’? Normally, you’d avoid that.”
“No, I thought someone might write it, but then I thought maybe no one would—it was a double bluff that led to this.”
“I just… wrote it without much thought…”
“Yeah, the double bluff really is a return to the basics, huh…”
I also tried a double bluff by saying ‘Okinawa’. I thought no one would dare to write it…
Getting hit by the Okinawa Jet Stream Attack, I definitely feel like I was overkilled. Ah, it’s so frustrating! Ah!
And the survivors were Hagasaki-kun and President. Well, that seems about right… It’s probably because I alone triggered three explosions unnecessarily!
“The balance was pretty good with ‘prefectures’.”
“There are a limited number of them, right. I thought it might not be enough for nine people, but maybe a quick game was just fine.”
Since the “Theme: Flowers” earlier ended in a no-contest because we couldn’t conclude, we chose ‘prefectures’ because the number of words within the theme was limited. 47 might be a bit few for nine players, but well, that’s how it is.
“So, can I pick the next theme?”
“Sure, why not?”
Next, it looks like President will decide the theme. Uh-oh, I have a feeling it won’t be anything good.
“Then, let’s go with this theme.”
…I looked where President was pointing.
Ah… yes, yes, yes.
“The periodic table, huh. It’s typical for the chemistry department, I guess.”
You know, the familiar periodic table from chemistry classes. The one full of elements created by Dmitri Mendeleev, which we also use occasionally in the chemistry department. Well, when I say use, I mean mainly for games like this. Hahaha.
“But there’s one condition.”
But this time, even the familiar periodic table seems to be baring its fangs at us.
“Let’s play the game without looking at the periodic table.”
As he said it, President removed the periodic table that was hanging on the wall.
“…Wait, hold on. Prefectures I understand. I got that. But come on, even though we’re the chemistry department, it’s not like we have the periodic table memorized!”
“No, I’m not confident about it either.”
Maito-san looked flustered, and honestly, I wanted to feel flustered too! Because if you don’t know what elements are there, you can’t write them down or say them!
“And for this round of ‘Kokon Nanboku’, ‘surrender’ is allowed. That means, if you run out of element names you know, you’re out right then and there. How about that? Isn’t it just like the chemistry department?”
Wow, wow, wow… that’s ruthless!
It’s like, well, fighting with different numbers of bullets, like that…!
“No, no, no, if Toriumi, Hagasaki-kun, Suzumoto, and President play, they’ll be insanely strong! What about me, Kadomi-kun, and Hariu? We’d be incredibly weak!”
Maito-san may be saying something harsh, but yeah, I think so too!
The ones who practically have the periodic table memorized are definitely stronger!
…With that thought, I also looked at President.
“Is that so? Regardless of the difference in the number of bullets, when it hits, it hits, and when it doesn’t, it doesn’t. Isn’t that how it works? There’s no need for the weapon to be a shotgun. If there’s only one bullet, just aim for a sniper rifle headshot.”
President had a devilish, mad smile on his face. Terrifying. Amazing.
…Yeah, but that’s right.
After all, this “Kokon Nanboku”, the point is how well you can “boom” others and avoid being “boomed” yourself.
So, well, when it hits, it hits, and when it doesn’t, it doesn’t…
Yeah, thinking about it that way, I feel like I might actually have a chance.
Because, well, I’m pretty confident in my luck. Haha.
With that, everyone scribbled down their element, or should I say, their landmine, on a piece of paper and laid it face down on the table as the game began.
Starting off with the initiator’s right, President began.
“Flerovium.”
…What, what is that? I don’t know that one!
“None here. Next, please.”
As expected, no one had written “Flerovium”, so it was Maito-san’s turn next.
“Uh, then Iridium.”
…What, what is that? Eh, what? I don’t know it!
“Ah, none. Next, Suzumoto, please.”
“Ah… then, Curium. How about that?”
Ah, that one I know.
But, it wasn’t a landmine either.
…This really is going to hit a landmine eventually, right…?
“Rutherfordium.”
Hagasaki-kun cleared the minefield.
“Uh, then Röntgenium. How about that?”
Katori also cleared.
“…Hydrogen.”
“Isn’t that risky?”
…He dove right in there, but Kadomi-kun also made it through safely. Incredible. It feels similar to how I was safe with “Hokkaido” earlier!
“Then please, Praseodymium.”
Kariya also cleared.
“Hmm, then Francium?”
And Toriumi as well…
“Yes. Boom. Sorry, just had that one rigged.”
…Looks like he didn’t make it through. He exploded spectacularly on Katori’s landmine.
Ah, finally one casualty. Having a casualty means one less mine, which brings a slight sense of relief. Haha. Although the ratio of non-mine elements keeps decreasing. Hahaha.
Then, I safely said “Tantalum”, President was safe with “Copernicium”, Maito-san with “Rhodium”, Suzumoto with “Bismuth”… and Hagasaki-kun got boomed by Maito-san with “Cobalt”. Ah well.
“Yay, I got Hagasaki-kun!”
Maito-san was unusually pleased, but rather than celebrating, it might be better to start recalling the periodic table in her head.
…After that, with Kadomi-kun starting to say things like “Gold” and “Iron”, the smarter group got the idea to ‘knock the footing out from under the less knowledgeable first’, and everyone began focusing on the elements at the beginning of the periodic table.
Then Maito-san got boomed by Toriumi with “Phosphorus”, Kariya was boomed by Kadomi-kun with “Zinc”, Katori was boomed by Suzumoto with “Rubidium”, and Kadomi-kun was boomed by me with “Oxygen”. I got Kadomi-kun!
Furthermore, President got boomed by Kariya with “Meitnerium”.
…
“So, it’s just me and Hariu in a duel now?”
Somehow, it came down to me and Suzumoto remaining.
The bombs left were Hagasaki-kun’s and President’s. I couldn’t guess at all where they were!
And so, the battle of naming elements continued relentlessly until I had pretty much exhausted all the elements I knew from the periodic table in my head.
“Uh, um, Strontium.”
“That’s already been mentioned.”
“Then Barium.”
“That’s been mentioned too.”
“Copper!”
“That’s already out too.”
At this point, all I could do was keep naming elements, hoping to hit one that hadn’t been mentioned yet. There was no strategy left! But what can you do, it’s not like I remember a ton of elements!
“Then, Xenon!”
“Ah, that hasn’t been mentioned yet. Accepted.”
Finally, I got approval from President who had somehow turned into a game master or something. Thank goodness…
“…My turn then…”
When it was Suzumoto’s turn, he looked troubled.
It must be that Suzumoto’s mental periodic table was getting all mixed up too. I really hoped it was.
“What areas haven’t been mentioned yet? We’ve covered almost everything up to the fourth period, right?”
Wow, that’s impressive. Even though Suzumoto’s mind must be a mess from this, it definitely wasn’t as messed up as mine. Yeah.
“Yes, the latter sections haven’t been mentioned much. Especially the lanthanides and actinides are still largely untouched.”
President answered while looking at his notes. Even so, I barely had anything in my head about the lanthanides or actinides…
“Is that so. Then I’ll go from the back. Lawrencium.”
“Yes. Sorry. Boom.”
…
President flipped his paper.
There it was, clearly written: “Lawrencium.”
“…President.”
“Yes, what is it?”
“You led me into that, didn’t you?”
“Well, what do you mean?”
Ah, Suzumoto is making a really incredible face. Hahaha.
“…Just joking. But seriously, since it was a good chance, I thought I might as well have someone step on the mine I set. I thought if I mentioned that almost all the lanthanides and actinides were left, Suzumoto would start with Lawrencium.”
President casually dropped a bombshell.
I don’t think leading someone like that is easy, but well, if anyone can do it, it’s President.
“…Why is it that this feels much more frustrating than just getting blown up normally?”
“Don’t worry about it!”
Suzumoto looked so utterly dejected, I had to offer some consolation. Don’t worry about it!
“Unlike Werewolf, ‘Kokon Nanboku’ isn’t a game where the dead don’t speak. Being able to still take out others after you’re gone makes it a pretty great game system. It’s fun even after you’re out, a real two-for-one deal.”
President was saying something, but having players who are out influence the game and lead others into bombs doesn’t feel like the traditional way to enjoy the game. But since it’s fun, well, why not?
“That’s true. Thinking about who might have planted a mine where, and who is likely to step on it, considering each person individually is quite interesting.”
Katori was saying something profound, but with this group, we kind of already understand each other’s thought processes, so targeting each person one by one like that might actually be feasible.
Suzumoto glanced out the window, then turned his gaze back.
“…So, shall we play another game?”
His following line felt a bit forced, so I looked out the window too.
As expected, or rather, the rain had already stopped.
But, well… yeah.
“Ah, I’ve got a good theme! Hiragana! Including voiced and semi-voiced sounds!”
We want to play another game, right? I just came up with a great theme, after all. No objections, right?
By the way, hiragana ‘Kokon Nanboku’ turned out to be quite heated.
We became a strange group, shouting “Pe!” or “Mo!” and then “Boom!”… But hey, it was fun, so it’s all good.
The author’s recommended theme is “First 151 Pokémon.”