Who's the Liar?

Who's the Liar is chapter 114 of the Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai light novel series. It is chapter two of volume ten.

Summary
Having not been able to come up with any sort of joint activity for the Student Council and the Neighbor's Club, Kodaka and Rika decide to return to their sleeping quarters for the time being. On the way, the duo discovers a rolled, tied-up futon wriggling about at the corridor. Helping whoever is trapped inside, Kodaka and Rika find Karin, ecstatically stating that Yozora was the one responsible for the state she was just in. Afterwards, Kodaka asks Karin to pass a message to the Student Council that they will be holding a joint activity with the Neighbor's Club to deepen their bonds, much to Karin's surprise. As Kodaka ask Karin for any suggestions of any indoor game fit for 10 people, Karin claims she has come up with one whilst introducing herself as the president of the Bodoge (board game) club, leading Rika to mishear it as Homoge club, much to Karin's disgust. After denying the fact that he is well-versed with board games after mentioning The Friend-Making Game DX, Kodaka asks Karin what games she has in store. Karin mentions that she only has playing cards, but enlightens Kodaka that cards are not be underestimated as she has prepared 'an extremely interesting game' for the event.

After gathering all member of both groups, Akane asks Karin what game are they going to play. Karin declares that the game is known as Werewolf. Karin then explains the fundamentals of their game; the game is set in a fictional village (Chronica Village) where all members will be divided into two groups, namely the villagers and the werewolves. The villagers have a team of eight members while the werewolves have a team of two members only. The werewolves win by reducing the number of the villagers equal to theirs while the villagers must prevent it from happening. The players within the werewolves team have the knowledge of each of their identity before the game begins whereas the villagers don't. Amongst the villagers exists a member known as the 'diviner', who has the ability to differentiate werewolves from villagers.

The game has three phases, namely: noon, voting and night phase. During the noon phase, all members hold a discussion for five minutes in determining the werewolves out of suspicion, based on their opinions and judgment. In the voting phase, the members vote for the player they wish to execute by basing on the most number of votes tallied by the moderator (Karin). When two or more members have the most number of equal votes, no execution takes place. The executed player is removed from the game and is stripped of any rights to speak any further into the game. Voting for one's self is forbidden. Lastly, during the night phase, all players are put to 'sleep'. Here, the diviner silently asks the moderator of the true identity of the player they pointed. Afterwards, the werewolves make their move, deciding and communicating through signals and gestures on the villager they wish to 'eat' for the night. After the werewolves finish their turn, morning comes and the moderator announces the victim of the past night, who is also removed from the game. When the number of members of the villagers equals that to the werewolves, the latter team wins. However, if no victims are announced - which would mean that the werewolves were exterminated - it would result in the victory of the villagers. Furthermore, the identity of the executed person is not revealed immediately.

The players' roles are determined by a set of ten cards. The two jokers are for the werewolves, the queen for the diviner and the normal ones are for the villagers. Lastly, Karin clarifies that their game requires teamwork on both sides and stresses the importance of the diviner in the success for the villagers' team.

With the rules and roles explained, the game commences. After picking their respective cards - Kodaka picks villager - Karin asks all players to lower their heads, conceal their faces with their hand while tapping the table with their fingers to keep secret their individual roles, with the werewolves as an exception, from one another whenever their respective roles are called. After Karin narrates the premise for the game, Day 1 begins.

On the first noon phase, Sena and Yozora as well as Maria and Kobato begin to point at each other as werewolves out of instinct. Kodaka's identity is doubted as well after scolding Kobato and Maria, much to his retort. Basing on appearances, Hinata takes a guess at Aoi being the werewolf, and as such Aoi lashes back at her president. Akane then suggests that all players must vote on the person on their right to flush out the werewolves among them whom will as expected not coordinate in her plan. As Karin announces the end of the noon phase, the players are asked to vote for the person they wish to have executed; Kodaka places his vote on the person on his right, Yukimura. Karin then tallies the votes and as things go accordingly to Akane's plan, Maria is revealed to have been voted twice, much to the shock of everyone, and is the subject of execution. After Maria's execution, the night phase begins and Karin asks all players to 'sleep' by lowering their heads. Calling upon the diviner then the werewolves for commencing their respective moves, the night phase ends.

The second day begins and Karin declares the first victim: Hinata and gruesomely describes the state of her corpse. With Hinata ousted from the game, the remaining players begin their second discussion. Yukimura is first to declare her suspicion towards Yozora being one of the werewolves after overhearing the latter's satisfied remark towards Hinata's death, with Rika and Kodaka further stating their agreement. Yozora confirms to the other players of having a grudge towards her sister, explaining that her younger brother was killed by Hinata, much to the latter's confusion. After being seemingly entertained by Yozora's role-play, Akane recalls their last discussion and surmises that the leftward person of the player with no votes during their last voting phase is supposedly the werewolf, but seeing that the person on Sena's (the player with no votes) left was Maria - who was executed - only adds to the confusion. As players begin pinpointing Yozora to be most suspicious among them, Rika explains that basing on Yozora's wicked nature is irrational, much to Kobato's agreement. For the voting phase, all players receive one vote each and thus, no execution took place. At night phase, the diviner then the werewolves make their respective moves.

On the third day, Rika's horrific death is announced by Karin, much to the dismay of some players. Beginning their third discussion, Kodaka calls for the diviner among them. Seeing no one replied, the players fear for the possibility that the diviner was either executed or killed by the werewolves. In the midst of the confusion, Yozora declares that she is the diviner. As Yozora states her claims of being the diviner, Akane points out to Yozora being one of the werewolves, further declaring she is the real diviner, spurring more confusion. The remainder of the discussion involves Yozora and Akane flinging claims that the one of the other is the true werewolf with the latter winning the trust of most players as Yozora constantly warns the other players that they are being deceived by Akane. Onwards the voting phase; as Yozora and Akane both have an equal number of votes, the last vote goes to Kobato and again, no execution took place. The night phase then passed after the diviner and the werewolves make their move.

The fourth day begins with an announcement from Karin the moderator of Yozora's peaceful, crystallized demise. On their fourth discussion, Akane willingly admits that she is a werewolf, though feeling triumphant of eliminating Yozora, whom she thought was the diviner. Eventually, as the villager players begin to discuss who the remaining werewolf is, Sena points at Yukimura as the final culprit. As Yukimura denies Sena's accusation, the latter states that she is the true diviner and had remained silent from the preceding rounds to lure out players from the werewolf team. After the voting phase, Akane is executed and the night phase passes on as usual.

The fifth day begins and Sena's mortifying death scene is announced, along with some corrections due to Sena's complains of her depiction of death. On the voting phase, Yukimura is voted for execution as she commits seppuku in Karin's portrayal. After the night phase, no victims were announced and the victory goes to the villager team, much to the player's relief.

With the game adjourned, Akane approaches the arguing Sena and Yozora, and asks them if they were aware of who voted for whom during the first voting phase. Kodaka surmises that Sena voted for Yozora while Maria and Kobato voted among themselves, leading the former to be executed, as Akane expresses her bewilderment and frustration towards the Neighbor's Club's (difficult) relationships. Yozora then asks Akane why they eliminated Hinata on the first night, given their close relationship. Akane chooses to keep the reason a secret as they will eventually know about it. With Yozora asking why Rika was killed on the second day, Yukimura perplexedly states Rika was 'more dangerous', with Akane in agreement. Afterwards, Yozora implies that her verbal slip towards Hinata's death in the game was purely personal and that she had covered up for Sena by declaring herself as the diviner and allowed herself to be executed, whilst Kodaka concluding that the results of their joint activity was indecisive, as while they were not able to close the gap between Yozora and Hinata, they have gained foothold to opportunities for friendship and knowing that Akane was a great person.

As both groups have left the playroom, Kodaka thank Karin for her participation. With Kodaka leaving as well, Yozora calls out to him. Knowing that Kodaka was the one behind their joint activity and the latter being aware of not dwelling on her personal issues, Yozora timidly mumbles that she was still slightly pleased. much to Kodaka's delight.