Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Zwap… Thump!

Another body falls to the floor as another person fails her game. Perhaps the lower cards have to be harder for any real competition to begin.

Mira sits at her table in the garden, bored and lonely. She looks at the body on the floor. She frowns as she was unable to have any fun with him. The boy just happened to pass all the games in the first stage and get to her by luck. He didn’t even get past her first lie. The games were no fun at all. She needed a worthy competitor.

Mira stood up and looked at the ground around her game arena and saw no other people willing to play her games. She assumed no new players would come to her today, they were too weak to pass most of the other game cards anyway.

When she exited her garden there was a stairway on her right. Of course no one else would go there because they would be too busy playing with her. She went down and there was only a door. She entered her home and took off her shoes.

Per usual, she moves her way through the house and enters her living room. She looks around the area and sees a couple of books laying around. She’d have to make him clean up after himself, he’s getting older now. But for now, she picked up the books off the floor and stacked them up in a neat pile on the coffee table for him to get later.

Finally sitting and relaxing on the couch, Mira thought more about the games. They should restart the cycle again and this time make the games more difficult. It’s boring getting the same weak minded people to play games and ultimately fail at the first or second lie, Mira thought.

As Mira thought of ways to make the games more interesting, she didn’t notice the little boy running towards her from the hallway.

“Mommy!” He shouted happily, “You’re back!”

The little boy ran towards the couch and sat down next to his mother. He had a huge grin on his face and was holding a big book. His hair flopped in front of his eyes in dire need of a haircut and he was missing his front teeth. The boy looked around 7 or 8 years old.

“When you were working, I was reading this book on maths. It’s kind of confusing but I think I get it now. When you…” The little boy began ranting about his findings in his thick math book, his mother couldn’t help but smile.

When he finished speaking about his findings, he looked at the coffee table and saw his pile of books that he left in the living room laying there. His eyes seemed to widen and he jumped off the couch and left his math book there.

Reaching for the book on the top of the pile, the boy says, “I was looking for this one. I wanted to finish it but I couldn’t remember where I left it.”

He picks up the book and smiles at it. His mother turns and looks at him with a fond expression on her face. She brushes a piece of hair that was practically in his eye behind his ear and smiles at him.

“Try not to leave your books laying everywhere. They are supposed to be in your room at the end of the day. If I see them laying around again, I might just have to take them for a while so you can be more responsible with your belongings.” She lectures.

“I promise I won’t forget them anymore. I’ll keep them in my room!” He flashes a huge smile at his mother before grabbing all the books and running back to his room to put them up. Every step he took with the massive books made it look like he was about to tumble over. Mira could only smile at how good and well behaved her son was.

When her son returned, he took his seat on the couch again and just sat there silently. The quietness was pleasing for Mira after the sounds of the borderland all day. She knew her son enjoyed the quiet sometimes and didn’t want to have a discussion. Sometimes he just wanted to be near someone after being cooped up all day and she didn’t have a problem with that.

After a few good minutes of silence, Mira decided it was time to create dinner for them. She stood from the couch without a word and went to the kitchen.

“What do you want for dinner?” She asked her son, staring in the direction of the couch.

She could see his little eyes and long, shaggy, black hair peaking from behind the couch and staring at her.

“Can we have instant noodles again?” He asked hopefully as they just had that yesterday.

Mira tilted her head and smiled, “We just had noodles yesterday. There are so many plants in the garden, are you sure you don’t want anything else?”

“I’m sure! Noodles are so tasty.” The boy exclaimed and became more visible from behind the couch. His fingers were holding on to the back of the couch just to show his mother his excitement over noodles.

“Okay, noodles it is. But we will have something different tomorrow, okay mister?” Mira stares at her son with open eyes to make sure he understands. The boy nods profusely and smiles at her. She knows he will definitely ask for noodles tomorrow but for now, she just wants to see her son happy.

Mira makes the instant noodles within 5 minutes and lays them on the dinner table for her and her son. She sees her son enter the dining room, sniffing the air to get a better smell of the pure delight he saw.

They both sat down at the table and began eating.

The table was silent for a while before her son interrupted, “Why… n’t.. out.. Worl..”

“You know better, close your mouth and chew before you speak.” She looked at him with a warning stare.

The dark-haired boy looked apologetic and quickly chewed and swallowed before asking his question. “Why can’t I go out in the world,” He asks bluntly.

Mira, slightly expecting the question, stares at her son before calmly replying, “You’re not old enough. There is still so much for you to learn and I don’t want you to get hurt.”

The dark-haired boy furrowed his eyes in frustration and confusion. “But I’m a big boy, you said so. Aren’t I old enough to see the world now. It’s boring staying at home all day. Only puzzles and reading are fun.” He pouts.

“You can leave home one day, just not yet.” Her tone changes in a way that is not to be argued with. The boy pouts but leaves it at that in fear of getting in trouble. Mira continues to eat when the boy gains a new question.

“What do you do for work?” He asks.

“I play a game everyday and wait to lose. I have yet to lose once.” Mira responds calmly and truthfully.

“That sounds boring.” The boy complains.

“It is sometimes. But, once you get a good contestant, it’s so much more interesting.” She counters.

The boy shrugs and finishes his noodles at the same time as his mother. She throws away the cups as her son washes up before bed. By the time she’s done, her son is already snuggled in his bed.

Mira sits on his bedside and looks at him with a charming smile. “One day you will leave this house and explore the world. Just not now. It’s too dangerous for you to stay out there when you don’t know enough. I promise, just read more and learn more and soon you can go out.”

The boy smiles, “Will you be with me, mommy? Are we going on the adventure together?”

A somber smile crosses her face, “Maybe, sweetheart. Maybe.”

The boy senses that his mother is upset over something but he can’t tell. Before he can ask her anything about it, she kisses his forehead goodnight and tugs him in.

“Goodnight. Have a good night's sleep.” She stands and takes her leave. She closes the door behind her and retreats to the couch.

I wonder, she thinks, how far will Arisu make it in this world?

Chapter Text

Bored.

That’s the only word he could use to describe himself. Arisu was bored of sitting in his house on his bed reading or solving different puzzles like he usually does. He was also lonely. He was locked in his house with no friends and no social interactions except for his mother which he rarely sees.

Apparently his mom is always at a place called “The Beach”. He’s only read of beaches, he never actually seen one. He always asked to go with her but she never let him, claiming it was ‘too dangerous’.

It didn’t make sense, he was 18 now. He should be able to do a lot more stuff. But no. Just like from back when he was 7, she still won’t let him out of the house.

And that leaves him where he is now. Arisu lies in his bed, bored out of his mind.

An idea pops up. If she won’t allow him to leave, why doesn’t he just take the liberty to leave on his own? She barely sees him anyway, him being missing won’t hurt her.

Arisu sits up and touches his feet to the ground. Today, he decided, Today is the day I’m finally going to leave this place.

He stands up and walks to his closet and gets dressed. While getting dressed, he scans the room and looks at all the books and puzzles scattered around his room. Math books that he once found difficult are now easy for him. Puzzles that took days, now turned to seconds, to solve.

Everything was so simple.

Arisu always looked out the window every night and looked at the world he lived in. He always wondered why there were so many buildings but not enough people, why red lasers came from the sky every night, why different places in Tokyo lit up brightly while the rest remained dark. It never made sense to him.

There were three things his mother always told him. The first being never leave the house whatsoever. The second being the place they are in is called the Borderlands. The last was that Mira was not his biological mother.

The second thing his mother always said never made sense to him. In the books she brought back from her time at her job, they always say something about the place they live in being called Earth, never the Borderlands. Actually, Arisu realizes no book he has read has ever called the world ‘the Borderlands.’ It was weird.

Arisu couldn’t actually recall when he and his mother met and when he first started calling her mom. He remembers something happening and suddenly everyone was gone and he met her. She took him in and took care of him.

Arisu can recall a memory from when he was younger of having a father and a brother. He can’t actually recall having a mother. It would make sense for Mira to be his mom but she seemed too young.

Everything about living with his mom seemed so weird when he actually thought about it. Plagued by fake thoughts of love and attention, he never realized how lonely and odd his life was.

Books he read stated that Japan has roughly 123.1 million people in it. Where are those people now? Why is Japan so quiet?

Arisu shakes his head out his thoughts as he finishes getting dressed. He looks around his room. He needs something to carry supplies in.

After thinking for a moment, he finds taking his bed sheets would be the easiest option. He rips the sheets off the bed and lays them out on the floor.

Arisu stands back up. What would he need out in the real world? This puts him deep in thought. Of course he always wanted to run away and see the world outside of the tiny box he was locked up in but he actually didn’t know what to do now that he’s gotten the chance.

The first thing he sees and grabs in his room is the puzzle sitting on the corner of his desk. It’s unfinished and mostly broken apart. The next thing he grabs is three books sitting on his shelf. The first is about human social interactions, the second is about the world and countries, and the third is a math book.

Ever since Arisu was younger he’s always had a special interest in math. It seemed like math was one of those things that almost always had an absolute answer. The unknown was so unpredictable that he always loved having closure in something so secure such as math.

He raids his closet next in search for an outfit he could swap out with. He doesn’t know how long he’s going to be out in the city but he knows it’ll be long enough that he’ll need another set of clothing.

Thinking more about his clothing, Arisu realizes he hasn’t seen the sun in a long time. Of course most days he sits near his window playing with a puzzle or reading a book daydreaming about the outside. But, what if it’s too cold and he needs something warmer? Or vice versa. There was a lot to think about when grabbing clothing which made him overwhelmed with options.

Attempting to not think so hard about it, he remembers the warmth that hit his skin when he sat near the window. It felt pretty warm so he settled on packing a pair of shorts and a t-shirt.

Now time for his food. Arisu mostly ate the same things every day as every day was mostly the same. Just some repeating cycle that Arisu was stuck in.

Arisu gets up and exits his room. He looks around the house and hears nothing. His mother is never around. Arisu enjoys the silence a lot though. There is nothing he needs or wants to talk about with his mother or to himself. He can just think it all.

Footsteps padded across the floor as Arisu reached the kitchen. He finds an empty refillable water bottle in the cabinet and takes it. In another cabinet, above and left to the one he searched previously, there was some instant noodles.

Arisu picks it up and stares at it. He remembers how much he loved the noodles when he was younger. He would constantly beg for them. Now they are just another empty filling to his already empty life.

Still, Arisu takes the water bottle and two packs of the noodles with him back to his room. He throws them in the pile.

Checking off a mental list in his head, he’s pretty sure he’s gotten all he needed. Books, Check. A puzzle, Check. Clothing, Check. Water, Check. Food, Check. That’s all he needs right?

Arisu shrugs his shoulders at his thoughts before leaning down and separating things. The stuff was in a messy bunch on top of each other and he wanted it evenly spaced out.

After decluttering the mess, he finally looks at it with pride. He knows he’s going to fold it up and inevitably destroy his order but it didn’t matter at the moment. He felt proud of how ordered and satisfying it looked.

After a minute of staring at it, he grabs one set of two of the edges at the same time and pulls them towards the middle then repeats with the other set of edges. Once it looked like a diamond, he grabbed two edges with one hand each and tied it together.

Arisu grabbed the sack and tossed it behind his head looking like Santa with no more gifts to give out.

He started walking himself to his bedroom door before stopping abruptly in his room.

Was this really a good idea? He starts thinking deeper about what is going to happen if he does this. There has to be a good reason his mom keeps him locked in the house right? There is no way she’d just lie about some nonsensical danger for 10 years. The way she reacted whenever he asked, there was no way.

What was so scary out there that made her lock him up for so long and not let him leave. What would be the consequences if she caught him running away? Well there’d be none likely. Years ago she’d at least come home every morning and play with him. Now though? Arisu sees her once a week if he’s lucky. She’s never home anymore and probably wouldn’t notice he’s gone.

Seeing as the pros outway the cons and he has a strong sense of curiosity and adventure, he makes the decision to go. If his mother can leave multiple times a day and stay out for a very long time, so can he.

Arisu takes one last look around his bedroom before solemnly waving it goodbye and shutting his door.

He takes his bag with him to the door and puts his hand on the handle. So he’s really doing this. He’s finally saying goodbye to this small apartment building and saying hello to the new world. Arisu takes a few deep breaths to calm his nerves.

He twists the knob and pushes the door open.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~

The first few steps outside were shocking.

The first thing Arisu noticed was how high he was. He wasn’t necessarily scared of the height but frowned more upon the amount of steps he’s going to have to take to get down to ground level. He was starting to understand why his mother doesn’t return home often. If he had to climb all those stairs every time, he’d abandon his house too.

The second thing Arisu took in was the temperature. It was midday when he finally escaped. The sun shined perfectly above him. He’s never felt such a beautiful warmth all around his body before. It was beautiful. The way the breeze cooled him down a little every time he started to get too hot.

Everything seemed perfect about the outside world. There wasn’t any immediate threat around him he didn't think. Why was he never allowed outside?

In embracing the beautiful splotches of blue painting the sky in different shades and the powerful golden rays of sun, Arisu turns towards the long stairwell he had to go down to be able to reach ground level.

After walking down one flight of steps, Arisu was already burnt. Not even the breeze could save him. Locked up all the time only studying didn’t build the physical endurance he needed in any world.

His heavy pants echoed as he realized escaping was going to be a lot harder than he thought it’d be. At least he decided to leave in the morning rather than at night. In the morning, there was less of a chance of running into his mom as she usually only returns or goes out at night.

Arisu lets out a loud frustrated huff before turning to walking down many flights of stairs before the day is over.

~-~-~-~-~-~

Huffing and panting as he finally reaches the bottom of the staircase, Arisu finally takes in his surroundings.

Everything was so big. From up in his room, everything seemed so tiny and he was bigger than the rest of it.

Now though? Arisu started realizing how much he missed out on.

Taking a hand and rubbing the sweat off his forehead, Arisu starts his journey into the city.

He walks for a few minutes before finding himself inside a shop. He decided he needed to take a break as he was really tired from those steps.

Arisu walks to the back of the store and takes a seat on the floor. He undoes his bedsheet bag and takes out his water bottle and drinks some.

He puts the bottle down and looks around the area. The store seemed like it was already ransacked and taken from.

Some food that was once fresh was rotting on the shelf. Refrigerators once holding cold drinks were turned off. Some shelves were pushed blocking the aisles.

What happened here?

There were some questions Arisu hoped he would be able to answer at the end of this adventure. Where did everyone go, what happened to his real family, and is there anyone else in this world?

He can recall some events happening in his childhood before arriving to the borderlands. Some events he’d rather not talk about.

When Arisu first arrived at the borderlands, he remembered waking up in his house and everyone was gone after… that happened.

He was around 6 at the time, close to becoming 7. When he left his house he realized how empty the world suddenly was. When he was searching for people he got tired and was scared.

He remembered finding a corner and crying there before he was found by a nice lady. A nice lady named Mira who took him with her.

She brought him to that apartment high up in the sky near her garden. She gave him books and puzzles to keep him occupied and learning while she went to work everyday.

Realizing now, she never truly told Arisu what her job was. Apparently it was something to do with games but that didn’t make sense.

Some jobs people can have are doctors, police, nurses, firefighters, actors, musicians, or teachers.

Playing a game everyday waiting to lose is not a game. It doesn’t make sense.

Arisu shakes his head, stopping his thoughts. The sky was turning darker and he wanted to explore more.

He threw his water bottle back into his bag, tied it back up, and got ready to leave.

Arisu kept forgetting how cool and big everything was when he went outside. He was still astonished by the size of everything and how beautiful it looked.

He continued to walk, getting distracted by every poster and sign he saw.

That’s when he saw a big building.

A mall, that’s what they call it right?

He entered through the glass doors and his eyes widened significantly. Obviously he saw the city and different stores around the place but nothing could compare to this!

The mall’s open space was tremendously larger than what he’s seen before. He didn’t know it was possible for places to be that big.

Arisu doesn’t think he’s ever gone to a mall when he was younger. Why’d no one take him? Oh yeah.. nevermind.

Traveling through the vast area, he settles down in a random store. He puts all his stuff down in a random book store near the entrance.

It was close to nighttime now.

There was one final thing Arisu wanted to check out.

He left the mall and looked around the night sky. Suddenly, different areas started lighting up brightly.

The closest building to him though was a GM Building meaning that was his next destination.

He was always so curious about these bright lights and red lasers around the borderlands and now he finally gets answers.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

When Arisu arrived at the building, the thing he saw was a beautiful BMW outside the place. One time when he was younger he got obsessed with cars for like a year and the BMW was always his favorite. He couldn’t help but take a moment to admire it before entering the building.

He walked into the building and saw a sign above him saying “THE GAME ARENA IS UP AHEAD” and there was a hallway leading further into the building. An arrow lit up at the end of the hallway pointing right. Assuming that’s where he needs to go, he followed it.

When Arisu got closer to the end of the hallway, he started hearing voices. Wait, voices? That can’t be right. He hasn’t seen a single person since he left the apartment building. He’s never seen a single person walk the streets when he was up in his room. People are impossible.

Arisu moved quicker, excited and nervous to meet someone new. The last time that happened was when he arrived at the borderlands and met his mom.

When he reached the end of the hallway and peaked right, what was waiting for him was a red-orange elevator. Arisu never rode on an elevator. Before the borderlands, he lived in a two story house and when his mother took him in he stayed inside so he never had to climb the steps. The only time he walked those steps was when he arrived at the apartment and today when he finally got the guts to run away.

Thinking about the elevator too much, he didn’t even notice the two men talking to each other with phones in their hands.

“It’s got face recognition.” The shorter man spoke. He was wearing a blue and white striped shirt and had black hair like Arisu. His hair, however, was gelled and combed in a side part.

“Do we use these phones?” The taller man with yellow hair spoke. He was wearing an orange shirt that looked like ones you’d find on a beach. His ears were pierced and he looked serious, but cool.

“There’s no signal,” the shorter man replied, “and the outgoing call function is disabled.”

Arisu hears the phone announce something. It talks about a game and waiting for it to begin. There were only 3 participants currently. There was one minute remaining until registration closes.

“What the hell is this?” He hears the older ask.

A voice coming from directly behind him jumpscares him.

“A game” The girl announced. She was wearing a white top and looked pretty professional. She looked like she knew what she was doing and what she was going into.

He realizes the two men near the elevator finally look and see him and the girl standing next to each other.

“Huh… Finally, more people” The blue striped man speaks.

“Hey. Uh, do you know where everyone went?” The blonde asks.

That’s the same question that he has been asking himself for 12 years. Maybe these people were also stuck in the borderlands for multiple years? It would explain why they are so confused too.

The lady looks at Arisu expecting him to walk in first. He looks embarrassed as he was just caught spying on the two other men. He walks in and stands next to the short man.

When Arisu turns around, he looks and sees the lady walking in right after him. She confidently walks up to the short man and grabs some sort of identification card out of his pocket. The two friends look at each other in confusion but continue to watch the lady.

She takes the card and throws it at the start of the hallway. What was unexpected was a laser to shoot down and burn a hole in it. Everyone flinches back a little except for the lady.

“What the hell was that?” Blondie questions something again.

“A laser?” The blue striped shirt asks.

Yeah it’s a laser, but why is it burning holes near the entrance of this ‘game’? What is happening around here?

“Cross the borderline, and you’ll never return.” She responds calmly. “You have no choice but to play the game.”

Is that where the borderland name comes from? Crossing the borderline in the games will kill you? This is sick. What games are being implied? His mother always mentioned going to games and waiting to lose. Is this what she meant?

The lady moves to the little hole in the wall where phones are displayed. Those are the same phones the two men who first arrived grabbed. There were a total of nine phones on the table counting the missing spots.

Following what everyone else did, Arisu grabs a phone and signs in using face recognition. He ignores the other two boys testing the border for the laser and examines the phone. He hasn’t seen one in a while and mostly forgot how to use one. He remembers a little from the first six years he lived in the real world but nothing more.

“Oh! I’m so relieved!” A school girl appears at the end of the hallway looking quite happy to see people.

Arisu was confused by everyone in the room, he wanted to ask questions but didn’t want to make it weird. Maybe after this first game he can ask more about the borderlands and how long they’ve been there.

“Jeeze, I thought there was no one else…” She almost finished her sentence while walking towards the group. However she was cut off by rejections and yells from the two men.

She passes the scanner looking confused. There is no going back now.

“My condolences” The business lady hands out a phone to the school girl which she takes politely.

Everyone’s phones rang at the same time executing the same announcement, “Registration is now closed. The game will now commence. Game, “Dead or Alive”. Difficulty, Three of Clubs. Rule. Select the correct door within the stipulated time frame. Clear condition. Leave the building within the time limit.”

With a loud ding, the elevator opens up. There is a sign in it with the word “Start” on it.

The business lady immediately walks towards the door before slowing and stopping short in the doorway of the elevator when she realizes no one else is moving.

“You’ll die if you just stand there.” She says before fully moving inside the elevator.

Everyone looks around at each other. Their faces readable with nervousness, regret, and fear.

The school girl is the first to jump in the elevator with the business lady.

“We have no choice” The blonde mutters to the blue striped shirt before taking his leave and the other man following behind him.

Arisu was the last in the elevator as he saw a Evacuation Route Map next to the elevator and took a look at it. According to the map, the elevator they are entering is in the corner of the building. Interesting.

Walking into the elevator, his face displayed nervousness but also excitement. He’s never been around so many people since he was young. But, whatever game this is makes him worried. He sees the lasers that he used to see every night but now all he can wonder is what they’re for.

The doors closed on them and the elevator began to move up bringing them into another room. Arisu couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen next.

Chapter Text

A couple of moments later, the elevator doors reopen to a small room with a checkered patterned floor and gray stone walls. There were two doors. The first straight ahead had a pink haired girl with wings and was titled “LIVE” and the other had a skeleton and black background titled “DIE”.

Everyone’s phone chimed at the same time announcing a new message.

“The time limit for this room is two minutes” The screen on the white phone flashed the time limit on the screen and began counting down.

Arisu exited the room first, curious at what he was looking at. The room seemed so tiny which left him lost at everything. The game was simple. Pick the correct door and you’ll live.

Everyone piled out of the elevator after Arisu, allowing the red-orange doors to shut. It was true now that they were stuck there whether they wanted to or not. The doors didn’t look like they were opening any time soon.

“What is this?” The taller man scoffed.

“Alive.. Or Dead.” The business lady answered.

“Is this really a game?” The blue striped shirt man said. He turned his phone and found the camera app, beginning to record the room they were in. “I think this is really getting exciting,” he chuckled.

“I want to go home” The school girl worried.

“It’ll be fine. You’re with us” The blue striped shirt man comforted with a smile on his face still recording. “We’ll play the game, get our prize, and go home. Okay?”

The phone let out another chime warning about the time. Exactly one minute remaining. What happens when the time is up, Arisu pondered.

“What door do you think it is, Chota?” The taller man asked the blue striped shirt.

“Well, it can’t be the skeleton, right?” Chota responded.

Arisu raised his eyebrow at that. Why couldn’t it be the skeleton? What happens if they pick the wrong door?

The business lady interrupted his heavy thinking, “The answer is ‘Alive’. Open the door that says ‘Alive’.”

Arisu turned to look at her confused. How would she know which door is correct? Has she played them before?

“How do you know that’s the right door?” Arisu asked suspiciously.

The lady looked unsure as she realised Arisu won’t easily fall for her command. “Because,” she thinks, “obviously, it’s the “Alive” door.”

Arisu took another breath but this time the room smelt different. It seemed like a familiar smell but he couldn’t put a finger on it. Apparently he wasn’t the only one who smelt it as the man whose name is likely Chota started sniffing the air too.

“Do you guys smell something?” Chota asked.

“Oh fuck!” His friend exclaimed.

Looking down there was a vent in the ground hissing out smoke making everyone move a few steps backwards and jump.

The phone chimed again announcing the time, “Thirty seconds remaining.”

“The answer is ‘Alive’, hurry and open the door!” The lady shouted again waiting for anyone to follow through with her words.

“Open it yourself!” The blonde countered.

Coughing and covering his mouth, Arisu finally voices his question to her, “Why do you think it’s the right one?”

More smoke began flooding the room making it harder to breathe.

Chota replied, “‘Cause we shouldn’t choose the “Dead” door, right?”

“Twenty seconds remaining.”

“I can’t take it, I can’t breathe!” The school girl shouts before darting towards the “Alive” door.

She grabs the handle and twists it open before immediately pausing in her tracks. A red laser came down on her, blasting a hole through her head. She immediately slumped and hit the floor allowing the door to close again.

“...Is.. she dead?” Chota quietly asked.

Forgetting about the gas, everyone was stunned staring at the death scene in front of them.

Arisu’s eyes were widened to the max. Is this the borderlands? He shook a little taken aback not fully comprehending what was going on.

“10 seconds remaining.”

The lady took the first move immediately going towards the death door while everyone was distracted. She grabbed the handle and confidently pushed in the door as if she fully knew it wouldn’t hurt her.

“Five…” The blonde was the first to take off, accidentally bumping into Arisu while grabbing the arm of his friend.

“Four…” The blonde shouted his friend’s name trying to take him out of his daze while dragging him to the safe door.

“Three…” The only reason Arisu regained his focus was because the blonde accidentally bumped into him while trying to reach his friend.

“Two…” The two men reach the room, Arisu following right behind them.

“One…” The room that they were just standing in just burst into flames. In every crack between the checkers, there was a flame coming out.

Arisu was only able to catch a glimpse of it before the blonde slammed the door shut protecting everyone from the fires.

Stuck in another room with another set of dead and alive doors, the phone chimed again. “The time limit for this room is one minute and fifty seconds.”

The time dropped by 10 seconds, Arisu thought. How many rooms will there be and how much time will they have by the end of this?

Everyone was breathing heavily after the events that occurred in the first room. Well, everyone except the business lady. She looked calm for the most part. Almost like she’s done this before.

“She really is dead.” The blonde finally confirms in his mind.

‘You-” Arisu finally speaks up, “You were the one who killed that girl. You said to pick the Alive door.”

“But you guys survived because of me, didn’t you?” She looked remorseless.

“What?” The blonde approached the lady.

“Blame me all you want, but if you guys don't think fast, you’re gonna die too.” She states.

“Dammit,” he shouts frustrated, “Do we choose the “Dead” door now?”

“Uh.. Since the last one was “DIE”, the next one should be “LIVE” right?” Arisu throws out. There has to be something he’s missing. It’s a game right? All games have solutions.

“”Yeah, but maybe that’s what they want us to think.” The blonde counters.

“Wait a second,” The lady interrupts. “I think that this is a game where we choose a sacrifice.”

Nope. That was Arisu’s first thought. No way it could be a sacrifice, there has to be a better solution. Games aren’t always won through sacrifices. Sometimes they just need a little extra thinking.

“There’s probably no difference in the doors.” She continues. “What’s important is who opens them. They want us to choose a person within the time limit.”

“Using that logic, you sacrificed that girl in the last round. You should open the next door.” Arisu declares.

“Because I believe if I survive, it’ll be for the good of all mankind.” She replied as if she’s better than everyone else. Like she’s some sort of god.

“Well, don’t we feel good about ourselves!” The blondie responds sarcastically.

In the corner, Chota retches and vomits on the floor leaving a nasty pile next to his phone. Glad that’s getting burned up.

“One minute has passed.” The game announces. Only fifty seconds remain then.

Arisu shakes his head running his fingers through his too long black hair. “No one will open a door at this rate.” He mutters nervously.

“We’re all gonna die in the fire if the time runs out!” The blonde states the obvious, making everyone in the room worry just a little more.

The lady turns her gaze towards Arisu. “Then why don’t you open it?”

Arisu pauses and stares at her.
“You want me to open it, why don’t you do it yourself! You want someone else to open it.” She argues.

The room began filling up with gas again making it harder to breathe. Everyone soon began coughing again.

“Alright I’ll open it,” Arisu stupidly decides.

He doesn’t want to die. There has to be another way out of this game other than nonsensical guessing and useless sacrifices. He just needs time. If the game is supposed to be played the same way the lady says, there wouldn’t be enough people to make it to the end unless there were only 4 rooms allowing only one to live. That can’t be right.

Arisu begins to move towards the doors trying to make a decision. The first he looked at was the “LIVE” door. It seemed welcoming and had open arms as if it were trying to guide you there. The wings and bright colors painted the door in a happy light trying to convince people to walk through it. The school girl was fooled by the words of a teammate and the happy photo.

The next door he stared at was the “DIE” door. It had a skeleton on it with little flames in the background and blood on what looked like some type of dead plant. It had a vibe that would tell anyone to leave that door alone. As if you walked through it, you’d be eliminated. However, it is the same door that saved them the last round giving it a new hopeful light.

“You don’t have to listen to her. She wouldn’t open any door either!” The blonde supports his decision to back out if Arisu wanted to.

Arisu approaches the “DIE” door and puts his hand on the knob. He trembles tremendously. He didn’t, couldn’t, do it. He was too scared. One wrong move and a laser comes down on his head killing him forever.

His heart was pounding out of his chest. That’s never happened before. He felt like he was going to die sooner with these short panicked breaths and a heart that tripled its beat.

He could tell everyone was staring at him trying to figure out whether he’d actually open the door or not.

“Thirty seconds remaining.” Another game announcement rang.

He was unable to do it. It felt like he failed people he didn’t even know. He wasted their time. His trembling hand let go of the door as he sunk to the ground.

Arisu shuddered as he heard her voice.

“See? Not so easy is it? Even you would have sacrificed that girl!”

“Shut the fuck up!” The blonde yelled.

She was wrong. Arisu would’ve never sacrificed that girl. If anything they all would have died together. He’d be too wimpy to open the door and everyone would get stuck. He would waste their time on a useless bet during a life or death situation.

Arisu felt so useless.

Another announcement, “Twenty seconds remaining.”

They were running out of time. No choices have been made yet. No one to volunteer and open a door.

Think, Arisu, think! He internally screamed. There has to be a way for all of them to get out. Maybe they can-

His thoughts were cut off. “I’ll do it.”

The blonde approached the door titled “LIVE”.

“We’ll take turns,” he glared at the girl behind him, “You’ll go after me.”

“Ten seconds remaining.”

This guy has guts. He’s so cool. Arisu admired him before realizing this might be the last time he’ll ever see this man. Possibly sacrificing himself for the rest of the group. He’s so strong, Arisu knows he could never do that himself.

Arisu’s eyes widened as the man flung the door open in one simple swoop. It was so quick and sudden.

He heard the man Chota scream for his friend, “Karube!”

So that’s the brave man’s name. Arisu definitely wanted to talk to him later. Well, if there is a later…

Karube froze in front of the door when he reached the other side. He sat there waiting for the consequences, for death, but it never came.

Immediately regaining composure, he moved out the way for the rest of the group to enter.

“Five” The game counted down again.

“Karube!” Chota shook and whined out before running towards the door.

“Four”

Arisu stands up from his slumped, defeated position on the ground.

“Three”

“Hurry!” The lady spoke.

“Two”

Arisu begins to dart towards the door as the lady enters it.

“One”

He flings himself into the room ending up on the ground while the lady shuts the door to the room that burst into flames.

With no break, the phone chimes in with another announcement. “The time limit for this room is one minute and forty seconds.”

“The time limit is shortened by 10 seconds every round. Who knows how much time we’ll have left by the end.” Arisu explains his observation while on the floor staring at his phone.

He was sweating. Not only is this the most fear he’s felt in 12 years but it’s also the hottest he’s ever felt. But for some reason, he felt the most alive. He’s never been around this many people with such a huge adrenaline rush.

Sure, he’s terrified about every move he makes as he doesn’t want to die. But, that’s what makes the thrill. That and doing his favorite thing ever, puzzles.

His heart pounds in his chest while he thinks about the game. There has to be a way to escape.

“I can’t do this anymore” Chota sobs while staring at his phone.

“We’re taking turns.” Karube pants while on the floor, adrenaline from his turn running low. “You open the door next and I’m choosing.”

He gets up and grabs her arm roughly, dragging her to the door of his choice. She protests but no one seems to be stopping him.

Arisu watches the scene play out from the back of the room. He’s thinking really hard. He runs his fingers through his hair and tugs softly trying to get his brain to work quicker. He searches in his head for a solution to prevent another possible death from happening.

Karube throws the woman at the “LIVE” door. “Go ahead and open it!” He exclaims. “Open it!”

The lady starts crying seeing her plan backfire on her. It appeared she was going to try and fool everyone into opening the doors for her but she didn’t think about the possibility they’d live.

She trembles so much it looks like she’s going to phase through the door. Karube stares at her, waiting for her to open the door like he said she would.

“Wait!” Arisu calls out before anything gets too far. “Wait a minute.” He thinks he might’ve just found a solution.

Everyone turns to look at him. The timer continues to decrease, announcing one minute has passed.

“BMW 523. There was a BMW 523, my favorite car.” He mutters.

The room stares up like he’s lost his mind.

“What is he talking about?” The lady questions and immediately gets shushed.

“You got something?” Karube moves towards him and asks.

Arisu stands up from the floor and begins to move towards the center of the room. He seems to be in deep thought, not even in the room. Arisu was imagining something.

“The answers ‘DIE’.” Arisu concludes and everyone looks at each other with doubtful stares.

“How do you know that?” The lady asks.

The phone calls out the 30 second warning.

“I’ll open it up” Arisu assures, completely confident in his answer. They look at him like he’s a mad man.

“Wait!” Karube shouts immediately approaching him. “Are you sure the answer is “DIE”?”

Arisu gulps at that, doubting his answer a little. He pulls out his phone to look at the timer. Only 20 seconds left. The room was already refilling with smoke and he had extra to think about it. He was fairly certain the answer was “DIE”.

Arisu quietly begs that he's right as he doesn’t want to die yet. With his last remaining guts, he swings the death door open and enters.

Chapter Text

He doesn’t die.

That must mean his idea is right!

Everyone charges towards the door at the same time. Karube, then Chota, then the lady flies into the room. Karube swings the door shut, preventing the fire from the other room from entering.

“The time limit for this room is one minute and thirty seconds.”

“How did you know to choose death?” Chota asks.

Arisu turns to look at them on the floor. “My favorite car is the BMW 523. It’s 4 meters and 94 centimeters long. One of them was parked out in front of the building. The length of the building is equivalent to four of those cars. That means the building is approximately 24 meters in length. And this room, if I measure with my feet…”

He pauses and backs up to the end of the room walking three steps. His brain seems to immediately calculate the size of the rest of the room.

“This room should be about six meters. According to the evacuation map, the elevator is at the corner of the building. The shape of the building is a square and so is this room. To assume that one side of the building is 20 meters and the length of a single room is 6 meters, that’s three rooms a side creating a 3 by 3 grid.”

“One minute has passed.”

 

“I need something to write on!” He yells trying not to lose his thought process and get a visual.

Everyone digs in their pockets for something before Chota tosses him a notepad and the lady a pen.

Arisu immediately hops on the floor where everyone joins him. He begins to draw the layout of the building. He makes a 3 by 3 grid and crosses out the middle. He marks the room they started from.

“The high-school girl died here,” He crosses out that side of the square and draws an arrow up.

“We managed to move up another space here.” He crosses out the square right of the one he’s on and draws another arrow upwards from the door Karube opened.

“I opened this door. The one to the right was inaccessible as it’s not in the grid so the only option was left.” Arisu draws another arrow to the next room, the room they are currently in.

“By process of elimination, the room to the right cannot be accessed, meaning that the next room has to be…”

“Ten seconds remaining.”

Arisu jumped up and looked at the door on their left.

“‘DIE”! The “ALIVE” door is a trap!” He immediately moves toward the death door and swings it open as they get down to the last five seconds.

“The time limit for this room is one minute and twenty seconds.”

“If your reasoning is right, we’re all going to live!” Karube praises.

“You’re awesome!” Chota smiles.

“This game isn’t based on luck! Every game has a solution no matter what. According to my drawing, the next room is…” He marks off the possible solutions. “Is also dead.”

“Let’s do it.” Karube nods.

Arisu approaches the door again, hand on the knob. He twists it open and, again, no consequences.

“Nice!” Karube pats him on the back. “What’s next?”

“The time limit for this room is one minute and ten seconds.”

The high hopes and eagerness in the room have risen massively by Arisu’s great discovery. The two other men all gather around his paper while he marks it off.

“Alive is the next one.” Arisu speaks.

The game seems so much easier to play now that they’ve figured it out.

Repeating the cycle, Arisu rushes towards the door, pushes it open, runs in, and everyone follows behind him.

Everyone cheers excitedly. That was the last room!

Wait…

There are two more doors, opposite to each other on the wall rather than them both being in the corners like before.

“The time remaining for this room is one minute.”

The two men continue to celebrate in the back, not noticing the game isn’t over yet and they aren’t safe.

“What’s next?” Chota appears behind him looking at the map in his hands.

Arisu marks off both sides. One room is a death door and the other leads outside the grid.

Of course the games couldn’t be that easy, there would have to be some sort of catch.

“Since that door is out of the question, should we choose the one on the outer wall?” Chota asks.

Everyone immediately approaches the death note.

“Wait a second!” Arisu yells as he recalls something. “I might’ve missed something. Please don’t open it yet.”

“Fifty seconds remaining.”

Arisu seems to go back into some sort of daze, fingers crawling back to his hair again, softly pulling as he bites his cheek.

The room they’re in is on the left-end corner of the building. To clear the game, everyone must escape the building. The dead door should lead everyone out to clear the building. That would make the most sense.

But, Arisu recalls his thoughts of first arriving at the building, there isn’t any gap connecting the buildings beside it. If they were to open the death door, they’d just splat on the ground.

However, if they chose the alive door, that leads everyone to the same place the high school student died. That’s another automatic death.

Something must’ve been overlooked.

“We’re wasting time! We’re all gonna die!” The lady yells after she has done nothing this whole game except complain and lead others to their deaths.

“You haven’t even opened the door” Karube comments, waiting on Arisu for approval.

“What are you even talking about? Don’t blame this on me!” She argues.

“Stop it you two!” Chota screams.

Chota… Chota! That’s when a thought flies into Arisu’s head.

“Chota, right? You took a video of the first room! Can I see it?” Arisu’s eyes widened with possibility and hope.

“There’s no time for that!” The lady shouts at Arisu which he just ignores.

Chota immediately starts tapping on his phone pulling up the video. He didn’t even think to question why Arisu knew his name.

“Thirty seconds remaining.”

“I had to have missed something.”

The video plays starting from when they enter the room. Arisu skips half of the video up to the point where the high schooler runs into the first door and dies.

He pauses and zooms into the screen looking into the room. There is no door… No door! That’s the part he missed!

“There isn’t a door.” He mutters. “There isn’t a door in the room the girl entered!”

“What does that mean?” The lady asks.

“Ten seconds remain.”

“That means…” He trails off.

Arisu pulls up his grid again, splitting the room with an X in half.

“The room where the high school girl died isn’t next to us! There’s a separate hidden room on the other side!”

Arisu found the trick in the game.

“Three,”

Karube is the first in action to rush to the alive door, shooting it open.

“Two,”

Arisu runs into the room after Karube.

“One,”

The lady was the last one in before the flames shot up. Chota ended up caught in the fire just by the last second.

The previous door slams shut and Chota is on the ground wailing as his leg is on fire.

“The time limit for this room is ten seconds.”

It dropped by twenty seconds?! It used to only drop by ten before, this must be the last room.

“Ten seconds, are you kidding me!?” Karube yells as he rips off his orange hawaiian button and smacks it on Chota’s leg trying to stop the fire.

The alive door had a light up green sign above it saying “EXIT”. According to Arisu’s calculations, it is not the exit at all.

The lady runs towards the door, almost opening it before Arisu shouts.

“It’s not ‘Alive’! It's ‘Dead’! Don’t open it, it’s a trap!”

“Five.”

Arisu swings the door open reaching the other side which was no longer a game anymore.

“Four”

“Hurry!” Arisu screams.

“Three”

The fire is out on Chota’s leg and Karube swings him up rushing both of them to the exit.

“Two”

The lady is the last to run in before the room erupts into flames.

“One.”

Arisu slams the door shut and smells the smoke burn everything in the room.

Moving away from the door and the game, they move down a corridor panting and rushing in case the flames catch up.

There was a flight of stairs, another nightmare for Arisu, next to them and they decided to go down.

Karube helps Chota down the steps with his hurt leg whispering encouraging words to him.

The basement of the building was dark, gloomy, and trashy. But it was much better than what was going on upstairs. Everyone collapsed and caught their breath at the bottom of the stairs.

These games. Are they the same ones his mother was playing? That can’t be right. His mother says the game she plays she must wait for a contestant. Does this mean she.. creates these games? That thought makes Arisu sick to his stomach.

Luckily he is able to distract himself with the phone chiming again. It makes him a little worried as he thinks another game is beginning.

“Game cleared. Congratulations.” That makes him feel a little better, not really.

“It’s all thanks to you. Thank you.” She speaks out loud not exactly determining who she is speaking to.

“It’s my karma.” Chota whimpers.

Arisu turns around and sees Chota’s leg burnt. He’s read books about normal small burns but nothing quite this size. The skin was black and flesh was peeling. Arisu grimaced and Chota whined in pain.

The lady was the first to recompose herself. She stood up and walked to the table that was in the center of the room. One that even Arisu himself didn’t notice.

Everyone starts moving towards her to see she’s picked up a playing card on the center of the table. It was the Three Of Clubs, the game they just played.

The phones go off again leaving a new message to be heard. “To the survivors of the game, we will now supply you with a visa.”

The phone displayed the three clubs and mentioned they’ll be supplying the game survivors with a three day visa.

“Visa?” Arisu questions outloud. Mostly to the girl as when the games began, she seemed to be the most aware of everything happening.

Footsteps ahead of them distract them, however.

It was a man wobbling about wearing a business outfit and had long stringy hair.

“I’m going to drop out of the game!” He announced. “Listen,” He focused on them, “There’s no end to the game, no matter how much you clear. My visa just ended today. And now… I wish to play no longer.”

A red laser comes out of the sky, zapping and killing the man. He immediately falls over just like the high school girl in their game.

All the lights go out, signifying it’s over. If Arisu were to guess, the lights he saw in the apartment were games just like the ones he played today. The lasers he always saw were deaths happening before his very eyes.

Everyone began to approach the man who had just died in front of them.

“Whe your visa expires,” the lady begins, “You must return to the game or…” She doesn’t finish as they all know the consequence.

“Our visas will end in three days.” Arisu adds.

“If you don’t want to die. I suggest you keep playing.” She says.

However, something isn’t clicking for Arisu. He has been in the borderlands for 12 years, never once has he needed a visa. He was always locked inside the apartment building.

Perhaps, that’s the reason he never needed one. He never played a game since the time he arrived at the borderlands. When he got there, he was too busy missing his family to even see the game venues. After that, his mom found him and took him in.

Everything was starting to click for Arisu now. He was never supposed to go out into the real world for a reason. She was trying to protect him. He is now stuck in a land of death games where the cycle continues to repeat to keep them alive longer.

The reason she had Arisu always doing puzzles, games, and reading was because she was preparing for the day he was going to run away. She always knew how to read him well. She definitely knew Arisu was going to get bored and want to explore more. She was just making sure he’d be prepared when the day comes.

Suddenly this whole trip has become a huge regret on his behalf. He should’ve listened to his mother and should have never left the apartment. He gulps worrying what will be next in this crazy world.
“So, uhh. What now?” Chota asks awkwardly while wincing from the pain of his injury.

What now is a great question.

Chapter Text

They all awkwardly stand in front of the dead body in the alleyway basement staring at each other.

Arisu awkwardly looks away from the group.

“Uh.. I, er, have a place set up near here. You’re welcome to come.” Arisu offers, biting his cheek.

His eyes immediately dart back up at them and he starts rambling, “You don’t have to though! I know we just played this death game and might want time to yourself or something. Or do you? What do people need after a game like this-”

“We’ll go, uhm..” Karube interrupts his rant, he supports Chota allowing him to rest some of his body weight on him letting him take pressure off of his leg.

“Arisu.” His face turns pink at the fact he embarrassed himself rambling in front of the cool guy. He probably thinks Arisu is so weird now. He internally groans.

“Your names are Chota,” he points at the hurt man, “And Karube right?” He points at the blonde.

They both nod.

Arisu turns his head to the lady.

“What’s your name?”

“Shibuki,” She says reluctantly.

“I’ve been around these parts before, I think I know a way out of here.” Karube says.

Karube starts moving towards the exit with Chota in hand and everyone follows.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Karube finally gets them outside. Chota was still being supported and helped by Karube as they continued to move together. Arisu started making his way to the front to lead the way and Shibuki remained silent behind all of them.

As Arisu leads the way back into the mall, he tries to engage in some small talk. He’s never had the chance to really talk to people until now. He felt obligated to speak a little, ever after that long game where everyone was probably thinking about this world.

“Uh, Karube?” Arisu looks towards his way.

“Yeah?” He responds

“Back during the game, when you opened the door without knowledge of it being correct or not, that was really cool.” Arisu praises.

“It was either that or we died” He shrugged it off.

“Are you kidding!?” Arisu exclaims a little loudly. “That was awesome! When I attempted to open a door, I just froze. You are so much braver than me. So much cooler than I ever could be..”

“You’re pretty cool yourself Arisu. We would’ve never made it out in time if it weren’t for you!” Chota smiles.

Arisu blushes and looks away. He’s never really received a compliment before and he doesn’t know how to act.

He mumbles a sweet ‘thank you’ under his breath.

They walked in silence a bit more before Arisu spoke up again.

“So how long have you guys been in the borderlands?”

“The borderlands?” Karube asks.

“Yeah, that’s the name of this place.”

“We just arrived today. We were playing around, and ended up in the same bathroom stall. The lights went out and we heard a loud knock on our door. We thought we got caught but when we left, there was no one there. It was like the place got abandoned.” Chota explains.

Arisu glosses over the fact they were in the same bathroom stall and almost got caught doing something. The only thing you could do in the bathroom was use it, maybe all the other stalls were occupied.

Instead, he thought about the fact that they just arrived today. Everyone disappeared from the real world when he was 6. He can remember everything before and after the moment he got there, in the middle is where it all goes blank.

“I joined the games three days ago.” Shibuki chimes in. “Everyone disappeared when I… was at work and I looked around and found no one.”

She was definitely lying about where she was but if her time is right, that doesn’t make sense. Why did he come so much earlier?

“When did you arrive, Arisu? You seem to know more about this place than us.” Chota questions, pointing at him and Karube while he hobbles with his burnt leg.

Arisu gulps nervously. Should he tell them the truth? What harm could it do? They all still don’t know how they ended up there. If he tells them, maybe they can work together to get out.

“I got here 12 years ago.” Arisu quickly states nervously.

Everyone freezes, except for Shibuki. She moves closer to Arisu to look at him.

“You’re lying.” She claims.

Arisu begins looking worried, he doesn’t want to lose his first friends! Well, he didn’t exactly like Shibuki but she’s coming along too. Karube and Chota seem nice though. He doesn’t want them to think he’s a liar.

“I promise!” He cries out, “I’m telling the truth! I arrived here 12 years ago when I was 6!”

They all stare at him with disbelief. Arisu can tell that they don’t believe him. He starts biting on his cheek in the same spot earlier making it leak out a familiar metallic taste. He’s never been good with being accused.

“How do you not know about the games then? If you’ve been here for so long, you should have already played a game.” She counters.

“I- I don’t know! When I first got here, my mom took me in and brought me to an apartment. That’s where I lived before today. I got tired of staying in the apartment and decided to run away. I promise I’m telling the truth!” Arisu’s eyes get glossy as he continues to tear up his inner cheek.

“Took you in?” She questions.

He nods, “She’s not my real mom. When I first got here I was scared and she happened to find me and take me in, promising to protect me as long as I stayed in the apartment.”

Shibuki continues to stare at him with angry eyes and a hint of unnoticeable curiosity lingering as well. However, both of the older men seem to soften up at Arisu’s reaction. Arisu’s chest was shaking every sharp breath he took and looked on the verge of tears as he was panicking.

“I believe you Arisu.” Karube chimes in.

Arisu looks up at him and Chota with hopeful eyes.

“You do?” He begins wiping the tears from his eyes.

“I mean after everything that’s happened, I think I can trust you. Plus, what’s a kid your age got to lie about anyway.” Karube jokes.

Chota smiles, nodding in agreement.

Arisu was still a little worried but the panic and sad expression that once plagued his face began disappearing. Shibuki still seemed upset and unbelieving but she looked like she wasn’t going to say anything more. She just glared and side eyed him whenever she got the chance.

“S-So…” Arisu sniffles. “We are still going to the mall?”

Both men nod.

They fell into another long silence as they walked. The only thing to be heard was their footsteps and Chota’s quiet winces and whimpers.

Arisu gained multiple curiosities whilst walking and observing his surroundings. But, he didn’t want it to end up awkward like before so he decided against all his questions.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

After a little more walking, they finally reach the building they were supposed to. Arisu still couldn’t help himself but he was awed by the building. It’s been awhile since he’s felt and truly seen Tokyo. Everything feels so unreal.

He rushed over to the door and opened it to allow everyone inside. It was still pretty dark out which made it harder to see.

Once everyone entered, Arisu was the last one in and the first place he went was inside the bookstore where he left all his materials. He needed to make sure they were still there.

After checking everything and making sure it’s all there, he goes back to the group.

His first concern was Chota.

“Do you need anything?” Arisu looked at Chota with worry. His leg was pretty banged up and it just hurt a lot.

“No, I’m oka-”

“It’ll be great if you can grab some mattresses, Arisu.” Karube cuts Chota off.

“Of course!” Arisu begins to scurry away from immediately returning. “Where are mattresses?” He grew red.

“They should be in a store right in front of the escalator. Just walk up those steps and continue straight.” Karube pointed over to the escalator to show Arisu the way.

Arisu immediately nodded and decided he was going to make himself useful for “the first time”. Arisu not working hard was a lie he told himself. He kept everyone alive because of his love for the BMW 523 and his photograph memory. Arisu kept telling himself what he did wasn’t enough for the group even though he kept them all alive.

Arisu attempted to grab three mattresses for them all to have one but his scrawny arms only allowed him to carry one big one. Even that was a struggle in itself.

He managed to haul the heavy mattress to the escalator and pushed it down with ease. It was much easier to push down the mattress to the gravity and the weight of the mattress and the- oh wait. He was rambling again.

Finally after a few minutes, he managed to get the mattress downstairs to the rest of the group.

“Hey,” Arisu huffs, “Can I get some help dragging this?” He asks out of breath. He was pretty sure he was sweating.

The first person to come to his aid was obviously Karube. He was amazing, brave, and helpful. How could someone get even better than they were previously?

Arisu got the idea that Shibuki didn’t like him because she thought he was a liar. Arisu didn’t like her either. She gave him a bad vibe and he didn’t feel comfortable around her. It’s like she constantly had a trick up her sleeve, like she was going to do something. He tried to ignore the feeling because it seems like Chota has taken a liking to her.

When he came back downstairs, Karube was sitting next to Chota while Shibuki and him seemed to be talking a lot and sitting close to each other.

Karube and Arisu lugged the heavy mattress over to the center of the mall.

After setting it down, Karube immediately went to Chota to grab him and throw him on the mattress. He needed to get comfortable and rest his leg. It was still burnt up and they likely needed to find a doctor to help him in the morning.

Shibuki, the annoying lady, immediately crawled up next to Chota on the mattress after doing nothing helpful all day.

Arisu rolled his eyes at that. If anything, Karube should be the second person on the mattress because he was the most helpful person there.

That’s when Arisu came across another problem. The only thing that they had was a sleeping bag. That meant one of them had to sleep on the floor.

“Uhm. Karube? There’s only one place to sleep left and that’s my sleeping bag. You should be the one to have it. You’ve been the most helpful and have done a lot. You deserve it.” Arisu offers his sleeping bag, holding it out to the other man.

“Arisu, take the sleeping bag. I can sleep on the ground. I personally need you to rest to solve some games for us, we wouldn’t have made it out until you stepped in and saved us with your genius that I’m still confused about what you did. Take the sleeping bag.” Karube declined.

After that, they both bicker for a minute on who's going to get the sleeping bag. They both think the other did more which makes them believe the other deserves the bed more.

“Arisu, take the damn bed or I swear-”

“Wait!” Arisu interrupts. “The sleeping bag can zip completely open, yes? If we lay it out, we can both take a side and sleep. Correct?”

Arisu looks up with his hopeful deer doe eyes and has a grin on his face. Karube sighs at the young boy’s hopefulness and convincing.

“Don’t blame me if you’re cold later tonight.” Karube begins to move towards Arisu.

Arisu quickly unzipped the sleeping bag and laid it across the floor. The sleeping bag was short, forcing them to curl up a little to maintain warmth. Arisu took the left side and Karube took the right.

“We need to participate in another game.” Karube states randomly.

Arisu looks at him with a worried look and a slight frown.

“Isn’t that dangerous though? I don’t think we should participate in these games more than we have to.” Arisu said cautiously. He didn’t think it was a good idea to go out and play more games after the injuries Chota sustained in his first game.

“We need to learn more about this place and why we are here. You said you’ve been here for about 12 years right? Have you ever wondered how you got here, why you were forced to stay in the apartment building for so long, how much you missed in the real world.” Karube fought.

Arisu looked nervous. Karube was right. He left him home specifically because he was curious and bored. He wanted to learn about the outside world badly but it’s much worse than he expected.

“But… you don’t know how the next game will be, and the game after that. It could be really dangerous and we could die like that girl in our game today.” Arisu bit his cheek as he began panicking.

“We have to play the games anyways right? We have a visa so we are required to continue playing. If we participate in games next, we could help out Chota. You see how his leg is. If we scope the place, we can figure out our next move.”

‘Like battleship?’ Arisu thought, attempting to familiarize himself with Karube’s plan.

“I… I guess you’re right.”

Karube smiles. “Now get some rest. We need it for the games tomorrow.”

With that, Arisu laid down on his side of the sleeping bag. I felt like he was camping. He’s never slept outside his home before, not even in the real world. It was awesome being surrounded by people while he slept. It’s like a dream come true.

Apparently, Arisu also didn’t notice the tiredness in his body because once his head hit the pillow, he was knocked out.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

The next morning, Arisu was the second person to wake up. Karube awakened first and he made some sort of rustling sound that woke Arisu up. Arisu wasn’t used to any noise while he slept so even something as simple as that woke him up.

Arisu sat up with sleepy eyes and a messy bedhead. He blinked a few times before rubbing his eyes and looking around.

He spots Karube in the corner smoking. He must’ve been awake for a while.

With a quiet yawn, Arisu gets up and goes over towards Karube and where he was smoking. Arisu’s nose wrinkles up at the smell of the cigarette. It did not smell good at all; how do people like those things?

Karube seems to notice Arisu’s face of disgust and puts out his cigarette by stomping on it.

“So what’s the plan today?” Arisu asks.

Karube thinks for a moment. “We should explore around. See if we can learn more about the borderlands.”

“Should we go now?”

“You can go. Chota isn’t awake yet and the both of us shouldn’t leave them alone without telling them anything. I have a feeling you don’t trust Shibuki either, isn’t that right?”

Arisu looked down, feeling guilty that someone else feels the same way as him, but he nodded.

“So I can stay back and tell them about where you went and you can explore. Sounds good?” Karube asks.

“I can do that!” Arisu confirmed.

Arisu turned and walked towards the doors. Before leaving the mall, he took a little glance at the two sleeping on the mattress he hauled downstairs yesterday, with the help of Karube. Chota seems to have taken a liking to Shibuki but Arisu, and luckily Karube, didn’t trust her at all.

At least Arisu knew he wasn’t being paranoid for not trusting the lady. He just felt she was so manipulative and snake-like.

With that, Arisu left the mall to explore.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

The outdoors looked so much prettier in the daytime. Without the thought of death games and visas, Arisu takes in the air and the beauty that surrounds him.

The streets, empty as ever, echoed with the sounds of loneliness. It was peaceful but he could remember times when the streets were so crowded that he couldn’t see anything through the mass amount of people.

Walking around by himself, the first place he went was a clothing shop. Sure he had clothing in his bags but what was the cool stuff people wore nowadays.

He looked around the shop curiously. It wasn’t cold nor was it hot. It felt like spring time. The weather could dip at any moment and there was a nice breeze and it was still hot enough to wear short sleeves.

Arisu settled on a half yellow and white shirt with a grey zip-up hoodie in case he got hot.

Leaving that store, he wandered the streets once more. His job was to find more information on the borderlands and all he did so far was change his clothing.

Arisu happened to see another abandoned car on his walk. His thoughts started going places and suddenly he thought it’s the perfect time to drive a car!

And no, he does not have a license and no he does not have any training, but he could figure it out. He’s read some books, that’s how he knew about the BMW. Driving a car can’t be that hard.

He crawls into the right side of the car and sits for a moment, recalling his books. Check your surroundings, fix your mirror, seatbelt, turn the keys in the ignition, and shift it to drive.

Arisu decided he could skip some of those steps. No one was around to get hurt and no one was around to stop him. He shrugged and decided to go for it. He was excited, first time driving a car.

Luckily, the keys were already in the ignition and he just had to twist them. However, when he did, it didn’t show any sign of it turning on.

Weren’t these things meant to make a loud revving sound because of the engine? Why isn’t it working? Did I do something wrong? Arisu frowns and questions himself.

It’d make a lot of sense because Arisu never used a car before so maybe it was a user’s error. He kept twisting and untwisting the key before he gave up with a huff and decided he wasn’t going to drive a car that day.

Then, something else caught his attention. There was a white shopping bag on the passenger’s seat. He didn’t even notice the smell over his own excitement. It smelt awful and he saw some flies escape the bag.

He scrunched his face before grabbing the bag and pulling it to see what death smell was trapped inside.

When he opened it, there were some vegetables in there. Except all the vegetables were extremely rotten. Weird. He grimaced at the food and hopped out the car promptly after that.

The only thing he confirmed from this exploration was the same thing that he’s already assumed for a while. This world has been around for years and everyone comes at different times.