Alice in Borderland ~ Chishiya

9 - ♠5

'What symbol did you receive?' Yuri insists. I can feel the card of hearts burn inside my pocket. I don't want to answer. Luckily, that's not necessary, because there are a few new participants. The boys each grab a phone and I can hear their names: Arisu and Karube. It's clear that there's also a newbie, because he keeps asking what's going to happen. The boy named Arisu wants to explain to him that we're going to play a game, but his friend Karube tells him not to say anything, because newbies will slow them down.

Now I know what's meant by that. Of course, it's scary when you have to do something that you don't understand yet. I had the same thing when playing my first game, but I can also understand that nobody wants to explain it.

'Registration is now closed,' the voice says. There are fourteen participants. 'The game starts now.' I look at my screen, which shows a card of spades and the number five on it. 'Difficulty, five of spades.'

That should be better than I expected. I've been told that spades focuses on the physical aspect of the game. On that note, I should be fine. A girls immediately starts to stretch her muscles. Although Karube has just said that newbies slow them down, he doesn't seem to understand what the symbol stands for either. He looks at his screen thoughtfully.

The man with the hat walks up to the boys and starts explaining a few things. He introduces himself as Nitobe. When he brings up what the symbol of hearts means, I try my best not to make a sound. I think I succeeded.

'The game is tag.'

'Tag?!' the new boy exclaims with a laugh.

'Rule of the game: run away from the tagger.' Some people immediately start to talk about it. 'Who's "it"?' is asked, but no one has an answer. 'Clear condition: discover the safe zone hidden in one of the rooms within the time limit. The time limit is twenty minutes.'

The apartment complex looks quite large. No doubt it will have many rooms. So that means running to make sure I can find the safe zone on time. I notice that the explanation isn't done yet.

'After twenty minutes, the time bomb in the building will explode.' Startled screams can be heard immediately. 'The game will start in seven minutes.' That means we have time to take a starting position. Although it seems smart to consult in one another, I don't feel like contacting these people. To my relief, many people start walking away already and Yuri stops talking to me to join two guys who look lightly dressed, as if they're going to the pool when this is done here.

I try to take some time to study the floor map of the apartment complex and soon decide that I want to go to the top floor, because then I'll have the best overview. Of course I won't be able to see what's going on directly below me, but since the complex has an L-shape, I'll have a wide viewing range of several floors. I decide to take the elevator to the seventh floor and in the meantime study the map that's hanging on the wall again.

I suppress an exasperated sigh when I find out I'm not the only one with this plan, but what bothers me most is that I'm not the first to arrive here. The boy with the white vest and his homemade gadget is already standing at the railing. It's exactly the place where I wanted to stand. He doesn't look back, but the sound of the elevator lets him know someone else has arrived here. 'It's good to notice that I'm not the only one who is able to use his brains,' he says.

In every other situation, I would've gone back downstairs right away, but this isn't just any game that I can leave because I don't feel like being in the presence of people. My life depends on this. That's why I take a few steps forward and join him by also standing at the railing whilst keeping enough distance between us.

'You're extremely confident,' I reply. I can see him looking at me from the corner of my eye, but I keep looking at the floors that I'm able to see. I was right: most of them can be seem from here. I really don't understand why some participants start at the bottom. The walls of the railings block most of the view upwards. I start to get slightly annoyed when I notice that the boy is still looking at me, so I look back. My eyes then slide to the movement I notice several feet behind him. The guys in the swimsuits are looking our way. The silver-blonde-haired boy looks their way and waves for a moment, but there's no recognition of cheerfulness on his face. It almost looks like he's taunting them. The boys don't wave back.