𝐕𝐈𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐎 | ᴀʟɪᴄᴇ ɪɴ ʙᴏʀᴅᴇʀʟᴀɴᴅ. ✔︎

TWENTY NINE

      When she reached the top of the stairs she spotted a room full of people. Some people were talking, others had separated themselves. Riko decided to stand by a wall and cross her arms, waiting for Chishiya to enter.

He did a few minutes later, scanning the room upon his entrance and spotted Riko, but kept his gaze moving as though he didn't know her. Riko was standing on one side of a corridor, and since the other was empty he crossed the room and stood on it, leaning against it with his arms crossed.

Riko scanned him over, then continued to observe other people in the room with an innocent expression on. It didn't show, but Riko was relieved that he made it back safely.

What was she doing? Worrying over someone who probably didn't care for her in the slightest.

The ghost of a pitiful smile appeared on her face as she shook her head lightly. Life sure has a way of being humorous.

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     The last person to enter was a male wearing a blue button up shirt tucked into his grey pants. Riko's attention got caught on him, because of two reasons. One, he was attractive and two, he had a blank expression on his face. Although after piping her interest, the male simply looked around the room.

      Not too long after the man entered, a jingle filled the room. "Difficulty, Jack of Hearts. Game, Prison Cell. Rules. Guess the suit that appears on that back of your collar. However, you cannot see your own suit. The time limit per round is one hour. Five minutes before the time is up, enter one of the prison cells and guess what your own suit is."

    A game built on trust, in this place. Interesting. A hall lit up, revealing a row of prison cells. The voice continued, "If you do not guess your suit correctly, the game is over for you. When the tine runs out, your collar will explode and you will die. In addition, your suit will change at every round."

     "But we just need to have someone tell us what it is, right?" A boy next to her wearing a yellow jacket with brown and white stripes asked, an innocent smile growing on his face. He turned towards Chishiya and said hopefully, "That'll be easy."

     I don't know how you can believe this place is that simple, unless you've not had to deal with much so far. Riko scanned him quickly, the boy obviously was innocent, his overalls adding to the cute appearance.

     "I wouldn't be so sure." Chishiya shut down negatively, the boy—Riko referred to him as Overalls now—seemed to visibly deflate as Chishiya kept talking, "They haven't told us how to clear the game."

     "Prison Cell is a test of how much you can trust others. In addition, the Jack of Hearts has secretly joined the game—" the screen where the words were being displayed suddenly changed to show 21 pictures, all of the different players that had entered in a different order, "as one of the participants."

      "See? There it is." Chishiya clicked his tongue.

      "One of us is the Jack of Hearts." A random man spoke, making Riko try her hardest not to roll her eyes. Obviously, did you not listen to the announcement at all? You don't have to repeat everything. 

       "Clear condition. Every hour, this will be repeated. The game is cleared when the Jack of Hearts, who is hiding among you, is killed. Prohibited activities. Using reflective objects to see your suit. You also may not use violence or weapons to kill others."