Hope Always Dies Last | Chishiya [English]

It's show time!

Rules:

All players gather in front of the building.

Seven ropes will hang down from the roof.

The players must try to get to the roof using the rope.

Climbing aids are prohibited.

I looked at Heiya. She looked towards the entrance expectantly. Apparently, she didn't seem to mind what the female voice was telling us. The other five participants, however, looked outside anxiously.

All players now step outside.

Heiya was the first to move and I followed her, the others hesitated a bit, but finally did the same.

"Mmh, interesting," I stood next to her while Heiya looked up and assessed the situation, "How's it going, Neiru, are you fit?" "Always," a little sarcasm could be heard in my voice, "I've been waiting my whole life for a moment like this."

My "What-The-Actual-Fuck" stare didn't go unnoticed. She grinned again.

The game starts in...

3

2

1

There are 19 minutes and 55 seconds left!

I grabbed the rope and weighed it in my hand. It didn't seem to be of bad quality, but it could get painful if I slipped. The material would burn my palms.

"Less staring, more climbing!", I looked up at the young woman, she had already climbed a few meters up. To my left were the remaining five players, who were struggling with their ropes. I could feel their panic...

In that moment, I thanked my professors that tortured me with strength training. After another short look, I clung to the rope before putting my first foot against the wall. However, my shoe was way too slippery, so I tried to prep them a little with my hands. The sweat made them grippier, which is why I was able to get a hold on the wall.

In fact, I managed to catch up with Heiya again. She seemed to have no problem climbing next to me. "Sexy," she said as I pulled myself up with a powerful pull. I stuck my tongue out at her and wrapped a loop around my arm to take the pressure off my hand. I quickly looked down which was a mistake. But I only swallowed. Well, what could I do? Turning around was not an option anymore. We hovered about ten meters in the air, the others weren't even remotely off the ground.

"How's the air up there?" Heiya smirked as she pulled herself further up, "Ah, not bad, but there is a stiff breeze."

"Haha," I huffed, "Less talking, more climbing." She narrowed her eyes and grinned as I repeated what she had told me earlier. Then we climbed on in silence, my arms were starting to burn.

There are 11 minutes left!

"It's only been nine minutes?" I asked, "Somehow it felt longer..."

"It's because you're physically involved," she said to me, and I could see beads of sweat dripping down her forehead. My skin was now sweaty too and I was freezing in the breeze that the wind was blowing over us.

I looked up and saw that we still had about a quarter of the way to go. "It's Show-Time", Heiya grinned at me, "Show what you can do Neiru." I looked at her questioningly and she burst out laughing. "We have an audience," she then said, turning her head in a certain direction. I followed her gaze and could see a figure at the end of the Shibuya crossing looking at us. They were wearing a white jacket.

"Damn, he was fast," I muttered, and Heiya wagged her eyebrows as she attempted the next pull-up.

"So, you know 'him'?" she asked, and I nodded slightly while following her example. "We have a 'thing' going on," I confessed to her, "although I don't quite know how he defines it yet." "Oh dear, sounds complicated. It's good that I only take men for one night," she winked at me, "if your relationship didn't work out, please let me know. I'm into pretty boys, the guy seems to be one." Oh, how right she was with that statement.

"Forget that" I smiled at her bittersweetly, and she chuckled before we went back to concentrating on the climb.

There are 7 minutes left!

My hand reached the edge of the roof, and I used the last of my strength to pull myself up. My body thudded onto the hard roofing, and I lay there, breathing heavily.

With my eyes closed, I waited for Heiya, who had also almost been upstairs too- but... nothing happened.

"Heiya?" I exclaimed, only getting a growl in response. Something just wasn't right here. I opened my eyes again and crawled to the ledge to look down.

There she hung, her face was bright red, and her legs were hanging in the air. She had lost her footing. "Damn it!" she grumbled and tried to put her good foot back on the wall of the house. However, her shoe was too slippery, so she slipped off again with a violent jerk. "Heiya!" I shouted again to get her attention. In fact, this time she looked up to me.

"Shiraishi!" She clutched the rope tighter with her hand, "Can you grab my rope?" I nodded and grabbed the said item. However, I was pulled towards the abyss by the violent movement. A squeak escaped my mouth, and I clutched the rope more tightly to regain my footing.

"Okay! Now try to pull!" she instructed me, which I finally did. I could have left her hanging, but I didn't want to. It felt right to save her now. I had a bill to pay. Heiya had also saved me in the first game when I tried to go through the laser barrier.

My muscles protested a little and at first, I couldn't manage to move the rope even a little. Gravity was too strong, I had to think of something else.

There are 3 minutes left!

One of the young men swung himself onto the roof and lay shakily. I was amazed that one of them had made it. However, I didn't have time to wonder about it anymore, I had to come up with a plan.

A ventilation pipe caught my eye. It seemed stable, I could use it! I grabbed Heiya's rope again, her face was now contorted with pain. "I'll have it in a minute!" I yelled at her while threading the end of the rope around the pipe. Then, I pulled. In fact, there was a pulling effect, the rope was moving, albeit slowly. It didn't take thirty seconds for Heiya's nails to dig into the roofing. She pulled herself up shortly after. I let go of the rope and ignored the slight throbbing in my palms.

"Damn it", Heiya murmured, "That was close."

There are thirty seconds left!

We looked at the third human who had made it to the roof. I didn't dare to look down again, instead I sat down next to the young woman. Together we let the cool night air mist around us.

The game is over!

Congratulations!

All survivors will be given a six-day visa!

We watched as three lasers were shot out of the sky. I was a little surprised and turned to Heiya. "What about the fourth person?" I asked her and she made a face. "She's already dead. A chick fell from five meters and came down head first. Damn, I almost threw up watching it," she choked slightly when she told me about it.

I watched as she tilted her head back and relaxed. Suddenly she looked younger again.

What had she probably already experienced? She had taken so much brutality, nothing seemed to frighten her anymore.

At that moment I asked myself when all this fuss would finally end.

It was time we were put out of our torments.