𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬, 𝐬𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐲𝐚

03. 𝐭𝐚𝐠

"It was at the subway. They used poisonous gas in the game. Everyone was vomiting blood. Blood was coming out of their eyes." explained Shibuki.

"Weird, huh? The day everyone disappeared. It was yesterday for the three of us. But it was three days ago for her and a week for them. Why the time difference?"

"That's right."

"And those vegetables that were rotten. They take longer than a few days to go bad. What's going on?"

"Maybe the speed of time is different from the normal world?"

"Huh?"

"I don't really know, but...Take the six of us here. The timeline of when people disappeared is different, like you said."

"Did we time travel while we were in a subway bathroom stall?" Chota queried.

"There's no way." Karube spoke, still not fully understanding what was going on.

"There's also no way people just disappeared."

"Time travel isn't real."

"Then explain the game and people disappearing."

"I don't know, alright?"

"Anyways, one thing we know for sure about this game..A game master's running it." said Arisu, showing the group the cards Sakura had collected.

"Game master?" Akari echoed.

"Someone came up with the game. That's for sure."

"So while we're in a bathroom stall, they get rid of everyone in Tokyo and set up this game?" Karube theorized.

"They keep track of our movements and fire lasers through our head when we make the wrong move."

"What kind of person would do that?"

"I don't know, but it's definitely possible if they inserted a highly accurate GPS microchip into our bodies." Chota shrugged, acting as if the idea was totally normal.

"Huh?" Sakura hummed, her eyes wide in fear as she glanced around.

"Spoke like a real IT geek." Karube chuckled.

"But who the hell could be behind this thing?" asked Arisu.

"Could it be some government-run experiment or something?"

"There were some rumors going around at my work. An IT Company from Europe wanted to conduct an experiment. They'd establish a VR space, then create an alternate world identical to the real one."

"But we should be able to tell VR from the real world." Sakura spoke, not believing anything Shibuki said.

"Man, this hurts." Chota groaned, the pain intensifying every minute.

"I don't think VR can cause burns like that." Arisu eyed Chota.

"Maybe it's God. This has to be the work of God. Otherwise, how else do you explain it?"

"You're talking crazy now."

"No, man. I think...God really does exist."

The pain grew far more worse, making Chota cry out in pain while everyone helplessly watched.

"Hey, is it getting worse?" asked Shibuki.

"It's alright. Oh, it's gonna be fine."

★★★

Given no choice, Sakura was out with Akari as they made their way to a new game. They had chosen the closest game as they didn't want to walk far. Like always a table sat in the dead center with phones, the girls each grabbing one.