Video Games

Chapter Two

"These are video games, but not as you know them."

What does that even mean? As someone who has almost broken records at video games, I'm a little bewildered by the phrase. If they're gonna throw a Super Monkey Ball problem at me, the chances of me knowing what to do will be pretty high.

As the light decides to seep through the tiny slits of my eyes - during my attempt to open them - I feel like hissing at the daylight. Already, I can see the curtains aren't drawn, leaving the blazing sun to shine through the clean window pane, to blind us as we regain consciousness.

"Dexio?" I call out; suddenly desperate to see the little boy I barely saw the other day. Why I'm saying day? Who knows how long I've been out, unable to control my life thanks to a drug? Who knows how long I've - we've - been missing. That floods my mind with thoughts of everyone from the party before the thought of how distraught my parents probably are.

Dexio hasn't answered; I doubt he's unconscious still. "Baiyou?" No reply follows, leaving me with a sense of discomfort. Now, I seem to be alone, on some sort of bed, isolated from the real world. Knowing that twenty nine other kids have suffered the same fate as me disheartens me so much.

They basically confirmed that we're gonna suffer under their wings, but part of me wonders how much truth they told. Get this, right: no criminal organisation fully admits the plan to their victims. Then again, they could be trying to throw me off, trick me into thinking that I'm gonna be okay as the days, week progress.

How long will the thirty of us be here for? Thirty people too many, kidnapped, knocked unconscious and forced across the ocean to do what? To take part in one of their sick little games. Already, I can feel this hysteria appear within my chest, leaving my breaths shallow and out of sync.

Trying to steady my breath again, I hear a knock on a door. Jolting upwards, one lady - dressed as one of those stereotypical nurses you see in old films and ancient textbooks - enters the room, holding a large yet light looking box. She places it in front of me, leaving me and this cardboard cube alone.

Immediately, I sprawl out on the bed again, seeing no desire as to rummage through the box. What's the point? I've been kidnapped, taken away from everything I know, All I know now is that my name is Ryota Eidos, I'm sixteen and everything in this world has suddenly turned hazardous, a threat to my safety an my life.

It takes me a while, but I roll onto my side and face the lone box before me, apprehensive to open it. However, my gaming curiosity gets the better of me, forcing me to peel back the cardboard flaps. Inside the beige box, a note sits on top of clothing and a backpack, emptied of its supplies that can be found loitering at the bottom of the cube.

Picking up the letter, I feel my breath catch in my throat. What if I'm not ready to go through the tests these people are obviously gonna put me through? Will there be warnings? Will we be alerted seconds before our deaths; will they be kinder or crueller by delaying or extending the caution signs?

"Dear Ryota,

As you know, you've been selected to play a series of games we all know that you're familiar with. These games are called video games, and I know that they're your speciality. Now, a more in-depth explanation as to what you'll be expected to do.

Right now, you're in a special room, filled with nothing but a monotonous bed and a minimalist table, decorated with the supplies you'll have received with this box. In a minute, when you're ready, you're going to be transported to a simulation place, covering the majority of Okunoshima Island. If you have geographical knowledge, or happen to have a slightly cultural mind, you can probably guess - roughly - where this island lies.