(Big shoutout to Sam_samanthaaa with three 'a's for reading my entire story in three days. Just to tell you, that I've read all of your funny comments, and am currently working on editing the story so I'm not publishing any new chapters yet.)
Walking out of your new game arena, you smirked and decided to hang out somewhere where you had a free will and could do anything you wanted to do. After all, now you were the resident of the borderlands. You practically owned it, you could kill whoever you wanted to, whenever you wanted to. However, you wanted to abide by the game's rules, in order for a fair play.
"I really want to get to know these new batch of players more. They interest me, and seem stronger than my generation," you rubbed your hands together, before climbing atop of a tree that had a good view of the burnt down beach building, a once-famous paradise that was a utopia known to almost everybody in the borderlands.
There left ashes, and you could barely see the beach anymore. You hopped down, before walking towards it. Throwing a stone at it, you made sure that it was safe to walk in before deciding to do so.
Noticing the debris of the irreparable damage caused by Last boss, you breathed in the fresh air. "What a refreshing smell of dead bodies, and dopamine!" You picked up a handful of dust, and blew it away. Memories of your previous mates flashed before your eyes, and you could remember every single one of them, including the lady in a yellow bikini that you loved to go on drinks and dance with.
Proceeding ahead, you noticed a dirtied katana lying on the floor. Picking it up and brandishing it, you noticed that it was rusty and smelly. "Last boss' favourite weapon."
Everything seemed...strangely different to you. There was a new atmosphere, a scary vibe that coursed through your veins. Could this be your first and last time residing in the borderlands as a resident? You needed more information on the players. Not once had you regretted joining the borderlands as a game master.
You assumed that Kuina and the rest that had survived and went back to the original world, probably thought that you were a maniac for staying in the borderlands after admitting that you so hated it for killing so many of your comrades. "I wish I could see them, and show them how much stronger I've gotten. Unlike last time, I don't act on my impulses, and I'm more silent and less revealing than before," you whispered to yourself.
You sat down, drinking some sake that you had found at a convenience store. Having brought a few plastic cups, you poured a few shots of them, placing them in front of you. "Here's to Tatta, the best person that always provided me with all the mechanics I needed. Here's also to Karube. Though I don't know you as much, we did talk and I believe that you would've loved it here in the Beach. Arisu misses you so much, I even hear him saying your name in his sleep. If you had lived, I wonder if my choice being a resident here would've changed because of you. Also, for Tsuyuri and Ayaka. Plus, an extra shot for Kuzuryu. You taught me what it meant to have a fair and just system, and you'rve always been my favourite executive besides Ann. I bet you don't drink, but please! Also, this one's for all the other people in the beach who have passed away."
You brought out a can of coke, and you sighed, before toasting, "Here's to...Akira. Thanks so much for giving your life away for me. We might be separated, but I'll see you in the afterlife pretty soon. I do live without regrets, but if I had one, it would be that I didn't leave you to another family for them to raise you properly. You could've gotten a proper education and had a better life than me. I hope that when we get reincarnated, we'd be siblings—or maybe you'd be the older one then!"
You raised the remaining of your sake bottle, and clinked it with every one of the plastic cups there. Suddenly, you could feel a warm touch on your back, as if someone was...hugging you? Your body felt fuzzy, and you could feel a presence behind you. Smiling, you thought that it must have been your dead friends that were comforting you. A sorrowful tear rolled down your cheeks and landed onto the ground.
The moment you looked behind, you saw the burnt doorway of the executive's room. A gush of gentle wind blew through your hair, making you recall all the times you had spent in there. The positive memories with your beloved ones. All their blood had been shed, solely for you.
Standing up, you left the place, until you heard the sound of the plastic cups dropping onto the ground. "Eh?" You pivoted, facing the place where you had put down all of the drinks. To your absolute disbelief, all the cups were empty and the drinks had mysteriously disappeared from the cups.
Your mouth hung agape in astonishment, and you failed to process what was before your eyes. Leaning back, you let out a laugh. "I'm going to live on for you guys. Now, it's time for me to move on. I may have chosen the wrong choice to stay here, but I live with no regrets. I promise, I won't forget any of you!" You waved, running off from the place where you once called "home". In life, we may have had moments where we could have saved someone else or done something better for the other party, but we have to move on from everything and continue living on for those who have contributed to us. That's what makes us who we are.
Watching as the sun set, you watched the beautiful view from a bench in the park nearby to your hideout. You were reminded by the sky changing its colors that you had no idea about the time or date at all, which you were okay with. In the borderlands, after all, there was no judging, no rankings or positions, and not a need for any form of laws which included money. You were free and immune to all restrictions and could do anything you wanted, free of will. You felt like a bird that had been released from its cage.
Feeling a weight being put onto the bench, you looked to your right, and saw Chishiya sitting at the other edge of the bench, resting his hand on the hand rest. "Isn't the view beautiful today?" He asked, turning his eyes to you. The mood lit up, and you scorched right next to him, still making sure that you had your own personal bubble.
"Chishiya. It's been a long time since I've met up with you, and I've been looking everywhere for you," you chuckled, watching as he placed his hand on top of yours and holding it softly. Looking him up and down, you noticed that he had gotten a new look. He had tied his hair up into a half ponytail, gotten double piercings on his ears and looked super sexy.
He was no longer wearing his white hoodie, and was currently wearing a black blazer that reached down to his thigh level, and it emphasized on his V-neck white T-shirt. You noticed that he rolled up his sleeves, and his veiny hands were showing. He was wearing the same pants as well as shoes as before, just with more style.
"I like the new look. You look so sexy...I bet a lot of girls would go head over heels for you," you giggled, fiddling with his piercings.
"Speak for yourself."
You had wore a different outfit then, throwing away the other one along with your negative memories of the games and people who died.
You now wore black knee-length boots that had cross-tied laces, matching your cute pink dress that nicely covered your thighs. "Do you plan to join any association like a second Beach?" You queried, interested in his answer. There were a few pros and cons of joining a community of people in that situation.
Firstly, of course, information was the most important thing of all in this unfamiliar environment, with no reason as to why and how you ended up there. Now, you were the one with all the intel and answers to their questions. However, as the saying goes, "Keep your enemies close," you needed to know more about who you would be playing against, and their fighting techniques.
Next, of course, the fear of exposing your skills, your weaknesses and your abilities was a huge risk in joining such a large group of people. But, you could always stay under the radar and go undetected. Just like a harmless stranger. You had to be cautious with your every move, especially since you were not the one in charge.
Lastly, the excitement of joining in on it aroused you and you desired to learn more about the new breed of humans around you, and who knew, maybe time had moved on faster than when you were in the real—no, the world where you originated from.
"No. It's not worth the hassle. I believe you would, though. I've heard of this popular place...it's called the Mansion of Monsters, at least that's what the other players call it. It's a very ideal place for people who specialize in different types of games. They only accept the best, and I heard from people that the training there is very harsh on them. You could go there, and I could visit you occasionally at night there," Chishiya bit his inner cheek, before showing concern for you.
He added, "Be careful, though. I heard that the people run the place are maniacs, but there should be one or two game masters there, considering its popularity. Please stay safe, and don't associate with crazy men, like Niragi."
"Haha! I won't, I promise!" You chuckled, looking at the night sky. A bright screen lit up to your left, and you noticed that a game nearby would be starting soon. "Shall we?"
"We shall. How about for this, we pretend not to know each other to not raise suspicions, like...the eight of clubs, remember?" He suggested.
"I remember that! Akira was SO careful around you," you responded, sharing the amazing memories with him.
You headed there by yourself, with him trailing behind you and watching you with every step you took along the way there.
Since you did not want to pose a threat to others, you only left your two trusty machine guns, your daggers and just a few of your smoke bombs, in case. Long-ranged offense, hand-to-hand combat, and lastly, camouflage. You had thought through your chosen weapons and fighting techniques very thoroughly.
Just to not reveal your full potential, you had chosen to only restrict yourself to a few moves: basic combat, shooting as well as your flexibility. Some people thought that being flexible was not important in fighting, but boy were you about to prove them terribly mistaken.
You and Chishiya had both joined the arena where it was located at a complexed train station, it should be the four of diamonds, if you were not mistaken. Unfortunately, Chishiya was extremely lazy, and had only chosen to design to ten of diamonds. Well, since it was only one game, it must be the hardest and most brutal. You winked at Chishiya, before joining the waiting room. From across you, you kept your eyes away from Chishiya, but you still used your peripheral vision to keep a close eye on him. It should be about...the first one and a half week?
"Help! Does anybody know what's going on with these games? Why do we keep having to play these to survive? How do we get out of here?" You heard an elderly lady ask everybody who was standing there.
"Ah! That I don't know at all, but let's just try our best to survive in these games! Maybe we'll find clues on how to survive!" You enthusiastically consoled here, rubbing her back in circles, and holding her hand as she walked up the stairs. You had a smile on your face, trying your best to lift her spirits to survive in the borderlands. The people you had the most concern for were the weak elderly and the unprotected kids.
Looking at the people around, you studied that there were about 20 people in the arena as that was one of the two available game arenas there at the time.
"Game registration complete. The game will start soon." There was a two-minute timer for the players to gather around the gigantic screen that displayed all the information needed to know for the game. Around you, there were multiple confused people, some experienced and some people who wanted answers from these tests.
"Game difficulty: Five of diamonds
Game: Train Ride
(I've got a slight feeling that you guys would prefer it as a clubs game, but I have loads more clubs games for the future. I am HORRIBLE at writing diamonds games, so please forgive me if the following game is too dull.)
Rules: There is a treasure that the players have to find together in the train, and it will only appear on certain conditions. Solve the riddles in the train. The longer you stay in the train, the harder it will be to survive. Find any unusual article in the train, and remember, X marks the spot. Weapons are prohibited from being used in this game. Anybody found using weapons will be eliminated.
Clear condition: Find the treasure that will get you out of the train.
Please proceed into the train for the game to start."
You could see that the people around you were starting to panic, not knowing what train they were supposed to enter. Just then, there was a train that arrived at the location, obviously the train you were supposed to enter. You had not known the riddles that you were meant to solve, but you sure knew that the queen of diamonds' style would most likely be something that was worth thinking through. For her, listening to the instructions would increase your chances of clearing the game immensely.
The moment every player took step into the game, the doors closed shut behind you guys, and you felt the train start moving at a rapid speed.
All the players scattered around, in a desperate attempt to look for the "treasure", but suddenly, a lightning stroke downwards, electrifying the entire train. You stood your ground, making sure not to touch anything. You flipped your head around, adapting to your surroundings. The train was shaking around, and you heard the elderly lady scream. Rushing to her, you noticed that her body was vibrating, holding onto the metal handle.
You recalled how there was lightning, and you immediately used your boot to kick her hand down. "Everybody, listen! Do not touch anything that's an electrical conductor, or you will get electrocuted!we should try to look for clues first, instead of aimlessly trying to find the treasure! Listen to what she had said! We need to work together!"
You saw a brunette girl shoot up, and dash towards you. "She's right! Everybody, remember when she said X marks the spot? Maybe we should look around the entire train for an X!"
Majority of the people in the train nodded, looking up and down for any sign of an "X" or any useful source of information. You looked underneath the seats, touching every single seat and trying to find any unusual articles. Luckily, at seat C6, you spotted that the seat was loose.
"Everybody! I found a loose seat!" You announced, moving it out of the way using your strength. To your surprise, you found a leather bag. When you unzipped it, you found a long stripe of rubber.
There was a man with rectangular glasses who pointed at it and stammered, "R-Rubber! It's an insulator! Maybe we could do something with it?"
"If it's an insulator, that must mean that they want us to use it to touch something that's a conductor," Chishiya spoke up, looking at you in the eyes.
"Oh! Maybe the captain's room to stop the train? In case of an emergency, there's always an emergency stop button, right?" The elderly lady suggested. You remembered: the entire door was made of steel!" You nodded your head vigorously, stepping on top of the seats to get there as soon as possible without touching the metal poles and handles.
You swiftly wrapped the piece of rubber around your hand, before counting to three. "One, two..." you open the door to the captain's room, barging in recklessly. All that you could see besides the train to drive it was its controls, and an open window revealing that you were nearing a strange source of light. "What's that?" You asked.
The brunette girl pressed onto your shoulders, until she shrieked. "We're nearing a cliff! If we don't get out of here quickly, we're all gonna die!" The rest of the people went into a panic, except for Chishiya who had a clear solution in his mind, all he was doing was to wait for a genius to come up and solve it. Since the game clearly wanted the players to enter the captain's room, besides announcing the way we would die if we could not escape in time, there must have been another reason for you entering it.
"AHHH! IT BURNS!" The train shook due to its uneven tracks it was traveling on, causing a few people to be executed brutally, another two people dying from the shock. You carefully studied the room, until there was a man who pointed upwards. "There! There's an X! X marks the spot!" He pointed upwards to the storage space.
The brunette girl hosting herself onto the control area, she broke opened the mini cupboard, where she found a matchbox filled with matchsticks. "Matchsticks? But...what for?" She wondered. The only function of matchsticks was, of course, to start a fire. She placed her hand underneath the cap, emptying the box, but only found matchsticks and nothing special.
Without a warning beforehand, there were huge rocks that came skyrocketing towards the train from the front of the train. Like a missle firing towards its target, they travelled at incredible speeds, threatening to murder anybody who got hit. They broke through the glass, causing the pointy sharps to go towards all of you. Everybody started running to the back of the train, desperately shielding themselves from the impact.
Unfortunately, some blood was shed, and the fact that people were going to get badly injured was inevitable. You immediately took the rubber strip and hit the rocks and glass flying towards you at the speed of light. Your hand accidentally grazed the surface of the metal pole without the rubber as a protection, and as a result, you got slightly shocked. "Ouch!" You cursed, flicking the blood onto the ground.
Chishiya, however, was shrewd. He picked up a dead body and quickly hit behind it, covering himself from the impact of the glass shards as well as the rocks. Once they had stopped coming your way, everybody had recovered, having lost yet another person. His body was left on a seat, steam sizzling from it and foam erupting from his mouth. "How is this only a five of diamonds?" You could hear some people wondering, except for you. Since there is an absence of the Queen of Hearts, the game masters have agreed on increasing the difficulty level of the numbered card games to the max, making them twice as demanding as before.
"In the case of an emergency fire, the fire alarm will ring and there will be water coming down. That should be the "treasure" that we are all looking for," you heard a calm voice from the back. "You'd better hurry, because we're nearing the cliff!" You whipped your head to his direction, watching as a man with slicked back shoulder-length hair emerged from the shadows, urging the brunette to hurry up and start a fire somewhere.
She swallowed hesitantly, before she lit a match, throwing it onto the ground nearest to the captain's room. The fire immediately rose, ember flames burning everything in its way to a crisp. The rest of the people in the train instinctively rushed to the back of the train, where they were the least affected by the fire. You could feel the heat emitting from the fire which was meters away from you, beginning to perspire.
Chishiya held tightly onto your hand, until water began to spill out from the emergency system. "Brace yourselves. You might get shocked from the water, so watch your footing," the man who suggested starting a fire leisurely warned, stepping away from the water cautiously.
Not long after, a screwdriver dropped from the ceiling of the train onto the ground. Chishiya picked it up as it rolled to his feet. "A screwdriver this size..." he scrutinized it analytically, turning it around to check it out, "Is perfect for escaping."
He squatted down, a metal rectangle surrounding a screw that was tightly placed together. That was their only option to escape the train. "Hurry, we do't have much time left before the train goes down the cliff and we all meet out deaths!" The remaining 15 people hurried him with a concerned look on their faces while the train's speed increased rapidly.
Once he was done undoing the screw, he threw the screwdriver to a side, opening the loose rectangular shaped piece of the train's floor. "Here! Now's our chance to escape!" He dove through it with both feet first, with you following behind him.
Due to the train's speed, the both of you rolled down the tracks, before landing on top of each other in an awkward position, your legs interlocked with each other. Your face was dangerously close to his, as you leaned atop of his body. "Alright, save the romantic stuff for later, Shuntaro, now we've got to get away from here!" You pulled him up. He nodded, looking behind to see multiple people following the both of you.
You ran with all the strength left in your legs, until you saw an exit sign with an arrow pointing upwards. You sprinted towards it, being the first one to climb up the ladder.
Once you had reached the top, you unexpectedly saw that a screwdriver was needed to unscrew the exit way. "Oh, shit! We completely ignored the screwdriver! We're so screwed!" You hollered out to Chishiya beneath you. You broke out into cold sweat, worrying for your life. "Why did I join a game I didn't know how to solve beforehand?" You pondered, before suggesting, "Don't worry. I've trained. I'll use brute force to break this lock."
"No, I don't think that's necessary," Chishiya interrupted.
"What do you mean?" You furrowed your brows, confused with what he meant by that.
"Hey!! Pinky up there! I heard you needed the screwdriver! I'll pass it up to you!" You heard a resounding male voice from below the both of you. It was the smart Alec what had come to save the day! He passed the screwdriver to Chishiya, who handed it to you. You placed it onto the screw, twisting the tool as fast as you could.
Once it was loose enough, you pushed the opening, and climbed out of it. You stood up, walking towards the hole and helping people to get up from it. "Huh? Why're there less than 15 people? There are only 8 of us left?" You inquired, counting the number of people left, including you. Following that, you saw the elderly lady you had helped before lean towards the hole, calling out, "Hello? Is there anybody still there?" She raised her head up, shaking her head, indicating that there was not a sign of a single soul.
"Well...there were some people fighting over being the first to go through the hole, and they ended up fighting. Because of that, the water level rose, causing them to be electrocuted. As for the rest...I think that they didn't go out in time..." the man with rectangular glasses twitched with his fingers and told you. He had a look of sorrow on his face.
Just how selfish could a human being be to survive?
"Game clear. Congratulations!" The lights to the subway station flickered, before turning off.
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"Please take care of yourself. I hope to see you again in the future, so that I can help you with games in the future. Madam, please survive," you held the eldery woman's hand and stroked her black hair. She nodded her head, before bowing to you.
"Thank you so much for saving me in that game. You're a good kid. You survive too," she reached upwards to pat your head, then she left on her own ways.
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"Ugh, why am I treating people so politely even though I'm most likely going to kill them later on? These games question my position in this universe. I know I'll eventually kill her, but I just still want to save her!" You facepalmed, feeling horrible and morally confused. You sat on your Ferrari, drinking wine to relieve your stress.
Chishiya rested his head on top of yours, holding you closely to him. "You're not an evil person at all, Yuki. I feel like I influenced you into walking the wrong path and doing crude crimes. I just...want to...fight alongside you," he muttered so softly that only you could hear what he was saying.
"No. It's my decision to become a game master, and I'm afraid of losing you more than dying. If I'm going to die, I want to die in the hands of someone who is worthy of living. I want to die while I'm still young and beautiful, not when I'm old and wrinkly. Shuntaro, your cold heart still has some soul to it, so don't say such things," you persuaded Chishiya that it was not his fault that you were a murderer of over 100 people at that point.
"It's because...you brought joy and color to my black-and-white life. I didn't want to die, but at the same time, I didn't want to live like this. Until you came, my life was just about being a filial son for my parents. I hold you very dear to me, and I have learnt to love because of you. It's very embarrassing to say this, but I'm scared of being separated from you. You're an irreplaceable person in my heart. You showed me a different side to life, where there was joy and smiles. You are the one and only person I truly love. So please, don't go dying and leaving me here by myself." He confessed for his true feelings, squeezing your waist tight.
You snuggled your head into his neck, embracing in the warmth of his heart. "If you were to ever die, I'd disembowel myself in shame of not being able to protect you," you made a promise with him, similar to the one you used to make with your bother before he died.
"Hmm? Making the same promise as your younger brother with me? I must say, the three of you are quite the unique people. The same applies for you."
"Then it's a deal. That until the end of time, not even heaven and hell can separate us!"
(In case you're confused, I am rewriting my last 6 chapters because they sucked and there's no continuation. So, I feel like this version is a lot better than the previous one. Love you! Mwah mwah mwah! Besides, we're so close to 10K and I will SCREAM! My gosh, going through the mid-year examinations are tough, but I am sparing an extra hour everyday to write this story for your sake. Bye bye! :D
-Kim)