𝑯𝑬𝑨𝑹𝑻𝑳𝑬𝑺𝑺 • Shuntaro Chishiya

• 1 •

"How everything started"

"Showdown." the dealer said and all five players showed their five cards.

"A triple! I guess, I won again." Sayaka shouted proudly, "When do I finally get to face a real challenge?" she sighed.

"33 455 yen (250 dollars) go to Miss Saya..."

"Ugh can't we bet actual money, please?" the girl said annoyed, before the dealer could even finish the sentence.

"The limit in this Casino is 8000 yen per person." answered the dealer immediately.

"Gosh, what kind of Casino is this?" Sayaka got up and left the Casino, obviously taking the money she won with her.

It was already pretty dark outside, so Sayaka hurried to her apartment, that she shared with her roommate, she barely talked to.

"Nakamura, do you know where my jacket is?" asked her roommate.

Sayaka only answered with a quick 'nope' before closing the door of her room behind her. After taking her shoes off she immediately lied on her bed with headphones in her ears. She closed her eyes and just listened to the music at the same time moving her hand to the beat of it.

After opening her eyed she noticed that the light in her room was flickering before it completely turned off.

Sayaka got up to check, if the same happened in other rooms of the apartment, but after she left her room, a very unpleasant smell distracted her. She opened her fridge and to her surprise, all the food inside was completely rotten.

Not wanting to see such a disgusting thing any longer, the girl closed the door and went outside.

"What the actual fuck." she said, when she saw the street, she crossed every day.

There were numerous cars standing in the middle of the street. Also, there was no human soul to see. Sayaka ran for a few minutes, hoping she would find someone, but to her disappointment, there was literally no one. At that point she had already accepted the fact that it was all only a dream, so she just sat down on the ground, leaning on the wall of a building.

Exactly at that moment a big sign turned on saying 'Welcome players, the game will commence in a moment'. Under these words there was an arrow pointing to the right.

Sayaka quickly got up and without hesitation ran in that direction. She smiled when she noticed about 5 people standing in front of the door of a building. They were all holding a phone, so Sayaka also took one of the remaining five that were lying on a small table next to the door.

When Sayaka turned it on, a sign appeared on its screen saying, that the face recognition was in progress.

"Please wait for the game to commence. There are currently six participants. Two minutes remaining until registration closes." a female voice coming from the phone said.

"What the fuck is this." that were the only words that Sayaka could come up with at that moment.

"First time?" A middle aged man approached her.

"What?"

"I suppose yes."

"Where am I and what the heck is this game?"

"Calm down. I'll explained everything to you. Unfortunately I also don't know how I got in this world, but one this is sure: You have to play games in order to survive."

"Is this some kind of prank?"

"Unfortunately not. Anyways, after clearing a game you get a certain amount of days on your visa. After it expires, you die. So you have to play games over and over." finished the man, leaving Sayaka even more confused than before.

She didn't panic at all, just found that whole situation more than strange.

"Registration closed." said the female voice after exactly two minutes. "There are now ten participants in the game. Game: What am I? Difficulty: Four of Diamonds."

"Damn it." Sayaka heard the middle aged man's voice. "Diamonds are my weakness."

"The symbols have a meaning?" This time the girl approached the man.

"Yes, indeed. Diamonds are beaten through logic and rationality. Spades are games of physical strength or endurance. Clubs focus on cooperating with one another and all in all teamwork. Hearts are the worst, they force you to play with the hearts of others and may even make you kill people." The man explained.

Sayaka only nodded and turned around to the door which was now open.

"Participants, please go inside the building and sit on one of the ten chairs."

Everyone did, as said. Right after that, everybody's hands were tied on the back of the chair, by some kind of automatic seatbelt.

A big screen at the front wall turned on.

"The rules of this game are:

1. Six riddles from the category 'Who am I' will be asked during the game.
2. There will be two minutes to give an answer.
3. If no answer is given, two random players will be eliminated in that round.
4. If a wrong answer is given, that player will be eliminated.
5. If the right answer is given, no player will be eliminated."

The reactions of the participants were very different. Some were panicking, but Sayaka also noticed two man smiling like literal psychopaths.

"The game starts now. Question One: You measure my life in hours and I serve you by expiring. I'm quick when I'm thin and slow when I'm fat. The wind is my enemy."

After these words appeared on the screen, the timer of 2 minutes started.

No answer.

"Does anyone have an idea?" asked a teenage girl that was clearly scared for her life.

No answer.

Sayaka didn't really listen to the girl's words, because she was focused trying to figure out the answer. After all, she obviously wanted to win the game.

'The wind is my enemy' - Fire!

But that still wasn't the correct answer.

"It needs to have something to do with fire." said Sayaka out loud.
"A candle!" screamed an old woman right away. "That's the answer!"

The timer stopped, when there were still 27 seconds left.

"'Candle' was the right answer. Question two: What is seen in the middle of March and April that can't be seen at the beginning or end of either month?"

'Okay, that's a little harder.' Sayaka thought.

She tried her best connecting all the facts in the question, but didn't manage to think of an answer.

"Five, four, three, two, one."

Just a second after the countdown, two swords fell from the ceiling, which no one noticed until now. One sword went perfectly trough the head of the teenage girl and one through the head of one of the 'psychopaths'.

Eliminated means killed