The Winners Take It All | Chishiya

The invisible thread

You couldn't even hear the engine of the car; the farewell cheers were so loud.

I felt visibly uncomfortable - and it wasn't just because we left with a loud noise. No, I was upset that I had to sit next to Chishiya. The car was quite small, so I could be pressed against him in every corner. If there was one thing I didn't want right now, it was physical contact. Especially because he had been grinning so arrogantly the whole time.

I tried to distract myself by staring out the window, which was pretty stupid when you think about it. You couldn't see anything anyway because it was too dark.

But I managed to observe the young man next to me more closely. The glass panes reflected nicely, so at least it wasn't quite as noticeable. Come to think of it, he was quite attractive. When he didn't have his arrogant grin on his face, he appeared mysterious and at the same time relaxed, which made him look strong. There weren't many in the Borderland who went into game situations neutrally like him.

Had I ever seen a hint of fear on his face? Not that I can remember.

I was just about to continue spying when it suddenly became light outside. I immediately turned my gaze forward and observed what was happening around us. It was strange.

An entire district was lit up. Not just one place, no, but many. I was immediately suspicious. It was the next bad sign, further predisposing me to disappear as quickly as possible. But that was probably no longer possible since we were already on the playground.

"How exciting," said Hatter from the passenger seat, but he received no response from us. Aguni pulled over and parked the car. I hesitated for a moment before I also left the transport and followed the others. We wandered around for a bit until we finally found the white table with the telephones. The next doubts were on their way when I took a closer look at the phones. There were a lot of them!

Hatter and Aguni took their phones and stood apart, Chishiya followed suit and retreated to a quiet corner. I also reached for a cell phone. Then I leaned against a wall and looked around. If I counted correctly, there were a good fifteen participants without us and nineteen with us. A big round.

The game starts in three minutes!

The woman sounded way too happy again.

I shifted from one foot to the other, trying to forget the horrors in my head. At the same time, two other participants appeared in my field of vision. I looked at Chishiya. He looked at the floor and had headphones in his ears. I wish I had a distraction like that too!

The game starts in a minute!

Nervousness crept up inside me. I bit my fingernails.

Registration complete! The game now begins.

Name of the game: The Fate of Johanna Brown

Difficulty level: 9 of Hearts

Some participants screamed in horror, I just sucked in a sharp breath.

Number of participants: 24

Rules:

All participants must put an earplug in their ear. It cannot be removed during the game.

All participants are assigned a role that has a goal that must be fulfilled.

The participants are guided through a life situation using multiple choice answers and must decide independently which answer is the best.

The chosen action must be carried out, otherwise it is game over.

An action must be chosen, otherwise it's game over.