Karoshi Archives

Day 1 - Awakening

The heat of the room was obvious, the atmosphere was stifling and the darkness was absorbing, when opening his eyes, Ryoma entered internally in an overwhelming panic, I looked around realizing that for some reason he was sleeping under a desk, between the cables and the heat of voltage protectors, he came out from below that desk to realize that he was locked in a hexagon of no more than 12 meters of area, 4 to 5 meters diagonally and 3 meters high, with walls painted in dark blue, almost black, without visible ventilation, a door on one side that said "bathroom", above each desk there was a high-end computer, keyboard and office mice, monitors large enough to provide some light (5 in fact on each wall of the hexagonal), looking down there noticed 4 other people in addition to the same, in a deep sleeping position, against their head, a black-headed effect, and checked if their face was blown up, and a black blow to their face, followed them.

"AHHH-what?" he said as he lifted up his head after giving himself such a blow. "Who are you?!" said the stranger as he looked at Ryoma with some disappointment.

"C-Calm down, it wasn't my intention to scare you," I exclaimed the brown-haired boy with tones in a dark, attractive-looking, and rather thin-eyed "I'm Ryoma...and you?"

"My name is Kosuke," replied the opposite, "what is this place?, Did you bring me here?" I asked Kosuke as he looked at the darkness around the room.

Little by little, the others began to wake up and come out from under their respective desks. The light of the screen was reflected in a small adhesive that they carried on their left chest; it looked like a sort of dark-colored scarf that had written the person's name and an identification number.

"Well, I demand an explanation of what we're doing here and what's going on!" He demanded a boy of refined appearance who was pedant, had dark hair, and was long; according to his shaft, he was called Riota.

"Could you let me sleep? Or what?Wait where I am?" I asked a confused boy with glasses and a somewhat empowered appearance; according to his ass, he was named Yasuo.

There was only one person missing, and he was just staying and watching the others without much concern, turning around and looking against the wall in order to continue sleeping.

The others. On the contrary, they were consumed by the confusion of being trapped in a place unknown to them.

with the claustrophobic feeling of not seeing the sunlight again, of seeing only the artificial light of the screens that surrounded them.

The sound of a burning whistle alerted all five inside the room. A sharp whistle filled the air, echoing the hexagonal walls and adding a new level of anxiety to the already-loaded environment. They all looked at each other, looking for answers in the confused faces of their fellow prisoners.

A metal click resounded in the room, followed by an electrical noise announcing the activation of a microphone. A distorted echo filled the room before a cold mechanical voice broke the silence.

"You must be the new... I hope you have your short rest. Enjoy their comfort, which will not last long," the voice announced, without revealing their origin or purpose.

The hearts of Ryoma, Kosuke, Riota, Yasuo, and the mysterious sleeping accelerated to unison. They looked around, trying to locate the source of the voice, but no camera or speaker was visible in the room.

"Rest? What the hell is this?" Ryoma asked, with a knot in her throat as she fought against the growing sense of claustrophobia.

"What do you want from us?!" asked Riota, with a mixture of indignation and fear in his voice.

The enigmatic voice continued with his speech, ignoring the questions of the captives. "You have been carefully selected to perform various tasks; you will see it soon."

A tense silence seized the room as the five processed the information. The words of the mysterious host made it clear that they were trapped in something much greater than themselves.

"I will provide you with instructions soon. For now, I urge you to cooperate and prepare to enter the routine day," the voice concluded before disappearing in an electronic echo.

Ryoma exchanged gazes with the other prisoners, reading the mixture of fear, uncertainty, and determination in their eyes. They knew they had to join forces if they had any hope of surviving this strange and sinister game.

With their hearts beating strongly and their minds filled with unanswered questions, they prepared to face the unknown that awaited them in the shadows of that room.