𝚊𝚍𝚍𝚒𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎 | Alice in Borderland

III

Two days pass, Ikari's visa is on its final day. The phone he had retrieved from the first game was dead, quite useless now, as he had no form of charging the device, nor did he think it was possible.

He had removed his blazer, discarding it as it was covered in blood and the smell was making him faint. Hunger quickly overtook him, not knowing if he could survive without food. He moved from the random building he stayed in, knowing he would rather die from the lasers in the sky than hunger.

Ikari found himself in front of a ransacked convenience store, almost as if people were here before him. It would make logical sense. The players in his first game stared him down as if he was fresh meat.

He dismissed the thought, focusing on finding food, only to find junk like Shortcake flavored Yakisoba. Disgust riddled his face as he set the colorful packing down.

"Who'd eat this kind of shit, anyway?" He walked down the aisle aiming for water or any sort of liquid preferred alcohol. But smiled nonetheless once he found water.

Ignoring the rumble of his stomach once he passed by the Yakisoba side-eying it as he left the store. He wondered how this was possible, why was the world in shambles if it was perfectly fine hours before.

What had happened in the time span between the fireworks and the moment he stepped into the school? He also wondered if the city was the same. Ikari saw a clear vision of the school, but it was torn down years ago.

Ikari wondered if the bar was still there, or how Karube was. What of his family? Were all questions that lingered in his mind. Alongside witnessing the deaths of nine players in a single sitting.

It was too much for him to handle. He wanted nothing more than to drink his problems away, to forget what happened, but his visa didn't allow him to do so. He sat on the concrete floor, resting leaning against the wall, resting his eyes for what he thought was a couple of minutes.

The loud clicking of screens turning on startled Ikari awake. The sounds of multiple things being turned off were heard across the city. Ikari stood walking down a street until he found one of the many signs. It read the same as the first time. "This way to the Arena." along with an arrow pointing in the direction.

This time, the walk was longer. He found the building that he was being led to; he decided to jog there, attempting to reach it faster in case there was no more space for players.

Ikari knew what to expect this time, although keeping a rather open-mind, he can always expect different games of varying difficulties and of different types. He found himself in front of a rather tall apartment building. The really long hallways were ominous looking.

Ikari kept his eyes moving, looking where he was walking, noticing points of entry and exit, stairs leading up and down the only possible way would be up, where he heard chatter.

He walked up the steps carefully, walking through the game barrier once more. A circular table with phones scattered about, he grabbed one of the two remaining phones.

He quickly took notice that everyone around him was in groups or pairs of two or more. Noticing alone, he heavily considered talking to the person with dyed hair tips.

Ikari had a feeling about them. They look like someone who knows what they're doing. The phone in their hands chimed,

"Registration is now closed. There are currently fifteen participants. The game will now commence."

Ikari closed his eyes, trying to maintain his composure. It was too soon to see more people potentially die.

"Difficulty, Five of Spades."