"𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐦 𝐈? 𝐀𝐡, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐮𝐳𝐳𝐥𝐞."
-𝐿𝑒𝑤𝑖𝑠 𝐶𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑙𝑙, 𝐴𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑊𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑
Being the Arisu's little sister had never really been a blessing. Stuck after the pride and t...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Night falls once again on Borderland.
In the absence of lights, the living room is bathed in darkness. Soraya is sitting at the window, watching for the lights of the game areas. Even though you told her that it's not yet 10 p.m., she refuses to move from her post.
You're poring over your notepad, adding new hypotheses and modifying existing ones.
From the information given by Soraya, you deduced that the game zones were revealed around 10 p.m. The games ended around midnight, where players who ran out of days on their visa were eliminated.
Your gaze falls on the card placed on your lap. You take it out so you can examine it but, once again, you are forced to see that there is nothing abnormal about it. However, the choice of card to indicate the difficulty of the game sparks an idea.
You roughly draw the contents of a deck of cards. Fifty-two pieces in all, not counting the Joker. You are convinced that there is a meaning. The idea of an endless game makes even less sense to you than everything that has happened so far.
All games have an end.
Even the cruellest murderers eventually tire of their victims. Not that reasoning like a killer fills you with joy, but you have to put yourself in your opponent's place.
"Soraya?"
The little girl turns her head towards you. You lift your notepad and the flashlight to show her the face cards.
"'Heard ab'out?"
She shakes her head. "The lady from the second game told me they never appeared."
You write the information on a corner of your paper. You cannot consider the words of a stranger as pure truth, so you do not erase the hypothesis of the complete deck of cards. On the other hand, you make a second hypothesis with only the forty number cards. You draw two arrows for two different conclusions:
1. You must collect the entire deck of cards individually.
2. You have to beat all the games collectively.
The fact that there was only one card available at the end of the game makes you lean towards the second hypothesis. In your and Soraya's experience, some games are team based. It would make more sense to favor a collective victory.
A small cry interrupts your thoughts. You look up from your notepad. Soraya points to a whitish light in the distance: a game arena.
You gather your things and put them in your backpack. Soraya stands outside the door, jumping from one foot to the other in nervousness.
You're a little reluctant to take her with you, but she's made it clear that she wants to play too. She obviously trusts you. You have to admit that despite the clear handicap that you two represent, you are starting to appreciate it too.
