Blades of Despair

-Chapter Thirty-Five-

The Shadows Came to Me

March 14th 1955

Today is my first day at Seiko Academy! I'm so excited to finally be recognised for my dedication to cytology, and I can't wait to hone my skills and research at this prestigious school. I met my other classmates in the morning, all Ultimate Students like me. There aren't many of us, only sixteen in number.

The welcoming number was surprisingly... unwelcoming. So far, none of my classmates nor I have caught sight of any of our professors, not even Kinji Ishotaru, who had invited us all here. It's a little disconcerting to walk around a school as a group of sixteen. If I didn't know any better, I would have said the academy feels abandoned. But there's no need to worry, I am sure. I'm going to dine with my classmates now, I will report back later.

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March 15th 1955

This school is a nightmare. We've been tricked! Oh my God... We met the headmaster today, Kinji Ishotaru. At least, we think it was him. He and four other figures, cloaked completely from head to toe like the grim reaper, came to us today. They told us that we are trapped inside Seiko Academy forever, and that our loved ones have been murdered. Is this true? Are my family dead? Mother, Father, and little Tenko?

They told us that we're now participating in the twenty-seventh variant of a game, where we have to kill another student to escape, so long as the others don't discover the identity of the culprit. What kind of madness is this? One boy - I don't remember his name, I think he was the Ultimate Wrestler or something - tried to fight the people in cloaks and they... shot him. He just fell to the ground, blood flying everywhere. Then they shot him again... and again... and again... I can still hear the gunshots and the screams of my classmates. Oh hell... what's going to happen to me?!

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March 23rd 1955

Someone murdered another student - stabbed them in the throat with a knife. We have to investigate the school for clues to try and find the culprit. I feel sick, and I can't keep the sight of their dead body out of my head. I can't believe that one of my friends did this. Are they even my friends if they can kill one of us at a moment's notice? I don't think I can do this.

The Shadows came to us. They've introduced new rules to the game. If we figure out who killed our friend, we get to live. If we're wrong, the murderer is allowed to roam free in the outside world. Sacrificing fourteen lives to save your own - did someone really do it?

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March 24th 1955

We survived the class trial. I can't believe that she was the culprit. Even though I couldn't forgive her for murdering our friend, she told us why she had done it and my resolve wavered. Her mother was terminally ill, and she wanted to escape so she could say goodbye, so she turned to murder. Then, the Shadows reappeared. They told us that the student would have to face her 'punishment,' but we didn't know what this meant. Then they shot her, just like they had with the Ultimate Wrestler. They shot her once in the head. More bloodshed.

Only thirteen students left, and only ten days have passed. Why is this happening to me? The world needs my research, I can't die in a place like this...

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July 7th(??) 1955

There are only four students left. The others are gone. Dead. Murdered. Executed.