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Shin Tsukimi, Sara Chidouin, Kanna Kizuchi, Keiji Shinogi, Alice Yabusame, Gin Ibushi, and Q-taro Burgerberg were gathered in the lobby. Their attention was drawn to the very back of the room; the double-doors back there were open. Until that day, those doors were closed and locked tight. The passageway was dark, and no one knew what to expect.
The survivors exchanged looks with each other. “I guess we just have to go for it.” Sara said.
“Got no other choice anyway.” Keiji added. He turned to look at Shin. “You got the medical stuff, right?”
Shin gestured over to the duffel bag on the couch next to him. “Right there.”
Keiji looked over to Gin. “Hey, Gin. Important mission for ya, kiddo.”
Gin perked up, eyes shimmering. “What is it, meow?”
“Can you check the Medical Office to make sure we got everything?”
The young boy nodded eagerly, and immediately ran down that hallway. About a minute or so later, he came back. “We’re good, woof!”
“Nice job.” Keiji smiled down at him. He turned to look at Shin. “You’re able to carry that, right?”
“Yeah, I’m able to. It needs to stay with me anyway.” Shin replied as he picked up the bag.
The blond man nodded. “Then off we go.” Taking the lead, Keiji entered the dark hallway. “Stay close.”
Everyone followed the ex-detective up the staircase. They reached the first room, and they were greeted with a dimly lit room with a spotlight illuminating a stone monument. Keiji walked further into the room, and when he did, seven more lights suddenly turned on. Each light shone illuminated a coffin. There were 3 on each side of the room, and there was one smack in the middle.
Sara walked to the one in the middle and bent down next to it. “This is a huge bento box…”
Shin stared down at Sara and raised an eyebrow. “That’s obviously a coffin.”
Sara was quiet for a second, then she sighed and hung her head in defeat.
“Anyway…” Keiji started. “Anyone see anything of note anywhere?” As he talked, Keiji inspected the middle coffin.
“These coffins are all identical.” Kanna stated. She was bent down by one of the coffins on the left side of the room.
Q-taro spoke next. “I don’t see an exit outta here.”
“There’s probably some sort of trick we haven’t found yet.” Shin commented as his eyes examined the middle coffin. “It probably has something to do with this one specifically.” He pointed at it.
“Can we open these coffins, woof?” Gin asked. “Muscle Gorilla, you got this, meow!!” His green eyes were full of admiration as he stared up at the baseball player.
“Er, yeah, I’ll give it a shot.” Q-taro said as he walked to the coffin he was closest to--the front one on the right side of the room. “There’s someone in here!”
Everyone muttered between each other. “Hey, check the other ones.” Keiji directed as he started opening the coffins on the left side of the room one by one. Alice started prying open the other two on the right side. “There’s someone inside all six of these. So we just need to open that middle one, huh?” The blond man said as he strolled towards it.
“I wanna know who those people are… or were…” Alice said as he strolled up next to Keiji. “C’mon, let’s get this open.”
“Got it.” Keiji replied as the two men opened the coffin with ease.
It wasn’t a surprise when they found another person inside--for most of the survivors anyway. As for Alice and Shin, that was a bit of a different story. Those two knew the person inside. It was the real Sou Hiyori.
Shin swallowed hard as he stared down at the green-haired man resting in the coffin. His former best friend was in that coffin. ‘Sou Hiyori’ was also the identity Shin took on at the beginning of the Death Game. With a deep breath, he turned his head away.
Alice took a few steps backwards as he tried to rationalize why the person he killed was laying in that coffin. Shaking his head in disbelief, Alice let out a groan. “What’s any of this supposed to mean?”
Sighing, Sara closed the coffin, stood up straight and looked around the room. “I don’t get it. Are we missing something?” Everyone began looking around the area, trying to find some sort of clue.
“It wouldn’t hurt to recheck the coffins.” Keiji said as he walked to one of the coffins towards the back of the room.
Shin looked down at the coffin that contained his former friend. Without thinking, he reached out to grab onto the lid.
However, Sara immediately swatted his hand away. “Nuh-uh. You’re not opening this.”
“Right… Sorry. I wasn’t even thinking about it.” Shin confessed.
Sara squatted down and opened up the coffin again. “Now then…” She mumbled under her breath as she examined the coffin.
That’s when Shin noticed it: the man in the coffin's eyes were now open, and fixated towards him and Sara. “M-Miss Sara.” Shin stuttered.
“Yes?” She answered, looking up at him.
Timidly, he pointed down. “His eyes are open.”
“What?!” She looked down, and sure enough, Shin was right; the man’s green eyes were open and he was staring right at them.
Without a word, the man reached out to the two of them.
Yelping, Sara almost lost her balance.
“Big sis Sara!! What happened, woof?” Gin asked, worried.
“Get away! That person… moved!!” She couldn’t help it; Sara stood up again and backed away from the coffin.
Anxiously, Shin took a few steps backward as well.
Suddenly, the young man sat up in his coffin and jumped to his feet. He was staring directly at the high school girl. “Nice to meet you, Miss Sara!” He began to smooth out his blazer.
The brunette felt a chill race down her spine. She took a half-step back, and balled her hands into fists.
“Sorry to pop out of the darkness.” He paused. “Did I startle you, I wonder?” A sickeningly sweet smile crossed his face.
“Y-Ya mean you weren’t a corpse?!” Q-taro cried.
“As you can see, I’m super duper ! So, did you enjoy it?” His smile didn’t falter as he turned his head to the baseball player.
Q-taro glared at the green-haired man. “Who the hell’s gonna enjoy that?! Just who or what are you?!”
He tilted his head slightly, staring into Q-taro’s eyes. “Huh? So sure enough you don’t remember…” He commented. After a second or two, he shrugged. “That’s perfectly fine though! I’m your Floor Master this time! Hello!” His words felt so carefree, and almost gleeful.
Keiji raised an eyebrow. “Floor Master, you say?”
“Yep!” He confirmed. “I waited for 5 hours in that coffin! It’s so cruel of you guys to keep me waiting in suspense! Now now, gather close to me!” He turned his head towards the bandaged man. His eyes lit up with amusement as he giggled playfully. “You too, Shin. Come on.”
Shin turned his head away and looked down at the floor.
Then the green-haired man snapped his head to look at the blue-haired prisoner. “And you, Alice… my murderer.” Despite the smile on his face, the look in his eyes was off-putting.
“As I thought… You’re the real Sou Hiyori!” Alice said.
The man shook his head. “There’s no time for that. I need to introduce you to the dolls who will be supporting you~!” He sang, as if he was the host of a TV show.
Suddenly all the coffins were pushed open and each person stood up and got out of their coffins.
“Whoa nelly!!” Q-taro exclaimed.
A teenage girl with pink hair, an orange jacket, and mismatched colored wardrobe stretched out her arms. “Oooh… Just the worst way to wake up…”
A white-haired high school boy looked around the room. “Can’t stand it… We have to support these guys?”
A muscular man with dark skin, blue hair, and pink eyes let out a snicker. “Well, fine by me. So which of you’s my partner?”
Everyone in the survivor group was silent and exchanged looks with each other. It was like they were trying to confirm if they were all seeing the same things. Sara looked at Keiji, frowning.
Keiji glanced back at Sara before finally breaking the silence with one word: “Partner?”
“A-HEM!” The Floor Master yelled out, exaggerating that one word as much as possible. Everyone in the room, including the strangers, looked over towards him. “That should be ‘master’ , you know? You guys are the supports, after all.”
“H-Hold on! Supports?” Sara repeated. “Aren't these--”
The green-haired man cut her off with a mischievous laugh. “I’ll introduce you. They’re the tragic victims who died before they could meet anyone.” He explained.
A young woman dressed like a baker with a big, poofy hat clasped her hands together and squealed. “Sara, you’re just so cuuuute! Relax, we’re on your side!”
“You know her name?” Shin questioned.
“We know all of you!” The baker replied happily.
With a wide smile on his face, the Floor Master began to talk again. “Naturally, they’re dolls, so they got the necessary info input in advance!”
A young man in a blue suit with brown glasses sighed. “T-This is desecration of the dead… Let me go back home…”
A middle-school girl with long pink hair and tired eyes shook her head. “It’s no use struggling now…”
The Floor Master’s eyes lit up as he began to talk, just as gleeful as ever. “This time, we’ll be having you make pairs with the Dummies to take on a game!”
Alice looked around at the strangers who were being referred to as Dummies. “Pairs, you say?”
“Now, Red Thread of Fate… activate!” The Floor Master exclaimed.
Everyone’s collars began to beep repeatedly. “What’s going on?” Shin mumbled to himself as he gently touched his collar. The beeping sped up for everyone, then finally, a bright red line shot out of the collars. Each collar connected with another.
“The people connected by the Red Thread of Fate are the pairs for this game!” The green-haired man explained.
The muscular blue-haired man looked down at Kanna. “A kid? Alright then, I’ll protect you. I’m Kurumada.”
Timidly, Kanna was playing with her hands. “A…. Aah… I see. Hello…” Her words were soft and shaky.
The baker woman squealed. “So Q-taro’s my master! My name’s Mai! Let’s get along!” Her smile was wide and her eyes were shining as she stared up at the baseball star.
“S-Sure…” Q-taro responded as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Is that the right mood to be in right now?”
The small pink-haired girl stared up at Keiji. After a few moments, she finally spoke up. “Hinako.”
“Middle-schooler or so?” Keiji deduced. “Must be rough…”
The girl in the orange jacket was swaying back and forth on her heels. “My partner’s a murderer?!” She whined. “I-I’m Anzu… Be gentle.” She giggled sheepishly.
Alice looked down at her before glancing away again. “Murderer?” He huffed. “It hurts to hear it said to my face… Quit it.”
“I’m Hayasaka.” The man in the light blue suit sighed as he looked at Gin. “Hoo boy… A kid, huh?” His voice was quiet.
Gin jumped back. “I’m the one who’s worried, woof!!”
The white-haired boy looked at Sara. “Uhh, Sara, was it? I’m Ranmaru. I’m in high school like you.”
Her purple eyes were colored with curiosity and uncertainty. “Nice to meet you.” She finally said.
“Yeah.” Ranmaru replied before averting his gaze from her.
Shin was glaring daggers at the eccentric Floor Master; Shin’s collar was paired to his.
The green-haired Floor Master chuckled. “How nice! Everyone looks like they’ll get along!” He tossed his gaze over to Shin, smirking. “Just like we will.”
He narrowed his eyes and bit back a growl. “He’s just trying to get a rise out of me.” Shin reminded himself. “Even if this is a Doll version, it’s still him. It’s still the guy who always provoked me like that.”
The Floor Master hummed in amusement “Well, lastly… I’ll introduce myself too.” His eyes darkened as if the life was sucked out of them. “I’m a poor doll killed by the murderer Alice Yabusame, Sou Hiyori!” He exclaimed. “Of course… ‘Sou Hiyori’ is a name of the past to me now… Seeing as Shin’s using it with such care, I’m not going to ask him to give it back now!”
“I don’t use that name anymore.” Shin snapped. “Everyone calls me by my actual name.” His words were oozing with anger and venom.
“Ooh?” He responded. “Hey, Shin… I gave you a shot to win, and you just let it go to waste? How disappointing.” His unblinking eyes were fixed on him.
It took all of Shin’s self-control to not lash out then and there. He was silent for a few seconds. “Shut up.” He finally replied.
“You’ve got such a wonderful look on your face now! I love it!”
“I don’t care about you. You’re just an enemy.”
“Oooh, I see you’ve grown~” The man sang. “Anyway, it’ll be inconvenient without a nickname…” He looked at Sara. “Hey, miss Sara. You act as a representative and give me a new name!”
“Wait, what?” Sara asked.
“You heard me! Even if Shin jumped the gun and ditched my name, I’m not going to take it back now. He seems too wrapped up in his own ego.”
Shin forced himself to hold back the bitter comment he so desperately wanted to make. Instead, he looked at Sara and nodded silently.
Sara let out a frustrated sigh as she began to think about it. She said the first name that came to her mind: “Midori.”
The man grinned. “Thanks. I’m glad to get such a wonderful name!” Midori’s tone was light and careless. Everything he said sounded so enthusiastic, upbeat, or happy, even if his words didn’t match that feeling.
“So what’re you going to make us do this time?” Keiji asked the question that everyone had but no one wanted to ask.
Midori let out a snicker. “You just can’t wait, can you?”
The former detective narrowed his eyes at him.
“Relax! It’s a very simple bonus game!” The Floor Master started.. “You just have to join forces to kill a certain target! That is to say, a hunt!”
“Wha…?!” Q-Taro shouted. “A-Are… Are you serious?!”
Midori looked at Shin and smirked. “As serious as a coma.” He said as he turned his attention to Q-taro.
With an aggravated sigh, Shin nudged Keiji. “Would it be wrong to punch him?” He mumbled.
“For you to do it? Yes because you’re in no condition to do so. For me? Nope.” Keiji replied quietly.
Ignoring the two whispering men, Midori continued. “You can use any method! Shooting, stabbing, striking, strangling, anything goes! It should be a piece of cake for you guys who’ve killed a bunch of people, albeit indirectly!”
“Who exactly do we…?” Even if he couldn’t finish the question, Keiji once more asked what everyone was thinking but didn’t want to ask..
“Your target is Keiji Shinogi...” Midori said bluntly. Everyone went silent upon hearing that. “...nooot!” He added gleefully after a few seconds. The participants went from dread to frustration at the drop of a hat. “Did I make your heart skip a beat Miss Sara?! Obviously that’s a joke! I wouldn’t make you kill your allies!”
Sara crossed her arms and glared daggers at Midori. “For a Floor Master, you’re pretty meddling.”
“Miley did tell me you were cute when you were mad, Miss Sara. Seems she was right~”
The brunette repressed a bitter comment and continued glaring at him.
A smile as bright as ever rested on the Floor Master’s face. “Your target is Midori . In other words, you just need to kill me.”
“Say what…?” Shin, among others, was confused for so many reasons. He gently tugged at his scarf.
“Aha, no, no, I won’t say it twice!” Midori giggled. “Though, I’m sure you guys have one last question: What about poor little Shin? How about I tell you after the Dummies say their piece. You can’t hurt me in here, unless you want to batter that bandaged boy even more~ Don’t want that, right?” Happily, he sat beside Shin.
Shin was fuming. He didn’t have any words; only frustration.
“Simple enough, really. So let’s continue, shall we?” Midori said before looking over to the Dummies. “Now you guys do your part, I’m tired of talking.”
Shin scoffed. “That’s new.”
“Just like your bullet holes.” Midori retorted. “Nice wardrobe by the way, I like the ‘mummy’ feeling it gives off~”
Anger began to fester inside of Shin as he listened to the other man’s taunts. He exhaled slowly and went quiet.
Midori had a smug look on his face. He looked back over to the Dummies. “Get on with it.”
Hayasaka looked between the other Dummies and the humans. “Well, I suppose we have no choice… Who wants to start?”
Hinako spoke up. “We were chosen as ‘supports’ because we’re dead people who never had any contact with you survivors. I heard 8 people died in the First Trial, so 2 of them must’ve already known one of you.”
As Hinako talked, Kanna fidgeted in place uncomfortably, trying to stop herself from tearing up. Despite her best efforts, tears welled up in her eyes. Shin walked up to Kanna and gently held her hand. The young girl looked up at Shin, a tear slipping down her face. The teal-haired man gave her a soft smile and gently squeezed her hand as reassurance. Kanna wiped away her tears with her free hand.
Meanwhile, Keiji’s poker face didn’t betray him as Hinako talked. However, he was clenching his fist as tight as he could, as if that would keep him grounded. It took him a few seconds after Hinako finished talking to relax his hand.
“I have another big piece of info, but I can’t say it yet.” Hinako said bluntly.
“Huh?” Sara questioned.
With an empty smile, Hinako began to talk again. “If you reveal your entire hand, you’ll just get used as a pawn, right? Nobody likes being used…” She trailed off.
Dumbfounded, Sara went quiet.
“I may as well get this over with.” Ranmaru started. “There’s something important about these red threads on our collars that I should put out there now. If the people in a pair get too far from each other, their collars activate and their heads fly off.”
“What?!” Gin cried out, eyes widened.
“Well, actually, that’s only for us supports. Your collars won’t activate.” Ranmaru added.
The kid’s shocked expression changed to one of frustration. “You shoulda said that first!!”
Tossing off Gin’s statement, Ranmaru looked at Sara. “That being said… don’t get too far away from me. Let’s put our differences aside.” He said sheepishly.
“Y-Yeah, got it…” Sara replied as she forced a smile.
“What about Midori’s?” Keiji asked as he stared over at the Floor Master. “Is there any difference with his collar?”
Ranmaru faltered. “I… don’t know that… Sorry.” He answered.
With a bounce in her step, Anzu walked up in front of everyone. “Hello everyone!!” She greeted them with a bow. “Let’s be friends and get along!”
The humans stared at the eccentric girl; she certainly made an impression with her colorful wardrobe and colorful personality.
She swallowed hard as she was met with silence. “A-Are you guys judging my outfit? You guys probably think I’m weird!!” She said as she covered her face with her hands.
“N-No. That’s not it!” Sara exclaimed.
“Actually, I think your clothes are cute!” Gin exclaimed, green eyes shining.
Anzu peeked out from behind one of her hands. “R-Really?” A smile crossed her face. “Even if it’s flattery, I’m sorta glad since I made these myself.” She scratches her cheek. “It’s hard to explain, but see, I do this clown sort of thing outside school.”
“Oooh! That’s so cool!!” Gin cheered.
Kanna’s eyes lit up. “You look really cute!”
“Thank you!” Anzu giggled. “Look! I attend events dressed like this!” The pink-haired girl pulled out a rather intimidating-looking clown mask and placed it over her face for a moment. As she removes it, she has a wide smile on her face. “So no reason to be creeped out! Really!”
Shin adjusted one of the bandages on one of his wrists. “That mask is the scary part honestly…” The scarf-wearing man thought to himself.
The blond detective cleared his throat. “Putting that aside, do you have any information for us?”
“Of course!! Let’s see…” The clown started off strong, but then she furrowed her brow. “Erm… Heh… C-Could you ask someone else?” She laughed sheepishly.
“Did she forget or something?” Shin asked himself as he watched the doll fumble for her words.
Hayasaka seemed pretty antsy, especially whenever Sara spoke up. He didn’t even dare to look her way. In the end, he didn’t even give up his piece of information. Despite Keiji and Q-taro prodding Hayasaka about it, he didn’t budge (much to their annoyance).
“Oh, is it my turn?” Mai asked, a bright smile painted on her face. Her eyes were shining just as bright. “Well, I personally wanna know more about Sara herself, but I do have something to tell you all about this death game!” She exclaimed.
“Well c’mon now, get on with it!” Q-taro yelled, his shoulders visibly tense.
“So impatient, master! But okay~!” Mai sang as Q-taro looked away from everyone else. After a moment, her smile disappeared and was replaced with a grim expression. “Our real selves had died in the first trial. When we first woke up as a Dummie, we were shown things called ‘Victim Videos’; we were shown the moment of our own deaths.” Mai explained. The tone of her voice sounded empty, almost like she had said that information dozens of times.
The cemetery was filled with silence. No one made a sound, no one even moved a muscle.
“Let’s be honest, that’s unforgivable!” Mai exclaimed, her voice back to being high-pitched and playful. “It’s unforgivable they’d do this to us!” As she finished speaking, her brown gaze was fixed on Midori, who was sitting across the room.
The Floor Master waved back at Mai, a smile resting on his face.
“I want to help everyone, so I hope we all get along!” Mai exclaimed, finishing her piece.
The tall, blue-haired man, Kuruamda, was the final one to speak. “Well, if the others did it, I’ll cough up the information I have.” He started. “Apparently, there’s monsters lurking on these floors. They’re probably just dolls, but it’ll spell tragedy if we don’t get weapons.”
“Monsters?!” Sara repeated, staring at him shocked.
Kurumada nodded. “Some of you have probably been in a fight before. Good. We gotta give ‘em hell when we run into one.”
“I-Is it guaranteed we’ll run into o-one?” Kanna asked, her voice wavering.
Sara thought about it for a moment. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and not bump into one! We could also try to hide from it if it’s too close!”
Keiji glanced down at Sara for a moment, raising an eyebrow. “That’s one idea. Buuut if we do run into one, we should at least have a plan of some sort, if possible.”
“We don’t even know how those things work. Running into one would be pretty harsh on everyone, even if we don’t know how the hell it works.” She mused.
“Hey! Aren’t you guys forgetting something?” Midori’s voice cut through the air. “Or rather, someone.” Everyone’s attention snapped to Midori, who was sitting next to Shin. “I still need to tell you how poor Shin over here fits into all of this!”
Shin swallowed hard; he could tell he wasn’t going to like this. He already hated every single aspect of this situation, but he was worried it’d get a lot worse.
A bright yet dark grin cut across Midori’s face. “Shin stays with me the entire time. He’s not your target, so if Shin dies, it’s game over! Even if we both die, game over!” He watched as these words registered with everyone and sank the already low morale. “To keep things fair, Shin can’t assist any of you in any way, and can’t hurt me! Oh and before you all complain, I can’t intentionally hurt or kill Shin either!”
Shin was right; it got much worse. His blood had run cold. He couldn’t be hearing that right. “Midori, how does this even work…?” He asked quietly.
“Excellent question.” Midori answered. As he finished speaking, several smoke bombs went off, filling the room with a dark gray fog. “ Like this. ” Midori whispered to Shin as he picked him up in his arms and fled.