5
Arisu lay face-down on the pavement, his body trembling. His fingers clawed at the asphalt as grief overtook him. He had lost too much, too quickly. Chota, barely clinging to life. Shibuki, vanished into the unknown. And Karube… gone.
Usagi passed him but didn’t stop immediately. She hesitated, then turned back.
She knew this pain.
Her father had been a renowned mountaineer, celebrated for his oxygen-free climbs. But whispers of deceit spread—rumors that he had secretly used oxygen tanks. The accusations stained his legacy. So, to prove himself, he attempted a solitary, oxygen-free ascent of an unforgiving peak. He never returned. The world branded it a suicide. Usagi never believed that.
And now, here she was, watching Arisu break under the weight of his own loss.
Finally, she knelt beside him.
"You saved my life back there," she said softly.
Arisu barely moved.
"You’re not alone," she added.
That night, Usagi led Arisu and Chota to her shelter—a small, abandoned shop with just enough to get by. She bandaged Chota’s wounds, kept Arisu from completely falling apart. But survival wasn’t enough. Arisu had only three days left on his visa. If they didn’t find “the Beach” soon, he’d be dead.
The next day, hunger forced them into action. Arisu, for the first time in his life, hunted. They found a few stray animals and did what was necessary. It was brutal, but so was this world.
That night, while scavenging, they stumbled upon a group playing a game. Arisu noticed the wristbands—they matched the one found on the tagger from their previous game.
"They must be from the Beach," he murmured.
When the game ended, they followed the survivors, trailing them to a massive hotel. A neon sign glowed above the entrance.
"The Beach."
They had found it.
Before they could react, figures emerged from the shadows. Armed patrollers.
“Welcome,” one of them sneered, before slamming Arisu to the ground.