Five of Spades
Arisu and his friends found out that the woman’s name is Shibuki and they let her stick with them as she was alone, thinking it would be smart if the 4 of them were to join games together so they can survive. All of them had 3 days on their visa. Arisu and Shibuki were looking around for somewhere that they could use as a base. Aguni was staying back while letting Takeru use him as a walking stick.
Shibuki was looking for a good spot for a base camp while Arisu was more focused on finding anything that he could to look after the nasty burn on Takeru’s leg. They needed to get this sorted now or it would get infected and they don't know how long he can survive in a world like this with an infected leg. Shibuki shouted out for the boys telling them that she found a good place. It looked like a hotel that had been abandoned for at least a couple of years. Arisu ran over holding bandages, unnamed medicine, a pair of crutches, food and some electronic devices. The squad walked inside and find the cleanest-looking room that had enough beds for all of them.
They ended up on the 4th floor in a hotel room with 2 rooms with 2 single beds in it. Shibuki went into one room and got changed into some better clothes while the 3 boys went into the other and looked over all the stuff that they have. Takeru sat on the bed with his leg on top of a pillow to elevate it as Arisu wrapped up his leg. Aguni was looking out of the window to see if he could spot anyone, but there was nobody in sight. Takeru was looking at all of the electronic radios and the old radio.
“We need to find a doctor for your leg Takeru. I don't know how your gonna play games like this.” Arisu broke the silence. Aguni turned around and looks at them.
“So we play a game tonight and find a doctor,” Aguni spoke walking over. “And we find out how we can get out of this sick place.”
Takeru nodded. During his fiddling, he figured out that this whole new dimension didn't have electricity but anything old would work fine, like diesel cars, radios, etc. He told his group about it but thought nothing of it.
The next day, Arisu and Aguni set on an adventure to find a doctor for Takeru where they saw a game centre. It was an L-shaped apartment building with 7 storeys. The sign on the apartment building read “Toei Sendagaya apartment”. They walked up and through the barrier and looked around, seeing 11 people standing around. A man with long black hair and piercings walks up to them.
“Hey.. umm... Where did everyone in Tokyo go?” He asked Aguni and Arisu. Aguni didn’t want to give any information away, it will slow them down having a newbie on their team, even though they were barely better than him. Of course, Arisu didn’t agree, he wanted to help everyone.
“A game,” Arisu told the frightened boy. This earned him a slap on the back of his head. Arisu stared at Aguni and shook his head. Arisu looked around to see if he could find anyone who looked like a stereotypical doctor, which he couldn't. His eyes stop on a woman trying to act as if she wasn't there, charging something into the wall. She looks smart, using the limited electricity to charge up a… record player? The woman is also listening to music, she seems like a person you don't want to mess with. A short man in a hoodie with golden hair walked up behind the two and quickly grabbed a phone, not making any effort to socialise.
They picked up a phone so then they don't die for not registering. The game started and their phones lit up. Registration has closed, there is a total of 13 players. Game, Tag. The difficulty is five of spades.
“Spades?” Arisu asked confused. Looking at Aguni to see his response, which was just a shoulder shrug.
“Spades, a psychical game. Strength is everything in these games. Diamonds are your brain and intelligence, Clubs are teams and Hearts... Well, that’s the trickest, you manipulate the others, play with their hearts.” A middle-aged man walked up to them.
“Oh I get it, each suit is a different category!” Arisu replied to him, getting a nod in reply. “What about the numbers?” He asked.
“How hard the game is, the higher the number, the more challenging.” The old man said again right before the phone spoke again.
Rules: Run away from the tagger. A serial killer is on the loose, do not get caught.
Clear Condition: Search for the apartment with the unlocked front door. The base is inside that apartment. Locate and touch the base within the allocated time. The time limit is 20 minutes. If it isn't pressed within 20 minutes, the time bomb will explode.
Everyone spilt up into their groups. Arisu noticed the girl go up the elevator and the short man run up the stairs and ignored everyone, trying to not be near anyone. With 2 minutes until the serial killer tagger was released, Aguni and Arisu stuck together and were being followed by the middle-aged man. Unfortunately, he wasn't a doctor so they had to keep looking. They were on the 3rd floor’s staircase as they waited for the game to begin.
They knew the game had begun when they heard the sound of a horse race starting. They looked at each other confused but started to search for the base. From where they were standing, they saw the man on the 6th floor running around at doors trying to get them open, alone. And the mysterious woman on the top floor looking down at everyone else. Arisu, Aguni and the man who they found out was called Nitobe finished the whole floor and weren’t able to find the base. As they were walking up the stairs, they heard gunshots and saw a body fall down the stairs.
Their eyes widen as they stare at the body. Their fear was quickly cut short when they saw a figure with a gun appear around the corner, wearing a horse head. The horse serial killer turned and looked at them, pointing the gun at them. Aguni, Nitobe and Arisu quickly ran down the stairs to the second level Nitobe kept running down to the last level but Arisu dragged Aguni down the second level into a little hidden area by a door where you couldn't be seen by the stairs. They heard more gunshots, meaning that Nitobe was killed as he didn't get away from the serial killer.
The short man was searching doors quickly and the woman up the top was still just looking down. Arisu and Aguni waited there for a moment before calming themself down before a panic attack could occur which wouldn't be good in a game like this. They stood up and started to search the doors for any that would open.
It seemed nobody was having any luck. There were a lot of gunshots and dead bodies on all levels. The mysterious woman chuckled as she watched everything go down. Waving at everyone who walked by on her level.
Arisu and Aguni were walking around the 6th floor when they saw the serial killer approaching them from the floor below. They ducked down behind the wall and waited for the gunfire to begin. But it never came. That’s when Arisu realised the mask doesn’t let them see anything higher than eye level!
“Guys!! The mask disturbs the tagger’s sight! Stay high and call out so everyone knows where they are!!” Arisu runs along the path, giving his and Aguni’s position away.
“Smart idea. But nobody will listen.” The woman thought as she continued to be no help and watch from the top floor.
The hooded man saw the tagger on the floor below them. “The taggers on the 4th floor! Center hallway! Anyone over there run!!” He shouted out. He stands up and runs along the path to look for the base when he sees the serial killer on the other side with a poor old woman in between them, who hasn’t seen the tagger.
“I’m so sorry,” He whispers to her before jumping up and climbing up the nearby pole like a monkey just as the woman was shot to death.
“Ooooh, so we have a climber. Interesting!” The woman at the top whispered to herself.
With 3 minutes left of the game, Arisu and the woman were in front of where they thought the base was, an angry old man and Aguni were fighting one of the taggers while the climber was searching the bottom floors for the base.
They completed the game with 1-second left thanks to the woman’s 5-minute craft taser that she was charging before the game had started. They saw a woman take the horse face hat off and the collar around her neck explore covering the hooded man, taser woman and Arisu in blood.