Alice in Borderland

Chapter 91

My eyes get used to the overhead light of the dark tubes after a short while, and I purposely squint harder to catch myself and take in the room. The first thing I notice is that it's a really strange room. To my right, the wall is painted a faded pink and I recognize both a dollhouse with countless old dolls and a wooden bed with crib covers. The left side is wallpapered with posters of various themes: pop stars both from the 90s and current ones, star charts, coupon book pages, Polaroid photos, vowel translations in foreign languages, and individual Wikipedia printouts from various pages. I spin around on my own axis, realizing bookshelves and cabinets before wincing and setting my sights on something. Reacting, I grab Katsu's white shirt and pull him back toward me by the hem in the back.

Surprised, he looks to me, but my gaze lingers on the figure sitting in the chair in the corner. It is a man, judging by his stature, of a healthy age with the height of at least one ninety. He has taken a seat in the dusty chair and does not move a muscle, so that it seems as if he were a mannequin. He wears a distorted mask over his face and sits still, but I recognize a dirty, blunt blade in his hand. At his belly I recognize a thick steel chain, which leads strictly to a mechanism in the wall.

I avert my gaze and my thoughts seem to slowly piece together the newfound information. We need a certain key which is hidden to get out of the room. The game is called guesswork, so we have to follow clues to gain our freedom and win the game.  With an increased heart rate, I let go of the hem of Katsu's T-shirt and focus on the chained man. Carefully, I take one step at a time and as I try to make out the expression on his face behind the mask, I step closer and closer. He doesn't move a muscle or tighten the chain, apparently it's holding him back. A beeping behind me catches my attention and jerkily I jerk my head in that direction.

It is a small, almost inconspicuous lamp that lights up red. I briefly cover my ears, as the shrill sound almost bursts my eardrums, and stumble a few steps backwards. Four numbers appear right next to the light, telling the time on. We have 15 minutes to get out of this room or we die. Overwhelmed by the impressions, I stumble another step backward and before I can even notice, I take another awkward step and realize what I just did. Panicked, I look to the man in the mask, but at the same moment an arm wraps around my waist and pulls me backward with a jerk.

As soon as my feet touch the ground again, I turn around and recognize Katsu, who seems to have grasped the situation faster than me. Almost frightened, I look back at the masked man, who is playfully twisting his knife in his hand, and despite the mask, I recognize the sadistic grin. The wheels in my head seem to be working, if you get too close to him you die. He has a knife in his hand, not without reason, and I recognize a small glow in his pocket, which must come from a cell phone. That means he is also a player, but he has a different task than we do. He knows this room, he knows how to get us out of here. The difficulty is that he has to kill us before we can get out. He probably knows where the key to the door is. Maybe you could tell by the look on his face where the key is, but the mask over his face makes it very difficult to analyze. Again, I turn to the pink colored wall and take it all in.

I stop at this spot and only later realize that Katsu's hand is still on my hip. The other participants who are not part of the Beach seem to internalize the task faster and turn every clue, every piece of furniture upside down. Niragi looks at us for another moment and nods. I do the same to him, to let him know if I'm okay. Awkwardly, I nod slightly and consciously slam myself harder against his ring. How I would love to have Chishiya's black rubber ball in my hand right now, but it's my own fault for forgetting it. I could have guessed, every time in the games he brings me down. Not only this rubber ball, even before I entered the beach I had a pink rubber ball that I used before the games to calm myself down.

Only after my ten of spades game did he give me a new ball, since I apparently lost the old one. After all the nightmares and my displeasure with this game, it had to be that I will forget this ball. It's as if fate is telling me that this will be my last game. As if I will never see it again. Trembling, I take a step back and while the others turn the objects in the game room upside down, I analyze their every move. Even Niragi and Katsu help take the room apart, but something stops me. The panic or my clear conscience?