54) Third Day of Exhibitions

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"My experience with the Borderlands was never difficult. I suppose I was considered a lucky player—I was certainly beyond average, if I may say so myself."

===Chihaya Korinsu===
(Shinagawa Ward)

"Down this way!" I shouted between breaths, my heart racing and stomach tight. Ashikaga trailed behind, leaping over a garbage can.

Behind us, there was gunfire.

Game: Decrees
Difficulty: King of Spades

"I think they're going for the takedown!" Ashikaga shouted, covering her ears.

"Decree 2:34PM, the alleyway I'm pointing at will cave in!" The King's voice boomed.

Tezuka Eiji

Boxing Champion
Specialty:

The ground shifted and I yelped, pushing off of a ledge for support.

Even though the rules were never explicitly explained, the King's notoriety spread quickly throughout the Borderlands, and the rules were easy to infer.

Fragments of rock began showering me, and I covered my head, as the foundations of the buildings surrounding us gave out. On the rooftops, people screamed, and an armed man fell to his death in front of us.

Once every minute, the King of Spades may order a decree. This can be any destructive event that can realistically occur in nature, within the bounds of the infrastructure present, that is localized within one building or area.

I bent down, grabbing the gun the man clutched, as Ashikaga dove and rolled, swerving to the side of a falling boulder. "We're almost out of the alley!" She shouted.

The Game Clear condition is simple: Kill the King of Spades. However, once a day, he may unleash a catastrophe, a cataclysmic event that affects the entire Borderlands.

A clothesline fell to the ground, and I yelped, flailing my arms to not tangle myself in its wires. Metal clanged as a balcony came loose, crashing against the concrete brick. Behind us, the walls caved in, crushing anything in its path. People on the roof screamed, falling into the collapse or through the deteriorating rooftops.

On day one of the Next Stage, this was a sudden volcanic eruption in the Shinjuku ward. On day two, this was a powerful lightning storm that fried the top floors of every tall building and exposed metal. There has yet to be a catastrophe for the Third Day of Exhibitions.

With a final leap, me and Ashikaga emerged from the alleyway, as all remaining space between the alleyway was crushed shut. I doubled over, falling to my knees, panting. My shirt was soaked in sweat.

Ashikaga pulled on the hem of my shirt, flinching at its moisture. "Chihaya, we have to keep–ew! You're so sweaty–but that's besides the point! We have to keep going!"

My arms quivered, but my feet kicked myself up. My stomach seemed to sink, pushing into my throat.

"Decree 2:35PM, Raishuya Avenue will cave in on the sewer system beneath it!" The King hollered into his megaphone.

Behind us, two people screamed, as the sound of colliding stones crashing into water followed. We had been running at top speed for ten minutes by now; my entire body shook and each swallow was thick, as if my body was resisting anything.

Ashikaga pulled us behind another alleyway, and my body fell like a house of cards against the wall, melting into a puddle onto the cold bricks. She took a few deep breaths, taking off her backpack and pulling out a water bottle, handing it to me.

"Thank you." I croaked, taking a few slow sips.

"Wait. Where's your backpack?"

I gasped. "My backpack! It must've fallen off." Groaning, I pulled myself up until I was sitting, then peered my head back through the street we came from. The King of Spades blimp headed west, away from us, towards the Setagaya Ward.

"It's okay. We have our lives. That's more than the rest of those people..." Ashikaga muttered. She sighed, shaking her head. "I'm so done with groups. The Beach resulted in us getting caught in a mass-conspiracy that transcended every player. Maindo, my home from the start, is now a field of rubble and corpses. And that group of make-believe vigilantes who thought they could kill the King of Spades are all dead and we're the only survivors. I think we should just go solo for a while. I'm done with groups. Really."

I sighed as well, pushing my hair back. "Absolutely fair. But... We still have to do something about the Face Cards. I don't just want to sit idle for the whole time."

Ashikaga pulled out her scouting binoculars, peeking her head past the walls and aiming towards the sky. "Well... Uh... There's the Queen of Hearts?"

I laughed. "Maybe that's a bold leap."

"There's no rush." She said. "Maybe we should relocate to the woods. The group was talking about it, and they kept saying how there were expanses of forests and mountains beyond the wards. A lot of it was burnt to a crisp by the lightning storm, but the fire should be out by now. We won't be completely safe, but we'll be less likely targets than those in the city."

"That'll be a journey." I replied. "Since the King of Spades is heading towards Setagaya, we can't just head west. We'd have to go north."

Ashikaga pulled out her map, where the location of all ten Face Cards were mapped out. The King of Spades' path had also been mapped out, as was the King of Hearts' path. There was no defined path for the latter, but we had mapped it out anyway.

"So we'll go north through Minato, past the King of Clubs venue, then hold refuge at the forest beyond the wards for a bit?" I asked.

"Maybe until the King of Spades is taken down?" Ashikaga suggested. "Or maybe just to take some time to scope out each of the Face Card games, and decide. I don't want to sit idle while my fate sits in the balance. I want to actively settle it."

After taking a deep breath, I stood up. Ashikaga looked at me.

"Let's go, then." I said. "The King of Spades is heading away from us, so there's no rush."

Ashikaga got up too, slinging her backpack around her shoulders. "I hope the others are okay..."

===Benkei Furetcha===
(Toshima Ward)

"Any updates?" Aulia asked, playing with a jenga brick. She had found a box of it under a cabinet in the apartment we were hiding in, a twisted reminder of the Two of Clubs.

Judumai shook his head, returning from the balcony. "Nope. Since the Jack of Diamonds fell from day two, no other games has since been cleared."

"And you still haven't seen the Jack of Hearts blimp?" She asked again.

"Certain. I've been observing that spot in Setagaya for hours, and I'm certain the blimp isn't there."

I sighed. "That's good. That means we can be certain Zakū and Charī did in fact clear that game."

Someone coughed. It was an old man lying on a table, where we had laid down a blanket. His head was hot; he had a fever.

The high-end townhouse complex we had found refuge in was three stories, each floor containing five apartments. But the security was extremely tight, and the locked doors were impenetrable. Fortunately, two rooms in the second floor had already been broken into.

However, most resources from these shelters had already been taken; food, clothing, and weaponry. Niko, Raiya and I had ransacked a nearby grocery store earlier today, but returned with only a few cans and packages of food. It seems the Borderlands had run out of scraps.

Our base of operations had turned into a mini-hospital. We had collected two still-functioning cars from the ruins of Miyamoto University, as well as three other survivors. We drove northeast, away from the King of Spades' direction, only to run directly into Shinjuku's erupting volcano.

Only one of the survivors from Maindo made it through the eruption, and one of the Queen of Clubs survivors died, but in the process we collected three other survivors, one of which was a child. Our group's population was now at ten.

I sighed, crouched on the floor, spinning a pocket knife on the table. In the other room, noises of the other injured people sifted through, as well as sniffles from the child, who couldn't have been older than ten—a new record for the youngest person we had seen in the Borderlands.

A clap of thunder rumbled in the distance, and I raised my head. Judumai flinched, running back outside to check it out.

"We're fine." Raiya said while peeking into our room, a bandage roll in her hands. "The lightning storm was a thing only on day two." She disappeared back into the bedroom.

Aulia's body relaxed, and she wiped her forehead. "Phew. That really worried me for a second. She's right, though."

"Am I going crazy, or have I been hearing thunder a lot these last three days, even before the lightning storm?" I asked.

Judumai shrugged. "I've been hearing some thunder too, but never seen the actual strike itself."

After a pause, Aulia murmured, "I wonder what everyone else is doing right now."

Judumai stepped back inside, dropping onto the sofa. "You think anyone at Maindo had something to do with the Jack of Diamonds?"

"Maybe." I said. "Perhaps Kazetani cleared it? I don't know, seems unlikely anyone at Maindo would've had clearing a Face Card game as their first goal fight after we were completely torn apart."

"And I think it's likely that Maindo was completely fragmented." Judumai reasoned. "Not like everyone just evacuated together, not when everywhere around you is falling with boulders."

"Maybe today, then. They'd be more likely to be in a game." Aulia said. "Gabura and Aoyama... They're strong. I'm certain they'll be fine. Zakū, Chihaya, Kazetani, I'm sure they're minds are carrying them through..."

"I think it's possible Rafferty or Shirai might challenge the Queen of Hearts." I said. "If that's the case, I hope they stay safe..."

The door to our apartment opened. It was Niko. He was dressed in a thick windbreaker, boots, and long pants, a distinct contrast from his usual shirt and shorts. He also wore a backpack, and a tool belt which bore a pocket knife.

"Niko?" Judumai asked, getting up. "Why so dressed up?"

His mouth was pressed in a firm line. "My promise... To Gabura and Aoyama. They said they would clear the Queen of Spades on day four, and I agreed to go with them. I can't break my word."

Aulia rose from her spot, eyes cast to the ground. "We're... Already so split apart."

"I'm sorry." Niko said. "I am."

"No, don't be." I said, walking forward. "In fact, you're a person of the highest character for sticking to your word despite the danger."

"Then... This might be the last time we see each other." Judumai whispered.

We were standing in a circle by now, and Niko's eye contact shifted between the three of us, before pulling each of us into a tight hug.

"There's a bike and pump I found in the first floor hall." He said. "I took a knife, a can of food, lighter, and a bottle of water."

"No worries." I said. "In fact, take more."

He shook his head. "No need, really. I'll be fine, the King of Spades isn't even near the path to the Queen of Spades venue."

"But the catastrophe could still be anywhere at anytime." Aulia said. "Bike as fast as you can, but stop and be alert at the start of each hour."

Niko nodded. "You guys... I'll be thinking of you guys the whole way there. But this isn't s goodbye. Just a see-you-later. Don't think that this might be the last time we see each other, because we will meet again one day."

No one else said anything. Judumai's face was turned away from him.

"Goodbye." Niko said, and he closed the door.

===Gabura Sachi===
(Kōtō Ward)

I turned the page of the thick psychology textbook laid out in front of me.

"Any breakthroughs?" Aoyama asked from the windows of the library on the second floor. Her body was pressed up against them, any sign of the King of Spades blimp guaranteed to catch her attention.

"I've found a good amount of information!" I shouted back, closing the textbook and sliding it aside. There were a pile of textbooks scattered across the table, ranging from psychology, drugs, to chemistry.

"What'd you find?"

"Okay, so the amygdala is the part of the brain responsible for emotions. They process feelings of sadness, and fear, and are linked to memories with negative connotations."

"What about the strange compound that sounded like a drug?" She asked.

"Dimethyltryptamine is a naturally occurring hallucinogen." I answered. "It's found within the human body and produced in some plants."

"Okay, so what about the first half of the drug? Odiumic?"

I sighed. "That's left me stumped. I've gone as far as to look in chemistry textbooks to study the naming conventions behind chemical compounds. The fact that the compound ends in -ic means that it's an acid. The type of acid to end in that suffix means it has to have an oxygen molecule, but doesn't contain a metal."

"So what's the main compound in the acid then?" She asked.

"The name of the compound would have to be odiumate, since the suffix is -ic, but... I think that's completely fictitious. I've looked everywhere. This is my third chemistry textbook. Nothing mentions a compound named odiumate."

"So, the compound has to be some sort of hallucinogen, which affects your ability to perceive fear." Aoyama summarized. "That's already more than enough."

I slammed the book close. "No! I've spent the past two days studying psychology and chemistry when I should've been training for the Queen of Spades, and it gets us nowhere!"

Aoyama jumped over the railing, sliding down one of the pillars, and walked over to my table, placing a hand on my shoulder. "Hey, Gabura, it's okay. You still found some valuable information regardless, and it's certainly more than what I could've found."

Closing my eyes, I took a few deep breaths, before turning to her. "Yeah, you're right. Thanks."

She smiled. "No worries, let's just–"

The ground began shaking. I gasped, bringing my watch to my face. "It's six o' clock! We forgot to track the time!"

Fragments of the ceiling began crumbling, as books fell from their shelves. Aoyama spread her body weight, steadying herself. "It's an earthquake! That's the catastrophe of today!"

One of the pillars came loose, crashing down onto the bookshelves, which split wood shards and torn books all over the carpet. My vision lurched and flashed. Aoyama pulled my body, and I yelped, falling below a table.

Parts of the ground shifted, and a crack began running through the floor of the library, as huge chunks of the ceiling came free, pummeling the ground below us. She put her head under her arms, and I mimicked her. It felt as if my body was being repeatedly slammed into the ground, like I was inside a box that was being shaken by a toddler. The ground and table beat into my body.

After two minutes, the rocking died down. The ground was filled with, and with each breath, microscopic particles blasted my airways. When the ground's trembling ceased, we emerged from our spot. Most of the library had caved in, and huge chunks of rubble piled throughout the floor. I walked up to the cleave that ran through the building and beyond, where parts of the ground still fell into the split periodically. Heat radiated out of it, and deep beneath, there was a faint orange glow. I distanced myself away.

"So much for today's catastrophe." Aoyama said, venturing outside, where a few people lingered. "That was a piece of cake."

"Yeah." I breathed, bringing my arm to my face. Blood oozed out of a single scratch. "Only got this small scratch." Though, my whole body was sore.

Aoyama scanned her head around the area. " Must've still been a large earthquake, though. Even with Japan's earthquake-resistant infrastructure, a lot of buildings caved in."

The crack cut through the street, and many rips through the earth littered throughout the ground. Aoyama cast her eyes towards the ocean, and her eyes widened. "Oh no..."

"What?" I asked, turning to her. Then, my breath got caught in my lungs, and we shared the realization.

Earthquakes mean tsunami.

The main catastrophe mustn't have been the earthquake, but rather, the ensuing tsunami. It couldn't even be seen yet, but it had to have been coming.

She turned around, as did I, as we both began sprinting.

"Get out of here!" Aoyama screamed at the nearby people. "A tsunami has to be coming!"

"Don't we have some time, though?" I asked, beginning to build up a sweat. "Tsunamis can take anywhere from five to thirty minutes to form after the initial earthquake!"

"You have no clue what kind of crazy nature-altering shit they'll employ here!" She yelled back.

And, sure enough, in the background, a wall of blue blocked the sky, towering over most buildings. The water boomed as it made impact with the coast, impossibly fast. Aoyama was right–this was beyond the bounds of nature, but since when did anything about the Borderlands align with the laws of science?

We leaped over the crack in the ground, past a crushed body that laid, head smashed in with rubble. The wall of water soared into the land like lightning, consuming everything in its path into a watery grave.

Aoyama panted, falling behind me.

"Come on!" I screamed. "We can do this!"

She shook her head, eyes squinted. "No! Don't wait for me!"

"Don't think of the water behind you, just think of this as a sprint!" The crashing of the water came closer, to the point our shouts had to grow in volume to distinguish our voices. The distance between us was growing.

Aoyama screamed, and a thud followed. She had fallen. I threw my body around at once, yanking her up. "Come on!"

"We can't outrun this!" She hollered, as we hobbled forward, the water now in the horizon of our street.. "We need a way outside the box!"

"Think we can find a working car?" I asked.

"No! We run up, not forward!" She pointed at a skyscraper in the distance. "That will work!"

The glass building came closer into view, and I jumped for the door, pulling it. But the door didn't nudge. I cursed.

Aoyama snatched a brick, hurling it through the door. I reached through the shattered glass, ignoring a shard that had slit part of my wrist open, unlatching the lock, kicking the door down. There were two sets of stairs leading up, and as we made our ascension upwards, the walls of the building facing the oncoming water vanished. The water had burst through each glass pane in an instant, reducing the entire facade into a shower of shattered glass.

Aoyama screamed, blocking her face with her hands, as a piece of glass tore through her cheek, drawing blood. As we turned to the second floor, where the stairs didn't continue upwards, the water was already at our level, flooding into the halls and filling up the entire building.

We turned a corner as the wall of water followed behind us.

"There!" I pointed down the hall. "The emergency stairwell!"

The door was white, and a light flashed, the only source of light in the dim hall. The walls began cracking, and as I reached the door handle, they burst open, water pouring out of them. Aoyama screamed, the water carrying her away.

"No!" I shrieked, pulling my body forward and taking hold of her hand. I heaved her towards me, against the current of the water, opening the door and pushing us through right as the wall of water passed.

The stairwell was flooding regardless, swallowing up the steps before I could even take a breath. This time, it was Aoyama who snapped me to reality, taking my

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