"In the end, I hope the players can see past my game. It took many revisions before my game was accepted by him, but in the end, though filled with deception, I hope the players can see past the tricks."

===Kazetani Tomoyuki===
(Meguro Ward)

"Go go go!" The commander shouted. Me, Shirai, and Rafferty dove through the alleyway, my messenger bag thudding against my body, stuffed with the decoded documents.

"Decree 10:21AM, the gas pipes in the building I point out will burst and explode!"

Tezuka Eiji

Beside us, the building went up in flames, and the three of us were tossed into the wall. I gasped, the breath escaping my lungs. In my peripheral, the King swung from his rope attached to the blimp, leaping across the rooftops.

The commander aimed his gun, as the other attackers lined up against the balconies readied their guns. The King dove between two gutters, grabbing onto one of the attackers and flipping him around.

The squad fired, and the human shield screamed, his body torn by the barrage of bullets. The King flung the corpse away like a doll, knocking two people off their ledges, who crashed to the ground into a bloody pile.

"Come on." Shirai said, pulling me and Rafferty up. "We need to lead him to the second ambush!"

As we ran, I turned around, where the King landed onto the balcony the commander was stationed at. The commander shot, but he ducked, grabbing the barrel as the automatic rifle continued shooting, spinning it back towards the commander's face, then towards the other attackers, all of whom dropped dead.

"Sh-Shirai, you're b-bleeding!" Rafferty shouted, as we passed a clothing store.

She raised her arm, which had a shard of glass slashed across it. "It's okay, we'll just get it dressed later!"

Around the corner, I pulled Shirai behind a partition, as five other attackers waited behind a fort laid across the street. Rafferty dove behind a crate a few meters away from us, as the attackers raised their weapons.

A figure emerged from the corner, and the attackers tore it apart. It dropped to the ground; it was a mannequin from the clothing store we passed, which the King had rolled out.

"Uh o-oh." Rafferty murmured.

"Decree 10:22AM, a tornado gust will pummel this street!" He yelled, pointing his finger around the corner.

The fort and everyone behind it was tossed back, like an invisible weave crashing down. Rafferty yelped, grabbing onto a bench as his crate was hurled back. A gun landed on its trigger, firing blind, as another attacker was impaled by a road sign. The King emerged, running down the length of the street as one of the attackers aimed his gun.

The King was faster, rolling and dodging the shot, before taking the gun and killing the attacker, then the two attackers who remained on the street.

He then turned to Rafferty, before eye contact, proceeding to laugh.

"H-Huh?" He asked.

At that moment, I leaped forward, grabbing Rafferty. The King fired, but missed. I pulled him back through the alley we came from, Shirai behind us.

'All this running and firing... Even when my life is on the line, it takes me back to the time I was auditioning for A Land of Carnations.'

– – – – – –
25 years ago

"Huh? My name?" I asked, putting my book down.

Kazetani Tomoyuki, then eighteen

"Yes." The girl who approached me at the coffee shop said.

"Why?" I asked, moving the chair across me out, prompting her to sit. She took the seat, and smiled.

"Well, I'm just going to be frank. I'm Yanase, actress and recruiter of the Namika Theater down the road. You know that place?"

"I think I've heard of it."

"We've been planning the opening play for New Year's Day, A Land of Carnations, a war story about a young man in a fictitious war. I have the lead female role. To be honest, we've all had trouble finding a good candidate for the male lead, but... You bear a striking resemblance to how he looked in the original play!"

"Oh... I do? Thanks."

"So, sorry if this seems out of the blue, but I was wondering whether you'd like to come to an audition."

"Me?" I asked, my cheeks flushing. "I'm sorry... But I've never acted before. I don't think I'd be any good."

"How do you know if you've never tried it?" She asked, getting off her chair and taking my hand. "Come on, it can't hurt to try!"

Her eyes sparkled, and in their reflection, I could tell my eyes returned the shine. "Okay." I said, smiling. "Let's do it!"

. . .

"Come on, take my hand and let's run!" I shouted, ducking beneath a pile of rubble.

Yanase was huddled under there, tears welling in her eyes. "No! I'm scared!"

"Explosion!" One of the directors shouted.

I yelped, shielding my face, and Yanase huddle further into her hole. "No, I'm too scared. Just leave me here, I would want a useless girl like me to drag you down!"

"If I let you die, I'd never be able to live with myself! And you're the furthest thing from useless, you've saved all the lives under your care!"

"Explosion!" Another director shouted.

Again, I pretended to flinch, reaching and grasping her hand. "Let's..." I paused, digging up a small notecard in my pocket. "Let's run away together, and no matter what, we won't be separated.... And... And..."

I strained, the thought lost again. 'I can't pull out my script notes again... I need to improvise!' "If we live, we'll live together and if we die, we'll die together! Come on!"

Taking her hand, I yanked her from the refuge, guiding her through the crumbling alley. One of the directors held up a sign saying bombing and we reacted by gasping, ducking under our arms and turning our heads.

"Okay, that's a wrap!" The lead director yelled, getting off his chair and walking towards us. "Young man... Are you sure you've never acted before?"

"...Yes?"

"Because... What I saw right there... Especially in your improvised line... Was raw, pure talent."

Yanase laughed, and I smiled, my face reddening, hand still linked to hers. "Thank you."

"Now, I can't guarantee anything yet... But I think you may have an excellent shot at this role. We'll let you know within two weeks time by mail. Again, amazing performance. Thank you." He walked away, as the others began cleaning up the set.

I let go of Yanase's hand, looking at my watch. "I really should go home now... It's way past when I should be home."

"Yeah, I understand." She said, reaching into her pocket. "Here's my business card with my number, call me sometime, okay!"

"Okay!" I said, waving. "Bye!"

"See you soon!"

. . .

"Tomoyuki, where were you?" My mother asked, as I entered the door. "It's almost 9PM!"

"You wouldn't believe it! I was just studying at the coffee shop, when this girl approached me and said that she thought I would make a good lead role in a play they're doing for New Year's in the Namika Theater! Well, I went there just to check it out, and the director said that he hadn't ever seen anyone like me!"

She frowned. "Tomoyuki, are you sure about that? If you are accepted, it'll definitely put a strain on your school work. Your physics grade is already so low..."

"Mom, it's just something I'm trying out. I promise you I'll be fine, alright?"

"Okay." She smiled, nodding. "I trust you."

A week after that night, I looked into the pocket of the pants I had worn that day, but the pocket had a hole in it; the business card had fallen out.

I thought it was okay, that I'd just revisit the theater, but it was closed for public access until the play. And so, I simply waited for the letter.

But the letter never came. Oftentimes, I wonder if my mom had taken it, or if I simply wasn't good enough.

I missed the play; that day, I had finals testing all day. The day after, I went back to the theater, which was open to the public again. But Yanase wasn't there anymore, and neither was the lead director. They had been invited to Broadway, and needed to leave the night after the play, so I couldn't even find out whether the letter was sent or not.

They couldn't find any contact for Yanase.

And so, that door of my life was permanently closed. My life still worked out in the end, but I also wonder about this very often; how much more could it have worked out had I received the letter, or had I kept Yanase's contact?

===Ashikaga Koyami===
(Adachi Ward)

In the corner of the room, Aoyama strummed the guitar strings. Some keys were off, but it was natural, considering she had lost several fingers in the Ten of Hearts. Gabura leaned against her, eyes clouded and looking past all of us.

Our group had grown; with Chihaya and myself now present, there were many more people to attract the King of Spades. At 6AM on the Sixth Day of Exhibitions, the sky filled with buzzing lights; now, there was a flying tracker above each player.

The resources had saved us; we returned each with multiple backpacks and suitcases full of winter clothing, medicine, tools, and food. It was more than enough to last us the rest of the blizzard.

Judumai was still in critical condition, nearly freezing on our way back. Due to his mouth puncture, he could only handle liquid foods, and was incapable of standing. He didn't speak much.

Benkei was on watch; he kept a lookout for the King of Spades blimp, but also kept a lookout on the streets, searching for one certain person. Sometimes, when he wasn't scouting, he'd draw with Raiya. Aulia and Chihaya took care of the injured, while I managed the resources and prepared food.

There was an old, broken camera I had found in the wardrobe. I played with the lens, my mind thinking back.

– – – – – –

"H... Hello?"

I adjusted the camera, which faced back at me. I gasped, and the camera captured my reaction. "Oh my god... It works!"

I cleared my throat, fixing my hair. "Um... Hello! Today, at 4AM, I was transported to an alternate universe Tokyo, where everything is decayed and no people exist. I will be documenting my experience to leave a record that I was alive. My name is Ashikaga Koyami. I lived on 345-1284 Minoyama Ichinotani street. I'm twenty-three years old, and graduated from Hokkaido University about three months ago. I was an ōendan member."

I tapped the screen to flip the direction of the camera, and began walking, panning to the crumbling buildings and bright blue sky. "I studied financing, but well, I honestly don't know what I wanted to do with my life. Well, I wanted to get more into dance, but my mom was never too pleased about that anyways. So, I majored in finance to appease her, but still did it as a hobby. I always really like playing drums too."

Rotating the camera, I panned the view to behind me, zooming in on a broken billboard, which had been covered in moss. "So I have a degree from a good college, but no drive to do anything with it. I couldn't care less about it, to be frank, but it is what it is. My dad though, I think I got my reckless streak from him. He'd be more than happy with me pursuing what I want, then again, my mom also has a point. I don't think I can make a living off of just my passion alone. I remember seeing an interview recently from my favorite artist–he's a DJ named OM3N. He was brutally honest about his financial issues as an artist, and to be honest, I... Wait."

I paused, almost turning the camera off. "What the hell am I talking about? I'm going on a tangent–sorry. Not that anyone would see this anyways. I'm going to explore the city in the meantime."

. . .

"Huh... Do you guys see that?" I zoomed in, the night sky darkening. The camera closed in on a cruise ship in a distant harbor, which was lit up. "I thought all power was gone, but I guess not. I'll go investigate."

. . .

"Woah... This is a big ship." I had approached the cruise ship, and panned across the whole thing. "And I saw people going inside, which means I'm not alone. I'll come inside and investigate, because they don't seem to be fazed at all."

. . .

As I filmed, the ship left the harbor. Drawing a shuddering breath, I flipped the camera back towards me. "There's eight other people here, and we've been sailing for a couple minutes now. They mentioned something about a game: Pirate Plunder, Seven of Spades. I wonder where they're taking us. In fact, who's even driving this ship? Actually, I'll go check it out right now, I'll–" My dialogue was cut off with a massive explosion through the lobby. We screamed, as my body was tossed aside, fire enveloping parts of my body. I opened my eyes, shrieking–my leg was on fire. I rolled it out, turning to face the noise; a cannonball had torn through the ship. "What the fuck?" I screamed. "What the fuck is this?"

. . .

I panted, paddling through the ocean water on a sinking lifeboat as the sinking ship behind me roared, another explosion sounding. My camera had been recording, but I hadn't noticed at the time.

The man behind me screamed as a shark bumped into his boat, sliding back and accidentally falling out. The sharks dove towards him, and he cried as they tore into his body.

'Keep paddling. Keep paddling. You're the only one left... And you have to make it back to land before your lifeboat sinks! Under no circumstances am I becoming fish food!'

. . .

"Day four." I said with a sigh. "Most of my wounds from Pirate Plunder have healed, but the burn on my leg is still bad. I have a feeling I'll have to play in a game sooner or later, so might as well tonight. I don't know how long I can keep waiting."

. . .

"Tonight's game was brutal... Two people got melted alive by acid! I have a Five of Diamonds card now though, and a better understanding of what this world means, since the people there were kind enough to explain. This land is called the Borderlands, where you must play games to extend your Visa. Each game is divided based on difficulty; Clubs are...

"... So, that about sums up this place. However, I also noticed that some people in tonight's game were wearing these locker tags. I wonder what that's all about."

. . .

"Day nine." I said, putting the camera onto the table in my hideout and crouching. "The people with the locker tags came up to me! They were observing me in tonight's game, and thought that I would be a good 'candidate' for their group which they call Maindo. I told them I would think about it, but they gave me the coordinates to their base. Maybe I'll check it out."

. . .

Later that night, I approached Miyamoto University, camera still recording. A man in a sharp gray blazer with thin glasses was waiting by the gate. "Welcome." He said. "I'm Kazetani."

"Um... Hi. I'm Ashikaga. You don't mind the camera, do you? I've been recording my experience with the Borderlands to leave my record, you know."

He raised his eyebrows for a second, but then smiled. "Actually, I understand. It's no big deal, but I assume you are interested in joining our group, right?"

"Yeah."

He led me through the courtyard, and into the main building, where a large man and slim woman with black and white dyed hair stood.

"That's Nobira and Shirai." Kazetani introduced. "Nobira, Shirai, this is Ashikaga."

"Nice to meet you!" Nobira beamed, shaking my hand.

"Hi!" I replied.

"Hey, welcome to our group!" Shirai said.

"Glad to be here." I said. "So, how exactly will this work? What are you all working towards?"

"Well..." Kazetani began.

. . .

"Day eighteen." I said.

"Still recording those daily vlogs?" Shirai laughed, as she moved her rook. She and Kazetani were playing chess in the lobby, while I was sprawled across the couch. Maindo was increasing in population, and we were gaining some talented recruits: a programmer from Tokyo University, and a really strong hunter.

"Yes." I said, zooming into their chess game. "Now that this place is becoming more lively, I want to capture more slice-of-life feeling videos. Give this desolate place some feeling of humanity."

I panned back to Shirai, who smiled at the camera, then to Kazetani, who waved.

The programmer came around the corner, sitting down on a couch next to me. "Hey." He greeted. "Nice camera."

"Thanks! What was your name again?" I asked, opening a bottle of water.

"Haga."

Kazetani sighed, before surrendering his king. "You've beaten me for once, congratulations."

Haga squinted at the board, before grabbing one of Kazetani's bishops and moving it. Instantly, Kazetani gasped, and Shirai burst into laughter. "How–How did you see that move?"

Haga laughed too, as I nearly spat out my water. "Hah! Who would've thought someone could outsmart Kazetani?"

. . .

"Day thirty-three." I said, this time sitting on top of my bed. "We just got out of a huge meeting about how we're all going to go forward. There's a powerful group of players with many cards, and they call themselves the New Beach Order. We have the frameworks for a plan to expose their corrupt, lying leader, then take their cards for ourselves... I'm tired, so today's vlog will be short. Good night."

. . .

"Day thirty-nine..." I murmured from the car, as the young girl sat beside me, binoculars over her eyes.

"Filming right now?" Maeda asked.

"Yup." I replied, zooming into the Beach lights. "Can you identify some of the most prominent Beach members?"

"Well, there's obviously Erina, I see her in a blue dress talking to... The DJ. I think his name's Chihaya, he's also important. I also see Rafferty and Judumai by the pool, as well as Gabura talking to a woman I don't recognize. They seem to be really close friends, though."

"Good, good." I said, panning to the pool party. "Those people are the most capable, so you'll need to keep a lookout for them."

. . .

"It's day sixty-two." I said between pants, running while around people, people screamed and water dripped. "I'm currently running through the halls of the flooding Beach, because the Ten of Clubs chose now of all times to be set up. I'm going to go, I have to meet Maindo up on the roof. Goodbye!"

. . .

"Day sixty-three..." I murmured, panning across the grassy fields outside Miyamoto, where bundles of survivors sat or laid.

. . .

"Day sixty-five, today marked the start of the Second Stage." I said, zooming the Queen of Clubs blimp in the distance. "There's a lot to say... But I should be scouting right now, so I'll talk when I go to sit down."

I carried the camera over to my guard seat, plopping it in my lap as Gabura and Aoyama passed by me, then put my binoculars to my eyes...

... Everywhere, people screamed, as chunks of the ceiling crumbled, crushing people. The ground lurched and groaned, areas of the flooring raising and sinking in jagged plateaus. My camera was still recorded as I sprinted through the ruins.

"Run!" Chihaya screamed, as I rolled through the broken window. I fell to the floor as the wall crumbled behind me. Getting up, I followed after him, before gasping. I turned around; I had dropped my camera.

"No!" I yelled, rushing backwards, but the ceiling caved in, burying it.

"No time, come on!" Chihaya said, grabbing my arm and pulling me with him.

"My camera!" I yelled, still extending my arm backwards but not