My eyes bolt wide open and what greeted me was not the usual sight of my room that was filled to the brim with soft toys and other cute toys but instead it was a metal ceiling fan that appeared to be placed there without any sense of decorating but rather with just the sole purpose of providing a source of ventilation.
My back ached slightly as I realized I was lying on the cold hard floor instead of a soft and comfortable bed that I was used to.
“Where am I?” I thought to myself as I sat up and took in my surroundings.
For one, I was not alone in this obscure and unknown place as I could see that there were around 30 other unconscious girls who looked around my age who were in the same room. It was obvious that there were some variations in the ages of the girls present in the room but it was safe to say that all the young girls here were between the ages of 18 to 20.
The room itself was quite weird in design and it was like nothing I have ever seen before. There were no windows, furniture and the only source of ventilation was a lone ceiling fan. What was weirder was that the walls appeared to be made of metal and the only visible sign of entry or exit from this room was a giant metal door that was currently locked.
I tried to remember what I was doing or where I was before I awoke in this strange room but I was unable to recount any important details other than my name, age and personal information. My gaze fell to a familiar looking backpack that was placed next to me. It was the bag I normally took to go shopping which contained bare necessities such as my house keys, tissue papers and other day-to-day items.
However, there was an item missing. I could not find my mobile phone within the bag which caused me to panic a little. There was no way I would misplace such a valuable item which just made the whole situation even more peculiar. I looked at the clothes I was currently wearing and I was clad in my favorite white one-piece sundress which I normally wore to the market which meant that I was probably on the way there before I lost my memories.
Slowly, the other girls in the room started to wake up one at a time and had the exact same realization as me. They were all clad in different clothes which meant that they were probably outside as well before they were brought here for some unknown reason. I could see them all searching the pockets of their clothes and their bags that they had with them for their mobile phones but to no avail as there was not even a single shred of electronics present in the room.
One of the younger looking girls started to hyperventilate and panic while another started to break down in tears. It was not the most sightly scene but who could blame them as we were all young girls who were just minding our own business before suddenly waking up in this creepy room without any way to communicate.
“Mommy, Daddy! Where are you?? I’m scared!!” A girl called out.
“WHERE AM I???!!!” Another shouted.
Panic started to take over the room as majority of the girls in the room started to break down uncontrollably and lose control of their emotions. Some tried to search for an exit while others tried banging on the large locked metal door that loomed over us but it was all for naught as quite literally nothing changed.
I tried my best to keep a calm mind and think about the current situation rationally but it was honestly quite hard to concentrate with the disruptive background. From the corner of my eye, I could see a girl who looked 18 years old like me with beautiful jet black hair who was reading a book. It would normally be quite a common sight to see students reading but the fact that she was still able to concentrate on reading with all the chaos and panic that was unfolding in the background was honestly quite impressive.
I wanted to approach her but before I could move, an alarm that was similar to the bell you would find in a typical school rang which silenced the whole room of young girls. A speaker soon descended from the ceiling which caught the attention of everyone in the room. It was quite impressive that the introduction of a single speaker managed to elicit silence from a group of over 30 panicking girls.
A voice that clearly belonged to a man called out from the speaker.
“Welcome members of Class X(Ten), it is a pleasure to finally meet all of you young ladies. It is quite a shame that I am unable to be there physically but my voice will do for now.” The voice spoke with confidence and a deep undertone which meant that it belonged to a male that was probably in his thirties or forties.
“Where the fuck are we!! Don’t think you can just kidnap us and get away with it. My mom and dad will be here soon and you will be sorry!” A girl who looked slightly older than me shouted at the speaker. While it was clear that she was expecting an answer, what came out of the speaker was nothing more than laughter.
“HAHAHAHAHHH!! How naïve, it is too early to be giving you all the answers don’t you think? I am feeling quite generous today so I shall give you girls some answers. To answer the question I’m sure all of you must be having, there is only one way to escape and that is by clearing all the games I have planned for you.”
“What are you talking about? Who in their right mind would play games with some clown that just kidnaps young girls.” A fiery girl with bright red hair exclaimed.
“Don’t get the wrong idea Fumizuki Aya, you girls don’t have the freedom of choice. If you don’t wish to participate in the games, so be it. But I would like all of you to look at your chests where your hearts are. I’m sure all of you are able to spot a tiny wound there that was not previously present.”
As if by command, I looked down at my chest and saw that there was indeed a small wound that was no more than 4 centimeters long that was not previously there. Looking around, the rest of the girls also checked their chests and all of us have the exact same wound. The red haired girl who was apparently named Aya looked to be quite in shock that the man who was speaking over the speaker knew her full name. I did not have a good feeling to say the least and I knew that there was more than meets the eye.
The man then carried on speaking in his deep yet oddly jovial tone.
“You see, we have took the liberty of installing some new “upgrades” to your hearts such that they will stop beating within a minute when we press a button if you do not wish to comply with the games. You are more than welcome to test the system but I would advise against it as it would be quite a waste of your precious lives wouldn’t it?”
Aya then called out again in an enraged tone.
“You bastard, how do you know my name? And what games are you talking about exactly.”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
The voice proceeded to laugh once again and replied vaguely without providing any real answers.
“HAHAAHH, your name is the least of what we know. We know everything about all 50 of you young girls so it would not be wise to go against us. Anyways, I believe we have already wasted quite a bit of time on this pointless chitchat so it is time to start the games.”
The speaker took a momentary pause before announcing 5 names.
“Kobayashi Mei, Tanaka Natsuki, Fujimoto Airi, Takahashi Sakura, Yamamoto Haruka. You 5 lucky girls have been chosen to participate in the first game. I do wish you the best of luck and hopefully this won’t be our last meeting.
While the names called were unfamiliar to me, it was quite obvious to see who the chosen girls were just by their body language and facial expressions that just screamed that they were afraid. I looked towards the black haired girl who was reading just now and she looked unfazed even with the new developments in our predicament as she just carried on reading her book nonchalantly.
Soon after, the locked metal door was opened and a large group of middle aged men entered. They all wore some sort of black uniform but I was unable to discern what kind of uniform it was. However, what truly caught my attention was that they were all armed with guns. Not to mention that since they were older men, we had practically no chance of confronting them head on in a physical battle which hinted that escape was pretty much impossible.
The guards started smiling creepily as they entered the room and I could see their eyes shifting from one girl to the next as if they were some sort of predator searching for their prey. They stood at attention at the door and called out the names of the 5 chosen girls.
Of course, none of the girls who were chosen stood up willingly as the whole situation was shady and weird. The girls all took turns throwing questions at the guards but there was no answer. It is said that one becomes aggressive and emotional when put in an unfamiliar environment and what was happening in front of my eyes was no different. All the girls in the room were aggressively shouting questions and demanding answers but the guards did not even budge an inch. Suddenly, one of the guards trained his rifle at the ceiling and pulled the trigger.
“BANG!!” The sound of gunshot echoed across the room and caused all the girls in the room to be quickly silenced. I assume it would be safe to say that none of us have ever seen a real gun in front of us let alone heard what a gunshot sounds like. However, this proves that the people in charge of our kidnapping were serious and were planning to use whatever means necessary to force us to comply with their instructions.
The guards then repeated the names of the 5 chosen girls one at a time and this time they complied. The first girl Kobayashi Mei looked to be 18 years old and was wearing a t-shirt with a cute animal print and denim shorts. She clearly looked afraid of the upcoming unknown “game” but was forced to comply due to the threat of the arms the guards possessed.
The second girl Tanaka Natsuki who looked to be 19 years of age stood up and headed towards the guards as well. She was wearing a pink hoodie with a matching pink skirt.
The third and fourth girls Fujimoto Airi and Takahashi Sakura appeared to be friends as they were conversing with one another and they stood up together. They were both wearing one piece dresses that were blue and yellow respectively. They did not appear to be as afraid but still had a look of hesitation in their eyes as they stood up and went to the side of the guards.
Finally, the last girl’s name was called. Yamamoto Haruka who looked older than the rest of the 4 girls that were chosen was probably 19 years old and she was clad in a sleeveless black blouse with a white miniskirt. She definitely looked like a social butterfly who would normally have a lot of friends in school as she stood up and walked towards the guards with more confidence then the rest.
When all 5 girls were assembled in front of the metal gate, one of the guards started to speak.
“Oh what a delight. It seems this class has quite a few cuties. What a shame that they are participants in this game. Now then, the 5 of you that have been chosen, please follow me to the game arena. I do hope that you will be able to see this room again after the game HAHAHH..”
The guard spoke with a creepy tone that was vague but his choice was words was quite weird. What did he mean by “if they will see this room again”. The guards soon left with the 5 chosen girls with them and the metal gate closed shut once again.
Once the guards left, panic broke out in the room once again as majority of the girls started to question what kind of situation we were all in and what was going to happen with the 5 girls. I scanned the room and noticed that the black haired girl was no longer reading her book but instead scavenging a backpack which was presumably hers.
Curious, I approached her and started a conversation with her in order to find out more about her intriguing personality.
“Hi, nice to meet you. My name is Hiragi Yuzu and I am 18 years old this year. What is your name?”
The girl looked up at my face and bowed before carrying on with her self introduction.
“Name’s Kanade, I don’t have a family name as I detest my parents to the core and want nothing to do with them. Oh and I’m the same age as you so you don’t have to call me senpai or anything.”
Kanade answered confidently and with a cool air around her alongside her unique outfit that consisted of a white singlet with a black jacket and a long black skirt with black tights underneath. It was most definitely not what girls our age would choose to wear which hinted to me that there was definitely more to her than what she was showing. Nonetheless, I wanted to find out more about her hence I decided to carry on the conversation.
“I noticed that you were reading a book just now even with the panic and confusion that plagued the other girls. Are you not weirded out or afraid of our current situations and how you can’t remember how you got here in the first place?”
“Well, I would be lying if I said that I was not afraid but I felt that nothing good would come from me losing my shit anyways so I decided to read to calm myself down such that I can analyze the situation and think of a way to escape.”
“I see, you are an interesting one Kanade. Not many people can keep their cool when thrown into such an unfamiliar and weird environment.”
Before Kanade can carry on the conversation further, there was a loud click sound and a hole opened from the ceiling and a large television screen emerged. It was similar to the size of those giant billboards the buildings in the cities have. All the girls in the room calmed down and stared at the screen which turned on with a flash.
The image that popped up was not what any of us were expecting. It showed the 5 girls who followed the guards earlier standing in the middle of a large dark room. The guard mentioned earlier about an arena for the “game” but there was nothing akin to an arena as far as we could see.
An announcement suddenly blared out and the voice belonged to the same older man who made the earlier announcement in the speaker in the locked room.
“Welcome girls to the first game! I hope all of you are prepared and the rest of you who are watching from the room are being attentive as well as I’m sure the upcoming game will be a unique one to say the least.”
His jovial tone was quite ironic given that the girls were literally forced to play this game against their wills. With another loud click, suddenly the lights in the dark game arena turned on which blinded the girls temporarily.
When their eyes readjusted to the brightness of the room, what appeared shocked them to their cores. It was a massive rectangular building that was around the size of a football field. It had roughly 6 to 7 levels but the weirdest thing was that there were hundreds of prison cells that lined the corridors of the compound.
While the girls were trying to figure out what was happening, loud cheers came out from the cells.
“LETS FUCKING GOO!! There’s a new class already!!” A deep male voice called out.
“There’s quite a few cute ones today!”
“This will be fun!!”
“I hope I am chosen today!”
“WHATS THE FUCKING HOLD UP!!”
Many of the people in the cells started shouting and cheering upon seeing the 5 chosen girls at the center of the building. For some odd reason, all the voices were male and they belonged to different age groups.
“What exactly is this place?”
I asked to which Kanade did not reply but kept her eyes glued to the screen. She then gave me a reply that I was not expecting.
“Watch closely. Do not let any detail escape your eye.”
Trusting Kanade, I similarly focused on the screen and watched as the comments got more aggressive and the tension in the arena was building up.
Not long after, the announcer made another declaration that made the hair of every girl stand at attention.
“Let’s begin the first game shall we? You girls will be playing a simple game of tag.”