"Soo, you guys are really excited to open that locked door, so the game will be tonight, alright?"

9 people stuck in a school, that sends us terror and fear through this tests he calls a game. The only thing that's keeping me alive right now is my desire to get my memories back. Which means I need to endure 8 more hellish games that is physically and mentally tiring me the fuck out.

The last game that he conducted traumatized a lot of people like, Jest, Gab and me. I got shot last game, and both of them had near death experiences. So, I expect that the next game is harder than the last one. I hope he disappoints my expectations then.

There was a long silence that happened inside the room. I guess we all expected the same thing. Everyone was serious, everyone wants to survive this next game, even if its hard or not. To be honest, I'd rather die, but I also don't want to subject to this experiment. I'm going to survive. Then he finally spoke-

"The 2nd game will be a video game."

Well shit, he really did disappoint me. Guess the "Physically and mentally tiring me out" doesn't apply here.

"Games? That should be easy, I'm good at them."

"Yeah, we'd breeze through."

"Aaand my sister here is a NEET! We'll win this game easily."

Reim covered her ears and sat in a corner.

"Well since I figured you guys don't want to move a lot, I thought of a good game, that does the exact opposite of what I said. 

You're gonna play a really good game, I played it a lot when I was but a boy.. It's..

Dance Dance Revolution."

DDR? Well that should be easy, I think I'm fond of it.

"This game isn't team based, it's only single player. I only got one DDR machine so I'm making it a single player only. The rules of this game is simple.

DDR is a rhythm-dancing game. You need to step on the right direction presented on the screen. If you did, then you get points. If you don't, well, your health bar goes down and you lose the game."

"We'll ace this game, no sweat."

"Yeah!"

Something about this just doesn't feel right with me. Not just me, Gab and Jest also doesn't seem to be happy about this game. I mean, this is an easier game, but why would he give an easier one?

"This game is based on luck and your own skill. And I know you guys are very excited, but I'll just move it for tomorrow. I still don't know where I'll put the DDR, ok?"

Everyone except us all were happy about the game, until Reim said-

"S-so what happens if you lose then?"

Their smiling faces changed to despaired ones.

"Yeah, this easier game thing bullshit is really suspicious. Do you really think he'll just give something like this? I mean look at the first game, I got traumatized due to that, and now he's giving us this?"

"I know, but still, it's DDR, how hard can it be?"

"Yeah, it's not that hard."

Then the monitor abruptly turns on, and he spoke-

"Oh yeah, if you lose, you die. And everyone gets to watch. How fun is that? I wish I could be there but I can only watch in a screen. :<"

Then it closes, again.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"See what I mean?"

"How could you be so calm about this?"

How am I calm about this? I mean it's only been 1 game. Only 1, and why the hell am I so calm about dying? 

We all went back, not muttering a word after that. They went to their own rooms and I went to mine, but still thinking. 

Oh, I know why I'm so calm about this, I think. In the 1st game, the robots that we're programmed to shoot anything that's moving, missed. They're robots, they shouldn't be able to miss and yet they still did, and only shot me in the shoulder. So this experiment wouldn't kill us! He kidnapped us here, why the hell would he kill us? Right? That purpose that he said wouldn't be accomplished if we all aren't here, right?

As I tried to comfort myself about this bullshit experiment by thinking that, I fell asleep.

__

AHhhhh, damn it, I woke up again. Just let me sleep forever..

Wait,

I looked at the clock, and it's now 8 in the morning.

I got dressed up and saw Paul going out and almost collapsing, so I carried him up to the cafeteria.

Before he fainted he said something like-

"I don't, I don't want to die.."

Well, we all do, anyway. 

After I got to the cafeteria, the speaker turned on while I was putting Paul in a chair. These fucks didn't even help me.. Anyway-

"HEEEY, READY FOR THE GAME?

Oh, crap, the mic was loud, sorry, ok, The game is going to start in 30 minutes, I'd reread the rules again, and add some.

The rules are simple, you follow the directions on the screen, and follow the rhythm. You'll have 9 songs on the screen, pick one of them and dance to it and win. However, if you lose all your points, well, goodbye! The songs all have different difficulties, all of them differs in some way, like this song is faster, slower, harder, etc..

Quick heads up though,

Not all of you will win on this game.

Now I'll be seeing you guys in the trophy room in 30 minutes,  alright? Bye!"

What, what do you mean "not all of you"? This game is easy, we won't die anyway, haha.

"No-not all of us?"

Paul suddenly stood up and assured her-

"D-don't worry, he's probably going to scare us now. He probably noticed how shitty his game was."

"You were listening?"

"Hell yeah, now let's go, I'm alright now."

We all walked to the trophy room, and inside, there were lights lit up and now we can finally see the interior of that room. There was a monitor, and behind it wasn't a wall, it was a door. 

We all opened the door, and inside that was an...

Arcade??

To be honest, I'm not even surprised anymore. There's a warehouse connected to this school, an arcade would be more plausible than that.

All the games here are working though, the skee balls, the shooting ones, and the basketball machines. Andy and James then played almost all of the games there until the lights in the arcade went out, and then a door was opened just next to the Skee balls.

Then we opened it, and there was a stage on the center, with a DDR machine. There were seats as well on top, kinda looks like..

A theater...

Yep, everything here is plausible now.

"Weeeelcccoommeee~ to my theater."

As he popped up on the screen on the stage next to the DDR machine, he was projected on the screen so he.. he's here? No, maybe it's just a camera connected to the projector or something.

"Now the game will start when someone goes over there and step on the DDR, so please, start the damn game already, I'm very impatient."

"Alright, I'll go first." said James.

He chose a really fast song, and still, he got an SS rank. Is he this good in DDR in the past?

Everyone passed the games, well, almost everyone. 2 people were left, Gab and Paul. 

Gab got an easier and a slower song, and she barely passed. If she got James' song, then she's "dead" by now.

Paul was up next, he was really nervous, until all the girls said-

"Go Paul!" in unison.

I guess that cheered him up? Well, he got the last song, and unlike the past ones, this one is the most easiest.

...

As the song goes on, the directions got faster and faster, and the song got more distorted. 

Paul was tired, then something clicked inside my head..

"Wait, is this what he meant by luck?"

"What do you mean..?"

"The song.. the song is on a loop.."

"What, what's that?"

"The song, it's.. it's not going to stop..

Paul.. is going to die.."

...

Nah, no way, Paul isn't going to die, I mean, he still needs us for his experiment, r-right..?"

"He's wearing down.."

"He's going to..."

Paul was screaming on the stage, no, he was like chanting and screaming..

"MAKE IT STOP MAKE IT STOP MAKE IT STOP-"

His knees collapsed into the ground, he tried to crawl to us, he was about to say something..-

"I'm.. sorry... I.."

5 robots jumped down from above and a robot ran to Paul and grabbed his feet, then put him on the stage. The 5 robots then grabbed his head, his arms, and his legs then they tightly gripped on it.

Paul was screaming, screaming for his life, screaming for him to live.

"PLEASE, STOP! I DON'T WANT TO D-"

...

9 people got kidnapped to partake in an experiment that know nothing about.

Now, there are 8..

Paul's body dropped to the ground as the robots pulled his head, arms and legs. Blood, leaking out from what used to be his neck, and the robots dropped the body and all of its parts below the stage.

No one was able to move.

Everyone was frozen, from shock, from terror, from fear.

You know, it's easier to say that I want to sleep forever, that I want to die. Now, witnessing what death really was, I..

I want to live.. I want to survive.

I'll live, and get revenge for Paul, and for the people that will meet the same fate due to him..

I'll live, and kill the Masked, no, Skin.

I'll live.