Chapter 9 - Kaizen: Alone

1

The only sound in the room was the rattling clack of fingers striking keys.

Anna had lost count of how many times she’d had to use the eye drops to soothe her eyes, dry and strained from furiously following line after line of text on the monitor. She’d done as Shun had instructed and had found a community site for talking about free games, and from there she began checking threads one by one.

If Shun was to be believed, then right now someone was playing a version of his game synced to the real-world Jailhouse with Takuro, Hiroshi, Mika, and Takeshi inside. Their first order of business was finding whoever that was. If the characters representing their classmates died in game, the same fate would befall them in real life, which is exactly what they were trying to prevent.

That was how Shun had explained it to Anna as he typed away at his keyboard with incredible speed. Fortunately, there was apparently a possible happy ending in the latest version of his game where all the characters survived. If they could find whoever was playing the synced version of the game fast enough, they could help the player get through the game and avoid the bad endings. To that end, Shun was scouring the internet for every freeware game forum he could find and repeatedly created posts with the title “Emergency Alert!” Something like this:

Emergency Alert!

No. 2002739 by noprops 02/XX/20XX 19:04

Game Dev Here!

If anyone out there is playing and has had their characters renamed by the computer to Hiroshi, Takuro, Takeshi, and Mika, please pause your game and contact me immediately.

This is an emergency. If you continue to play, a fatal error could occur.

Shun’s expression remained unchanged as he tapped away at the keyboard. No one must have responded yet.

This is impossible.

Anna was beginning to lose hope. This was nothing like searching for hidden Christmas presents. Judging from the IP addresses of the handful of people who had downloaded the latest version already, the majority of them were locals who would know about the Jailhouse. But there was no telling if they’d shared it with anyone or uploaded the game to other sites. Trying to find the people who could be playing the game right now was like trying to track down specific fish in the ocean. It was also unlikely that anyone who was currently playing the game was browsing the forums at the same time. But...

“Huh?”

Anna stumbled across a lead when she began scanning through a popular forum that wasn’t known for being a particularly pleasant place.

“No way...”

It was then that Anna learned never to underestimate the interconnectivity of the internet. Shun looked over when he heard her mumbling.

“Look at this,” she said, turning the monitor to him.

The moment he saw what was on the screen, his eyes focused in on it.

801: Anon Gamer : 02/XX/20XX (Fri) 19:06:21.03

There’s a game with characters named Hiroshi, Takeshi, Takuro, and Mika streaming on WakuWaku right now. Enough with this knockoff shit. Are you that desperate to shill your game?

“WakuWaku” most likely referred to the streaming site WakuWaku Movie. It was a service skyrocketing in popularity where anyone with a camera could easily set up a live video feed and stream content. Shun turned back to his desk and set to purposefully typing at his keyboard like a master pianist playing a concerto. In seconds, the front page of WakuWaku Movie was up on his monitor. He quickly filtered through the currently streaming videos and clicked on one in particular.

A familiar game popped up on screen. It was the one Shun had made. In it, a thin, bespectacled boy was wandering through a maze-like mansion. The player name “Hiroshi” was displayed in a corner of the screen, and the good-looking boy standing behind him was labeled “Takuro.”

“This is it,” Shun whispered.

They’d finally found what they were looking for, but Shun didn’t look happy at all. If anything, the look on his face only grew more intense.

“...Shun?”

Anna followed his gaze and looked back to the game screen. Hiroshi and Takuro were standing at the top of a staircase looking down at the entrance hall. Limbs were strewn about it, and there was a blue monster devouring a corpse in the middle of it. Anna clasped her hand over her mouth. The pixel art wasn’t exactly realistic, but even then, it had no trouble conveying the horror of the scene.

“...We were too late.”

Shun’s face twisted up in anguish. He slammed his hands on the keyboard and tightly closed his eyes. It was an odd sight, considering Shun usually kept his emotions bottled up inside. But seeing his reaction, Anna realized immediately what must have happened.

“Who... is that?” she hesitantly asked, putting a hand on his quivering back.

Shun didn’t respond, but judging from the hair on the head of the corpse the monster was munching on, the answer was obvious enough.

2

Where had she run through in order to get here? Coming to her senses, Mika looked around.

The room was desolate except for a bed and a wardrobe. Mika was huddled up in the small space between the bed and the wall, hugging her knees and shivering. With her head down, she was completely hidden by the shadow of the bed and couldn’t be seen at all from the door.

I’ll stay here until help comes...

The sheet from the bed had been ripped up and wrapped around her right arm. Her memory was fuzzy, but she figured she must have done it to stop the bleeding. The emergency first aid she’d learned in health class during their third trimester had come in handy after all. The tip of her mummified right arm was dyed red, but didn’t seem to be bleeding much anymore. The pain had dulled quite a bit, as well.

Resting her forehead on her knees, her mind wandered toward happier times. When was it she got that giant plush bear for Christmas from her mom? Fourth grade? That was back when she still believed in Santa Claus. She’d wanted to thank Santa in person and did her best to stay up, but in the end, she couldn’t win against the sandman. When she woke up, she discovered the bear stretched out on the ground as if trying to crawl to her. Its face looked like her dad’s when he yawned, and seeing it always made her giggle. If she closed her eyes and tried to remember it better, she might even now. But she didn’t dare. She was terrified that something else might appear.

Krrk...

Her reminiscing was interrupted by an odd noise coming from somewhere in the room. She lifted her head and looked around. No one had come in.

She heard the noise again—like something scraping against the ground. It was coming from under the bed. There was no way the giant monster could be hiding in such a narrow space. That’s what she told herself as she carefully peered beneath the bed.

There sat a curled-up kitten about the size of her fist. Was it a Persian? It looked just like Heart as a kitten. Its closed eyes were just thin lines, like it was still a newborn. The kitten, seemingly noticing her presence, turned its face to her and mewed cutely. A smile found its way across her lips. It was the first time she’d smiled at all since coming to the mansion.

“Here, kitty, kitty...”

Mika softly called to the kitten, making sure no one outside the room would be able to hear her. However, the kitten just shivered and remained where it was.

Is it scared of the monster, too? I want to comfort it... If I could just hold it, I’m sure it would feel better.

She was sure it would make her feel better, too. If she got on her stomach and stretched out her arm as far as she could, she thought she might be able to reach the kitten where it was. Mika got up to reposition herself. Instantly she felt dizzy. It was as if something was pressing in on her world from both sides, shrinking her field of vision. Mika stuck her hand out and steadied herself against the wall while she waited for the dizzy spell to pass.

It must have been low blood pressure from standing up too quickly. She’d often hear her friends talk about stuff like that, but she’d never experienced it herself before. Maybe she was low on blood. A chill ran up her spine. What would happen if help never came?

Mika knew that blood accounted for about one thirteenth of the mass of a human body. And since she weighed 43 kilograms, that meant there should be 3.3 liters or so of blood flowing through her. She’d also heard that losing as little as a third of your blood would kill you, which meant that she only had about a liter to spare. Just one liter—that was the same as two bottles of the cola she normally drank. As things stood, her arm was wrapped up tightly, but the bleeding still hadn’t completely stopped. Even now, fractions of her life were flowing right of her body bit by bit. And at the end, death awaited.

Once she felt stable again, Mika looked at her sheet-wrapped right hand. A morbid thought crossed her mind, but she couldn’t help wondering...

Wouldn’t dying like this be better?

Her right arm was numb. She could hardly feel any pain. Ending up as food for that monster was the last thing she wanted, but if she were to just fall asleep—to die peacefully—that wouldn’t be so bad. Even if she were saved now, what awaited her in the world outside? People would always be staring at her right hand, now short two fingers.

I don’t think I could bear those looks.

Her mind filled with thoughts of death, she forgot to pay attention to her surroundings. When the door to the room suddenly opened, Mika’s heart nearly leaped out of her chest. If it had been the monster that appeared in the doorway, she really would have fainted this time.

Fortunately, it was only Hiroshi that stepped into the bedroom. She hadn’t seen him since they’d split up at the entrance hall. They hardly ever talked in class. Takeshi always called him a brainiac, and as the nickname suggested, he was indeed exceptionally intelligent. His keen brain was always working behind his stoic eyes, but Mika could never tell exactly what he was thinking. However, seeing any familiar face right now was an immeasurable relief. She couldn’t help the tears welling up in her eyes.

“You’re okay, then?” Hiroshi said calmly, not looking particularly relieved to see her. “Where is everyone else?”

“...I don’t know. We got separated.”

I wonder where Takuro went after he abandoned me.

“I see. Then we should work together,” Hiroshi said and approached her.

Mika quickly hid her sheet-bandaged right arm behind her back.

No. I don’t want anyone to see me like this.

“...Mika?” Hiroshi looked at her suspiciously as she shied away from him.

“Hell no! I’m not walking around this mansion with that monster around!” Mika declared, desperately trying to put up a brave front as she hid her right arm.

“You ran into that monster, too? Well, I understand that you just want to stay hidden. I do too, honestly, but we’ll never escape that way.”

“That’s fine.”

“I found a door that leads outside. If we can just get some sturdy rope, we can escape.”

“I’m not going.”

“Why not?”

“I can’t trust you.” She turned her face away and continued, “People only care about themselves. Takuro... Even you. When things get hairy, you’ll just abandon me too.”

“There’s no real need to trust me. It’s not like I trust you, either,” Hiroshi said without a hint of intonation or emotion. “If we run into trouble, you can run and leave me behind. Since we both know we don’t trust each other, there’s nothing to lose. We only have something to gain, don’t you think?”

She knew he was right, but she still couldn’t leave the room.

“Sorry, but I’m staying here.”

“I don’t understand. Do you want to die?”

“...”

Mika couldn’t find the words to express how she felt. Only the truly blessed—those who didn’t know suffering—thought that living was always the ideal choice. But some people simply shouldered more misfortune the longer they lived.

For some reason, it felt as if Mika’s nonexistent fingers were hot. She and Hiroshi continued to stare each other down for a while. Only the sound of their breathing filled the room.

“...Very well.”

Hiroshi was the first one to avert his gaze.

“Then please don’t move from this spot until I can call for help,” he said as he turned his back to her.

Was this really okay? Unease suddenly overcame Mika.

“Wait!” she shouted after him.

Hiroshi turned back around and raised an eyebrow. Even Mika had no idea why she’d stopped him.

“Uh... Um... Here.”

Remembering the screwdriver in her shorts pocket, she handed it over to him.

“I found it in the child’s room. I thought it might be helpful.”

Suspicion flashed across Hiroshi’s face when he observed the stained tip of the screwdriver, but he quickly reverted to his default stony expression.

“Thank you very much.”

He bowed, then turned and exited the bedroom. The door shut behind him with a click.

Was that really for the best?

Mika repeatedly asked herself that as she listened to his footsteps fading into the distance.

3

Pain in her fingertips woke Mika up. Gazing at the blood dripping from her right hand, she realized she must have fallen asleep while hiding in the room. She glanced around as she lifted her head, but nothing seemed to have changed. How long had it been since Hiroshi left? A few minutes? Or was it morning now? The flow of time was a mystery to her.

Her fingertips were throbbing in sync with her heartbeat. A pain ran through her entire body, starting square at the top of her head. She groaned silently to herself. She’d hardly felt anything earlier. Why was it so bad now? Mika began unwrapping the sheets from her right arm so she could take a look at her injured hand.

When she loosened a particularly tight stretch of the wrap, her whole arm grew hot, and an unbelievable amount of blood splattered to the floor. At the same time, the pain decrescendoed gently. Mika slumped over in the pool of her own blood and let out a sigh of relief. Slowly, her consciousness began to fade. She could feel death approaching, but she felt no fear.

The blood still dripping from her right hand flowed along the floor and ran under the bed. The kitten, which hadn’t budged despite all her calling earlier, now dashed out from under the bed in apparent surprise.

“Sorry, kitty. Did I scare you?”

She softly stroked the kitten’s head as it snuggled against her. One thing she hadn’t noticed while it was hiding under the bed was that it was covered in blue fur. She could faintly recall seeing another animal the same color once before.

“That’s an odd coat color you have.”

The kitten started purring and licked at the pool of Mika’s blood spreading out on the floor.

“Oh! No, kitty. That’s dirty,” she said.

The kitten continued lapping up the blood.

“Hey! I said no!”

The kitten paid no heed to her scolding.

“You’ll get a stomachache.”

The moment she wrapped a hand around its abdomen to pick it up off the floor, the kitten bared its fangs and finally opened its eyes. A small scream bubbled out of her throat at the sight. The kitten’s eyes were huge, taking up over half of its face. Its fangs were also sharper than any cat’s.

“Nooooo!”

She jumped up, and the cat—rather, the feline monster—bit into her thigh. Mika batted it away with her left hand and, mustering the last of her strength, fled the room.

“Someone! Someone, help!” she shouted loudly, but no one came.

She regretted not going with Hiroshi now, but it was too late for that.

“No! Why is this happening to me? Please, help me! Someone!”

Her legs buckled underneath her. As she was descending the stairs to the first floor, she missed a step and went tumbling all the way down to the entrance hall. Sensing a terrible presence, she looked up. A monster—the big one—was peering out of a slowly opening door at the end of the hall. It must have heard the commotion of her grand fall and come to inspect for prey.

“Ahhhhhhhh!”

Mika’s mind went blank. Was that her voice she was hearing? A bizarre sound streamed endlessly from the depths of her throat.

“Ahhhhhhhh!”

She couldn’t stop it. It was as if a second Mika inside her was struggling desperately to get out. The monster was at least four times her size, yet it was surprisingly nimble.

“Ahhhhhhhh!”

She was running out of breath. She clutched at her throat to try and take in some oxygen, but she just couldn’t stop screaming. The monster was drawing nearer. She had to run.

Mika got on her knees to try and stand, but fell down again immediately. She looked down at her feet and saw that her right leg was bent at an impossible angle at the knee. She must have broken it in the fall.

A foul stench washed over her suddenly. She grimaced. She slowly lifted her head, and there in front of her stood the monster. It stared down at her, grinning from ear to ear.

“Ahhhhhhhh!”

Blood sprayed from her mouth. Her throat must have cracked. Even so, she continued to scream.

I’m completely broken...

She could feel every single capillary in her body popping loudly. Her vision ran red.

“Ahhhhh—”

She almost blacked out before the screaming finally stopped.

“Help me, Takuro...”

Do I still really expect him to save me after everything that’s happened?

A wry grin crept across her face. Then she felt an intense blow to her temple. The last thing Mika saw was a vast, deep darkness.

4

Having nothing to show for searching every inch of every room on the third floor, Hiroshi was feeling rather defeated. But he had no time to feel sorry for himself. That was when he heard Mika’s screams.

He rushed down to the second floor and turned to descend the stairs to the entrance hall, but then stopped cold. The unimaginable scene before him caused his brain to short circuit.

War. The atomic bomb. Earthquakes. Tsunamis. This was more horrible than any depiction of hell he’d ever seen. He’d heard that people sometimes laughed when they were at an utter loss, but had never experienced it for himself until now.

Mika looked up at him sadly. Her limbs were torn cruelly from her body and scattered about the hall like a child had forgotten to put away its toys. In the middle of it all sat the monster, covered in blood and rummaging through her guts like it was looking for something.

“What, it’s just you? Don’t scare me like that. Hiroshi?”

Takuro emerged from one of the rooms on the second floor.

“I heard footsteps, so I was worried that thing was back, you idiot.” He shrugged and smiled stiffly as he walked over to Hiroshi. “Hey, this mansion is seriously crazy. We gotta get outta—”

He stepped past Hiroshi to go down the stairs, but his face paled and his expression stiffened when he saw what waited at the bottom.

“What the hell?!” he shouted, spittle flying.

The monster, who had been wolfing down the innards it had ripped from Mika’s torso, turned to look at them.

“Not good. It sees us. Let’s run.”

This wasn’t something they could fight. Hiroshi grabbed Takuro by the arm and dragged him up to the third floor. They ran into the study and locked the door from the inside. Just to be sure, they pushed the desk in front of the door and barricaded themselves inside. The monster seemed like it was strong enough to bust through with ease, but the obstacle would at least slow it down a little.

“What the hell? Damn it! What the hell is that thing?”

Unable to find an outlet for his anger, Takuro kicked the wall repeatedly. Hiroshi had never seen him so unsettled.

“Hiroshi, I bet you know. What is that monster?” Takuro ranted, glaring at him.

“Unfortunately, I have no idea,” Hiroshi answered honestly.

“Damn it! This is my house! Who does that thing think it is? The next time I see it, I swear I’m gonna kill it!”

“If you’re thinking about avenging Mika, I’d advise against it. I don’t believe it can be beaten.”

“Avenge Mika? Who cares about that?” Takuro stopped kicking the wall and snorted. “I couldn’t give a rat’s ass about her.”

Hiroshi cocked his head. The creatures known as human beings really were confusing to him. Takuro and Mika were always together. By all appearances, they seemed quite close.

“You didn’t even hesitate to say that. Weren’t you dating?”

“We were. But so what? I can always find another girlfriend now that she’s gone. It’s as simple as that,” Takuro spat. But deep in his eyes, Hiroshi sensed sadness.