The last thing Jin expected on a sweltering afternoon in Shibuya was to watch his best friend collapse, screaming, after tapping a mysterious snake emblem on his phone. But when Jin opens the same app in desperation, he awakens into a world that looks like Shibuya—yet is utterly empty. No people. No sound. And on his wrist, a snake biting its own tail, impossible to remove.
A status screen appears before his eyes: *Player Name: Kanzaki Jin. Ranking: 1,847th. Ability: Delay Collector.* A power s
Darwin's Game: Beyond the Game Over - Fire God Hammer — The Sunset Ravens' Invitation
Three days had passed since I joined the game.
I, Kanzaki Jin, had somehow managed to survive in the game space of Shibuya. Survived—though it wasn't like I was fighting and earning points. I was just hiding in the shadows, holding my breath, making sure other players didn't find me.
Even though it overlapped with the real Shibuya, this place felt like another world. The city's shape was the same, but there were few people around. The only ones I occasionally passed were players with the snake emblem carved into their left wrists. Ordinary people couldn't enter this barrier. We were locked inside an invisible cage.
I was hungry.
The food supplied by the management at the start of the game was running out. Hard biscuits that tasted like bread, and a few bottles of water. Beyond that, I had no choice but to get the food rumored to be purchasable with points. But my points were nearly gone.
When I focused on the emblem on my left wrist, translucent numbers floated up.
Five points remaining.
One point could be exchanged for a hundred thousand yen. That meant I had the equivalent of five hundred thousand yen. But inside this game, five points could vanish in an instant. If someone attacked me and stole them, it was over. The moment they went negative, the transfer would be enforced. Where I'd be sent, what would happen—nobody knew. But no one had ever come back.
In other words, death.
I unconsciously rubbed the base of my right thumb. There was a small star-shaped scar there. A scar I'd carved as a matching mark with Shinodzuka back in elementary school.
"...Shinodzuka."
I murmured my best friend's name.
He was sleeping in a hospital in the real world right now. Caught up in the game, unconscious. The doctors said they couldn't find the cause. The moment he opened the snake's email, Shinodzuka's consciousness was blown somewhere far away.
I joined this game to save him.
I opened the snake's email that had arrived on Shinodzuka's phone in his place. I figured that would give me a clue about where he'd gone.
But three days had passed, and I still knew nothing.
I only understood the game's rules in fragments. That players stole points from each other. That going negative meant being transferred. That each person was granted one special ability called an "anomaly."
My anomaly was Delayed Collection. The ability to delay the time of any object I touched by a few seconds.
The first time I used it was the night I joined. I was suddenly attacked by a man with a metal bat in Center Street. I was desperate—the moment I touched the bat, his movements slowed by two seconds. I escaped in that gap.
It was a plain ability. No offensive power. But depending on how I used it, I could survive. That was all I could believe in.
Center Street at night was far darker than the real Shibuya. More than half the streetlights were out, and neon signs were sparse. Trash was scattered everywhere, graffiti covered the walls. The smell of rotting garbage mixed with the stench of rusted iron, stinging the back of my nose.
I was walking through the back alleys.
The main streets were dangerous. Fights between solo players could break out anytime, anywhere. Just yesterday, two men had been screaming and beating each other near the scramble crossing. The players around them pretended not to see. If you got involved, you'd be dragged in too.
This game was a world where you couldn't trust anyone.
But then again, I'd never find clues about Shinodzuka that way.
I pulled a photograph from my pocket. Creased and slightly faded. It was from a trip to the sea with Shinodzuka. The two of us, laughing.
Back then, I never imagined anything like this would happen.
"...Not yet. It's not over yet."
I put the photo away and started walking.
That was when it happened.
I heard footsteps behind me.
Not one person. Two... no, three.
I quickened my pace. But the footsteps quickened too. My heart began to pound.
Don't look back. Run.
The moment I thought that, a figure appeared from the alley ahead.
"Well, well. Taking a stroll all alone in the middle of the night? You're a strange one."
The man had a metal bat resting on his shoulder. Black hoodie, jeans. A snake emblem on his left wrist. Around twenty years old, maybe. He was grinning.
Two more behind me. They closed in from both sides, slowly tightening the gap.
A trio of solo players.
"Hand over all your points, nice and easy. Do that, and we won't have to hurt you."
The leader spoke, swinging his bat lazily.
I slowly backed away. But the two behind me blocked the path.
A dead end.
What do I do?
I looked at my left wrist. The snake emblem was faintly radiating heat.
I had no choice but to run.
I looked the leader straight in the eye.
"...Sorry, but if you're going to do this, you'd better be prepared."
It was a miracle my voice didn't shake.
"Huh? What's a kid like you talking about?"
The man raised his bat.
In that instant, I moved.
Forward.
The man's bat swung down toward my head. But I didn't dodge. Instead, I reached my right hand toward the bat.
Contact.
Delayed Collection, activate.
The bat's movement stopped. No—to be precise, it slowed by two seconds.
The man's face twisted in shock.
"Wha—!?"
In that gap, I slipped past him.
Run.
At full speed.
Behind me, an angry shout.
"Get back here!"
Footsteps chased after me.
I turned the corner. Dashed through the alley. Kicked over a trash can.
But the three of them were faster than I expected.
I fled deeper and deeper into the alley.
And then I hit a dead end.
A wall.
A tall concrete wall. No way to climb it.
I turned around. The three of them were approaching slowly.
The leader dragged his bat along the ground and laughed.
"No way out. Give it up."
I pressed my back against the wall.
What do I do?
In a situation like this, what do I do?
My mind started to go blank.
But not yet.
It's not over yet.
I clenched my right hand.
Delayed Collection slows the time of whatever I touch. But I can only touch one thing at a time. Against three opponents, I didn't have enough power.
Even so, I had no choice but to fight.
"...Come on."
I said it in a low voice.
The men moved all at once.
That was when it happened.
—BOOM.
A heavy sound, and flames erupted from the alley entrance.
No, not flames.
The asphalt was melting.
The red-glowing, scorching ground bubbled and churned. At its center stood a single man.
A high school-aged guy with a short black buzz cut. His strong black eyes stared straight at us. A burn scar on the back of his right hand. He made no effort to hide the snake emblem on his left wrist.
Sudou Kaname.
The leader of the Sunset Ravens.
I didn't know his name yet. But his overwhelming presence took my breath away.
Kaname looked at the trio of solo players with cold eyes.
"...Don't lay a hand on my clan's members."
His voice was low and quiet.
But the trio's faces went pale in an instant.
"S-Sunset Ravens...!?"
"Sudou Kaname, the Fire God's Hammer...!?"
The men shrank back.
Kaname slowly raised his right hand. His fist began to glow red. The air trembled.
Fire God's Hammer. A myth-class anomaly. It cloaks his fist in ultra-high heat, causing anything he touches to combust explosively.
The power to melt through a building's wall in a single blow.
That fist was pointed at the trio.
"Disappear within three seconds. ...If you're still here after that, I won't show mercy."
The men screamed and fled.
It was over in an instant.
Only Kaname and I remained in the alley.
I slumped down, my back still against the wall.
I was saved.
My heart was pounding like a drum.
Kaname walked over to me.
"...You all right, Jin?"
I looked up.
"Huh...why do you know my name...?"
Kaname stared at the base of my right thumb.
"That scar. The matching star scar you share with Shinodzuka, right?"
I gasped.
"You...you know Shinodzuka!?"
Kaname nodded quietly.
"Yeah. ...I'm Shinodzuka's best friend."
I was speechless.
Shinodzuka's best friend.
So he had someone besides me he could call a best friend.
No—more importantly.
"You're a player too. In Darwin's Game."
Kaname showed me the emblem on his left wrist.
"Yeah. ...And so are you."
I looked at my own emblem.
The snake's mark.
An inescapable proof.
Kaname leaned against the wall beside me.
"I only heard recently that Shinodzuka got caught up in the game. If I'd noticed sooner...maybe I could have protected him."
His voice was tinged with deep regret.
"...It's not your fault."
I said.
"Shinodzuka opening that email was an accident. Nobody could have stopped it."
Kaname listened in silence.
Silence fell over the alley.
After a while, Kaname spoke.
"Jin. ...Want to join my clan?"
I looked up.
"Clan...?"
"Sunset Ravens. The clan I lead. We have five members right now. With you, we'd be six."
Kaname looked me straight in the eye.
"You can't survive this game alone. Solo players who just steal points from each other will eventually be hunted by someone. But in a clan, you can support each other. ...And besides, we can search for clues to save Shinodzuka together."
I caught my breath.
Clues to save Shinodzuka.
That was my purpose.
"...Why would you go that far for me?"
Kaname smiled, just slightly.
"Because I'm Shinodzuka's best friend. And...I couldn't protect him. At the very least, I want to protect his best friend."
There didn't seem to be a lie in those words.
I gripped the base of my right thumb tightly.
The star scar.
Proof of my promise with Shinodzuka.
"...All right. I'll join. But I have conditions."
"Name them."
"I want finding clues to save Shinodzuka to be the top priority. And...my ability is plain. I might be a burden. If that's still okay with you."
Kaname snorted.
"Even a plain ability that lets you survive is strong. Your Delayed Collection could transform depending on how you use it. ...Besides, whether you're a burden or not—I'll be the one to decide."
My heart felt a little lighter.
"...Got it. I'm in your care."
I stood up.
Kaname turned his back to me and started walking.
"Let's go. I'll show you to our base."
I followed after him.
The two of us walked through Shibuya at night.
As we walked, Kaname explained the game's mechanics.
"Points can be exchanged for a hundred thousand yen each. But if you cash them in, your in-game points decrease. Go negative, and it's a transfer."
"The transfer...does it really mean death?"
"Unknown. No one's ever come back. So you can assume it's synonymous with death."
I swallowed hard.
"Clans can share points. The points members earn are managed by the whole clan. That way, you reduce the risk of any one person going negative."
"I see. ...But in a game where everyone's stealing points from each other, isn't sharing difficult?"
"That's why you gather members you can trust. If someone betrays you, the whole clan is put at risk. That's why clans aren't easy to form, and aren't easy to join."
Kaname's voice was serious.
I looked at his profile.
He couldn't be much older than me, but he seemed far more mature.
"...Also, be careful. This game has people who prey on lower-ranked players."
"Prey on them?"
"Yeah. The third-ranked player, Kanehira Hideaki. He runs an insurance association called 'Kanehira Mutual.' He collects thirty percent of members' points every week as a premium. In exchange, he promises retaliation if you're attacked...but the reality is, it's just exploitation."
I furrowed my brow.
"Thirty percent? ...Would anyone actually join something like that?"
"They do. Lower-ranked players live in fear of being attacked at any moment. If they pay the premium, Kanehira's clones will protect them. They join believing that. ...But in reality, Kanehira has no intention of protecting anyone. All he thinks about is collecting points."
Kaname's voice dropped lower.
"Kanehira's anomaly is Clone Proliferation. He can create up to five phy
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