In the year 20XX, deep within a remote forest, a white facility stood alone.
Ryo woke up on a bed. His memory was completely blank, except for his name.
Nine other men were in the room, all looking just as confused. They were all around nineteen and had also lost their memories.
A woman in a white coat appeared and announced, "You will now undergo a psychological test."
But the test was extremely strange. Questions like, "Who in this group is the odd one out?" and "If you had to sacrifice so
Ten Men Who Lost Their Memories - Screams in the Darkness and the Worst Encounter
The back of my eyelids are dark.
No. My eyelids are open, but it's dark.
The world that had been pure white just moments ago was now completely painted over in black. In the back of my head, that scream from earlier was still echoing round and round. The smell of iron and salt clung to the inside of my nose and wouldn't leave.
(A blackout... how long is this going to last?)
Shutarou stared at his own palms. Of course, he couldn't see anything. He couldn't even make out the shape of his fingers, swallowed by the darkness. Only the cold sensation of the floor told him that this was still the cafeteria floor where he had been standing moments ago.
How long had he been like that?
With a *pop*, the world was dyed red.
The emergency lights on the ceiling flickered on with a dull, clumsy sound. The white walls were repainted in a sickening, eerie red. The familiar hallway now looked like the entrails of some alien creature.
He looked around. Everyone was either sitting on the floor or leaning against the walls. Every single one of them was looking at each other's faces with suspicious eyes.
"...Is anyone missing?"
Gou's voice had lost its usual strength.
Just then, Hiroki came staggering from the far end of the hallway. His face was deathly pale, and his lips were trembling uncontrollably.
"S-Satoshi is... Satoshi is..."
He looked where Hiroki was pointing.
The intersection of the hallway. Directly beneath a red lamp, Satoshi lay collapsed. The chest area of his grey sweatshirt was stained a dark, wet black. Beside him, a single silver kitchen knife lay on the floor. The blade glistened slickly with a reddish-black liquid.
His breath stopped.
Just moments ago, they had been thinking together about how to get out of here.
"Well done."
A voice laced with static fell from the ceiling speakers. It was a creepy voice, as if his heart had been directly seized by a cold hand.
"One person has been eliminated. Nine remain. Darkness reveals the true nature of people. This is a good trend."
No one could utter a word.
"Ah, and one more thing. My collaborator among you. It seems he has done his job properly. I am fortunate to have such an excellent pawn."
With that, the broadcast cut off abruptly.
All that was left was the red light, a corpse, and nine men glaring at each other.
"You bastard, how dare you...!"
"N-No! It wasn't me!"
"You were the first one to find him! That's suspicious!"
Hiroki stepped back. Another man stepped forward. Everyone's hands were trembling. Everyone's eyes were wide and fierce. The phrase "suspicion and mistrust" wasn't enough. This was already a pack of beasts facing their prey.
(At this rate, someone else is going to die.)
In the back of Shutarou's mind, something felt like it was burning slowly.
The remnants of a memory of failing to protect someone. The shadow of someone whose face and name he couldn't remember.
He looked at everyone's faces. He was scared. He was scared too. But.
"...Stop it."
His voice came out smaller than he expected.
Everyone's gaze instantly pierced into Shutarou. But he couldn't stop anymore.
"Satoshi is dead. But suspecting each other and killing each other is wrong. Let's just... talk."
"...Huh?"
Gou's mouth hung open. It was a strange expression, a mix of anger and confusion.
"You... what are you saying in this situation..."
Kazuki shook his head, pressing his fingers to his temple.
Shutarou knew. He knew he was saying something incredibly out of place. But this was his honest feeling. He hated the idea of a world where someone died and someone else was happy about it.
That's when it happened.
"Don't screw with me, you bastard!!"
A deafening roar echoed through the hallway.
Turning around, he saw a man with slicked-back blond hair. He was glaring straight at him. His fists were clenched, and he looked ready to pounce at any moment.
"You think a killing game is gonna stop with pretty words like that?! Hypocrite!!"
Ryou's voice was trembling with anger and fear. His eyes looked like they were about to burst into tears, but he was desperately masking it with rage.
Shutarou stared intently into those eyes.
"Fine, I'm a hypocrite. I just don't want you guys to die."
"So what! What can you do with that vague, blank face of yours!"
"What about you? Do you think everything will work out if you just keep grinning like an idiot?"
Uncharacteristically, his emotions just slipped out. Ryou's carefree brightness, as if he wasn't thinking about anything, had inexplicably pissed him off. How could he act like that at a time like this?
"What did you say, you bastard...!"
Ryou stepped forward. Shutarou also took a step forward, refusing to back down. The guys around them distanced themselves, looking either exasperated or amused.
No one intervened. In fact, they were probably thinking that if someone became a target in this commotion, they themselves would be safe.
"Screw this! No memories, no exit, stuck in a place like this!"
Ryou shouted.
"Screw this!!"
It wasn't anger.
It was despair.
It was a helpless scream against the utterly unreasonable situation they had been placed in.
Shutarou was at a loss for words. No, he thought. That's not it. I don't want to blame this guy.
Just then,
*Creak.*
Behind him, he heard the floorboards groan.
Faster than he could turn around, a silver flash traced an arc in the corner of his vision.
"U-Uwaaaaaah!!"
Takeru, who had burst out of the cafeteria kitchen, was brandishing a kitchen knife, his eyes bloodshot. The tip of the blade was aimed at Ryou's back.
Ryou froze.
He couldn't escape.
(I couldn't protect him.)
Something snapped again in the back of his mind.
Before he knew it, he had kicked off the floor.
His thigh muscles contracted like steel springs. It felt like he was stomping right through the floor. His body flew to Ryou's side in an instant.
"Huh?"
He grabbed Ryou's arm. Half-dragging him, he ran down the hallway.
"W-Wait up, dammit!"
Takeru's angry shouts and rough footsteps chased after them from behind. But they quickly grew smaller and smaller.
The distance was widening.
It was an abnormal speed.
Even though it was his own body, it didn't feel like his own. The sound of wind roared past his ears. Every time his feet kicked the ground, the scenery streamed backwards. The hallway with its red and black striped pattern seemed to warp and distort.
"Y-You're fast as hell!!"
Ryou shouted as he was being dragged along.
Shutarou didn't have the composure to reply. In a desperate frenzy, he ran up the stairs. Ryou almost tripped, but before he could think, Shutarou had hoisted him onto his shoulder.
Adrenaline burned through his entire body.
(What the hell is with these legs?)
He couldn't believe it himself.
The end of the hallway. A plate reading "R-07". The infirmary. He shoved the door open with his shoulder and threw Ryou inside. He tumbled in after him and immediately twisted the lock.
*Click.*
The sound of the lock engaging echoed unnervingly loud.
"...Hahh, hahh."
His heart felt like it was going to leap out of his mouth. His lungs creaked and groaned, desperate for oxygen. Shutarou slid down against the door, slumping to the floor.
Ryou, still on his hands and knees, was breathing heavily.
"...No way."
Ryou's voice, when he finally squeezed it out, was hoarse. His usual unfailingly cheerful tone was nowhere to be found.
"You, just now... what the hell was that running?"
"I don't know."
Shutarou stared intently at his own legs. His legs, under the grey sweats. They were just ordinary legs, nothing special. And yet, just now, he had clearly been running at a speed that was not normal.
(What on earth am I...?)
Having no memories meant not knowing who he was. He didn't even know his own body.
Ryou unsteadily got to his feet and took bandages and disinfectant from a shelf.
"Give me your hands."
Shutarou obediently held out both hands. The scrapes he'd gotten when Takeru lunged at him were oozing blood. He hadn't even noticed them himself.
Without a word, Ryou pressed a cotton pad soaked in disinfectant against the wounds.
It stung. That pain pulled him back to reality.
"...Sorry."
As he wrapped the bandage, Ryou muttered quietly.
"I said some terrible things to you. Called you a hypocrite."
Shutarou silently shook his head.
Ryou didn't look up. His hands, winding the bandage, trembled slightly.
"I was... scared, the whole time. No memories, and before I knew it, I was in some strange place, being told to kill each other. I didn't know what was going on, but I thought I couldn't show that weakness to anyone."
Ryou laughed self-deprecatingly. It was a twisted laugh, completely different from his usual friendly smile.
"So I kept grinning. Figured things would work out somehow if I did. ...Pathetic, right?"
Shutarou took the bandage from Ryou's hands and, this time, began disinfecting the scrapes on Ryou's arm himself.
"It's not pathetic."
Ryou looked up. His eyes were slightly moist.
"I'm scared too. Because I'm scared, I thought we had to talk it out. That's all."
His words were still short and clumsy. But it was the most honest feeling he could express right now.
"I don't want to see you guys die. That's all there is to it."
Shutarou's usually vacant brown eyes were, just for this moment, fixed directly on Ryou. Deep within them, something warm was definitely lit.
Ryou caught his breath.
Then, this time, he let out a real, slightly pathetic laugh.
"...What the hell, man."
"That's all."
A strange silence fell between them.
The hostility from moments ago had completely vanished. In its place, a strange sense of solidarity, born from acknowledging each other's weaknesses, connected them like a thin thread.
That's when it happened.
*Thud.* The infirmary door shook.
"Hey, you're in there, aren't you! Come out!"
Takeru's muffled voice came from the other side of the door.
"Those two are dangerous! Did you see Shutarou's legs?! They're not normal! And Ryou's attitude! They're both way too suspicious!"
Now other voices mixed in.
"...He's right. That leg strength is a threat. If we leave them be, we might all be killed."
It was Kazuki's calm voice.
"Yeah!" "They're definitely working together!"
The voices of the other participants began to chime in one after another.
"At this rate, we're all gonna get killed! We have to eliminate those dangerous elements while we can!"
Takeru's煽動する voice echoed through the hallway.
*Clank, clank.* The sound of metal scraping against metal. They must have brought crowbars or wrenches from the underground storage.
Outside the door, a mob driven by fear, now determined to eliminate Shutarou and Ryou, was gathering.
"...Dammit, we're surrounded."
Ryou cursed under his breath. He looked around the room, but there wasn't a single window. The only exit was the door right in front of them.
They were trapped like rats.
Just then, the PA system crackled with static again.
"The current number of survivors is nine. Twenty-two hours until the next judgment. Trust only gets in the way of killing."
The timing was as if it was mocking the two inside the room.
Ryou, his face pale with fear, looked at Shutarou and grinned.
"...But hey, right now, I've got no choice but to trust you."
Those words were like a small light flickering to life in the dark room.
Shutarou nodded silently.
From outside the door, the eerie metallic sound of a crowbar trying to pry the door open began.
An inescapable locked room.
And a mob trying to eliminate the two of them, just as their bond was beginning to solidify.
In the white room illuminated by the red lamps, Shutarou slowly stood up.
(Like hell I'm letting it end here.)
For the first time, the desire to protect something took form as words and settled in his chest.
Clutching that warmth, he simply stared intently at the door that was beginning to rattle and shake.
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