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 - Blood Judgment, Cold-Hearted Verdict
The red emergency lights in the entrance hall illuminated the remnants of the psychological test scattered across the floor.
The rift caused by those scraps of paper was already too deep to repair. Shutarou sat slumped against the wall. The taste of blood in his mouth still hadn't faded. The spot where Ryou had punched him throbbed dully.
*(Suspicion and paranoia, huh.)*
The words swirled endlessly in his head. He wanted to trust someone. But the moment he did, he was betrayed. Over and over again.
Beside him, Ryou sat hugging his knees. Every so often, he would glance apologetically at Shutarou's swollen cheek.
"...Sorry."
Ryou offered his apology for what felt like the umpteenth time.
"It's fine."
Shutarou answered curtly. He truly felt it was fine now. He couldn't bring himself to blame Ryou.
The other participants kept their distance, clustered in separate groups. Gou glared at the wall, Hiroki trembled, curled up into a small ball, and Takeru looked around restlessly. Everyone could now only see each other as either prey or enemy.
That was when it happened.
With a burst of static, the ceiling speakers crackled to life.
Everyone's movements stopped dead.
"Greetings, my dear subjects."
That voice. Processed, eerily flat. The kind of voice that felt like a cold hand seizing your heart directly.
"Exactly twelve hours have passed since the last test. Your mutual suspicion has deepened far beyond my expectations. Most gratifying."
Ryou raised his head. A flame mixed with anger and terror flickered in his eyes.
"So, I believe it is time to proceed to the next phase."
A pause.
Everyone held their breath.
"The First Judgment will now commence. The rule is simple. Within one hour, kill one person."
The words echoed inside Shutarou's head.
"If no one is dead after one hour, two people will be executed at random."
"Wha—..."
Gou was speechless. Hiroki let out a small shriek. Takeru shook his head, trembling violently.
"This is a game. And a game requires rules and punishments. Now, begin. You have ample time. I pray you make a wise choice."
*Bzzt.*
The broadcast cut off.
Silence dominated the entrance hall. No one could move. They just stared at each other's faces with terrified eyes.
*(Within one hour, kill one person.)*
Shutarou clenched his fists. Cold sweat seeped into his palms.
"Y-you've gotta be kidding... You've gotta be kidding me!"
Takeru screamed. He clawed at his head, backing away.
"Kill someone!? One of us!? In a place like this!?"
"Calm down, Takeru."
It was Kazuki who broke the silence.
He leaned against the wall, arms crossed, surveying everyone with cold eyes. His narrow, sharp eyes, peering out from beneath his bangs, analyzed the situation calmly—or rather, coldly.
Kazuki was the man who had kept his distance from the group, dedicating himself solely to observation. And now, for the first time, he stepped forward of his own accord.
"Panicking will not improve the situation in any way. On the contrary, if a disorderly conflict breaks out, there's a high probability we'll all be wiped out."
Kazuki's voice was flat, devoid of inflection. Which, in this bizarre situation, gave it an eerily persuasive power.
"Let's think about this rationally. The rule states that one person needs to die within one hour. In other words, if one person out of the nine of us is sacrificed, the remaining eight can at least survive until the next judgment."
He pulled a piece of paper from his pocket. A results sheet from the psychological test. A photocopy, just like the one Ryou had found.
"Based on this data, I will propose the most rational choice."
Kazuki continued flatly, as if solving a mathematical equation.
"First, the person with the lowest physical ability score is Hiroki. Next, in the 'Least Trustworthy Person' category, the person who gathered the most votes is also Hiroki. Meaning, he is the weakest in the group, and simultaneously, the most disliked. His contribution level is also, objectively, the lowest."
Hiroki's face went pale.
"W-what are you saying..."
"It's a logical conclusion. We choose the one whose loss is the smallest. This is the most certain, most peaceful method for eight of us to survive."
Kazuki's words were ruthless. But the other participants, driven by fear, found a glimmer of hope in that ruthlessness. A hope akin to relief that they themselves wouldn't have to die.
"...Yeah, Kazuki might be right."
Gou nodded gravely.
"I don't want to die! I don't want to!"
"Hiroki was always kind of an outcast anyway..."
Voices of agreement gradually grew louder. It was the sickening atmosphere of consensus that precedes a group lynching. Everyone, to protect themselves, was beginning to justify killing someone.
"Don't you DARE screw with us!!!"
Ryou's roar echoed through the hall.
He lunged forward, almost as if he was about to grab Kazuki. Shutarou instinctively seized Ryou's arm.
"Let go, Shutarou! You bastard, Kazuki! Do you only see people as numbers!? Hiroki has a right to live too, damn it!!"
Ryou's anger was genuine. His sense of justice clashed head-on with Kazuki's cold theory.
Kazuki glanced at Ryou as if he were looking at an insect.
"Rights? How irrational. Rights mean nothing in this situation. What matters is the result. Eight survive, or everyone dies. Do you intend to drag everyone down with your emotional arguments?"
"Shut up! A guy like you is exactly what the Game Master wants! You're the most suspicious one! The tenth intruder is you, with your overly rational bullshit!!"
At those words, Kazuki's eyes showed emotion for the first time.
It was anger. A frozen, yet intense rage blazed deep within his pupils.
"...Are you saying I'm the intruder?"
Kazuki's voice dropped even lower.
"Very well. In that case, I'll change the target. Everyone, his words just now reveal his true nature. Ryou is far too emotional and irrational. His sense of justice disrupts order and delays the group's decision-making. He is a risk factor. The one who should be eliminated now is not Hiroki, but Ryou. Choosing him as a sacrifice is an extremely calm judgment to remove a dangerous element that disturbs the group's harmony."
Kazuki perfectly controlled his anger, transforming it into the weapon of logic and thrusting it at Ryou. Everyone was speechless at his sheer deftness.
"W-well... Ryou did just punch Shutarou earlier..."
"If we might be targeted next... maybe Ryou is the right choice...?"
The tide had turned in an instant.
The murderous intent that had been directed at Hiroki was now aimed at Ryou.
"Wha—...! You bastards!!"
Ryou raised his voice. But his words no longer reached anyone's hearts. Isolated and outnumbered. His sense of justice spun uselessly, and he was completely cornered.
Shutarou desperately searched for words. But nothing came out. Kazuki's theory was too solid, too perfect. He couldn't find any material to refute it.
"Everyone, let's calm down..."
In the end, what came out of his mouth was just his usual faltering line, completely failing to read the atmosphere.
No one listened to Shutarou. On the contrary, they looked at him coldly, as if he was just like Ryou. Shutarou and Ryou were completely isolated.
Time passed with cruel slowness.
Only the sound of the second hand on the wall clock seemed unnaturally loud. *Tick, tick, tick.*
Ten minutes remaining.
It was Takeru who broke the heavy silence.
"U-uwahhhhh!!"
Suddenly, Takeru let out a bizarre shriek and dashed toward the dining hall. Unable to endure the extreme fear any longer, he grabbed a silver, gleaming kitchen knife from the kitchen and came back.
"I don't wanna die! I don't wanna die!!"
Takeru's eyes were bloodshot with terror, unfocused. Swinging the knife wildly, he charged straight at Ryou.
"I-I can't move...!"
Ryou froze in the face of the oncoming blade. His body wouldn't obey him. Even though his mind understood, his body was paralyzed with fear, unable to take a single step.
*(I couldn't protect him.)*
*(Again.)*
*(This time, right before my eyes.)*
Deep inside Shutarou's head, something snapped with a *crack*.
Before he knew it, he had kicked off the floor.
His thigh muscles contracted like steel springs, generating explosive power. The world seemed to flow in slow motion.
One step.
With just that, Shutarou had leaped in front of Ryou. Takeru was right before his eyes. His face, distorted with shock.
"Get out of the way!!!"
Takeru swung the knife down.
Shutarou dove in, grappling with Takeru's arm. Their bodies tangled together, rolling across the floor.
"Let go! Let go of me!!"
Takeru struggled desperately, still clutching the knife. Shutarou grabbed his wrist. The sensation of bone grinding against bone.
*(If I let go, Ryou will die.)*
Shutarou was simply desperate. He threw his entire weight into pinning Takeru's arm down from above. But Takeru's strength, driven mad by fear, was abnormally powerful.
In the struggle, their weights intertwined. Arms, legs, bodies tangled in a chaotic mess. He couldn't tell whose arm was whose, whose leg was whose. Only the glint of the silver blade flickered before his eyes.
"U-uh..."
At that moment.
The gears of fate slipped.
Just as Shutarou shifted his weight to pin down Takeru's dominant hand, Takeru's foot caught on a slight unevenness in the floor, throwing him off balance.
The two bodies collapsed to the floor as a single mass.
*Squelch.*
A dull, lukewarm sensation enveloped Shutarou's right hand.
He was gripping the handle of the kitchen knife. And the blade was buried to the hilt in Takeru's side.
"...Huh?"
A stupid-sounding voice leaked from Takeru's mouth.
He stared intently at his own stomach and the knife sticking out of it, as if looking at something unbelievable. Then, he slowly opened his clenched hand.
Shutarou couldn't let go.
His fingers were frozen to the knife's handle, stuck as if glued there.
"...No... way..."
With just those words, Takeru's head lolled limply.
The strength drained from his body. At the same time, bright red blood gushed from the wound, spilling out. It spread across the floor, soaking Shutarou's gray sweatshirt with a lukewarm wetness.
The feeling of blood on his hands.
The smell of iron stung his nostrils.
*(Ah.)*
Shutarou looked at his hands. His own hands, stained bright red. His own hands, drenched and sticky with Takeru's blood.
*(I)*
*(Killed him.)*
Sound vanished from the world.
Ryou was shouting something. The other participants' mouths were opening and closing. But he couldn't hear anything.
From Shutarou's usually vacant brown eyes, a single tear spilled over. It continued to flow, independent of his will.
The first drop of emotion he had ever shed.
"Shutarou...! Why...! Why did you do it!!"
Ryou's scream finally reached him from a distant world. He was crying out at the sight of his best friend standing there, covered in blood.
That was when it happened.
An electronic beep, *Peeeeeeep*, rang out.
"A murder has been confirmed. The First Judgment is now concluded."
The inorganic voice delivered its cruel verdict.
The countdown had reached zero.
"Well done, Shutarou. You followed the rules and saved your comrades. Truly splendid judgment."
It was the ultimate irony.
"...Hmph. A rational outcome. One sacrifice saved everyone."
Kazuki's lips twisted in triumph. His voice echoed through the hall like a death sentence.
"Don't say it like that...!"
Ryou forced his voice out.
"Shutarou was... just protecting me...!"
But the other participants stepped back from Shutarou, one step, then another. The way they looked at him had completely changed.
It was the look one gives a murderer.
"He was the first one to kill someone..."
Someone muttered.
"And with that leg strength of his... isn't Shutarou really the tenth intruder after all?"
The words of suspicion spread in an instant, transforming into an undeniable fact
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