Day 98 – 24 Hours Remaining
Kaito sat at his desk, staring at the USB drive Reika had left behind. His fingers hovered over his ptop’s keyboard, hesitation gnawing at the edges of his thoughts.
This could be a trap.
He had just met Reika, and nothing about her screamed trustworthy.
But ignoring the information was even riskier.
"I don’t have the luxury of pying it safe."
Taking a deep breath, he plugged in the USB.
A single folder appeared on his screen.
> PROJECT: BLACK FILES
He clicked on it. Inside were multiple documents, each beled with a name, a date, and a termination status.
Most were marked DECEASED.
His stomach twisted as he scrolled down.
The files detailed previous pyers of this sick game—people who had also received the countdown. Some had survived, but the vast majority… hadn’t.
He opened one of the more recent files.
> PLAYER: NAGISA HAYAMI
START DATE: 113 DAYS AGO
STATUS: DECEASED
CAUSE OF DEATH: FORCED SYSTEM FAILURE
His brow furrowed. Forced system failure?
He scrolled down.
Nagisa’s objective had been simir to his: commit escating crimes. She had successfully completed multiple objectives—theft, assault, extortion. But then, on Day 72, she attempted to disobey the system’s orders.
The punishment?
Her timer had instantly dropped to zero.
A blurry security cam screenshot at the bottom of the file showed a girl colpsing in the middle of a crowded street. Blood streaming from her nose. Eyes wide open. Dead.
Kaito swallowed hard.
"So there really is no way to quit."
His phone buzzed.
A new notification.
> WARNING: 6 HOURS REMAINING TO COMPLETE OBJECTIVE.
Shit.
He had spent too much time reading.
The system wanted a greater crime. But how much worse than stealing from a dying man did it expect?
Kaito clenched his fists. He wasn’t about to go out stabbing random people in the street. There had to be another way.
Then, he remembered something Reika had said.
"The system isn’t fair. It can be cheated."
If he could find a loophole, maybe he wouldn’t have to escate into full-blown murder.
But first—he needed a target.
---
23:45 PM – Searching for Prey
The city never truly slept. Even this te, the streets of Shinjuku were alive with neon lights and the hum of distant traffic.
Kaito walked with purpose, his hood pulled low over his face. His eyes scanned the crowd, searching for something—someone—that could help him clear the objective without fully crossing the line.
Then, he saw them.
Three men loitering near the entrance of a dark alley. Dressed in fshy suits, cigarettes dangling from their lips, exuding the unmistakable aura of small-time gangsters.
"Yakuza?"
Not the high-level ones. More like street enforcers—thugs who ran petty scams, collected debts, and harassed people for money.
Kaito’s mind worked quickly.
If he was going to commit a greater crime, why not do it to someone who deserved it?
Taking a steady breath, he approached the group.
One of the men—stocky, with a buzz cut—noticed him first. He squinted at Kaito, clearly irritated by the intrusion.
"Oi. The fuck do you want, kid?"
Kaito didn’t hesitate. He pulled out his phone and fshed his bance.
9.8 million yen.
The men’s eyes locked onto the number.
Buzz Cut’s scowl vanished, repced by a slow, greedy grin.
"Well, well," he mused, stepping closer. "Looks like we got ourselves a rich brat."
Kaito forced himself to stay calm. He wasn’t here to get robbed. He was here to bait them.
"You guys do business, right?" he said smoothly. "I need something… illegal."
The second thug, a lean man with sharp features, chuckled. "Oh? And what exactly are you looking for?"
Kaito met his gaze head-on.
"A gun."
The air shifted. The casual amusement in their eyes turned into something sharper, more calcuting.
Buzz Cut exhaled smoke through his nose. "A gun, huh? That’s a dangerous thing to be asking for, kid."
Kaito shrugged. "And yet, you’re still listening."
The men exchanged gnces. Then, Sharp Features motioned for Kaito to follow.
"Come on," he said. "Let’s talk somewhere quieter."
---
00:12 AM – The Setup
The alley was dark, the only light coming from a flickering streetmp at the entrance.
Buzz Cut leaned against the wall, while Sharp Features pulled out his phone, pretending to make a call. The third man, a nky guy with dyed blond hair, stood a little too close to Kaito’s side.
It was obvious.
A trap.
They weren’t going to sell him a gun. They were pnning to rob him.
Kaito wasn’t surprised. He was counting on it.
Buzz Cut exhaled again. "Alright, kid. You got the cash?"
Kaito nodded. "Of course."
He reached into his pocket—
—and pulled out a switchbde.
The men barely had time to react before Kaito lunged.
The bde sliced through fabric and skin, carving a deep line across Buzz Cut’s forearm. The man shouted in pain, stumbling backward.
Before the others could react, Kaito kicked Blondie in the stomach, sending him crashing into a pile of trash bags.
Sharp Features cursed and swung at him—Kaito dodged, the fist barely grazing his cheek. He smmed his knee into the man’s ribs and punched him in the throat.
Sharp Features choked, gasping for air as he colpsed to his knees.
Buzz Cut, still clutching his bleeding arm, pulled out a knife of his own.
"Fucking little—!"
But Kaito was already moving.
He grabbed a discarded gss bottle from the ground and smashed it over Buzz Cut’s head.
The man crumpled.
Silence.
The only sounds were Kaito’s heavy breathing and the distant hum of the city.
His phone vibrated.
> OBJECTIVE COMPLETE.
+24 HOURS ADDED.
Kaito exhaled, his chest rising and falling.
He looked down at the three groaning men, their blood staining the pavement.
He hadn’t killed them.
But he had brutalized them.
For the first time since this all started, a new emotion stirred in his chest.
Not guilt.
Not regret.
But a twisted satisfaction.
And the worst part?
It felt good.
---
To Be Continue
