章 177: Fireworks

Alicia in Borderland is a 4-star difficulty as the possibility of death is incredibly high. Jacob had improved a lot in terms of survival, but he still lacked compared to true predators hidden in many places.

Facing this world and surviving could be considered a luxury, as death is said to abound in every corner he walks.

Beep!

Jacob opened his eyes, looked around, and heard some murmurs from a group of noisy students. Compared to the other people on this train, those students were really making a racket.

"No, I'm already heading home!"

Upon hearing those words that Jacob shouldn't have understood, he was surprised to realize that he comprehended Japanese without ever studying it.

"[Master, your avatar adapts to the needs of the world you travel to. Knowing a foreign language is nothing to worry about since that language has been previously added to your communication skills!]"

"At least that's good..." Jacob averted his gaze and spotted a long backpack that should contain his weapons. However, he decided not to check those things now as it could cause a real panic on this train.

Now, he has 7 days of attenuation before the original story begins. However, Jacob doesn't know how to enter the original story or what to do before that.

The little he knew about this world was that he had to survive games once all of Japan's inhabitants disappear.

Jacob's eyes scanned the faces of numerous people, and in just a fraction of a second, he understood what they were thinking, feeling, and especially the problems they described with big words above their heads.

"A mysterious event..." Jacob murmured in clear Japanese. "I really have a good voice..."

If he weren't embarrassed right now, maybe he would start imitating some iconic scene he remembered from Japanese media.

"When will that special event that starts the main plot of this world happen? I hope, even better, what am I supposed to do in seven days if I can't participate in any kind of game beforehand?"

"[Master, this time I can't find a clear answer to your questions!]"

Of course, he can't.

"For now, I just need to relax, yes, that's what I'll do while this train reaches its destination..." Jacob leaned his face against a metal tube next to his seat and sighed.

The reflection of his face in the train window is his face of flesh, bone, skin, and fat. The face in modern times has gained much value; now, in some areas, it leads to perfect skin, a static face, and proper proportions.

His face can be considered good.

Wavy hair down to his chin.

Eyes so dark they seemed to intrigue people. Jacob was not Asian, so his mere appearance attracted a lot of attention. However, he didn't care about that.

Life for him now is a competition, who is smarter? As a new challenge, he wants to compete in the most dangerous situations and see how far he can go. He left everything behind, the worries of his family once he closed the chapter with his father, and a world that can be considered home waiting for him.

So, what's more fun than a few years in these kinds of worlds? A smile filled with excitement formed on Jacob's face; this time, he would be himself even if he's considered unfortunate.

The world is very curious, both life in the Capitol and in the urban world of his time, there is very little difference. For example, those young students beside him, they are noisy, and most likely, they are pretending to be friends but actually can't stand each other. Fake smiles, behaviors they can't display in front of their parents, or a kind of preferential attitude to fit in.

People, even once Jacob tried to fit in with them. The result? His past experiences, but once you hit rock bottom, you can reach even better places.

"You have arrived at your destination, have a nice day."

Exiting the train, Jacob took his large backpack and slowly walked through many people before finally leaving that suffocating place for him. After walking for some time, he arrived at a place that possibly was one of the most incredible spots in the world and in this city of Tokyo, better known as Shibuya Crossing.

This simple point in the city can provide one of the most incredible images of Tokyo and possibly the world. This simple intersection is the busiest in the entire world, earning it the nickname "scramble." The incredible thing about this place is that you can see over two thousand people crossing every two minutes.

Thousands of faces gathered before his eyes, each reflecting a different life on their countenances. Jacob was filled with a unique sense of life that couldn't be expressed with mere words.

As he walked toward a massive mural and leaned against it, he breathed silently and looked again at all the people passing before his eyes. Fake smiles, fleeting amusements, and lives filled with problems that constantly flashed by in just a few seconds.

Life is complicated, but that's what makes life special, isn't it?

"It can't be, I've been trying to solve this thing for over two hours," complained a young man to his friends while playing with a Rubik's Cube. When Jacob glanced at him, he touched his pockets and found some bills.

"Can I give it a try?" Jacob asked as he handed the bills to the student, the amount he was giving was infinitely higher than the cost.

"Are you a foreigner?"

"Are you selling it or not?" Jacob, being considered a foreigner, could blend in unnoticed by people, and since they were students standing beside him, he immediately handed the Rubik's Cube to them while taking the money, and they jumped with excitement.

"Thank you, sir!"

"The power of money..." Jacob murmured without exactly knowing why he did that.

Taking a Rubik's Cube, he began to solve it without looking down. With a single glance at the scrambled cube, his fingers started working in unison with his mind while thinking about other pleasant things.

When will the main event start? Jacob knew very little about this world; he remembered once reading a manga with a similar name, so it should be exactly or similar. But now, with so many people in the city, he was very confused.

"Well, it will come soon..."

In a 3x3 cube, there are infinite variations, unique and precise moves to solve it in the shortest possible time with the fewest moves. There are records around the world, demonstrating the power of such a small object that fits in one's hand.

As he walked through the crowd of people, his face always visualized and trained his observation skills without relying on his intelligent assistant. How many people have I seen wearing a blue shirt? How many women, elderly, and children have passed before my eyes?

Will his answers be guesses? Well, let me tell you that guesses are one step closer to the answer, the truth, or the correct memory. Knowing the types of games that will come, there was nothing wrong with honing his mental abilities. Perhaps that's why he bought the cube from the boy.

Crack!

Feeling a variation in the cube in his hand, Jacob lowered his gaze and discovered that the force exerted to make the moves caused a piece to come off the cube. What a nuisance, one more move and he would have completed the cube.

"Here you go, someone was about to kick it a moment ago."

When Jacob heard the voice directed at him, he turned to the side and extended his hand to pick up the fallen piece from the cube, then apologized, "Oh, sorry for the trouble."

After extending his hand and taking a few steps forward, he smiled and thanked the girl for the inconvenience she went through to pick up something that he would have likely lost if not for her.

"Be careful with people, they often don't look ahead at this point in the city." After a few simple words, when there was nothing else to talk about, Jacob sensed a change in the air's vibration.

"Thanks for reminding me..."

"[Master, the vibration in the surrounding buildings is fluctuating. An unidentified object is detected coming from the sky. Target identified, a meteorite is approaching your direction!]"

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Jacob lifted his gaze to the sky, his eyes met a rather magnificent scene that was impossible to witness in a place like Tokyo—fireworks. He felt as if time had stopped; everyone paused their movements for a moment before losing consciousness completely.

That feeling of silence was pleasant, but when he heard the sounds of fireworks and then the reminder from his intelligent assistant, he knew that this shouldn't be happening. When he turned his head to look around, everyone was frozen in the situation, and then, with a wave of drowsiness, his body collapsed.

"A damn meteorite?" There was an unsettling sensation coursing through his body. He slowly retreated, trying to regain control of the situation, and unconsciously grabbed someone's hand, but his vision was gradually becoming blurry as an exhausting heaviness engulfed every part of his body.

Huh? What's happening?

As his body crumbled, a thunderous sound of fireworks echoed in the surroundings, and then... I don't remember anything else that happened.

"Hey! Wake up!"

...

A note that I will delete later, sorry for the inconvenience.

I started very well with the writing of this world, but halfway through I had a lot of doubts about where to direct the story and it was at that moment that I wanted to finish it due to several mistakes I made at the beginning. Those mistakes made him lose many readers. But since I started writing with my heart in my hand, I decided never to give up on a story. That's why I decided to finish it and make a completely new one with the same format.

In the future I will release a new story with the same theme but this time with a different protagonist. In that world I will add other stories and I promise it will be much better than eata. But don't worry, I'm going to finish this story and you will read an ending. I promise, but if I can't post in a while it means that aliens abducted me.