章 2: The Awakening

Kaito's head throbbed as his senses slowly returned. His vision was blurry at first, flickering like a bad connection, until it sharpened enough to make out shapes. Cold metal beneath him. The taste of something metallic in his mouth. He tried to move, but a sharp pain shot through his skull, making him wince.

Panic started to set in. Where am I?

His breath came in shallow gasps as he sat up, trying to steady himself. The first thing he noticed was the overwhelming silence—except for the hum of something mechanical in the distance. The air was thick, like a sterile hospital room, and the only light came from harsh, overhead lamps.

He blinked rapidly, trying to clear the fog in his mind. When his eyes finally focused, the sight before him made his stomach twist.

The floor beneath him was cold, smooth concrete. His legs were cramped, his body locked in place by the tight space he was confined to. He was in a small, square room—a cage, about 10 meters by 10 meters—barely enough room to move. The bars stretched around him, gleaming steel that reflected the harsh light, and the cage was suspended high above the ground, swaying slightly.

Kaito's pulse quickened, and he gripped the bars, his fingers slick with sweat. Am I… am I dreaming?

He stumbled to his feet, trying to shake off the dizziness that had overtaken him. The air felt thin up here, far too high, and as he peered down through the gaps in the metal, his stomach lurched violently. The city below looked like a toy set—buildings, cars, and people reduced to dots. He realized with growing horror that he was suspended from a skyscraper, hundreds of meters above the ground.

What the hell is going on?

The nausea was overwhelming. His legs wobbled beneath him, and he collapsed back onto the cold floor, his head spinning. The dizziness, the vertigo, was so strong it made him feel as though he might fall through the floor—though he knew, deep down, that there was nothing beneath him but endless air.

He gripped his stomach, trying to force the bile back down. He needed to think. Focus, Kaito. Focus.

Suddenly, a soft metallic click broke the silence. Kaito froze. From the corner of his eye, he saw movement. Slowly, cautiously, he turned his head to the source.

Another cage.

His gaze snapped upward, and then to the sides. Everywhere he looked, there were cages—at least a dozen, maybe more, suspended in the vastness of the building. They were identical to his, small, sterile, and completely isolated. The others inside them weren't moving, but Kaito could see them now, their forms barely visible through the steel bars. Some were sitting, some lying down, others pacing in tight circles, but none of them seemed aware of each other yet.

Kaito…

The voice in his head was his own, but it wasn't a voice at all—just the dread sinking deeper into his bones. These weren't ordinary cages. This wasn't an ordinary situation.

He noticed something else then: each of the other prisoners was staring into their own set of binoculars, identical to the one Kaito now realized he had been holding since he woke up. They were communicating somehow—his heart skipped a beat. Are they watching me too?

Kaito's fingers brushed the edge of his own bionocular, the device cold against his skin. He tried to lift it, but a sudden jolt of dizziness hit him again, causing his vision to blur. He steadied himself against the bars. There was something inside the bionoculars. He had to see.

The moment he brought it to his face, the world around him changed. The faces of other prisoners flickered into view, distorted by static and the same dim lighting that filled his own cage. There was no audio at first, only the visual. The others were as confused, as panicked, as Kaito was.

Where are we?

The question echoed silently in Kaito's mind. And then the fear hit him full force—his body frozen, completely paralyzed by the sudden realization.

If the cages were suspended high in the air, the floor below was nothing more than an endless drop. The city sprawled beneath them like a forgotten dream. But that wasn't the worst part.

It was the game that would follow.

Kaito's eyes moved to the farthest edge of the cage, where a small screen flickered to life. It was a simple message, but it burned into his mind with terrifying clarity:

"Welcome to Death Zone."

And with that, his heart sank. This is real.