Prologue: That Ratings Spike When..
Where am I? I can feel that I'm in the back of something. It feels like I'm in a vehicle, driving off to somewhere. Actually.. Who am I? My mind felt empty. Almost like a void that was once full. My eyes adjust from the unconsciousness I was forced through. I found myself at the back of a limousine of some sort. The cushions were in black leather, along with the car floor. Some circular speakers were behind me built into the car frame, but no sound was heard from them. A minibar filled with ice contained some bottled up beverages on the left side of me.
A bunch of monitors were plastered inside, about 3 of them. On the screens, it showed this weird logo resembling jagged glass in a pink blood color with lettering over a purple background. Words that keeps repeating even during this moment. Despair Live! What was Despair Live? I never even heard of it before. I didn't have any clue on what it meant.
I was still delirious from my awakening, as I was in a sitting position. I turned my body against the seat to see a clear plastic panel with a man wearing a chauffeur outfit at the driver's seat with his white gloved hands on the steering wheel. Tapping against the plastic shield, I tried to shout towards the driver, though he didn't seem to care at all. I glanced through the windshield of the limo.
Endless farmland appeared to be stretching along the road. I can feel the A/C breezing inside in the back. I banged once on the plastic panel to try to get the driver's attention, but he pressed a button on the roof of the car, causing a shutter to slide in front of me to shield my vision from him. I heard a jingle similar to that of a theme you would hear from TV show intro. The type of intro which was the opening credits and often had clips of the actors and actresses in question.
It was coming from the monitors, as the logo was gone and it was done showing two people holding microphones on a raised stage. One of them one is a man in his 30's was wearing a weird outfit where one side of him was white and the other was black with a red tinted monocle on his left eye. He looked like some sort of random comic book villain. The other person was a woman with a business dress with a visible earpiece on her right ear.
"We're here live for the successful show that everyone has been talking about ever since the first trailer last week! This season will take place at the famous Mugen Panikku Studios here in the Kyōfu region! Famous for the same studios who released the famous Erebus movie franchise and the I.S.F TV series, they have managed to build their own theme park for tourists and visitors to relive the experience they had from watching both franchises! The theme park isn't open to the public, yet. However, the studios have let the contestants use the studios and park itself as the battleground for this year!" the woman was acting as a host on TV, as she spoke in the mic.
I glanced out of the back window of the limo. Another one was behind me. As the limo took a turn, I can see others like the one behind me. My limousine was the leading one. I glanced back at the monitors with the host and the camera was moving left to show crowds of people, some with signs in their hands to honor names that I never heard of, to the large towering gates that led into the park. The camera cut to the parking lot of the place, where I realized that my limo was coming through. "We got our first limo coming through the parking lot and our first contestant!" the host said on the monitor. On the shot with my limo, there were about 4 soldier-looking fellows with automatic rifles aiming at the door of my limo, ready to aim if I ran.
"Aw crap." I muttered to myself. The car door opened up, where one was gripping the door open while the other 3 had their rifles aimed at me. I slowly exited the limo, making sure I didn't tumble out face first or trip. They escorted me across the parking lot to the stage nearby. The crowd was cheering for me as the first contestant. I didn't even know my name. When they had me on stage, I was extremely camera shy.
"We got our first contestant. Ms. Akiko Miyashita, the Ultimate Entertainment Instructor! Ms. Akiko, how excited are you to compete in this year's killing game?" the woman had the mic in front of my mouth. "Wait! I...I..." I couldn't speak.