Miki Miura shoots two rounds straight at me. Both miss – understandable considering the wound I inflicted upon her earlier. My bullet most definitely passed through her right scapula, and might have also damaged the clavicula. Regardless, it would render her right arm useless, as far as I am concerned. A revolver requires a lot of strength to be fired properly. By crippling Miura's scapula, I have made her unable to shoot, thus effectively eliminating her from the game. Lilly Satou and Hanako Ikezawa won't pose a threat either – Satou is unable to use any sort of firearm due to her blindness, and Ikezawa's ability to fire the pistol that had been assigned to her is arguable at best. Her psychological profile indicates severe psychological damage. Eliminating one of her companions in front of her should be enough to completely break her. One of the bullets I fired a few seconds ago passed directly through Suzu Suzuki's eye, killing her instantly. Luckily, this happened right in front of Ikezawa.
I quickly take cover and use the opportunity to reload my MAC-10 using a magazine from my pocket. Even though Miura's accuracy is now below average, it would still be wise to take cover, especially considering the lack of ammunition in my submachine gun. There is no reason for me to stand out in the open while reloading. Changing the magazine and loading the first bullet into the chamber takes no longer than four seconds. After that is done, I peek from my cover to examine the situation inside the house. As expected, Suzuki lies dead on the floor, and the three survivors have escaped. There is no cause for concern. Judging from the position of the house and their current emotional condition, I can guess what path they would take to escape the village.
I pick up the empty magazine from the ground and put it in my pocket, then glance over at my bag. It is too heavy to bring along right now, so I have no choice but to leave it there, despite the risk of losing it. I have another full magazine in my pocket, and even if I lose access to all of my boxes of ammo in the bag, I should still have plenty of bullets to win the game. And if I don't, my army knife is tied firmly to my belt. If it comes to it, I can use it to finish off any remaining survivors.
I briefly glance ahead to determine what path I should take in order to cut my targets off, then begin running forward. The route I'm taking is slightly longer than the one they're on, but if I'm fast enough, I should be able to catch them just before they exit the village. This will most likely catch them by surprise. I will use the opportunity to shoot them down, wasting one of the magazines, but also taking down three more contestants – an acceptable trade considering the amount of students left on the island.
With the MAC-10 firmly in my right hand, I take a sharp left turn and start running among the small houses. This architecture is unusual, even for Japan. I am not used to navigating in this environment, but managed to adapt quickly. I have always adapted. This is what my family has taught me, after all. I do not remember much about my father, but I can clearly recall him saying that "Survival means adaptation". He was talking about business, of course. That is what my family always spoke about. I do not blame them. The Harway Corporation is one of the largest companies in the world, and they are in charge of it. That would make me its only heir.
I have been prepared to bear this tremendous responsibility all my life. I was homeschooled for as long as I can remember. By the age of ten, I had already started learning Calculus. At thirteen, I was earning my own allowance on the stock market. And at fifteen, I mastered my seventh language. The maids working at my family's manor called me a "genius", but that is not accurate. Technically speaking, my IQ is below the level necessary to be a genius. I have surpassed my peers simply through a lot of hard work. I was learning something every single waking moment. It didn't matter what – physics, mathematics, history, biology, or a physical activity like marksmanship or martial arts. For as far as I can remember, there has not been a single moment in which I wasn't improving myself in some way.
I was kept isolated. The only people I have ever interacted with are my father, my uncle, the maids and my tutors. Sometimes, I have faint memories of people I do not recognize. I dream of faces that I have never seen before. But I know that they are simply illusions, shadows of a past life I may or may not have had. When I was little, I wished I could go back to that life. There, I felt a strange, indescribable warmth, unlike anything I had felt since. I felt love, affection and care. But it did not take long for me to forget what love actually feels like.
My father passed away when I was eight, from terminal stomach cancer. My uncle then became my guardian and began living at the manor. He's in charge of the Harway Corporation until I am old enough to take over. I was told my mother killed herself when I was three years old. I have never seen even a picture of her, so I do not know if her face is one of those I used to see when I closed my eyes. My father and uncle have never spoken about her, and I have never asked.
I wonder... Was this whole game organized to lead to my death? I would not place it above my uncle to try and kill me, thus seizing permanent control over the Harway Corporation. I thought it was a bit weird that, after eighteen years of isolation, he told me that I needed to start attending a normal school in order to acquire real-life communication skills. I never believed that was the real reason he wanted to send me away, though I did not suspect he would try to kill me either. After all, why would he wait so long to do it? And besides, me dying literally right before heading the company would have just seemed way too suspicious. If I were my uncle, I would have performed the assassination when the target was 13 or 14. The timing of their death would have seemed the least suspicious then.
There is another thing that makes me question his motive – if my uncle really wanted to kill me, why would he go to such lengths? He could have gassed the bus with nerve gas and thrown it overboard. No one would have found our bodies. When I first saw my classmates collapse all around me, this exact scenario came to mind. After all, this is what I would have done if I needed to take out a high-profile target that knows how to defend himself against assassins. The rest of the students would have been unfortunate collateral damage.
But someone actually went through the trouble of organizing a game like this, and from the looks of it, it seems unlikely that they were aiming for my death. If anything, I have the highest chance of survival among all of the students on the island. No, there is something else, going on, but what? Who might be behind it all? Whoever they are, they have a lot of spare resources. Securing the island, hiring soldiers that would shoot at defenseless students, procuring weapons and equipment for everyone, researching and developing the collars... There's also undoubtedly a hired staff that takes care of everything going on behind the scenes. All of that would amount to billions, if not trillions of yen. Then again... maybe I shouldn't be calculating in yen. The MAC-10 in my hand is American-made. Just like the Colt that Miura was using. In all probability, the culprit is American, very rich and very well connected. That describes the Harway Corporation quite well. But why? Why would my uncle do something like that?
Just as I'm wondering this, I suddenly feel sharp pain in my back. Incidentally, I was just about to catch up to the three runaways. I stop dead in my tracks and slowly move my hand and reach behind my back, pulling out the object sticking out and bringing it to my eyes. It's... a dart, like those used to sedate animals. But if I had to guess, I'd say that the tiny capsule within the dart is filled with some kind of poison, and not sedative. So, I have been poisoned... I wonder how long I have to live before that does me in. It does not matter right now. I pull my MAC-10 up and look behind me, searching for the source of the dart. At first, I don't see anything, but it doesn't take me long to track down the flash of a scope from a nearby roof.
It would be impossible for me to hit the sniper with my submachine gun. My best bet is to simply run. I know that, and I try to continue chasing after the three students, but my body won't listen. Instead of moving forward, it just stumbles around slowly before giving out under my weight and falling forward, completely paralyzed. Hmm, interesting... I did not know a quick-acting poison like that even existed. It looks like I don't have long to live at all. I'm not angry. I don't really feel anything, except maybe curiosity. I wonder who shot me... Was it Kenji Setou? Or perhaps Rika Katayama? Both of them would fit the psychological profile of a good sniper. But whoever they are, their skill wasn't the only factor of my defeat. I was careless. I rushed in without examining my surroundings properly.
In any case, it matters little now. I do not know if this was all an overly elaborate plan to have me killed, but if that's the case, then it has achieved its purpose. My body feels weird. Like the tingling sensation all over before I go to sleep. Is that what death feels like? It's a lot less painful than I imagined. It's a shame, really. I was hoping that I would finally be able to feel something, even if it was unbearable pain. The darkness consumes me. I can't see or hear anything. Well... I suppose there are some benefits to dying in peace as well.
STUDENT #6: LEO HARWAY – DEAD
5 REMAIN
