Chapter 0: The Disappearance of Kanae Inomoto

It's raining again today. It's been raining all week, so it shouldn't have come as a surprise. Still, seeing the droplets fall from outside the train window made for a particularly gloomy atmosphere. I wonder if it'll ever let up? Perhaps it will continue to rain until the oceans flood the world. Who could say? After all, the weatherman this morning said it was going to be the first sunny day in weeks - if you couldn't trust so-called experts, then who could you trust?

I sighed. My thoughts were becoming more and more incomprehensible. I was alone in this train compartment with nothing but my thoughts and the countryside rolling past me to keep me company. The tea in front of me was getting cold. I've been stirring it for a while now absentmindedly. Did I even add anything to the tea, or was it just some strange compulsion? Now that I think about it, did I even want tea in the first place?

No… my mind is getting all jumbled up again. I need to gather my thoughts before I lose my mind completely. The reason why I'm here in the first place… Ah yes. My eyes immediately drifted towards the letter that I had placed on the top of the table. I had read it countless times already, enough that I could recite the contents from memory.

Dearest Kanae Inomoto,

As an esteemed graduate of Hope's Peak Academy, we are hereby inviting you to attend the 47th annual gathering at the Prometheus Manor. As you may know, this gathering is a celebration of the accomplishments of our alumni - and you, as the Ultimate Idol, have been specially invited for your recent achievements in your field.

The rest of the letter was irrelevant to me. The first paragraph had all the information that I needed. The gist of it was that there was a party in Prometheus Manor - from what I understood, the manor in question was a mansion in the Spanish countryside built for the former headmaster of the Spanish branch of Hope's Peak. They held this celebration every year or so, although the reasons for it were always a bit nebulous to me. The wording seems a bit too "grand" to be just some party, but social gatherings were never my strong suit so I couldn't say either way.

And then there was the person the letter was addressed to. Kanae Inomoto, the Ultimate Idol. I suppose it wasn't too surprising at first glance. Eternity has already reached record profits within the first few years of its formation - it wasn't a surprise that Hope's Peak would jump at the chance to capitalize on that sort of reputation.

And yet… something was off. No, there was something blatantly wrong with this situation. I didn't even know why I decided to come in the first place. I felt like a mouse just wandering right up to a mousetrap, mere moments away from being clamped down on.

My hand was shaking. I took a deep breath and steadied myself. I had to remain calm. Kanae Inomoto must always be cool and collected. That was who she was. Kanae Inomoto, the ice queen. Kanae Inomoto, the Ultimate Idol. Yeah… that's who I am. If only my sister could see me now, what would she say? She'd probably say something like, "God, you're such an idiot." Yeah, I can hear her voice in my head right now, clear as day. She wouldn't be wrong, of course - she never was, as much as I hated to admit it.

And yet, she was the only reason I was on this train, in a totally foreign country. She's still causing problems for me, even now.

Suddenly, the lights shut off. It all happened in a split second - perhaps some sort of blackout? That by itself wasn't unusual. But a few moments after the lights had gone out, the compartment was filled with a dim blue light. Perhaps a back-up light source in case of a black out? I tried to put it out of my mind, settling on my blackout theory. I've already been paranoid enough as is - if I started fretting over every single complication, I'd be out of my goddamn mind before I ever got to the manor.

I leaned back against my seat, closing my eyes. The darkness provided a good excuse to get some shut-eye. It's only been a few hours since I've boarded this train, so a couple of hours of sleep wouldn't hurt. I haven't slept particularly well in the past few days… or weeks really, and the exhaustion has finally started to catch up. Someone my age shouldn't be suffering from this much back pain…

Slowly but surely, I drifted off to sleep.

I awoke to the sound of a J-pop song blaring right next to me. I recognized the song immediately - it was one of Eternity's most popular songs, and more importantly, it was my ringtone. I rubbed my eyes, trying to rid myself of the lingering exhaustion. How long had I been out anyway? I tried looking out the window but all I could see was darkness. Perhaps we were traveling through a tunnel or something.

I fished out the phone from my purse. "Unknown number…?" I mumbled to myself, glancing over the screen. "Who could be calling me now?"

Curiosity getting the best of me, I swiped to accept the call. "Hello? Who is this?"

Nobody answered. All I could hear on the other end was the sound of someone breathing heavily. "H-hello? Is anyone there?" I repeated, a little bit of apprehension slipping into my voice. More likely than not, this was probably some person who just accidentally dialed this number. At this point in my life, I had grown used to stories about creepy phone calls - enough that I knew most of them were just complete bull.

"Your greatest desire… is within your grasp. What are you willing to sacrifice to attain it?"

Just as I was about to hang up, a stranger's voice spoke. It was a man's voice, deep and distorted by… something. I felt a chill run down my spine. This… was a joke, right? Or some strange marketing scheme for an anime or a manga, something along those lines. I've heard about those creepy ARG type marketing campaigns - this totally must be something like that, I rationalized to myself.

Before I could say anything else, the caller hung up. That was certainly bizarre. I couldn't help shake the feeling that there was something dangerous about that voice… No, it was just a prank call. That's all it was. I can't get lost in my paranoia again. Everything is fine. Everything is going to be okay.

Everything is… fine. Everything…

What's going on? Where did all this white smoke come from? The vents… it's coming from the vents! The entire compartment was slowly filling up with this white haze… I can barely breathe… my head feels like it's on fire.

I gather all my strength and reach towards the compartment door, only for it to not even budge. I struggle with all of my fading strength, but it's no use. It won't open. I try to scream for help, but nothing comes out. The more I struggle, the more I feel my strength drain.

My vision becomes blurry. The compartment in front of me fades away, being replaced with blurry, incomprehensible shapes and blurs of color.

I keep pushing and pulling at the door, to no avail. My arms have given up on cooperating anymore, and not long after, the rest of my body follows suit. I collapse, my body slipping from the seat and onto the floor. As I lay there on the carpeted floor, the last remnants of my consciousness slowly fade away.

Everything is quiet now.

A/N: Hello! I've been here lurking around the SYOC scene for... what? Half a decade now? Maybe even more than that, holy hell. I thought I moved on from this stuff, leaving it behind in my childhood memories... until my good friend Zealous Thaumaturge started up their own SYOC one day. I guess I felt kinda inspired to give it my own shot once again, XD.

The concept of this game is a bit familiar - the twist being that the mascot of this game is in fact, a demon. A real, damn demon. And of course, the demon has a proposal for all the participants - if you sacrifice the lives of everyone else trapped in the manor, he will grant your greatest desire. Pretty tempting, no? Ah but don't worry - despite the supernatural nature of the game, the murders still play by the same rules as you're used to. Characters can solve brutal murders without having to factor in the existence of dark magic :3 However, that isn't to say that the manor they've been trapped in is completely normal...

If you're interested in submitting a character, the form and rules are all located in my profile! You can also find a running list of all the submitted characters so far, so check that out if you're curious! There are a total of eighteen spots in the roster - and the tentative deadline for submissions right now is AUGUST 4TH (you can request an extension at anytime, as stated in the rules). That being said, have fun! Enjoy your ordinary, hopefully murder-free lives :3