First game.

I still can't explain this place. Earlier we saw what looked like hell: does that mean we're dead?
So I assume we're in some kind of limbo. We need to redeem ourselves so we don't go to hell, but he didn't say there's a heaven.

Is that spirit Death? I'm too confused to think straight.

"If you want, you can call me Kami." said the ghost, passing through the wall surrounding me.

"Where have the others gone?" I asked, a little nervous, almost annoyed. With a snap of Kami's fingers, a screen appeared in front of me. It was an old cathode ray tube television, the pixels square and blurry like grains of sand. On the screen were the guys I was with before, and they were inside a room, a little creepy but normal.
The room was lit by a small, rotting wooden window, which revealed a monstrous amount of cobwebs hanging from the ceiling.

But no normal light was coming through the window; it was the same light from the hell we'd been in before. There was a lot of old cherry wood furniture.

"It's time to get the party started!" Kami said, snapping his fingers.
Kaito and the others suddenly changed appearance. Their new appearance was familiar.

My brain was on the verge of exploding; I clutched my head and began to remember.
Sora wasn't just any kid. His tender hand in mine during afternoons at the park. He was my little brother. The smell of Isabella's hair wasn't a hallucination; she was my girlfriend. The other two boys, on the other hand, were my best friends. I couldn't have forgotten them overnight. What's wrong with me?
Kami had manipulated my mind. But those memories... were they really mine? Or were they just lies sewn onto me like a dress of flesh?
Do I really know those people? Are they really my friends and family?

"Now everyone's ready for the first game." Kami seemed proud of his work, like a child showing his parents his homework.

"W-what did you do to me?" I asked, swallowing.

"Hehehe, don't mind. Now, observe the people you care about most in this house of horror. The goal is simple: escape, but only when Sora has repented of his sins." Kami explained, chuckling. What sins could a child have?

Will the others be able to get through this game? Does Sora know he has to regret it?
From the 90s-era screen, I could clearly see their fear, especially Sora. He wasn't crying like before, he seemed a hundred times more terrified. But with his mouth gone he certainly couldn't.

The door in front of them opened, but they remained still. Kaito stood in front of it, turning to the others.

"I think this is an escape room. Let's stay calm and close to each other." His words were very reassuring, like those of a mother talking to her child.
Keeping calm in a situation like this was almost inhuman, I thought.
Kami then showed me the floor plan of the house. It was huge and full of traps marked with red crosses with detailed descriptions of how each one worked.
Just outside the room was a huge axe, ready to be activated as soon as anyone moved. The laser sensors are just outside the door. When anyone walks through the doorframe, the mechanism will activate, slicing to pieces anyone in the way. Trivial but effective.

"Don't go out the door!" I shouted, but no one heard me.Kami shook her index finger.

"No one will hear you. Like I said, you just have to watch. Simple, right?" The casual sentence left me speechless; I was forced to watch my loved ones die without being able to do anything.

"Let's line up against the wall." Kaito ordered calmly, as if he were used to these bizarre situations.
The others followed him without objection, except Isabella, who stood there, huffing.
She crossed her arms over her chest, letting out a sigh of contempt.

"Why should I listen to you?"
Everyone turned to her, perplexed, as if she had said something absurd.

"Do we have any other choice, do you think?" asked the tattooed boy.

"I don't even know your name," Isabella replied.

"Sorry, little princess. My name is Ryu, okay?" The tattooed boy finally spoke, his voice hoarse, which explained why he hadn't spoken yet. A sore throat was the cause of his silence.

Kaito, who was at the front of the line, moved to the center of the room next to Isabella.

"I'm trying my best to get out of this situation. Would you mind helping us? We're all as scared as you are. Believe me, my hands are still shaking with fear." Kaito's words were those of a frightened but hopeful person.
Rolling her eyes, Isabella joined the line, and together they moved, holding onto the wall. The cold sound of the metal pin holding the axe in place echoed in the corridor ahead of them. As expected, the mechanism activated, and the axe slashed through the air.
Isabella screamed and Kaito clung to the wall with all his strength, nearly breaking his nails. Ryu was speechless. For the first time, I saw fear in his eyes. Poor Sora, speechless, could only cry in despair.
The axe, having completely missed its target, came loose from its supports and fell to the ground, making a hole in the wooden floor.
Everyone gathered to see the hole and what was hidden beneath them.
On the screen, as I watched intently with wide eyes, I saw, out of the corner of my eye, a human figure running from one room to another.
My heart leaped into my throat, but with no way to warn them, I remained silent.

"Let's continue." Kaito said, turning toward the corridor.
Perhaps he, too, realized they had company.
Then a shrill, animalistic scream broke the silence. Behind them in the room, a spider the size of an adult pig lowered itself from the ceiling. Numerous smaller spiders began to sprout from the walls; there were so many that some fell like dead weights.
Everyone started running. Sora, however, remained still, petrified with fear.
Isabella, on the other hand, tried to fight them off with a broom that was nearby.
She tried to fight them off, but her clumsy movements only created confusion.
The spider came face-to-face with Isabella, but bent down to get a good look at Sora.
The thousand red eyes scanned Sora's tiny body carefully.
I had to do something. Scream. Break the screen. Pluck out my eyes so I wouldn't see. But Kami was right: I was just a spectator.

Then the monster stretched out one of its eight little legs toward the poor, defenseless child, but at that moment, an unexpected heroic gesture from Ryu: He picked up a piece of furniture and threw it at the spider. Its strength was not to be underestimated; it could be vital, but it could also injure. A double-edged sword.
Then he ran toward Sora and Isabella, picked them up on his shoulders, and ran as fast as he could toward the end of the corridor where Kaito was waiting in disbelief.
The tattoo on Ryu's shoulder seemed to come to life; I'm sure I saw it wag its tail. It looked like that tattoo was about to fall out of his arm.
Ryu passed the doorframe at the end of the corridor, and Kaito closed the door.
The spider didn't have time and slammed his face against the door.
The immense impact bent the door. With a little more force, it would surely have broken through the door.

With a *flick*, the monitor changed frame, showing the stairs.

"I-is there something I can do?" I asked, my eyes wide.
Kami thought for a moment and then said to me.

"Yeah, I almost forgot, you can do something!"
The ghost pulled a remote control with various buttons from behind his back.

"This remote controls the traps, you can deactivate them whenever you want." the spirit explained, chuckling.
There's probably something he didn't tell me. Maybe it doesn't deactivate them, but activates them, or you need a secret code to deactivate them.

"I don't trust you, tell me what this remote does," I said confidently.

"Hehehe. Don't worry, I'm telling you the truth."
The next trap is on the stairs; they'll become a slippery ramp that will send everyone falling into the cliff.

Meanwhile, Kaito was reassuring the others; once calm was restored, they continued on.
As soon as everyone was on a step, the trap was activated.
Everyone fell to the floor and slid down. After a moment's hesitation, I pressed the button indicating the stair trap.
The stairs returned to normal, but something was off.
I smelled an unfamiliar odor and the sound of dripping water.

I turned toward the sound to see what it was. I saw that my index finger on my left hand was torn off. In the pool of blood below me, I found a lifeless piece of flesh.I bent down and picked it up. I couldn't let go. I felt like vomiting, my head felt heavy, and the nausea was making me collapse to the ground.
I tried to catch my breath, but the air around me was becoming solid.

My heart began to beat faster and faster, but my movements slowed.
I vomited. My regurgitation mixed with the blood, forming one.
The spirit approached me and pointed to my vomit. Then, with a snap of its fingers, the ghost brought the vomit on the ground to life. The vomit became earth, and the blood transformed into little people. With another gesture of Kami, the newly created ecosystem sped up, and houses, buildings, and farms appeared.
What does all this mean?

"Your suffering gives life. Isn't it wonderful?" the spirit explained enthusiastically, looking into my eyes.
Did he drug me? Not that this situation was normal to begin with.
Maybe this is all just a dream. I have to wake up as soon as possible, I can't stand another moment in this imaginary world!

"You're not dreaming, Issei," the ghost told me. It was the second time he'd read my mind, and I don't like that at all.
I didn't feel anything, and I still don't feel anything. The pain didn't reach my brain; my finger simply fell off.

My body, however, was shaking. Cold? Fear? Shock.

"Next time, though, it won't be so easy. You'll have to tear off your finger all by yourself. Do you understand?" the spirit asked playfully.
He's probably enjoying watching me suffer.

"Y-you're kidding, right?!" I said in disbelief.
I was about to go crazy, but Kami grabbed my hand and changed her appearance to Isabella.

"Don't worry, I'm here with you." His tender voice, his charming appearance, even his scent. A tear fell as if trying to escape my eyes.
After taking my hand, he massaged the spot where my finger was missing.
As if by magic, my finger began to grow back. Had he treated me only to see me suffer continuously?

I felt like I'd already seen this scene in one of the mangas I kept in my room; I missed it so much right now.
It was all so real, but under that purple dress, it was Kami, not my girlfriend! Another tear rolled down my face. I pushed back the spirit's transformed body, almost disgusted. I didn't look at him anymore, just staring at the floor.
Then I heard a familiar scream from the monitor.

"W-what's going on?!" the real Isabella shouted.
I turned to the screen and saw everyone safe and sound on the creaking stairs.
Kaito was clutching his head, which he'd probably hit when the trap went off.

"Now that I think about it, isn't anyone missing?" Kaito asked, rubbing his forehead.

They'd finally noticed I was missing.

"Issei's missing! Where could he have gone? I don't remember seeing him after we were transported here." he continued calmly, as if I wasn't important.
They stared at each other, as if they were talking through their minds.

"Are you saying it's all his fault?" Isabella continued, incredulous but also angry.
She thinks I was the one who threw them into that house full of traps. My heart broke. How can she say such things so calmly. I'm her boyfriend...
The reasoning wasn't wrong, but I hoped she'd support me. Instead, she's the kind of person who throws me away at the first opportunity.
Everyone must think I'm a traitor, and I can't do anything about it.
The room was absolutely silent, only the sound of the CRT television, a continuous white noise, could be heard. That sound made the room even quieter. Without that white noise, the room would have become noisy; the voices in my head could be heard, and that scared me.
The silence then broke, and Kaito spoke again.

"Isabella, that's not necessarily true. It's possible the spirit has decided Issei doesn't deserve a second chance. He could be dead already." His ever-hopeful words had faded into thin air. I was happy that he hadn't labeled me the bad guy, but I was still the bad guy who should go to hell.
The situation hadn't improved. Everywhere you looked, I was the bad guy.

"I say we keep going. I don't want to stay in here any longer." Ryu spoke, but his voice came out in a rasping gasp, as if every word was tearing his throat.
Ryu didn't care about me at all. He just wanted to get out of this place.
Throughout all this, little Sora remained still, clinging to the handrail posts.

He seemed lifeless, and perhaps he was. They also noticed Sora, looked at him, and Kaito even bent down to touch him, like someone touching a dead animal with a stick to ensure its death.
Then, Kaito turned to the others and signaled that Sora had left them.
Dying from hitting his head. A miserable death. A stupid death.
Breathless, I approached the monitor to get a better look at Sora's lifeless little body.
Even after stopping the trap by losing a finger, I still failed my mission. I couldn't save them all. My efforts were in vain.
As if nothing had happened, the others descended the stairs, leaving Sora's corpse where it lay.
As I descended the stairs, I asked Kami to change the shot, but he refused. I was forced to watch my little brother dead body for eternity.

"Look carefully." the spirit said gently, almost to comfort me.

I watched for a few minutes; Sora's body remained still.Then, however, I saw a finger move. A deep breath came out of his nose.
My brother was still alive. He stretched and calmly got to his feet.

"You see, he's not dead yet." Kami smiled like a serial killer who enjoys dismembering his victims. What does he mean by *Not yet?*
Then the shot changed; the others had moved quite far away by now.
They were in a very long, dark corridor. They could only proceed by relying on touch.
I checked the house plant. That hallway was full of traps.

Wide-eyed, I stared at Kami, who was hovering above me with his hands behind his head, as if he were about to sleep.
Then he turned to me, doing a somersault in the air.

"Is there a problem, Issei? If you have any questions, just ask." he said.But I remained silent.

I didn't have any questions to ask him. I was just scared of having to hurt myself to save my friends.

The next trap was a remote-activated trapdoor. This meant Kami had control over that trap.
I grabbed the remote and looked for the button that indicated that trap. As soon as I found it, I looked around, as if someone was watching me do something illegal.
I tried to press the button but I stopped; I couldn't press the button after waht I saw. My friends kept getting closer and closer. I didn't know what to do.
The right thing to do was obviously to press the button, but I'm not sure what I want to do.
They all landed perfectly above the trapdoor, which was as wide as the corridor and long enough to knock down a lined-up soccer team.

Kami snapped his fingers, and the trapdoor opened, but at that moment, I decided to press the button.

The trapdoor closed immediately, and everyone was safe, yet Isabella screamed in pain.
She was still clinging to the wall, using all her strength to keep herself flat.
Isabella's constant screams grew worse; she seemed to be trying to break through the brick wall.
Her foot was crushed between the wall and the floor. It was almost completely severed, but a small part was still attached, where there was a small deformation in the floor. The incessant screams of pain multiplied in my head.

Why did I hesitate? I had to press the button, they are my friends. But I hesitated.
Anyone who talks behind someone's back is nothing new. Yet I didn't accept it; this tantrum of mine brought excruciating pain to the person I love.
At an already dire moment, another trap was activated: the rolling rock, a classic.

From the previous flight of stairs, a door opened, and the rock emerged and bounced off the steps, destroying them in the process.
The rolling boulder headed toward my friends. Ryu was ready to save the day again, but Isabella, who, as sweet as I could see, grabbed his leg and snapped off the last remaining piece of his foot.
She fell to the ground, screaming at the top of her lungs. Kaito and Ryu picked her up and walked slowly toward a nearby door.

The boulder was about to hit them full-on, but with a calculated leap, they dived into the room, saving their lives.

"What the hell happened?! A malfunctioning trap?!" Isabella shouted angrily.
They don't know what situation I'm in. I hope their opinions of me have changed for the better.
I'm not the bad guy!
Then I realized I had deactivated a trap, yet I hadn't been injured.
Meanwhile, Kami made a metal cabinet appear.
Rummaging through a drawer, he pulled out a huge hammer, knocking him off balance.

Was that my punishment?!
My teeth chattered, and I threw myself backward against the brick wall to get as far away from the spirit as possible. As soon as it regained its balance, it turned to me, smiling.

"Issei, don't forget about the punishment." he said with a sneer.
I felt my stomach twist and my throat tighten.
I wasn't ready for the punishment, not now, not ever!
The candle in the center had long since burned out, and the room was completely dark except for the light from the monitor.

In this darkness, I could see Kami's eyes staring at me, while the metal hammer reflected the light from the television.
I tried to stay as far away as possible, but even though Kami wasn't moving, I was getting closer to him. The room was changing shape; it was shrinking.
The room continued to shrink until it was just him and me, plus the television.
Kami lunged at me with impressive speed. He grabbed my hand and smashed it to the ground, then, with a smile that touched his eyes, he took a run-up, and then I heard the sound of bones breaking, the slimy sound of flesh being flattened and the concrete cracking beneath.
He hadn't just taken a finger like before, but the entire hand.
The pain this time was present and inhuman. Something horrible, unspeakable. I screamed so loudly that my vocal cords broke. No more screams escaped my lips, only shrill *iih*.
The pain wasn't just on impact, but also afterward. The pain was persistent and excruciating.
Kami seemed happy, and before letting go of my wrist, he decided to give me two more blows.
My hand was gone, just a mass of bloody flesh.

Like before, I vomited and never stopped. I felt so weak, so tired. The spirit finally gave me my arm back, but I remained immobile. I couldn't move.
I was physically and psychologically destroyed. The pain continued to pervade me, it felt like I was being beaten with a nail-studded club by at least three people at once. During all this, I stopped breathing. I was about to pass out from lack of oxygen. After a few moments I started breathing again but with difficulty. The pounding of my heart hurt; I wanted to give up. I coughed and then vomited again. I was completely destroyed, ready to be thrown in the trash.

First he told me that I should cut off my finger myself and instead he decided to break my hand against my will.