Welcome to the Game

Ryo breathed, widening his grin as he liked a tiddy post and scrolled upward to ogle a pair of asscheeks. He licked his lips, moving his face closer as he scooched deeper into his bed. Then, he moved on.

Minutes passed by.

The coldness blown by the near-midnight air crept up his feet. Ryo clicked his tongue. The fucking window was left open again. But then again, that was good to know. He was about to rub one out. But later. That should be done later. He was in dire need of some great material. He curled into a ball and shifted his body to the other side.

Ryo got to the next post. He sucked his teeth, his brows narrowing. And as though it was second nature, his brain flared and burned all of its juices for him to type in a comment weaved by the gods themselves. He called someone a furry for being too happy that Zootopia had a sequel.

But he paused right before sending it into the wild.

Was it remorse? Guilt? Mercy? No. It was just that the darkness that blanketed his room seemed closer, more defined—whatever that meant. Was it a ghost? Nah, it shouldn’t be. Ghosts didn’t exist. But if they did… hoooh boy. He would really like the chance to feel some ghostly tiddies. But really. There was just a sound that Ryo knew he could hear, but at the same time didn’t.

Anyway—he focused on the challenge before him. It was ideal to demolish a stranger with words with no grammatical errors or typos. The fan beside him stirred, cheering him on. Yeah. He had to do it. The thought of seeing a number of strangers witness how he mauled this furry fuck compelled him even more. AND imagine all the likes he would get. He could get two or three. Imagine. He could get even five and become a top dog, a master debater.

Then again…

Ryo chuckled and pressed home to check the last meme he posted. And nothing. No likes. No comments. No shares. These tasteless fuckers. He took a deep breath, noticing the bit of struggle to fill his lungs with air. He scratched his shoulder, the back of his head, his ass. His body seemed so eager for him to pay attention to something.

BUT LOOK. A video of a child gloriously taking a swan dive into the cold, hard concrete. Haha. Funny. And right… now that the moment had passed, he no longer felt the fun at the thought of smiting those furry fucks. He had a better thought. Ryo could just leave them to the wolves—society. Though some of them might like the thought of getting jumped by wolves.

And again, this sudden itch in need of scratching made itself even more known to him.

Ryo’s brows relaxed. His body found it necessary to stretch his limbs to the fullest; he needed his blood to circulate to better practice his craft. A gremlin’s snicker escaped his lips. He shrimped once more. And yes, tracing the outline of his teeth was necessary as he moved from Facebook and backpedaled into Incognito. There, he popped a hot, silent breath and typed in the magic words.

Ryo was a goddamn wizard. For sure. He had been cultivating this technique, this knowledge, ever since he saw that one video of a man and a woman passionately kissing in a net cafe once. The computer had been left unattended as its user was counting coins at the counter. Ryo could only imagine how it sounded. But remembering this vibrant memory made him aware of his life energy tensing his legs and lower waist to make a small, rock-hard hill under the blankets. Ryo shivered with anticipation as the site continued to load.

Ryo… took a deep breath through his nose, letting his body burn bright with desire as he pressed his forehead against the top of his phone. He could never be denied anymore. Fuck those furry fucks. Fuck his tasteless followers. The window was open. Fuck that too. Let the people hear what they have to hear, which would be the sound of him dry-beating his flesh with a 1/4 rhythm.

The site had loaded. Ryo clicked the first video; he didn’t even get to comprehend what it was. His hand slithered under the covers, inside his shorts, his briefs, and…

There was a fucking ad that he couldn’t skip.

“What…”

It was supposed to be a reminder of how thirsty the moms were in the area. The ad should be closed… skipped… or anything, really. But there was no button. Did he really need to click the link? Fuck. It was a guarantee that it would take him to a betting site again. That or some fucking website where he needed to pay to see naked women with big badonkers bounce on top of big black dudes.

And now he was limp. Perfect. Ryo turned to rest his back on the bed, grimacing at the sad tent made by his little friend he failed to help spit.

The night sky greeted him. And right now, the heavens bore no stars. There was a bit of smoke, probably from the neighbors selling grilled innards to late-night riders again. His room was just… dark. To a weirder extent. The metallic whirs of his fan clogged his brain. The dogs weren’t barking. Very unusual. The chickens didn’t cluck either. Right now, there was nothing to hate. There was nothing to blame. Reality… felt a little too bleak right now.

Ryo turned back to his phone. He could just get it up again, anyway.

But the ad. It changed. Ryo couldn’t remember what it was in the first place, but it was definitely not a black and red text box neatly covering a nice pair of tiddies. It also asked him…

[What’s on your mind?]

And now even the background was gone. Ryo adjusted his head on the pillow. Did his phone break? He couldn’t lock his screen. He couldn’t force the stupid thing to shut down, either. Clicking the box below the question would just bring the keyboard up. What kind of ad was this?

But his little friend. His desire. He had to get out of here to go about his business.

Fine. He’d play this stupid ad’s game. He summoned the keyboard and entered “Phat Tiddies,” but he went back and entered “Cabbages” to be polite.

[Please enter two command codes]

This was pushing it. His words weren’t wording, either. He wanted to put “bob” and “vegana,” almost resigning to “yeet” and “poggers.” But that would be too dumb. Maybe he could put something cabbage-related? He couldn’t even go back to the first question anymore, so he was stuck with cabbage. And what do cabbages do?

Well, his mom sells vegetables. What did his mom do with them? Ryo cupped his chin, sucking his teeth. She shreds it, cuts it… bags it? But what would be cool?

Ryo typed in the words “Chop” and “Patch.”

The ad asked him if he was sure, and Ryo tapped the “OK” button again and again until a small red circle showed up on his phone. He waited. Nothing was happening. He scratched his thigh, groaning.

He still couldn't rub himself off. What kind of stupid shit was this? Their internet was acting up to make things even better, too. Maybe he could stand up, scream, and throw his phone against a wall. Maybe that would teach his mom to get him a better phone or a better internet service provider. That was appropriate.

Ryo jumped to his feet, fixed his boxers to choke an awful bulge in his crotch, and poised himself to slam the stupid phone. He was prepared to scream, too… but his phone vibrated with a high-pitched sting that snapped everything to black.

Ryo woke up on his bed, gasping, bathing in cold sweat, and with the feeling that he had just been run over by a bus. His desire had completely fizzled out. Bitch. Worse, the phone was still in his hand. Wait no, that wasn’t worse. The worst was how his mouth felt like he’d French-kissed a handful of burning sand, his heart feeling like that of an obese man forced to do cardio after stuffing himself with pizza. TO MAKE IT EVEN WORSE—his phone still had that red screen. BUT GET THIS… this time… instead of boobs and asses… it just showed…

“…Matsuda Nori, Mihara Yoshie, Shibata Masaaki… Jane Montefalco, Nakai Kaoru… Matsuo Teruko, Shimamoto Hiroyuki, Enomoto Teruo, Matsuno Nobuko, Handa Akiko… Juan Montefalco… Seta Kichirou, Sugihara Hisashi, Umemoto Sakura…”

Names. Ryo wiped his sweat. He knew some of these people.

No porn site would ever consider getting your real name and the names of the people in your area for everyone to see. At least not in this way. Because if that was the case, then Yoshie—err, Mihara… Ryo shook his head. In any case. Everything still seemed normal. But not really. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. The things he felt in his room before weren't there anymore. They were just replaced by this… general weirdness that made him feel like he should run from this place and go far, far away.

Ryo went down the stairs to get to the living room. His mother was supposed to be here, cooking dinner or some food that she would sell tomorrow morning along with her veggies, but she was gone. There was no reason for her to be gone.

Ryo gazed back at his broken phone, his chest eating itself in confusion as the list continued to pile up with names. There was also a reminder for him to check the welcome note and the profile tab located at the top right of the screen. He scoffed. This was turning out to be a terrible prank video, and Mihara was in it too, probably.

The door was left open. It was as if his mom had taken the dogs, the cats, and the sniveling rats with her. Bitch. Ryo steeled himself with a deep breath. First, he had to get a new phone; he had to get one one way or another. The second was better internet. But to do all that… he had to go outside, which was no problem, really. Besides, his mom should be out there.

Carrying that courage in his heart, he ran upstairs in a bit of a panic, whimpering in the darkness until he could put on his dark blue pants and a deep orange hoodie—his go-to uniform. He picked up the keys from the dining table so he could lock the doors behind him and headed out in his rubber shoes. That was until he realized how cold it was, so he had to go back and get his blue bonnet.

There were even more names now. Ryo was also given a number—69. A stupid joke, but he chuckled at the thought. He refused to check what the phone was telling him to check. Stupid phone. As if it could order him around.

So there was no party. No other surprises either. Everything was just… very empty. There should at least be a few drunkards walking around or some teenagers smoking with their friends. No one was here, except the overgrowth of houses that traced the tight road before him like bugs on a rotting vine.

Ryo had to give it to them. His lips slowly curled into a smile. It would take a lot to pull off this kind of prank. But they did it. The bastards did it. His fingers tensed. His legs felt like running. He had never noticed the number of tilted lamps lighting the paths around their home. Now he was even more aware of it, especially how they seemed to make their surroundings darker with their deathly, flickering glow.

And again, it was not like his mom would be willing to prank him. Not him. Not her "good son." It was not even his birthday.

But if no one was around…

Ryo welcomed himself into the cold and wet, hotdog-smelling convenience store a few minutes later. As he expected, this place was deserted too. He shrugged at its sheer emptiness. It was not his responsibility to guard these tasty treats, but it was his duty as a kind citizen to display what would happen if the staff suddenly disappeared.

Ryo got himself a hotdog sandwich. He kept his vigilance while he did, but no one came to stop him. And thank the gods that this store didn’t have CCTV cameras. Feeling the power of the kind citizen running through his veins, he allowed himself to overuse the ketchup and mustard packets behind the counter. He really was planning to pay after proving his point earlier, but it looked like he didn’t have to.

Were others also experiencing the same thing? Or was it just him? Ryo sat on the counter to assert his dominance and placed the phone beside him. For the hotdog… he took large bites, filling his mouth with the taste of wet cardboard and the sourness of tomato ketchup and mustard. The experience made him squirm, but his jaws locked the moment the list on his phone stopped piling.

“Welcome to the Game…” Ryo read the text on the screen with a full mouth. He raised his brow. “Eliminate all the other players to attain your wish. You can check your ability on your profile tab—What a load of bullshit.”

Ryo scoffed and took another bite. Like he thought about earlier, no one would ever believe or do what their phones ask them to do.

Now, he wanted a drink. Ryo walked to the smoothie machine and his phone vibrated. He checked it out of instinct and he froze, thinning his lips. He almost dropped his hotdog, but he caught it. This was really turning out to be a terrible, terrible prank video. Fucking Mr. Beast.

Only 98 other players remain.

Matsuda Nori apparently crushed Enomoto Teruo's skull with a frying pan.