Battle Royale

"You're a foreigner?"

"Y-yes." I stuttered as I try to answer.

"I see." He turned back to the co-owner and gave him a serious look.

"I understand." The co-owner seemed to understand what his gaze meant as he grabbed another contract from underneath. The man grabbed the pen and quickly signed the contract without reading it.

"Pleasure doing business with you again, Carter-san." When the man finished, The co-owner reached out his hand offering a handshake.

"Likewise, Mikal." The man, apparently named Carter-san, gave a response and didn't bother to reach out his hand to the co-owner, Mikal-san.

Mikal-san, seemingly disappointed, being left hanging, just closed his eyes, accepting what had happened, and brought down his hand. Carter-san turned around, wanting to leave. Just as he was about to start walking, he turned his attention back to me. Another sweat dropped down my right cheek. Is something wrong with me?

"Good luck newbie. Try not to die." He said those words and left the building. Phew, what a relief. I thought he was gonna do something again but he just said some encouraging words before walking out. I decided to ask Mikal-san about the man.

"Umm, Mikal san, if you don't mind me asking, who was that man?"

"Ah, yes. Firstly, allow me to apologize for not introducing myself." Mikal-san bowed as a sign of apologizing.

"My name is Mikal Charles. As you can see by the small pin, I am a co-owner of the Casino Royale." The small silver pin had a symbol of a red heart. So that's what they were, huh?

"The man you just met was Johnny Carter, a regular competitor of the Royale Crush, he has won many times and is certainly one of the strongest players here." Mikal-san continued.

Johnny Carter, huh? The name didn't ring any bells in my head. If he was that strong, why haven't heard of him?

"Hmph, I bet he's all show." Just then, a muscular man with black spiky hair, wearing a white tank top, was claiming that Johnny Carter was just pretending to be tough.

"Please don't underestimate him. You'll regret it." Mikal-san warned the man not to mess with him. In my mind, agree with Mikal-san. Just from his gaze, I can tell he meant business. The look coming from those eyes could kill a man.

"Hmph, we'll see about that tomorrow." The man said and left the building. Well, that was a weird chain of events. Which reminds me, the battle royale is still tomorrow, and I had no place to sleep in for the night. I decided to ask Mikal-san if he knows anything.

"Umm, Mikal-san can I ask you something?""You're a foreigner?"

"Y-yes." I stuttered as I try to answer.

"I see." He turned back to the co-owner and gave him a serious look.

"I understand." The co-owner seemed to understand what his gaze meant as he grabbed another contract from underneath. The man grabbed the pen and quickly signed the contract without reading it.

"Pleasure doing business with you again, Carter-san." When the man finished, The co-owner reached out his hand offering a handshake.

"Likewise, Mikal." The man, apparently named Carter-san, simply gave a response and didn't bother to reach out his hand to the co-owner, Mikal-san.

Mikal-san, seemingly disappointed, being left hanging, just closed his eyes, accepting what had happened, and brought down his hand. Carter-san turned around, wanting to leave. Just as he was about to start walking, he turned his attention back to me. Another sweat dropped down my right cheek. Is something wrong with me?

"Good luck newbie. Try not to die." He said those words and left the building. Phew, what a relief. I thought he was gonna do something again but he just said some encouraging words before walking out. I decided to ask Mikal-san about the man.

"Umm, Mikal san, if you don't mind me asking, who was that man?"

"Ah, yes. Firstly, allow me to apologize for not introducing myself." Mikal-san bowed as a sign of apologizing.

"My name is Mikal Charles. As you can see by the small pin, I am a co-owner of the Casino Royale." The small silver pin had a symbol of a red heart. So that's what they were, huh?

"The man you just met was Johnny Carter, a regular competitor of the Royale Crush, he has won many times and is certainly one of the strongest players here." Mikal-san continued.

Johnny Carter, huh? The name didn't ring any bells in my head. If he was that strong, why haven't heard of him?

"Hmph, I bet he's all show." Just then, a muscular man with black spiky hair, wearing a white tank top, was claiming that Johnny Carter was just pretending to be tough.

"Please don't underestimate him. You'll regret it." Mikal-san warned the man not to mess with him. In my mind, agree with Mikal-san. Just from his gaze, I can tell he meant business. The look coming from those eyes could kill a man.

"Hmph, we'll see about that tomorrow." The man said and left the building. Well, that was a weird chain of events. Which reminds me, the battle royale is still tomorrow, and I had no place to sleep in for the night. I decided to ask Mikal-san if he knows anything.

"Umm, Mikal-san can I ask you something?"

"Yes, Judan-san?"

"Do you know a place I can stay for the night?'

"Yes. In fact, we have a place for contestants like you." 

Alright! It was a good idea to ask him.

"A place for contestants?"

"Yes. Right beside this building is an apartment owned by the casino. There, participants can stay the night for free."

Free? That's even better as I don't have any money with me. I basically betted hoping to win so I don't really have a plan B. I had to win the Royale Crush, for them.

"Here. Take this." He handed me some kind of identification card.  

"What is this?"

"It's a stay-in pass for participants wanting to stay at the apartment. Just give it to the receptionist and you are free to stay for the night."

"Seems easy enough." I grabbed the pass from his hand.

"Alright, I better get going. See you, Mikal-san." I turned to the door and waved to MIkal-san.

"Good luck, Judan-san." He waved back. I opened the doors and left the building. It was already turning dark. I was there for a fair amount of time. But, Mikal-san was a really helpful guy. I better thank him after I win tomorrow.

"Now then, where is this apartment?" He said it was beside the casino so I looked around. Then, I saw a building to the right of it. I went to the front of the small building. There was a sign on top of its doors that read "Royale Inn." This must be it. I opened the doors and went inside. There were a fair size group of people already inside the apartment. Some were drinking, eating, or just chilling. No one was talking to another. We all came here for one reason, to win. And to win, you had to kill, so there was basically no communication from anyone. I went to the reception table where there was a female receptionist.

"Ah, are you staying for the night?"

"Yes."

"Do you have a stay-in pass with you?"

"Yes, I do." I handed her the pass. and she took a look at it.

"Yes, It's official. Your stay here will be free. " She handed the pass back to me. I put it in my left pocket.

 "Thanks."

"Here is the key to your room." She handed me a keycard with numbers on it. I took it and thank the receptionist. Even if it was nighttime, I wasn't feeling hungry So I went upstairs, wanting to take a rest. When I reached the second floor, there were a bunch of rooms with numbers on the doors. I took a look at the numbers, trying to find my room.

"Hmm... 197, 197... Ah! There." I inserted the keycard into the slot beside the door. It beeped and opened. The room was fairly big, with a double-sized bed, a table with two chairs, and a bathroom. I quickly hopped on the soft bed as I looked up to the ceiling, thinking about everything that happened today. Especially Johnny Carter. He was a participant but he still wished me luck. What's with that? 

"Oh well, I just sleep for today. I gotta get enough rest for tomorrow." I turned off the lights, tucked myself into bed, and went to sleep.

****

Today's the day. The Royale Crush was going to start today. I got off my bed, took a bath, and went down. No one was there except the staff. I went to the restaurant mandated by the staff. I needed energy so I ordered omelet rice, my favorite dish. Food cost was also covered by the stay-in pass. I quickly finished my meal and went out of the apartment. I turned right and entered the casino. At the center table, was a man with green hair, and yellow eyes, wearing a suit. It was MIkal-san.

"Ah, Judan-san. You're here just in time." He greeted me with a smile. Phew! Thank god I made it.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes, I am." 

"Then please follow me." He was going to the back and I followed suit. This is it. It was happening. I clenched my fist, readying myself.

We reached the door of the casino's back and Mikal-san opened it. The sight behind the door was bright. As soon as we went in, my sight was filled with a ton of colors. So many people, tons of devices for the contest, and so much more. Mikal-san turned back to me and said,

"Welcome to the Royale Crush."

To be continued...