Chapter 3

In the dark room, the echoes, murmurs, and sniffles of people engulf the room. People bumped into each other as they attempted to locate an exit. When suddenly the room lit up again. The surrounding area was different. The walls were now white and were designed to look like rock climbing walls scaling at an enormous height. Behind them was a monitor with a frozen countdown. Just as everyone began questioning their surroundings…

"Ladies and gents, welcome to your first game" the mysterious voice said in its usual cheerful tone.

The participants continued looking aimlessly at their new surroundings.

"Now, then it's pretty simple really all you have to do is climb up the wall, make it to the top before the timer runs out and you qualify to move on to the next round. If you fail to make it or if you fall or if you refuse to participate well, I hope you said your goodbyes to your loved ones"

The room was in death shrilling silence as they listened to the mysterious voice.

"Now here comes the fun part meet the fear you will be facing."

The sound of footsteps echoes from an unknown area, the temperature suddenly dropped, and the rising tension of fear increased. The footsteps grew louder, and a few people suppressed their screams, and tremble. Suddenly, in a blink of an eye stood a cloaked figure. It appeared to have the same height as any other adult human, and it's physical stature didn't seem out of the ordinary. It's back was slightly hunched, and it had abnormal feet, almost looked bird-like. The cloak covered the beings face so they couldn't see it's face.

"Meet the S-Rank fear… Acrophobia!!!"

Everyone continued to gaze upon the mysterious abnormal being.

"For those of you wondering, this is Acrophobia or the fear of heights. My good pal here decided on this game as he thought he could fit in a little exercise for you all."

The entity now referred to as Acrophobia gave a slight bow to the crowd.

"Now then, let's start the game now, shall we."

The people all looked around in confusion, and began hesitantly making their way towards the walls.

"Ready, set, climb!"

With that, one by one, people began climbing, navigating where they could grip, and the fastest approach to climbing. The monitor displayed a countdown of twenty-five minutes slowly ticking down the seconds.

Kaito, Akira, and Sakura individually made their way towards the walls. Akira, who still showed a bit of hesitancy, faced Kaito with a reassuring smile. He took a deep breathe, and began climbing. Sakura followed suit as she also began climbing from the looks of it she seemed to be highly experienced at it as her movements appeared rushed, and somehow precise. Then Kaito began climbing, matching Akira's pace as they climbed side by side.

A while later during the climb Akira finally spoke up.

"This reminds me… of the time we went… indoor rock climbing" he said with a few pants in between.

"You're kinda distracting me…" Kaito responds as he continued climbing and attempts to avoid people who happen to be in his path.

"I know… I was just… reminiscing" Akira responded.

A quarter way through the climb, Kaito took a small break to catch his breathe. While gripping on the wall he took a look around the room and the surrounding people, he noticed a few people trembling as they climb, and a second group of people almost at the verge of sobbing. He took a gander at the countdown, he sighed as he noted four minutes had passed. Akira noticed Kaito's distress and spoke up again.

"You tired?" Akira asked

"What do you think?" Kaito responded

"I was just… asking man. No need to get defensive" Akira said

As they continued climbing, Akira spoke up again.

"It seems your girlfriend is ahead of us" Akira said with the same teasing tone.

Kaito ignored the slight tease, and he looked up at Sakura's direction.

"Seems so" Kaito responded

As everyone continued climbing, a few others still trembled in fear but pushed through anyway. Other climbers have taken breaks around the course while others continued climbing. Everyone had atleast reached dangerous heights to fall of upon now. The sound of heavy breathing, their body heats increasing and the feeling of their muscles straining from the climb stalked the room. Akira looked down towards the ground and noticed the fear, addressed as Acrophobia, remained standing in the same position as when the game began.

"I thought this would be a lot scarier" Akira said.

"Uh-huh" Kaito responded.

"I guess… I was wrong…" Akira continued.

"Yep" Kaito responded.

"At this point… I doubt… anything bad… could happen."

Suddenly, Kaito turned his head to face Akira, and looked at him as if he had just said the dumbest thing imaginable.

"Ever heard of triggering flags?" Kaito asked.

"Huh?" Akira responded.

Suddenly, the sound of screaming on the far side of the corner is heard. A few people turn their attention towards the scream and notice a woman mostly likely in her thirties screaming in fear. Her foot was now in the grasps of Acrophobia. Its sharp talon-like nails sink into her calf. The woman continued her screaming, her breathing growing ragged until at that moment her grip loosens and her body begins to descend towards the ground. Her screams echo throughout the room as her face gets hit by the air until she finally plummets to the ground.

The participants gasped at her body, lying on the ground. The woman was drooling, her body was arched in an unnatural fashion, and at a closer view you could see her blood slowly seeping out of her skull. Acrophobia continued to look at the laying body until finally it caught its sight on the next victim. In a blink of an eye, it was no longer upon the ground. Everyone try to locate where it disappeared to, they finally lay their eyes upon a man. Upon his back was Acrophobia cradled upon it, Acrophobia leaned closer to the man's ear. The man was trembling in fear, his grip slowly loosening. The fear whispered in his ear as it continued to cradle upon the man's back in a piggyback position. Suddenly, without warning, the man used his free hand and rested it upon his chest, and he finally let go.

The man followed the same fate and plummeted to the ground. Acrophobia gave the body a slight kick in boredom, and it gazed up and attempted it to find its next victim.

Everyone in panic began rushing and shoving others off as they attempted to climb up. The sounds of panicking screams and the sight of people falling towards their death, one by one the fear targeted many other people it's speed increasing ever so slightly as it reappeared and disappeared from person to person claiming a life.

The fear, Acrophobia, eventually reaches the smug man Ryosuke Takahashi. Ryosuke doesn't react and continued climbing he appears unfazed by the fear. Acrophobia Continued to observe him until finally, it targets another victim targeting another individual leaving Ryosuke to continue climbing.

Kaito continued examining the creature as it targets another victim. His mind thinks back to how the fear ignores Ryosuke. The scene continuously replays within his mind. He is brought out of his train of thought when a scared woman grips his ankle.

"What the—"

"Please! I don't want to die!" The woman pleaded her voice filled with fear and desperation.

"Let go!" Kaito says as he tries to shake the woman off his leg.

"No! Please, I don't want—" the woman's sentence is cut off as she notices the fear perched next to her.

The woman's grip on Kaito's ankle intensifies. The fear begins observing the struggling Kaito and the fearful woman. Acrophobia eventually turns its attention to the woman and responds as it wiggles it finger in a disapproving manner.

"No, no, no" it said. Its voice sounded hoarse.

Without hesitation, the fear used its free hand to grip the woman's forearm, which was holding Kaito's leg. At that moment, the woman let out a scream at the cold touch. Acrophobia brought its cloaked face towards the woman's ear, and it began whispering something. At that moment, she reflexively let go of Kaito's ankle and brought her hand towards her chest. Her dominant still holding her the handhold slowly loses its hold its grip. Acrophobia releases its hold on the woman, and just like the others, the woman plummeted towards the ground.

Kaito continued to look at Acrophobia he tries muster the courage to say something, but nothing came out. With that, the fear proceeded to target other participants. Above him, he notices Akira is trembling in fear. He slowly gazes upon the fear's next victim, another scared individual. With that, a realization appears.

"Akira I need you to calm down" Kaito says.

Akira, who is still trembling his eyes, darts around the room as he remains frozen in fear.

"Akira!" Kaito calls out.

Akira slowly turns his gaze towards Kaito.

"Calm down. It only targets you when you feel fear"

"H-How do you… k-know t-that?" Akira asks his voice still shaky.

"It's the only solution you have, isn't it?" Kaito responds.

Akira takes a deep breath and focuses on his climbing. Although he's body still trembles with every climb and his muscles are suffering a massive strain from the non-stop climbing but he persevered.

Halfway through with only twelve minutes left to spare, a few participants kept calm and continued climbing the number of participants dying gradually, which gradually decreased. Acrophobia remains on the ground from the look of things it appears to be bored as it slightly kicks a corpse. The amount of people taking breaks increases then an individual finally succumbs to their fatigue and they descend to kiss the ground.

"Hey… Kaito" Akira speaks up.

"What's up?" Kaito responds.

"It seems… your girlfriend is having some troubles" Akira says.

"Weren't you… on the verge… of soiling yourself moments ago"

"Haha, very funny" Akira responds sarcastically.

Akira returns his gaze above at Sakura who has taken a break mid climb.

"But no, really, she seems tired"

"Aren't we all?"

"Do you think we should help her?"

"Nah, waste of time"

"How are we friends?"

"I seriously can't remember mys—"

Kaito and Akira's banter is cut off when Sakura succumbed to her fatigue, her grip finally gave in, her body released from the wall, and her body began falling towards the ground. The air hits her face as she descends, her hair flowing against the air currents. Finally, her body hits the hard concrete floor.

Kaito continued climbing, unfazed by the events that transpired. Akira followed suit and finally catches up to Kaito. The two climb in silence. The tension between them is highly palpable.

"I can't believe—"

Akira's sentence is cut off.

"Why do you care?" Kaito asks.

"What do you mean 'why do I care'?"

"We barely knew her, and the only conversation we've had with her was before the game"

"Well… she was your classmate"

"Whom I barely knew, let alone associated with."

"Yeah, but…"

"Face it, death is inevitable. No matter how much we pray, how healthy you are, or how old you are, we can never truly escape death." Kaito's calm demeanor slightly faltered.

Akira doesn't respond and continued to climb.

As the countdown continued running down the remaining minutes, nothing out of the norm had happened during the remainder of the climb. A few participants had made it to the top and were waiting for the game to finally conclude. Other participants were still scaling their way up the wall. Acrophobia had been standing in the same spot, awaiting its next victim. As everyone continued climbing suddenly—

"Yawn"

The mysterious voice emerged again.

"OK, I'm bored. Like… can't one of you humans fall or get killed or start panicking again?" the voice said in a bored tone.

Everyone climbing continued scaling the wall, ignoring the voice in the process.

"Ughh… Acrophobia, kill anybody who isn't close to the top when the monitor reaches three minutes"

Acrophobia bows its head and turns its attention to the monitor.

The paparticipants gasped at the voice's words. Immediately, everyone, in a frenzy of panic, increased their climbing pace as they all attempted to reach the top before the three minute interval.

"That's more like it" the voice said in an amused tone.

The monitor continued counting down the seconds with seven minutes remaining. The constant grunting and panting sounds gradually elevates. The tension arises as the players rush to reach the top.

Kaito and Akira, along with a few other players, eventually make it to the top and position themselves upon the platform. They slowly look around and notice a ginormous door that was most probably locked. They slowly make their way away from the ledge and walk around. Akira sprawls on the ground, his chest rising and falling as he tries to steady his breathing.

"Finally!" Akira exclaims.

"You can say that again" Kaito responds as he sits next to Akira.

"That was tough"

"It was, okay"

"OKAY!? We could've died out there"

"But we didn't"

"But we could've"

"But we didn't"

"But we could've"

"But did we die?"

"No"

"Exactly"

As the back and forth light banter between Akira and Kaito slowly ended, more and more people eventually made it towards the top. Kaito closed his eyes and wondered to his thoughts for a while until he felt a tug on his shirt. Kaito opens one eye and located the source of the tug, and noticed Akira still tugging on his shirt while looking in another direction.

"What?" Kaito asked with annoyance in his voice.

"Remember when you said 'You can never truly escape death', right?" Akira asked, still looking in the same direction.

"Yeah?"

"Alright, so mind explaining that"

"Explaining what?"

Akira doesn't respond and maintained his focus in one direction. Kaito sighed and reluctantly followed Akira's gaze until his eyes fell upon a girl about their age, with long flowing black hair and piercing blue eyes.

"Yaaay" Kaito cheered with mock enthusiasm.

Kaito sighed in resignation. His eyes wondered around the top floor and noticed a few of the other dead players were alive and unharmed.

"Ok how are they alive?" Kaito asked.

"I don't know, you could go ask—"

"No"

Akira stood up, and made his way behind the sitting Kaito. Akira locked his elbows around Kaito's arms and began dragging him across the floor towards Sakura.

"You're lucky I'm way too tired to fight back"

"Man…you're heavy" Akira said, half grunting.

"Nah, you're just weak"

Akira gritted his teeth at the remark but reluctantly continued to pull Kaito closer to the now alive Sakura. They got closer and closer, and the thirst for answers slowly increased. They finally reached Sakura, and immediately Akira dropped Kaito letting Kaito's head hit the floor.

"Ow!" Kaito exclaimed.

"Hi, it's us again" Akira greets.

Kaito remained on the floor, avoiding eye contact.

"What do you want this time?" Sakura asked, still maintaining her annoyed front.

"Well, we were just—" Akira's sentence is cut off as Kaito began to speak.

"How are you still alive? Cause the last time I checked, reincarnation was an option… no truck needed"

Akira sighed while Sakura rolled her eyes at Kaito's remark.

"But, if you don't mind, may we please know how you're still alive?" Akira asked politely.

"It doesn't concern you" she responded.

"We know, but may we—"

"It doesn't concern you"

Kaito and Akira share a subtle glance at one another before returning the gaze back at Sakura.

"What if we promise not bother you?" Akira asked.

"I could easily avoid you or report you for continuous harassment" Sakura responded.

"With what evidence?" Kaito asked.

Sakura began thinking of counter, until Kaito spoke up again.

"Because we'd only be doing it within this place, and you'd only have witnesses rather than definitive evidence."

"Tch… touché. Fine, I agree." Sakura said with a hint of reluctance.

Kaito, who was sitting on the floor until now, finally decided to stand up, and brush the dust off of him.

"I made a contract with Acrophobia before I passed on"

Akira tilted his head in confusion.

"A contract?" Akira asked

"Yes" Sakura replied.

"Under what conditions?" Kaito asked

"For a chance to proceed, I have to sacrifice one family member."

"Oh~ so that's how you could've cheated. Yeah, that'll be pretty useful in the future." Kaito said.

"How does that sound humane to both of you?" Akira asked

Just as Kaito was about to open his mouth to speak.

"OK! We have reached the three minute interval, Acrophobia, you know what that means…" The voice spoke in its usual cheerful tone.

Acrophobia gave a slight nod and immediately targeted another individual.

"As for the rest of the participants, you may pass to the next room"

The door flung opened as it revealed the same white room from the start. One by one, the participants who survived all stepped into the white room.