Inside the Tokyo theater, nearly a thousand seats had long been filled by enthusiastic fans, and the air drummed with excitement and anticipation that was hard to suppress.
A massive Alice in Borderland theme backdrop stood tall behind the stage. Under the dim lights, the screen played looping highlight clips from the series. Every time the camera cut to a close-up of a lead actor, it would elicit localized whispers of cheering and the slight waving of support sticks from the audience below.
Suddenly, the lights in the entire venue were extinguished, plunging the room into darkness. The clamor of the fans came to an abrupt halt, leaving only the sound of suppressed, agitated breathing.
Then, a spotlight snapped on with a pa sound, illuminating the entrance at the side of the stage.
A middle-aged man in a well-fitting dark suit, wearing a smile of extreme approachability, walked spiritedly to the center of the stage holding a microphone.
He was the renowned Japanese variety show host Shimada Shinsuke, known for his quick reflexes and skill in stirring up the atmosphere.
"Good evening, all you residents of the [Borderland]! Welcome to this marvelous and dangerous night!"
Shimada Shinsuke's vigorous voice spread to every corner of the theater through the high-quality sound system, instantly igniting the passion of the entire venue.
"Ahhh—!!!"
Responding to him were the fans' mountain-toppling, tsunami-like screams and applause.
"It seems everyone can't wait to enter the game, right?"
Shimada interacted skillfully with the audience, eliciting another round of affirmative cheers. "However, before starting the game, let us use the warmest applause and screams to invite out the most important 'players' who will lead us to survive in this world! First, possessing both wisdom and courage, our protagonist—[Arisu Ryohei], Michiya Gōshin-san!"
Rousing background music rang out, and Michiya Gōshin walked steadily out from the side of the stage.
His tall and straight figure emerged from the curtain, his face wearing a refreshing and kind smile. As he walked toward the center of the stage, he waved to the fans in every direction below.
His appearance instantly detonated the highest decibel of screams, especially the voices of the female fans, which almost threatened to lift the roof of the theater.
"Yu-kun! Yu-kun!"
"Yu-kun! Look here!"
"Michiya-san, do your best!"
Immediately following that, Shimada Shinsuke invited out the other three lead actors in order.
"Next, the agile, calm, and reliable [Usagi Yuzuha], Sakurajima Mai-san!"
Sakurajima Mai stepped out with elegant strides. Her white suit sparkled under the lights. She maintained a perfect smile, waving to the audience with a composed posture, her queen-like aura fully activated, harvesting a massive amount of worshipful shouts.
"Also, heroic and loyal, our source of happiness, [Karube Daikichi], Yamazaki Kento-san!"
Yamazaki Kento bounded out full of vitality, constantly striking various poses, drawing bursts of laughter and responses from the fans.
"Finally, the indispensable [Ann Rizuna], Arima Kana-san!"
Arima Kana trotted up somewhat shyly, bowing constantly. Her obedient appearance stirred up the fans' protective desires and good-natured laughter.
The four lead actors stood firmly in the center of the stage, forming a beautiful scenic line.
Although they were not wearing the costumes from the show, their respective exquisite outfits appeared real and intimate.
Below the stage, countless mobile phones and cameras lit up, the sound of shutters clicking like dense raindrops.
At the same time, the official live broadcast lenses accurately captured close-ups of everyone, transmitting the grandeur of the scene through the internet to countless viewers in front of screens who could not attend in person.
After simple self-introductions and pleasantries about the series, the host, Shimada Shinsuke, pushed the atmosphere to a small peak.
"Everyone knows that Alice in Borderland is a world filled with various deadly games."
"So today, in our 'Borderland' Theater Branch, we have also prepared three special games for everyone!"
"They will respectively test 'Tacit Understanding', 'Decryption', and 'Trust'!"
The large screen synchronously displayed the names of the three games, accompanied by dazzling special effects.
"And today, our game participants are these four outstanding 'players' on stage!"
Shimada Shinsuke's tone shifted, and a troublemaking smile appeared on his face. "However, the way the teams are formed will be decided by you—all the residents present here!"
"Now, please pick up the voting device next to your seat and vote for the game partners you wish to see from the four on stage!"
"Time limit is three minutes. Voting starts!"
The moment the rules were announced, Michiya Gōshin's gaze drifted uncontrollably toward Sakurajima Mai, who was standing diagonally across from him, almost subconsciously.
And almost at the same moment, Sakurajima Mai seemed to sense something as well, and her cool gaze lifted.
Their lines of sight met briefly and silently in the air filled with cheers and lights.
In that split second, time seemed to be elongated.
Michiya Gōshin could see the surprise flashing past her eyes, while Sakurajima Mai saw the momentary probing and expectation in Michiya Gōshin's eyes.
However, very quickly, both of them shifted their gazes away, looking down at the fans below the stage.
Offstage, sitting in the lucky front row area, Natsukawa Yuki tightly gripped the voting device in her hand, her heart pounding.
She looked at the radiant Michiya Gōshin on stage, her heart filled with excitement.
As a core big fan of "Ai-Yu-Ren," she was currently a core administrator of the "Yu-Aka" CP (Michiya Gōshin x Kurokawa Akane) fan group, which had emerged because of the love reality show, and she had also lurked in the "Asa-Yu" (Asakura Toru x Michiya Gōshin) group for a long time.
As for Sakurajima Mai, she respected her more as an excellent actress and didn't hold much special favor.
She had originally subconsciously wanted to vote for Michiya Gōshin and Sakurajima Mai as a team; after all, they were the male and female leads, fitting conventional promotional logic.
However, just as she was preparing to press the selection, the excited conversation of two girls in the adjacent seats, who looked like college students, drifted into her ears.
"Hey, hey, vote for Yu-kun and Kento-kun as a team! The handsome guy combo is easy on the eyes!"
"Hahaha, I agree! Just thinking about the two of them playing games together must be very interesting! Maybe they'll be flustered and clumsy!"
"Exactly, exactly. Male and female pairings are too ordinary; we want to see a male-male combo!"
Natsukawa Yuki's eyes lit up instantly upon hearing this.
That's right! Why didn't I think of that?
Looking at the sharp contrast between Michiya Gōshin's steady handsomeness and Yamazaki Kento's lively cheerfulness on stage, she also wanted to see what kind of chemical reaction would occur if her beloved "Yu-kun" teamed up with someone of the same sex.
This kind of unconventional teaming seemed more interesting and more capable of creating entertainment effects.
She smiled and pressed the option for the Michiya Gōshin and Yamazaki Kento combination almost without hesitation, her heart filled with even more anticipation.
The three-minute voting time ended, and the large screen began to display the real-time vote count bar graph.
Michiya Gōshin x Yamazaki Kento suddenly began to climb continuously. Finally, when the bar graph stopped jumping, their combination became the highest vote-getter, while Sakurajima Mai and Arima Kana automatically became the other team.
"Oh—!!!"
The moment the results were announced, the entire venue was silent for an instant, followed by an eruption of deafening cheers mixed with loud laughter and jeering.
This result was evidently beyond many people's expectations, but it precisely poked the fans' psychology of pursuing novelty and fun.
The reactions on stage also varied.
Yamazaki Kento stared blankly for a moment, then laughed exaggeratedly. He threw his arm around Michiya Gōshin's shoulder, flashed a victory sign to the audience, and shouted loudly.
"Since it's come to this, let's work hard together! Men must forge ahead bravely; we are definitely winning this match!"
Michiya Gōshin smiled helplessly. He cooperatively patted Yamazaki Kento's back and made a cupped-hand gesture of "please have mercy" to the audience, eliciting another burst of good-natured laughter.
On the other side, Sakurajima Mai's face maintained a perfect smile. She clapped her hands elegantly, as if congratulating her opponents on their successful teaming, then looked gently at Arima Kana beside her and encouraged her softly.
"Arima-san, let's do our best together."
Facing Sakurajima Mai's gentleness, Arima Kana obviously looked relieved and nodded vigorously.
"Yes! Sakurajima-senpai, I will work hard!"
"Alright! Team grouping complete! Girls' Team—Sakurajima-san and Arima-san; Boys' Team—Michiya-san and Yamazaki-san!"
Shimada Shinsuke announced loudly, wearing a smile that feared the world wasn't chaotic enough.
"So, next is our first game, the theme is [Tacit Understanding]!"
The large screen displayed the game rules: Limited Edition "You Draw, I Guess."
One person gestures, one person guesses. Time limit of three minutes. There were ten words related to the series or actors on the guessing board.
The gesturer could not say the characters in the word, could not use foreign languages, and could only hint through actions, expressions, and descriptive language. The team that guessed more correctly before time ran out would win.
"First, the Girls' Team, Sakurajima-san and Arima-san, will attack first!"
Shimada Shinsuke signaled the start of the game.
After a brief discussion, Sakurajima Mai and Arima Kana decided that Sakurajima Mai, who had faster reactions and richer knowledge reserves, would guess, while Arima Kana would be responsible for gesturing.
Although Arima Kana was a bit nervous, after taking a deep breath, she stood in front of the answer board.
The first word: [Seaside]
Arima Kana immediately made movements of swimming and sunbathing, then pointed into the distance, acting out gazing at the sea.
Sakurajima Mai answered almost instantly: "Seaside?"
"Correct!"
Applause rang out from the audience.
The second word: [Playing Cards]
Arima Kana made shuffling and dealing motions. Sakurajima Mai: "Playing Cards."
"Correct!"
The third word: [Visa]
This word was slightly difficult. Arima Kana froze for a moment, then immediately made a motion of stamping a passport, followed by extending her fingers to indicate numbers of days.
Sakurajima Mai thought briefly: "Visa?"
"Correct!"
Sakurajima Mai's thinking was agile, and although Arima Kana's gestures appeared slightly childish, they were sufficiently diligent and precise. The two cooperated quite well.
Encountering difficult words like [Jack of Clubs] and [Lighthouse], they also successfully cracked them within the time limit.
Finally, time was up. The Girls' Team successfully guessed eight words!
"Wow! Too amazing! The Girls' Team obtained a high score of eight points!"
Shimada Shinsuke announced loudly. The audience sent them warm applause and cheers. Sakurajima Mai and Arima Kana high-fived to celebrate. Arima Kana's small face was overflowing with a flush of excitement; she was obviously very satisfied with this result.
"The pressure has now come to the Boys' Team!"
Shimada Shinsuke cast his gaze toward Michiya Gōshin and Yamazaki Kento. "Michiya-san, Yamazaki-san, you need to guess at least nine correctly to win! So, who will be the gesturer and who will be the guesser?"
Yamazaki Kento jumped out immediately, patting his chest with full confidence.
"I'll gesture! Michiya-kun's brain works better, let him guess! No problem."
Michiya Gōshin looked at his good friend's overly optimistic appearance, and a trace of an ominous premonition faintly flashed in his heart, but he nodded anyway.
"Alright, then I'll leave it to you, Kento."
The game began. The Boys' Team took their positions. Yamazaki Kento rubbed his fists and wiped his palms, standing in front of the answer board. Michiya Gōshin turned his back to the screen, facing the audience, ready to guess.
The first word: [Mobile Phone]
Yamazaki Kento immediately made a phone call gesture, holding it to his ear: "Hello? Moshi moshi?"
Michiya Gōshin: "Telephone?"
Yamazaki Kento shook his head and anxiously made a button-pressing motion.
Michiya Gōshin: "Mobile phone?"
"Correct!"
Managed to get through without mishap.
The second word: [Running]
Yamazaki Kento began high-knee running on the spot, his movements exaggerated.
Michiya Gōshin: "Running?"
"Correct!"
The third word: [Watermelon]
Yamazaki Kento used both hands to outline a large circle, then made motions of cutting a melon and eating it, his mouth even making "au au" sounds.
Michiya Gōshin held back laughter: "Watermelon?"
"Correct!"
The opening seemed to be going smoothly, but the subsequent words began to go wrong.
The fourth word: [Movie Theater]
Yamazaki Kento first made a movement of watching a movie, then he started imitating a projector turning, his arm drawing circles, mouth making strange "zzzt" sounds. Then he imitated popcorn exploding, jumping up and down.
Michiya Gōshin watched in total confusion, asking tentatively: "...Amusement park?"
"Wrong!"
Yamazaki Kento got more anxious, starting to point at his own eyes, then pointing into the darkness.
Michiya Gōshin: "...Haunted house?"
Time passed. Yamazaki Kento essentially used every movement he had, but unfortunately, Michiya Gōshin still didn't guess it. In the end, they could only timeout and fail.
The fifth word: [Shinkansen]
Yamazaki Kento made a train moving "woo woo" motion, then extended his index finger to indicate "very fast."
Michiya Gōshin: "Train?"
Yamazaki Kento shook his head, emphasizing speed, his finger flying forward rapidly.
Michiya Gōshin: "...Rocket?"
Yamazaki Kento collapsed. Failed again.
The sixth word: [Manga]
Yamazaki Kento made a book-flipping motion, then began gesturing various poses of manga characters he thought of, such as imitating Luffy's movements from One Piece or the hand seal movements from Naruto.
Michiya Gōshin: "...One Piece? Naruto?"
Yamazaki Kento scratched his ears and cheeks in anxiety. In the end, he still failed.
Half the time had passed, and the Boys' Team had only guessed three words correctly. The audience was already laughing into a heap, and even the host was about to collapse from laughter on stage.
Finally, after guessing wrongly on another word, [Christmas], Michiya Gōshin took a deep breath. He raised his hand decisively, revealing a bitter smile carrying helplessness and pleading to the host, Shimada Shinsuke. "Shimada-san, um, can we apply to switch people? Let me gesture and have Kento guess."
"Hahaha! You can! Of course you can!"
Shimada Shinsuke approved this request with loud laughter.
The two sides swapped positions.
Michiya Gōshin stood before the answer board, glanced at the next word, and looked calm. Yamazaki Kento rubbed his fists and wiped his palms, ready to avenge his previous shame.
However, they ignored the group of fans in the audience who "didn't mind watching the drama get bigger." When Michiya Gōshin began gesturing, the fans below the stage—especially those who felt "persecuting" the male actors was more interesting—began their interference.
The seventh word: [Cat]
Michiya Gōshin simply made a motion of a cat stroking its whiskers by his mouth, very vivid.
Just as Yamazaki Kento was about to speak, misleading voices rose one after another from below the stage.
"Fox!"
"Puppy!"
"Tiger!"
Yamazaki Kento was instantly confused, hesitating as he said: "...Ti... Tiger?"
Michiya Gōshin held his forehead, shaking his head helplessly. He gestured again, this time adding a slight "meow" mouth shape.
Yamazaki Kento finally reacted: "Cat!"
"Correct!"
Although it took a bit longer, they managed to secure a point.
The eighth word: [Sushi]
Michiya Gōshin made a motion of squeezing a rice ball with his hand, then dipping it in soy sauce to eat.
The audience started again: "Rice ball!"
"Dumpling!"
The next moment, Yamazaki Kento was successfully led astray again: "...Rice ball?"
Michiya Gōshin hurriedly shook his head, emphasizing the dipping action and the shape of the raw fish slice.
Yamazaki Kento: "Sushi!"
"Correct!"
The ninth word: [Music]
Michiya Gōshin made a motion of wearing headphones and bobbing his head, indicating listening to music.
The audience: "Dancing!"
"Acting!"
"Karaoke!"
Yamazaki Kento was dizzy and disoriented: "...Singing?"
Michiya Gōshin persisted in gesturing the headphones on his head.
Yamazaki Kento finally broke through the interference: "Music!"
"Correct!"
Only a dozen seconds remained. They still needed two words to tie with the Girls' Team.
Michiya Gōshin looked at the last word; it was [Osaka].
He calmed down quickly, his brain spinning rapidly. He couldn't say the place name directly and had to use related things. He immediately thought of Universal Studios Japan (USJ) located in Osaka.
Michiya Gōshin first pointed at himself, then pointed at Yamazaki Kento and the audience. Then he drew a large circle with both hands, indicating a large venue.
Next, he began to gesture the most classic Harry Potter Wizarding World, making a wand-waving motion, his mouth silently reciting a spell.
Yamazaki Kento looked blank: "Magic? Harry Potter?"
Michiya Gōshin nodded vigorously, confirming the direction was correct!
He immediately struck while the iron was hot, gesturing the action of riding amusement facilities. His body leaned back slightly, imitating the weightlessness of a roller coaster, and then he imitated the chattering appearance of Minions. His movements were fast and clear.
However, looking at this series of fluent but information-heavy gestures from Michiya Gōshin, Yamazaki Kento's brain instantly crashed.
He saw magic, saw amusement facilities, saw Minions... these elements stirred together in his chaotic mind, forming a strange mixture.
"Um, a place with lots of fun things..." Yamazaki Kento tried to summarize.
The fans below the stage held their breath at this moment, but there were still a few voices shouting.
"Disney!"
"Amusement park!"
Yamazaki Kento captured the word "Amusement park." Combining it with what he saw, he shouted hesitantly and uncertainly.
"Theme park! Theme park!"
Michiya Gōshin's gaze began to turn despairing as he continued to wave the "magic wand" in his hand vigorously.
"Time's up!!!"
Host Shimada Shinsuke ruthlessly cut off the final second.
The timer on the stage returned to zero, emitting a long di— sound.
Michiya Gōshin's movement froze in mid-air, and his face instantly revealed a complex expression mixed with helplessness.
He lowered his hand and shrugged at Yamazaki Kento. Yamazaki Kento wore an annoyed expression of "I almost guessed it," eliciting another burst of explosive laughter from the audience.
"What a pity, what a pity! The Boys' Team fell short at the last moment!"
Shimada Shinsuke walked forward and announced the results of the first round of the game.
"The Girls' Team guessed eight correctly. The Boys' Team guessed... six correctly! The first round of the game is won by the Girls' Team composed of Sakurajima-san and Arima-san!"
Sakurajima Mai and Arima Kana high-fived again. Arima Kana even jumped once in happiness. The corner of Sakurajima Mai's mouth also hooked up into a genuine smile. Her gaze inadvertently swept over the somewhat crestfallen Boys' Team opposite her.
She saw Michiya Gōshin's face wearing a bitter smile, and her gaze paused slightly for an imperceptible instant.
A trace of an almost invisible smile flitted through the depths of Sakurajima Mai's eyes, and then she returned to calmness.
________________________________________
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