Alice in Borderland: The Cycle Continues

15) Six of Diamonds [2] ✮

===Charī Kasutoro===

Niko was looking through a magazine rack when I entered. The other two had split up, looking at the posters on the wall.

I went to the back, which was out of sight from the stairs that had led up due to the wall in the room's center that contained the elevator.

On the wall facing away from the center was a light blue poster, reiterating the rules to the game. Above the poster was a second clock that ticked down with the time limit.

The tables scattered across the room were draped with velvet tablecloth, a vase and candle in the center, and a plate next to each chair. I walked closer to a nearby table. On top of each plate was a napkin folded into a swan, and the left and right side contained a fork and a knife respectively.

I backed up, looking at the other tables, and gasped.

Niko approached me. "Did you find something?"

"These napkins and silverware." I waved my finger at all the tables. "They're all pointing the same direction!"

This caught the attention of the other two. I walked out the door that was in the direction that the tableware was pointing to, and was met with a gap in the railings. A sign was fixed onto where the railing still was planted.

Feel free to jump off

"Eh, not very interested in suicide." I muttered.

"Yeah, no thanks." The businesswoman said, turning to go back inside, her dark hair flapping in the breeze.

"But look what I did find." Niko said, pulling out an array of the magazines he had gotten from the rack. I leaned forward, reading the titles.

Can you list every capital in the world? Annual geography contest—¥100,000 grand prize!

Ladies: are periods a pain? Use these useful hacks to alleviate your trouble at that time of the month!

We've all been there: you're on a date and can't string a single sentence! For vital dating advice, turn to page 27.

I raised an eyebrow. "Capital, periods, sentences. Japanese writing obviously doesn't have capital letters, but I know English uses them."

"So could this be hinting the fact that our responses all have to be in complete, grammatically correct sentences?" The woman questioned.

"It looks like it." Niko said. "In the end, this is less of a riddle and more like an escape room. We have to keep looking for clues."

"Um... Hey! Guys, look what I found!" I whipped my head at Kotake's voice.

"You've finally decided to get up?" I asked, walking over to him.

He pointed to an advertisement on the wall. It was for a writing contest.

"What's the point of this?" I asked. He pointed to the corner of the paper, and my eyes widened.

Entry requirements:
16+ years of age
500-1000 words
No profanity

"More clues!" Niko said, chuckling. "We're getting close, I feel it. Nice find, Kotake!" Niko gave him a good-natured pat on the back, to which he flinched.

'Holy crap.' I thought. 'He's so timid. How's he going to survive once we clear this game, if this is meant to be one of the milder ones?'

The bodybuilder was looking through some of the cabinets. "There's nothing good here." He said, pulling out a shaker, bottle of vodka, and two shot glasses.