Facing Fear | ✓ ONC 2023 Honorable Mention

2 | Get in the Game

Mori remembered the day she had to grab a jug of milk and rush her sister to the ER.

"You're an idiot for not wearing your mouth guard," she'd said, keeping her eyes on traffic. "It's all fun and games until someone gets a tooth knocked out."

Shiori chuckled. "You should see the other guy, Nee-chan." She'd held the cup of milk up at eye level. "I should've done this with my baby teeth. Way more fun than the door slam trick."

Even with blood pouring out her gum, Mori's fifteen-year-old sister had never been more herself than that day—an adrenaline junkie, a rebel, a girl all too fond of getting in a good fight. Their parents had agreed to let Shiori take kickboxing as a way to channel all the pent-up energy, but to Mori, the hobby only seemed to multiply it tenfold.

They couldn't have been more different, but they couldn't have been closer.

Now, as the paramedics lifted Shiori onto a stretcher, she didn't look like herself. Shiori looked too still, too silent, as if FEAR had stripped her of life.

She's still breathing, Mori reminded herself. Shiori would be alright. She had to be.

Her mother muffled sobs with her hands and her father had his arm around her. Their eyes followed their daughter out the door before their feet moved, as if in a daze.

"One of you can ride in the ambulance," a paramedic said kindly. "Another can bring a car if they'd like."

"I'll go," Mori's mother said.

Mori met her father's eyes with guilt settling deep in her gut. She could tell he already knew how Shiori had gotten the game. "I'll stay behind," she whispered.

He nodded and soon she was alone in the house. Mori flicked on the light switch and sat on Shiori's bed. Even though she knew it wouldn't work, she picked up the other headset and put it on. The visor lit up, but Facing Fear didn't appear in the game selection. A link had to be established prior to entry.

Groaning with frustration, Mori tossed the headset aside and padded back toward her room. She woke up her laptop and searched for copies of Facing Fear. Nothing available and it appeared HQ had managed to lock any new players out from entering the game.

3,528 ALREADY KILLED BY FACING FEAR—NUMBER CONTINUES TO RISE WORLDWIDE

I should've gone in when I had the chance. Mori scrolled with helpless dread as the articles confirmed her greatest worry. As far as anyone could guess, when a player died in the game their brain shut down. First the voluntary processes, then the involuntary until their hearts stopped beating.

But before that, without fail, they screamed. One witness described the sound as being "like their greatest fear had taken them by the throat and ripped it out of them".

Mori moved onto researching the game's mechanics—improving stats by intentional growth in weak areas of personality and mentality—when an email notification rung on her phone.

Eyes widening, she swiped it open.

Ms. Mori Fukutomi

If you wish to enter Facing Fear in spite of the risks, come to the western branch of the 6thSenS HQ at the address marked in the attached file. Do not alert or bring anyone with you. If you are agreeable to our terms, we can get you in the game.

- Skye Marie

Since her father had taken the car, Mori ordered a Ryde to take her. The driver raised an eyebrow at her destination, but left her in peace to scroll through information on Facing Fear. It wasn't much. No guides had been posted for obvious reasons and streaming hadn't been allowed with the new release of the game.