“Hey, wake up already!”

  Rikou, wearing a tight-fitting black shirt and gray tactical pants with a wristband wrapped around his right wrist, slowly opened his eyes as he heard a voice calling out to him.

  “Took you long enough, tell me already, who are you and why am I here?” the voice asked, seemingly annoyed.

  Slowly lifting his upper body, Rikou’s messy silver-colored middle part swayed with the movement of his head. He brought his right foot closer whilst putting his left hand on the ground and stood up from the jade-colored grass, his body stiff all over.

  “Are you even listening to me?” the voice called out once more, getting heavier.

  Rikou looked to his left as he stood up, staring at the origin of this impatient voice. His azure eyes locked onto a guy with glasses, seemingly around 19 years old with short, spiky hair and brown eyes. It seemed that they were both wearing the same uniform.

  A great forest surrounded them, leaving them unable to see any further than a few meters. The sunrays shone gracefully upon them, unhindered by the clouds in the sky.

  “Who... are you?” Rikou asked as he looked around, feeling completely lost. What just happened? Where is he? So many questions, but it seemed that the person in front of him didn’t know the answer to any of them.

  “That’s what I’m asking you!” The young man pointed to the forest that surrounded them with a hint of frustration in his tone. “Look! We’re stranded on a goddamn island! I can hear the sound of waves hitting the shore, this.. this makes no sense at all!”

  “Island? What.. what happened before I woke up? I can’t recall at all. This.. why are we wearing this military uniform?” Rikou sighed as he tried to gather his thoughts instead of continuing with this pointless chatter.

  He then decided to proceed with careful words, as he took the initiative. “Okay, listen. I don’t think we’ll get anywhere if we keep going with this pointless back and forth. My name is Rikou Fukanou. I’m 17 years old and I have no idea how I got here, I assume the same applies to you as well.”

  The person in front of him seemed to be taken aback by how quickly Rikou managed to calm down, as he had spent over two hours thinking about the same questions over and over, staring at soundly sleeping Rikou in front of him.

  How could he get over it so quickly? Suspicion started to visibly grow in his eyes; nonetheless, he still answered, “My name is Tenkai Shinichi. I don’t have any idea what happened either.”

  Rikou caught the flicker of suspicion in Tenkai’s eyes and immediately spoke, hoping to calm him. “Rest assured, I woke up after you and have no hand in this. Let’s go to the middle of the island. It’d be a logical meeting point. Given this unusual situation, we may not be the only ones here.”

  Tenkai’s posture relaxed as the tension in his shoulders eased down. “Well then, let’s go. By the way, that wristband has a GPS function, so it should be easy to find the center. We’ll be able to see our location on the island at all times. It seems that we’re currently located northeast.” He turned around, facing the opposite direction and walked hastily.

  “How convenient, huh…” Rikou took a closer look at his wristband as the GPS function opened up. He decided to follow Tenkai, looking at his surroundings as they walked.

  One and a half hours later, they finally arrived at the center of this island, which had no trees at all, unlike the forest they were in just a few moments ago. They saw two people in the distance; it seemed Rikou was right.

  One of them, a pretty girl with medium length peach-colored wavy hair, was sitting on a small boulder, her scarlet red eyes looking directly at them. The other person, a young lad with flat black hair and brown eyes, was standing near her and avoiding eye contact.

  Rikou and Tenkai walked up closer. The guy sometimes glanced at the girl, as if he constantly wanted to say something, but never opened his mouth. Once both of them arrived, Rikou asked, “It seems that our two groups have come to the same conclusion. No need for pointless questions, I’ll be straightforward. I’m Rikou Fukanou and the guy next to me is Tenkai Shinichi, who are you guys?”

  The guy opened his mouth, but he closed it again before saying a word. At the same time, the girl took a moment to look at them. However, she closed her eyes right after, as if she didn’t acknowledge them.

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  Noticing their hostility, Rikou and Tenkai decided to back off. “What’s wrong with them? Especially the girl, it’s as if she was looking down upon us!” Tenkai spoke out with furrowed eyebrows.

  Rikou nodded, but he decided to play the devil’s advocate. “Maybe they’re still under stress, unable to process why they’re here? I’m not sure though, as coming up with the decision to head for the middle of the island would require a clear head.”

  It seemed that there was nothing better to do than wait, hoping that more people would arrive. Though, a long time passed by with no change.

  Getting tired of the silence, Tenkai was about to speak up, until he heard a woman screaming out in the distance. Quickly, he exchanged glances with Rikou, and they both ran in the direction of the scream. However, before they entered the forest, a tall blonde lady with slightly wavy hair and sky-blue eyes was already running in their direction.

  “Hey, stop! How are you going to get it off of you if you run away!? Wait for me!” Hearing the voice, the lady got startled and fell down, as a blonde, slightly tanned guy with laid back spiky hair and golden eyes ran after her and brushed the spider off her shoulder. “Sigh.. it’s just a spider. I don’t get why you’re so scared of those little beings?”

  The lady whined about the pain from falling down, but it seemed to be nothing more than a small bruise. The guy helped her up, and only then did they notice Rikou and Tenkai in front of them. Quickly, the guy bowed down energetically and introduced himself, “Hello! My name is Kenzou Takado and she is Hana Yukina! Glad to meet you!”

  “Ah.. We’re Rikou Fukanou and Tenkai Shinichi. I believe that we’re all in the same situation, stranded on this bizarre island. Those two back there aren’t very talkative, so we can’t tell you much about them.” Rikou responded, surprised from Kenzou’s respectful and energetic attitude. Meanwhile, Tenkai looked back at the girl with peach-colored hair, furrowing his eyebrows in disdain.

  “Damn it! These weird uniforms that we’re in are way too uncomfortable!” Hana complained, as they were all wearing a tight-fitting black shirt with gray tactical pants. The shirt seemed to strain her upper body, turning her voluptuous figure into a bother. Meanwhile, it fit Kenzou well, as it outlined his toned physique.

  A few moments later, another pair came out of the forest, as they also heard Hana’s loud scream. One of them was a tall, scrawny guy with long black hair as well as pitch black eyes. The other was a short girl with lavender shoulder-length hair and purple eyes. Just when they were about to introduce themselves, the wristbands of each one of those eight people emitted a white light from the display, as a female voice spoke out.

  “Welcome! Everyone has arrived, so the trials can finally take place! The first trial is simple; it’s called ‘Coconut Hunt’! You have to come back to this spot in three days and make sure that your group does not have the least number of coconuts!

  We’ve placed resources all over the island, so don’t worry about finding shelter! Your group contains you and the person you woke up with. Your identities are defined by the wristband on you, so be careful not to lose them!

  The pair with the lowest number of coconuts will have to play a simple game to decide which one of the two will get eliminated, while the team with the most coconuts will get a special reward for the second trial! The trials shall begin as of right now, good luck!” The voice dimmed away, as it got swapped with a timer starting from 72 hours, counting downwards.

  …

  An impenetrable silence, louder than any sound, swayed over the group.

  “Huh? What the fuck?” Hana uttered under her breath, not caring an ounce about trying to put up a ladylike behavior. “I don’t get this, why are we supposed to collect coconuts? No way am I going to do that, who the hell even was that?”

  A storm broke out within the group; they were unable to understand the situation, the boy with flat hair joining in. “What do they mean by eliminate? Why is this happening?!”

  Rikou replied without hesitation, before the situation got out of hand. “I’ve already thought about this. I don’t think we have a choice. We’re all stuck on an uninhabited island, with no way out, there definitely has to be an organization behind this, and I really don’t want to think of the consequences if we don’t comply.”

  Though, as he finished speaking, he began to ponder deeply, ‘Coconuts..? They can’t grow on the trees on this island, so they definitely must’ve deliberately placed them all over the island, which makes them part of those resources. It seems that we’ll have to rely on luck and endurance for this trial, as it might be possible for us to be unable to find even one coconut.’

  The tall, scrawny guy continued, “I agree with him. Also, our group still hasn’t introduced itself. My name is Karasu Takashi and she is Hakaku Mikamoto. You are?” Karasu then looked at the girl whose hair was peach-colored, putting his hand on her shoulder and smiled gently.

  Instantly, her eyes widened in surprise, with her eyebrows furrowing simultaneously. “Don’t touch me.” Her hand shot out, sending his fingers away with a sharp sting. She gave him a deep look of disgust and hatred as she grabbed her partner’s arm and turned around, taking the initiative to walk into the forest.

  “…” Karasu stared at her back as she walked away, anger and indignation being clearly written on his long face. Next to him, Hakaku sighed deeply, giving him a look of pity, but also hiding a hint of schadenfreude behind it. She also turned around and left, with Karasu following soon after.

  “Well, I hope I’ll get to see you guys again during this.. trial!” Kenzou said, his energetic tone visibly not being as strong as before. This blonde pair also turned around, being part of the latter groups to wander off into the deep forest, which now looked darker than ever.

  And so, without another word being said, Rikou and Tenkai also left. The pairs walked off in the four cardinal directions, separating themselves from each other and focusing on the current task at hand.

  The sun slowly set as the sky started to turn a blazing orange, whilst the moon rose from the opposite side; the picturesque moment thoroughly embodied the duality of man.