"Clank... Grrr-clank-clank..."
A harsh, grating sound of metal ground from above.
It sounded like a heavily rusted mechanical structure, sealed away for decades, had suddenly lurched into operation.
The two of them instinctively looked up. A metal panel in the center of the ceiling was sliding apart, like a monstrous beast slowly opening its gaping maw to reveal terrifying fangs.
They were two absurdly large, old-fashioned circular saws, suspended by two thick, rusty mechanical arms. They hung directly above their heads, about three meters from the floor.
It was worth noting that the saw blades didn't look particularly sharp at first glance—because they were caked with all sorts of human tissue and flesh.
Dried human blood, like Super Glue, had matted together large clumps of hair, severed intestines, bits of flesh, and bone shards onto the circular blades, making one wonder if they could even spin properly.
Of course... that didn't stop them from looking far more menacing, terrifying, and oppressive than ordinary saws.
"Plop..."
It was probably due to the mechanical vibrations from the saws' appearance. A small piece of flesh stuck to the very bottom of a saw blade came loose and fell, landing on the girl's right kneecap.
Nijika Ijichi froze, glanced down at the slightly rotten piece of human flesh, and went rigid for a moment. A terrified scream was about to erupt from her throat.
But before the shriek could escape, it was forced back down by a sinister voice from the television.
"See the saws above your heads? Soon, they'll slice through your skulls like watermelons."
"Want to live? On the left side of your chair's right armrest, there's a button. You can reach it by extending your thumb down."
"Whoever presses it, their saw will stop. The other person's will accelerate."
"If you both press it, then both will accelerate."
"There's only one rule: survive, and you clear the stage."
"Cherish your right to choose. Any hesitation is a betrayal of the value of your own life."
"..."
After hearing the rules, Nijika's face instantly turned pale.
Saws?
People will die?
"What kind of game is this? It has to be a joke..."
"Fzzt!—"
As if in response to the girl's doubt, the television screen suddenly switched.
The mask was gone, replaced by... what appeared to be video footage.
The footage was from a top-down perspective, as if filmed by a camera mounted in a corner of the ceiling.
The room in the video—the walls, chairs, saws, and other fixtures—was identical to the one they were in now.
But the people in the room were different.
In the video were two men.
They were shouting frantically at each other, things like, 'Neither of us will press it,' 'If you don't press it, I won't,' and 'I'm not pressing it, so you better not either.'
Then, the saws suddenly began to spin, descending with a deafening roar.
The two men hesitated for a brief moment.
Then... they pressed the buttons with their thumbs at almost the exact same time.
And so...
"Aaaahhhh...!" A blood-curdling scream erupted, even causing a slight overclocked buzzing sound from the old, outdated television.
The saws sliced through flesh and bone as effortlessly as falling Tom of "Tom & Jerry" sawing through a tree with his crotch.
A spray of blood and shredded flesh flew like a mist. A living person was sliced into two gruesome halves amidst violent tremors and useless struggles...
...
A total of five video clips were played. Each one was short, about twenty to thirty seconds long.
But it was as if a meticulous editor had curated them, specifically selecting the most gruesome and desperate moments of execution to maximize the visual and auditory impact.
Of the five clips, four ended with both people dead. In one, a person suddenly pressed the button before the other could react, resulting in one survivor...
As for a scenario where both survived, there were none.
"Kssshhhh..."
After the fifth clip finished, the television returned to a screen of static.
The bizarre voice explaining the rules did not sound again, and the room fell into a temporary silence.
Nijika Ijichi's face was deathly pale. She sat frozen, her slender body trembling slightly, the color drained from her eyes.
Fumiya Jin, however, simply calmed his slightly quickened breathing. His mood... was surprisingly not that bad.
The reason was simple. Before entering this game, he had already assumed he was going to die. After getting in, things were slightly better, but it was merely a stay of execution.
But now, he discovered that although he was in a terrible death game, similar to *Saw*, there was actually a chance to have his sentence overturned and be released?
Hope, no matter how faint a sliver, was infinitely better than boundless despair.
Having experienced the despair of certain death, he was determined to grasp even the smallest hope of survival.
However, passing this particular trial didn't depend on him alone.
He turned his head and glanced at the girl.
"Miss Ijichi?"
"Ah?"
The girl jolted violently.
As if her soul had just returned to her body, she began to gasp for air.
Her watery eyes trembled nonstop. After breathing for a good while, a bit of color finally returned to them as she looked at Fumiya Jin.
"I'm sorry, I just... completely... went numb... I couldn't even control my body..."
Fumiya Jin nodded. "It's fine. It's common for people to react that way under extreme fear. It's perfectly normal."
Under Fumiya Jin's calm tone, the girl calmed down a little.
But then she grew puzzled. "But you... why are you... so..."
"Me? I guess I've spent so long at death's door that I've gotten used to it," Fumiya Jin said casually.
"Huh?" The girl stared blankly.
"That's not important," Fumiya Jin shook his head. "What we need to think about now is—how to survive."
He glanced again at the numbers above his and the girl's heads.
353... 352... 351...
Their countdowns remained perfectly synchronized; even each tick was almost simultaneous.
Does that mean... they both die, with almost no time difference?
That can't be right.
Although these saws are brutal enough to kill a person the instant they make contact, if the buttons are pressed at different times, their deaths should inevitably occur one after the other.
Such a synchronized death implies only two possibilities: either they both pressed the button at the exact same moment, or neither of them pressed it.
The former seems easy to achieve, but it's not the case in reality.
It takes time for a human to witness an event, react, and execute a countermeasure. That's why when you're holding an angle in an FPS, you often get counter-killed.
If one person pressed it and the other reacted by pressing theirs, they would still both die, but their deaths certainly wouldn't be so synchronized.
To be perfectly synchronized, aside from the low-probability event of 'two people having a telepathic connection and pressing it at the same time,' there's likely only one more realistic possibility—the moment the saws started moving and the buttons became active, they both pressed them on the beat.
But that would be too stupid.
The saws start at the highest position. Even if they accelerate downwards, it still takes time.
Pressing it right at the start gives the other person more than enough time to react. It's basically telling them, 'Let's die together.'
Whether Miss Ijichi would do something so reckless, Fumiya Jin certainly wouldn't.
Therefore, the possibility of 'both pressing the button at the same instant' can almost be ruled out.
So then...
Did neither of them press it?
But if neither pressed it, the saws would descend at normal speed... They have different heights, so wouldn't the time of death...
Oh, wait.
Only their wrists are tied down, not their bodies.
To avoid the approaching saws, they could both bend their upper bodies over their thighs.
That way, the difference in their heights would be negligible.
Being sawn through the back of the neck and the back at the same time, dying at the same moment, would make sense.
So, is that how we died?
We successfully trusted each other and didn't press the buttons, but we still died?
Could it be that this trial game has no possibility for mutual survival? Do you have to kill the other person to live?
Would a death game with obvious *Saw* elements really have such a despicable way to win?
Something's not right.
There must be another solution.
Fumiya Jin lowered his head and looked at the iron chair.
Then, he looked at the iron shackles binding his hands.
These weren't the thin cuffs used by modern police, but thick, heavy, incredibly sturdy shackles shaped like a large roll of clear tape. There was basically no possibility of breaking them by force.
The shackles were welded firmly to the armrests, their orientation fixed, so the range of motion for his arms was very small.
The inner diameter of the iron shackles was also very narrow, just a tiny bit wider than the thinnest part of his wrist.
Trying to pull his hand out by force would be impossible without tearing apart the metacarpal bones.
However...
An idea flashed through Fumiya Jin's mind.
He tried to rotate his wrist.
Although the heavily rusted inner surface of the shackle scraped painfully against his skin, his wrist could indeed rotate smoothly.
Fumiya Jin's eyes lit up.
"What are you...?" Nijika looked at him, confused.
"These shackles allow the wrist to rotate inside," Fumiya Jin explained. "If we can free one hand, we can then flip our entire body off the other side of the chair and dodge the descending saw. That way, we can both survive."
Nijika stiffened slightly. "Emmm... what you're saying makes a lot of sense, but here's the problem—how do we undo the shackle on one side? They're so sturdy and tight, there's no way to pull a hand out no matter how hard you try."
"So we'll just have to get rid of the hand," Fumiya Jin said, tilting his head.
"Huh???"
Nijika stared blankly at Fumiya Jin. "Get rid of... the hand?"
_____
🔥 40% OFF to celebrate 2 new stories! 🔥
We've just launched 2 new stories, and we want you to join us! Take advantage of the 40% discount to become a member.
When you join, you get instant access to:
✅ Over 40 advanced chapters of ALL stories!
✅ Exclusive content and updates!
Plus, your support unlocks bonuses for the entire community. Our goals are still active:
🎯 100 Powerstones = +1 Bonus Chapter for everyone
🚀 55 MEMBERS = +5 extra chapters of ALL STORIES!
Secure your spot with the discount and get access to everything right now:
👻 patreon.com/Walnutchan