Chapter 4 – The Rookie Hunters
The next day at school, Junto heads to class but sees Hiroki in the hallway.
“Yo, Hiroki.”
Hiroki looks up at Junto.
“What’s up Junto?”
Junto and Hiroki both notice someone who was walking by and happened to stop next to them. Junto recognises that it’s Kimiko but Hiroki is the first to comment.
“Oh, if it isn’t the pickpocket. I hope you’re not here to try your luck again.”
Junto attempts to deescalate the situation.
“Don’t worry about that, Hiroki. We’re friends now.”
Hiroki is slightly confused by this but decides to look over it.
“Well. That’s unexpected.”
Junto turns to Kimiko.
“Was there something you wanted?”
Kimiko shakes her head.
“Alright then. I’ll be heading to class.”
Junto begins to walk into class but is suddenly stopped by Hiroki.
“Oh, Junto.”
Junto stops and looks towards Hiroki as Hiroki proceeds to ask a question that’s bothering him.
“Did you find what you were looking for yesterday?”
Junto smiles.
“Yeah.”
Junto heads into the class leaving Kimiko and Hiroki alone. Kimiko looks annoyed.
“I know who you are. If he keeps playing Killjoy, he’ll find out eventually too.”
Hiroki wears a sinister expression.
“He’ll find out when the time’s right…”
Hiroki heads into class leaving Kimiko alone in the corridor.
Later in the day, Junto finishes class and says goodbye to his friends. The only thing that crosses his mind is going to the Killjoy arena. After class, Junto notices Kimiko waiting outside of the school gates. As Junto leaves the school gates, Kimiko quickly approaches him and walks by his side.
“Are you going to the arena?”
Junto nods.
“What about you?”
Kimiko looks suspicious.
“I want to see how you play today. Maybe you just got lucky yesterday. I need to see if you’re really the one who will reach rank 100. I need to see if you’re worthy of it.”
Junto can see Kimiko’s similar desire to stop dangerous people from reaching rank 100 and states this.
“Well, I won’t let anyone evil reach it, that’s for sure.”
Kimiko smiles at that fact. As they continue to walk towards the Killjoy arena, they see a familiar face waiting nearby and smoking a cigarette.
“I don’t think you should be smoking in public, Genki.”
Genki puts his cigarette out and walks towards Junto and Kimiko.
“Well, you two are awfully close.”
Kimiko snaps back.
“What? Don’t tell me your jealous.”
Genki laughs.
“You’re going to the area too, right?”
Junto nods.
“Then let’s get going.”
The three of them proceed to head to the Killjoy arena. After entering, they proceed to walk over to the reception desk to each get a match. Two people are standing ahead of them in the queue. One is reluctantly being held by another player.
“Trust me, you’ll have so much fun playing Killjoy.”
The dominant figure continues to pressure the submissive person.
“S…sure. Sign us up for a match against each other.”
The receptionist agrees and they begin to walk away. Junto wears a face of disgust as his eyes continue to follow them. Genki is the first to comment.
“Another devil’s initiation. Poor souls. Less and less new players have been continuing to play Killjoy. Their bullying definitely plays a part.”
Kimiko sets herself up for a random game with the receptionist as Junto continues to stare menacingly at the pack of rookie hunters eagerly awaiting new players. Junto begins to walk towards them. Genki tries to stop him.
“Junto, wait. You don’t wanna get involved with them. It’ll rope us into a lot of trouble.”
Junto ignores Genki’s warnings and begins to head over to the rookie hunters. As Junto, begins walking away from Genki, he quietly says something.
“Play along and laugh when I point at you.”
Junto begins to devise a plan as he walks over to the group of rookie hunters.
‘Now that I’ve got the hang of the game, those rookie hunters might be easy pickings. I just need to act exactly how they’d expect.’
Junto stands over by the rookie hunters as they all now look at him. Junto decides to put on an act.
“Hey, uh. I just had my first game of Killjoy and I don’t think I understand it fully. Someone did something with a card and I got pains in my leg and pressed a button. I don’t think I understand. I was told that you can help me.”
The rookie hunters look suspicious and begin to talk amongst themselves.
“Isn’t he hanging around with someone who’s like rank 30. What was his game like?”
“I don’t know, I didn’t watch it.”
“Maybe it’s a trap.”
One of them turns to Junto.
“Who told you that we could help?”
Junto points over to Genki and like Junto requested, Genki begins to laugh.
The rookie hunters look at each other with sinister expressions.
“Sure thing, kid. We can teach you how to properly play. Come with us.”
Junto and one of the rookie hunters go to the reception to request a battle.
Kimiko and Genki watch from afar and pretend not to know Junto. Genki and Kimiko both win their random battles. The time suddenly comes for Junto to face the rookie hunter. After they sit down at the table, the rookie hunter has some words for Junto.
“Don’t worry, kid. I’ll show you the ropes. Just don’t press the button.”
Junto nods his head. They both shuffle and draw six cards. The rookie hunter smiles.
“I’ll go first.”
The rookie hunter plays a card which reads ‘A foul stench plugs your opponent’s nose for the remainder of the game’.
Junto begins to hurl as he smells the worst smell known to man.
“What is that stench?”
The rookie hunter holds another, more serious, card as he attempts to misguide Junto.
“It’s your turn. Just play the card with the number one on it.”
Junto continues to hide a smile. Junto plays a card that reads ‘Your opponent suffers joint pains for the rest of the game’.
“Oops, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that.”
The rookie hunter begins to get a bit annoyed at Junto but tries to hide it.
“That’s fine. Just listen to me next time. Play the card with the one on it.”
The rookie hunter plays his next card. It reads ‘Your opponent sees spiders crawling on them for the rest of the game’.
The rookie hunter notices Junto begin to freak out over the spiders.
‘Hahaha. I got him now. Next turn I’ll play the card that stops him breathing until he passes his turn and I’ll watch him squeal.’
Junto begins to laugh and the atmosphere suddenly changes. Without saying a word, Junto plays a card that reads ‘For the rest of the game, your opponent can’t feel their legs’.
The joint pain is still affecting the rookie hunter and causing him to put on some unsightly facial expressions. Now with the loss of leg movement, he is beginning to get nervous. The rookie hunter tries to scare Junto.
“I’m not as friendly as you think. I’m going to watch you squeal!”
The rookie hunter plays the card that reads ‘Your opponent can’t breathe until they end their next turn’’. Suddenly, Junto finds himself unable to breathe just like the first time that he played Killjoy. Junto begins to think to himself.
‘I won’t let this end like the first time. None of this is real.’
Junto picks a card from his hand and plays it. The card reads ‘Your opponent faces a surge of anxiety’. With that, Junto is able to breathe again.
“I win. Next, I’ll take your arms.”
The rookie hunter sees an evil player within Junto. To the rookie hunter, it’s as if flames lit up in Junto’s eye. The rookie hunter’s mind is racing.
‘I’m getting joint pain and lost all feeling in my legs. There aren’t any cards that could take away my arms, are there? If he played the no breathing card after that, I’ll die! I’ll really die!’
“Aghhhh!”
The rookie hunter hits the button and Junto wins the game. Junto is now almost rank 3. The rookie hunters watch with disgust from the top floor. As Junto leaves the table, he is approached by Kimiko.
“Junto, that was amazing! You really did it.”
Junto looks over at Genki who has a few words to say.
“You realise what you’ve done, don’t you?”
Junto nods and heads back up to the top floor with Genki and Kimiko. They are approached by the rookie hunter.
“You won’t get away with this, kid.”
“Yeah. We’ll make sure you never play Killjoy again.”
Junto accepts the challenge.
“Very well. Then who’s next to face me?”
One rookie hunter steps up.
“You’re a rank 2. We’re all at least rank 8. You just had a fluke.”
Junto and the rookie hunter arrange a Killjoy match at the reception and Junto defeats this rookie hunter just as he did the last. Upon returning to the top floor once more, the conversation begins again. This time, the rookie hunters are slightly fearful of the psyche of this new player. Other players have begun to notice and are listening in and watching the conversation. The rookie hunters attempt to leave the conversation.
“Just stay out of our way and we’ll leave you alone.”
Junto smiles at this.
“I don’t think so.”
Everyone is surprised at this.
“I’m not going to let you continue to terrorise new players. If less people get into Killjoy, then it’ll be tougher to reach rank 100. Your devils initiations stop here.”
The rookie hunters look annoyed.
“How exactly are you going to do that?”
Junto looks fearlessly at the rookie hunters.
“I’m going to recruit players to join me. Players who were once terrorised by you. I’m going to make sure that somebody is standing at that entrance every hour of the day to keep Killjoy players away from the likes of you.”
Junto, Genki and Kimiko stand together, facing the rookie hunters.
“Will the guys down at the Killjoy club stand by me?”
Genki nods.
“I’m afraid so.”
A nearby Killjoy player joins in.
“I’ll stand by you.”
People begin to get rowdy and join in with jeering and cheering. The rookie hunters begin to get intimidated and quickly head away. Junto rallies all of the players that stand with him and devises a timetable so that the entrance is watched constantly.
A few days later, a new player enters the arena but before the rookie hunters can approach them, a friendly player approaches and guides them away. This happens continuously. Because of the rookie hunters being kept away, more and more players begin to get into Killjoy and stick with it. Meanwhile, Junto, Kimiko and Genki continue to have games at least daily. Junto is more hooked on Killjoy than anyone else, sometimes playing Killjoy games from the end of school until midnight when he heads home to sleep. Within a month, he reaches rank 19. People at school begin to comment on how tired Junto looks but Junto pays no attention to the comments.
The rookie hunters haven’t played in so long, that they are now beginning to lose points. One of the rookie hunters notices the arena being almost full with new players. He gets annoyed at the fact that any attempt to coerce new players is halted by those who are helping Junto. He turns to his fellow rookie hunters.
“That is it! I’m making the call!”
The rest of the rookie hunters look fearful as he picks up his phone and dials a number.
“Boss, we have a problem.”
On the other end, someone is sitting watching the television.
“A problem, huh?”
