Shoujo Phantasia

Batu yawned, leaning onto the glass counter as he scrolled through his phone for all the upcoming animes next season. There just wasn't anything that had caught his attention. Most of them just looked bland.

"Hey," a man called out to Batu.

'Dammit, why are there so many shitty ones coming out?' Batu was blissfully unaware of the man's unassuming presence.

Anime was more important to him at the moment.

"Yo," the man began to grow agitated, waving a hand at Batu's face in an attempt to get his attention.

'Maybe I should rewatch DxD or somethin'...' Batu groaned out, plopping his head down on the counter. He needed something new; not just some cut and paste dry dogshit that some anime studios like to throw out.

"Hey, asshole!" the man slammed his hand against the counter, scaring the living daylights out of Batu.

The phone suddenly slipped out of Batu's fingers much to his shock. As if his life depended on it, Batu hastily fumbled around to try and catch it. However, it was like he was trying to catch a bar of soap.

The phone slipped out of his hand once more before slamming onto the ground with an audible crack.

"Agh!" Batu felt like pulling his hair out as he saw the web of cracks across the screen. "Look at what ya made me do! That's 600 right there!"

"I don't have time for this," the man could care less about Batu's cracked phone. "Just ring me up a pack of Marlboro red shorts so I can go already."

Batu stared at the man in anger. He wanted to clock this guy out so badly.

'Calm down, it's not worth losin' your job over,' Batu said to himself. Batu quickly rang him up so he didn't have to deal with this guy anymore. The quicker, the better. But, damn, now he was going to suffer through life with a cracked phone.

"Pay more attention next time, dumbass," the man took one last jab at Batu before he left the convenience store with his pack of cigarettes.

"Yeah? Why don't you go fuck yourself instead!" Batu shouted back. He glared daggers at the man's retreating back before he sighed to himself.

Batu pulled his hat off and sat down on a chair. He needed a rest. His obsidian eyes glanced at the time on his cracked phone. 4:30 A.M. Only a half hour left before his shift was over. It would be nice if he had the power to fast forward time.

The bell suddenly rung again, and Batu quickly looked back up. A homeless man with ragged clothes and a large backpack looked around the store. He then walked up to the counter.

"Hey, uh," the homeless man fidgeted around, scratching his neck, "You mind if I use the bathroom here?"

"Sorry, man. Bathroom's out-of-order," Batu had to deny him. It was manager's orders.

Apparently, she had found syringes in there a day before and decided to close it up for night shift only. People had been shooting up in there for god knows how long.

"Fuck you, bitch. Hope you choke on a dick and die," the homeless man stormed out of the store.

.

.

.

"I hate my job."

* * * * *

Batu's shift was finally over. Once he made it home, he was going to watch some anime and pass out to relieve all that stress that he had built up.

Sometimes, he wondered if this was the life he truly wanted to live in. He wished that he could live out in an anime world instead of working at a dead end job.

Batu looked up at the sky. It was still dark out, but it wouldn't be too long before the sun rises up to greet the city to a brand new day. Thank god he had a day off tomorrow.

Batu wobbled up the stairs to his apartment room. His legs had been aching from standing up for 8 hours straight. Damn, he needed to lay down. It would be even better if he could sleep on Akeno's thighs.

Or smell. Or lick.

Oh, lord have mercy. A man could only dream.

As Batu made his way to his apartment to open the door, he had unknowingly bumped into something and looked down.

"A black box?" he raised an eyebrow. "I don't remember ordering anything."

He looked left. He looked right. Then he picked up the package for a closer look. It looked suspicious, but curiosity had gotten the best of him.

[To: Batu

From: The Creator] - it read.

"Would'cha look at that; it's actually for me," he scratched his head. "But, who the hell is The Creator? Sounds fishy."

Batu shook the black box. It did feel pretty heavy in his hands. Must be something big inside. But, why would some random guy send him a package?

"Someone probably sent me a dildo just to fuck with me."

Batu quickly fumbled through his pockets and pulled out the keys to unlock the door to his apartment. He quickly shut the door and made his way into the cramp living room.

His room was an otaku haven. Posters were hung across the walls of lewd anime women, bookshelves were filled with nothing but mangas and figurines, and on the bed was a body pillow of Kanna Kamui.

You could say that Batu was a full-fledged degenerate.

"Let's see what's in here," Batu set down the black box and carefully opened it. He slowly peeked inside the box to see its contents.

"A letter?" He took the letter from the box and read it.

[Congratulations, Batu!

You have been selected by The Creator to try out a brand new game!

A game filled with action and adventure that will surely get your blood pumping with excitement!

You will get to compete with other players from different walks of life to obtain prizes beyond your wildest dreams! Anything you can imagine, you can have!

How exciting is that!

The Creator hopes to see you there soon!]

"A game, huh..." Batu tossed the letter aside and looked through the box once more. He was definitely interested about the prizes.

Anything that he wanted? Yeah, right.

Inside was a strange game board that almost resembled Monopoly.

'The Game of Death,' it read in large, bold red letters across the middle.

"What the- it's just a freaking board game!" All interest that Batu once had was thrown out the window as he looked at it. So much for an exciting game. Who even play this stuff nowadays?

Well, at least it was free.

As he was about to toss it aside, a sudden bright light had enveloped the game board. In shock, Batu quickly threw the board on the ground and backed away from it.

"What's goin' on!" he cried out in shock. He felt a sudden force pulling him towards the board like a black hole.

"Shit!" Batu tried to resist with everything he had, but the mysterious force was too strong too overcome. It slowly pulled him closer and closer.

He tried to grab everything around him in a last ditch effort to save himself, but it was all for naught. With one last cry, Batu disappeared into the board, never to be seen again. The light faded as a thick silence filled the empty room.

Welcome to The Game of Death.