[Voice]

[poweryetunknown]

Here's a question.

Do birthdays count if you're dead?

[It's an important question, okay.]

Comments

[emperor_penguin]

Most folks die and stay dead. Musta been a pretty special kinda game.

Re: Voice

[acapriciousthing]

It's more about what you've experienced anyway.

[poweryetunknown]

Yeah, probably.

... Hopefully I can get the day off of work. It'd suck to work on my birthday.

[poweryetunknown]

It's a game for the dead to get a chance to come back to life, so yeah, it is.

[poweryetunknown]

I dunno. I think I had a test in school on my last birthday, so pretty much anything would be an improvement.

[poweryetunknown]

[No never!]

... I'm Neku Sakuraba. I was born and raised in Shinjuku. I'm also dead. I work at a clothes store here in Hinoto-Ri.

[eyewillprotect]

[Ah... he really came out and said it. There's a slight pause, but eventually:]

I am so sorry to hear that, Sakuraba.

[And she means every word.]

[poweryetunknown]

It's not so bad.

[Well, honestly, the whole Game sucked. A lot. But he's not going to tell the whole story to someone he just met.]

Being dead's not too much different from being alive in some ways. I didn't even know I was dead for like three days or so.

[eyewillprotect]

Really? Then does that mean you came here from the afterlife?

1/2

[spaztastic]

We'll figure something out. We could just walk around the city or something--

[spaztastic]

[SUDDENLY REMEMBERING SOMETHING VERY IMPORTANT]

Ahhh! I almost forgot!!

[poweryetunknown]

Yeah. Technically, I guess.

[poweryetunknown]

Huh? What is it?

[emperor_penguin]

Lucky you. Most folks don't get a chance like that.

[poweryetunknown]

I know. It's pretty rare to be allowed to come back to life anyway, apparently.

[emperor_penguin]

So what kinda game'd you have to play for that?

[acapriciousthing]

I wouldn't know. But if you ask around you can probably find someone who can switch shifts with you or something.

[poweryetunknown]

It was called the Reaper's Game. Survive for a week with the Noise and the challenges and do well enough and you had a chance to come back to life.

[poweryetunknown]

Probably.

... I haven't exactly had a job before this.

[eyewillprotect]

Do you mind if I ask you what that was like?

You don't have to answer if you don't want to.

[emperor_penguin]

So if you lose, you're dead for good, I imagine. Nothin' to lose, and everythin' to gain, that about sum it up?

[acapriciousthing]

These places seem to be full of new experiences, really.

[spaztastic]

Ten-Four! The Ten-Four building's here Neku!!

[islandshore]

Well, you're talking over the network, so I kind of doubt you're dead here.

[A beat.]

Unless you're some kind of zombie, anyway.

[poweryetunknown]

It was more like... after death but before the afterlife? I mean... it was a game to have the chance to get back to life, so it wasn't really being permanently dead, possibly.