サメゲーム 3 (English text version)

【1】 While No. 14 continued to surface, another challenger, No. 22, with his eye-catching light blue rubber, also began to make a move. Like No. 14, who had surfaced earlier, he continued to swing his lower body back and forth, and the nearly 150 kg weight that held him to the bottom of the water finally began to move. However, both the MC and the audience in the hall were so focused on the movements of challenger No. 14 that no one noticed the movements of No. 22. Of course, there was no way they could have known about such a situation on the ground, and Number 22 was flapping his legs with all his might, and in response, the swing of the weights connected to him was gradually increasing. In proportion to this, the amount of air bubbles overflowing from the breathing hole at his mouth increased. This indicated that he was approaching his limit. 'Ah!　Look everyone!　All our attention has been focused on number 14, but now challenger number 22 is about to surface!　You can see the weights starting to move and he's lifting off the bottom of the water!' The MC finally noticed the change in him and loudly pointed to the main display where the scene of his struggle was being relayed. The audience cheered and applauded even louder. In the meantime, No. 22 seemed to be getting the hang of it, and the swing of the weights gradually increased, and within 30 seconds or so of the weights being placed at the bottom of the water starting to move, they were about to float up to the height of two weights. His gaze caught sight of No. 14, who was surfacing directly above him, and in a desperate attempt to catch up with him as much as possible, he continued his ascent to survival by imitating the movements of his body. ...But misfortune befell the 22nd challenger. With the air in his head escaping, he involuntarily inhaled pool water through the breathing hole in his mouth. The fact that what he inhaled was not air but water caused him to lose all concentration and panic, and he violently shook his head, spewing several times as many air bubbles into the water from both his mouth and nasal passages as before. In reaction, the movement of his lower body slowed and his body, which had been rising to the surface, came to a halt. Slowly, his whole body was pulled towards the bottom of the pool by gravity, and by the time the weight touched the bottom of the pool again, his head movement had rapidly subsided, the amount of air bubbles leaking from his breathing holes had decreased, and the light in his eyes was about to finish changing from a yellow fluorescent colour to a grey colour with no saturation. Then, back in the starting position, challenger 22 was completely immobilised with his head leaning on his right shoulder. 【２】 'Ah, the pupil colour of number 22 has changed!　He almost surfaced... but it seems that his strength to live was just one step short, that's a pity... But we were able to witness his last effort for his life. Ladies and gentlemen, please give a round of applause to challenger number 22 with our congratulations and condolences!　Thank you for the excitement!" As if invited by the MC's narration, the audience gave the loudest applause and cheers of the day. This act of using the sideshow as a sideshow, leaving a man who would soon have his light of life completely extinguished, was also cruel. If divers had rescued him from the water at this moment, he would have survived, even if there was a high probability that his bodily functions would be permanently damaged. However, the fact that more than 15 of the shark's rubber-suited challengers, already stuck in the water, have been left in the same condition suggests that the organisers and spectators of this sideshow have dismissed such a humane act as unnecessary from the outset. 'Now, I would like to close in again on challenger number 14, who, like a fish out of water, continues to flexibly rise to the surface of the pool!　We will not be able to take our eyes off of him until the very end, whether he continues to surface on the ground with us and succeeds in his challenge, or whether he fails in his challenge like challenger number 22 just now!" Challenger 14 continued his ascent to survival and was only one metre closer to the surface. His body movements remained undiminished and the air bubbles coming out of his breathing holes were still minute and he seemed to be maintaining his composure. In that water... ・・・・・・・・ I was moving my whole body, thinking only of floating up to the surface. The fact that the pressure on my body felt much less than when I was at the bottom of the water was probably evidence that the water surface was getting closer and the water pressure was decreasing. However, he could feel that his body was approaching its limit of exhaustion. I may not make it in time. But I want to live. I want to live... I want to live, I want to live, I want to live, I want to live... I was calling out my thoughts in my brain as if I was chanting the Buddhist prayer. Then I felt something burst in my head, and all memory of what happened from that moment on skipped away... 【３】 'Now, at last, number 14 will rise above the ground!　Last year they all failed, but this time it looks promising!　Please prepare your welcome, ladies and gentlemen!　30 cm to go, 20 cm to go..." The voltage in the auditorium was at its highest, as the host was screaming so loudly that it sounded like a crackling sound. And then... The first thing to touch the air from the surface of the water was the nasal cavity of the shark's rubber mask, followed by the breathing hole in the mouth, then the entire head and its appearance on the ground. Staff members standing by the poolside grabbed him by both shoulders and pulled his upper body up into the water. The rest of the staff hooked the weights connected to his tail fin onto the wires in their hands and began to pull him up using a machine that had been set up beforehand. As challenger number 14 was pulled up to the side of the pool, he was exhaling watery air through his breathing hole and wildly taking in outside air into his body, showing that he was really close to his limit. 'Once again, look at the underwater camera footage. At the moment, all the challengers in this pool are out of breath. But you can see what happens when that happens." The challengers, who had already run out and were no longer moving, were beginning to show certain changes. Their mouths were full of a viscous foam-like mass, rather than air bubbles, and most of them were also performing their final ejaculation, perhaps out of a survival instinct in the face of death. The semen leaking from their motionless bodies was completely different from the first demonstration of forced ejaculation. 'It's a very mysterious phenomenon, but at the moment of expiration, they instinctively ejaculate in this way. The changes are appearing in the order of the darkening of the pupils, starting with number 21, who was the first to die out. I wonder what their feelings were as they met their final moments at the bottom of the water, and I wonder if each of them had their own drama. In their courage and honour, I am going to ask them to stay here at the bottom of the water for one more day or so." The MC's clumsy performance was met with laughter from the gallery. 【４】 I was able to get out of the water and I seemed to have passed out as I was. I found myself in a position where I was sitting on a large sofa, still wearing my shark suit. The pool where I would have been submerged was just beyond my vision, and the tables lined up in three directions around it were occupied by people dressed in formal wear that looked out of place with my appearance, all of whom seemed to be paying attention only to me. I felt a touch on my right shoulder and looked up in that direction to see a man in a white suit standing there with a hand microphone in his hand. '...Well, now that I've told you about the eliminated players, I'd like to turn my attention again to the winner of the game, the survivor, challenger number 14!　Ladies and gentlemen of the gallery, may I have your attention this way!" The man looked around my body, then touched my body several times, where I was unable to move with my arms crossed, and spoke to the seated humans. 'Once again, the challengers have been suited up with their arms crossed in this position. The arms were completely disabled. In addition, their legs were so closely fitted together that they were like mermaids, making it extremely difficult for them to swim like humans, and they were at a very strong disadvantage. And here is an even more severe handicap." The man pointed to a block of concrete on a handcart. I immediately recognised it as the weight that had tied me... us... to the bottom of the water. 'This is the weight that was holding the challengers to the bottom of the water. In the case of this challenger, they were connected to a weight that was twice his body weight, more than 150 kg.' 150 kg... how was I able to float to the surface with such a large mass connected to me? I honestly couldn't believe it. 'Once again, please give him a grand blessing!' The gallery's endless applause and loud cheers were directed only at me. For once, I didn't feel strangely bad. Only this time... 'Now, we'd like to speak to the challenger who survived, though I'm sure he's fully wounded!' The man's hand mic was pointed at my mouth. 'There were 20 challengers who came forward in this game. Out of those, you are the only one who made it back alive!' 'Nn~?' I was going to say "Huh?", but just like when I was first transformed into this form, I couldn't respond in human language. It's understandable, considering that something is being held in my mouth. But what stuck with me was the words of the man pointing the microphone at me, that I was the only one who survived. What happened to the other people who were made to wear the shark suits? "Unfortunately, all the challengers except for you, number 14, failed to escape, and unfortunately, all lost their lives. They are probably making their final faces at the bottom of the pool right now." The host had me turn my head backward, and there was a large display showing the scene that seemed to be the underwater world I had been in a moment ago. Everyone was still submerged at the bottom of the water without moving a muscle. ... I was at a loss for words. Everyone else in the shark suits who was in the water except for me was dead. And I was filled with anger at this man who was talking about this situation so calmly. People's lives are being taken... "I'd like you to say a word to the challengers who unfortunately lost their lives." The man put me back in my original position, brought the hand microphone to my mouth, and asked me a cruel and emotionless question as if he had no idea what I really meant. "What do you mean to the challengers who lost their lives! What do you think of human lives! Why did you plan something like this!?" I stood up from my chair and shouted as loud as I could. However, the sound that escaped from the breathing hole was the same muffled voice as before. "It seems that No. 14 is also very sad, it's a heartwarming comment from a friend!" Having been mistranslated, I slumped back against the sofa in despair. I realized that there was no point in saying anything to these guys. There had been so many unreasonable things, but now I was free. Just as I was thinking that, something happened... 【To be continued...】