What this meant was that, in any given part of the Republic, the odds were good that a Program had been held at some point in recent memory—say, the last decade or so—but that it was quite uncommon for any but the densest districts to see classes chosen in consecutive years. The selection would come and go. The shadow of the Program was wide and inescapable, but it was not always crushing. It was just common enough that nobody could forget about it.
Generally speaking, most iterations of The Program ran to completion and produced a single survivor. Of course, sometimes it didn't quite work like that. Sometimes things went wrong and nobody lived. Sometimes the students refused to participate, and were executed en masse instead. And sometimes, sometimes something went wrong on a more fundamental level.
It didn't happen often. Officially, it never happened. And when problems did occur, they were dealt with quickly, completely, and discreetly. As far as the masses could tell, there was no problem at all. The Program had a flawless track record. Whispers came and went, rumors might spread, but still the Program marched on, year after year.
It seemed like it always would.
School (G7), Okishima Island, 6:00 PM
"Hello hello. This is Sakamochi."
The voice that had by now become familiar to the surviving students once again echoed across the island from crackling speakers, right at the turn of the hour. If there was any fatigue or concern present in the man, it was not audible.
"Well now, you're making some good progress. I had some doubts at first, but you've been very steady, so good job. There are only fourteen of you left, so at this rate I think you'll probably be done soon. Oh, but the Forbidden areas make certain of that anyways, don't they?
"Anyways, let me fill you in on who died.
"The first was No. 21, Kazuhiko Yamamoto.
"No. 14, Mayumi Tendo.
"No. 6, Kazuo Kiriyama.
"No. 5, Shogo Kawada.
"No. 3, Megumi Eto.
"No. 18, Tadakatsu Hatagami.
"No. 10, Ryuhei Sasagawa.
"No. 7, Yoshitoki Kuninobu.
"And now, the areas that will become Forbidden in the next twelve hours. There aren't too many places left to go, so you should hurry up and finish this.
"In an hour, at 7 PM, G-9 will be off-limits.
"Two hours after that, at 9 PM, B-7.
"At 11 PM, B-8.
"At 1 AM, as we enter the new day, D-9.
"At 3 AM, nine hours from now, C-10.
"At 5 AM, right before the morning check-in, C-4.
"Before long, you'll run out of places to go, if you don't run out of classmates first. But believe in yourselves. The odds of you being the last are much better than they were at the beginning."
And then, with a click, the announcement ended.
Weather: 6:00 PM, Day Two
The chill returns again with the evening, and fog rolls in along the coast of the island. The night is cool and windy, with high humidity and the threat of rain, though the clouds do not break before morning.
And once more we have rolled four characters:
1. Tatsumichi Oki (Pippi)
2. Noriko Nakagawa (Mostly Harmfulll)
3. Mizuho Inada (Catche Jagger)
4. Fumiyo Fujiyoshi (applesintime)
Three days for cards, and a further seven for deaths.
Please note that this is the final set of public rolls for the New Battle Royale AU. Prior to the next set of rolls, we will open a subforum and Discord channel for the Final Ten, and rolls will be conducted and posted in those venues (though they will be revealed to the public later on).
Please also note that the next rolls will take us to Endgame, and are subject to a handful of special rules, including the option to opt out and the removal of protection against multiple rolls.
As usual, the Forbidden Zones are staggered. The Clinic (G9) is off-limits immediately, with the typical three days for normal activity and seven more to exit.
At mid-month, the Shinto Shrine (C4) and Lighthouse (C10) will become Forbidden, with their own timers.
The remaining Forbidden Zones do not directly correspond to specific locations. Unlike in other games, Forbidden Zones are not lifted as the game progresses, and no warning is given to students who linger in or enter one.
