Gakkou no kaidan: From hell to heaven

Translated from Japanese by Shishou(師匠) 

Translated from the DS game  Minna de Taikan Dokusho DS - Chou-Kowai! Gakkou no Kaidan

I'm called the master of video-games by my friends. Well, I'd say it's quite true as no one in my class can play better than me. Though, there are times when I lose. The one guy who is able to defeat me is Osamu-kun of the other class. He is known as the video-game emperor among his comrades. The total video-games he possesses outnumbers mine by a substantial quantity.

His friends say that he plays everyday till late night until his parents arrive from work. That's also the reason he keeps on sleeping during the classes and ultimately ends up with bad grades.

Truth to be told, I feel envious of Osamu-kun's life. My parents get angry at me if they find me playing during night. If my grades drop, they don't give me money to buy new games. "How great would it be if I could live Osamu-kun's life", I always think to myself. However, whenever I play against him, I feel as if instead of enjoying the game, he's playing for the sole purpose of winning. That's because his face takes a frightening expression during that time.

One day...


"Akira-kun, I got a new game. It's totally amazing!" he exclaimed.

The game he was holding had "From hell to heaven" written on it.

"Hmm...hell..."

As soon as I touched the game-disc with my hand, I got bad vibes from it. It felt like a premonition of something sinister that was yet to come.

"Want to play against me? What do you say?" he asked.

"Yeah...I guess", I replied affirmatively so as not to disappoint him.

"We'll start the game on the same day at the same time. Agree?" he said.

"When should we start it?" I asked.

He thought for a while and replied, "I think it would be best if we start it on the 6th day of the 6th month at 6 in the evening."

"Okay, I'm fine with it."

At that time, I didn't know the true significance of the number 666; therefore, I complied with him without any further thought.



The fateful day came...

Osamu-kun handed me a copy of the game and asked me to start the game at the promised hour.

"Yeah, I'll be sure to start it at 6. Whoever completes the game first has to call the other and inform about it."  I said to him.

"I'm sorry for you, but I'll be the first one to call." he boasted his video-game skills.

"We'll see that.... Well then, good-luck to both of us."

While we were parting he shouted, "This is a battle between two warriors! I'm going to risk my life to win."

I could see the evil grin on his face as disappeared into distance.

That day I had my swimming club activities after school, and they were supposed to end at 6 in the evening. I realized I wouldn't be able to play the game on time if I attend the club activities till the end. But I couldn't even ditch it as my Mom would get angry if she found about it. Finally, after running my brain for a while, I decided to skip the classes half-way by feigning un-wellness.
The giant clock on the swimming club's wall read 5:30. I hurriedly moved out of the pool, went to the changing room, changed into my uniform, and prepared to leave the school grounds. My wristwatch was at 5:40 at the moment.

"I won't be able to make it!"
 Even with bicycle, it took 17-18 minutes to travel between school and my house. Having no other option at hand, I started paddling vigorously.

"The heck? Another red signal!"

It was getting frustrating seeing those red signals at every next crossing.
"To hell with it! I'm not waiting a damn minute more!" I prepared to jump the signal.
As I was about to do that, I heard a whistling sound coming from nearby.
A cop was there. Luckily, he didn't see me, but it was enough to make me abandon the signal-skipping idea.

"Lady luck is definitely not on my side today. I'm totally going to lose the challenge."
By this point, I had already given up on the idea of winning the game.

"5 minutes more to go. I bet Osamu-kun is seated infront of his TV at this moment."

I paddled my way home as soon as the signal went green.

I arrived at my house. The wristwatch read 5:59:30. I rushed up the stairs into my room, threw the bag on the bed, took out the game disc from the case and jammed it in the system, and then booted up the system.

2 seconds remaining.

I flicked the TV switch on. Just as the clock hit 6, the TV's screen got lit.


"I did it! Just in time!"

I looked at the TV screen.

"Aaaaa----"

My heart skipped a beat. There was something horrible on the screen. Instead of the game's screen, I could see countless blood-stained faces of Osamu-kun on it.

The faces continued moving in a random way on the screen.

By this point, I was paralyzed by the dreadful sight that lay before me.


A few letters start appearing on the screen.

"G"
"O"
"O"
"D"
"B"
"Y"
"E"

"Goodbye?"

I couldn't understand the meaning of it and kept staring on the screen. As the moments passed, I realized that my whole body was trembling, even when it wasn't cold.

*Ring.... Ring....*

Suddenly, the telephone, which was below the stairs, started ringing. My Mom picked it up. After a while when the call ended, she informed me, "Aki-chan, something terrible has happened. Osamu-kun has passed away in an accident!"

My heart started pounding rapidly. I turned my gaze towards the screen, but this time there was nothing on it.

Later on I came to know, he died on the very 6th hour I turned on my game. He had gone to buy medicine for his mother and got run over while he was on his way back home.


Had I not seen the cop at the signal and skipped it, it would have been my face that would have appeared on the screen at 6:00.

I have not touched video-games since that incident. Also, recently I came to know the significance of 666, it is the devils favorite number.

I wonder if things would have been different had we selected a different day and time for the game.

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 Finally, I finished another long story. A Halloween special story for you guys. Hope you'll like it.
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