Battle Royale Read Online Free PDF Page A

Kiriyama. Beneath his slicked-back hair his calm eyes were staring at the man at the lectern. His look was so calm, it didn't even resemble a glare. He paid no attention to his circle of followers addressing him: Ryuhei Sasagawa, Mitsuru Numai, Hiroshi Kuronaga (Male Student No. 9), and Sho Tsukioka (Male Student No. 14).
    Then there was Mitsuko Souma, sitting in the second row by the window. She was the one who looked jaded. Her seat was separated from the rest of her "group," which consisted of Hirono Shimizu and Yoshimi Yahagi. Of course none of the other girls, nor boys for that matter, would even attempt to talk to her. (On Shuya's left, Hirono and Yoshimi were speaking to each other.) Even though Mitsuko had the gorgeous looks of a pop idol, she always wore a strange, listless expression on her face. She stared at Sakamochi with her arms folded. (Hiroki Sugimura sat right behind her, talking to Tadakatsu Hatagami.) Shogo Kawada sat at the second to last row by the window. He was also silently staring at Sakamochi.
    But he took out a piece of gum, then began chewing it, continuing to stare at the teacher as his jaw moved.
    Shuya looked to the front of the class. Noriko Nakagawa was still staring back at him. Her dark eyes were trembling nervously. Shuya glanced over at Yoshitoki, who was sitting in front of her, but Yoshitoki was busy talking to Shinji Mimura. Shuya immediately glanced back at Noriko, tucked his chin in slightly, and nodded. It seemed to have a calming effect on her. Her eyes seemed to relax a little.
    "All right, all right, please be quiet." Sakamochi clapped his hands together several times to get their attention. The clamor suddenly subsided. "Let me explain the situation. The reason why you're all here today then..."
    Then he said: "…is to kill each other."
    Now no one responded. Everyone remained frozen, like figures in a still photograph. But—Shuya noticed—Shogo continued chewing his gum. His expression hadn't changed. But Shuya thought he'd caught a glimpse of a faint grin flash across his face.
    Sakamochi continued smiling and resumed, "Your class has been selected for this year's 'Program.' "
    Someone shrieked.
    42 students remaining
    3
    Every junior high school student in the Republic of Greater East Asia knew what the Program was. It was even covered in school textbooks from the fourth grade on. Here we will quote from the more detailed Republic of Greater East Asia Compact Encyclopedia :
    " Program n . 1. A listing of the order of events and other information […] 4. A battle simulation program conducted by our nation's ground defense forces, instituted for security reasons. Officially known as Battle Experiment No. 68 Program. The first program was held in 1947. Fifty third-year junior high school classes are selected annually (prior to 1950, 47 classes were selected) to conduct the Program for research purposes. Classmates in each class are forced to fight until one survivor is left. Results from this experiment, including the elapsed time, are entered as data. The final survivor of each class (the winner) is provided with a lifetime pension and a card autographed by The Great Dictator. In reaction to protests and agitation caused by extremists during the first year of its enactment, the 317th Great Dictator gave his famous April Speech.' "
    The "April Speech" is required reading in the first year of junior high school. Here are some excerpts:
    "My beloved comrades working for the Revolution and building our beloved nation. [Two-minute interruption for the 317th Great Dictator due to applause and cheers] Now then. [One-minute interruption] We still have shameless imperialists prowling our republic, attempting to sabotage it. They have exploited the people of other nations, nations that should have become our comrades, betraying them, brainwashing them, and turning them into pawns for their own imperialist tactics, [unanimous cry of indignation] And they would jump at the chance to