This volume starts with Yuki playing in Scrap Building, which is her 10th game. Interesting enough, it is quite interesting how different Yuki is compared to the 2 games in volume 1. In Ghost House, she is much more reserved but has more confidence. While in Candle Woods, she is an apprentice that is playing in these without much of a purpose. Here she aims to win 99 games. Of course the big issue in this game is how the rest of the girls are familiar with each other.
The girl who contrasts her is Mishiro, who is the leader for the other girls. One thing that is clear is she is very hostile to Yuki. When Yuki makes suggestions, she looks more to try to make herself look better even if it is not what she would have done. It is interesting because she knows Yuki is right, but her confidence won’t let her credit Yuki. There are instances when a simple apology is all she needed to give Yuki, and she didn’t give that to Yuki. She could let her pride get ahead of her and vote Yuki to be killed, but she couldn’t because she knew it was thanks to Yuki. Surprisingly, she apologized finally, but that just rooted her anger. She was a girl with expectations on her, and that led her to a miserable life. Still, it is no excuse for how she acted between what seems to be killing her sister. Then more than likely failing in the world. For her, she had the promise that this death game was where she could be #1, but that was a miss.
Their rematch ends up being Yuki’s 30th game, hitting the wall of thirty. Was like, with athletics, you can be in your prime and then suddenly enter a notable slump. Ghost House was Yuki’s 28th game, and Golden Bath was her 30th game. Still, her 29th game is where everything went to shit, and suddenly Yuki doesn’t know how to proceed. Not to mention the wall of thirty seems like a curse for players. To even add that she swallowed the pill that Kinko’s father gave her. It makes sense there are people seeking to stop these death games. After all, these girls are dying, and one could say it’s addictive. For girls like Yuki, who have chosen this path, it is one thing, but girls like Kinko who played to win money for her family, are now dead. No doubt her father wished he could have stopped her. The ironic part is that it was Yuki who killed her on a whim, much like how in Scrap Building her vote was based on a whim. As she doesn’t have much of a free will of her own.
The ironic part of Yuki & Mishiro’s rematch is that they are now on opposite spectrums. Mishiro is now on her 40th game, and her motivation to beat Yuki has her moving higher and higher. Sadly seeing Yuki in this slump upset her to no end. In fact, it makes you wonder if Yuki were in her prime, would Mishiro have killed her? It was because Mishiro bypassed Yuki because the girl she loathed is closer to her goal, and that is what brought the spark back. It will be curious if Yuki will keep this momentum going.
Though the organization was aware of the pill she swallowed. At the very least, it does seem that there is no opposing the organization.