At first, Niko thought that if a monster like Jaden personally mentioned Arkham, then it had to be the most terrifying prison in the entire Far East.
But after being sent inside, he slowly realized something was off.
"This place..."
"...looks like a sanatorium?"
Niko was confused.
No matter how much Jaden looked down on him, surely he wouldn't throw someone into a mental hospital just for going a little crazy.
At least, that was what Niko told himself during the first few days.
After that, he stopped talking and quietly began observing.
And by the third day, he reached a conclusion.
"-This is definitely a sanatorium."
The security wasn't strict.
It didn't resemble a prison at all.
Aside from slightly rigid management, everything else was even milder than an ordinary psychiatric hospital.
In fact, compared to other places he had seen, Arkham was unusually quiet.
At the very least, the people here seemed... normal.
They didn't do things that clearly screamed "mentally ill."
Even his roommate was fine.
Occasionally, Arkham's staff would refer to his roommate with a strange title-
Super High School Level Criminal-
But from Niko's perspective, the man was simply gentle, cultured, and wore oversized glasses.
So.
After staying in Arkham for several days, Niko made a decision.
He would escape.
Late at night, after his roommate fell asleep, Niko opened his eyes, glanced at the man beside him, quietly unlocked the iron gate holding the two of them, and walked out without hesitation.
What he would never know was that the moment he left-
His gentle, cultured roommate opened his eyes.
And smiled.
"Lord Kamukura said he'd break my hand if I picked the lock myself..."
"But I'm not picking the lock."
"I'm just going to catch the roommate who ran away."
He slowly sat up, removed his glasses, and brushed his bangs back with one hand.
Only a single strand of hair hung loose.
Without the glasses, with his hair swept back, his entire presence changed.
This version of him stepped toward the open door and walked out calmly.
But unlike Niko, he didn't rush away.
Instead, he glanced at the other rooms lining the corridor.
"I'm going to catch a rule-breaking roommate..."
"And maybe recruit a few helpers."
"That shouldn't count as breaking the rules, right?"
Before he could take another step, a voice came from behind him.
From the room next to their cell.
"That's definitely a violation."
"Come back."
"It's safe here, at least."
"Izuru Kamukura is in Arkham."
"But Jaden isn't."
Hearing this, the Super High School Level Criminal froze.
He sighed.
Smoothed his hair back down.
Put his glasses back on.
Locked the door himself.
Then returned to the bed and lay down.
"...Right."
"I almost forgot."
"Arkham really isn't that bad."
"And that idiot who ran away picked the wrong direction."
"Jaden is outside."
"Lord Kamukura is here."
"If I have to choose between those two monsters..."
"I'll stay with Lord Kamukura."
"For life."
"I never want to face Jaden."
As he spoke, a crack appeared in the wall beside him.
A small hidden door opened.
A hand reached out and passed him a small screen.
"See?"
"Arkham's great. Food, shelter, and people worth talking to."
"I'll always love Arkham."
"Let's just stay here and watch."
"We're in the mild section."
"The other side..."
"That's where the real lunatics are locked up."
"You're right."
The Super High School Level Criminal didn't ask when the person next door had installed surveillance on Niko.
He simply smiled, accepted the screen, and lay back comfortably to enjoy the show.
-
Arkham was divided into two areas.
One was the section Niko had been staying in.
This area only housed people who had heavily suppressed-or completely overcome-the influence of the Super High School Level Despair.
It was commonly known as the safe zone.
The safe zone occupied one-tenth of Arkham's residential area.
Which meant-
The remaining nine-tenths were the danger zone.
And the direction Niko fled toward...
Was the danger zone.
However, both the Super High School Level Criminal and the mechanic next door overestimated Niko's luck.
They assumed he would be intercepted by Izuru Kamukura.
But in reality-
"(Former) Super High School Level Role-Player... extremely dangerous?"
"He got so immersed in his role that he went insane?"
"But how is someone like that dangerous?"
Niko stood before a cell that was clearly different from the others.
Almost completely sealed.
He walked closer.
Then-
A green-haired figure suddenly pressed its face against the small window in the heavy iron door.
A face painted pale white.
Two deep cuts carved into the corners of the mouth, forming a permanent smile.
Niko jumped back instinctively.
"What... is that thing..."
The clown stared at him.
Then made a strange, gurgling sound.
"Heh... heh heh heh..."
"Mister~"
"Do you like jokes?"
"I..."
Niko hesitated.
He wasn't sure whether answering was a good idea.
Seeing him remain silent, the clown continued.
"A joke about an escapee."
"He runs away from one prison..."
"Only to discover another one."
"Isn't that funny?"
The clown burst into manic laughter.
After laughing for a long while, his gaze snapped back to Niko.
"Why aren't you laughing!?"
The laughter made Niko's scalp tingle.
But he reminded himself-
This was a mental hospital.
Even if most people here seemed normal, a few truly insane individuals wouldn't be strange.
He turned to leave.
Then-
His martial artist's instincts screamed.
Niko spun around just in time to see a smiling man lunging at him with a knife.
He leapt backward instantly.
And forgot-
There was a clown behind him.
As his body collided with the iron door, a hand reached out from inside the cell.
A hidden blade strapped to the clown's palm pierced cleanly into Niko's neck.
The hand withdrew silently.
If one looked through the window now-
There was no one inside.
The man who had attacked earlier approached the cell.
A voice came from within.
"Go, go."
"Opening the door now wouldn't be funny anymore."
The masked man nodded and left.
As for Niko-
When he was discovered the next day, he was kneeling.
His body completely rigid.
An exaggerated, twisted smile frozen across his face.
Fortunately, he was a martial artist.
His physique was strong.
And the one who attacked him hadn't intended to kill him.
They had only wanted to...
Play a joke.
So he survived.
But nearly every facial muscle had become necrotic.
That smile-
He could never remove it.
And he could never forget it.