The Borderlands is a realm found in Yomi that acts as a border between life and death, where the consciousness of people who suffer a near-death experience or clinical death are sent and forced to play dangerous games to survive.
Appearance[]
The Borderlands is a parallel of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan, and the games in the Borderlands have taken place within the wards. However, the parallel Tokyo is abandoned, and the effects of time and nature have a clear toll on it. Many of the buildings are in poor condition, and trash can be seen everywhere. Lots of vegetation can be seen growing through cracks and hanging on infrastructure.
A weather cycle still exists, as proven in the rainstorm and typhoon seen during the second stage. In addition, the day and night cycle exists as well. However, the Borderlands is perpetually in the summertime around July, meaning the days are humid and hot.
As the land approaches the edge of the wards, it grows more ruinous, eventually turning into massive forests and mountains. It is also surrounded by a seemingly endless river which is later revealed to be the Sanzu river itself.
Overview[]
The Borderlands was created by Izanami as a means to both test humanity's worth as well as to sate her amusement. In this realms, humans exist there as "immigrants" in order to decide whether they continue to the world of the dead or earn the right to return to the world of the living. For this, the people— known as either players or dealers— are forced to participate in an elaborate game in which they put their lives on the line in order to test their will to live.
The wounds suffered in the Borderlands are reflected in the body in the original world, so dying there also means dying in the world of the living. Once the game is cleared, survivors can choose to return to the world of the living or stay in the Borderland as citizens, who create and operate the next set of games in the next immigration cycle. No player or dealer in the Borderlands is aware of this until they clear all the games.
To be sent to the Borderlands, a person must meet the following criteria:
- They have suffered a clinical death or a near-death experience.
- They were heavily dissatisfied with their current lives.
As long as those 2 requirements were met, someone would be sent off to the Borderlands. The exact details were never explicitly stated in the series. It is assumed that there isn’t an age quota since a young child was seen, as well as many older people. However, 2 types of people that weren’t seen were pregnant women and physically disabled people. Again, it is unknown if that’s a coincidence or if they simply can’t be sent to the Borderlands.
Description[]
Every night after sundown, the games commence. Games can take place at any location, indoors or outdoors. Examples include a school, a bank, a field, a park, etc. Players must register in the game lobby, where the rules to the game and the difficulty will be announced.
Difficulty Setting[]
Games are categorized by their difficulty, which is represented by a playing card. Spades is a game of physique. Diamonds are a game of intelligence. Clubs are a game of teamwork and balance. Hearts is a game of psychology. The number of the card is its difficulty, going from ace-10. The reward for winning are additional visa days determined by the game’s difficulty, (So for example a 5 of Clubs will reward 5 days) the playing card that the game was, and very occasionally a game may include a second prize. The difficulty isn’t announced until after registration. Once a player enters a venue, they cannot leave. Some games have entry requirements too, like having a player limit, requirement, or having all players equip special objects prior to the start of the game.
Dealers are the people who set up the games and clean up the venues after they are done. They also participate in games often acting as taggers (Like the Five of Spades) or as other players to confuse the players (Like the Ten of Hearts). Their visa reward is dependent on the number of people they kill each game. If the players clear the game they’re supervising, then it’s a Game Over for that dealer. It’s a cruel role, but they’re considered the lucky ones.
First Stage[]
Once a person’s visa days reach 0, they’re killed. This is why players and dealers must continue participating in games. This system applies only during the First Stage. The rules change drastically in the Second Stage. There are 2 ways for the First Stage to end:
If all 40 pip card games are cleared, it is a player victory and all dealers are killed. A single person doesn’t need to clear all the games nor have all the cards; every game just needs to have been cleared at least once. If all players are killed, then it is considered a dealer victory.
The victorious faction will have a 3 day Interval, where visas don’t count down. At the end of the 3 days, the citizens will make their announcement for the Second Stage.
Second Stage[]
During the Second Stage, 12 new games begin where the survivors must compete against the Borderland citizens in the Face Card games. These games are much more difficult, have extremely strict entry requirements, and have the survivors play against the citizens.
All games have their difficulty displayed. However, the visa system is still in effect as well. If all citizens are defeated and the games are all cleared, the remaining people get to choose whether to return to Earth or gain permanent residency, becoming a citizen and making new games in the next immigration cycle.