"Nine of Hearts, Part 1" (ハートの 9 パート 1, Hāto no 9, Pāto 1) is the first chapter of the first volume and the first chapter overall of the Alice in Borderland RETRY manga, written and illustrated by Haro Aso.
Summary[]
Arisu wakes up in the empty Tokyo once again with no recollection of what happened prior. He walks around and notices the only building that has electricity, so he proceeds there and finds a small Theme Park. Five more people have already gathered at the venue, and none of them know what is going on or why all the people have disappeared.
The memories quickly come back to Arisu: first about him being a school councilor, then about him rushing home from a trip because his wife, Usagi, went in labor, then about his attempt to save a group of people from a large billboard that fell onto their heads and transported them all to the Borderland.
The game begins, and its name and difficulty are announced: Nine of Hearts, "Earth Invasion". Upon entering a room, the group sees a corpse cut into pieces, which prompts Himari Horikawa to rush towards the exit. Arisu's memories of the past return to him fully, and now he knows what happened to him eight years before. He stops the girl from leaving, and Masatsugu Kitou confirms the likelihood of the corpse trying to go through the exit and getting cut and burned by a laser, which Arisu remembers vividly.
The game rules are explained, and the players receive phones with six "LIFE" cards and one "DEATH" card displayed on the screen, as well as the icons of them all excluding the phone owner. Each of them is required to obtain a "LIFE" card from another player in order to hide in a safe pod, so they pair up and exchange the cards. After the first alien invasion is over, they get out of the pods and see the whole room, which was a replica of New York, in ruins. They move to the next room, convinced about the possibility to clear the game easily, but realize to their own surprise that now there are only five safe pods left, and yet six players are still alive.