Eiji Mitsurugi (御劔 栄司, Mitsurugi Eiji) is a player who participates in the Jack of Hearts game.
History[]
On the surface, Mitsurugi claims himself to be a humble bank clerk. Thanks to his sharp observation of other people, Mitsurugi carried out numerous wire frauds and swindled large amount of money from unsuspected investors. Until his last victim killed his family along with an unborn baby and then committed suicide, he is shown to be genuinely remorseful of his action and believes his gift should be used in giving other people salvation instead.
Story []
Mitsurugi joins the Jack of Hearts game the last day of his visa. He quickly teams up with Kunio Kariya after confirming the latter to be an unlikely hosting Citizen. When only 8 of the 20 participants remain, Mitsurugi includes 2 more participants in his team in an attempt to drag the game as long as the food supply in the venue remains sufficient to support them for at least 6 months, as there is no definite time limit for the players to clear this specific game and all players of the game have their visa expiry dates temporarily halted.
However, Oki Yaba, who is determined to obtain permanent residence of the Borderlands disagrees with Mitsurugi, and blocks the latter from leaving his own cell. Yaba also lets Kariya enter Mitsurugi's cell which is an offense of the game rule. The two men eventually die together. Before their demise, Mitsurugi admits to Kariya that he has already realized the identity of the Jack of Hearts host.
At first glance, Mitsurugi's intent to drag the game seems humane. However, this would kill the rest of the players outside the Jack of Hearts game within a month as their visas expire with no mean to clear the Jack of Hearts in time.
Etymology[]
- The name Eiji consists of the kanji "flourish, prosperity, honor, glory, splendor" (栄) (ei) and "officer, boss" (司) (ji).