Volume 2 of Alice in Borderland: RETRY (今際の国のアリスRETRY, Imawa no Kuni no Arisu Ritorai), the manga series written and illustrated by Haro Aso. It serves as a direct sequel to the original Alice in Borderland manga.
Overview[]
Chapters six to thirteen continue the story about the Nine of Hearts game from Hall 3 onwards.
Summary[]
Once again, Arisu finds himself lost in the Borderland, a world where failing to clear the games means certain death.
Forced into the Nine of Hearts game, Earth Invasion, participants begin to lose their lives one after another. Arisu is forced into making an impossible choice, and his life is on the line. Will he be able to survive and return to his wife and baby?
Plot[]
The second volume stays inside the Nine of Hearts game, "Earth Invasion", where players trade "LIFE" and "DEATH" cards to enter shelters while avoiding alien attacks. Yuzuru Horikawa, already wounded, offers himself as the recipient for everyone's "DEATH" cards so that they do not have to turn on each other. Arisu sees the flaw in that idea, since one person could hold back a "DEATH" and win at the end. Nanase Onoue confirms a limit of the system when her "DEATH" card cannot be transferred to a person who has already died. Four players survive the next round by exchanging "LIFE" cards and entering shelters. Yuzuru's last words call out Masatsugu Kitou for deception, which makes Himari Horikawa connect Taiga's seemingly accidental death to Kitou's planning. In Hall 4, a replica of Russia, Himari transfers a "DEATH" to Kitou.
Kitou accepts a drop-out role, but Onoue immediately gives him a "LIFE", nullifying Himari's attack and explaining her philosophy. Kitou promises to give a "LIFE" to her in return. Himari, furious, vows to give no "LIFE" to anyone. Pressed, Arisu reveals that the woman he loves is pregnant and he needs to survive in order to go back to her. Himari gives in and exchanges "LIFE" cards with him. As the invasion starts, Onoue hears a strange tone from Kitou's phone, then dies outside while Arisu and Himari shelter. The Hall 5 doors open to Kitou, not Onoue.
Kitou claims to have discovered a foolproof survival plan. Arisu recollects all the past evens and realizes that the answer has been in the phones the whole time. Cards can be given only to those not killed by an alien invasion, which means the body placed at the start still counts as alive in the system. A flashback shows that Kitou took a phone from the corpse, which turned out to be a carefully make replica, and had been using it to ensure both his and the corpse's phones received a "LIFE", so his exchange with Onoue had actually been between Onoue, himself, and the corpse. Exposed, Kitou sends Arisu a "DEATH" card. Panic grips Arisu until he recalls Himari's daycare story about musical chairs. He sees the intended solution: shift every "DEATH" onto the phone of the corpse, then exchange "LIFE" cards in a circle so no one needs to die. He points out that the shelters likely increase in capacity across halls. Himari agrees. Kitou rejects the idea, hardened by his past as a doctor who triaged the doomed during the Tokyo Meteorite Disaster eight years earlier.
With minutes left, Arisu puts his "DEATH" onto the phone of the corpse and gives Kitou a "LIFE". Himari gives Arisu a "LIFE". Arisu adds a pragmatic check: if Kitou refuses to follow the plan, Himari can choose not to give him a "LIFE" in the last hall, making them both lose and die, which forces cooperation. Kitou breaks, mourns Onoue, and uses the phone of the corpse to give "LIFE" to Arisu and Himari while transferring his "DEATH" there. The door of the shelter unlocks twice, confirming the possibility of more than one occupant.
Hall 6 is a miniature Tokyo with two shelters, capacity three each. Unlike the others, who are happy to see two shelters allowing them all to survive, Kitou is overcome with guilt, because his actions led to the deaths of three other people. Himari slaps him across the face and claims that the three of them would not be standing in the final room had he not found the extra phone and brought it along. The three of them exchange "LIFE" cards and enter the shelters. The announcement congratulates them on GAME CLEAR, and they are all transported back to the real world, where they wake up in Kitou's hospital.
Arisu realizes that Usagi is in the same hospital, so he rushes to the east ward. Just as he arrives, she gives birth to a baby girl, and all three hug with a smile.
Chapters[]
- Chapter 6 (RETRY)
- Chapter 7 (RETRY)
- Chapter 8 (RETRY)
- Chapter 9 (RETRY)
- Chapter 10 (RETRY)
- Chapter 11 (RETRY)
- Chapter 12 (RETRY)
- Chapter 13 (RETRY)