Volume 3 of Alice in Borderland (今際の国のアリス, Imawa no Kuni no Arisu), the manga series written and illustrated by Haro Aso.
Plot[]
Arisu and his friends participate in the Seven of Hearts game, "Hide and Seek", where only one player can survive. As their trust collapses, they act against each other, but in the end, Karube, Chouta, and Shibuki sacrifice themselves, allowing Arisu to clear the game. A few later, devastated Arisu meets Usagi, and they decide to search towards the Beach together.
Summary[]
Arisu and his friends continue their Sojourn in Borderland. Shibuki reflects on her past game, the Two of Hearts, which required players to risk their lives in a poisoned train. She explains that Hearts games test a player's will to live through psychological torment. Although she survived by chance, she admits losing her resolve to keep fighting. Arisu, unaware of the growing rift in their group, lies on the railway feeling content to be alive. Karube later hears a radio broadcast about a place called the "beach", where players are said to know all the answers.
The group's tensions culminate when they arrive at a botanic garden to register for the next challenge, "Hide and Seek". One player becomes a wolf, and the others are sheep who need to hide from the wolf. The game reveals its true rule: only the final wolf will survive. Forced to play against each other, the group's trust collapses. Shibuki steals the wolf role and escapes, Karube threatens to kill everyone starting with her, Arisu fails to find a way to save everyone, so he searches for a justification for his own survival instead. Chouta bursts into tears, making everyone remember why they became friends in the first place.
In the final moments, Arisu wishes to give up the wolf role and starts searching for the others, but they choose to sacrifice themselves so that he can live. Their collars explode, and Arisu clears the game alone. Devastated, he burns the venue and swears vengeance against those behind the games.
Three days later, he is found by a lone player named Usagi, who offers him food and shelter. Usagi sees the same desperation in Arisu as she felt herself when her father died, so the two unite and decide to find the "beach".