Slave to the Ichiban Kuji

HASN (Slave to the Ichiban Kuji) types are the only ones in this extreme situation booking "a dream" as an asset. In a store ruled by realistic numbers — water remaining, food distribution, odds of escape — you alone are staring at a different number. Ichiban Kuji lottery, 34 tickets left. Grand prize, not yet drawn.

The level-headed will say: "Now is not the time." But you know: only the person who can dream when "now is not the time" ever grasps the dream. No one said you'd grasp it. Only that you'd get to dream.

Can dream

HASN's presence supplies the store with "a purpose beyond survival." This matters more than you'd think. Humans can't stay alive for long on the goal of staying alive alone. On the night of day 7, for the single moment you draw a ticket, everyone forgets their hunger and watches. "Come on, grand prize" — in that instant, the whole store shared one wish. You gave the group back an entertainment that had winners and losers.

E-rank prize

To cut to the result: the grand prize did not come out. You put your remaining stamina and every supply you'd earned from rations onto the exchange rate, and drew all 34 tickets. Out of the very last one came an E-rank rubber strap. Late on the night of day 7, clutching it, you drift off looking satisfied. The next morning, your companions had quietly laid the B- through D-rank prizes beside your pillow. The grand prize was never in the box to the end. Some suspect the operator.