Under Execution, Under Jailbreak
It was reprinted on October 8, 2008 in the "SUPER MASTERS BOOK in BOOK Vol.1" booklet for Super Jump's 20th anniversary.
Summary
The story begins with an unnamed defendant at his trial. The court sentences him to the death penalty for his crime. The criminal is taken to jail, where he awaits his execution.
The criminal loudly proclaims his false innocence and then introduces himself simply as Prisoner 27 and explains the reasons that led him to his punishment. While lying in his bed, he found out he was missing some money. He asked the girl who was with him for an explanation, but she claimed to know nothing about it. He would have been more than willing to forgive the theft since he has committed thievery several times in the past, but due to his deep hatred for being lied to, he brutally kills the girl by bashing her skull in several times. To him, being lied to is a great sign of disrespect.
No longer screaming, he looks around and finds it odd that his cell is so dark and even odder that his cell has its own light switch. He turns the lights on but is suddenly stung on his finger by a group of bees from a nearby beehive that was hidden by the darkness. Although he screams for treatment, the guards never come. With the lights on, the cell is revealed to be fully furnished, even more comfortable than his apartment. The prisoner decides to try the meal of fried fish, soup, and bread sitting on the table. Finding that his spork is full of holes, he decides to instead eat the fish with his hands but is stabbed in the face by exceedingly sharp fish bones as he bites into it. He falls back in shock, but his chair collapses, causing him to get stabbed in his rear by pieces of wood. Barely surviving through what he believes to be rigged traps, he angrily throws his spork at the wall but notices that the wall was damaged by it and is surprisingly weak. Picking the utensil back up, he attempts to dig his way out with it, but much to his dismay, it is revealed to be another trap. A meat grinder, hidden just beyond the wall, proceeds to cut two of the fingers off his right hand and severely damage the rest. He finally realizes that his cell is no normal cell but truly a torturous execution room.
The prisoner falls onto the floor, whereupon he discovers nails scattered all over, snagging his clothes and burning him with a secreted acid solution. He manages to remove his shirt and leaps onto the sofa only to be entangled by wires as the cushions tear off. A group of four mice nearby pull on a piece of meat attached to a switch, revealing the sofa to actually be an electric chair. In a last ditch effort, he manages to escape electrocution by sacrificing his right hand's three remaining fingers for the mice to eat instead. With only one mouse pulling on the switch, he manages to escape the wires in time. The chair explodes as the switch is flipped, killing the mice and breaching the cell wall. Sunlight shines through the small hole formed. With the meat grinder, the prisoner hits the wall again to make a hole large enough to fit through and finally has a view of the outside. Believing himself to finally be free, Prisoner 27 begins to move towards the exit before noticing a small gap on the interior of the wall. He concludes that this must be a hidden guillotine that will activate as soon as he sticks his head through and decides against immediately escaping through the hole.
Fifty years have passed since the sentence, and Prisoner 27 is still in his cell, staring at the hole in the wall. Every spring, he is tempted to run outside, but he resists. He still swears to himself that one day he will find a way to escape, proving himself more cunning than his jailers.
Characters
Author's Comment
Author's NoteAuthor's Note
Author's Note(Published in Super Jump 1995 No. 2)
What's the difference between a short story and a long story? The average reader might say that "it doesn't make a difference, does it?" But as a writer, if you don't understand the difference between the two, you may be walking down a dangerous path. Let's think about it for a moment. What types of short stories are there?
A. A work that follows the thoughts and actions of the characters.
B. A short story that captures a brief moment in time and symbolizes a life or theme in it like a flash of light.
C. Nonsense, suspense, mood, design, eroticism, and gore. A work that aims to portray itself.
D. Diaries, essays, letters.
（スーパージャンプ 95年2号掲戴）
短編と長編の違いって、何なのだろうか？ 読者にとっては「そんなの、どうでもいいじゃん」って感じかもしれないけど、描く方にとっては違いを理解してないとヤバイ道に踏み込んでしまうかもしれない。ちょっと考えてみよう。どんな短編のタイプがあるのか？
Ａ登場人物の行動や思いをひたすら追いまとめた作品。
Ｂほんの短い時間の出来事を切り取って、そこに人生やテーマを閃光のように象徴させる作品。
Ｃナンセンスやサスペンス、ムード、デザイン、エロ、グロ。それそのものを描くのを目的とした作品。
Ｄ日記やエッセイ、手紙。他にあるかな？あとはＡＢＣＤそれぞれの複合的作品。こう考えると、短編と長編の違いは？ あんまり差はないように思える。
単に短い作品が短編で、長いのが長編。やっぱり、「どーでもいいじゃん」って結論に荒木飛呂彦も落ちついた。そーゆー理由で『死刑執行中脱獄進行中』は三十数ページという依頼ページで、死刑と脱獄を同時にさせるというアイデアから思いついた、ひたすらサスペンスを描くために描いたサスペンス。監獄が奇妙で、ここを作ったヤツら、姿は登場しないけど、不気味な存在がある所が好き。(作品タイプで言うとＣ)
Gallery
Super Jump No. 2, 1995
Super Jump No. 2, 1995, clean artwork
Contents
Magazine Page 4
Tankobon Page 4, colored
Super Jump No. 21, 2008
- Super Masters Book in Book.png
SUPER MASTERS BOOK in BOOK Vol.1
The bee nest near the switch.
Such a luxorious place to die.
The electric sofa.
