Ha! Two weeks in a row! Suck it, hiatus!
In the previous chapter, I planned but forgot to suggest that it would perhaps be best to reread a few of the previous chapters. At least the in-game segments, to help recall how everything was before the murder. Definitely not required, but I'd recommend it. And if you're binging this story, ignore these statements.
I actually like the fact that I had an excuse to split the investigation between two chapters. Makes it easier to digest at once, I think. Certainly better than having one 8k-word chapter like the first and third cases had. I mean, it's not like you're forced to keep reading until you reach a break, but it feels rude to not accommodate those who would prefer one. It's like a fancy restaurant not having a bread basket.
Speaking of previous cases, I recall that I made it clear with the third case that it wasn't meant to be a super-complicated mystery, but rather an emotionally-driven moment. This case is sort of a middle-ground between those two. It's not an amazingly complex mystery, or a heartstring-tugger, but I also don't expect too many people to solve it right away, and I think the conclusion will be interesting.
In any case, I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Chapter 30
Triple Threat
"Hajime...? Are you still there?" Nekomaru's voice snapped him from his daze.
He pulled the phone closer to his face and struggled for the words. "...I'm still here. I just can't believe it... Fuyuhiko and Byakuya? Three victims?"
"That's just another mystery, isn't it? Just like why the contact elevator is busted... Well, actually, that's probably the killer's doing as well. They wanted to split us up and prevent us from doing a proper investigation! Dammit!"
"What about another way? Is there any way you guys can come to this side?"
"Hmm... If Kazuichi were still here, he could probably fix the elevator. But between Nagito and me, we don't really know anything about machines."
"Are you guys going to be okay?"
"Yeah... we'll try to investigate as much as we can on this side until the trial. That way, we can swap information when we meet again! I'll see you then!" With that, the call was cut off by a simple click.
Hajime hung up his end of the phone too. Chiaki approached him. "So the call came from Strawberry House?"
"Apparently... the others can't come over here because the elevator was broken..." He explained. "There's no doubt this is the killer's doing. They've prevented the others from coming to the crime scene here, and prevented us from going to the one over there."
Chiaki thought for a moment. "Which means... for now, it's impossible to check the Final Dead Room."
"I'm not entirely comfortable with you going over there... but regardless, it's impossible now anyway. We'll just have to do whatever we can on this side, and trust that they can finish the investigation on their end."
"...You're right."
"C'mon, let's go tell Maki. She's probably confused why the elevator isn't working right now."
After the phone call, Nagito and Nekomaru still sat in the lounge of Strawberry House. Nagito appeared to be lost in thought, and Nekomaru didn't exactly feel like snapping him out of it. He was already distracted, himself, and he knew Nagito wouldn't do anything to help that.
They were both snapped out of their thoughts, however, when a bell went off, and the monitors sparked to life.
"A body has been discovered! Now then, after a certain amount of time has passed, the class trial will begin!"
"A body has been discovered! Now then, after a certain amount of time has passed, the class trial will begin!"
If the body discovery announcement from earlier was for Gundham, then these two...
They got up and made their way down the hall, to where they left the bodies. Standing in the stairway was Maki, with her arms folded.
"Maki, how did you-" Nekomaru began.
She raised a hand to silence him. "First, we should..."
"...Get the Monokuma File, right!?" Monokuma finished as he appeared, with two small tablets in his paws, red bean bread, a bottle of milk, and what appeared to be a battery pack. He passed them to Nagito and Nekomaru, and Maki felt the Monokuma File in her pocket vibrate, indicating that it had been updated. "C'mon, satisfy your hunger with this, and do your very best on the investigation." With that, he disappeared.
"Go ahead and eat." Maki encouraged. "I already ate, so I'll get a head start on the investigation."
As Nekomaru plugged the battery pack into his charger port, he asked, "But... Maki, how did you get here? The elevator is broken."
Nagito chuckled. "Don't you get it, Nekomaru? The killer made a huge mistake. There's no way the "Symbols of Hope" will give up because of this little setback... There's no way everyone will just... cross their arms and wait for the class trial to start... Maki must have found a way to get here, through sheer force of will."
Nekomaru eyed him warily. "Um, okay... That doesn't really answer my question, though."
Maki, who had started glaring at Nagito, shrugged. "It doesn't matter how I got here. It's not going to help you guys cross between houses, if that's what you were thinking. So for now, let's just focus on the investigation, okay?"
He was getting tired of everyone he talked to this morning not making any sense, but he nodded. "Fine, then..."
"Actually..." Nagito spoke up. "Now that Maki's here, I'm confident she can handle this investigation. So I feel like I should go ahead and conduct my own investigation, while I still have time."
"What are you plotting this time?" Maki asked. "There's nowhere else for you to go."
"That's not quite true..." He muttered. "Oh, but don't worry about that. I'll just try to stay out of your way."
"...Well, good."
With that, he made his way downstairs. Maki watched him leave, then opened her Monokuma File and started reading the updated text.
The victims for this case are Gundham Tanaka, Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu, and Byakuya Togami. Gundham's body was discovered in Grape Tower, which is inside the Funhouse. His cause of death is crushing of the torso, effectively splitting his body in two. Most of the his internal organs were damaged beyond repair. His eardrums were also found to be ruptured.
Fuyuhiko's and Byakuya's bodies were both discovered in Strawberry House, and their causes of death were similar. Fuyuhiko was shot by a crossbow through the eye, and died immediately as the bolt entered his brain. Byakuya was shot in the throat, and quickly drowned in his own blood. Other than this, they suffered no external injuries.
Maki eyed the corpses. "Were they lying here when you discovered them?"
Nekomaru shook his head. "No. They were on the stairs, but we decided to move them so they wouldn't get in anyone's way."
"The stairs, huh?" She noticed a small pile of equipment next to the top step. "What's all this, then?"
"That crossbow was hanging from the ceiling. We found that switch on one of the top steps, and whenever someone stepped on it, the crossbow would fire."
Maki picked up the crossbow. It was semi-automatic, and could hold up to six shots. "So, two of the bolts found themselves in our victims... What about these other four?" She gestured to the pile.
"In order to make the stairs safe, I triggered it until it ran out of ammo. The bolts couldn't damage my body, anyway."
She nodded. "Okay, I'm getting a picture here. Explain to me how you found the bodies."
"Um... We didn't really "find" them, it was more like... Earlier this morning, I woke up because of a sound, some sort of rumbling. Apparently, Fuyuhiko and Byakuya heard it, too. Fuyuhiko must've already been awake, because by the time I left my room, he was already running down the stairs. He got shot... then Byakuya ran down the stairs to check on him. That's when he got shot, too, and... that was it... After that, I ran over and pounded on Nagito's door. Well, I pounded on Gundham's door, too, but he obviously wasn't there. By that point, I realized we couldn't trigger the body discovery announcement with just the two of us, so we tried to get downstairs."
"That's when you unloaded the crossbow, right?" She asked.
"Yeah. But when we got downstairs, we found the elevator was broken. I wasn't sure what to do after that, so we decided to move the bodies and gather everything together like this, just to get it all out of the way."
"I only have a few more questions. You had to pound on Nagito's door. Does this mean he didn't hear the initial rumbling sound?"
"That's what he told me. He seemed confused when I explained why Fuyuhiko and Byakuya rushed downstairs. Then again, Nagito isn't exactly known for being forward."
"Too true." She nodded. "My other question: You have an internal clock, right? Could you tell me when all this took place?"
"...It started at about 6:30 a.m., if I recall."
She gave him an odd look. "And yet, we didn't hear the phone ringing until after we discovered the body. Why is that?"
"Well... the truth is, after we found out the elevator was broken, we started heading upstairs, but we realized there were even more traps in this place."
"Oh, yeah?"
"Yeah. As we were heading back to the stairs, Nagito stepped on another switch, and a crossbow hidden behind those statues shot at him. The bolt barely missed his head. After that, we spent the next little while searching all of Grape House so we could disable all the traps. Given how Nagito tends to be, that made it take a lot longer than it had to. It didn't help that we were interrupted."
"Interrupted?"
"Yeah. We probably just missed you guys when you were waking up." He indicated to the lounge with his thumb. "Around 7:30 a.m., the clock in the lounge suddenly went off, making this loud, annoying racket."
Maki nodded. "Okay... Did you consider going to Strawberry Tower?"
"At first, when that sound woke me up, that's where I was headed. But after all the other crazy stuff that happened, it slipped my mind. I was more focused on trying to get everyone together, so we could investigate Fuyuhiko's and Byakuya's deaths..."
"So Strawberry Tower is where the booming sound came from?"
"That's what it sounded like, yeah."
With a sad look on her face, Maki made her way over to the bodies.
They were arranged carefully next to each other. True enough, their fatal wounds were exactly where the Monokuma File said they would be. A crossbow bolt stuck out of Fuyuhiko's remaining eye. If he had managed to survive the wound, he would've been blinded. Not that that would've been possible, though. The bolt was in way too deep.
"It isn't fair." Maki muttered to him. "After everything you went through, all the punishment you took for us, and this is how it ended. I don't fully believe in curses, but if I did... I'd say you lived a pretty cursed life. And if I believed in reincarnation, I'd hope your next one was less harsh on you." She paused before adding, "It's a shame that Peko's sacrifice ended up in vain. But I'll make sure to carry her legacy for you, as best I can."
She turned her attention to Byakuya. His hands were grasped around his throat, around the bolt sticking out of it. His face was distorted in shock and pain. Dried blood stained his pure-white suit a deep, visceral red.
"I'll admit I didn't know everything about you. I doubt anyone did. But I considered you a friend all the same. Despite your many failures, you were a good leader, with the short time you had. There were many things about you I admired, and many I could sympathize with. I valued our talks. I'm not sure what else to say..." She shrugged. "In any case, it seems you took my secrets to your grave. Worry not, I'll gladly do the same for yours."
"M-Maki...?" Nekomaru asked.
Maki stared at the bodies for another few moments, before turning and walking down the stairs.
"W-Wait! Where are you going!?"
"Somewhere else. You've told me all the details, right?"
"Um... Well, yeah, all the ones I can think of."
"And I have no more questions to ask. And I've already seen all the evidence in this area. Therefore, I am done here."
"You're gonna leave, just like that? I've got questions, too, you know!"
"Oh yeah? Like what?"
"...Maki. You're not the killer, are you? I don't want to believe it, especially after our talk last night, but you've been acting extra suspicious this whole time."
She fully turned toward him, a dark smirk on her face. "My my, you're bold today. While you have no reason to believe my words, I will be perfectly honest with you. I'm not the killer. Gundham, Fuyuhiko, and Byakuya were all killed by someone else. As for my suspicious behaviour, I'm assuming you're referring to my sudden arrival, and refusal to speak on the methods thereof?"
"Yeah, exactly. Why-"
"Given his sudden disappearance, I'd wager Nagito is on his way to discovering my methods. He'll probably spill my secret during the class trial. No reason for me to waste my time on it here."
"Nagito's... disappearance?"
"In any case, I'd like to comb through Strawberry House for a bit before the trial, so stay out of my way."
As she went ahead, Nekomaru let out a mechanical sigh, before staring sadly at the bodies of his classmates. Why was everything so complicated in this place?
"Hey... Can you hear me...? Hajime, can you hear me?"
"...Huh?" Hajime blinked, looking up to meet Chiaki's eyes. "Ah, I'm sorry... Did you say something?"
"...It's been about an hour since we spoke to Nekomaru. Maybe we should call him one more time, he might've discovered something new on his end... Hey, are you even listening? I only brought that up because I'm really worried."
"S-Sorry... It's just, I'm still hung up on the facts of this case. The killer set up traps in both houses, then broke the elevator so we wouldn't be able to investigate. That much I understand, but I can't figure out why there are three victims. We shouldn't even be holding a trial, right? The rules say that a blackened can only kill up to two victims, so shouldn't they have gotten executed by now? It's almost like... Monokuma doesn't care that the rules were broken..." He sighed. "Whatever. Let's just go ahead and try calling Strawberry House again."
"Yeah, that's a great idea... I think."
Suddenly, they were interrupted by the sound of footsteps as Nagito entered the lounge nonchalantly.
He nodded in their direction. "Why hello there, Hajime..."
"N-Nagito!? Why are you here!?"
"...Because I showed up."
"You showed up...? How did you even come here!?"
"...Maybe I... teleported."
"...Huh?" Hajime shook his head. "H-Hey... Answer me seriously. How were you able to come to this side?"
"Before I do that... there's something I need to tell you guys."
"...There is?"
"I tried to investigate Strawberry House as much as I could... I'll give you those details first. Let's hurry this up." With that, Nagito spent the next few minutes giving them the details of the other side. "Also... there's one more thing I need to tell you guys... I've cleared the Final Dead Room!"
"...Huh!?"
"You... did the Life-Threatening Game?" Chiaki asked.
"It wasn't life-threatening at all. It was just a little escape game that ended with some Russian Roulette."
"...Russian Roulette?" Hajime asked.
"It's a game where you load one bullet in a gun, spin the cylinder, point it toward you, and pull the trigger..." Chiaki explained, pale. "So... you really did it."
"Ah, so that's how you're supposed to play it... So it would've been fine if I'd only used one bullet, huh? I guess it was just as Monomi said..."
"...Huh?"
"I misunderstood and thought you had to take one bullet out of the cylinder... so that's how I did it."
"Th-That...! You only had a one-in-six chance of surviving!" Hajime snapped.
"But I'm still alive... After all, the only good thing about me is how lucky I am. Anyway, because I was able to clear the Final Dead Room, I was able to obtain several rights. And one of those rights... was the freedom to move between Grape House and Strawberry House. Not only that, but whenever I move back and forth, I don't even need to play the game again..."
"Move back and forth...? Where would you even be able to do that, and how?"
"Hey, Hajime..." Nagito suddenly sneered at him. "You've been repeating yourself over and over and it's bugging me. Can you let me speak freely for a change?"
"...Huh?"
"Anyway... I'm definitely lucky. Thanks to that, I was able to clear the roulette at the highest difficulty... and I obtained quite an amazing prize as my reward." He produced a file with a similar insignia on it.
"Th-That's... is that the Future Foundation's file!?"
"Yeah, it's a continuation of the file we received at the rollercoaster."
"...Continuation?"
"There's even more detailed information about the killing school life that was in the earlier file."
"Th-The killing school life... You mean the killings that took place at Hope's Peak Academy, right? According to Byakuya, one of the students who participated in it was his half-brother."
"But even when we learn more about the killing school life, it has no relevance to us whatsoever. There was information about the order of the killings, who the killer was for each incident, and the true identities about several of the participants... I find it extremely boring to read about the deaths of people that I don't even know... Besides Byakuya, of course."
Hajime nodded slowly. "Then it's just as I thought... That person in the picture really was the Byakuya we knew, right?"
"However, I can't say the information was completely useless. In truth, there are similarities between the killing school life and this killing school trip."
"...Similarities?"
"...For example, the first murder involved someone important getting stabbed to death in an unexpected place... The second murder revealed the presence of a serial killer among the group... And the third murder was actually two murders that happened in succession... What do you guys think about these strange similarities?"
"I-It's definitely strange..." Hajime muttered.
"I can't think of these as coincidences, especially if Monokuma is behind the motives and driving the murders."
"...What are you trying to say?" Chiaki asked.
"By the way, the fourth murder of the killing school life was apparently ruled a suicide."
"Huh...?"
"Whether that means something or not... is something each person should think about on their own. I just... wanted to tell you guys the truth."
"The truth? Are you sure you're not just trying to confuse us?"
"Jeez... your complaints just never stop, do they?" Nagito snapped. "If you're gonna talk like that, I won't want to tell you any more. And I even learned what your talent is, too..."
"...Huh?"
"Well, that file wasn't the only one I received from Monokuma. This... is another one." He produced a small black binder with the familiar crest on it.
"Th-That seal...!"
"Indeed... It's the Hope's Peak Academy school crest."
"Does that... have information about our stolen memories?" Chiaki asked.
"Unfortunately... I couldn't find any clues about that. This file doesn't contain our information, just Hajime's information."
"J-Just... m-mine...?"
"Isn't that weird? Why only Hajime's information?" Chiaki pressed.
"It's quite troubling that you would ask me that. I must say... it was always interesting that Hajime was the only one who couldn't remember his talent... But that ends now."
"A-Are you serious...? Did you really find out why I was chosen by Hope's Peak Academy...!"
"In a way... it's just as Chiaki said. Hajime's existence is special. Because... you were... Just some Reserve Course student from the Reserve Department."
"...Huh?"
"Unlike the Primary Department main course students who possess Ultimate talents... the Reserve Department is for Reserve Course students who entered the school through a basic entrance exam. Essentially... you're like a substitute or the second-string. Well, even then, that's just in name only... The Reserve Department basically only exists to increase Hope's Peak Academy's revenue stream. Like I said, to be a Reserve Course student, you don't need to possess an Ultimate talent. You just have to pay a rather costly entrance fee and tuition... With the funds obtained from these exams, the academy can focus on "bolstering and researching talent." Through this... the symbols of hope can be raised. Which means you're just a stepladder... But you should feel honoured. An average, talentless human can be put to good use for those who are known as mankind's hope."
"Wh-What the hell... does that mean...?" Hajime muttered. For the third time this day, his mind had stopped working. He couldn't understand anything coming out of Nagito's mouth.
"Perhaps... you simply weren't determined enough. Did you admire hope...? Were you willing to sacrifice your body and soul to attend Hope's Peak Academy? Or maybe... you were just obsessed with Hope's Peak Academy, like a fangirl obsessed with the latest trend."
"I-It's not like that...! I...!"
""Wanted to become hope...!"? If that's what you're thinking, just stop it." He got close to Hajime, glaring him down. "Listen carefully... The only humans worthy of becoming hope possess amazing talents and a strong will. And... the moment you're born into this world, you either have that or you don't. It has nothing to do with effort! You must be chosen by hope to become hope! That's why... it's not even worth admiring... Or... were you so blinded by your admiration for Hope's Peak Academy that you couldn't even see that?"
"...Gh!"
"You're just some nobody from the Reserve Course who never had a talent to begin with. A nobody who forgot he was a nobody... That's all."
"Then... I... I'm just..."
"That's right, you were never an Ultimate! You had no talent whatsoever! Aww, I feel sorry for you... Are you shocked to learn that you were the only one who didn't have a talent...? But still, if you think about it positively, it looks like there's no more reason to doubt you. Now that we know who you are... a normal, average, utterly unremarkable high school student... There's no way you could be associated with the Future Foundation. But... if it's not Hajime, then who in the world could the traitor be? The survivor of the previous killing school life, Byakuya, would've been the most likely candidate... But now... that's probably impossible." He glanced back to Hajime, who was still dumbstruck. "...Hey, are you listening?"
"There's no need... for you to listen to this." Chiaki assured him.
"...Huh?"
"It may be important to talk about who the traitor is, but we need to focus on the triple-murder first. Because... if we can't survive the class trial, everyone is going to die together anyway..."
"In that case, would the traitor be among those killed as well? That's something I truly wonder about... Oh well. It's fine... I'll stop for now."
"You said you cleared the Final Dead Room and obtained these files. That means you must've gone to the Octagon, right?"
"Are you curious about the Ultimate Weapon?"
"...Did you find out what it was?"
"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't... Is there any reason I should answer that?"
"...Huh?" Hajime finally stopped listening to their back-and-forth, and set his eyes on Nagito. "Wh-What... the hell...?"
"I'm the one that cleared that room, and I'm free to divulge any clues I obtained there as I see fit, right?"
"Are you... planning to keep it a secret...? Are you planning to side with the killer again?"
"Like I said, I'm not on the killer's side... That hasn't changed since this began. How many times must I repeat myself...? I just want hope to shine even brighter."
"What you're saying doesn't make any sense at all." Chiaki argued. "Just tell us already... Tell us about the Ultimate Weapon..."
He sighed. "Jeez, I guess I have no choice... I suppose I can tell you one little tidbit. You're right, I did go to a place that seemed to be the Octagon, and I found many different weapons there... But I didn't find anything worthy of the name, Ultimate Weapon."
"...Don't lie, there's no way that's possible!" Hajime snapped.
"Coming from someone with no talent like yourself, that's truly offensive..."
"Wh-What did you say...!?"
"Fine, I understand." Chiaki finally said. "Now's not the time for us to be fighting anyway. If you won't tell us, we gotta do it ourselves... Now, shall we go back to investigating the case? We better hurry... the class trial is gonna start soon."
"You're right... I haven't even seen the crime scene on this side..." Nagito agreed. "Then... while we're at it, I'll go on ahead."
He turned and marched out of the lounge, and down the hall. Hajime stared down at his feet.
"Hey Hajime..." Chiaki started.
"It's okay, I already know... You want me to focus on the case right now, right? It's true that I'm... shocked, but... now's not the time for me to feel like that... Right now, I can't afford to be the only one who's depressed... I need to survive with everyone else and return home! That's what's most important!... Isn't that right?"
"...Yeah, I'm relieved to hear that. We should get moving, then."
"Yeah, you're right."
He did his best to shake the shame from his mind as they continued their investigation.
"It appears... that it's time for the class trial... To tell ya the truth, I'm tired! Extremely tired! I feel like spending the rest of my life hibernating already! Man, I know it's bad but I'm so sleepy. I just wanna ditch. Phew... Though I don't really feel like it... I'll show you my serious side when you come to the class trial... Even though it's impossible since it's so annoying... You can count on me to take this seriously..."
"Looks like it's going to start..." Hajime muttered. He was once again in Grape Tower, with Chiaki, Hiyoko, Sonia, and Nagito. Maki was still nowhere to be found. "Another class trial...!"
"But... how are we supposed to get to the trial ground?" Sonia wondered. As if in answer to her question, the whole building began to shake and rumble. All of a sudden, the stone head from Monokuma rock plowed through the floor, sending rubble flying in every direction. Its mouth hung wide open, like the entrance to a cave.
"...I-Is he telling us to go inside from here!?" Hajime shouted in surprise.
"...Seems that way." Chiaki answered.
"N-Now then... we should get moving." Sonia suggested.
"Yeah, you're right."
"Jeez, at least be a little cautious." Hiyoko said. "It's obviously a trap."
One by one, they all made their way onto the elevator. Just before Hajime entered, Nagito spoke up.
"We're the same... The same... stepladders..."
"...Huh?"
"You and I... are just stepladders. For everyone who holds the title of Ultimate... I always believed that I didn't mind... Unlike you, I know my place."
"Wh-What are you... saying...?"
"That's why I was prepared to become a sacrifice at any time. And from that, true hope would be born... I always believed that the talent that survived would be true hope. But it wasn't! There is no hope amidst all this killing!"
"O-Of course there isn't! What kind of hope comes from killing people!?"
"Hm? Really...? Are you suggesting... sacrificing others for hope isn't real hope...? But... you're wrong. It's only natural and extremely obvious that strong hope devours weak hope. After all, that's what it means to live, right!?"
"Th-There's no way I'm going to accept that...!"
"Oh well... It's not like that's what I wanted to say to you anyway. There's this one novel I like... It's a peculiar mystery story..."
"...Huh? A novel?"
"The story is told from the point-of-view of a high school girl involved in a serial killer mystery... But when you get to the end... Surprise, surprise! The girl was actually the killer! Of course, the story is written carefully so the reader doesn't learn the ending in the middle of the story... The protagonist is just a projection of the reader... And this projection turns out to be the killer... Which means the killer you were looking for the whole time was inside you all along... How do you feel about novels like that?"
"Wh-What the heck are you talking about...? You're just jumping from one topic to another... And... I can't comment on a book I never read before."
Nagito sighed. "...Such a normal answer. I should've expected that from a talentless Reserve Course student like you. But... I know that you don't matter at all, so why do I care about you? You admire hope... I love hope... In some ways we're similar, but maybe that difference is what's making me so emotional."
"Enough already! I don't have time to argue with you! Let's go! Everyone is waiting!"
"Everyone, huh...? So you still believe you're just like everyone else... Reserve Course students are so full of themselves!" With maniacal laughter, Nagito pushed past Hajime and made his way into Monokuma Rock.
"...Calm down..." Hajime muttered to himself. "That's right... I need to calm down..." Once his nerves were settled, he too stepped into the gaping maw of Monokuma Rock.
Once everyone was inside the elevator, the door shut itself, and their steel cage began it's descent miles below the surface. Hajime took note just how empty the elevator felt. Three of their friends had died, and Maki and Nekomaru weren't with them, so it was only Chiaki, Hiyoko, Sonia, Nagito, and himself. It reinforced in his mind just how few of them there were left. Despite this, the elevator continued on at an ever-increasing pace. Until, after what felt like an eternity, it slammed to a stop.
The students poured into the trial room, where Maki and Nekomaru were already waiting for them. The room was decorated in carnival colours, fitting with the Funhouse theme.
Monokuma laughed. "I understand your desire to applaud this wonderfully vulgar trial ground... But it's so exhausting to discuss useless things, so let's just get on with it already!"
"That's the same speech you gave us when we arrived." Maki said. "Get better material."
"Ugh... So sad... My chest hurts..." Monomi cried. "Forcing everyone to do this is so sad..."
"Hey hey! Don't go talking without permission after I've said my catchphrase! Otherwise I'll roll a dice and based on the result, I'll give you a sex change operation that many times!"
"What an extreme punishment!"
"Now then, let's get on with it once again! Let's get a move on, boys and girls!"
And so, the curtain rose on... A trial for life, and a judgement of death... Deception in life, and treachery in death... Betrayal for life, and betrayal for death... The riddles of life, and the mystery of death... Justification for life, and rationalization of death... Faith in life, and trust in death... A life or death... Class Trial!
Hmm... for the previous two investigation chapters, I ended them with a note about the Danganronpa fan translations, since that's where that last sentence there comes from. But I already said everything I have to say about it. Not sure what to put here instead. Umm...
Oh yeah, this story's reached Chapter 30, meaning it now officially has the most chapters out of every story I've written thus far. At the same time, it also suddenly became the longest story, word-wise. I guess you could say I've come a long way. But hey, we're nowhere near done yet. Even after this case, we still got two more trials to go through.
In the next chapter, we will begin the class trial to discover who killed Gundham Tanaka, Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu, and the Ultimate Imposter.
