DEATH END RE;QUEST 1.5

PROLOGUE: Hope within despair.

The light fixtures in the room were broken, and pieces of the furniture it contained were scattered about like leaves on the ground. The remnants lied there, alongside broken shards from bottles of sake, long since emptied, on the dusty wooden floor. There wasn't a safe place to step. The putrid smell of refuse, most of which was rotting, filled the air.

Mai Toyama caught the space for herself amongst the trash. She sat on the cold floor, her hollow eyes pointed at the ceiling. It was unusual for anyone to be here, though Mai hadn't come to this place to explore it. She wasn't brought here against her will. This was Mai's home.

A few years ago, Mai's father began to crumble. Enraged by the loss of his job, he resorted to consoling himself by inflicting violence on those around him. Her mother, unable to endure this any longer, left with her younger sister. Pushed over the edge by their leaving, her father's mind shattered. Every day, he struck and scattered things within reach, his constant behavior transformed the room into a desolate space.

– Ah… The day is finally over… – Her observation wasn't so much about the passing of the day, as much as it was about the rampages of her father: drinking sake, rambling about nothing, striking objects around the house and the walls too… This destructive behavior was only the beginning. The target of his rage would eventually move from these objects to Mai. Bottles of sake could become blunt weapons. She would learn to fear the bathtub if she saw it was filled with water; she never knew if this was the time he actually drowned her in it. He had an exercise regimen in which he used her as a punching bag, quite literally, and was only satisfied when he saw she was inches from death.

After tiring of his violence, her father always returned to his bedroom. When his door finally shut, Mai's day would end, which she acknowledged aloud almost every time. She no longer had hope within her for this world. She didn't hope anyone would save her either. Feelings like this hadn't been present for a long time. She's considered taking her own life in the past, but… then the focus of the man's rage would surely turn to her younger sister, Sanae. The faintest thoughts of her going through any amounts of what she had quelled any desire to remove herself from this life. To Mai, the presence of Sanae was hope itself.

She stared around the room for several moments. After some time had passed, she began to move her body.

– Ugh… – With each movement, sharp pains would echo through her – Agh… – She continued to groan. The blood in her mouth would trickle down her throat, causing her to gag from time to time. She was swollen, and her stomach was practically black from bruises. Whenever she ate, when she was fortunate enough to, it would taste of iron. A collar around her neck, she was only allowed to use the restroom once a day...

For years, she lived like this… but it didn't matter; Mai had thrown away her ability to reason a long time ago, along any other portions of her humanity. She was only a body, barely keeping itself alive in hopes her sister would be safe and happy.

Though confined, not all of Mai's freedom had been taken from her. Her father had bought and given her a laptop on a whim long ago, and she was able to use it to surf the internet. Although she had this tool available, her father would check all of her logs without warning, so she couldn't do anything rash, like call for help. If he found out she did, she most likely would be killed. "I'll kill you along with your sister!" was the phrase he would use often.

Mai Toyama took her laptop and turned the power on. The familiar chime of the boot up sound played, and the laptop's screen illuminated shortly after. She launched the email application and checked her inbox. The application slowly updated "New email: 0"

– What!? Why Sanae? Why wouldn't you reply to my emails…? – Mai raised her voice as she tore at her head. It had been weeks since she had stopped receiving emails from her younger sister. Their mother passed away. Sanae, alone now, was placed in the care of an orphanage somewhere. She reread the last message Sanae sent "Hi, sis! So… it looks like I'm going to be taken to an orphanage. It's a place called 'Wordsworth'. It's in a town overseas called 'LeChoara'. I'm feeling really anxious, but I'm ok! It'll be ok, I think! Are you okay? Are you happy with Dad, big sis?" – Sanae… What happened to you? Are you doing alright?

Sanae looked up to Mai. They were close enough that they'd exchange emails every day without fail. However, it had been weeks since Mai received her last message.

– Ugh… ARGHHH! – This was the only thing she looked forward to anymore. With the messages no longer coming in, she was completely devastated and couldn't help but scream until she fainted. As she came to, she found herself sprawled out in the cold ground. Her eyes scanned the room and landed on the laptop's screen. A news article was displayed on it – The news… – She cared nothing about the news. Nothing going on outside mattered to her. She wasn't interested in anything that wasn't her sister.

She was about to turn off the power, but curiosity compelled her to glance through the article. She decided to do so, but quickly.

– Huh? Arata Mizunashi… – Mai spotted his name on the top of the headline "The whereabouts of the suspect, Arata Mizunashi, alleged to be involved in the serial Phantom Killer case, and the serial Empty House Murder case, is currently being investigated". Mai recognized the suspect's name. He was a programmer behind the Enigma Games title 'World's Odyssey', a game she had heard of before. When she had seen that game, she felt a sensation of color popping into the monochrome world that she had lived in. The world he created felt like a dream, and that's why she remembered the name of the Enigma Games employee, Arata Mizunashi.

Mai sat up and typed the words "Arata Mizunashi case" into the search engine. How could a programmer behind such a beautiful world be suspected of such terrible crimes? For the first time in years, Mai found such an interest in current events that she started to use her own thought processes to navigate her search. Before long, she found a single file that was still in the Enigma servers.

– 'The Truth of the End'… Huh? Is this…?

"Mai Toyama, if you continue your search for the truth, you may never be able to turn back…" For sure she was imagining it, but… it felt as if Arata Mizunashi himself was speaking to her. Refusing to let her awakened curiosity fall into slumber, Mai clicked on the file.