"Ahem! It is now 10 p.m., and nighttime has come. The merry-go-round room will be opened in an hour, so you've got an hour left until you get to experience thrills and chills!"
That was Monokuma's announcement tonight. It had been a day since the class had been told of the news, and many of the students had shown interest in checking it out, much to Atsushi's chagrain. Of course, Masashi could hardly care about what he said, given that his wariness toward the ride seemed groundless; as Sorao had pointed out, there was no reason for Monokuma to try to hurt them, so everything would be all right.
When Masashi arrived at the door of the merry-go-round room, only Futaba and Sorao were there.
"Oh, hey, man!" Sorao said, raising his hand friendlily. "Excited to go on the ride?"
"Well, I am pretty keen to try it out," Masashi answered.
Futaba let out a small sigh. "Where are the others? Do they not know that they ought to be here now? It may begin in an hour, but it is better that we gather as soon as we can."
"Maybe the others didn't get the announcement," Masashi suggested. Only in the nighttime announcement had Monokuma mentioned the time when the ride would start being available, so it was likely that a few of the others had missed it.
"Well, whatever the reason may be, we need to make sure they're coming," Sorao said. "Hey, Masashi, do you mind reminding the others to come here? Normally, they'd be in their rooms, but since tonight's when we go on the ride, they've been staying at different parts of the ship."
It was a small but nettlesome task to carry out, but someone must do it, and since Sorao had not volunteered to do it, it was Masashi that was expected to do it. Thus, he agreed to find the others, thinking that it would not take too long.
The throne room and the lounge had no one in them, but in the shop, he found Murphy alone.
"Ah, hello. Whatever is the matter?" Murphy asked. He appeared to be standing by the counter and doing nothing in particular.
"Well, I've been told to get you," Masashi said. "You are planning to join us, right?"
"Sorry, but I'm not," the Irishman answered. "I'm about to start cleaning duty."
"Cleaning duty? Wait, has Futaba told you to do so?"
"No, it's Atsushi that's making me do it," he answered. "He told me the room was quite untidy, so he asked me to do it. Since I had nothing better to do, I agreed. Though he told me to do it tomorrow morning, I want to get it over with, so I'm going to burn the midnight oil."
"Ah, I see," Masashi said, impressed at his diligence. He certainly could be counted on if he ever needed his help on something.
He bade Murphy goodbye and headed over to the garden on the same deck. Standing by the aperture in the middle of the garden was Maiha, who appeared to be looking at nothing in particular.
"What do you want?" she asked, already looking hostile. Relations with her had not become better since she revealed her contempt for Futaba a few days ago, so Masashi was not too surprised at her attitude.
"Are you going to join us for the merry-go-round ride?" Masashi asked.
Maiha scoffed, looking pridefully at him. "No. Nothing about it interests me."
"Not even the AR?"
"Not when it's used for cheap frights. And I have more important things to do than to go on a merry-go-round full of tricks and gimmicks."
If that was what Maiha felt, then there was nothing he could do about it, so he left her and headed for the playroom. There, he found Tanjiro, who too seemed to be doing nothing.
"Oh, hey," he said. "Is it time for the ride?"
He must have been focusing on something else if he had felt the need to ask. Masashi told him all that he needed to know.
"Ah, I see…" Tanjiro answered. "Well, I'll be on my way, then."
After Tanjiro left the room, Masashi headed for the second deck and entered the servants' quarters, where he found Sayua. It happened to be the same place where they first met. He asked her whether she would go on the ride.
"Sure, I am! Monokuma said there'd be frights, but he won't be frightening me!" Sayua said. "And besides, the whole AR thing sounds kinda cool."
Once she was gone, Masashi walked to the dining room, where he found Sister Hikari, Faye, Haruyuki, Kumi, and Haruka. Once again, he asked them the same question. Sister Hikari and Faye affirmed that they would be, but Haruyuki declined.
"I'm afraid that I shall not participate," Haruyuki said, holding onto his gray scarf. "I do not enjoy riding on the merry-go-round in general, so there is no need to ask me."
"Well, all right, then…" Masashi said. "Hey, Kumi, are you going?"
But the storyteller shook his head. "Nope! Tonight, I shall go a-hunting for fairies!"
"But isn't it pretty late at night?" Masashi asked.
Kumi, however, looked no less keen. "Ah, but trust me, Sir Masashi, fairies like to come out at different parts of the night! I'm sure that fairies will be gathering around midnight!"
"Yes, midnight, but not now," Masashi pointed out. "Wouldn't it be better for you to just join us?"
Kumi shook his head profusely. "No, no! I-I don't want to deal with monsters! Don't you know that ghouls will try to eat you if they see you? A-And ghosts will place a great frightful curse on you if they capture you!"
It was pretty silly that Kumi had convinced himself to stay out of it for a reason that only he would believe, but with how fearful he seemed, there was nothing that Masashi could do to make him leave Fantasyland.
"And besides," Kumi said, "I can't afford to lose my wits tonight, since the Woodland King will soon come!"
"The... Woodland King?" Masashi said bemusedly, recalling the story that Kumi had told Atsushi and Mari yesterday. He was certain that it was not the same Woodland King that was in his work in progress; most likely, it was simply a case of his reusing titles, as it was not as if "Woodland King" were a particularly unique title.
"Yeah, the ruler of all the woodland fairies! You see, fairies find much mirth whenever we humans are frightened easily, and with tonight's event, I am certain that the Woodland King comes!" Kumi insisted. "And if I capture him, think of all the praise that I'll get for doing such a mighty deed! That's why I have to ready myself as much as I can for the hunt!"
"And what about Arashi?"
Haruka looked about her. "Huh… Where is he, anyway?"
"Um, I think he's gone to the storeroom," Faye said. "He said he'd seen a fairy going there, so…"
"Oh, and you don't need to go looking for Hikari, Abraham, and Red Mask," Sister Hikari said. "I saw them heading to their rooms, so I think they're already asleep."
"Ah, thanks for telling me."
Masashi reckoned how many people were left. The only ones whom he had not asked yet were Atsushi and Mari. Though the latter might agree to it, Masashi could hardly imagine that Atsushi would want to ride the "wretched contraption", which he had called it. Still, he wanted Mari to go with him, so Masashi must go find the two.
Since they had not been on the fourth deck, and the storeroom had no one else but Arashi, the only other place was the main deck. When Masashi arrived there, however, he was hit by a great wind that made his gray jacket flutter. The weather tonight had rather strong winds, which made him thankful that everything would be happening inside. Moreover, he could barely see Atsushi and Mari, both of whom stood by the aperture. From where he stood, he could not hear what they were saying, the strong wind blocking out sound.
The archaeologist scowled upon seeing him approach them. "What do you want? Has Futaba sent you hither?"
"Well… yeah," Masashi answered.
"Tell her not to worry, then," Mari answered. "We'll both be there."
"All right, then—" Masashi stopped. "Wait, you both? You're going as well, Atsushi?"
"Of course I am!" Atsushi answered, arms crossed. "I have no need to go, but if I choose not to partake in the activity, she may think badly of me, and I surely will not let the knave have his way with her."
Oh…
Masashi had hoped that Atsushi had changed his mind about being wary about the ride, but he should have known that his decision had been made as part of the power struggle that he had with Sorao. The musician might not be aware of it, but Atsushi had been quickly losing favor in Futaba's court, as it were, and he needed to stop him or at least lessen his influence. Fortunately, Sorao was much friendlier and helpfuller than Atsushi, so Masashi was sure that Atsushi's efforts would prove fruitless in the end.
Anyway, that was everyone. Overall, including himself, Masashi reckoned that ten people would be going on the ride tonight. That was a little more than half the class, so he had no problem with the number.
Once eleven o'clock came, the tensome swarmed into the merry-go-round room. It looked no different from how it had looked beforehand, but a few adjustments must have been made for the implementing of the AR features. Masashi looked at the control panel and saw that it had the same buttons as before: START, FORWARDS, BACKWARDS, OPEN ALL DOORS, LOCK ALL DOORS, and STOP. There was, however, a new button: HAUNTED WOODS.
"Well, don't you want to push that button already?"
To his annoyance, it was none other than Monokuma, who now stood next to the panel.
"What business do you have with us?" Futaba asked. "We are about to start, so if you will please step aside…"
Monokuma feigned anger, his paws raised. "Now hold on! Don't you think you need my help here? After all, who's gonna be the one making the thing start?"
"Making the thing start… Oh, I get it," Sorao said, nodding. "Even if all ten of us get onto the merry-go-round, someone still has to press the button to start it."
"But can't one of just press it and rush over?" Sayua asked, irked, as if the solution were that simple.
"If we want to ride the horses, that may work out," Sorao said, "but the carriages are a different story."
"That's right!" Monokuma added. "During the AR ride, the carriages will have windows to block out the outside, so don't even think about doing any reckless maneuvers! Trust me, one time, some bozo thought of doing it, and it didn't end well for his head."
"Then what the hell are we supposed to do?" Sayua asked. "Don't tell me one of us has to stay by the panel!"
Monokuma chuckled, and already, Masashi knew what he would say.
"Don't be so angry, when Captain Monokuma's on your side!" he said. "For tonight, I'll gladly press the start button for you guys. I don't want to make any of you left out of the fun!"
"Gee, thanks," Masashi said sarcastically. "What would we do without you?"
"More importantly," Atsushi said, "if anything wrong should happen, I expect you to press the button to open all the doors."
Monokuma sighed, which only angered the man even more. "Come on, don't you think you're worrying needlessly about it? We've tested it already, and I assure you, no accidents will happen!"
Atsushi, however, looked no less pleased by this assurance. "Still, if an accident should betide us while we are in the carriages, we need a way to escape, wherefore I ask that you press the button to unlock all the doors in that case."
"I don't know… Opening all the doors while the ride still goes on is pretty dangerous…" Monokuma said with feigned concern. "But if it puts your heart at ease, sure, I'll do it! Just bear in mind that I'll do it only if any machinery goes wrong on its own!"
The promise seemed enough to put Atsushi at ease, as he made no further complaints. And once Monokuma answered Tanjiro's question of how long the ride was—it was fifteen minutes long—the ten students stepped onto the merry-go-round. There were four carriages in total, and on the outside was embedded one of the four card suits, each carriage having its unique suit. Each carriage seemed to be able to hold two people at most.
"Well, this is troublesome," Sorao said. "Two of us will have to be left out of the carriages, then. And from the looks of it, only the carriages have the AR headsets."
"That is no problem at all!" Futaba replied. "Since we plan to ride this more than once, we shall simply take turns riding the carriages. The remaining ones will ride the horses."
Sayua groaned. "And miss out on all the cool stuff? You've got to be kidding me!"
"But what are you going to do about it? It's not as if a carriage could be magicked out of thin air," Sorao said. "If it helps, I'll sit on the horse for the first ride, all right?"
"That's pretty noble of you!" Sister Hikari said, amazed. "I suppose I should follow your example, then."
Futaba nodded approvingly. "Excellent. The rest of us will then find partners to sit with."
In the end, Futaba was to sit with Atsushi (who looked overjoyed at the outcome), Mari with Haruka, and Faye with Sayua, which left only Tanjiro for Masashi. On one hand, it was better than sitting alone, but on the other hand, he would have preferred to sit with Mari or Faye, as the writer had a rather quiet and unremarkable personality.
The twosome headed into the carriage with the diamond suit. The inside looked rather exquisite, what with the red seating and flooring, and since the carriages all had roofs, and the windows would soon appear, the only sources of light would be the lights embedded in the roof. On the seat were two cordless headsets.
"All right, then!" Monokuma said. "Starting in three… two… one… go!"
It was then that the merry-go-round began to move. Masashi and Tanjiro donned the headsets and their seatbelts, and a mellow tune of sundry instruments began to play from the speakers outside. At first, his sight seemed no different from before, aside from being a bit narrower. Not long after, however, the windows soon slid up from the side, and the lights turned off, which left two dim blue lights on the wall opposite to the riders. At this point, Masashi could not but feel a little frightened; sure, none of this would truly hurt him, but the thought of being stuck in a dark place while pestered by unsightly things was still unsettling.
As the merry-go-round sped up, the tune grew louder, and without warning, the whole carriage now teemed with bats that flew hither and thither. After they were gone, sundry other creatures appeared. A skeleton wearing a dark cloak and holding a reaper lunged at him and swung his weapon right toward him, after which his whole sight whitened fully. Then came a man with dark blue skin and stitches all over his face. And there were even ghosts coming from all directions, including from his back. It was all so much that he could reckon the number of times he did not scream. Meanwhile, he could barely make out the screams that came from Tanjiro's direction; the tune's loudness still rose and rose.
Eventually, the tune's crescendo ended, and everything stopped, the instruments now replaced by what sounded like a set of drums, though the tune was just as loud. Afterwards, everything darkened, and amid the darkness was a small firefly.
What the…?
No sooner had Masashi thought that than the firefly flew toward him. What caught him by surprise was that it did not simply pass through him; it instead stayed put in his sight, as if it had its eyes on him as its prey. Before long, many sundry bugs flew at him and covered his sight, at which he screamed.
"G-Get them off!" Masashi screamed. "Get them—"
Not only did they stay, however, but the carriage also began to move as well as spin, which made him feel greatly dizzy. Luckily, there were seatbelts, so there was no chance for him to somehow bump into Tanjiro. Nonetheless, his sight, movement, and steadiness were now hindered, the drums beating louder and louder, and it was as if he were losing more and more of his senses as time went by. Thankfully, after a while, the bugs went away, and so did the carriage's spinning, as the merry-go-round moved normally once more, the drums replaced by the sundry instruments from before, the two blue lights back on. This time, the whole merry-go-round moved backwards, and so it was as if he were running as far as he could from the creatures that showed up once again. And yet, even with his new direction, the creatures would still have killed him if they had been truly real, which, in some way, made them less frightening. Still, the flashes and the lightning sounds got him every time; even though he knew it was part of the ride, they had so much presence, as it were, that he could hardly ignore them.
Eventually, after a long struggle with the fantastic creatures, the trek through the haunted woods was over at last. The creatures stopped appearing, and all the lights in the carriage turned back on. Once the carriage came to a stop, the windows slid back down, and the AR headsets showed the riders the instruction to take them off.
"Phew…" Masashi said, tired. He had never imagined that he should ever stumble upon such creatures, having relegated them to the realm of his imagination. But since he had now seen them in the real world, and they had essentially been trying to kill him, he was almost sure that he would see them again in his nightmares.
"I-It's incredible," Tanjiro said, looking not at all at ease. "I-I hadn't known AR was capable of that."
The two left the carriage and met up with the others, most of whom looked astounded as well. Though by no means good, Monokuma had surely gone out of his way to inspire fear in their hearts. Only Sorao and Sister Hikari looked unbothered, since they had sat on the horses outside instead.
"Wow… I sure won't be forgetting this any time soon," Haruka said, smiling as part of her effort to put up a cheerful front, but it was clear to all that she was as unnerved as they were.
"With how you guys describe it, I can't wait to go on it!" Sorao said, excited. Sister Hikari, on the other hand, looked only more nervous.
"I must admit, it was rather impressive," Atsushi said, among the ones less frightened. "It must have taken the makers much work to ensure that their calculations were correct for the wights to appear correctly. Otherwise, the whole experience would have suffered."
"That's the beauty of technology, one might say," Mari added.
"I-Indeed…" Futaba said, looking quite bothered by something. "I… I must applaud them for their work."
"Is something the matter, Lady Inoshishi?" Atsushi asked.
"It… is nothing you should feel concerned about," she answered. "The ride simply reminded me of something."
"Ah, is that so?" Sorao shrugged. "Well, I want to try it out and see what you guys are talking about, so let's get back on."
But Futaba shook her head profusely. "No… I think that after an experience like this, we need a short break."
"Y-Yes… I certainly want to cool down a bit," Faye said.
As a few others agreed with the idea, Sorao looked a bit underwhelmed, but in the end, he shrugged it off. "Well, if that's what you guys say, then I guess I can wait for my turn to have fun."
"Speaking of that, how was it on the outside?" Masashi asked, thinking that he might volunteer for sitting on the horse next time.
"This might surprise you, but it wasn't bad at all," Sorao answered. "Obviously, nothing scary goes on since there's no AR involved, but the background darkens, and so it feels as if one were actually in a haunted wood."
Anyway, the students agreed to have a fifteen minute break before they rode the ride again. Faye, Sister Hikari, Haruka, Futaba, and Sorao headed for the kitchen, and Mari and Atsushi were talking about something.
"'Twas a sorely frightful ride, was it not?" Atsushi asked, arms crossed. "The accursed bear is good for something, I ween."
"Still, you won't let your guard down, will you?" Mari said.
"Of course I will not, my dear Mari," he said. "He is up to something, and if it were up to me, I would have us go to bed at once."
"Well, you'll have to take it up with Futaba," Mari said, none too nettled by his needless wariness.
"Oh, I wot that full well," Atsushi said, showing a shady smile. "Would that the lady were no fast friend of the knave's! Then things would go smoothlier, and I should then be free to deal him his just deserts!"
While the archaeologist waxed poetic about his loathing of Sorao, Masashi waxed bored of his talk and thought to look around the room. Sayua seemed to be thinking about something and looking at the ground, whereas Tanjiro looked rather troubled by something.
"Hey, is something the matter?" Masashi asked him. "You look a bit out of it."
Tanjiro raised his eyes a bit. "Oh… It's nothing, truly. I'm only thinking about the ride. It definitely frightened me, but at some point, I just got used to it and started to, uh, study the visuals."
Masashi thought that to be nothing unusual. Tanjiro did not seem like someone who was open about his emotions, and he seemed more marveled by the technological beauty that the AR gave the ride. After all, AR and VR were a new kind of technology, and Masashi keenly awaited what they would bring to the scene. Maybe in a few years, on his free time, he could spend a few hours walking around in a virtual world, all in the comfort of his home.
"Something like this is what the ancients might have dreamt about, don't you think?" Masashi asked, hoping to continue the conversation with a topic that Tanjiro might like. And indeed, Tanjiro lightened up a bit and looked less uneasy.
"Well, of course. We live in a very blissful age right now," Tanjiro answered. "Back then, even kings did not imagine that folks throughout the world could communicate with each other in very short time. But now, we can do that in a matter of seconds, and no doubt that in a few decades or so, our lives will have conveniences more wonderful than we can imagine."
"Yeah, you have it right," Masashi said, nodding along. He was a bit surprised as well that despite his usual shyness, Tanjiro overall seemed like a happy and optimistic man, as he looked blithesome about what the future held for mankind. It was a kind of mindset that Masashi liked.
After another round of the Haunted Woods, Masashi had grown a bit tired. He had expected it to be less scary, since he had already seen what would await him, and yet, as he had learned the hard way, the selection of frightful creatures in each round was different; most of them from last time had been there, but there had been a few new ones as well. On one hand, it meant that each ride would bring something new, but on the other hand, he shuddered at the creatures that he had not yet seen.
"W-Well, that was… quite a thing," Sister Hikari said, who had sat with Tanjiro. "I think that that's enough for me."
"Y-Yeah," Faye said, who had ridden with Haruka. "I've had enough frightening, heart-thrilling, and spine-chilling surprises tonight."
"What, so early?" Sayua said, who looked much more excited about it than Masashi would think. "I'd never have thought you were all a bunch of chickens."
"Ch-Chicken?" Haruka said, looking a bit unnerved. "I… I'm no chicken, and what you've just said is rather fowl, don't you think?"
"That… wasn't a particularly creative pun," Mari pointed out.
"I-I know! It's just that all the creatures in the ride, well, have bereft me of my creative spirit!" she said.
"Whatever your reason may be, I care little for it," Atsushi said as dismissively as always. "Now, shall we ride this yet again?"
"You are free to do so, but I plan to ride it next time," Futaba said. "I feel a bit in the mood for some food and drink. Faye, would you be so kind as to cook me something?"
"Oh, sure!" Faye said. "I think beignets and tea will do for a tasty, toothsome, and flavorsome midnight snack!"
And so Futaba and Faye left together for the dining room. Meanwhile, Sister Hikari had had enough of the ride, and so she left as well, saying that she would go do something else. Now it was only the seven of them left.
"Um, I think I'll go help Kumi with his hunting," Haruka said. "He told me earlier that my help would be appreciated, so I think I'll join in."
"And as for me... I've got to go to the bathroom," Sorao said. "Sorry, but I'm afraid I'll have to sit out this time."
"Well, we could simply wait for you," Masashi said.
"Nay, we shall not," Atsushi said back at once. "If that is what he insists, then let us fulfill his earnest asking."
The man looked awfully keen to have Sorao leave. Given his opinion of the celesta player, Masashi did not even need to guess what the reason might be. But since this was what Sorao wanted as well, Masashi felt no need to gainsay him.
"Uh, I guess I should leave as well," Tanjiro said. "I think I've had enough—"
"Must you leave so early in the night?" Surprisingly enough, it was Atsushi yet again. "I bid that you stay and enjoy the ride with us."
"Y-You do?" Tanjiro said, he and a few others looking a bit puzzled.
"Forsooth. I want to ask you something later, and it requires that you not leave," he answered. "Do you understand?"
Confused as he was about Atsushi's keenness to have him stay, Tanjiro nonetheless made no protest and nodded. Since none of the others appeared wanting to leave, it was the five of them that would ride this round.
"Hey, Mari, do you want to sit with me?" Masashi asked, seeing this to be his chance. Atsushi had sat with her last time, and since the man was unfriendly toward the rest of them, he was sure that he would ask her to be his partner again.
"Oh, sure," Mari said, unbothered.
"Well, there's no way in hell I'll sit with him," Sayua said, eyeing the archaeologist, "so I think I'll be buddies with the other guy instead."
"You hear that, Tanjiro? You get to sit with another girl! Truly, this must be a wonderful night for you!" Sorao said. Though he spoke jokingly, undoubtedly, there was something off about his tone as well.
"That is enough out of you, silly jackanapes," Atsushi said, staring angrily at him. "I wish not to have our time wasted by your tomfoolery. Now be gone already."
Sorao sighed as he shrugged his shoulders. "Man, can't you take a chill pill? I was only making a joke."
Atsushi's interference seemed to relieve Tanjiro a bit, as he looked a bit less bothered now. However silly the archaeologist's grudge against Sorao might be, it meant that Atsushi would take the opportunity to speak against him whenever he could, and Masashi must admit that it had its benefits at times.
"So, uh, where's the damn bear?" Sayua asked, whereupon all looked about for the bear.
"Huh… not here, it seems," Sorao said. "I wonder why."
"If I were to guess," Mari said, "I would think that the captain would have you start the ride in his stead. Up to this point, he's done it for us because we all needed to be on the ride, but since some of us will be leaving, there's no need for him to help us anymore."
Atsushi scoffed. "Good riddance. The less the bear is involved, the better it is for us all. Now let us get started already, as I tire of waiting."
"Wow, that's surprising," Sorao said. "I thought you were all suspicious about it and whatnot."
The archaeologist leered at him. "I see now that the ride is not dangerous at all. Nay, it is dangerous only to men of weak heart, and I assure you that I am no such man."
"Is that so…" Sorao said, appearing a bit doubtful of Atsushi's given reason. "Well, whatever. It's swell that you're having a good time with it."
Scoffing at his compliment, Atsushi headed to the carriage with the spade sign by himself. "What fools I must put up with! Would that this night came to an end soon."
Given his overall attitude, Masashi doubted that he minded being by his lonesome for the ride. In a way, though, it was pretty sad, since the man was undoubtedly intelligent and could make for an interesting friend if only he had the will to put up with those whom he deemed lesser.
Before Atsushi could even open the door, however, the door to the room was opened, and in came a certain woman who looked none too amused by what was going on.
"Are you commoners still riding that silly thing?" It was Maiha Hanazawa, who glanced judgmentally at the group, most of whom grew no happier at her coming. "I cannot fathom why you keep falling for the same gimmick."
"Aw, come on, just because you don't like it, it doesn't mean it's bad," Sorao said. "Sure, it's nothing that groundbreaking, but it still gives us a lot of fun."
Maiha scoffed as if he had mumbled something unintelligible to her. "I see little worth when all it does is scare you with supposedly scary images of monsters. It would be another thing if the AR did something impressive, but if this is all it can do, I am right to stay out of your lowly entertainment."
With how high and mighty she sounded, Masashi wondered whether her attitude was simply a cover for her being easily frightened. Maiha was definitely the kind of woman not to admit such a thing—if it were true, of course—and would use the opportunity to put down others.
"And what have you come here for, anyway?" Tanjiro asked warily.
"I'm simply curious about the AR headsets," Maiha answered. "I've seen a few pieces of AR technology before, so I wonder whether there's anything special about the ones used here."
Masashi looked askance at the lady. He had expected her to come here for the lone reason of mocking them, but it seemed that she too was interested in the AR, even if she would not admit it. He watched as Maiha headed to the spade carriage, which Atsushi was to ride, and headed in. Afterwards, she inspected one of the AR headsets and wore it for a bit.
"Hmm... The technology seems far better and fitter for everyday use," Maiha said, looking somewhat pleased, though she kept her prideful voice. "Just a year ago or so, AR technology was incredibly rudimentary and clunky. It would be interesting to know what advancements have been made to better it."
"Are you done with it?" Mari asked.
"Oh, yes, of course." Maiha then stepped out of the carriage. "I've seen what I've come here to see."
Maiha then left, and no one looked the drearier for her absence.
"Well, then, let's get this thing started already, shall we?" Sorao said.
Atsushi sat in the spade carriage, Tanjiro and Sayua in the heart carriage, and Masashi and Mari in the clubs carriage. Once Sorao operated the panel, he and Haruka left, and the third round began.
"No… more…"
Hardly could Masashi withstand the onslaught of evil monsters. Though they were not real, so frightening and dreadful were they to the senses that their virtualness was irrelevant. If he had ever wanted to impress anyone by going on this ride, his plan would have backfired on him greatly.
When the ride stopped, to his utter amazement, Mari looked way less affected by it than he.
"You look rather shaken by it," Mari remarked. Though she had screamed much during the ride, Masashi had still sensed that she had found the experience rather thrilling.
"Y-You could say that again," Masashi said, feeling slightly disoriented. "H-How could you go through it without getting shaken?"
"Hmm… Well, believe me, it frightened me, but only a little bit," Mari answered. "It's important to keep in mind that frightening images are meant to evoke in us our primal fear of death. But I'm not particularly worried about that."
"H-Huh?"
Masashi stared at her with more confusion than wonder this time. The last part puzzled him the most, since it was her reason for keeping a calmer mind during the ride, and she essentially deemed herself exceptional in some way.
"Well, no use in staying here any longer," Mari said, keeping her calm countenance. "The others are waiting."
"Right…" Masashi said, seeing that she had simply redirected the conversation's subject instead of going into detail about her less fearful reaction. It was a rather telling reaction, and Masashi, of course, grew more curious about the story behind it, but now was not the right time to delve into it more.
When Masashi and Mari left the carriage, Tanjiro and Sayua stood by their carriage, the latter looking much happier than the former.
"Hah, can you believe it guys? Tanjiro here's a great scaredy-cat!" Sayua said mockingly. "He screamed at nearly everything that came at us!"
"W-Well, that's the point, isn't it?" Tanjiro said. "This ride's meant to scare us. It's only natural that I screamed. And besides, didn't you scream a lot as well?"
Sayua scoffed. "No way! I only screamed a few times, so I'm clearly nothing like you—"
"Setting that aside," Mari said, her expression having grown more worried, "do you know where Atsushi is?"
"Huh?" Masashi looked around and saw no signs of him. Even though all the doors had been unlocked, his carriage's doors had not been opened, so he could not have left already.
"Weird… What's going on with him?" Tanjiro said.
"Well… Only one way to find out," Mari said. "Let's go check."
The group hurried to his carriage, and Mari knocked on the door. "Atsushi, are you all right? The ride's over already."
No response came.
"Atsushi? Atsushi?" Mari said, knocking on the door again. "Atsushi...?"
When no response came once again, she waited no longer and opened it. But no sooner had she opened it than the four students gasped and froze at what awaited them.
All this time, Masashi had never expected it to happen. He had been so certain that things would never turn out this way. Surely no one would ever think about doing it. It was one of the evilest deeds, after all.
But right now, he could only stand wordlessly as the result of his naivety stared right at him.
There, on the carriage's seat, sat Atsushi, a knife having been plunged right into the chest, blood flowing onto the floor. Since the AR headset was still on him, none of them could see the agony and pain in his eyes. The blood's rank smell now reached outside, making Masashi feel all the keener to leave, and yet, the very sight kept him frozen and still.
"Holy fucking shit... Someone's actually done it!" Sayua said, her voice containing a mix of incredulity and shock.
"I... I can't believe it!" Tanjiro said, quivering at the ghastly sight. "He's... He's dead!"
"A-Atsushi..." Mari said, having backed away from the sight, eyes slightly widened, mouth covered by her right hand.
And not long after, an all too familiar chime rang through the speaker, signaling an announcement from the captain.
"A body has been discovered!" Monokuma blithely said. "You all must go to the merry-go-round room at once! Failure to follow this simple order is grounds for punishment!"
As if the bloody scene had not been proof enough, Monokuma's announcement made it clear: the killing game had claimed Atsushi Morokuzu, the Ultimate Archaeologist, as its first victim.
And here it is at last. The killing has taken place, and let me tell you, it was pretty tough to write this chapter, since we'll have to bid farewell to a member of our cast. I feel sorry for Atsushi, since I think he's a pretty interesting guy (however condescending he may be), and it's a shame that someone has to die, and he's the one I've chosen. I've thought long and hard about which character is best for the role of Chapter 1 victim, and after running through a lot of possible scenarios that I could explore, I've decided that this is the one I'll go with.
And hey, it's Danganronpa, and you who sent me your characters knew what it entailed, so hopefully, you've enjoyed the time that you've spent with Atsushi. And I hope that you'll stick around for the rest of the ride even if your characters die!
Anyway, which character do you think is the killer? And how do you think the killer pulled it off? The investigation hasn't begun yet, of course, but I'd still like to hear your first thoughts and guesses about the killing!
