Part 38: Shangri-La, Wrong Endings, Part 2
Shangri-La - Wrong End 5
While in control of Morishige by himself, we let the darkening meter reach 100%. The easiest way to do that is try to go out on the covered walkway a few times, since it boosts the meter by 30% each time.
Video: Shangri-La - Wrong End 5
???: --ke up. Wake up!
(...! Mayu?! No... It's a much younger voice. Who is it?)???: Hey, mister. Wake up.
......Wh-Where...am I????: Good morning, mister. This is my play room.
She looked to be in about first or second grade, with long, black hair and a clean, cute, almost dainty countenance. After my brief impression, however, I quickly turned my head away. She was uncomfortably close, literally breathing down my neck. And her breath... It smelled of blood. Of death and decay, and fatty oils, and smoke. It smelled of chemicals and antiseptic. It was a very, very unpleasant potpourri.
Who...are you????: Heehee! I'm so happy! You didn't get all indignant and say, 'What's going on here?!' Normally when people wake up here, they get scared and start freaking out.
The little girl began backing away from me, her shoulders still shaking in a soundless chuckle. I knew exactly what she meant. It would be entirely reasonable to ask what's going on here. Even at a glance, I could tell this room was...not good. The floors and walls were caked in blood as thick as mud, buckets of body parts were strewn all about and eviscerated corpses were stacked everywhere. And that was just what I could see at a glance. As for me, I was bound to a chair against one of the walls. Not with ropes, but with chains.
What do you...plan to do with me? Are you...going to kill me?
What a question! I'm just not sure. I'll decide later! I've got something else to play with first.Just as she said the word 'else,' she brought her hand down onto the nearby table in a slapping motion. And it made contact with someone. It was a girl, bound by her hands and feet. And Sachiko's slap was aimed squarely at her thigh. Her uniform suggested that she was in high school, and she was wearing glasses, giving her a rather stern, serious appearance. I could hear the sound of chattering teeth and see her chest rising and falling rapidly and erratically, suggesting she was paralyzed with fear.
...!At the sound of her own name being read aloud from her student ID name tag, the girl let out a single whimper.
N-No... Stop... Please... Please, stop! No way! You're about to be put through incredible pain. So make sure you squirm like the wretch you are and beg me to spare your life, okay? No! ...No... You're joking, right? I didn't... I didn't do anything...
Shut the hell up! You're distracting me!Sound Effect: Splort
A sloppy, uncontrolled incision was made from the corner of her mouth all the way to her ear.
AAAGH!! Ahhhh...ahhhhhh...ahhhHHHHHHGGHH!!
...Just kidding! I'm sorry. Did that hurt? I wasn't seriously trying to kill you or anything, so don't let it hurt too much. The real pain is just beginning, after all!Sachiko produced a pair of durable sewing scissors from a roll-away shelf nearby and began expertly cutting all the way up Emi's school uniform. Then she set down the scissors and produced a full-sized farming sickle in their place. It looked well-worn, with soil and rust sticking liberally to the blade. After brandishing it for a moment, Sachiko positioned it over Emi's abdomen.
Ahh! Ahhhh! No! Please, no! This is a dream... This has to be a dream! I can't say if you're awake or if you're dreaming... heeheehee...but you're about to find out!
Sound Effect: Splort
Sachiko slowly shifted her focus from Emi's abdomen to the area just below her rib cage.
Aagh...ghaaah...haah...glghah...Emi's body began spasming, her spinal muscles contracting in a decidedly unnatural manner. Gasps and screams mixed with sounds of vomit and incontinence.
What a perfect facial expression! See, I knew you could do it. *giggle* *cackle*
The sound of tiny hands manipulating internal organs was disgustingly similar to that of a sopping wet rag squelching spilled oatmeal off a hardwood floor.
Also, the gaping wound in Emi's torso reminded me of a pomegranate.
Music: Serious
The noises escaping Emi's mouth didn't even sound like they were coming from a human being anymore.
I could see her face in profile now, and despite the gastric juices and vomit and blood and contortions of unbearable agony...it wasn't a disagreeable sight. This was a girl not far from death. She was trying her hardest to fight it, but the facts were the facts. She was going to die, and she knew it. Against this fate, she was completely and utterly helpless. She was doomed already, in both body and soul. This hapless struggle had a certain sensual quality to it. No...it was even purer than that. This was a truly beautiful sight.
Sachiko, who had at this point buried her head in Emi's exposed organs, withdrew it and directed this question at me, her mouth still full of flesh. Everything from her nose down was dyed red and dripping with blood.
Isn't her face just precious?She swallowed whatever she'd bitten out of Emi's insides, then turned to face me. Not just face me, actually, but stare at me. Stare INTO me. With unwavering, unblinking eyes.
I suddenly became aware of my own erratic breathing. It wasn't fear, though, but an almost...animalistic reaction. It was coarse and primal, and I'd unconsciously thrust my chest forward, toward Emi.
So how about it? Do you want to play with her too?
(Don't be ridiculous. It's like she's making fun of me!)
Music: Wrong End
Video: Shangri-La - Wrong End 5 ends here.
Shangri-La - Wrong End 6
In the extended ending, in control of Mitsuki, we choose to run to the second floor when fleeing from Yoshikazu, rather than onto the covered walkway.
Sound Effect: Smash
Rrg... *cough* St-Stay back...please...
His expression never once changed. He was like some kind of twisted, life-sized doll with one face. No doubt the face he'd be wearing when he killed me. The last face I'd ever see. What could I do? What options did I have?
(Th-That's it! The alcohol lamp!)Light the lamp
Video: Shangri-La - Wrong End 6
Music: Struggling Against Fate (D)
With adrenaline's help, I managed to get the matchbox out of my bag, withdraw a match and even unsuccessfully strike it a few times, all in an instant.
Sound Effect: Smash
AHH!! GYEEAH!! M-MY LEG!! OUUUAAGGH!! ...GOD...DAMMIT!!I had nothing left to lose at this point, so I just threw the alcohol lamp haphazardly. It struck the expressionless man's raised hammer and shattered. A sizable amount of methanol spilled from the shards, all over his face and chest. And there, thankfully, it burst right into flames. The man's entire torso was immediately engulfed.
The hammer fell from his hand. I did it! Burn slowly, you bastard!
S-Serves you right! This is for Emi and Fukuroi, you goddamned murderer!
Ahh! Wh-What the...?! Stay away! Just...die already!His flaming hand grabbed my wrist.
Sound Effect: Sear
I could feel my skin instantly blistering. And then, mere moments later, my whole uniform went up.
Nooo... L-Let go of me!!His grip was so firm, it felt like it was going to break my arm. And the fumes my uniform was giving off couldn't be good for me. I could feel every fiber melting into my skin. It was charring me to the bone...
AHHH!! NO!! GOD!! MAKE IT STOP!! LET GO!! PLEASE!! NOOOO!! HELP!! SOMEBODY!!Tongues of flame were licking my neck. I could feel my ears burning. I think it even reached my hair! It just wouldn't go out. No matter how much I shook my head, it just kept climbing higher and higher... And then I felt something else on my face. His other hand? It was dry and cracked... Was this what I got for resisting so much?
My vision quickly brightened. Everything was tinted white now. It felt like the back of my head had just struck the floor. And I was fairly certain he'd just broken my nose. Crushed it flat... I could feel blood flying everywhere. Not enough to douse the fire, though, of course. If blood can even do that. I didn't have the luxury of slipping away into unconsciousness. There was no time for that. Before I had a chance, the expressionless man had picked up his fallen hammer and begun pressing the red-hot steel into my face.
Sound Effect: Sear
The sound it made was like dropping a raw egg into a preheated frying pan, and the searing pain I felt was far worse than anything I'd yet experienced.
Half my field of vision instantly went out like a spent light bulb. I could no longer see out of one eye at all. Probably because it had been completely burned out of its socket.
At this point, I could feel my skin bubbling. But then the oddest thing happened. I caught a scent of burning flesh in the air, through my battered and flattened nose...and it smelled good.
The giant man, still completely expressionless despite being even more engulfed in flames than I was, readied his hammer for another strike.
Music: None
The skin on my face was melting away. But he showed no sympathy. No emotion of any kind. He just raised that hammer as if he were on a singular mission. He was aiming right between my eyes. And then he swung down, with all his might...
Sound Effect: Smash
Music: Wrong End
Video: Shangri-La - Wrong End 6 ends here.
Shangri-La - Wrong End 7
Back at the previous branch, we try something else.
Video: Shangri-La - Wrong End 7
EYAAAAAAHH!! LET ME GO! LET ME GO, DAMMIT!! NO! NOOOOOO!!Unfortunately, Mitsuki is immediately grabbed.
It was the same sort of smell one might catch while walking past a ramen stand.
(You know, I am pretty hungry...)???: Chihaya! Can you hear me?! If you're listening, I want you to remember! Remember!
(Who's that? It's a girl's voice. And it sounds like she's crying.)
???: It's scary and lonely in here, sure, but you have to look out for yourself! Chihaya, are you listening to me?! I can't protect you anymore! Do your best, Chihaya!
Sound Effect: Sear
...! Wh-What's happening...????: Ahhh... I'm burning! I'm burning! Help me! MOM!! I-I don't want to die...please... It's so hot... It hurts so much...
What...was happening to her? My mind had been in a rather hazy state, but this poor girl's terrified screams -- as if someone were tearing her heart out -- brought me back to reality. I realized that my hands and feet were bound to a chair, and I was facing another young girl who was similarly bound and writhing in pain. She was wearing a school uniform I didn't recognize, so she must have been brought here from some other junior or senior high school. Were it not for the uniform and the voice, I might have had a tough time determining gender, as her face looked neither male nor female, young nor old.
She'd essentially been browned, and virtually all her hair was singed off, not unlike a Peking duck hanging outside a Chinese restaurant. Her skin was thoroughly cracked, with bits of pink flesh oozing through here and there. And her eyes looked blank, cloudy and watery, like the bottom of an order of sunny-side-up eggs. Only her teeth remained relatively intact.
???: Ahh...kkhhh...rrng...gggh... Caahn't...breeaahh... Chi...ha...ya... Naa...na... I'm...sohh...hry...
For a while, the only real sounds were her chair rattling as she shook, and her murmurs of agony. Then...all that stopped, and the girl fell silent. Considering where she'd been burned, I suspected her lungs must have given out in the end. Though really, it could have been any of a number of things.
Wh-What is this? Why is this happening?My mind was a blank slate. I was beginning to lose my grip on reality, and may have even laughed a little. I was in...a home ec classroom, maybe? A science lab? And all around me were arms, legs, heads and other body parts, all simmering in pots and pans. None of it seemed real. It was like I was watching some bad horror movie on TV. Except...there was odor. And heat. And both were really getting to me.
I was getting nauseous, but not from the smell. It was instead from the thought that this aroma, of human flesh boiling and frying, was making me hungry. As I fought to hold back my fear and hunger-induced vomit, I suddenly sensed a pair of eyes coldly staring at me. I looked in the direction from which I'd felt this sensation, and saw before me a little girl in a red dress, just standing and watching.
No... No... No, this can't be happening... This can't be happening!he little girl lifted a frying pan from a nearby gas burner and brandished it in her right hand. Steam rose from the hot pan, and I could see bubbling oil spattering all along its surface.
???: I wonder what song you'll sing for me...
I could see the expression on her face clearly now. Mischievous, hungry and positively jubilant... without even a trace of sympathy or remorse.
Sound Effect: Sear
Music: Wrong End
Video: Shangri-La - Wrong End 7 ends here.
This Wrong End may be the only time when the game's endless food comparisons are appropriate.
Shangri-La - Wrong End 8
During the ending sequence (available in both the extended and regular versions), we choose to "Look back" when in control of Morishige.
Video: Shangri-La - Wrong End 8
Music: Serious
Yamamoto... Where's Fukuroi? I don't know. He was with me until just a short while ago, but then we found ourselves running from a man with...an axe, I think...and we got separated. I see. That is rather worrisome. I hope he's all right. How about you? You're not hurt, are you? I'm fine. This...isn't my blood. But this school...is even more dangerous than I thought. Whoever that man is, I'm certain he's been going around killing anyone who gets lost in here. I haven't encountered him personally, so I couldn't say.
Shall I accompany you, then? Are you sure? Yeah. I don't mind. *hic* Thank you!Music: None
Yamamoto, overcome with relief, suddenly grabbed hold of me.
H-Hey...!
We're not like that. She's...like a little sister to me, I guess.
I'll bet life would be a whole lot less boring if I had a big brother like you! I wouldn't be so sure about that. (People always seem to regard me as a boring human being. Especially people of this generation.)Morishige and Mitsuki continue walking the halls together.
Hang on just a sec. I've got a light. (What an unnerving hallway. It's much darker than the others. But then, I suppose there was one just like it in the main building.) It's not just dark, but cold, too... Yeah. We should head back. I think we may be in danger if we keep going.
...! Damn... Ah, Yamamoto. Do you still have that alcohol lamp?
Sorry, that didn't quite make it. But I've got plenty of candles. Candles won't be enough! Well...look! There's a room!
Let's see what's inside, okay?
Ahh!!
S-Sorry. I didn't hurt you, did I? I'm just fine. Please, don't misunderstand. I... I didn't mean to... Never mind that. What say we have a little chat? ...What...do you...?
...!Music: Deciding One's Destiny
Wh-Who...are you? Who do you you think I am, Shig? Cut it out... (Don't call me that!)
L-Let me go! How do you know about me? About Mayu?!I struggled with all my might, and in the process, I inadvertently slapped Yamamoto -- or whoever this was -- square in the face.
Oww! How dare you raise your hand to a girl... Shig... Tee hee...
The skin from Yamamoto's face began peeling back and a little girl's face burst out from within, covered in blood and muscle tissue. I don't even know how it's possible, but black hairs burst out from the Yamamoto 'suit' next, spreading across the ground like a black wing unfurling. Immediately, a musty smell began permeating the air and I became aware of all the body parts around me: hands, feet, entrails and a veritable lake of blood.
Now what DID I do to her? I remember she wouldn't shut up. She kept chirping 'Shig!', 'Shig!', 'Shig!' like a Japanese sparrow. A 'suzume,' if you will. But she's not chirping anymore! Hee hee hee... Wanna see for yourself? *giggle* No... No! No, that can't be!
People like you do show up from time to time. Freaks of nature who have a real affinity for this place. What are you trying to say? What... What the hell are you planning to do with me?! You scaaaared? HEE! That's understandable. But the thing is, I get you! You're not afraid of people dying. You're just afraid of YOU dying. ...! Let go of me! I... I...!
It's where you'll find the person you've been looking for all this time.
Ahh... Mayu... I'm quite looking forward...to your reaction... *cackle* ...But if it's boring, I'll kill you.True to her word, the girl let go of my wrists.
Music: None
It was as if she were lying along the shore as the tide came in and slowly rose above her body... or maybe the school just swallowed her up. The only things that remained of her were Yamamoto's school uniform...and that face mask made from her skin.
(Is this a dream? Or have I just completely lost it at this point? Either way...)
(She's alive. She has to be! Mayu... I'm coming for you!)Music: Wrong End
Video: Shangri-La - Wrong End 8 ends here.
And that wraps up Shangri-La's wrong endings. All that's left are the Soulful Testimonies.
Soulful Testimony - Testsuya Kakihara
Soulful Testimony - Tsubasa Yonaga
Soulful Testimony - Haruka Tomatsu
Soulful Testimony - Taira Kikumoto
