Part 10: Super High-school Level Update #8

Ding dong ding dong







Good morning, you bastards! It’s 7 in the morning! Time to wake up!
Let’s all strive to do our best today!



So it’s morning. There are no windows here so it’s difficult to confirm.
Anyway, what are we all going to do from now on?
...
For now, I should try to find Maizono-san and discuss the situation with her.
She says she’s my assistant, after all...

Okay, it’s decided! Let’s try going to her room!

I headed out of the room with a firm resolution.





Naegi may be eager to go see Maizono, but on the other hand - this is the first time the game lets us explore the environment on our own! So let's do that for a while.

There are two maps in the game. We've seen the one which is an overlay and shows your current position way back in update #2. Now let's look at the one we can access through the menu.



This is the dormitory area. You can push L and R to move between the various areas you've visited at the school. The red exclamation mark shows where the next story event is going to happen (Maizono's room, in this case). The little people icons mean there's characters at that place currently. We can even see who they are, which makes it very convenient when you're looking for someone.



Here we see Hagakure is at the room we've not yet been to across from the cafeteria. But we'll get to him a little later. First, I think I see Ishimaru right in front of us. Let's see what he has to say!





Good morning, Naegi-kun!
G...good morning...



Exchanging greetings in the morning sure is a fine thing to do! It can really calm your soul!
Well then, let’s do our most today!
Y... yeah...

Ishimaru-kun is always like this, isn’t he.

He sure is, Naegi. He sure is. Let's head to the cafeteria and see what people are doing for breakfast.





...or at least, what they have to say.



Good morning, Togami-kun
.........

Didn’t he hear me?

Togami-kun! Good morning!



You don’t have to say it twice.
Eh?
I’m only here for breakfast. Not to speak with you. Go away.
.........

So he won’t even answer when someone is talking to him, huh?



Ah, Naegi-kun. Good morning.
Good morning, Fujisaki-san.



Even though we’re saying good morning to each other...
We can’t see the outside world so we can’t even be certain it really is morning.
Y... yeah.
Ah, I’m sorry! I’m saying weird things, aren’t I...
You don’t have to apologize, you know.



I’m really sorry...

She looks as if she really thinks she did a bad thing...



Kirigiri-san, good morning.
...good morning.
......
......

Our conversation seems to have come to a stop.

Um,



...do you need something?
N... no... Nothing in particular...
Is that so.



She went away...
She doesn’t speak much, does she?

I seem to recall Maizono mentioning a kitchen yesterday. You can enter it through the door at the back wall of the cafeteria. Let's see what's there.



Not bad at all. Let's take a closer look at some of this stuff.



There’s a mountain of vegetables in here.
There’s a good variety. It’s probably very good for our health. But I really prefer chocolate.



A set of knives...
There’s a bunch of them, in all kinds of sizes. It’s amazing how many different knives you need to be a good cook.





There are all sorts of ingredients inside the case.
Even in our current situation, I get all excited when I see meat.

Okay, that's enough for the kitchen. Let's head to where our magical map tells us Hagakure is. It's a room across the hall and to the right when you exit the cafeteria.



This place, straight across from the cafeteria, is currently sealed off. Everyone who spent some time in residential areas in Japan can tell you it's an entrance to a Japanese-style public bath. The cloth covering the door is called a noren, and the letter ゆ ("yu") printed on it stands for the Japanese word for hot water.





So we have a place to wash our clothes.



Well, if it isn’t Naegi-kun, ‘right?
Good morning. What are you doing?
I’m washing my clothes. This is the laundry room, after all.
Hagakure-kun, are you feeling well? Your look a little pale.



I’m feeling fine. It’s just that I didn’t get much sleep, right?
I stayed up all night trying to ask my teachers in the spirit realm what’s up with things.
But they just ignored me. It was a complete failure.
......

As expected from a Super High-school Level Fortune Teller...
Though I feel he hasn’t done any actual fortune telling until now...


The only other thing of interest here is on the table.



There’s a magazine on the table... Is it here to pass time while doing the laundry?

Let's continue our tour. We'll go around the looping corridor where the private rooms are and see if there's anything interesting along the way.









That's quite a fancy toilet. It even has an...



It’s an aquarium...
Small fish are swimming around.







There’s a shutter gate in the way so I can’t go any further into the room.



There’s a door in the floor...
*rattlerattle*
It doesn’t open. It’s probably locked.

Mysterious.





...and here we are at our destination, Maizono's room. Which is also pretty much where we started because Maizono has the room right next to ours.

Should I use the intercom next to the door?
*Ding-dong*
......



Yes?
Good morning, Maizono-san.



Ah, Naegi-kun. You came just at the right time!
The right time?
You see, I have a small request...

small request

A small request?



I was just about to go out myself now. I thought maybe you could join me...?
I don’t mind, but where did you plan to go?
Well...
I thought maybe I could find some kind of weapon for self defence somewhere...
S... self defense...!?
I mean, we can never know when the people who locked us all here decides to come attacking one of us...

The people who locked us here...
The ones who made the rules about killing...
It’s true. Anyone who can conceive such a messed up scenario can decide to just suddenly attack us at any time.

So I thought I should at least be prepared to protect my own body if something happened...

And that’s why you want to look for a weapon...
If that’s the case, I think there were some things we can use in the award show case in front of the gymnasium.



The gymnasium trophy room it is. Let’s go!
A...again...?



I can read minds.



Just joking. I just have good intuitions.

Do you really think I’m that simple minded?
In any case, we decided to go to the gymnasium.


Fuck you, Tutorial. I'm taking the scenic route.





The classroom where Naegi found himself sleeping in is right here, to our right.





These are three people I didn't expect to see together...





It’s a strange combination, Fukawa-san together with these two...

......
W...what is it? You look like you’re dying to say something...
No, I just thought you’re an unexpected group. You and Asahina-san and Oogami-san...



Let me tell you something!
Being together with the kids whose muscles go all the way to their brains wasn’t my intention at all...!



Uwah, that’s a cruel thing to say!



You looked like you really wanted someone to invite you yesterday. Didn’t I come over to your room this morning to do just that!?



I... I didn’t ask you to!
Just don’t involve me in your world of muscles anymore, I beg you!



Ah, she went away. Should we go after her?
With that amount of unreasonableness, we should just let her be.
Oh, well. I guess you’re right.

They were like oil and water to begin with. The kind of people who can never mix together.

With Fukawa gone, let's see what the other two have to say.





Ah, Naegi and Maizono-chan! Yo!
So what are you guys doing?
We’re continuing yesterday’s investigation! I feel like we might actually discover something today!
If we do, we’ll come call everybody. Okay?





We must find a lead to help us escape this place.
So that’s why you three were together...



It was Asahina who called Fukawa to come along. I am not very good with human relations.

That’s kind of what I expected...

There's a room here we haven't been into yet. Let's see what's inside.





What the...





Nah - eh - gi!
Going out with Maizono? Is this a date?
Hey, that’s not...!!
You sure act fast, Naegi. I like that!



You’ve got it all wrong. I’m Naegi-kun’s assistant.

She was so fast denying it, somehow I felt depressed...



Huh? Assistant? What’s that? A new kind of role playing?
Whatever. It’s not in my nature to ridicule what other people do in their spare time.
Bye! Enjoy yourselves!
......
Let’s just go to the gymnasium already!



Whatever you say.

One last thing to check. Let's go back to the entrance hall.







Oowada-kun? What are you doing?
I came here to check again if there’s really no way out.
But I can’t think of any way to destroy this bulkhead.



I guess I’ll let you guys think of a way. I am not that good at thinking, myself!



But if the bastards who did this to us come around, just leave everything to me! I’ll show you what a man can do!
T...that’s really reassuring...



What’s up with this bulkhead? It’s locked up real tight!
Seriously. There’s nothing to do in this place. I’m gonna die of boredom...
I mean, there’s no way to pursue my dreams while I’m stuck here, is there?



Your... dreams?



That’s right! I wanna be a musician! Don’t you think I have the aura of this century’s greatest vocalist?
I can’t believe I said this in front of this country’s most popular idol. Aren’t I so cool?!



......
...dreams.
Maizono-san?



It’s nothing. C’mon, let’s go.

Let's.





Next time: advancing the plot!