Part 114: Chapter 5 Daily Life, Part 2

: Wh-What the hell is this...!?

The grotesque horror of the room struck me hard and fast. What I saw was bad enough, but what I smelled... It was sour, pungent, impossibly rank...



: It smells awful, doesn't it?
: I-It's...
: It must be at least vaguely familiar to you. After all, you've been around your fair share of corpses.
: Are you saying...?



: It's the smell of death. Their flesh and fat and blood...

There was no surprise in his voice, no shock. But he was right. I had experienced this smell more than once before... It was the smell of death and despair.

: But the smell here is strong, condensed. It's the smell of a battlefield.
: Monokuma must have--





: What, my fault AGAIN!?
: Stop trying to blame everything on me!
: I-If you hadn't done what you did, this never would have happened!
: No, no, no. It's quite the opposite!
: The opposite...?



: Yup! Let me give you an itty bitty eegie squeegie little hint. As far as this room goes, I don't know a thing! I just left it exactly how I found it.
: What...?
: How's that for a hint!? Better than those stupid "hints" you get from NPCs in those mean old RPGs!
: But it's pretty scary, huh? Blood all over the walls and junk... Of course, even in the outside world, people die bloody, gruesome deaths every day!
: So it's not really a big deal! Just keep your chin up and keep on livin', soldier! *leaves*

What's he talking about...? He just left it the way he found it? What's the meaning of all this...?





: This...was not what I expected to find in here. Well, uh, let's see if Byakuya has any other thoughts.



: Um, Byakuya? About what Monokuma just told us...
: ...

It's like I'm not even here. He must be lost in thought. Is he really thinking that hard? Or is he flat-out ignoring me...?





There's blood all over the place. I want to shut my eyes forever against such a ghastly sight...

: It appears all the bloodstains are dry. And their color has changed, as well. I think it's safe to assume these stains are considerably old.
: This is all...really blood?
: Of course. I wouldn't find it interesting otherwise.
: And it *is* interesting, I assure you. What on Earth happened in this classroom...?

He seems like he's...enjoying himself. No way can I "keep up" with someone like that...





There are white chalk outlines drawn all over the floor. How many bodies were there...? I've seen this kind of thing on detective shows and stuff like that. You always see it at the scene of a murder...

: ...

I wish I could say I don't believe it...



: Thankfully, that's all there is to see in here and we can leave.





: I guess I've seen what there is to see up here for now.

But once again...nothing I found seems to make any real sense.

: I need to head back to the dining hall and find out what the others turned up.



One after another, everyone made their way to the dining hall. And before too long...





: It would appear everyone has returned.
: But still...it's just the six of us. That's barely enough for a decent volleyball team...
: Hey! Don't be a sourpuss! We gotta think positive! Besides, even if one more person died, we can still field a basketball team!
: That's like...reverse positive thinking...
: Anyway, there's no time to be depressed. For the sake of everyone we've lost, we have to do our best.
: Can we stop all this group hug nonsense? We need to find out what everyone discovered.



: We have to talk to everyone, so let's begin with Hina.



: I checked all the windows on the 5th floor, front to back. That used to kinda be Sakura's job, but...
: Anyway, no dice. There were metal plates on all the windows, just like everywhere else.
: Which means no chance of escape on the 5th floor, either...
: But when I was looking around, I realized something about [the layout of the school]...

> the layout of the school

: What exactly did you notice about the layout of the school?



: You took a good look around the 5th floor yourself, didn't you Makoto?
: Huh? Why do you ask?
: Because if you did, you must have noticed. The 5th floor is lacking something every other floor has.

Something on all the other floors...but not on the 5th floor...?

: Are you talking about...stairs? There aren't any stairs leading up from the 5th floor. That's what you're talking about, right?



: Does that mean...the 5th floor is the end!?
: We're finally starting to get a clear picture of this school.
: All that's left now is to solve the underlying mystery.
: But that's the hardest part...
: Even if it's hard, we still gotta do it!
: Yeah, Hina's right! Everything will be okay. As long as we work together, I'm sure we'll make it out of this...!

No, not "I'm sure"... We absolutely WILL make it out, no matter what it takes!





: Well...there's a big garden up on the 5th floor. And I found more than one thing to be worried about... A [stupidly large plant], a [chicken coop], and--I know what you're gonna say, but...a [toolshed]!

> stupidly large plant

: Monokuma said that was called a...Monokuma Flower. Even touching it seems dangerous, so we have to be careful.
: It's totally a man-eating plant! I'm pretty sure it's different from the one that lives in the pipe, though. Anyway, that thing must benefit from the sprinkler system as much as anything else in there...
: Oh yeah. Apparently the sprinklers come on every morning at 7:30 on the dot.



: Yeah, remember that! You don't wanna get drenched and catch a cold!
: Well you don't have to worry. They say idiots never catch colds, ya know.
: Of course not! Cuz idiots never get wet!
: Umm...I think you're thinking of ducks.
: I'm starting to worry about you, Hiro. Can you tell me what ten plus ten is?



: Hey, come on! You don't ALWAYS have to call me dumb! I may have been held back three times, but that doesn't make me stupid! But if it'll make you happy, I'll answer your dumb question...!
: So! Um...what was the question again?
: Don't worry. You just answered it...

-----

> chicken coop

: There were a bunch of chickens in the chicken coop, right?
: That's right! Five! Five chickens!



: I love chickens! Let's raise 'em up big and fat. Then we can make fried chicken! Oh, or barbeque! Decisions, decisions...
: Oh! Oh! Or how about raw! Cuz there's nothing fresher than raw, right!?
: I'm pretty sure that'd kill you...

-----

> toolshed

: You noticed it too, huh? That pickaxe...
: Huh? What about the pickaxe?





: Well, there was a pickaxe in the toolshed. And the words Crazy Diamond had been carved into the handle. Haven't we seen that phrase somewhere before...?



: Crazy Diamond? Hmm... Yeah, that does sound kinda familiar, I think...
: I don't just think, I know. We've definitely seen that phrase before.
: Huh? Where!?
: Ah, that's it! I remember...



: It was on Mondo's uniform! On the back of his jacket... His jacket said the same thing, right? Crazy Diamond!



: You're absolutely right...
: But why would that be on the pickaxe in the garden?
: Mondo must've snuck in there and done it, right?
: But we didn't have access to the garden until today.



: Then...maybe Mondo brought it with him when he first came here, and Monokuma confiscated it?
: Whatever the reason, that's what stuck out to me in the toolshed--the pickaxe connected to Mondo.
: Well, what stuck out to *me* wasn't the pickaxe at all!
: Huh? Then...what did?





: What *I* noticed was the lawnmower! I'm thinking maybe we can use it to call for help...
: How are you gonna call for help with a lawnmower!?
: I dunno! Maybe I can use it to make crop circles or something! Yeah, that's it! I'm gonna make crop circles!
: And we can use those to call for help!



: What the heck's happened to you...? You weren't like this in the beginning, you know.
: Well, back then my personality hadn't quite solidified yet...!
: I didn't think it was possible, but I'm more disappointed in you now than I've ever been...







: My concern is with the bio lab. That was the only place on the 5th floor that we couldn't access.
: The bio lab, huh? I wonder what's in there...
: If this were like, a cliche horror game, it'd be some kind of creature. The final boss, or Tyrant, or--!
: We're...not in a horror game, though...



: Either way, we don't need to worry about it at the moment. Don't bother thinking about something that can't be understood no matter how much you think about it.
: Your tiny brains can only do so much, so focus on utilizing them efficiently.
: I don't really like *how* you said it, but *what* you said is probably right.
: No, how I said it is right, too.



: We'll pick up with the rest of the discoveries next time.