Part 53: Chapter 3 Daily Life, Part 1

???: ... Nng... *Sniff* *Sniff sniff*





: I know I shouldn't cry... But... I've had enough. I can't take it anymore. Getting out of here...anytime soon... It's...impossible. I can't let myself think about...how much I want to get out of here. If I keep thinking like that, I might decide to...



: ... ...Donuts. I need to eat some donuts...! That'll cheer me up!





: Glazed donuts, twisty donuts, jelly donuts, cream-filled, donut holes, malasadas...!
: O god of donuts! I'm praying for a wonderful encounter!



: *Sniff* I'm sorry... Please forgive me for breaking the nighttime rule... But right now, for me...donuts are absolutely necessary...!

*Grr grnnn* (mechanical sounds)





: ...Huh?

*Grn grn grrnnn*

: What's that sound?

*Grn grn*

: It sounds like it's coming from...the bathhouse...

*Grn grrrrnn grrn*

: I'm super scared, but...



: I-Is...? Is someone there? ... *Gasp*



: KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!











The morning after the conclusion of the second class trial...





Everyone met up in the dining hall, just like always. And I expected it to start like any other day. That's what I expected, but...



: Today's count kinda sucks, huh? Toko and Byakuya still refuse to show up...
: And I haven't seen Miss Asahina anywhere.



: She said her stomach was hurting, so she's taking it easy in her room for today.
: That is rather unusual for her. Normally she is so full of energy.
: Which is exactly what makes me worry...



: So it's just the seven of us, then?
: It looks that way...
: It's times like this where the committee chairman needs to get things going with a BANG!



: ...
: Or not...?
: ...

Taka hasn't said a word since everything that happened yesterday... One look at his face showed he hadn't slept a wink last night. It must be because of Mondo...



The two of them became so close, and then he finds out Mondo killed Chihiro... And then...having to watch Mondo get...punished. And nothing he could do about it... I can't even imagine what it must have done to him.



: So, I mean...what's gonna happen now? We haven't found any way out, and we have no idea if help's ever gonna come.
: Ngh! Now I'm all depressed just thinking about it...



: We simply have to make the best of things--do our best to get along and live here together in peace. Forget about the outside world, and accept this new life. That is the only hope we have now.
: What...? To live here forever...?
: Here we have every convenience. We have food, clothes, our every need is seen to. Why are you dissatisfied? In fact, let me ask you this? What is it about the outside world that you long for?
: Competition, discrimination, victimization and violence... As society grows, so does its perversion. In which case, is our current situation not--





: Demon Angel☆Pretty Pudgy Princess...
: Hmm?



: Meggy, the drill shop owner, the bunny-eared Amazon, Catgirl Dogboy, Robo Justice and the Galactic King... And...! And--!
: What I mean is, there's no 2D here!
: The mastermind puts such base desire to their advantage, bending you to their will...





: Okay, well, anyway... Since Taka's like, catatonic...
: As the oldest one here, I'm officially stepping up to take the lead! So! We're all gonna work together and spend the rest of the day searching the school!
: Searching...?
: Well, I mean...since the class trial is over and all...



: ...there should be new places for us to investigate.
: Yeah, that's the ticket! Maybe we'll find some kind of clue this time!
: Then once we're done eating, let's split up and begin looking around. So you have any problem with that, Celeste?
: Hmm... There may well be a discovery waiting for us which may further enrich our life here.
: Er, no...the point is to look for clues.

And just as we were starting to come together, she barged in and ruined the conversation...





: You called for me, and so I appear! Genocide--!
: Ahh! Nobody called for you!
: What the...? How come it's Genocide Jill, and not Toko?
: God, this place is just AMAZING! Finally a place I can just be my murderous self! Which is why I've decided to stop holding back and spread my wings! No more hiding in a cave for me!
: Plus, I have another battle to fight! The whole "killer with a split personality" thing is sooo overdone. I gotta destroy that stereotype!



: I'll fight all day and all night to murder those totally slanderous cliches!
: But...you *are* a killer with a split personality...
: Gh--! If she weren't here, my chances of survival would go up AT LEAST 10%!



: C'mon, you gotta back me up here! Even the biggest stars need the little people to hold them up!
: Kyeeehahahaha!
: Well, whatever else we do today, first we should eat. We can't do anything on an empty stomach.
: You're right. Let's hurry up and eat so we can start our investigation...



: Kyeehahaha!

So we were forced to eat breakfast with a murderer. And after our much needed but very annoying meal we set to work looking around the school.





: Time to search the school for clues. We begin our search on the second floor, where Hiro is waiting.



: Nothing's changed on this floor. The only difference is the gate blocking the stairs leading up to the 3rd floor is gone. I guess that's where they want us to head next. I wonder what kinda crazy stuff is up there...!



: He's right, the gate is raised up.



: The 3rd floor of Hope's Peak Academy... I wonder what we're gonna find this time... What's...up here?



: It's very purple in here. This is the map of the 3rd floor. A few large rooms and some poor hallway design decisions. A fire marshall would probably not be happy about these snaking hallways.



: Down the upper hall are the two classrooms on this floor. Let's check out 3-A first.







: The windows up here are also barred with metal plates. Not surprising, I suppose.
: So escape still looks impossible...
: But I'd better check all the other metal plates again, just to be sure.



: 3-B is empty. I'm not really sure what the text on the bottom of the chalkboard says because this is as visible as it will ever get. I think it says "Pick my nose."



: Back in the hall across from the staircase is this door to the Rec Room.



: Hmm... So this is...



: A recreation room. A place for students to come and relax...
: I never would've imagined a school having a place like this...
: Well, no normal school would. It has Othello, shogi, even a dartboard and a pool table. And look at this...



: They have even provided us with a remarkable number of magazines.
: Those will certainly be helpful in keeping our boredom at bay.





: Ring ring ring! Hello there! Allow me to explain! We've got fashion, motorcycles, martial arts, video games, baseball, science, all kinds of magazines!
: Oh, but nothing dirty! This is a school, after all. If you need a quick fix, check out the swimsuit mags!
: And will you be adding to our collection as new issues come out?



: Sorry, no can do. Even if I wanted to, right now magazines are kinda...
: Kinda what...?
: Oops! Nothing, never mind, no no no! Anyway, that's it for my expoundation. Bye-bye! *leaves*





: ... What he just said...
: I know, right? It bothers me, too...
: Life here would be that much nicer if he could add some new issues once in a while. How disappointing.
: R-Really...?
: We can now take a quick look around the room.



A pool table isn't normal school equipment... Is this thanks to Monokuma, or did the school buy it...?



There's a copy of Othello here. I'm pretty bad at it, though...



There's...even a dartboard. Did Monokuma put this here, or was it always part of the school...?



There are all different kinds of magazines here on the shelf. They even have a bunch of monthly comics. But... without getting regular updates, what's the point?



: In a corner of the hall we can find Kyoko.



: So the 3rd floor opened up this time... After a brief investigation, it looks like there's a physics lab and an art room. I also found a huge machine of some kind in the physics lab. I wonder what it does...



: Like the 2nd floor, the 3rd floor has a large open area with pillars.



: The art room is just off this space.





At first glance, this looks like any normal art room. But something about it seems off. Or multiple somethings...





: Well, well. Look at all this equipment! It certainly scratches that artistic itch of mine... Art supplies, of course, but they've also collected all kinds of [sculpting tools]!

> sculpting tools

: So, Hifumi...do you like sculptures and figurines and stuff?
: Well normally, I limit myself to 2D. But figurines are like, borderline 2D, so it's okay.

I don't know how that's "borderline" but okay...





: I'm a fan of Charanbo, Pumpkinhead, and I especially admire anything that Saburo Ronppongi makes. Charanbo's ability to express the movement of muscles is exquisite, as seen in his Mama Cat series. Pumpkinhead is like a little sculptor fairy, representing this century's greatest quality! Saburo Ronppongi, meanwhile, is known for his Mecha Musume series, which led to a worldwide tour.
: Truly they can only be regarded as the Elite Four!
: But...one of your elite is missing.



: Well the Elite Three just sounds stupid, now doesn't it!?
: Besides, that empty seat rightly belongs to...me! Hmhmhm. It begins... Today begins my reign as the legendary ruler of the next century!
: I see... Well, good luck with that.
: I'm gonna need some thread help with those references. I've never heard of any of them before. In the meantime, let's look around the room a little.





This is a statue of Nio. I've never really heard of anyone using a Nio statue for life drawing classes or whatever...



Is this...a statue of Monokuma? Who would ever want to make something like this? Still, the quality is...surprising.



It's...a Venus statue. Yup, definitely very art room-ish.



: There's a door in the back corner leading to a room attached to this one.



This is the repository that's attached to the art room. It's used to store different artsy things...



There are wooden mallets hanging on the wall. If I had to guess, I'd say they use them for making sculptures.



: What's this down here?



: There's...something on the floor. It looks like...a picture.

But as I stretched out my hand to pick it up...almost as if on its own, my hand froze.





: Huh...?

What I saw in that picture was...Chihiro, Leon, and Mondo. And they were...smiling.

: What is this...?

Questions started racing through my head, one after the other. Why is it only these three people? What are they doing together? How come they're smiling like that? When was it taken? Who took it? Where's the camera they used? How'd they get it developed? And in the picture, the window in the classroom...

: There's no metal plate covering it! Which must mean, wherever this picture was taken... It...wasn't here at Hope's Peak?

But there was no time to find an answer. All the questions floating around in my head were quickly drowned out by...



: That's mine! Give it back!

Monokuma appeared out of nowhere and snatched the photo, and any chance I had at answers evaporated.

: You peeked, didn't you!? Well, they all had some pretty dazzling smiles, huh?



: They were definitely living their school life. It's like they ripped a page right outta the book of youth!
: What's going on with that picture? Do you know...?
: I'm not tellin' you nothin'! *leaves*



: Why can't you give me a straight answer!?

Never mind... I don't even know why I bothered asking...





: Down the hall there's another gated staircase leading up to the next floor. We obviously can't go up here yet.



: At the end of the hallways is the Physics room.





This is...the physics lab. It's less like a classroom and more like some kind of research institute...



: Well, Taka's here. Let's see if we can get him to talk to us.



: Hey, Taka. Don't you think this place is like some kind of research institute?
: ...

Still no reaction...



: Well, we tried. What's this huge thing?



: What's up with this ridiculously big machine...?





: Watch out!
: Wh-What--?
: What, you wanna do some quantum leaping!?
: Huh...?
: That's a time machine! Pretty awesome, right? It was designed by a student right here at Hope's Peak! The Ultimate Physicist... Although, they don't go here anymore. They died during The Tragedy!



: A time machine...? Seriously...? So...it can go back in time...? Okay, then...let me get in there... If I can go back to the past...then I can...



: This time I'll stop Mondo for sure--!
: Oh, sorry, not possible. This particular time machine can only go back one minute. It comes in handy when you, like...leave your pizza bagels in the microwave one minute too long.



: One minute...?
: Hmm... You sound disappointed.
: But actually, I was lying about the whole thing anyway. There's no such thing as time machines!
: What...?
: Honestly, it's just an air purifier.
: Air purifier...?



: It can produce clean air no matter where you're at. With that thing, you could even live on Mars! But what with the discombobulating gravity and deadly low temperatures, you prolly don't wanna live on Mars.
: Anyway, this machine is the reason you guys have all this delicious air. So don't go messing with it! You break it, and it's your butt! *leaves*

This huge thing is just...an air purifier? And more than that...





: ...

To go out of your way to say something you know will hurt someone who's already suffering...

: God damn you!





Oh this is... It's a digital camera. It's got some kind of weird anime style design on it... It's kinda beat-up, but it looks like it still turns on just fine... Yup, it still works! I should show the others later.



: There's a room attached to here as well, just like the art room.





This is...the equipment room. It's super disorganized...and there's a strange chemical smell in the air...



: Ahhh, this place is sooo relaaaxing! Sooo calming! The smell of formaldehyde is almost unbearable... It's so tempting! Ahhh, I wanna just dunk myself right in it!
: ...

Of course Genocide Jack likes it. That just goes to show how disgusting it really is...



: There's actually nothing important to check out in here other than that conversation. In fact, the game doesn't even give you the chance to look.
: Hmm...

I discovered lots of stuff. And it was all strange. But I dunno if any of it was an actual clue... I'm just getting more confused.

: Maybe I should head to the dining hall and talk about it with everyone else... For now, I should head to the dining hall.