Part 158: Epilogue

Click here to watch the Epilogue







But even after saying it was all over... It's not like the building exploded or collapsed in on itself or anything. That wasn't the kind of ending waiting for us. Nothing changed. Well, with one exception... The air purifiers turned off. Just like Junko said...they shut off immediately. That was the only difference.



We left the courtroom and made our way to the main hall. We stood in front of the door. Nobody made a sound. I felt almost...absentminded. This was our epilogue before the final ending. We were stuck there in limbo, unmoving, unsure. But... In the end...





: We can't just stand around like this forever. At some point, we need to leave.

To nobody's surprise, it was Kyoko who broke the silence.

: Makoto, would you do the honors?
: O-Okay...



As if awakened by Kyoko's words, I took out the object we'd gotten. Up until the moment of her death, it had belonged to Junko. And in the end, she dropped it before us.



: B-But...is that really it? Is that really the key to this door...?
: You don't have to read into what she said too much to find the answer.



: If, on the other hand, you desire to see us punished, then you must all leave this place.
: I will force you out, ensuring you all die horrible deaths in the outside world.




: "I will force you out." She said that, just before dropping that. It makes sense that it would be our way out of here.
: But you never know... Maybe it's actually a switch that's gonna make the school self-destruct! I mean, Junko never said specifically that she'd let us leave here alive!
: You may be right about that.
: Maybe!?



: But even so, it's impossible to think we wouldn't take our chances with it.
: Y-Yeah, I guess that's true...
: Kyeehaha! There's nothin' to worry about!



: If something ever happened to Master, I'd take my scissors and jam 'em so far up--
: Achoo!



: H-Huh...? Hey, where's the courtroom? Where's the m-mastermind...?
: It's all over. We're just about to leave the school...
: What? L-Leave...!? We can go outside!?
: Then...that means me and M-Master can get married...?
: And then he'll g-give me a little jewel of a baby!?
: Please, stop. That would be a greater horror than anything I've encountered so far.



: Anyway, don't worry. I have no doubt that we'll be able to leave here without a problem.
: It's what happened *after* we get out that I'm worried about...
: B-But you know... In the end, I...! I think a part of me still thinks...



: ...maybe, when we get out there, we'll see that everything she said about the world was a lie. That on the other side of this door...is a world as peaceful as we remember.

A lie... Peaceful as we remember...

: Well, no matter what it looks like, it's still our world. It's where we're meant to live.
: Yeah, I guess so...
: And...how do I put this? Unlike this school, the world is really big, right? Since it's so big, I'm sure there must be some despair no matter what. But there also has to be lots of hope...right?



: The act of searching for hope, to try and find it--that by itself is the true meaning of hope. As long as you have that hope, you can keep moving forward no matter what trouble you may fall into.
: Is that what you mean, Makoto?
: Y-Yeah, that's pretty much the gist of it.



: I don't need any of you to spell that out for me. You know, Junko mentioned that there were still others out there who hadn't cast away hope just yet.
: Maybe I should find them and make them work for me. To rebuild the world, we must first rebuild the Togami dynasty.
: I-I'll go with you! I'll follow you anywhere you w-want to go!



: Well *my* first stop is gonna be the closest donut shop! I can figure out the rest from there!
: And what're you gonna do if there *are* no more donut shops? Or donuts?
: I'll just get some flour and make some myself! And if there's no flour, I'll just grow some wheat!
: ...Ah! I get it now!



: If there's no road, you just gotta build one! Creation... Fate is telling me to remake the world!
: That's...my hope!
: I've reached the next stage! The next chapter of Yasuhiro Hagakure's Life Story is about to begin!
: Thanks, Hina! You've totally opened my eyes!
: H-Hey, personal space, buddy! You're seriously creepin' me out!



: Come on, Makoto. Even if everyone in the outside world is gone... Even if the world is steeped in despair... As long as I have people like you around, I can face forward and keep moving. If we can get out there and do something, have some sort of impact...



But what can we do...? There's so few of us, and we're so small. So what can we do...?

...No, we can probably do anything.

Yeah! We can do anything!



: Well, I guess this is goodbye. ...And goodbye...to Sakura. But hey! If we gotta say goodbye, we may as well do it with a smile on our face!
: Hey, guys! You guys want your fortunes told, anywhere, anytime, you just let me know! I'll be there!
: You know how much I hate being annoyed. But if something does come up, you may as well let me know. I can't guarantee I'll actually bother listening, but you know...
: I d-don't know why, but...I have a b-burning desire to start writing...! I might b-be able to pull it off... A story about M-Master and me! A-And the others, I guess...
: I can't say I'm sorry about what happened, but still... It does feel kind of strange...
: I...really don't know what to say. I guess we...graduated?



It looks like hope really is spreading.

: I have to push even harder...!

I'm going to keep moving forward, with hope in my heart.

Since I have hope, I can show courage.


Since I have hope...I can move ahead.



The world...can move ahead.





The door began to open.

With my hands... With *our* hands...

Hope and despair mingled together...opening the door to the future...

Click here to leave the school.


















































Click here for the Credits.

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: That's the end of the main game. Next time, I'll show off School Mode and then we'll transition to the final Free Time Roundups for our surviving friends.