Part 10: Update VIII

♪ BGM: DSO_Beautiful Dead ♫





Wh-What!? You don't know? Don't you live in this city?



Imprisoned, huh? Th-That's an interesting backstory...



But how did you know I was living in this town?
...Huh?
And while I'm at it, this has been on my mind for a while. You said something when we first met... You said, "You must be Komaru Naegi." Toko... How did you know about me?
D-Don't get all detective mode on me out of nowhere! You've caught me off guard!
Well, I think I deserve to know...
I-It's not some big secret or anything. On the helicopter ride over, Master mentioned you and...
Helicopter? You mean Future Foundation's? You're a member of Future Foundation?
W-Well, I'm more like an...intern. That's why I don't have my own uniform yet...
Ahh, that's why you aren't in a suit...
S-Such a cheap-ass organization, they could've at least given me a uniform! Ugh, when will I finally get to change out of this old ratty thing?
You only have that one uniform, huh?
Yeah, but...I'll endure it for a little bit longer... I made a promise with Master... He said...if I can prove I can control her, I get to be an official member...



Uh oh, looks like we're losing her again!



♪ BGM: Absolute Delusional Girl ♫

Toko... You must never leave my side. Protect me, always. That is your purpose. Your destiny.
B-But, I'm not an official member...ah!



Y-Yes... I'm your livestock.
My pig.
Y-Yes! I'm your pig!
Hey, pig...repeat the promise you made with me.
Uh, uh... Oink oink oink?
In English, fool!
I promise to never let Genocide Jack kill another human being! Then, I become an official member!
I...need...you... You must never...break...that promise!
...Oink oink!

Again, the text doesn't do this scene justice. The voice acting is amazing.



♪ BGM: DSO_Junk Food for a Dashing Youth ♫

...Ah!





N-No, not at all! You didn't look disgustingly gross at all!
I didn't ask you if it was gross! I just said "weird"!
Oh...sorry?
Jeez, even this immature schoolgirl treats me like an intern! Grr, and even that occult moron and the swimming idiot bimbo are official members!
...Wow, you sure give your friends nice nicknames...
They're not my friends! My whole life I've never had a friend!
...And now you go making me remember stuff like that! Stop prodding my mental wounds, girl!
I didn't mean to!

♪ BGM: DSO_Beautiful Dead ♫

Hmph, anyway, who cares about having friends. I have Master Byakuya!
And as long as I have Master, I don't need anything, or anyone else...
To actually care about someone that much... That's a pretty amazing feeling.
But I got separated from my precious Master thanks to these damn riots! Now I'm all alone...
Of course, I did sneak onto the helicopter without Master or anyone else knowing...
Wait, so ever since then, you've been alone? Then who told you Byakuya was captured?
...Huh?
O-Oh, well, a lot of things happened...
A-And more importantly! What are you going to do from here on?
Me?



...
But you... You want to look for Byakuya, right? I know that's what you want, but...



♪ BGM: DSO_Desire for Execution... ♫

I feel trapped. No matter what I do, I'll end up getting killed.
...
So... Listen, I know this is...an unfair request, but...
Fine.
Huh?
You want me to tag along with you, right? Fine. I'll go with you.
I-It's...okay?
Th-There's no other choice! As a member of Future Foundation, it's my duty to protect you.



♪ BGM: This Is the Path We Follow ♫

This is another one of my favorite tracks. It's a simple piano track, but it fits really well, and sometimes, something simple does the trick the best.

H-Hey, what are you doing!?
Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! From the bottom of my heart, just... Thank God I met Toko!



But... Are you sure about this? What about your search for Byakuya?
Th-There's no need for you to worry about that. I've been thinking up a plan.
Oh, you're right. An amazing girl like you would have a plan for sure. No point in me worrying.
Hmph...
But... I'm glad. Ever since I was imprisoned, I've been all alone. I couldn't depend on anyone else...



Y-You don't have to repeat yourself, I heard you the first time! Now, do you know a way out? I don't know anything about this city, either. I don't know where we should go...
You're right. We have to figure out more about this town, first.



It's commonly called Towa City.



♪ BGM: DSO_Beautiful Dead ♫

Hey, Toko! Do you remember seeing a bridge anywhere?
A bridge?



Perfect! If this town really is an island, we should be able to escape over the bridge!
Huh... I guess you're right.
Let's go to the bridge! We have to at least try!



I-I see... Good for you...



I'd like to introduce some small necessities - skills that'll turn the battle in your favor. First, bring up the menu with Esc Key and switch to the skill screen with Z Key/X Key. Choose skills using the A,S,W,D Key and attach / detach with the E Key. S-S-Surprise! It appears you already have one skill! Hooray! If you attach this skill, you'll be able to automatically lock on to the target. By finding reference books around town, you can get new skills. Don't forget to attach them to turn the tides of war! By the way, attaching skills would require skill points... Skill points increase when Komaru levels up. Pretty standard stuff. Now then, defeat a lot of Monokumas and level up quick!

Well, we've basically already gone over this and already equipped the skill, so let's just go.



♪ BGM: Wonderful Dead 001 ♫

This is the first of the Wonderful Dead variants (albeit not the first we've heard, since 004 made a quick early cameo), and one of the other subtype. The last one we heard was more of a lounge ambience, whereas this is more upbeat, with more going on, making it more fit for general gameplay. I like these as well.



To start off, we get some potty saving action going.



We run into two Monokumas really intent on stabbing this dead body. After taking care of them, we find a note near the body.





Sometimes you just don't really know what to say. This is one of those times. Let's just move down the road.







Works like a charm!



The Monokuma kids do a whole bunch of stuff around here. Things like messing around with bodies...



...running around Monokumas...



...and incredibly eagerly hip-thrusting for some reason.



Heading down the path, we find some literature to look at.







♪ BGM: DSO_Beautiful Dead ♫

Hm? What makes you say that?
80% of authors who write books with drugs, guns, and high school girls in them are anime nerds. It's a safe bet, like knowing your white shirt is gonna get splashed when you eat curry.
Yeah, putting aside the curry thing... I'm a high school girl, and I have this hacking gun... Is this some anime nerd fantasy?
Do *not* associate a gift my Master gave you with anime nerd imagination nonsense! Keep being condescending and I'll cut you with a kitchen utensil only master chefs have heard of!
I-It's even more terrifying not knowing what it could possibly be!

Note that the author of this book is named "Kodaka". Now who else do we know named like that?

But, seriously... I don't know much about guns. I barely know how to work *this* thing.
You really don't have a sharp memory, do you? It sends program codes in the form of radio waves that hacks the target machine.
Yeah, I don't get that at all but... It sounds really cool!
Jeez, you didn't get my explanation at all, did you?
But this doesn't work on *every* machine, right? I wonder why not...
Well I'm just an intern, so I don't really know the details, but I know it's a research project. M-Maybe it's made so that it doesn't work on machines you don't need to use...?
Well that's...convenient. But, I have learned one thing!
Wh-What's that?
This gun works as well on humans as the ray guns do against Crystal Bowie!
Wow, now *that's* an obscure reference... How old did you say you were?

Komaru is apparently referencing the manga "Cobra" here, which originally ran from 1978 to 1984. I guess Komaru is a fan of the classics.



♪ BGM: Wonderful Dead 001 ♫

This Monokuma guide sign is kindly pointing us towards this door, so I guess we should go there. What could possibly go wrong?



However, we are then immediately stifled by something blocking our path.



W-Work together? With you!? Gah, guess we don't have a choice... Do you wash your hands?
O-Of course I wash my hands!





And now we can get up larger objects through the power of teamwork! However, the moment we jump back down...



♪ BGM: Silence ♫





Grenade incoming!



It explodes without causing further damage. And then, the source of the grenade is revealed!







Alright, so, Bomber Monokumas. Of course it would be rather boring if all we got to fight was plain old regular Monokumas, so throughout the game, we'll be introduced to new enemy types to keep things fresh. These guys have two notable things about them. One: They throw grenades, which blow up. Being blown up is not conductive to not dying, so we'll be trying to avoid that.





Two: When you kill them, they blow up themselves. This means you should also avoid them after killing them, but it also means you can kill other enemies with them, which comes in handy.



And that's about it for our new enemy introduction, so let's head out.



♪ BGM: Wonderful Dead 001 ♫



Based on where we are, the bridge should be on the opposite side of this hotel...



A-Are you telling me we have to walk through this busted-up hotel? Oh, this is the worst.



But before that, we get to Move another electric car...



...and find something shiny behind it!



♪ Jingle: Skill GET! ♫



So this skill would give Komaru another point of HP, but we don't have the skill points for it yet, though we'll have it on the next level.



Anyway, that'll be enough for this time. Next time, we'll be heading through this hotel, and you know it's going to be great.