Part 42: Update XL
♪ BGM: DSO_Beautiful Dead ♫
Alright, let's have a chat with Haiji.
Um...where are we going?
Didn't I tell you? The place where our trump card is hidden.
And just what the hell is this "trump card" and why didn't you say anything about it earlier?
I'm not trying to be cryptic, it's just... hard to explain in words. It's much easier if you see it with your own eyes. Then you'll understand, I promise.
Jeez, you sound like some manga protagonist from the 90s...I'm surprised that wasn't followed up with a "not that I would know anything about that".
Anyway, it's our last hope for stopping the kids before it gets any worse. If there's one thing I know for sure... This is our last shot. Does something like that really exist? I'm telling you because I trust you guys. And I need you two to trust me as well. Ah, so not only are you chicken, you're also a narcissistic bastard. However... Getting there is going to be a problem. Let me think...
Me and Four Eyes will go in the back. It'll be cramped, but you'll have to deal with it for now.
Wh-What do you mean leave it to me? Listen, it's important that you don't freak out. If you don't...we should be fine.
That's not an explanation!
Didn't he just say not to freak out? I don't really get it, but...you should prepare yourself.
W-Wait, I haven't mentally prepared myself yet...
Enough with the complaints, let's just go.
♪ BGM: Silence ♫
Gyaaa!
♪ BGM: DSO_Junk Food for a Dashing Youth ♫
Enough with the complaints, let's gooo!
Haha, I thought you'd be the one freaking out, Komaru! I've never ridden one of these before! This is so fun! Wh-Why is Komaru the one driving!? She doesn't even have a license! I can't drive with my arm like this! And it's not like cops are gonna pull us over or somethin'! Y-You're right, but! Hey listen, we never know when the Monokumas might attack next. Let's speed it up! Rogeeer! Gyaaa!
♪ BGM: Silence ♫
A-Are you...taking us to a secluded spot to... To do "stuff" with us!? If that's your plan, hurry up and get it over with! I won't resist! ...Um, no. That's not what I was thinking at all. Especially not with *you*. I...I like 'em younger. As young as possible. ...Actually, can I leave now? Anyway! It's time. Careful of where you stand, if you talk you might bite your tongue.
♪ BGM: DSO_Despair-Syndrome ♫
You'd never expect such an elaborate machine here, right? That's how you know it's important. This is Towa Group's secret factory, after all. Secret factory? This place was restricted to top executives only. During emergencies, the restrictions get tougher. Now, the only ones who can move this elevator are me and my old man. I see... So not even the brats can get into this place...
I've told you already. It's our last hope. And it's deep inside this factory. However, we do have a bit of a problem. It's the reason I was hesitant to come here in the first place.
Wh-What? Just say it. ...In order to deter intruders and thieves, our family uses Monokumas to guard the area...♪ BGM: DSO_DISTRUST ♫
...Monokumas!? Ever since the riot, we haven't been able to contact the office that controls them. To what I can guess, the Monokumas here had their control functions broken. I bet they would even attack *me*, like I was any other adult. Okay, j-just wait! Slow down a sec! Why are the Monokumas here in the first place!? Didn't the kids bring them? Yeah, I expected this reaction... But you'll know the answer to that question as well once we're through here. Y-You... You're being awfully suspicious... Yeah, probably. I even think so myself.
But for now...will you please trust me? I'm begging you, you two are the only ones who can make it through here. You have to help! There's no way I can do it alone, but I'm not just going to abandon the hope that's in here. I took your words to heart... That I need to fight back, no giving up.
Haiji...
Toko, why don't we just try going there for now? I mean, we've gone this far already... ... If he does anything I don't like along the way... I'm turning around and leaving. That sounds fair to me. The trump card is deep inside this factory. We need to take the elevator to the bottom floor.
♪ BGM: The Forbidden Playhouse ♫ Alright, so here we are in Towa Group's secret factory.
It has this strange thing in the middle that rotates with red lasers. It's probably not good if we touch them.
So of course nobody even considers not touching them, and an alarm goes off.
Wh-What? Be careful! If you touch the lasers, an alarm goes off! You should've said that earlier!
A Siren shows up at the top of the big thing in the middle...
...the doors and elevators lock down...
...and unpainted Monokumas show up.
♪ BGM: Absolute Despair Girl ♫
So now we need to take out the Siren.
Since I still had a powered-up Break shot stored, this wasn't exactly difficult.
Taking out the Siren automatically takes out all the other Monokumas. I'm not entirely sure about this, but I think that you actually get the experience points for the other Monokumas, which in theory means that this would be a pretty effective place to get experience points.
♪ BGM: The Forbidden Playhouse ♫
After taking out the Siren, the lasers turn back on and everything else goes back to normal.
Pictured: Me, not realizing that I'm about one or two frames away from tripping the lasers again. This happens a few times - it took me a bit to get a hang of exactly where you can stand and not get hit by the lasers. I'll just skip the constant "trigger lasers, shoot Siren, lasers turn off".
Our first stop is a room over to the right.
It has a save spot, and a collectible!
♪ BGM: DSO_Beautiful Dead ♫
So can I assume that you haven't really experienced that incident? Well, by the time I was abducted, the world was already pretty messed up. The crime rate was high, the war had started... 7 of my classmates had died... ...Do you mean they were killed by despair? I'm not really sure if they died, but one day, all 7 of them went missing. And a little while after...someone mailed a package to the school... 35 fingers were inside. Th-That's horrible...
They never ended up finding them... There's no way they're still alive.
... Because I went through that... I'm worried about my parents... If your brother were here, I'm sure he'd say something like this: "Do not lose hope." Hope...
Yeah, you're right! It's not like I know for sure Checko or my parents are dead! ...Checko?
Oh, my friend who disappeared. Her name was Chieko. Oh, you had a nickname for her. Yeah, she was a pretty close friend, after all. ...Your friend...Checko... Are you...jealous?
What!? Of course not! Don't even think it! Why would I be jealous of a girl with a big brother complex like you!
I told you, I don't have a big brother complex! I'm sure you're just hiding it from me. Your favorite thing to say is "I wuv you big bro." I also can't abandon the idea that you two eat all your food by mouth-to-mouth... Jeez, that's *way* past a big brother complex at that point!
♪ BGM: The Forbidden Playhouse ♫
Our next stop is a room on the other side. There's a gate blocking our path, but there's also a button to press, so let's press it.
♪ BGM: We Can't Change The World ♫
Alright Four Eyes, step on the switch. Then, Komaru and I can go through.
Th-That would leave me behind!
Suddenly, a Monokuma!
Damn, here they come! We gotta run for now! Ah, hey!
♪ BGM: The Forbidden Playhouse ♫
And that's exactly what we do. Now that the concept of putting Monokumas on buttons with Link has been introduced, I'm sure it won't show up like five minutes from now in a Monoku-Man room.
Next up, we have a collectible.
This factory seems to have been working on something groundbreaking.
I wonder what it is they're making.
Next, we find another room with a MonoMono machine, a save spot, and a collectible.
♪ BGM: DSO_Beautiful Dead ♫
Ha, world domination... Sounds swell. If we could completely control all the brats in the world *and* the adults... That'd be nice. So it's just as I thought! I'm just kidding... Towa Group isn't some evil corporation straight out of a movie. It's a financial group with a simple policy and reasonable assets. "Normal" to a T. Aside from all the greed driving me to make this company the largest in the world, of course. Don't joke with me! A no-good corporation like yours is no match for Togami Corporation! Hm? Are you from the Togami family?
W-Well, not yet... But I'm planning to become one! ...What the hell is this chick talking about?
...It's a long story. Just let it go. Well anyway, there's no dangerous ulterior motives behind Towa Group...currently. H-Hold on, "currently"!? So it *used* to have dangerous ambitions? Well, we may be nobles now, but that doesn't mean we didn't start at the bottom like everyone else. I'm sure Towa Group was rather ambitious when they were still a startup. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about when your father was chairman, before all this happened. ...Who knows? I wasn't exactly deeply involved with the business side of Towa. I have no idea. But it is true that Towa was working to put the incident in the past. That's why they made the air purifiers, right? We also detoxify sea water and replant forests. We're honestly pretty good people. Good people? The moment you started using Monokumas as guards, you stopped being "good." Jeez, you're a pushy one aren't you? I already told you, you gotta trust me on this one. And we should trust you just because you say so? Toko, I know how you feel, but now's not the time for this. Hmph... I know. But Komaru, you can't trust this guy. The moment you let your guard down, he'll touch your butt! On my honor... I promise I'm not into her! ...Specifically. What I'm tryin' to say is, the younger they are, the better it is for me!
That is a hardcore lolita complex! The real deal!
But I mean, the fact that he *admits* it... It's kind of attractive. ...You are really *terrible* at picking men!I really do wonder if this is implying what I think it's implying, or if Haiji is just really, REALLY bad at wording. On the other hand, I shouldn't be wondering this.
♪ BGM: The Forbidden Playhouse ♫
We continue making our way across the factory floor, finding collectibles.
It's another Hit List entry! Thinking about it, I haven't actually checked out any of the ancillary stuff for Danganronpa, except this game I guess.
♪ BGM: It's a Monokuma World ♫
Next stop, a Monoku-Man room.
♪ Jingle: Monoku-Man Activate ♫
This one isn't too difficult. We have a regular Monokuma that we can shoot with Link through the open part of the wall. That Monokuma then gets moved onto the button in such a way that it doesn't look at the gate the button opens (otherwise it'll spot us coming in), then we can walk through, circle around behind the Ball Monokuma and then hit it with Knockback to take out all the other Monokumas.
♪ Jingle: Monoku-Man Success ♫
Like so!
♪ BGM: The Forbidden Playhouse ♫
After that, we find an elevator and make our way to the second floor.
Don't you think this is strange? It's just like I thought, this place is fishy... Monokumas guarding the place, what they're making at this factory...
Let's hurry up and get the trump card. I can finally show them hope... Toko... What do you think?
We've come this far, there's no choice but to go for it. I'll be the judge of this "hope."
The second factory floor is mostly more of the same. Dodging lasers, finding collectibles, and Monoku-Man rooms. So let's get to it!
I'm sure it's nothing.
Collectible!
...I... what? Am I misreading this, or are we looking at a slut shaming sock? This is weird.
♪ BGM: It's a Monokuma World ♫
Let's do a Monoku-Man room instead.
♪ Jingle: Monoku-Man Activate ♫
This is another fairly easy one. We use the hologram to attract the regular Monokuma, then Link with it to move it to that little water area that links up to the area with the eight Guards. Then we stand on the button to open the gate and shoot the regular Monokuma with Paralyze, taking them all out.
♪ Jingle: Monoku-Man Success ♫
Like so!
After crossing the factory floor one more time, we're once again dumped into another Monoku-Man room. This is the last of the chapter.
♪ Jingle: Monoku-Man Activate ♫
I'm not sure how to do this one. I thought the idea was "Link with regular Monokuma and push button, Link with Bomber and move him into a good position to blow up the others, use Knockback on Ball Monokuma to take everybody out". I guess I should have assumed that was wrong since it didn't involve the hologram, which was probably there for a reason.
So I do exactly that...
...and am left with a regular Monokuma in its original position. Well, we'll figure it out in the second playthrough. Or rather, I'll read a walkthrough.
♪ BGM: The Forbidden Playhouse ♫
One more trip across the factory floor, and we're at another safe room, with another collectible for us!
♪ BGM: DSO_Beautiful Dead ♫
Does it really matter? Well thinking of you as a celebrity makes me want to act more formal... Being famous for something like this doesn't make me happy at all. I wish I never had the other me. But why did Genocide Jack get into you in the first place? ...Get into me? What are you talking about? I mean, identity disorders are like that, right? Was there a reason for it? Like, maybe your souls switched when you got hit by a truck or something? There's no way something that ridiculously Sci-Fi would ever happen in real life. It's true that she's inside me, but... She didn't come in from the outside. She's more like...a personality I created out of suppressed emotions. That sounds kinda "Sci-Fi" to me... But if that's the case, what was the reason you suppressed your emotions?
...My mother. It's my mother's fault that she was born inside me. I never thought of them as my real mothers, not even once. Wait, "them" as your "mothers"? Don't you mean your mother and father? I'm a novelist, I wouldn't misspeak like that. I said "them" and I meant it. ...I have two mothers. Oh... Did your dad remarry or something? No, he wasn't married to begin with. Sounds complicated... At the hospital where I was born, a baby born the same time as me died from a medical accident. That's not so uncommon. However... Through some mix-up, the hospital wasn't able to determine which mother's baby had died. And that's why I have two mothers. You get it now? But wait, wouldn't they be able to find out which child was which with a blood test? ...Both mothers declined the exam. A loving mother wouldn't want to face the possibility that the baby who died was theirs. But both of them...wanted their child to die. ... They also discovered that both women had slept with the same man. Of course, that would be my father. I mean, who could have thought an ugly, impure woman like me would have a player for a father...? ... Th-That was a prime opportunity! You were supposed to object to the "ugly" and "impure" part! You making that face is just making me feel worse! Sorry...I just can't even imagine... Anyway, because of all that, my daily life was full of stress. For a while, I turned my negative feelings into novels, but it got harder and harder... To release the feelings that I couldn't bury with my novels, Genocide Jack was born. Wow, that's...a pretty amazing story. Well, I'm sure my extraordinary birth helps a lot with writing extraordinary novels... But thinking back on it all now, I don't think it was that big of a deal. ...Um... Toko... Oh don't you dare get weirded out by my story and try to change the subject now! Y-You're the one who asked, so you're gonna wallow in these bad memories with me, dammit!
No, it's not like that... How should I say it? I like you, Toko. H-Huh!? What the hell are you talking about!? Oh, sorry, that came out a little wrong. I like you as a friend, Toko. So what did you wanna say?
...F-Forget it. I was going to keep going on about my misfortunes, but I seem to have forgotten...
♪ BGM: The Forbidden Playhouse ♫
And that's all there is for us on the second level, and that'll be it for this update. Next time, we go through the rest of the factory and finish up this chapter.