Part 165: Physical Graffiti

MUSIC: Hope Searching





All cleared debris will stay cleared throughout the investigation. That's not a thing I'm used to taking for granted.



Maki used Strength! Shuichi can move boulders!





We've got debris blocking the kitchen shortcut to prevent sequence breaking.



There's Keebo giving an Exisal what for.



This one moves in a circle. It might take a few tries to click on it.





I have to separate the truth from the lies.

Aside from that one roadblock, the upper courtyard is as it was, but Shuichi keeps us on track if we try to waste time going somewhere else.







This school is slowly being destroyed... I wouldn't be surprised if the dorms fell.

Before that happens...I should investigate Kokichi's room.

...I know. It wouldn't be funny if we came all this way just to get crushed by debris.





Kaito... You words inspire me, even now. Thank you...so much.



Kokichi's door doesn't get a parting thought from Shuichi, because we have to go inside.

MUSIC: Living in a Lazy Parallel World





It's unsettling, but...we should investigate it.

Right...



Kokichi said that he was the leader of an organization opposed to the Gofer Project. In that effort, he tried to take the position of the mastermind. The Flashback Light helped us remember that that organization was the Remnants of Despair. Kokichi...was the leader of the Remnants of Despair. But is that the real truth? I feel as though there may be a lie in there...

Here's a better shot of that whiteboard:









Blueprints?

They're mostly drawings of childish fantasy weapons, like ray guns and beam swords...

I wonder if the Electrohammer and Electrobomb blueprints are here... Maybe he drew whatever came to mind, and then selected a few for Miu to create...



That might have been Kokichi's intention.

...His intention?

He could have prepared a few fake blueprints to mask the real ones. It's nearly impossible to check all of them...lowering the chance someone would find it.



I believe that is a possibility, but we don't have time to look—



Huh?

Maki took a seat in front of one of the boxes and began searching the blueprints.

M-Maki...

...



...No problem.





Hm? What is it, Maki?

Kaito...believed Kokichi. He believed that someone's watching this killing game.

...What do you think?



This killing game only makes sense if there's an audience. Why else would there be all of these rules designed to make it more interesting?

It's just like Junko Enoshima's killing game from the past.

Monokuma is particularly strict about upholding the rules and livening up the killing game...



Even if he did say it was to show someone, no one else is alive anywhere else, right? I wonder if...someone really did infiltrate this place.

That *is* a mystery... But all mysteries conceal some truth...



Whether that truth is hope or despair...is another matter entirely.







And this is the inner tube that was floating in the pool...



...He was gathering all the evidence from the past incidents? The murder weapons aren't here, but whyon earth was he gathering all this—

...No, it's pointless to try and understand what he was thinking.

Perhaps you're right...





They were given to all of us as motives during Kirumi's case... But the motive videos were switched up, and we each got someone else's video...

I don't believe this motive video is Kokichi's...

Then there's no point in looking, is there?



When I touched my finger to the pad, the video started playing.

MUSIC: Rise of the Ultimates

AUDIO: Kokichi's Motive Video



MONOKUMA: Who's the most important person in *your* life? And now, without further ado...

SHUICHI: What? Kokichi's...?



MONOKUMA: He caused mayhem the world over as the leader of the secret organization, D.I.C.E. And by "mayhem," I mean petty nonviolent crimes and harmless pranks... Anyway, Kokichi had ten loyal goons working for him. These goons were like friends and family... The most important people in his life...

I only count nine. Another NISA mixup?





MUSIC: Wonderful Story



Why did he have his own motive video? Did he exchange it with someone else?



Like Kirumi...

Oh, so Kirumi wasn't the only one who got their own motive video... Well, either way, it doesn't matter anymore.



It's inconsistent with the information we already know about Kokichi... But what can I deduce from that?



MUSIC: Living in a Lazy Parallel World



Kokichi gathering all those pieces of evidence was coincidence... Right?





B-But—

We rely on you the most, especially in this situation.



Maki...

But before you go, I found something strange that I want you to look at.

Something strange?



I think it is a real will, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's fake. He was a liar, after all. But if it is real, why did he leave it...?

He left us this information in case his plan failed...

...He did? I don't think he would do something like that.



When I opened the envelope...small pieces of paper fell out.



That's all...? It's probably another one of his horrible pranks.

...I'm not sure about that.

I should investigate just in case. It might be an important clue.



Yeah...

Alright, I should head to the boiler in the garden...

MUSIC: Hope Searching





What could it be? Perhaps it's just a prank...





This area used to be covered in grass. But it's been completely removed... It shouldn't be hard to find it now.

...Ah!

I let out a gasp when I saw it.



SHUICHI: Is this the second message?

What could this possibly mean? If it was written by Kokichi, like the other message... Are they meant to be read together?

SHUICHI: In that case...it seems as though the message is incomplete...







Wh-!? A-Again!?

VIDEO: Remember

MUSIC: Heartless Journey

AUDIO: The Fate of Humanity



This mysterious man, who the game has chosen not to name, is unvoiced. I guess the localizers couldn't get Bryce Pappenbrook anyone to voice an adult man.

??? Do you have your Ultimate memory back?

......Yes.

HEADMASTER: As the Headmaster of Hope's Peak Academy, I want to ask you...to please cooperate with the Gofer Project.

I......

HEADMASTER: I do feel bad about this... I know how much you all wanted to run, even if it meant no longer being Ultimates... Those of you who have to live on like this might be the real victims here... But the only people who can go through with this project are you 16 who haven't been infected... The fate of humanity...rests on your shoulders.

The fate...of humanity? ......What's the point?

HEADMASTER: Huh?

Even if this ridiculous mission is a success, and we all survive...what's the point? Why try so hard to save the seeds of humanity? ...I don't understand.

HEADMASTER: Perhaps...you'll be the ones who will create that point.

...Huh?

HEADMASTER: It's true that this situation you're all being forced into is harsh. So harsh...that you think it'd be better to just die.

...

HEADMASTER: But I still want you all to live. For those of us who want to live, but can't...you 16 who *can* live are...Hope itself. So please... I don't want to see you give up "hope". I want you to keep hope alive...

...





MUSIC: Wonderful Story



I...remembered something again...

We were at Hope's Peak... And we participated in the Gofer Project—

NO MUSIC

At that moment, I heard something crumbling above me...

VIDEO: Courtyard Annihilation





K-Keebo...

Yeah...I'm...okay...

I'm sorry... I experienced a sudden flashback and my hands slipped...

Ah, did you remember, too, Keebo?



...What is Monokuma thinking, having us remember that *now*...?

He's probably trying to make us feel despair again.



No, but...these memories...

...





Ah, it's going...fine... I really just started... There are a lot of areas in this academy we haven't investigated.

Areas that you can't investigate... Hmm...



That's right, I'm concerned about that, too... If only there were some way to get in—



Help me?

By destroying the door to his research lab so you can enter it.

I-If you could...that would really help...



But be careful. Monokuma will be after you for conducting an investigation without his permission. The Exisals may not kill you outright, but they will definitely try to stop you.

Right...



You're going...to help me, Keebo?

I am not your enemy. That is why I am helping you with your investigation.







Keebo rockets back up into the air.



I suppose he's still hellbent on destroying this academy.

Still... You've changed, Keebo... Is it because of this situation, or because he can't hear his inner voice...?

Right now...I should focus on Rantaro. He died before revealing his Ultimate talent, but he seemed to know more than we did...



Does the term Ultimate Hunt ring a bell for anyone?



But why? There might be a clue somewhere that will lead us to the mastermind...

I'm going to do everything I can... No giving up...

I won't give up on hope... I need to keep hope alive... And to do that...I need to get inside Rantaro's lab.



Hold [X] or [R1] near an Exisal to fill up energy.
When the energy is filled to the max, Keebo will come to save you!
Use it as you need it!

Next time: GUN.