Part 60: Update LIV - Invader

Update LIV - Invader









Music: School I
Sound: Phone ringing






There are only two real choices left.

Music: Duel of Fate


So our opponent for this week has to be...



...Rin???

I can't read the name. Did someone scribble over it? No... It's not scribbles. The information has been straight up destroyed. Who could have done such a thing? And why...? What does this mean...?



The culprit is our next opponent! They hid their name because they want to sneak attack us! That's what I'd say normally, but... Hrmmm, but a sneak attack is gonna be pretty hard with just the four of us left. This person sucks!

My opponent did this? I get it, they want to hide their own name as well as their Servant's. I see. That makes a lot of sense. Maybe Rani will have some ideas. I should do ask her later.

This plan barely makes any sense! If it was earlier in the war, maybe, but now there's only three possible choices, and one of them's a generic!



Music: School I




As your Servant says, it is likely that one of the remaining Masters removed them.

—It's a good deduction, but is it possible to do that?



...I cannot say for sure, but if your opponent noticed the bulletin board and then defaced it... ...the perpetrator may have left behind evidence, even witnesses. Perhaps you should investigate.

Rani's right. Without so much as a name, I can't collect information on the opposing Master. There's one thing I know for sure: my opponent is one of the handful of remaining Masters here. I'll start out by investigating the campus.



An investigation is in order.



Our mystery opponent's Matrix page also has them blanked out.



What was that?! Some miscreant deleted all of the names from the bulletin board? That's unforgivable! If you find the culprit, please let me know. I will lecture him for eternity.



This girl is actually an NPC, note the slightly different outfit color compared to everyone else.



Tamamo is currently sleeping, so she has nothing to say right now.



This Master is so thorough they're not even revealing their own name. Be careful. This one's strong.

~

Huh? You want to know if I'm your next enemy? Idiot. Would I be chit-chatting with you if that were the case? C'mon, think about it. Am I really the most suspicious person here?



I saw someone head down the stairs just a bit before you got to the bulletin board.

The girl upstairs needed a new outfit because this guy here is the final generic Master, so the devs needed a way to tell the two apart.



Any masters who have made it this far are without a doubt the creme de la creme. Keep working hard—no ifs, ands, or buts!



Now that you mention it, I do recall seeing someone heading toward the nurse's office.

~

Are you insinuating that I might be your next opponent...? Hahahaha... Don't be ridiculous. All I will say about that is this: If I were your next opponent, you'd already be dead.



Yes ma'am.

Great! Once again, someone has smuggled a forbidden magazine onto campus! Magazines are not permitted on Tsukumihara Academy grounds! The rules are very clear about that! Your job is to track down this scofflaw and confiscate said magazine! Get the magazine within three days or they might throw it away. And no, I don't want to read it...



As you might expect, the new NPC on 3F is related.

This is actually some data that was supposed to be deleted along with some unfortunate Master... It's yours, but for a price. Get me a student council badge from the Arena and I'll hand it over.

The entire purpose for her existance is to fill Taiga's sidequest quota.

I'm actually a bit annoyed by this, as Extra's been really good so far with keeping a consistent side character roster. Sure, there's been one-off people before for sidequests, but that was earlier in the war when having someone show up once and vanish could be easily justified by them, you know, dying. Here, they had to make a entirely new color scheme just to make sure you don't get confused.



The store has no new items this week, but does have the usual two new Mystic Codes. The Sword of Repentance has a 60 MP boost and shock(64);, a Cast that deals a bit of damage with a chance to stun. It isn't 100% like hack(16);, but it can work on any action.



At any rate, congratulations. Hopefully your good luck will continue into this round.



Yes, someone passed by the nurse's office. I couldn't make out any details from in here, but... I believe they were headed toward the Garden.

We can't get our weekly supplies from Sakura today thanks to this investigation.



There are two things of note out in the garden.



I wonder how he's holding up after the loss? He was staring at the fountain for a while...

This isn't a new NPC, surprisingly! If you were paying close attention, you might have noticed how I skipped past the NPC at the Library desk during my rounds. She's been moved out here for whatever reason.

...the flower girl is gone.



It's a... It's a lapel badge shaped like a lion...? Could my opponent, who removed the names from the bulletin board, have dropped this? It may be a clue to my opponent's identity. I better keep it.



...Jesus, this is such a painfully obvious ruse.



Like, Leo being our opponent and defacing the board runs completely counter to his entire character to date! His idea of a perfect rule is fucked, yes, but in his eyes he's been preordained to lead, so there's no reason for him to try any cloak and dagger schemes. Tricks are for people who can't win in a straight fight, so Leo has no reason to stoop to that level.

Music: School III


Anyways, more Aozaki lore.



As for that noxious little troll, one of her nicknames is Magic Gunner or some such nonsense. It sounds somewhat masculine, just like her! Why, you'd become the strongest of magi just by firing a laser beam from your forehead, right?

Shoot a laser from my forehead? Don't say such moronic things to this nice girl, you harpy. And anyway, my magic manifests as manipulation of energy and not by shooting laser beams. And as for the "Mystic Eyes of Death Perception" attitude? Well, that's not quite my style.

... Whoever gave her that nickname...was dead on. I quietly give thanks that these two aren't active participants in the Holy Grail War.

~

You're the only one who comes here anymore. It went from total chaos to desolate loneliness in a flash. Oh well, it'll probably become a zoo again with the next Grail War. Luckily, I won't be here.

Music: School I


Rani has nothing new to say after we get the lapel badge.

Sound: Phone ringing


So we're off to the Arena.

An electronic chiming sounds from my terminal.



I receive my first task. Along with learning about my enemy, I need to find the cipher keys. If this lapel badge's owner was able to hack the system, random searching will do me no good. It'd probably be in my best interest to focus on investigating the Arena today.

Music: Fourth Chimeric Lunar Sea - First Floor


The Orb Zone has gone back to a nice soothing green this week.





Holy shit that's a lot of loot.



There's also a red chest visible from the very start.

Music: Stops




We don't even know the name of the enemy this round, so let's retreat and go into surveillance mode.

Music: Breach




The usual healing fountain is off to the side.



We also have a new Viper-type enemy.



Random fights are pretty much non-threats now.



Just up ahead is another red chest.



...Taiga gave me three days for this?



A scene starts by this hallway.





I'm not allowed to turn back so I can, you know, just see who is tailing us.



Oh well, at least I find some loot.



And a new Fishbite-type off in the corner of that last image.



Past that is a fork in the road.



And a quick cutscene.



One path leads to an item and shows the floor's second healing fountain.



The detour wasn't worth it.



The other path leads to a locked gate.





Music: Stops


...Nothing happens? As I nervously grind my teeth, Caster's stance relaxes.

Music: Fourth Chimeric Lunar Sea - First Floor


Wow, what a killjoy.

Caster's right. That feeling of being chased is totally gone. But why...? Are they trying to deceive us by obfuscating their presence...?

There's a real simple reason, actually.

That Assassin from the fifth round was special. We'd be able to see traces of anyone inferior trying it. For the time being, it's safe to assume that our enemy has left.

Whoever the enemy is and whatever they wanted, they're gone now. They must have their reasons, not that I understand. While I mull over the mystery, Caster notices something over by the door.

Namely: blatant asset reuse.

Think about how this day has gone. The only things that would have to change in Rin's route is the conversation with our partner at the start and who shows up on 2F, everything else can be 100% identical.

Our enemy is Rin, it is very painfully obvious that our enemy is Rin, the only enemy that makes narrative sense is Rin, but this bullshit guessing game means that the writers only need to change like 20% of the week depending on route.



But did you notice, Master? There are traces of tampering on this door?

Right, the door without a switch. In other words, my opponent hacked into the Arena and modified it. Maybe the enemy returned because they had already blocked my access to the Trigger in advance?



Let's go back for today and think up a plan, my dear Master.



Well, I've cleared out as much of the floor as I can.



So I leave.



Music: School III


But, I'm a little bit impressed that they were able to produce a barrier in the Arena. You've got to investigate that barrier tomorrow, Master. Oh, and don't forget about the lapel badge!



Next time: Everyone gets hit with the Idiocy Beam.