Part 3: The first assignment
Update 3 - The first assignment
BGM: Hospo Editors' Room
: Er... Ahem. Let's get out there right away and start gathering material! What are you supposed to do, you ask?: Well...Hospo covers the stories that the stuck-up newspaper club won't print, like school gossip and scandals... Well, Hospo is a real newspaper that specialises in that kind of stuff. So, that's what we're gonna be looking for.: For now, let's check out the Student Council meeting taking place at the Committee Center today!
And we're off on our first assignment! Haru and Hinako are apparently too busy to help, so it's just Daichi and Leroy this time.
First I stop by the store and use my meager spendings to get armored up. The store with the bread sign sells items while the one with the shirt sign sells armor. Both are run by a company called Mamejima Logistics. I won't be worrying too much about equipment because of a certain fact shared by a reader:
Simon The Digger posted:
Equipping weapons and armor in this game does absolutely nothing. Due to a screw-up in the code, whenever a battle starts your stats are reverted to their base no-equipment amount, and as soon as the battle ends your stats go back to what they should be. There are more details here, for those who are interested.
BGM: DungeonThis music doesn't bode well.
There's a few denizens roaming around the first floor.
The second floor is home to the Public Safety Committee's office.
All I did was crash through a roof and rack up potentially massive amounts of expenses in property damage and medical bills, how does that make me a bad guy?
Moving onto the third floor.
Well, I wouldn't exactly call myself an "ordinary" student...
The third floor is also host to a meeting room.
: I won't beat around the bushdio - I'm not happy about working with those Public Safety goons one bit.
: Come to think of it, isn't Shin running too? Have you seen him around Side Street?The last stop is the fourth floor, presumably where our target lies.
: Yes! I want to sit in this chair! So when the vote rolls around, please vote for me! Don't let that Shin guy win!
The Hourai TRPG was popular enough to have spin-off novels, and Mutsumi is one of the characters we'll encounter that comes from the novels. She showed up in the novel "Crime of Hourai High!" (Hourai Gakuen no Hanzai!).
But enough messing around, let's get down to business.
: Combine that with their struggle against the myriad dangers of the jungle alongside their friends, and...: They would certainly develop the strongest bodies and the purest minds, as well as experience true friendship.
: Got it?!
: ...Still, that was a weird meeting. Why did everyone just agree on some weird "joust" in the jungle for the festival?: And that voice... I have a feeling I've heard it somewhere before...
Oh no, here comes trouble.
Busted!
: They're just a bunch of thugs who bully the weak! Let's give 'em the slip while we still can! They won't let us off lightly if they catch us!
BGM: BattleAlright, battle time. Hourai has a basic turn-based system, with the one big difference being something that I can't even show off yet. Of note is that the run away option is instead "Apologise"; if successful, then the enemy will be swayed by your apology and let you off.
Like I said, basic stuff.
When the enemy's HP is getting low, the hand above their head will turn yellow and then red.
After winning the battle, Daichi and Leroy start the trek downstairs while battling off enemies. And oh, will you battle a lot. This game has a higher-than-average encounter rate for a 90s RPG.
The other two enemies in this building are the Safety Shrew...
And the Patrol Ronin.
Luckily, this is one of those RPGs where leveling up restores all HP and GP, so the encounter rate is balanced out a bit.
Guess we'll go out the back.
Leroy quickly became famous amongst the class despite only having just arrived. But there was one person who was displeased by this and was secretly jealous. He was Roku, who was injured and then had his scoop from his hands by none other than Leroy...
JUNGLE JOUST SLIPS UNDER RADAR
Hospo staff snuck into the Comittee Centre yesterday to bring you this report: The Student Council have approved the "Jungle Joust" as the main event for this year's athletics festival.
The Jungle Joust is based on a similar game common to Japan's playgrounds, where one player (the leader), carried by a team of others, must steal the hat of the leader of another team. However, this version has an important twist: it will take place in the jungle to the south.
The meeting was held by the unilateral decision of the Student Council, with the rest of the student body left in the dark. As a result, many students have protested the decision.
The Student Council responded as follows: "Wait, I thought this was just supposed to be a brainstorming session? Well, anyway, we've decided it now, so we can't change it!" This exclusive report comes from Hospo's new rising star, Leroy.