Part 8: Case: Kidnapping

_{content warning: suicide, violence and bodily harm}

[BGM: Pensive Moments]
Alright, so again, the “goal” here is really obvious- prevent Carlos from losing his cell phone and enable Chang Gyeong-Min to successfully navigate the hostage situation he's inserted himself into. It's pretty easy to see how we could get Carlos out of a Bad End here, but managing to find the right sweet spot for both halves is the true challenge here. (Also, Junpei and Cloacamazing!'s guesses for Chang's side result in the original Bad Ending.)



Let's get started. First things first, maybe we should start by not having Chang approach the man- that was what agitated him and resulted in him and his wife falling off the roof. I also put 'walking over there' at the start of Carlos's side, so that he (hopefully) walks away from the drain. (Both Regallion and Leriaka's guesses for Chang's side results in this ending.)



I tried to talk some sense into him. I told him that one could always earn back the money.
I said he still had his wife's full support, so he shouldn't give up just yet.
I even tried asking him if he would like some dolsot-bibimbap for dinner.
But none of the techniques I had learned from the academy worked.

The stand-off kept going.
The wife was clearly physically exhausted,a nd she looked like she was mentally drained, too.
“Honey, if you really want to die so much, let me go with you then. I hope we can both be happy in our next lives.”

She grabbed the knife on her neck and cut her own throat open.
Blood was gushing out.
Then she collapsed onto the ground that had been colored red by her own blood.

The man's face was covered with blood.
He seemed to have lost the ability to talk. He slowly knelt down and took the knife out of the woman's hands.
It looked like he had completely lost his mind.



I couldn't let it happen a second time.
I sprinted ahead a few steps and kicked the knife out of his hand.

I pinned the man down on the ground. He looked at his wife's body, which was only half a meter away and slowly losing its warmth. Then he wept.
Neither of us had expected the situation to turn out like that.

I was suspended due to the serious consequences caused by my reckless, unauthorized actions.



[BGM: Friend of Mine]


It was total chaos in front of the burning building.
Firetrucks, firemen, fire hoses... The fire department had taken charge of the situation.

I walked up to a fireman nearby and I was about to ask if there was anything I could do to help.
But before I opened my mouth, another fireman quickly ran past me and knocked the phone out of my hand.
And another one behind him immediately stepped on the phone. The screen cracked into pieces.

”NO!”

The fireman next to me picked up the phone for me.
“A foreigner? You really shouldn't stay here. If we don't put out this fire today, we will be dying a thousand deaths. Take your phone and get out of here.”



That obviously didn't go how we wanted. Let's try something else...



Keeping the approach on Carlos's side while having the cellphone fall on Chang's side will hopefully get us a better result, let's try that.



It was total chaos in front of the burning building.
Firetrucks, firemen, fire hoses... The fire department had taken charge of the situation.

I walked up to a fireman nearby and asked if there was anything I could do to help.

“A foreigner?” he asked as he looked at me.
“You really shouldn't stay here. If we don't put out this fire today we will be dying a thousand deaths.”
He saw my confused look, and added,
“You are new here. This is the headquarters of the Black Dragon Gang, the most powerful gang in this area. Yes, gang, bad people! There are gangs in your country, right? So, stay away from here. Leave! Just go get some soda or something.”



Right, well, the outcome is the exact same for Chang, even though we got a C outcome for Carlos. But I guess we also now know what the building that's gone up in flames is, huh? Not sure what we can do with that information yet, but hey. Let's try another option.



Every time so far we've had the firetrucks arrive on Carlos's side. But taking into account this is the headquarters of a prominent gang, what would happen if they didn't show up just yet? (Regallion's guess for Carlos's side results in this ending.)



The firetrucks hadn't arrived yet.
It was total chaos in front of the burning building. More and more injured people were being carried out of the building.
A man in a black trench coat seemed to have summoned a lot of people to help me put out the fire.
I wasn't injured and I had all my limbs. I thought I should go and help, too.

I walked toward the man.
“Excuse me, I would like to...”

A huge man in a black suit appeared in front of me and blocked my sight.
The suit guy seemed to be twice my size. He looked down upon me and I could see a deep scar on his face.

“help...”

I swallowed anxiously and had no idea what to say next.
The suit guy held up his hand and pointed to somewhere behind me.

A truck full of fire extinguishers had just arrived.

The fire was finally put out by sunset.
I sat on the stairs at the bottom of the building, exhausted. I was covered with dust and ash, from head to toe.
All of the injured people had been sent to the hospital. The man leading the team had already left.

My stomach began rumbling.
Man, if only I could get a free meal for helping to put out a fire...



Okay, well, we got a B ending for Carlos, but again, nothing's changed for Chang. Something's not adding up here, and we should probably try and focus more on his side- try and figure something out that'll actually change things for him.



Maybe having Chang's phone ring is what's needed to shake things up? It's a good start, if nothing else. We'll also put the firetrucks back on Carlos's side for now- we already know what ending will happen with this order/combo, it's the same E ending we got at the start of the update.

[BGM: Pensive Moments]


Who the hell would be calling me at this Godforsaken moment?
I turned around and answered the phone quietly.
It was from the station.
They told me something important had happened to the unit, and I must get back as soon as possible and await further instructions.

I hung up the phone and turned around, only to realize that the couple had disappeared from the ledge.

It was a terrible scene at the bottom of the building.
Even though I was 10 floors above the ground, I felt like I could still smell the blood. It almost made me sick.
I stood there in shock. For the first time I finally recognized what it felt like to be a real policeman.

Oh God...
What the hell have I done?!
Could I be any more stupid?!



I can't seem to get it to work no matter how hard I try! Am I too stupid?

It's not your fault. Something seems to be tied up over there with Kang Baek-Ya. Once you solve the problem over there, it might impact this one too.

Huh? Is that a thing, too?!



Occasionally, we might not be able to solve the current case because of something that's happened somewhere else. Whenever this occurs, you will see orange text in the letters.

The appearance of orange text typically means that you will need to consult another letter to handle the current one.

So basically, if I see orange text in a letter I should go and check on some other letters first, right?

Correct. Sometimes, you might need to handle the other letters first. Other times it might just mean that you need to look for clues in the other letters. In either case, it really depends on the letters, and you'll have to use your own judgement.

This doesn't happen too often, but if you do encounter them make sure you take advantage of the hints in the letters to help you.

Got it. I'll go and read the letter from Kang Baek-Ya first.

Psych! This letter is straight up unsolvable right now!

This is where one of the greater puzzle elements of WILL start to really come into play- these letters aren't in a vacuum, and neither are the people asking us for help; therefore, in addition to the direct elements in the letter itself being something to manipulate, sometimes we will also have to change the outcome of a separate situation in order to add or change the context of the one we're on.

The way this manifests is that multiple outcomes are “locked” until we resolve whatever else is going on that prevents that outcome from being possible- because this combination results in a locked outcome, we got the orange text that's an indicator that the real outcome is out of reach for us. In this case, there's something going on with Chang's superior, Lieutenant Kang- presumably on the case he and the other Unit 4 member left to go handle previously. If we can figure that out, then that will have a ripple effect back here at this situation, allowing us to actually see the locked endings- and continue trying find the S ending for both him and Carlos!

With that in mind, let's go back to the Letter Menu...

[BGM: New Life]


You might have already noticed that every time you open a letter, you can see a number of small, colored squares here.

Oh yes. What are those?

The small squares can be one of three colors, yellow, pink, and red. Some of them are solid, while some of them are empty. These squares represent all of the possible endings for the events described in a specific letter.

The solid ones stand for the endings that you have discovered. While the empty ones are the endings that you have yet to reach. Of the solid squares, the yellow one marks the selected ending that you have chosen at the moment.

Which means the yellow square could only be solid, and never empty. The solid pink squares, on the other hand, represent the endings that you have discovered but are not selected at the moment. The pink empty squares are the endings you have not discovered yet.



All of these squares are strictly arranged in order – SABCDEF(X)..., which could be a helpful reference when you are making your decisions.

What about those gray squares?

Gray squares may be either solid or empty, but they are less common. Sometimes the development of certain events may be impacted by other people and things. For instance, this incident with Chang Gyeong-Min was affected by the incident on Kang Baek-Ya's side. That's why there is a gray square here.

A gray square means that under current conditions, the probability of this potential ending happening is zero- or in layman's terms, it cannot happen. Once we solve the related pending problem, the square will no longer be gray, meaning that it is now possible for us to reach this ending.

Meanwhile, a previous ending that we have reached will now turn gray instead.

…

I understand it is very confusing when I explain it to you like this. However, I believe once you are done with Chang Gyeong-Min's story you will figure out how it works.

Got it. I'll give it a shot.







NEW MESSAGE: Heavenly Father's Guidance



NEW MESSAGE: Bastards



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