Part 11: A Relay Race

_{content warning: death of elderly}

Alright, well, as you saw at the end of last update, we have a new puzzle mechanic introduced here! It's pretty straightforward, though, and usually only comes up when the pieces you can arrange have to follow a set logic based on the context of the letter(s). (Also, Cloacamazing!'s guess for Jimmy results in the default ending.)

That said, it's pretty obvious most of the variances are on Carlos' side here- there's really only so many ways a relay race can end, after all...

[BGM: Lethal Affair]


Let's just rip the bandage off and get the obvious worst outcomes for Carlos out of the way.



A dark, red hole appeared on the forehead of the owner.

Apparently he had only heard my threats, but not my whispers.
No matter how hard I tried to signal him, the old man could not get my hints.
Just when I was about to give up, the gun went off by accident.

There was blood... everywhere...

I ran out of the store, completely forgot about Mr. Kuan, and began running back the way we had come from.

Mr. Kuan never tried to catch me. A few people on the street gave me some strange looks.
They must have thought that I was a madman.
I wasn't mad.
I was guilty.
I was guilty of killing someone.
I had to confess. I must confess!

Before sunset I was sitting in the police station.
There were blisters on both of my feet.

Lord, I have to confess... please forgive me...

...I guess now's as good a time as any to mention that most of the endings for Carlos in this letter are Bad Ends. Let's try something else.



Like this- maybe if we delay the gun going off long enough to have an exchange of held items take place, the old man won't be shot this time?



A dark, red hole appeared on the forehead of the owner.

Everything had been going so well.

He had accepted my cellphone quietly, which I had hidden in my left palm when I slammed my hand down on the counter. He had also taken the few large bills out of the drawer and handed them to me.
I was about to leave.
But the gun went off by accident when I was putting it away.

There was blood... everywhere...

I left the store and handed the blood-stained plastic bag to Mr. Kuan.

“How dare you play a trick on me? You think the Black Dragon Gang is just a joke?”
He punched me in the head and knocked me to the ground. Then he gave me several heavy kicks to the stomach.
The passers-by around us all hurried away, afraid of being caught in the middle.

After Mr. Kuan had left, I walked back to the city with a limp.
Before I knew it I was sitting in the police station.

Lord, I have to confess... please forgive me...



Also just as bad. Honestly, probably worse, considering Carlos also got the shit beaten out of him. Let's try something else.



Let's just....get the gun firing out of the equation for Carlos completely for the time being. (Cloacamazing's guess for Carlos gets this ending.)



I hid the only valuable thing I owned in my left palm when I smashed my hand down on the counter---- my cellphone.
The owner looked outside the window and seemed to understand what was going on.
He accepted the cellphone quietly and took the few large bills out of the drawer, which was worth much more than my phone, and handed them to me.

Thank you so much, Mr. Owner!

I left the store and handed the plastic bag with money to Mr. Kuan.

“How dare you play a trick on me? You think the Black Dragon Gang is just a joke?”
He punched me in the head and knocked me to the ground. Then he gave me several heavy kicks to the stomach.
The passers-by around us all hurried away, afraid of being caught in the middle.



I mean, it's an improvement, since nobody died this time, but Kuan is obviously watching us, and Carlos is not remotely trained in subterfuge, so him trying to give the old man his phone as monetary compensation would've been spotted immediately. Still, we're at least making progress.



We have two more endings to get for both Carlos and Jimmy before we get the S endings- this is a pretty short puzzle- and luckily this combination nets us both of them in one go! (Also, Regallion's guess for Carlos results in this ending)

You may have picked up on the single issue that Jimmy has to contend with- if he's the last one in this relay race, he'll see Li Wen and get distracted and beef it. Therefore, we just have to adjust things so he isn't the last runner- the text saying he was last was after the adjusted period, after all!

[BGM: Sad Clown]


I finally handed the baton off to the next leg. If I had to take one more step I was going to throw up blood and die right there, right then. _(:3」 ∠)_
Our team was in second place. It was all up to Rocky now.

Rocky soon finished the first 200 meters. But something didn't seem right.
Had he eaten something bad today?

In the end, not only did Rocky fail to pass Class 2, he was eventually passed by Class 4, 10 meters away from the finish line.
Sigh... that sucked...

Although, being part of this actually felt pretty great.



[BGM: Lethal Affair]


A dark, red hole appeared on the forehead of the owner.

He had already taken a few large bills out of his drawer and handed them to me.
I was about to leave.
But the gun went off by accident when I was putting it away.

There was blood... everywhere...

I left the store and handed the blood-stained plastic bag to Mr. Kuan.
He checked the money inside.
Then he said I had passed the test.

I didn't speak at first. Then I grabbed the bag from Mr. Kuan's hand and began running back the way we had come from.

Mr. Kuan never tried to catch me. A few people on the street gave me some strange looks.
They must have thought that I was a madman.
I wasn't mad.
I was guilty.
I was guilty of killing someone.
I had to confess. I must confess!

Before sunset I was sitting in the police station.
There were blisters on both of my feet.

Lord, I have to confess... please forgive me...



With this, we have everything we need to get the right ending:



(Regallion's guess for Jimmy gets this ending, while Junpei got the full correct answer to get both Jimmy and Carlos's S endings!) Jimmy isn't the one running the last leg of the race by handing the baton off to Rocky, thus also preventing Carlos from trying to hand his cell phone to the old man. The gun fires on Jimmy's side, thus avoiding the old man being shot. And one final step...

[BGM: Life is Good]


I finally handed the baton off to the next leg. If I had to take one more step I was going to throw up blood and die right there, right then. _(:3」 ∠)_
Our team was in second place. It was all up to Rocky now.

Rocky soon finished the first 200 meters. But something didn't seem right.
Had he eaten something bad today?

“Let's go, Rocky! Go go go! I'll buy you ice cream!”
Now that I had particiapted, I wanted us to win too. I couldn't help but start cheering Rocky on.

Many of the people around me were cheering for him too.
I never knew that participating in this kind of event could actually feel pretty great. (￣.￣)+

Rocky suddenly sped up.
He finally ran past Class 2 with 10 meters left; he crossed the finish line first! Well done!



We were happily hugging and shoving each other near the finish line.

“My stomach hurt a little. Can we do barbeque instead of ice cream?”
“You're funny.”

I pushed Rocky aside and caught a glimpse of someone.

It was my crush! (⊙_⊙)
And she was looking at us! (⊙_⊙)
And she was smiling! (⊙_⊙)

Wow, I never knew I could get this kind of reward by participating in the meet!
I felt so happy! So happy!



[BGM: Misterio]


The owner was so frightened that he was shaking. He immediately took the few large bills out of a drawer and handed them to me.
Apparently he had only heard my threats, not my whispers.

Looking upon a 60-year-old man with an ailing wife at home, crying and begging me to spare his life, I could barely hold the tears in myself.

Mr. Kuan took the money from my hand with a satisfied look on his face.
I was then admitted into the Black Dragon Gang.

A few days later, in the evening,
I took a motorcycle from someone else in the group and came back to the store.
I stuffed all of the money I borrowed for the past few days under the rolling door of the store.

Sorry and thank you, Mr. Owner.



...it's Jimmy's encouragement (and promise of food) that pushes Rocky to keep pushing forward. And we also managed to both successfully prevent Carlos from accidentally becoming a murderer- while also ensuring the old man in the long run didn't actually lose any money from this exchange. It's not the best situation going in, but we did it.

…

[BGM: New Life]






NEW MESSAGE: A Piece of Rope



NEW MESSAGE: The Lives in Group Loyalty



…

[BGM: Broken Dream 1]


In the Alley

I'm Li Wen, a senior at Yingnan High School.
Today, the new art teacher assigned me as his assistant for the class, so I had to stay after class and clean up the art classroom.

I tried to sneak a few peeks at this strange teacher while I was reluctantly mopping the floor.
He was looking over the sketches that had been left in the room one by one, and then throwing them in the trash.
It was just the two of us in the room. Neither of us was talking.

“Hey W! How was your first day?”

It was my homeroom teacher, Ms. Yang, who burst into the room and broke the silence.
She said hello to me, and held on to Mr. Wen's arm like a little girl.



According to what I had heared from Jing, Mr. Wen and Ms. Yang went way back.
It was also Ms. Yang who had recommended Mr. Wen for the newly vacant teaching position.
The beautiful Ms. Yang was said to be notoriously hard-to-get. Many male teachers in the school had allegedly been turned down by her.
Was she... involved with Mr. Wen?

I grabbed the trash can and deliberately left the room.

When I got back there was no one there anymore.
Someone appeared to have already replaced the barrel for the water dispenser too.
It seemed like I could finally go home. Yay!

It was starting to get dark when I finally finished cleaning the classroom.
I walked out of the school gate and I noticed that Mr. Wen was walking not too far in front of me, going in the same direction.

That was strange. I thought he had left a while ago.
I didn't want to talk to him so I stayed behind at a distance, quietly watching his back.
Such a bad tempered and terribly dressed man... How exactly did he become a teacher again?

[BGM: Lethal Affair]


Before I knew it, Mr. Wen had walked into the dark alley that led to my place.
However, as soon as I stepped into the alley myself I suddenly felt that something was wrong, and I immediately backed out.

Mr. Wen had been stopped by two men, one in front of him and the other behind him.
The one facing my direction was wearing a tank top. He flashed a pocket knife in Mr. Wen's face.

I hid behind the corner and tried to peek around it.

Mr. Wen took out his wallet and handed it over without any resistance.
That was smart, I thought. Better safe than sorry.

The tank top guy fiddled with the wallet for a short while, then slammed it on the ground.
“20? Do you think I'm a fucking beggar?!”

He punched Mr. Wen in the face.
Mr. Wen stumbled back and bumped intot he guy behind him. He was still not resisting.

The tank top guy placed his knife on Mr. Wen's face.
“Be smart, give me all your money!”



Judging from the look on his face, maybe that 20 yuan really was all Mr. Wen had...
We were too far away from the main street and there was no one else around who could help.
I suddenly had an idea.

I took my racket out of my bag and grabbed a tennis ball.
This was the time to test the results of all my nightly practices.

Ball toss. Back swing.
Please hit the target, please -----

The ball was flying at a speed of 180km/h.
A gust of wind suddenly swept by.



The ball was blown off its path by the wind and it missed the target.
Instead it hit... the back of Mr. Wen's head.

Mr. Wen fell down to the ground with a thud like a brick.

The two men noticed me, and they seemed to be just as shocked as me.
They must have thought I wanted to kill the man lying on the ground for some reason...

The tank top guy took one step towards me.
I began to picture how they would force me into the corner, pull out a chainsaw from behind them...
and cut me to pieces...
Oh no... I couldn't stay there any longer...

“I'm sorry Mr. Wen!”

I screamed silently in my head and ran away with my hands covering my face, leaving Mr. Wen there by himself.



The next day Mr. Wen did not come to class.
The school put out an announcement saying that he had been badly injured during a robbery, and that he was in a coma at the hospital.
The announcement also reminded the students to be careful on their way back home.

It was all my fault...
I should not have left him alone...
There must be a better way...

Li Wen



[BGM: Sad Clown]


Tennis!

My name is Jimmy. I'm a transfer student.
I arrived in Beijing not too long ago and now I'm a senior at Yingnan High School.
The reason I chose this school was because... I had a serious crush on a girl here.

Just a few days ago I was “fortunate” enough to be her partner in a doubles tennis match, on my first day at the school.
At first I was so thankful that I thought the Goddess had finally smiled upon me.
Yet I was totally embarrassed because I had never even played tennis before. (。 _。)

After that happened I made up my mind. I was determined to improve my tennis skills, just in case I had another chance like this.

I adjusted the serve speed of the ball machine, walked back to the base line, raised my racket and got ready.



In order to get better I had bought a season membership at a club.
I even finished watching all 178 episodes of The Kid of Tennis anime.
I had complete faith in myself. I believed I could make it work this time. o (￣ヘ￣o#)

The next time I got to play with her I would show off my kick serve, my pick-up volleys, my Drive D, and even my Zero-style slices to her!
And she would look at me with admiration... ahahaha! ~(￣▽￣)~

The ball machine shot the ball out with a “pong”----
The ball was flying at 140km/h.

Aaaaahh!
What a sneaky machine! How dare it serve the ball when I wasn't paying attention!
Oh gosh, my wrist really hurts!

The doctor said that I had hurt my tendon; I needed to rest my right hand for at least a month.
He said I should not even use a mouse, not to mention playing tennis.



No!
Doctor, I want to play!

My dear Goddess of Fortune, if you can hear me, please heal my wrist!
If it's necessary I will even swear off video games for a month, as a sacrifice to you! _(• ω • 」 ∠)_
Please!

Jimmy

[BGM: Lethal Affair]


In this letter, there is the “conflict” special restriction, which we talked about before.

For instance, in these two letters the two pieces “140km/h” and “180km/h” are in conflict with each other. That means they cannot be moved to the same side. If you try to do so, they will automatically switch places with each other. Both pieces are labeled with a double-headed arrow, which stands for “conflict”.

This one is much easier to understand, isn't it? Haha, don't worry. You will get used to all of these red signs eventually.

Okay then. I'll try my best to remember them.



***

Profiles have updated.