Part 30: A Woman with Fiery Hair

_{content warning: gun violence, severe eye injury, stalking, harrassment, drugging, mention of assault (not portrayed or implied directly bc of my editing, but still, fucking christ )}

[BGM: The Darkness]


Bet you weren't expecting a time skip, huh? While we won't find out her current age until after this puzzle, I'll go ahead and give away that this is around 4 years later from her previous letter (so, Carlos would be about 14/15).

That said, we obviously need to make sure this assassination goes smoother, so Alicia doesn't die in a ditch somewhere. There's only one rule to keep in mind, and that's the pieces marked 1 and 2- which, well, makes sense, since they had to fire their gun for her scope to explode, right?



That said, there are a few more Bad endings first, so lets knock those out first.



The bullet was right in front of my right eye.
I had only one thought on my mind just as it was about to pierce my skull.

I'm sorry, Ray.



Well, doesn't really get much worse of a Bad ending than that. Let's try something else.



What if we make sure the target goes down before the bullet hits the scope?



The other sniper dropped down instantly when our eyes lined up, while I jerked myself to the side.

The bullet didn't go through my eye as my opponent had hoped, but it did give me a severe injury.
The right side of my face was burning, it felt like it was on fire.

I lowered my body and slid down the other side of the slope.
I got onto the motorcycle that I had prepared in advance.

However, on the way back my consciousness began drifting away; I lost control of the vehicle.
The bike tumbled head first into a ditch.
Blood was mixing with the muddy water of the ditch. It was black and red everywhere.

Another sniper. I had not anticipated that at all. I had only myself to blame...
Lihua had escaped...
Mission... failed...



Well, the answer would be 'a critical failure', it would seem.

There's one more Bad Ending, but it's kind of a combination of these three so there's no point in showing it- Alicia gets hit by the other sniper (though not through the eye) and ends up collapsing in a ditch like the others; the only difference is she actively sees Lihua dodge out of the way before she even pulls the trigger, assumedly alerted by the sniper.



Let's get to the lower rank endings now. The thing to note about the 1/2 pieces is that even though they have an order to go in, there's no rule about where they have to be in the order itself as long as one follows after the other- so let's have Alicia notice the sniper before anything happens.



I could see in the scope that my opponent had dodged my killing shot.
Nevertheless, I had earned enough time to disengage.
Meanwhile, while I was distracted, the red-haired woman had disappeared from my sight.

I lowered my body and slid down the other side of the slope.
I got onto the motorcycle that I had prepared in advance.

They would no doubt be enhancing their security after this.
I had failed my first mission. I didn't know how to report back to Ray.
The noise from the engine echoed through the valley, and it sounded like a growl from an upset monster that no one could see, making me feel even more unsettled.



Well... you're still alive, at least? That's an improvement!



We can kinda tell by now that 'the target was down' can mean either she's been successfully killed OR she's ducked down/out of sight for one reason or another, so maybe we should have that at the very end- and have Alicia pull the trigger beforehand. (Regallion's guess results in this ending.)



My bullet pierced and shattered my opponent's scope and skull.
Meanwhile, while I was distracted, the red-haired woman had disappeared from my sight.

I lowered my body and slid down the other side of the slope.
I got onto the motorcycle that I had prepared in advance.

They would no doubt be enhancing their security after this.
I had failed my first mission. I didn't know how to report back to Ray.
The noise from the engine echoed through the valley, and it sounded like a growl from an upset monster that no one could see, making me feel even more unsettled.



...except that results in her taking out the other sniper but letting Lihua escape. Oops! This also reveals that even though the 1/2 requirement seems restricted to the other sniper shooting Alicia's scope, that isn't actually the case- it just has to retain that order to cover the POSSIBILITY of the other person shooting at her scope



The S rank ending is almost the same solution, we just have to move the target being down to the front of the line, not the end, so that Alicia doesn't lose sight of her. (Viola the Mad's guess results in this ending.)

[BGM: Misterio]


I could see in the scope that my opponent had dodged my killing shot.
Nevertheless, I had earned enough time to disengage.

Mission accomplished.
I lowered my body and slid down the other side of the slope.
I got onto the motorcycle that I had prepared in advance.

I rode away faster than a breeze.

I reported the news to Ray in the luxury suite on the top floor of Melody Hall.
He was very happy.

“I have something for you.”

Ray picked up his coat from the floor and pulled a small box from its pocket. He then handed it to me with his left hand.

“It's a shame I can't help you put it on.”



Later, I put the glamorous jeweled necklace into my special “treasure box” collection.
Then, I took out a necklace with a cross on it out of the box. It was the necklace that I had worn ever since I was a kid.
I put it into an envelope. I wanted to mail it to my brother.

Over the last four years, I had been regularly sending money to the orphanage back home. Aunt Benita had also written back to me a couple times.
She told me that Carlos had been doing well, and that he had worked very hard in school.
Carlos must have been all grown up now. He must have become a fine young man.

I really wished that one day I could get a letter written by him.



…

[BGM: New Life]






NEW MESSAGE: The Dancer



NEW MESSAGE: Stalking Mission



…

[BGM: Air]


Life Is Like a Box of Chocolate Milk

As soon as I walked into school that morning, I knew that something was wrong.
Everyone I knew and didn't know was looking at me with a strange look, and they were all talking about something in a hushed voice.

“That was the girl...”
“Wasn't the teacher new here? He was pretty old wasn't he?”
“Honestly, I wouldn't say no to a teacher as handsome as him. But living together? Oh no, THAT's too far!”

Living together? What on earth were they talking about?

Jing was standing at the door of the classroom. She rushed towards me and dragged me into the restroom as soon as she saw me.
She pulled out her phone and showed it to me.



It was the top post on the school BBS forum.
[Senior student Li Wen from Class One living together with hot new art teacher!]

There were also a few photos of me and Mr. Wen, clearly taken from a distance in secret.
All of them were from the evening of the exhibition.
There were pictures of us at the entrance, in the cafe, even one with us going into our building.
Dear God... what the hell were all these?

“What did you do? Did you piss somebody off? Why would someone stalk you and take pictures of you, and then make them public? What is going on?”

I carefully read the post again.
It was posted by a newly registered account, with no other information at all.
The poster clearly wanted to remain anonymous.
I thought about it as hard as I could for a long time, yet I still had no clue.



I honestly couldn't think of anyone who would be so mad at me as to do this...
How would I ever explain this whole thing?!

I ran to the third floor of the office building, hoping to explain myself to Ms. Yang.
Just as I was about to step into the hallway two tall boys stopped me, smirking.

“Ms. Li, we hear that you have been living together with the new art teacher.”
“He isn't even that handsome, is he? What do you think about us, Ms. Li? Would you like to... haha... give us a shot?”

I was thinking about how to get rid of these losers when I saw Mr. Wen come out from one of the offices and pass nearby.
He had obviously noticed me, but he pretended that he hadn't.

All of my strength had suddenly left my body.
I was at a loss.
I didn't want to stay in school for one more moment.
I ran back to the classroom, grabbed my backpack, and ran away from the school in plain sight of everyone.



There was a 7-Eleven on my way home.
My stomach started rumbling when I arrived at the store entrance.

I walked in and bought a box of chocolate milk. I also ended up giving them the wrong bill.
Then I left the store.
I walked into the small alley that led to my building.
I felt a sudden spell of dizziness and I blacked out. I fell to the ground.
My wallet fell out.
The milk box was opened and glugging down the throat.

[BGM: Lethal Affair]


In a haze, I saw a dark and thick hand pick up my wallet, and throw the empty milk box into a nearby trash can.

He carried me on his shoulder and kept walking deeper into the alley.
My eyes began to slowly close shut; I felt as if I couldn't open them anymore.
“Oh no... I'm being taken away by a bad man... I'm screwed...”

When I opened my eyes again, I found myself locked inside a strange room without a window.



The door screeched and opened. A man wearing beach shorts and a tank top walked in.
I recognized him.
I finally realized that, for some people in this world, there was nothing beneath them: robbery, kidnapping, even...

I tried to back away from him, but my legs were tied to the table, and I couldn't move, not even one inch.

I hoped someone had noticed me when I was taken...
If only I had left some clues...
Somebody... help me...

Li Wen



Ok, so, this situation sucks. Specifically, the original version of this scene for some reason thought kidnapping wasn't enough and implied that Li Wen was assaulted But, well, this is my LP, and I refuse to portray this shit if I can avoid it, which in this case is do-able because it's not relevant in any way to the actual situation or outcome (...almost like it could've been cut entirely, what a concept). Therefore, I've removed the text in question because, like. Nobody wants to read this shit.

Furthermore, I'm actually going to straight up skip some of the endings for this letter, as well, since we don't need them and they imply similar events



We're skipping straight to the B ending- by having Li Wen fall before she reaches the alley, she isn't kidnapped. That's all it takes.



I fell down the stairs at the door of the 7-Eleven.
Unfortunately the cashier wasn't paying attention as there hadn't been too many customers.

In a haze, I saw a dark and thick hand pick up my wallet, and throw the empty milk box into a nearby trash can.

When I opened my eyes again I found myself lying in a hospital bed.
The doctor said I had fallen down the stairs at the door of the 7-Eleven and broken my right arm, and I needed to rest for a few days at home.

The smell of the detergent in the hospital made me feel sick; I didn't want to stay for one more second.
But somebody had taken my wallet and I couldn't pay my bill to leave.
Why did bad things keep happening to me?

After school, Jing showed up at the hospital.
She gave me a big hug and I broke down crying.



You'll note here that the piece with the alley disappeared completely, as something happened to prevent Li Wen from reaching that place altogether. Similarly, to get the A ending, you also have Li Wen not go to the alley- you just have to re-arrange things so her wallet is still with her when she wakes up in the hospital, and she pays and leaves. (Nothing else changes, so no reason to show it.)



Let's just get the S ending and get the hell out of here. The "best" outcome unfortunately requires her to still be kidnapped, but for events to happen that result in her being saved before she even wakes up (with nothing happening to her); I believe the logic here is that by having her would-be kidnapper caught, it means he won't be able to hurt her going forward, either (and before you ask, no, we do not know who the kidnapper is yet, the only thing we know is that she recognized him.)



In a haze, I saw a pair of dark and thick hands pick me up from the ground. He then carried me on his shoulder.
“Oh no... I'm being taken away by a bad man... I'm screwed...”

I tried my best to focus all of my remaining strength and squeezed the milk box in my hand. The drops of milk left a trail on the ground.
Soon, the box was emptied out and there was nothing left.

[BGM: Silence]
He took another turn into an even more obscure, tiny path deep inside the alley.
My eyes began to slowly close shut, and I felt as if I couldn't open them anymore.
Maybe it was my final wish, but I thought I saw somebody running towards us...

[BGM: Broken Dream 1]


When I opened my eyes again I found myself lying in my own bed, covered with a warm blanket.
My bag and wallet were on a chair next to the bed.
There was no one else in the room.

Someone who had been passing by must have saved me.
Although... how would a random hero know where I lived?



My phone buzzed twice.
Jing had texted me, more than once.

[Are you OK?]
[I just heard that the school BBS had been hacked! Everything was gone!]
[Feel better, OK? Everything will get better soon ^-^]

Jing, thank you...

Hackers...
A hero who saved me...
And... Mr. Wen...

So many things had happened today...

I pulled up the blanket to cover my face. I had been completely drained.
I didn't want to think about anything anymore.



[BGM: New Life]






NEW MESSAGE: Bachelors Pad! Keep Out!



NEW MESSAGE: Troubles in the Middle of the Summer



***

Profiles have updated.