Part 32: Troubles in the Middle of Summer

_{content warning: violence, suicide, drugging, implied abuse, police brutality}

[BGM: The Darkness]


Not a particularly complicated puzzle, but there are a good amount of endings to get through, so no point in wasting time. (Also, quick mention, Regallion's guess for Alicia resulted in the default Bad ending.)



Let's just get some of the Bad endings out of the way first.

[BGM: What You Saying]


It must be the ice cream.
I sat on the toilet and let everything run its course.
I could still hear the Lieutenant putting on his “master class in acting” even in the bathroom.

When I had finally got out of the bathroom, both the writer and Lieutenant Kang were already gone.

Not until later did I learn that while I was in the bathroom, the Lieutenant had seen the drug dealer show up at the home of our surveillance target.
He didn't want to interrupt me, so he had gone after the guy alone.
In the end, the drug dealer had eventually outran him after more than a dozen blocks.
If I had gone with him, we would have been able to catch the guy for sure!

It was all the ice cream's fault!



[BGM: The Darkness]


Had he noticed my fingernails?

He grabbed me, but four years of assassin training had made me calmer than a normal person. However, my lack of reaction ironically gave me away.
It didn't escape his eyes.

He swiftly twisted my left arm and broke it.

Four years ago, Ray had given me a second chance in life.
Every day of life I had since then had been a gift from him to me.

I didn't know if anything had happened between him and Criss, nor did I care.
I would never give anyone a chance to take advantage of Ray.

I would rather die than give him up.
I bit down, and the taste of bitter almonds exploded in my mouth...



Well, we know now that Alicia's goal seems to be another assassination, something to do with her fingernails? ...We didn't really learn anything for Chang's side, besides that we need him involved in order to catch this drug dealer, but that should probably go without saying. Let's try something else.



Unsurprisingly, a couple of Chang's other endings are functionally the same as this one (with him in the restroom while Kang ends up pursuing the target), so we'll be skipping those. Alicia, though, has a few more possible outcomes...



Perhaps my passion had infected the warden too.
He was beginning to get a different look in his eyes.
There was something twisted and dangerous about that look.

Feeling a little uneasy, I decided to make my move immediately so that I could complete the mission and protect myself before being exposed.

But he had grabbed my left hand so tightly that I couldn't get out of his grasp.
Should I forcibly pull my hand out and risk being exposed?
Or should I wait patiently for the next opportunity?

Then he kissed me.
It was already too late by the time I noticed a strange taste in my mouth.

The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was the sky.
And then the ocean, and the beach.
I was lying on an empty beach, with bruises all over my body.

If I were a regular girl who had not been through four years of assassin training, I would have died by now.
So that was where the other girls had gone. They had been abused and dumped in the ocean.

However, Warden Criss had already seen my face, which meant that I couldn't attempt this mission anymore.
But even if we sent someone else, it would be much riskier to follow the same strategy.
I screwed up, Ray...

...and now we have an answer for what happened to this guy's victims. At least this ending wasn't, uh, “detailed”, at least.



There's one more bad ending for Alicia worth noting, so let's get that done.

[BGM: The Darkness]


Warden Criss barged into the bathroom and cornered me.
He picked up the fake fingernails that I had just left on the sink.
He noticed the fatal smell.

Four years ago, Ray had given me a second chance in life.
Every day of life I had since then had been a gift from him to me.

I didn't know if anything had happened between him and Criss, nor did I care.
I would never give anyone a chance to take advantage of Ray.

I would rather die than give him up.
I bit down, and the taste of bitter almonds exploded in my mouth...

And now, one for Chang- this time, a C ending.



[BGM: What You Saying]


I peeked at Lieutenant Kang in the house.
He didn't look like he was going to help me out at all.
Sigh... for the sake of fresh vegetables and meat.

I took the bag from her hand and led the writer into the kitchen.
Although I wasn't a professional chef, I was perfectly capable of making a few dishes.
Back when I had been at the Shaolin Temple, helping out in the kitchen had always been a mandatory daily chore.

However, when I finished my stir-fried dishes and carried them out of the kitchen, Lieutenant Kang was already gone.

Not until later did I learn that while I was in the kitchen, the Lieutenant had seen the drug dealer show up at the home of our surveillance target.
He didn't want to interrupt me, so he had gone after the guy alone.
In the end, the drug dealer had eventually outran him after more than a dozen blocks.
If I had gone with him, we would have been able to catch the guy for sure!

It was all my fault. Why the hell was I cooking?!

There's one final one for Chang, so let's get that taken care of. (Regallion's guess for Chang results in this outcome.)





At the doorway, Lieutenant Kang stared at the writer with a lustful look.

“What a shame, we've just eaten.”
_{(Sure. Ice cream.)}

“Although, we usually go to bed very late.”
_{(Wait, what? Who between us always starts setting up his bed before 7PM?)}

“Also, we are not really brothers.”
_{(Finally some truth.)}

“I only eat snacks that he makes.”
_{(I have never made any snacks. They are so unhealthy.)}



Lieutenant Kang grabbed my hand tightly in his and held them up in front of the writer.
Her face suddenly turned to a bright red color for some reason.
Her expression reminded me of the ladies who had come to the temple to pray.
They would often make the same face when they saw my handsome brothers in the temple.

“In that case, I won't bother you two then.”
_{(Well, goodbye, but leave the food!)}

“Enjoy your snacks.”
_(Food!!)

In the end, the writer left with the groceries.
She had even given me a wink when she left.
My heart skipped a beat.
Did I just fall in love?

However, when I turned around and saw the bag of ice cream again, I had accepted my fate.
I went back to the window and realized something terrible.
Oh crap!

The person at the bottom of the building was the drug dealer that we had been waiting for! He was about to take off!
We rushed downstairs, but there was no sight of him anymore.

For the next few days we never saw him show up at his mistress's place.
Considering that he had left in such a hurry, he probably would not be coming back any time soon.

Mission failed...



Sadly we are still in the timeline where Chang has not realized he's not completely straight yet, leading to him Not Getting It... in any case, let's hit the S endings. (Cloacamazing's guess results in the S ending for both! )



We want to keep the warden from grabbing Alicia's hand, period, because we don't want him to discover her poisoned nails. However, we also don't want her to rush to the restroom bc of a bad gut feeling, because then she'll bail on the mission (or blow her cover). However, we need something to happen on Alicia's side to get her to not hesitate. Therefore...

[BGM: Misterio]


Perhaps my passion had infected the warden, too.
He was beginning to get a different look in his eyes.
There was something twisted and dangerous about that look.

Feeling a little uneasy, I decided to make my move immediately so that I could complete the mission and protect myself before being exposed.

Warden Criss suddenly began struggling to breathe. He fell to the ground while grabbing at his own neck with his hand.
His face turned to a dangerous purple color.
He would never see the tiny scratch on the back of his neck that was killing him.

I calmed myself, took off the poisonous fake fingernails and the excessive dress, and jumped out of the bathroom window.



[BGM: Evolving Mood]


“Go!”
I had barely pulled my pants up when Lieutenant Kang grabbed my arm, led me out from the bathroom and kept running outside.

We ran into the drug dealer who was just leaving from the building on the opposite side of the street.
He took a glance at Lieutenant Kang and immediately started running as soon as he recognized him.
The guy was pretty fast. We ran after him for a few blocks before we finally trapped him in a small alley from both ends.



The next day, in the interrogation room.
He was very tight-lipped, refusing to answer any of our questions.
After half an hour without any progress, Lieutenant Kang stood up and turned off the video camera.

He went back to his seat and leaned closer to the table.
He whispered to the guy, “How about we make a deal?”
A deal? What kind of trick was Lieutenant Kang trying to play now?
The guy was apparently as curious as me. He leaned forward, waiting to hear what the Lieutenant had to say.



Lieutenant Kang pulled out a switchblade.
He flicked it open and stabbed it into the back of the guy's left hand in one clean move.
The guy screamed out loud, but he didn't move, worried about hurting his hand even more.
I supposed that even he was unwilling to risk his own life.
He finally started talking while he shook in pain, “If, if I answer your questions, are you going to recommend a lighter sentence?”

Lieutenant Kang smiled and pulled the knife out.
He put it away without even wiping the blood off.



After he gave us his statement, the dealer took off his jacket and threw it aside while cursing nonstop.
That was when I saw a giant green python tattoo on his left arm.

The Lieutenant suddenly went quiet.
I called his name more than a few times before he finally came back to himself.
He stood up, patted me on the shoulder and, before he left the room, said to me,

“He's yours now. Make him pay.”



…

[BGM: New Life]






NEW MESSAGE: A Black Box



NEW MESSAGE: Disasters in Unit 4



…

[BGM: Sunny Day]


Bachelor's Pad! Keep Out!

In the 113th minute, Mario Gotze stopped the ball and hit a perfect shot: Goal!
Argentina had lost in the World Cup Final.
It was over... Game over...

Oh, come on! I had stayed up the whole night for this?!
I pounded the table as hard as I could. No one was going to complain anyway.
Everyone had already gone home. Otherwise I wouldn't be here watching the final all by myself.

Gaokao had been over a month ago. My best friends were all traveling around the country...
No, around the globe!
One would have to be completely nuts to still be living in the school dorm.

Yes, I was talking about myself. Well, Jimmy too.



Since my family was moving and my parents were both too busy with their jobs, they had told me to stay at school for a couple more days.
What was worse, I had to be in charge of moving myself, so I was unable to go out and have some fun.
Ah, the last summer of high school, wasted...

I didn't know what Jimmy had been up to recently.
See, it wasn't even 5am and he was already gone.

Well, we wouldn't be spending too many more days together anyways.
Jimmy had said his father's business seemed to be going well now, so they would be going back to Hong Kong soon.
I told him I'd like to do a formal send-off for him. By “formal”, I just meant getting some grilled chicken wings at the grill bar near school.
He said it wasn't necessary.

What a killjoy!



Yawn... I was too tired.
I decided to eat that apple before I went back to bed.

I rinsed the apple off and put it on the desk, but I accidentally knocked it onto the floor...
“You dare hide from me, apple?! I'm gonna wash you again, and you are still getting eaten!”

I looked down and noticed a basin under Jimmy's bed. It was giving off a faint smell.



I pulled it out from under the bed out of curiosity.
Oh boy.
Dear God!
I don't really believe in God, but I had to call out His name...

It was filled with dirty clothes and stinking socks, all submerged in water.
And the real problem? Who knew how long those things had been there?!
I didn't even dare to guess the age of the little mushrooms that were growing and thriving on the clothes...

A strong, sour smell filled the air.
Just like that, it was sitting in the middle of our room for over an hour.

Jimmy finally came back.
I had decided not to go to sleep just so I could confront him about this disgusting “thing”. I had been staring at it the entiret ime, and I felt like I might pass out at any moment.

“Jimmy, did you ever worry about us getting acner with a chemical weapon like this in our room?”
“Alright, alright. I'll clean it up now.”

And then he just dumped the entire basin, including the mushrooms, all into the common washing machine!

Dear Lord!
I had to call out His name once again...



Jimmy had always been a great friend- smart, reliable, and loyal. The only problem was that he never cared about hygiene.
I had always considered myself to be pretty messy. But I had never imagined I would meet someone even worse...

I was stunned...

Rocky



[BGM: Broken Dream 1]


Troubles in the Middle of the Summer

The weather had been getting warmer.
I sat on the roof of the classroom building, watching the boys down on the basketball court.
They were trying to compete to see who looked the coolest while making a shot.
So childish.

A few days ago, photos of me and Mr. Wen had been posted on the school BBS and it had gone viral in school.
I had to explain the whole thing to Ms. Yang and even the school supervisor.
People in the school eventually learned that we were just neighbors, and we had not been “living together”.
Still, there were some trashy people who insisted that it was not a coincidence that we were living so close.
There were even some more blatant people who would follow me after school.



However, those people were not going to get anything.
Because ever since that day I had not seen him myself.

He hadn't come to school.
He hadn't been home.
The lights had been off every night.
I didn't have the courage to go and knock on his door, even though it was right next to mine.

Maybe... he had moved away?
Since I had brought him too much trouble?



Just when my mind was racing all over the place I got a text message from Jing.
[Breaking news: Mr. Wen is back! The art class this afternoon will resume as normal!!]

I couldn't believe my eyes.
However, he must have gone missing all these days because of the photos and everything.
If I went to his class, wouldn't people in class gossip about us?
Then I would be causing him even more trouble...

But, if I didn't go, people would still be gossiping, right?
Ugh... what should I do?!



The dessert in the school cafeteria today was yogurt. I opened a cup, but then didn't really have much of an appetite for it.
So I just left it on the table.

It was so hot today.
I moved my hand and knocked it over.
The yogurt spilled all over the floor, making a big white mess...

I took out some napkins and wiped the floor absent-mindedly.
By the time I was done the art class was already over.



I lay on the roof, staring at the grey sky.
Another text from Jing.

[The classroom was full today! You should have been there to see how I shut those people up for bad mouthing you. Oh and at the end of the class, Mr. Wen tore up everybody's sketches... this man!]

I probably should have gone to the class.
What should I do about the class the day after tomorrow?

Li Wen



Hey, I just realized... Have Jimmy and Rocky both graduated from high school already? Li Wen's letter was about something that happened not long after the previous incident. She must still be in high school, right?

You're right. Even though their letters arrived together for us, the events they experienced might not have happened at the same time.

In fact they could have happened days apart, or months, years, even centuries apart...

For us, time is not an absolute concept. It's only relative. When we receive their letters is purely determined by the causal links among them.

For example, we have received a letter saying that Jimmy would be going back to Hong Kong after graduation.

That means this event was already bound to happen.

I see...



***

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