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From what I've seen so far, it'll be better for me to enjoy the ride and not worry too much. The Russian Roulette was pretty clever, though it's amazing that it was even on the tablet's list of games. While the Liar's Dice game happens, I hope the rest of the cast remember to take the weapons away.
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Oct 19, 2022 19:25
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honestly I _am_ having fun watching Dog gently caress with everyone but that's partly because I don't have any actual attachments to any of the characters yet, protagonist included, so 'smart rear end in a top hat owns everyone' is perfectly good entertainment. Kill everyone! Then kill yourself! Whee!
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Oct 19, 2022 19:47
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(insert relevant Game Over soundclip from Metal Gear Solid here) Gosh darn it, Snake, if you'd just resisted the urge to gloat about how clever you were... but eh, that is pretty in-character for him. Something weird is definitely up with Monkey. Going to make a wild unsubstantiated guess that she's somehow in on the whole plot because she sees it as a way to study human behavior under extreme death-game duress.  At least Mouse knows that Dog is a cheater, so she can keep an eye out for it... but if she calls him out on it at all, everyone Dog has tamed will die, which is just one more way in which the Taming Whip's rules are pretty screwed up. Given that it kind of seems like Dog wants to get tamed at this point... it's possible that the reason he shot Snake (instead of just calling out the cheating to trigger the rule-breaker execution) was because Snake was dumb enough to make it clear to everyone in earshot that he was cheating, and he was worried that the taming would, like, become official once Snake finished his sentence, meaning that Snake would have tamed Dog (and, by proxy, everyone else Dog tamed) by the time the Emperor took thirty seconds to think about things and realized that Snake was a cheater to be executed, and then Snake's death would kill all the tamed players. (Though it's possible Dog doesn't want to get tamed, and he's only challenging people to tame him instead of attempting to tame them himself because he's confident he can win against any of the untamed players as long as he can pick the game.) Since the tamer gets control over the tamed players' tablets... if Mouse wins (which I'm assuming she will, since losing-and-immediately-dying would be a very unsatisfying end to the route), she'll presumably know for sure what Dog's role is, and hopefully we'll get some answers regarding what the heck has been going through Dog's mind.
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Oct 19, 2022 19:56
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Having been reading along, this segment has just been quite poor. Among other issues it has the bad problem of, in attempting to make the one character clever, at least partially making every other character stupid. As mentioned repeatedly, after the second time it happened everyone not tamed should have been planning to bloody tackle Dog instead of somehow letting him get out of the room yet again. To say nothing of no one ever actually communicating "hey, Dog is repeatedly cheating and you should probably watch out for that" or stuff like "yeah, I just found and pocketed some guns when no one was looking, but didn't get any ammo despite that being far easier to conceal." This scene specifically was bad because in no way do the taming rules, or the rules of this game, allow one to just kill the other participant before the game's been decided. As directly stated, it is purely up to JE to determine whether someone's been cheating or not, and to execute them if they were. Dog deciding Snake was cheating and shooting him before the game results had been finalized is in direct contravention to the rules as stated, because it's not him who gets to decide and enforce that. Even if JE agrees with it being cheating, Dog has still directly broken the rules here. Also, as yet another dumb issue that just arose, the pistols weren't unloaded. I don't know about you, but if I was one of the currently untamed players I'd be inching towards one of them while the game was ongoing to loving shoot him if he won yet again.
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Oct 19, 2022 20:18
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Mix. posted:
Even Jupiter cannot find a lost opportunity, eh Snake? Regarding the end of the game, we saw earlier that the Jade Emperor is more than capable of killing a challenger for losing a game, as was the case with Bunny. This means that the Jade Emperor must be watching the games, whether through surveillance or disguised as one of the twelve, as they're playing physical games and there just isn't a way to know the results otherwise (which would possible if they were, say, limited to games that could be played via their tablets). Which means there are a few possibilities to explain the outcome of the game: --Dog jumped the gun and killed Snake before he could be executed, but after the game was finished, so he wasn't executed for interference. This is at least what Dog is claiming. --The Jade Emperor could not interfere, because Bunny is the Jade Emperor and died. Probably unlikely, but the silence is worth noting, especially if we don't hear from him again this route. --The Jade Emperor could not interfere, because Snake is the Jade Emperor. Same as above, arguably even more unlikely because I don't think JE would be dumb enough to make Snake's mistake of bragging about his trick. --The Jade Emperor was unwilling to punish Dog for interfering, because they've already been tamed by Dog and it would mean their own death as well. At the very least I think we can rule out Dog as the Jade Emperor. Edit: To answer the "why would anyway keep letting Dog get away with it", killing him--whether by just shooting him outside of a game or by calling him on cheating--would result in the deaths of everyone he's tamed. People are gonna be reluctant to do that, even if logically those people are doomed anyway because Dog will use their abilities to ensure his own victory. ZCKaiser fucked around with this message at 20:54 on Oct 19, 2022 |
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Oct 19, 2022 20:50
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ZCKaiser posted:
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Oct 19, 2022 21:04
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Regallion posted:What kind of an idiot mastermind (excluding mister "My motives are complex") would actually wear a real killer collar? If he needed to fake his death some fake blood and acting could work. Hell, if you wanted realism you could use some sort of a paralyzing agent to ensure you appear properly dead even to cursory scrutiny. Some masterminds have goals they are willing to die to accomplish. And I don't think any amount of faking would be sufficient here, all it takes is one person doing more than a cursory examination and you're uncovered. Even if their own collar isn't armed, they'd want to do their best to avoid having to reveal that fact. The game was arguably over the moment Snake didn't die to his own gun; by the rules, either he won, or he was about to be executed for cheating. Dog made a decent enough case for the latter that if JE was at any risk they can let it slide without it seeming too suspicious.
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Oct 19, 2022 21:12
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Regallion posted:What kind of an idiot mastermind (excluding mister "My motives are complex") would actually wear a real killer collar? If he needed to fake his death some fake blood and acting could work. Hell, if you wanted realism you could use some sort of a paralyzing agent to ensure you appear properly dead even to cursory scrutiny. welcome to zero escape games tbh
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Oct 19, 2022 21:30
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ZCKaiser posted:
The counterpoint to this though is that panicky individuals don't necessarily thoroughly think through all the consequences of their actions, and in this case you've got a shrinking pool of people watching their deaths become more and more inevitable. And that's not even getting into the overarching issue that a whole bunch of these people theoretically have fairly large skeletons in their closet which means at least some might not have quite as many qualms of that sort when pressed anyways. Bunny didn't, and I highly doubt he's the only one. As for the overall point of "JE is really one of the players," it's possible, but so far the game's done a really poor job of making that reasonable unless the JE is an utter moron. Maybe they are a player and future routes will work with that better, but this one is really not making them look good. Because ultimately, every single player should remain the core person they are in every route (this is referring to someone earlier mentioning switching up the personalities or other details in-between routes), with it being the details of what happens in that route being what causes changes in actions. Leraika posted:welcome to zero escape games tbh I mean, the mastermind(s) in the first Zero Escape game had a pretty drat good reason why they were in their own game. And they're never killed by their own bracelet (admittedly for a very reasonable reason, if you're familiar with it). Lord Koth fucked around with this message at 21:52 on Oct 19, 2022 |
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Oct 19, 2022 21:49
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Lord Koth posted:unless the JE is an utter moron. I haven't seen anything to contradict that yet, though
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Oct 19, 2022 22:15
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Tbh, I thought it was an odd gap between the updates, but the Jade Emperor has not said anything after Ox's defeat. It could be that the authors lazily skipped the announcement of Snake challenging Dog. Or Rat completely spaced out, so we missed the announcement. Or the Jade Emperor has been silenced (killed by Rooster? is actually Ox? is lazy or busy?). Or Snake didn't really challenge Dog officially, so they got to play an arbitrary game without anyone in the cast realizing it. It's weird. EDIT: Mouse hears a message (maybe automated) when she challenges Dog. Never mind. NeoRonTheNeuron fucked around with this message at 05:35 on Oct 20, 2022 |
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Oct 20, 2022 05:31
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NeoRonTheNeuron posted:Snake didn't really challenge Dog officially, so they got to play an arbitrary game without anyone in the cast realizing it. I looked back after you mentioned this, and you're right, Snake never went into a room to use his tablet. The narrative seems to take great effort to explicitly draw attention to a person entering a room to use the tablet, and the taming announcements. The omission of both, therefore, has to be significant.
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Oct 20, 2022 10:38
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NeoRonTheNeuron posted:
Good catch; there's no announcement and Snake never says anything to suggest he's specifically using the whip; he just challenges Dog to a game, which along with revealing his trick really suggests he's the kind of arrogant person who's more concerned with appearing smart than acting smart. Dog probably realized this, which is why he chose a game that would give him a gun, and why he killed Snake so quickly--if he waited any longer it would be obvious that Snake wasn't being killed and folks would probably realize he never actually used the whip code. At this point I'm pretty sure Dog has given up on winning the game through any real strategy beyond "ensure everyone is under my control or dead".
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Oct 20, 2022 14:31
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ZCKaiser posted:Good catch; there's no announcement and Snake never says anything to suggest he's specifically using the whip; he just challenges Dog to a game, which along with revealing his trick really suggests he's the kind of arrogant person who's more concerned with appearing smart than acting smart. Dog probably realized this, which is why he chose a game that would give him a gun, and why he killed Snake so quickly--if he waited any longer it would be obvious that Snake wasn't being killed and folks would probably realize he never actually used the whip code. At this point I'm pretty sure Dog has given up on winning the game through any real strategy beyond "ensure everyone is under my control or dead". oh man if that's the case I hope Monkey picks up Snake's partially loaded gun and starts blasting wait, did Dog fiddle with his own gun between Snake rambling and Dog shooting him? he's pretty lucky that the next chamber was loaded if that's not the case
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Oct 20, 2022 15:11
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dervival posted:oh man if that's the case I hope Monkey picks up Snake's partially loaded gun and starts blasting  I'm a
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Oct 20, 2022 15:18
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GiantRockFromSpace posted:
You should cut out toxic people from your life. Allow me to give a demonstration.
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Oct 20, 2022 16:58
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 content warning: suicidal ideation, suicide [BGM: A Bite That Persists]   Liar's dice? Never heard of it? Oh, this one's a classic. Essentially, we both have some dice. We'll roll our die, then hide them so only we can see them. Then we take turns making offers. Any subsequent offer has to be bigger. So 'One 1' would be the smallest offer, then 'One 2', 'One 3', all the way up until 'One 6', then 'Two 1s', and so on. The offers are guesses as to how many of a certain type of roll there is cumulatively between both our groups of dice. The person who lost the last round has to make the first offer. Eventually, the offer will get so high that one of us can 'call' it. When an offer is called, all the dice will be revealed. If the person who made the offer was right, if there really was at least four 5s or whatever, then the person who 'called' loses. On the other hand, if there are less than four 5s, the person who made the offer loses. The loser gives up one of their dice, and the game continues, with whoever lost the die the first to say an offer. When you run out of dice, that's the game. Understand? … ...Yeah. Yeah, okay. I think I understand. Great! Then let's get started. As Dog walked over to grab some dice out of the vending machine, I steeled myself. This was it. This was, realistically, our last chance to stop him. Everyone was counting on me.  You've got this, Mouse! Kick his rear end! Be careful, Mouse. He's a difficult opponent. This won't be easy.Obviously this wouldn't be easy. As usual, Ox was no help. But I was thankful for the motivation the others gave me. It filled me with a sense of strength. Who cared if Dog had won all the other games? Everyone's luck runs out eventually. This was the end of the line for Dog.  I faced him down over the table, and he took four dice out of his pocket. So we each get four? Oh no, we each get two. Two? Yup. Keeps things nice and succinct.I was already getting a bad feeling, but I kept that to myself. Since you're the challenger, you can make the first offer. So now, let's roll!At Dog's command, we rolled our dice with one hand, and shielded them from view with our other.  I rolled... a 1 and a 3. Didn't seem ideal. But I had to make the first offer. It was possible for me to bluff right out of the gate, saying a number I didn't have, like a 6. Alternatively, I could just say one of the numbers I had. I claimed to have...  Believe it or not, you actually have to play the game here- and the creator's accounted for multiple outcomes based on your offer choices. ...Though, it's obviously pretty cut and dry what the actual “choice” is- whether Mouse wins or loses. We're going to win in this update- what happens when we lose will be shown later.  One 1.I'd start out small. Dog gave me a smirk, and instantly answered in kind. One 3.One 3? So, he also had a 3? Huh... what to do with this?  The correct play is not Two 3s, like you would imagine, but instead to think one step further and say Three 3s. We know from the past few updates that Dog absolutely will cheat no matter what to get ahead, and from the rules it can be inferred that the biggest advantage/roll you can get is doubles, as it essentially gives you an extra angle to bluff around. If we chose Two 1s, he would call our bluff on the spot (since he knows we didn't cheat, and the odds of us rolling snake eyes is pretty low), and if we chose Two 3s and he has a pair of 3s then he gets the upper hand and wins. Therefore: Three 3s. Three... 3s? Ah, drat. Uh, I've got a bad feeling about this, but I guess I'll try Four 3s.Four 3s? That was a definite win! Call! I showed my hand, my 1 and my 3, with glee. Dog, in turn, showed his two 3s with reluctance. Oh well. Win some, lose some.With that, I had won the first encounter. I was ahead. As the loser, Dog tossed away one of his dice. More than anything, he looked determined. He wasn't backing down. Neither was I. Time to roll again!And like that, we made our fateful rolls. I was super-duper focused on my dice, willing them to be good.  It was... a 2 and a 4. Didn't seem bad, not bad at all. Dog looked at his hand for a bit. Then, he spoke. One 2.One 2, huh? What was the response to that? What to say?  It might not be immediately obvious, but the correct play here is to say One 6- if we say Two 2s, we run into the same issue with Two 1s- if he doesn't have a 2, then he'll know that statistically it's unlikely we rolled two 2s ourselves (and we didn't cheat, since again, Mouse wouldn't know how to manipulate her dice without him seeing), and we lose that way. One 4, on the other hand, is playing it TOO safe- if he rolled higher than a 4, we're sunk and lose that way. Therefore, One 6 is the right choice- it's still a bluff, but it's one that is statistically much more likely (there's no reason to doubt it offhand, to call the bluff would functionally be up to chance), and it ALSO puts Dog in a terrible position with only one die- his bluff has great odds to fail as we have two dice to his one, and Mouse can call the moment he makes an offer that doesn't match either Mouse's rolls. ...That said, in the interest of showing everything, we're actually going to lose round two on purpose, because doing so results in a final round where we both have one die left each- and it's still possible to win that round.  One 4.No need to get fancy. I'd just say something higher than him. One 5.Wh-what? Was he lying earlier? Or was he bluffing now? I needed to think quick.  This is a fake answer- both choices result in a loss.  Maybe a quick bluff could make him play suboptimally. One 6. … Call.poo poo. I opened my hand revealing my 2 and my 4. He showed his hand, which didn't have a 6. Would you look at that? We're even again. But not for long. Yep. Looks like this is the final roll! Yep. Dog had regained some swagger. But his eyes were cold. Of course he was serious, this would all be decided with one roll. We made our final rolls. And I rolled... A 4. Not bad, not bad. Who knew what Dog had rolled, though. So then... I had to make an offer first. So what to say?  This last one's probably the hardest to figure out naturally, because it requires us to do some deduction completely separate from the roll itself; specifically, we have to answer the question 'what number is Dog most likely to cheat into?' It wasn't stated last round (and wouldn't be unless we called there), but the number he “rolled” in round two was a 5. 5 is the best number you can get when you have only one die left in this situation, and we can see why by examining the trap Dog set up last round:Start with a low, fake offer (One 2, in his case) to attempt to bait the opponent into making an offer of their own rather than calling it (because the odds are they have a die that's higher, so it's the safer/”right” choice to make rather than calling), followed up by a truthful offer that's a landmine in disguise. If they make a second offer (One 6, Two 1s, etc) you can call them immediately and, statistically, you're very likely to win that call. Alternatively, if they call rather than make an offer, you win because your offer was “correct”- you do, in fact, have One 5, and the rules only state you have to have “at least” the offer you made- so even if your opponent also has a 5, they lose, because your offer was only that there was at least a 5- and therefore, you still made a “correct” offer. Therefore, One 4 is again the incorrect choice, because while it's the true offer, it gives him an opening to set the trap again. One 6 is also a wrong choice, because it removes all other options from the vote and makes the call purely a 1 in 6 chance of being incorrect- and those are some great odds for him. One 5, on the other hand, fucks Dog over considerably if he cheated to get the ideal 5 here, because if he calls then Mouse wins, and if he offers higher then Mouse can easily call, either because he moves to the Two Xs offers or because, like I said, One 6 is a 1 in 6 chance of blowing up- giving US the great odds. What if he had a 5? It was unlikely, but then again, Dog had been rolling really good. Maybe he was cheating... And if that was the case... One 5. One 5, huh? Man, would you imagine my luck. I thought I was dead! But someone's smiling on me. Two 5s. Call. Th- What?I revealed my hand, showing a 4. His face scrunched up in frustration, as he moved his hand to show a 5. So then, you lose your last die! ...So I do.Yes! Hell yeah! That was a win, clean and simple. No tricks, no cheats. [BGM: Silence]  I had beaten Dog. Seeing that he had lost, he didn't get angry, or sad, or happy. His face just became... empty.  So. That's how it goes. Yeah, it is. I guess I should congratulate you or something. Well done. You've beaten me. Whoopee. You don't sound too happy about it. Of course I'm not. But you don't sound too upset, either. Yeah, well... If it was going to end up like this, I just wish one of you had won sooner. If I ask you why you did this, will I get a straight answer? Isn't it obvious? I wanted to survive. No, no I don't think you particularly did. … Yeah, I suppose you're right. It would've been so much easier, if a bit less fun, to just give up and willingly get executed. But I guess I had a bit of resolve after all. Resolve? Resolve to what, to kill people?[BGM: Somber Howl]  Resolve to help bury demons. Bury demons? *sigh* Why do you care? It's not like any of this matters. None of this matters? Two people are dead! That's life. You really don't care about life? I do, sometimes, incidentally, but it's not really worth it. You sound like an emo teen. A generous comparison, I'd say. But take it from someone double your age, this isn't 'just a phase'. It's an observation made from actual life experience. … As a cop, I ran into so, so, so many cases. So much violence, so much death. And the more cases you see, the more you realize how pointless they all are. Some kid who grew up in an unwinnable position. Some ridiculous accident that leads to the perfect murder opportunity. Some vengeful, bankrupt business owner screwed by a deal and a random fluctuation of the market. There's no rhyme or reason to any of it. People die, people kill, people live for reasons all entirely beyond their control. And it was the people who felt the need to be in the most control who got hosed over the hardest. And the police? The ones trying to control the chaos? Turns out the Chief of 'em was too busy blackmailing his subordinates to do his job properly. Dog, what are you talking about? The Chief of Police... Bowen... blackmailing his subordinates? No way to stop him. Part of the reason why I quit, opened the bar. And as a bartender, you hear a lot of stories from bitter drunkards. More tales of arbitrary suffering in a ridiculous world. Perhaps this is all a bit too nihilistic for you all. A bit too dramatic. But that's because you all haven't had your number called on Hell's Roulette. Step in the shoes of those who have experienced it enough times, and you'll start seeing what I'm talking about. Hence, I decided a long time ago clinging too much to anything's a wash. Best to focus on enjoying the present, all else be damned. Well, I guess I didn't really commit to that decision, seeing as how this all turned out. You still haven't explained yourself! I wonder how much Brian knows. Huh? I can't possibly think its a coincidence that this is the case that sparked a huge death game. No, that's way too random. I mean, what are the odds that the case that spawns a mass kidnapping just so happens to be the case that Bowen's been secretly investigating for years now? Bowen's been investigating it? Then, are you saying- No, no, don't get me wrong. Morris is clearly guilty, that's been proven seven ways to hell and back. We just don't know everything about it. I guess most would chalk up Bowen's secret obsession to the fact that it was his older brother that got murdered. I mean, he was in a real state on the 11th that it happened. But that's not it at all, trust me. Then what is it?Instead of answering, Dog leaned down and reached into his boot. Out of his left shoe, he took out an intricate golden knife. What are you doing? You know, this was a gift from Bowen. Bowen's not a good man, but we're friends nonetheless. Uh, neat. The knife is actually part of a pair. It has an identical twin, you could say. The knife is also quite intricately designed. If you press down here, and here...Dog pressed down on parts of the handle. The base of the knife popped down, revealing a small compartment. You get a neat little hidey-hole. I keep the knife on me at all times, so by extension, I keep whatever's stored in the hidey-hole on me at all times. For a while it was a roll of 100 dollar bills. But recently, I changed it to this.Dog reached in and pulled out a small metal capsule. What was it? He held it in one hand, and with his other, he started to screw it. And then? *BOOM!* [BGM: Silence]  All I could see was white. Was that a loving flashbang?! Why would he set that off? I heard movement in front of me, rapid movement. But my ears heard a high, whining noise which I knew in reality wasn't there. I was so disoriented, I couldn't react. Someone was close to me. It was probably Dog, rushing me. gently caress. Time felt like it was slowed. I couldn't do anything to react. *BANG*  It took a couple seconds longer for my eyes to react. When I came back to, I saw Dog lying to the side of where I stood. He was face down, holding his knife in his left hand, with a bullet hole through the back of his head. He was clearly sprinting towards me with the knife. Dragon, in front of me, held a pistol out with her hands shaking. She must've reacted fast enough to save me. But if Dog had died... The worried look on Dragon's face told me that this realization had also dawned on her. Dragon, I-Before I could hear anything else, I heard several ugly noises. Tiger, Horse, Dragon, and Ox all cried out in pain. Their knees buckled, they scratched at their throat, they shouted through their bleeding vocal chords.  All of their collars had been activated. All of them had been executed. It was a horrifying sight. With one bullet, five were dying. I just stood there, frozen. What could I do to save them? Nothing. All I was left with was not grief, nor horror, nor anger. But utter confusion. What was Dog after just then? Why would he try and kill me, knowing it would kill him, and then kill the other four? I couldn't think of a single good reason. I just stood there. It didn't take long for all the bodies to hit the floor. Bunny and Snake. Dog. Horse, Tiger, Dragon, Ox. 7 people lay dead around me. It was a graveyard.   Guys, am I a freaking god-tier investigator or what, because I think I found al-  … … … So I have some questions.… [BGM: That Pesky Rodent]  The survivors gathered in the cafeteria when all was said and done. When Dog fired the gun, Sheep, Monkey, and Pig hid in a classroom down the hall. Whether that was smart of them or cowardly is dealer's choice. Either way, it let them survive. While the rest of us were at each other's throats, Rooster obliviously continued his search of Minor Trinkets. He ended up finding most of the Minor Trinkets, as well as a number of Major Trinkets. Plus, with the constant pausing of the timer, it was still Round 4 after all that time. Both Traitors, Dog and Bunny, were dead, so there was nothing to worry about. It was entirely smooth sailing to a joint victory. In the end, five people would get to escape unharmed. That wasn't the worst outcome ever, all things considered.  At least I got out alive. But that scene... I could still see those four convulsing in absolute pain and terror. I'd never be able to forget that. And Dog, too. I'd never be able to forget him. Nor would I be able to understand him. He went on a taming spree, was seemingly unconcerned upon losing, dropped a bunch of hefty accusations, then mid-explanation tried to knife me. What was his goal? If Dragon hadn't shot him, I'd be... Well. I couldn't think about that. I didn't have to think about any of this. I was free. Screw Dog. Screw Bunny. Screw Dragon. Screw Ox. Screw the Jade Emperor, screw Brian. I wasn't going to think about any of them again after this. Why should I? I never had a good reason to be here in the first place. I'd just live my life like this never happened. That was feasible, right? [BGM: Silence]  In the end, the escapees were myself, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, and Pig.  Ending - Queen of Spades  If the Second Caw is found in the first three rounds, Dog will be assigned a role that forces him to act. If a man of his talents and temperament finds the Taming Whip, he will definitely make good use of it. Dog's the type to take as many people under control as possible. While far from the smartest, when it comes to pure gambling, experience will give him a pure edge. But that can only take him so far. Eventually he'll lose, and when he does, he's liable to burn the whole place down. The nature of gambling is uncertain. Well, less certain than most things in this world. This isn't a particularly attractive route to choose.Every ending has a capstone bit of text- as this is the proper route ending, we get this, but for the premature/”bad” endings, it usually gives you a hint for what went wrong or what you need to do to avoid that ending instead. The next update will be a “bonus” update covering the route as a whole, and any endings we missed.
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Oct 20, 2022 19:33
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huh, would've figured that taming a tamer would also transfer the ownership to the parent tamer. does that mean that that bond is permanent, or that tamed animals can be retamed by another match? I hope it's the latter - the former would make the usefulness of the whip skew heavily towards the first attempts after the its discovery, since once someone's been challenged they can't be challenged again. also wow dog you realize that killing the person that tamed you doesn't work in a real match? what a petty shithead.
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Oct 20, 2022 21:53
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I'm hoping there's an entire side route where you're off trinket hunting with rooster and come back to that scene. Also, the game master is a cheating rear end in a top hat because mouse beat dog so all of those people that died were tamed to mouse.
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Oct 20, 2022 22:31
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FoolyCharged posted:I'm hoping there's an entire side route where you're off trinket hunting with rooster and come back to that scene. Does it mention in the trinket that it transfers ownership? Otherwise they would belong to dog. Also confirmation that personalities will vary between routes depending on what the 12 do at the start so we'll have to guess every time. And I gotta say, it's interesting that the routes on this game seem to focus on one character... as the antagonist. A nice flip from most VNs where you generally ally the route's character.
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Oct 20, 2022 22:55
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Mix. posted:
Good gosh, that timing... That actually got me to laugh out loud. Also, it seems that there's no twist here regarding Dog's motives, and Dog's just kind of a nihilistic jerk. Sheesh. Kind of interesting how Dog left the police largely because his boss was controlling people via blackmail... and then, as soon as Dog got the opportunity, he immediately decided to try to control the other players. That bit at the end about Dog being assigned a role that requires him to act... I wonder if that means that his assigned personality was changed from whatever-it-was-originally to "Defeated," or if he was always Defeated, and in other routes Defeated just won't have the same victory conditions (i.e., the Defeated won't have to lose to win as long as the Jade Emperor doesn't officially announce that mechanic). If it's the latter, everyone might have the same assigned personalities from one route to another... but the significance of those personalities might change. (Presumably, though, just like with Victorious/Defeated, any new rules assigned for other personalities will be designed to sow discord, with maybe one specific set of circumstances that wouldn't trigger an in-game mechanics change that would prevent a 12-person victory.)
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Oct 21, 2022 00:10
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I just stumbled onto this LP and spent the last hour binging the thread. I love the setup here and I'm excited to see the rest of the game but maaan this route is kind of awful lol. I hope the rest of the routes are at least somewhat better.
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Oct 21, 2022 01:23
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Turns out Rooster is the best character so far.??? posted:If the Second Caw is found in the first three rounds, Dog will be assigned a role that forces him to act. If a man of his talents and temperament finds the Taming Whip, he will definitely make good use of it. It sounds like this Defeated/Victorious thing actually doesn't happen every time. That's even more unfair... JE said that he'd have a good reason to kill the jurors, but finding minor trinkets is not a good reason to ensure someone must die.
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Oct 21, 2022 02:10
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Ok that payoff was pretty great. Rooster walking in was a laugh. I appreciate that there's a suboptimal ending still winds up in escape. Both satisfying (comeuppance!), but also leaving you wanting more.
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Oct 21, 2022 02:41
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I'm already a lot more impressed by this than by Quantum Suicide, but that bar's so low it's in hell. tbh it just needs to have more people talking about hot women or pseudoscience and it'd be reasonably close to a zero escape.
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Oct 21, 2022 02:43
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NeoRonTheNeuron posted:It sounds like this Defeated/Victorious thing actually doesn't happen every time. That's even more unfair... JE said that he'd have a good reason to kill the jurors, but finding minor trinkets is not a good reason to ensure someone must die. Looking back at the Jade Emperor's opening speech... Mix. posted:
He won't kill them for no reason... but what the Jade Emperor/game organizer(s) might consider a valid reason to kill someone probably differs from what the players would consider reasonable. Looking back at the opening sequence, there's some sort of narrative going on regarding predetermination, with Red Question Marks stating that free will doesn't exist and people react mechanically to their environment. The end comment from Red Question Marks that "This isn't a particularly attractive route to choose," juxtaposed with the end of the opening dialogue... Mix. posted:
...it certainly sounds like Red Question Marks is in the process of looking at various possibilities and judging between them. Though how and why is a mystery. (Is this a computer simulation? Are there some sort of alternate-universe or time travel shenanigans going on? Is Red Question Marks just supernaturally good at predicting human behavior--or do they perhaps just consider themself to be so?) Also, I'm not sure why the game organizer would decide that "if X major trinket is found in Y timeframe" should be used as a trigger to make a major change to game mechanics and steer the game in a particular direction, but it's still early in the LP. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing the next route!
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Oct 21, 2022 03:09
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S-So... we're going to die?
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Ouch. That was pretty brutal for the first ending.  quote:
Seems that the choices you make at the start of the game determines who will be the traitors. Like what happens if you didn't find the Second Caw? Hmm. How interesting!
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Oct 21, 2022 04:54
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Okay, I think this game is good. Rooster's reaction was a perfect icebreaker. Dog's mistake was twofold: the first was assuming Mouse's "I try to tell the truth" meant she's a bad liar, and therefore she'd never lie; but the statement to me suggests someone who actually is a good liar and is trying not to abuse that fact. The second was choosing a game where the opponent can easily win if they know you're cheating (even if they can't catch you) as long as they know what you'll cheat to. In both cases Dog pretty clearly underestimated Mouse. Dog's worldview seems kind of relevant when we're clearly in a game where the roles change based on what route we're on; everyone is a roll of the dice away from ending up in an awful situation. Still, I wonder what, if anything, Dog needs to confess, seeing as he claimed he did not lie at the trial (and JE did not call him on this bluff, if it's something they could do)--failing to disclose the blackmail? Giving up? While it's entirely possible Dragon just reacted without thinking, I'd like to think that she realized that if Dog killed Mouse, they'd all die anyway--either Dog would die for interfering with the game, or he'd die because the person that tamed him died--and chose to save Mouse.
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Oct 21, 2022 14:36
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I just wish it hadn't emphasized looking at tiny details with the truthful/lying students puzzle. The ambiguity/unintentional errors throughout the various taming matches, along with Dog's blatant cheating (and no one calling him out on it between matches), really made it feel like the Jade Emperor was asleep at the wheel once the whip was snagged. Hopefully the other routes are a little better composed.
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Oct 21, 2022 17:25
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Rooster coming in is a fantastic bit of dark comedy, agreed.
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Oct 21, 2022 17:56
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 Alright, we've officially finished our first route! This update is going to be kind of a “bonus” update- specifically, one where I break down the specific mechanic of the route itself, as well as show off the other endings we missed for this route. The route we ended up on is the Dog Route, and the endings in question are the Queens cards. Believe it or not, roughly 50% of the votes I got had Q listed as one of the routes they wanted to start with, and when I played this VN for the first time myself, this was the first route I ended up on as well! I think it's actually a really great introduction to the general vibe of this VN, even if it does drag on a little bit- it gives most of the cast a little chance to shine and fleshes them out a bit more- kind of a “tasting” of each person's deal. I definitely think it gets weaker the further in the game you are, too, so great that we got it out of the way now. Dog's route is also really straightforward in how the endings are obtained (or avoided), too- because it's literally just picking between a wrong and a right choice for the first two and then whether you win or lose the game of Liar's Dice at the end. The creator of this VN, Themis, said that this route was one of their favorites because it let them write a gambling route, and I can tell that they weren't satisfied with just this, because the second game in this series has a much larger gambling theme going on with it That said, there were some other endings we missed, so let's not waste any time and get to it! The first ending we avoided was in the first Taming Whip game- we chose to watch the game, but what would happen if we go look for trinkets?[Go look for trinkets.]  Okay, well, have a good game you two. As for me, I'm going to spend this time searching for Minor Trinkets. Good idea there, Mouse. Make the most of the time you have! Do whatever you want. Right now, all that matters is this game. That's the spirit, Horse! Keep up the good fight.[BGM: Silence]  With that, I went down to the second floor and started looking through classrooms. It was slower to search for items by myself than it was with a group, but that wouldn't discourage me! This was just free time on the clock to find Trinkets. Why weren't more people taking advantage of this? A few minutes later, I heard another announcement on my tablet.  Attention! Dog is currently attempting to tame Tiger. During this challenge, the Round's timer has been paused. Know that any participant that in any way interferes with the challenge will instantly be executed.drat, Dog. Tiger too? I guess that answered who won the Cribbage game. Horse had a real good lead there. What happened? Dog must've got a lucky batch of cards.  Why was he also challenging Tiger though? Well, he probably had a good reason. I was determined to make good use of the time he was giving me. I kept searching through classrooms. And another announcement played. Attention! Dog is currently attempting to tame Dragon. During this challenge, the Round's timer has been paused. Know that any participant that in any way interferes with the challenge will instantly be executed.Dragon too? drat, Dog was really on a rampage. Surely he had to be worried about risking his life this many times in a row, isn't he? Why was he so desperate to put people under his control? Or perhaps the group had decided to throw games to him. When you look at it in a certain light, the whip is the greatest investigation tool there is. So long as we trust Dog. I'd learn the story later. For now, I needed to search for Trinkets. I looked around a bit longer for any hidden Trinkets.  However, as I was going through a classroom, a familiar face walked in. Horse! What are you doing here? And what's on your face?Instead of answering me, he just approached me. He had a grim look on his face. What are you-[BGM: Metal Horse]  Before I could even finish my question, he grabbed my throat with one hand. I tried to get him off me, but he was so many times stronger than me. I was utterly powerless. I kicked and kicked, I scratched and clawed. But eventually my oxygen ran out and I passed out. I wasn't choked to death then. However, I would be killed before I woke up. I died without having the slightest clue what had gone on. But I did die peacefully in my sleep, and I guess that's worth something. [BGM: Silence]  Ending - Queen of Clubs The Zodiac Race is a war of information. While resource gathering is important, isolating yourself from the group means you have no influence on events. In this case, while Mouse's idea wasn't bad, she chose to pursue it over monitoring a potentially dangerous situation. And the situation grew deathly dangerous.The second ending we missed is when Mouse realizes that someone needs to be proactive and challenge Dog to prevent his plan from taking place. To continue on the route, you have to give Bunny the code, but what happens if Mouse makes a break for it herself? [Make a run for it.] [BGM: Constriction]  I couldn't trust Bunny with that sort of power. I had already seen what it could do. No, I had to be the one to use it. While everyone was just standing around, still frozen, I needed to make the first move. I ran towards the nearest door. However, my path put me in close proximity to Horse. My movement broke the standstill. As I tried to run past him, he grabbed onto my arm like a vice. Oh no.  I immediately regretted my choices as he swung me around with surprising ease and slammed me into the nearby wall. My bones cracked, my head spun, my ears rang. Just like that, I was already disoriented. But I was aware enough to see Horse coming towards me, about to deal another kick to my head. It was a smart move- incapacitate some of the weaker variables before starting any hard fights. But over to the side, Tiger was rushing at Horse. Surely she'd slam into him before he could kick me, right? I held onto that hope right until the shoe reached my nose. Getting punted in the face by Horse is enough to knock most out. I was not an exception. This was a blessing in disguise, though. Since I was knocked out, I didn't have to be conscious when the knives entered my neck. [BGM: Silence]  Ending - Queen of Diamonds Dog will take control of powerful fighters using the Taming Whip. Mouse needs to be keenly aware of her limited physical capabilities. If she can't utilize the group's main advantage, numbers, she won't be able to prevent defeat. The key is not to engage physically, but to challenge Dog on his own terms.And then, lastly, the final ending is pretty obvious- lose the game of Liar's Dice. For this ending, I've gone back and we're going to properly play through again, showing off a possible outcome for losing. [Lose the game of Liar's Dice.] [BGM: A Bite That Persists]  One 6.I'd start out with a bluff. Dog hesitated. To call... to not call... Eh, what the hell. I'm calling your bluff. You don't have a 6! …He showed his dice, and he didn't have a 6. I showed my dice, and I didn't have a 6.  Looks like I got the first hit in. Yay, me. …Interestingly enough, it IS possible to get him to not call your bluff when you pick One 6 here... but it's tied to a previous choice we made. Specifically, you have to have given the wrong answer when investigating the true/false room with Bunny and Dog earlier, because then he'd underestimate you after remembering you made that mistake earlier. Because we never made a mistake, he has no reason to look down on Mouse here, and therefore he calls our bluff!As the loser, I had to discard one of my dice. Now I just had one left. Time to roll again!And like that, we made our fateful rolls. I was super-duper focused on my die, willing it to be good. Be a high number, be a high number.  It was... a 2. drat it! Dog, on the other hand, had two dice to work with. Against my measly one, that was a huge advantage. And to make it worse, once more, I had to make an offer first. So... what was my move? What to claim?  Unfortunately, we're kind of in a bind here- you have to win Round 1 to be able to win the game of Liar's Dice at all. But since we're trying to lose this, well, that works for us. I didn't have room to bluff. I had to be honest. One 2. One 2, huh? Well, good game, Mouse. ...Nah, it wasn't really. Two 4s.Two 4s?! That couldn't possibly be right. He couldn't roll doubles twice in a row. Well, I only had one option. C-Call, I'm calling that.I showed my hand, consisting of only one two. And his?  Two fours. poo poo! Hate to see it Mouse, but it looks like I did, in fact, have two fours. Which means I win. Which means, you need to get rid of that last die of yours. …And that was that. I had been thoroughly, utterly beaten. Nice try Mouse, really. You had the demeanor of a scary opponent. But it just wasn't enough.His cocky smirk. Hatred filled my lungs. I couldn't breathe, I was so angry. This degenerate, scummy, worthless piece of vermin would be the only one to survive this game? gently caress that! Even if he was unstoppable, I wasn't going to let him just walk all over the group. Monkey, Sheep, Pig, and Rooster were all still free. Everyone else was hoping one of them would be able to defeat Dog and save them. But if any of them had a fraction of the conviction I had, things could've been settled. If I was going to die, I was going to let four people live, not one.  Immediately, I rushed towards the couch where Dog had left the guns. poo poo!Dog struggled to get out of his seat and chase me, but I had the element of surprise. The problem? I didn't know which gun was the loaded one. gently caress it, I'd have to guess. I grabbed at one, pulled the hammer, turned around and fired wildly. Just then, I felt metal impact my heart. [BGM: Silence]  Dog, who had chased after me, stabbed me in the chest with a golden knife. But my shot rang true, and blood started gushing out the side of his neck. Serves him right. That was the last thought before I collapsed to the ground, bleeding out. I guess Dog bled out faster though, because before I was completely dead, I started to feel my neck contract. The blades in my collar were choking me. So this is it, then. Go on, Monkey, Sheep, Pig, Rooster. Make this worth it.  Ending - Queen of Hearts Ultimately, the best way to defeat Dog is to beat him in a gamble. The problem then comes in actually beating him, since he's quite good. Mouse has gotten to observe how he played a variety of different gambles at this point. Perhaps, by looking on the past, she can read how Dog will try to play her.And that's that- we've now seen all the endings you can get on Dog's route. I'll be doing a 'bonus' update like this for each route, showing off what endings were missed as well as talking about the way the route works itself, as well as any specific commentary the creator may have made about the route itself. Some routes have a more convoluted setup that doesn't lend itself to a bonus update like this, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Next update, we start on a different path towards a different route!
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Oct 21, 2022 18:05
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This was a good way to handle the multiple endings per route, I enjoyed it! Looking forward to seeing where this goes next.
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Oct 21, 2022 19:18
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Huh, so all the major forks are just fail states. I'm surprised we managed to miss them all.
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Oct 21, 2022 19:37
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It's not enough that Dog decides to gain control over the physically-strongest players to get them to serve as his I'm glad that Mouse at least manages to kill Dog in one of her bad endings. Now that I've seen the way the bad/good endings are formatted, I'm trying to figure out the logic of which suit matches which ending... Getting Queen of Spades required having sharp insight into Dog's gambits (so the pointy suit makes sense). Getting Queen of Hearts involved getting stabbed in the heart (or at least near it). Getting Queen of Diamonds involves Horse preventing Mouse from leaving (as he's been "paid off" in a sense, and... diamonds are valuable, and also they're red, so it's like... Horse got paid with metaphorical blood money or something). And getting Queen of Clubs... involves searching for things... like searching through a metaphorical field of clovers... which look like clubs... (If Horse had whacked her instead of strangling her, I could argue for getting clubbed over the head. Though maybe she got metaphorically clubbed over the head by a turn of events she didn't see coming...?) Okay, so maybe the suits are a little bit arbitrary.
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Oct 21, 2022 20:36
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I am glad the Queen of Hearts ending involves some comeuppance to Dog, too!
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Oct 21, 2022 20:49
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They already mentioned the cat as a potential 13th zodiac that doesn't usually count iirc, but with endings being cards, doesn't that outright confirm there are at least 13 "routes", and we have a cast of 12? There's definitely a Cat person lurking around isn't there?
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Oct 21, 2022 22:34
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Marluxia posted:They already mentioned the cat as a potential 13th zodiac that doesn't usually count iirc, but with endings being cards, doesn't that outright confirm there are at least 13 "routes", and we have a cast of 12? There's definitely a Cat person lurking around isn't there? If we assume that each route gets 4 endings. It wouldn't be hard for a few routes to have 5 fail states. And I forget if there was a joker option in the initial poll(which would make it not divide by 13 either)
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Oct 21, 2022 22:58
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Seems like the major paths are determined by the early decisions, so anything after that affect the endings. I think 52 endings implies the existence of the hidden cat/Jade Emperor route. In terms of characters, I only like Rooster. The rest have not impressed, and I dislike Horse the most for taking us out in 2 of the bad endings while under the terrible assumption that Dog is Victorious and would save him, instead of thinking it through. Dog put up a good fight in his route, so I expect that we'll see the best (or worst) of every juror in their route. In terms of piecing the metaplot together, we don't have much to go off yet. There's more to the Morris and Bowen story, and it's curious how red ??? has been chiming in during the opening (predeterminism) and advising in each of the endings.
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Oct 22, 2022 08:55
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 Now, it's time for us to go back and get going on a new route! The thread has voted, and thus we will start at that period of time before the Jade Emperor first appears- when we were given the opportunity to go and speak to some of our fellow abductees. We're going to go and pick one more of the options from that period- though I'll remind you, these choices don't dictate what route we end up on; they're mostly just for character development. The remaining ones we will visit in a similar fashion, in a later update.Therefore, this time we're going to be checking in with... [BGM: Dance of the Snakes]  What was fascinating Snake so much about the chessboard? I had to know, so I walked over to ask him about it. Hey, Snake.  Ah, Mouse. A pleasure for you to join me. I notice that you're not talking with any of the others. What would the point of that be? I don't know, to pass the time I guess? I am passing time just fine on my own. I suppose you are. So, what's the deal with this chessboard? I'm just admiring this game board. The game is only partways through, so it's in a place where I can make some presumptions about the moves leading up to this point. I take it you play? On occasion, yes. Not as much as I'd like to. Yourself? My father taught me the basics, but it's been a couple of years since I've actually played a game, and even then I only played casually. Respectable enough. Games are to be enjoyed, yes? While there is more art in high-level play, there is oft more joy in low-level play. Say, do you know what makes a good chess player? You mean, other than general chess skills? I believe 'general chess skills' are exactly what makes a good player, yes, but I'm talking about something a bit more concrete than that. And obviously, this is an opinion based question, there's no real answer here. In that case... My father always said the trick to chess was to think a few moves ahead, get inside your opponent's head. So I guess a good chess player is someone who can think more steps ahead than the opponent. Close, Mouse, to my answer. Quite close. Well, what's your answer? It's the one who can first determine who will win the game. Huh? Chess is a perfect information, zero-sum, sequential game. In turn, this means it is a 'solvable' game. While we're far, far from finding it, theoretically there are a perfect set of moves that will allow one side to win every time. Now, naturally we can't tell what that is because it's too complex. There are too many pieces. But with every piece that gets removed, finding the next 'perfect' set of moves becomes easier and easier. And at some point, one of the players will realize that they can win no matter what. This is when the cockier players will say 'Mate in 5' or something. But a truly magnificent player should be able to say 'Mate in 10', 'Mate in 15', 'Mate in 25.' God could say 'Mate in 150' or some similar number at the very start of the game. I believe the most important skill is the ability to 'solve' the game with plenty of pieces still on the board. Huh. Well, that's an interesting way of thinking about it. Does that thought have anything to do with this game? Perhaps not. But perhaps so. ...That doesn't clear much up. Judging by this board, I can actually tell a lot about the two who played this game. For one, White is the far more experienced of the two. But that experience seems to manifest more in rote memorization than any natural intellect. It appears that White began with the Sicilian defense. This seems to have worked fairly well, too. Looking at the pieces taken, it's clear that White is quite a bit in the lead. And yet, there's a curious detail to this board. Can you tell? It's that the King is knocked over, right? That's the universal symbol of 'surrender'. Precisely. White seems to have given up the fight, despite apparently having the lead. Looking at the board, I haven't been able to see any clear check mates from Black, none in the low move-count range at least. So I was thinking on it a bit, and I had a thought. What if, despite not being the best player, Black is incredible at analysis? Even though it was their pieces they were losing, once the game had proceeded to a certain point, Black was able to look at the board and 'solve it'. After discovering how to make their victory surefire, Black made a move or two to bring it closer to that undeniable mate. Then Black explained to White how, despite being behind them, there's no sequence of moves White could make that, if Black responded perfectly, would lead to their victory. Having been schooled, White knocked their piece over in despair. Whoa. That's... incredible. Yes, it is indeed hardly credible, which is why this scenario of mine is likely pure fiction. The cause for White's surrender could be any number of things. Perhaps they got bored. Perhaps they were playing speed chess, and White made the better moves but ran out of time. Perhaps there's some 'Mate in 4' that I don't yet see. But, you must admit, my hypothesis is far more interesting.Snake reached over, turned White's king back up, then moved White's remaining bishop three spaces. Pointless, probably. But might as well continue the fight in White's stead. A shame Black's not here to play against you. A shame. ...If that's true. If that's true? Look over at the other chess table. You'll notice that there are no pieces present. As it happens, they're all properly placed in the shelf that slides out of the board. So what? That's the expected result. It's Thanksgiving Break, after all, and I'd imagine the school would clean up before closing down. That would mean cleaning up the chess boards as well, and putting back these pieces. I guess that makes sense. So then, why is this game unmoved? I don't know, maybe they just decided not to clean it up. Perhaps, perhaps. Just something worthy of thought.With that, Snake went back to examining the board. His last words troubled me some, but I couldn't dwell on it. From here, we're going to skip forward past some of the parts we've already seen- specifically, the Jade Emperor's introduction and explanation of the rules. We will also skip past the part where the group splits up to examine their tablets, learn their Animal Abilities (and share them with the group, for the most part), and when Monkey comes forward with her hypothesis about the Jade Emperor's true identity- Brian Morris. After Round One ends with the whole group simply choosing to RUN one space, the group decides to split up and begin searching for Trinkets (specifically the Minor ones, as collecting all 12 will allow them as a group to escape with no one harmed). Mouse makes a decision on who she wants to explore with, and for the route that was voted, the group she chooses to explore with is Snake and Rooster- which we have already seen (where they investigate the darkroom), so we'll be skipping past that, too. After Round Two ends with the whole group, once again, simply choosing to RUN one space, they all begin splitting up into new groups to explore once more, which is where we will pick up from... [BGM: Stripes]  I'm just going to start talking now before we get swept up into casual conversation. Yes, things are good now, but that's all the more reason we should immediately continue our search. As we've recently learned, Brian isn't interested in us playing hide-and-seek as much as he is having us play his little games. Keep that in mind as you search. Obviously, try to be thorough, but keep in mind that if a room doesn't show any signs that there's something there, there probably isn't anything there. Now, how are we splitting up?The group started chatting and splitting up amongst themselves. I still wasn't feeling totally safe at this school, so I didn't want to be alone. I decided joining one of the pairs would be the best choice. This time, we're going to be going with...  I decided Tiger and Dragon seemed like the safest people to explore with. Alright, great to have you! You found a trinket earlier, right? You're sure to bring us luck, then! Hmph. We'll see if she can really pull her weight.The two certainly made for an intimidating pair. However, I was confident in my choice. Let's not waste any time, then. These Minor Trinkets aren't going to find themselves! Everyone, same deal as last time. Before the end of the round, remember to input a move and meet back up here. Yeah, yeah, don't need to tell us twice. Now come on girls, let's go.Dragon headed confidently towards the right-hand stairs. Tiger didn't seem to have any objections in blindly following her, and I wasn't going to raise any either.  I was curious where we were heading, however, since she carried herself with an amount of certainty that I wasn't expecting. Hey Dragon? What? You seem to have an idea in mind of where we're going to search first. Any reason for that? Heh. On my way to the cafeteria, I saw that there was a gymnasium over here. After hearing about how these item things are hid with a sense of deliberacy, I figured that a gym's the sort of place where you'd think to hide something. At any rate, it seems a bit more likely than some random classroom, don't ya think? Makes sense to me! Spot on thinking, Dragon. God, do you always have to be so drat cheerful? It really starts to get grating after a while. Oh, I don't know about that. Who wouldn't want compliments? I know I certainly would want them! That supposed to be a dig at my attitude, huh? Got something you want to say to me? No, no, not at all! I was ju- Oh my god. I do not care about this whatsoever. This is like the most meaningless argument I've heard today so far. Let's just get a move on.[BGM: Silence]  And with that, we continued on towards the gymnasium in silence. When we arrived, I immediately realized how big a space we'd be searching. [BGM: Befriend a Tiger]  Huh. Not a bad place. No kidding. This place seems really well-maintained! I imagine you two have good memories from P.E.?The moment I said that, the two of them noticeably winced.  Um, well... Not really, no. Yeah, me neither. Really? Why?  Well, I actually never had P.E. You didn't? What school did you go to? Homeschooled, actually. No kidding? How'd that happen? Eh, well that's kind of a long story without much of a payoff. Still, that's incredible. I thought you said you went to the Olympics? What does that have to do with anything? There are plenty of homeschooled Olympians! Anyways, it's kind of weird, but that's just the way it is. Consequently, I've never really had P.E. before. Huh. But what about sports? Like, basketball, you play much of that? I imagine you'd be good at it. Yeah, well, uh... I used to. Not anymore? Nah, no, too busy unfortunately. I realized it was way more important to be chasing my dreams than to spend time playing silly games. Tiger's seemed kinda reluctant whenever we push for more details, I say we leave well enough alone and stay silent for now. Anyways, what about you Dragon? Didn't look like you were too keen on P.E. either. Those memories weren't the best, I'll admit. That came at a particularly low point in my life. A low point in your life? I don't believe it. Believe it. There was a real stretch of time when I was pretty weak poo poo. My school had a pretty cohesive unit in charge, and somehow I wound up as their target.  The bullying was relentless, and P.E. was often a chance to take it out on me physically without repercussion. That's horrible! Eh. It's not like I'm special for that. Those fuckers pretty much picked on people across the board. But man... There was this one night when I was actually out on the town with them. It had taken a while, but I had actually befriended the clique leader's girlfriend. I had the shittiest timing in terms of when to hang out with them. It just had to be that night when it happened. When what happened? Apparently those assholes had ticked off the wrong guy at our school. His cousin was the leader of this gang. A ferocious fighter nicknamed 'The Night Devil'. Wore a mask and everything. A mask? I know, crazy right? Anyways, even though I was the only one to land a hit in I was somehow blamed for letting us get our asses kicked. Next week in P.E. we were practicing dodgeball. You can fill in the gaps. Oof. Dragon, I'm so sorry. Eh, don't be. Those were all necessary experiences. Taught me some hard lessons. A little after that, I was Queen of that fuckin' hellhole. Yeah! That's the spirit!Something told me that accomplishment might not be something to praise, but I kept that thought to myself. I can't say I had any experiences like yours, but I was no fan of P.E. either. I'm like, super weak. I suck at most things physical. No way! That's just because you haven't trained at all. Uh, yeah, pretty much. I've never really worked out. I'm not saying I can't get fit or anything. That's the spirit! Okay, let's cut it out. I don't know if anyone else noticed, but we just pissed away some time we could be using to search this place. Right! Let's get to work! We began to spread out and search for anything that looked like it could be a hint. It wasn't long before Tiger called out to us. Hey guys, over here! I found a lock on this supply closet! Uh, yeah. That's what supply closets have. No, I mean a lock that clearly doesn't belong on it. I mean, it kinda looks weird. Tiger's right. There's a weird message written on it. There is? How do you not know that, you found it! I kinda stopped looking when I saw the lock. Christ. Anyways, it says 'What's up, you filthy animals?' Rude. It's definitely from that prick Brian, alright. Which means there's definitely something of value behind that door! Heh, a mere door stands between us and an item, eh? I bet I could smash it down! What? No! Why not? You could injure yourself! Besides, do you really think you could break down a door, just like that, with no tools to help? A door like this? Totally! Stand back, I'll burst it open with one charge. Or, or, and hear me out here: maybe we just look for the key first. That doesn't sound as exciting of a solution. We'll go with Mouse's way for now. We don't find the key soon, we go with yours. Sound good, Tiger? Alright, fine. Good. The key is almost certainly here in the gymnasium as well. If we split up, we'll find it for sure.[BGM: Silence]  And split up we did. All three of us walked around the gym, looking for any sign of a key. Unfortunately, we struggled to find anything. This was pointless! Where on earth could Brian have hidden it? Was it not in the gym? I thought it must be, because that's what would make the most sense, but maybe not. I needed to focus. Everything I had seen from Brian so far suggested he loved to be clever. The lock must have some clue. What did it say? 'What's up filthy animals?' What's up? I looked around at the ceiling, trying to spot anything out of the ordinary. There! What?[BGM: Stripes]  There, on that grating, the key's taped up. Oh yeah, you're right! Nice catch, Mouse! Aw, it was nothing. The real question is how the hell we're supposed to get it. It's so drat high! I could try throwing something at it. What good would that do? It's taped there. Is there a ladder around? Do you see a ladder? Ooh! Ooh! What if we climbed on each other's shoulders? What? Do you really think that would work? It absolutely would work! Ugh. It'd be a pain in the rear end, but maybe. I call being second highest, though, I'm not being the support. Obviously. But even if we climb on each other's shoulders, would we be able to reach it? It's really high up. I found a stack of field hockey sticks. Mouse, if you climb on my back, who will be on Tiger's back, and try to hit at it with a field hockey stick, maybe you can knock it down. This sounds like a really dumb plan. You got a better one? … … ……  Watch it, would ya? Keep your foot out of my face, or so help me god I will end you. Look, it's difficult to climb up you two while keeping hold of a field hockey stick. Tiger, are you okay down there? Me? Oh, not a problem. Just focus on getting the key down. I'm trying to hit at it, but it's a little hard with all the swaying. Not me. Dammit, how much do you weigh Mouse? Dragon! Get it together! Wait, wait, I think I've got it!*clink* The key fell to the floor. Hell yeah! That's what I'm talking about! Awesome! Now, how do we get down...*CRASH!!!* … [BGM: Silence]  Well, that sucked. Yeah. At least we got the key out of it, though. Maybe we should have let Tiger just knock the door down. I told you. No use reflecting on the past. Time to open this bad boy up and see what's inside.I used the key to open the lock. As it fell to the floor, the lock actually fell apart. Weird. Was that part of its design? No matter. It was no longer holding the door closed. Now we could see what Brian was hiding from us. I opened the door... What the... This is...  A weapons cache?!?!
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Oct 24, 2022 17:49
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Tiger and Dragon play off each other really well.  And the chess stuff was pretty interesting too; can't wait to see it come back as relevant in true ZE style.
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Oct 24, 2022 18:02
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