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Mix. posted:In this one math classroom in particular, I really tried dto check every single nook and cranny. The room seemed significant, so I thought I might find something here. However, a thorough search turned up nothing. I wasn't able to look in the room's closet, but that seemed to be locked by the school, not the Jade Emperor. Beyond that, I covered every inch of the room. Something to consider while voting, this is the route where Mouse specifically decides to check the ceiling in a random rear end room, where previously they didn't bother to comment on the ceilings.
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Dec 1, 2022 15:45
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Marluxia posted:Something to consider while voting, this is the route where Mouse specifically decides to check the ceiling in a random rear end room, where previously they didn't bother to comment on the ceilings.  check above
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Dec 1, 2022 17:20
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Oh, that's a pretty good point. They do need to prime the players in these games. In that case, they probably really do mean "above" as in ceiling, so I change my vote from somewhere else to above the body.
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Dec 2, 2022 03:07
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Thank you for also catching a typo I hadn't noticed 
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Dec 2, 2022 03:27
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Hah, yeah. I noticed that too. While thinking about it, something bugged me. Whoever mentioned the loud music is probably right on the money, covering Rooster, who most definitely did it, going to whatever he rigged in the ceiling. I went and checked the animal ordering, as well as the particular rule for this "ritual". It said Monkey and Sheep had to be swap with their partners. The animal order is Horse Sheep Monkey Rooster Which would make the new ordering Sheep Horse Rooster Monkey How odd that one of the persons who was only holding hand with one other person just happens to be holding hands with a confirmed traitor, and also opened the safe with the ritual and found the location for the ritual. We're right on Rooster's route, and his personality is desperate.
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Dec 2, 2022 03:38
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I'm a bit confused as to why Monkey would be worried about dying by execution, when she had previously indicated she was fine with dying by execution via not fulfilling her condition. Is there some aspect of this I am not remembering? Or is this a setup to that poison?
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Dec 2, 2022 08:28
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Tallgeese posted:I'm a bit confused as to why Monkey would be worried about dying by execution, when she had previously indicated she was fine with dying by execution via not fulfilling her condition. Even if she's content to die in order to allow 10 other people to survive, it still makes sense for her to want to squeeze in as much life as she can before she goes and be able to witness those 10 people making good on their escape before dying. And I'll jump on the bandwagon and vote for checking above the body.
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Dec 2, 2022 09:04
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 We're at another deduction, though this one only involves a single point- where to look. It's still somewhat of a binary- whether we look in the right place or not- and the thread ultimately voted to look above the body- that is, far up above, near the ceiling... [BGM: Silence]  If Horse didn't throw oil on Ox, nobody could've. Which means the oil didn't come from a person. It came from the ceiling. Was this conclusion absolutely absurd? Yes. Did I know how it tied in with anything else? No. But when you eliminate the impossible, all that's left, however improbable, is the truth. ...I guess. Honestly, the moment I got to work, I started to feel a little dumb, but there just wasn't time to hesitate. There were clues pointing to this conclusion. I just had to trust my instincts and follow this lead through. And so, I pulled over a desk, climbed on it, and looked up at the ceiling tiles. [BGM: A Bite That Persists]  Sure enough, there was one directly above where Ox had been sitting. And wouldn't you know it, looking closely, it looked like 3 of its 4 sides were already broken off. I reached up, and with a simple push, I was able to loosen the tile. It swung down, only holding on by a single side. And, to both my surprise and delight, on the other side of the tile, I saw oil stains. Oil had definitely been poured on top of this tile at some point. I poked my head around a bit more, and I thought I saw something sitting up in the area above the ceiling tiles. I reached around and pulled down what ended up being a speaker. A speaker? It looked like the type a high schooler would keep. Perhaps in their locker? Hooked up to it was some sort of MP3 player. I looked around the speaker some more, and noticed that there was a slot on it. A slot that could, perhaps, hold a portable remote. Okay. Just one more thing to confirm. I took out the MP3 player and looked at the songs. Sure enough, the one it was playing on loop matched the song that had previously been playing during the ritual. With this, all the mysteries had been solved. The way in which Ox met his end had been illuminated to me. And there was exactly one person who had the opportunity to set this all up. That's the who-dunnit and the how-dunnit. The why-dunnit I was still unsure of, but generally the culprit got to supply that themselves. For now, there was a bigger issue. [BGM: Fire Breath]  Thinking about it carefully, from this position, that person's next step should be...  Dog, quickly! Do you know where Dragon and Rooster went to look?! Dragon and Rooster, huh? I thought I saw that pair head towards a hallway on the second floor. Why, what's wrong? A lot. Find Tiger as soon as possible and get her to come to the second floor. I'll do what I can in the meantime. This is urgent, Dog. Do you understand me? Copying loud and clear. I'll put some pep into my step. Dog and I ran out the classroom and split up. I could only hope I would get there in time. I ran down the second floor, through the hallways, towards where I hoped they would be. I glanced in classroom after classroom, until I finally saw the scene I was looking for. Dragon, on the floor, with her fists clenched and looking pissed as hell. Standing above her was Rooster, holding a silenced pistol, aiming it at her. It seemed as though I had made it just in time. [BGM: Silence]  Without a second thought, I bolted into the classroom. Rooster, stop! Oh, Mouse! Good thing you're here, you can help me with this. Wait, what? Help with what? Containing you, of course. I was minding my own business, and all of a sudden you attacked me! Good thing I found this discarded gun in a hallway a little bit ago, or I'd really be screwed.[BGM: The Undying]   The hell?! That's not how it went at all! I was the one just minding my own business before he just up and attacked me for no good reason! Mouse, I'm the victim here, you gotta believe me! I know, Dragon. You do? I do. Hey, why's that? You really don't trust me, Mouse? I did, Rooster, until I put it all together. Put it together? Mouse, you're being awfully vague right now. Mind letting me in on whatever big revelation you've had? Okay, I will. Rooster, you're the one who killed Ox. You also killed Bunny and Horse. The hell?! Is this right?Honestly, I could hardly believe it either. Could Rooster, that moronic, pompous douchebag pull off something as ruthless and calculated as this? It completely went against my image of him. But this is where all the evidence led me to. From here, I could only let my logic guide me. Interesting hypoth, Mouse, loving your energy. You're really portraying the 'misguided vigilante' role well. Nice stance, nice diction- ever considered acting? You think I'm acting right now? Well, I think you're acting out of line. Eyo! Rooster. Look, look, okay, I get it. You're like a detective or whatever. That's your shtick. And that's a cool shtick! I love your shtick. But you gotta pick a time and place for it. There are cool times to use your shtick, and lame times to use it. Just as a handy guide. Cool times to use the detective shtick- accusing commoners, pointing at people, walking away from a bomb. Lame times to use the detective shtick- accusing me, being racist. To just give you a quick rundown. Rooster, I beg of you, please let me do my explanation. Oh, you were trying to start a monologue? Then by all means, go ahead, floor is yours. Thank you. As I was saying, Rooster, you're the one who rigged Ox's death trap. You broke the ceiling tile above where he was going to sit- you broke 3 sides of it, so that it would dangle down. Then, you placed some kid's speaker up in the ceiling, set the music on the MP3 player to be real creepy, and took the remote for it. You poured a decent amount of oil on the tile, and then you delicately set it up where it was sitting safely. Flash forward to the actual ritual. The person who turns on the music is you. Depending on where you put that remote, you could probably hit play without needing a free hand. Then, when Horse was up to do his thing, you cranked up the volume drastically. The sudden vibrations on the ceiling made the tile come loose, spilling the oil all over Ox. To get it so that the tile would come loose at that volume- you might've practiced it a few times before spilling the oil on the tile. Regardless, right after the oil had fallen onto Ox, you threw a statically charged something at Ox. I can't even begin to guess exactly what it was, but whatever it was, it worked. Ox was lit on fire, everyone panicked, and fled. And in that darkness and brightness and chaos, nobody even noticed when you knocked the tile back up to the ceiling as you fled. Judging by the positioning in the circle, you'd have been one of the people in the back of the room, so there weren't really eyes on you since everyone else had already fled. You know, I totally could've done all that. I mean, some might say something stupid like 'Hey Rooster, how'd you have time to set any of that up when Mouse was watching?' But they underestimate my speed! See, the key was when you wandered down that hallway in the generator roo- Again, I beg you to shut up. Rooster, the reason you were able to pull something this ridiculous off is because you set the stage for it perfectly. That ritual was perfect for you- turning off the lights, supplying the weapons, guaranteeing where everyone would be seated with precision accuracy. But on the other hand, there were a number of things weird about it. Why was this the only note written in blood? Would Brian really give us a task that could just let us skip the rest of his game? Why change up the order of where everyone sat?[BGM: Final Squeal]  It all makes sense if you assume that the whole thing was nothing more than your script. So now I'm giving Brian the orders? Not at all. You simply found that safe first. You saw its true contents, emptied them, then planned to use the safe to your own ends. You needed to make it believeable, which is why you put the needle in the safe- a needle you probably got from the nurse's office- and why you made it sound like such a cryptic ritual. And then, once everything was setup, you waited for a mark to 'discover' the ritual with you, and act as your alibi up until that point. Making use of our blind faith in whatever we find in a safe. Clever stuff, I've gotta say. However, even you couldn't disguise it perfectly. All the other notes were printed out. But you couldn't copy that. Which is why you went with the next best thing- a note written in blood. If dramatic enough, we could conceivably think the difference was no more than mere artistic license. But where'd you get the blood? I bet if we were to give you a body check, we'd find that you're hiding a wound. Tch. If you really wanted to feel me up, Mouse, all you had to do was ask politely. But wait, you said he also killed Bunny and Horse? What's the story on that? Yes, you wouldn't know about that yet, would you Dragon? Horse and Bunny have both been killed. Of course, you wouldn't get that right away by looking at the scene. Bunny went missing, while Horse was shot through the head. Probably with the pistol Rooster is currently holding. But you just hid Bunny's corpse, didn't you, Rooster? At first, I was curious why you went about things like that. However, thinking about it a little more, I realized it needed to be done. Horse was an incredibly dangerous opponent, even 'tied up' like he was. If it was just a matter of killing both, then it wouldn't have been a problem. However, if you shot both, the blood would've given it away, and you couldn't pin your crimes on an 'escapee'. You had to strangle the person you didn't shoot. And strangling Horse seems a very iffy proposal. Odds are he'd break the chair apart before you could choke him out. So when you walk in the room, you start by shooting Horse. Then you untie the rope from his body so you can use it to strangle Bunny. After that, you untie Bunny's corpse and drag it into some nearby hiding spot- perhaps in some close classroom. Now tell me, Dragon, did Rooster ever leave your sight during the search? Yeah, now that you mention it, he did. He went to use the restroom. I didn't think much of it at the time, so I just let him go. But thinking about it, you were using that time to kill those two, weren't you, you bastard?! Rooster's departure from Dragon would naturally have come out in the questioning after the bodies were discovered, which is why Rooster planned on cleaning up loose ends before that happened. You planned on killing Dragon here and coming up with some story about 'Bunny attacking Dragon before fleeing', weren't you? That's why he attacked you, Dragon. Heh heh, you really think that's the reason, Mouse? Right. And the reason I killed the others- what, is it because I have the desperate personality and want to survive by myself? Is that not the case?Truthfully, I had been thinking to myself were that the case, Rooster's actions would've been rather strange. Alright. Let's cut the crap, Mouse.In that moment, I realized I hadn't been giving Rooster enough credit. He really was a talented actor. [BGM: Mourning Crow]  You know, you're a really smart girl. I'm impressed, truly, that you figured so much out. But it looks like you didn't figure the 'why' out. How could you? Let me be clear. This- all of this- wasn't driven by Brian. If anything, I should be grateful to Brian. He gave me a chance for revenge. Revenge? Do you think I made Bunny and Horse the suspects haphazardly? Do you think I partnered with Dragon on a whim?  Everything I've done until now has been to get revenge on the four people who ruined my life! Rooster, what are you talking about? You know, I came from a rich family. Tch. I could've guessed that much. Came from a rich family. I shan't mince words. It was nice. A charmed existence. You know what was great about being wealthy? It wasn't living in a mansion, or having nice food- you tire of those things awful quickly. No, what's great is the freedom it provides. When I realized my calling in life, I knew what to do. My parents paid for acting classes, took me to see movies, set me up perfectly. I was in control of my life. I could do what I wanted without interruption. Until my damned conscience got in the way. See, my parents were always influential in politics. I never quite saw eye to eye with them on many things, but I learned to turn my head. But lately, they were making stranger and worse decisions than before, using their influence in ways I had larger disagreements with. And eventually, it became too much. There was a set of legislation that empowered the police in our city massively- it expanded the force they could use, gave them wider access to methods of surveillance, lowered restrictions needed for warrants. The laws were horrible. Flagrantly disrespecting human rights. Yeah, I remember those laws. They passed. You can thank the generous support from my parents for that. Well, that was the tipping point. I had had enough, me and my parents got in a huge, blowout fight over the matter. And before I knew it, I was kicked out, disinherited, and penniless. From heaven to hell, just like that. Wait, you got in an argument with your parents, and they cut you out of their life? I said that they were generous parents, not that they were caring. There's a difference. After living it good for so long, to fall so low. To go from living with complete freedom, to being at the mercy of society. You don't know how it feels to survive that whiplash. You're right, I don't. The gently caress's this got to do with anything? But gallantly, I survived. I kept pushing. In the face of it all, I pursued my dream of becoming a lead actor! And slowly but surely, that dream progressed. I'll admit it has been a thorny path so far, but it has honestly begun to pick up steam. I thought I could move past that chapter of my life. But I never forgot what brought me there. I never stopped wondering why my parents would do what they did. For all their flaws, they weren't bad people. So I kept pestering them about it. One drunken phone call from my mother later, I got the real story. I knew who to actually be mad at. See, my parents never actually wanted to support that insidious bill, they were just being blackmailed to do it! Turns out some people in higher places had gotten some material on them. Long story short, they were under the thumb of higher powers. Higher powers? This city's rotten, Mouse. It's empty at its core. I can't say I know everything, but there's something big at play. A huge blackmailing scheme with most of the city's power players wrapped up in it. The police were suspicious that I stormed into Amadeus Bowen's office on the day of his murder. They were always suspicious of my story. Do you want to know the real reason I was there? It's because I was looking for documents that would prove his connections to the blackmailing ring. You mean, Amadeus Bowen was involved in the ring? Involved? Pal, he was one of the kingpins! Though I guess you can only blackmail people for so long before it bites you in the rear end. Anyways, when I was at his office, I saw that he had contracted a 'construction worker' for some 'private business'.[BGM: Mousetrap]  By construction worker... do you mean Horse? Exactly. Turns out that big ol' thug was on Bowen's payroll. Probably did his dirty work, if I had to guess. I followed Morris' trial closely, and that thing also stunk to high heaven. Why wouldn't it? Clearly the others involved with the blackmailing ring wanted to hide certain elements of the murder. From what I could tell, the main prosecutor of the case and the chief officer handling the case both had to be in on it. Bunny and Ox. Exactly. Horse, Bunny, Ox. All three of them are agents of this city's darkest underside. They weren't just responsible for my rough years, my parents' grief, but countless other injustices and evils! So when presented with the perfect opportunity, how could I pass it up? Who other than I would take this opportunity to rid the world of these evil-doers?! So that was your plan- erase anyone connected with this blackmailing ring? Exactly. Initially, I wasn't planning on doing anything. Just focusing on my own survival was good enough. Don't get involved, don't do anything stupid. But the more I thought about it, I soon realized now was my only chance. The chaos and darkness of this race will erase what happens here. The truth will be written by the survivors. So then, where does Dragon fit in to all of this? Ha! Dragon? She's the biggest sinner of all! Oh yeah?! Oh yeah. See, I refer to my parents in the past-tense for a reason. They were recently killed in a hit-and-run. Perhaps it was an accident. More likely a murder. Maybe it has something to do with their recent defection from the blackmailing group? All I know is what I saw. And, as the person who was visiting them at the time of the accident, I saw the person who drove away from the crime scene. I saw Dragon. What the hell?! That wasn't me! Yes it was!  When I saw you up close, I recognized you right away! You were definitely the person I saw that day! And you must work for the blackmail ring, too! That's why you did what you did! You crazy son of a bitch! You're lying. I haven't killed anyone. You're lying about the whole thing! Listen, Mouse, this guy's just selling one big story to cover his rear end and gain sympathy from you! You really gonna stand here and listen to this? Mouse, I realize what this might look like to you. I know I've been deceiving you. I know I've killed 3 people already. But knowing what I've told you, can you really say I'm wrong? Look me in the eye and tell me that these people don't deserve to die, that we wouldn't be doing the world a service by getting rid of them. I'm not the villain here, Mouse. I'm the hero. You're the psychotic bastard is what you are! Mouse, loving deck this fool!I stood there, frozen. I took in everything I heard. Ultimately... 
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Dec 3, 2022 04:22
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His solution is a lie No one here deserves to die Some good new information here. It's nice to learn more about Rooster's connection to the whole Bowen/Morris affair, as well as seeing a murder motive that's not directly related to getting assigned one of the two "traitor" roles. (And we also have some new info on Dragon... as long as Rooster wasn't mistaken. Which is a possibility; Dragon did look genuinely shocked to be accused.)
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Dec 3, 2022 05:23
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Rooster's done really well! He did everything he needed to do to off targets and take initiative. With the Ox choice and "where to investigate" choices done, this is probably the last one. I don't think this can end very well, but I would rather that nobody dies.
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Dec 3, 2022 08:16
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No one here deserves to die. No one.
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Dec 3, 2022 08:59
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Rooster is running off half cocked with dragon and has been killing people en mass for a while. Mouse, loving deck this fool.NeoRonTheNeuron posted:Rooster's done really well! He did everything he needed to do to off targets and take initiative. PepperedMoth posted:His solution is a lie Apathy is death.
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Dec 3, 2022 09:12
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Oh hey, my original theory about the murder is starting to come together. Assuming Rooster is generally telling the truth, the conspiracy being blackmail-based would neatly solve the problem of why so many people came together to pin everything on Brian's father. He might even still be the murderer, having done it rather than accepting being blackmailed over something, but the other ringleaders worked to make sure the rest of them weren't exposed by making him look like a cold-blooded psycho. I'll be interested to see how this comes together once we start getting to the routes of people higher-up in the conspiracy, like Ox and Bunny. As to this route, I'm not feeling this as much as the other ones. For targeting four specific people, the ritual, getting two others blamed and isolated, all required things to fall together perfectly. It doesn't really feel like something that one person could set up so easily and breaks immersion a bit, which is a lot of theories assumed multiple people were in on it. Then we have things like Mouse being uncharacteristically aggro early on, and everyone being dumb by going along with a ritual that, even if it wasn't a trap, was still doomed as long as a traitor was at large. In terms of this decision No one here deserves to die. Mostly because Rooster has a gun, I'm not sure how we're supposed to do anything about that if we try to stop him.
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Dec 3, 2022 09:47
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PepperedMoth posted:His solution is a lie ...except for Bowen, and the monster he created? Also yeah, Rooster does very much have a gun, so I'm hoping Mouse can convince him no-one deserves to die.
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Dec 3, 2022 11:19
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Sybot posted:It doesn't really feel like something that one person could set up so easily It does seem like Pig is also in on it, since it was her clumsy accusation that got Bunny chained.
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Dec 3, 2022 14:37
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Regallion posted:It does seem like Pig is also in on it, since it was her clumsy accusation that got Bunny chained. Oh, right, the Desperate personality can escape with two others, right? Pig's pretty easy to manipulate, so he might've convinced her to help in return for being one of the final three. Maybe we can get in on that...
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Dec 3, 2022 14:46
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mycelia posted:Oh, right, the Desperate personality can escape with two others, right? Pig's pretty easy to manipulate, so he might've convinced her to help in return for being one of the final three. Maybe we can get in on that... I dunno, that sounds like going with Snake's serpentine from the last path, but with extra steps e: also I think Rooster is giving his folks way too much leeway with their actions - just because you're being blackmailed doesn't mean you have to disown your son! The blackmailer didn't really seem to care about him either, given his success after getting disowned anyways... dervival fucked around with this message at 17:05 on Dec 3, 2022 |
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Dec 3, 2022 17:03
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No one deserves to die Rooster knows Horse was involved (and all signs definitely point to Horse being willing to kill if necessary), but he's only making assumptions about everything else. He assumes Ox and Bunny are involved because of their role in the conviction, not any evidence he has. He claims he saw Dragon driving away, but Dragon seemed genuinely surprised by the accusation--and we saw in Dog's route that she wasn't exactly cooperative when asked to kill someone. Actually, Rooster must've been really happy on Dog's route; all his targets wound up dead by the end.
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Dec 5, 2022 16:50
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Dragon identical twin twist incoming 
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Dec 5, 2022 18:52
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 This is the final choice of the route, and the thread collectively voted that nobody deserves to die here. Let's see how that plays out... [BGM: Bullfighter]  Hey, here's a hot take: maybe we shouldn't be killing anyone right now! Hm? Huh? Are you seriously both looking at me confused? Look, Rooster, I know you saw Dragon kill your parents. Dragon, I know Rooster here has already killed 3 people. But let's calmly look at the situation right now. We are currently in a death game with our very lives at stake. And, since Rooster wasn't the traitor, there's still one unknown enemy out there. Frankly, we can settle everything else once we take off our collars. But for now, while all our asses are on the line, how about we refrain from passing judgment and just get our poo poo together? Can you both do that for me?Rooster and Dragon both went silent. They didn't quite know how to respond to that. I wasn't quite sure what came over me just there, but it felt good.  I mean, I'm not the one tryin' to kill anyone. If Rooster lowers his gun, we ain't gonna have any problems. … Very well. I have already gotten 3/4ths of my revenge. That will simply have to suffice. You're right, we now have to face the game together.With that, Rooster lowered his gun. Good. Now, very calmly, let's all just make our way to the cafeteria. We'll discuss what to do next there as a group.[BGM: Silence]  Slowly, Dragon made her way to her feet. We all began to make our way to the door. [BGM: Fire Breath]  Just as I turned around to start walking to the cafeteria, however, Dragon made her move. Apparently, she was just bluffing about the ceasefire. She grabbed a nearby pen and immediately tried to stab Rooster through the neck with it. This was an endeavor she succeeded in, but not without a cost. See, Rooster hadn't completely let go of the gun. Right as Dragon stabbed through him, he had the sense to pull the pistol out and shoot her through the chest. Dragon's body collapsed onto Rooster's, and the two began to bleed out together, one on top of each other. It was a truly grotesque sight. But it was almost poignant in a way. In the end, the two had taken each other out in a mutual act of hatred and petty revenge. Tragic. [BGM: Silence]  When the group caught up to me, they saw me staring at the bodies with a blank look on my face. I'm not sure how long I had stood there, looking at the scene. But it was long enough that the image, and the lesson, would forever be seared in my brain. … [BGM: Weak Pig]  Well, it seems it's finally over. All's well that ends well, right? How exactly is 'all well'? I guess that's not right. But you know. We're not dead. That's something. That's something alright.After the incident with Rooster, things had been going smoothly. We had gathered enough Minor Trinkets, and we were now using them to get to the end of the board incredibly quickly. If all went as planned, this would be the last round. You know what sucks about this the most? We can't even blame this one on Brian. If someone with one of the hosed up personalities did something, it would be lame, but at least we could throw blame elsewhere. But here, this was nothing more than human malice. Five people had to die because of something so petty! You call Rooster's story petty?I had already let the others in on what Rooster had said. I guess that's not the right word for it. If it's true, then that might be the most hosed up part of all of this. But still... for things to culminate in a mass murder? For things to have panned out like this. To drive Rooster into murdering those four...  I guess this is the price the sin of Sloth takes. Huh? Forget it. What's done is done. If Rooster has taught us anything, it's to let the past lie in the past. We can only walk forwards, after all.Was that the lesson to take from this? Should you just forgive and forget? Is revenge always a pointless task? Was Rooster nothing more than a senseless murderer? The questions weren't easy to answer. Luckily for me, I'd have plenty of time to answer them. [BGM: Silence]  In the end, everyone alive crossed the finish line together. Monkey was executed, as was one other person. The one with the desperate personality trait. Even in the end, they didn't admit it. They let their collar confess for them. But they also never took any action against the group. They just did their part, then died in the end. As to why they did it, it's not hard to guess. But why linger in the past? In the end, only 5 of us got out of the school alive. And from here, that survivor count could only go down, not up.  Ending – Jack of Spades  There's a path where Rooster's desire for revenge will awaken. Nothing good can come of it. While he's far cleverer than most would notice, his act could only take him so far. In all likelihood, Mouse would eventually catch him, resulting in inevitable mutual bloodshed. Ultimately, the simple answer is to just not let him indulge himself like that. Revenge is messy. The true path should be clean.
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Dec 5, 2022 22:17
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 Another route down, another bonus update. This route was, obviously, the Rooster Route, and the endings in question are the Jack cards. Themis stated that pretty much since they began development on this VN, they knew they had to make sure at least one route had the motivations be something unrelated to the role assignment, and the route that was chosen when first planning as the 'no matter what, this one will be like that' was Rooster's. (Is it the only one? ...Stay tuned to find out!  ) It's also a route where Rooster gets the spotlight he so desperately craves, and boy does he do a lot with it Once again, the route itself is pretty straightforward- ultimately its just 'make a bad decision or a good decision', its just that for two of the major choices you have multiple bad options to possibly hit- though you all did admirably in avoiding those. That said, let's not waste any time and get to them- starting with if we look in the wrong place after finding Bunny and Horse with Dog... [Look in the wrong place in the murder room.] There are two “wrong” places to look here, leading to this ending. The first is below the body... [BGM: A Bite That Persists]  The answer had to be somewhere in the crime scene. Beneath that... smoldering wreck of a body, lay vital clues. I knew it. And so, I got to work. It was not appealing work. Moving the corpse in this instance wasn't as simple as rolling it over. I had to actually move chunks out of the way. I felt like barfing. I would kill for a pair of gloves or something to help. But slowly and surely, I made my way through the wreck. At the bottom, there'd be something, anything, that would light up the way. ...and the other is somewhere else in the room.  The answer had to lie in this room. I just didn't know where. Frustrated, I started looking around. I wasn't looking somewhere in particular, just poking around at any place that could be considered suspicious. I was familiar with the layout of the room- I had already searched through it before. So I was sure I could find any secret that may lie dormant in a nook or cranny. If you pick either of these two, eventually...  Before long, Dog spoke up. Uh, Mouse? You keep doing what you're doing, but I'm gonna go inform the others about this. Yeah, yeah, you do that.I shooed him away, more focused on solving the case. I paid little mind when I heard the sound of footsteps leaving the room. ...And unfortunately, I paid little mind when I heard the sound of footsteps entering the room. Well, in a vacuum that wouldn't be suspicious. But only one set of them? In this context? I really should've seen it coming. Instead, my back was entirely turned to my assailant. And that was a mistake I simply couldn't get away with making. 10 seconds after the footsteps had entered the room, I was on the ground bleeding. 30 seconds after they had entered the room, I was dead. 250 seconds after they had entered, more footsteps entered the room to find my corpse.  Ending - Jack of Diamonds Mouse's fate in this timeline is surprisingly complex. The reason for her murder doesn't become clear unless you look at the entire board of dominoes. However, one way or another, she will definitely become the target if she wastes too much time at the crime scene. For perhaps obvious reasons, this path is not good for our long-term sustainability. And so, to keep searching for a better line of play.The other bad ending we avoided is if we pick the wrong option on 'who should die' in the standoff. [Rooster/Dragon should die.] Once again. We have a choice with two wrong options, and one correct one. This time, though, while the ending card is the same, the actual endings are completely different based on which person you pick. Therefore, we'll start with Rooster... [BGM: Bullfighter]  Rooster, I don't care what sob story you have. Maybe it's true, maybe it's not. But whatever the case, the facts don't change. You murdered 3 people in cold blood. You're trying to murder a fourth. This isn't some light offense, this is serial murder! If anyone here deserves to die, it's you.Rooster looked me right in the eye. After a brief staredown, he sighed. Oh, Mouse. How I hoped you would see things my way. It would've been better for both of us, don't you think? Without a second word, he raised his pistol towards me. Instantly, I realized my mistake. Wait, wait, hold up Rooster. We should talk about this. What I actually meant wa-BANG! And then, if we pick Dragon...  You're right, Rooster. To be honest, I can't make a strong judgment call without all the facts. But if you're right, it sounds like this blackmailing ring is a seriously villainous organization. If I were you... I'd probably shoot Dragon, too. Exactly! Now that's what I'm talking about, Mouse. See, I knew you were smart. Mouse... you bitch! Even you'll turn on me?! Did you kill Rooster's parents? No! …[BGM: Fire Breath]  Sorry, I just don't believe you. RAARGH!In an instant, Dragon was up and charging at us. It was truly a remarkable sight to see. Made less so by the fact she was obviously aiming to attack me. She grabbed a nearby pen and before Rooster could aim a shot, she slashed at his eyes. Then, as Rooster recoiled, she closed the distance between me and her. I tried to get out a single word of explanation. But before I could even do that, she had stabbed me right through the throat. Next thing I know, I'm lying on the floor, gurgling out my own blood. My consciousness was slipping fast, my pain was immeasurable, and my vision began to fade. But I had enough energy for one last thought. I always thought the phrase 'the pen is mightier than the sword' to be bullshit. Now, I believe in it. Cool final thought, brain. [BGM: Silence]  Ending - Jack of Hearts Mouse is in a room with two highly dangerous, easily angered people. Perhaps starting a conflict in this situation is not the wisest course of action.Next update, we start on a different path towards a different route!
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Dec 5, 2022 22:17
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Double update because wow, I forgot how short the ending of Rooster's route was. Whoops!
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Dec 5, 2022 22:18
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Rooster's route is one of my favorites, simply because I'm a sucker for "Character who looks dumb is actually quite smart and puts on an act to fool people", and Rooster is so good at being the dumb, self-absorbed comic relief that him turning villain legitimately comes as a shock.
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Dec 5, 2022 22:41
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Huh, a route where the personalities didn't matter at all! Both the desperate and content personality was perfectly happy to die for the group, eh? For someone who got the personality of desperate, that doesn't seem to fit their personality at all.
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Dec 5, 2022 22:43
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So by process of elimination, that means Tiger, Sheep, or Pig must be the Desperate personality (since we already know Dog's personality, and those don't seem to change). I'm curious about the "as to why they did it" line; Mouse clearly believes she knows why the Desperate personality never made a move, and we have decent reason to believe it's any of the remaining three possibilities. Still looking forward to a route where Mouse's personality gets called out for special rules.
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Dec 5, 2022 23:09
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Can anyone tell what this is, or would that be a spoiler?
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Dec 6, 2022 00:26
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ZCKaiser posted:So by process of elimination, that means Tiger, Sheep, or Pig must be the Desperate personality (since we already know Dog's personality, and those don't seem to change). I'm curious about the "as to why they did it" line; Mouse clearly believes she knows why the Desperate personality never made a move, and we have decent reason to believe it's any of the remaining three possibilities. Didn't we find out Tiger was "selfless" after Snake killed her and we looked at her tablet? We also found out it was oddly voice activated unlike Mouse and Bunny's tablets Marluxia fucked around with this message at 02:14 on Dec 6, 2022 |
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Dec 6, 2022 02:09
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Explosions posted:Can anyone tell what this is, or would that be a spoiler? quote:
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Dec 6, 2022 04:38
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More signs of corruption, implying that Brian is onto something about the trial being rigged and the Bowens being corrupt. We didn't learn very much new though. Personalities Mouse: Clever Bunny: Victorious Dog: Defeated Tiger: Selfless Snake: Ambitious Either Dragon or Sheep is Hateful, probably Dragon Monkey: Content Either Sheep or Pig is Desperate. The people who crossed the finish this time were Mouse, Dog, Monkey, Sheep, Pig, Tiger, and Snake. We know 5 of their personalities, so by process of elimination, it's either Sheep or Pig who is desperate.
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Dec 6, 2022 04:39
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NeoRonTheNeuron posted:More signs of corruption, implying that Brian is onto something about the trial being rigged and the Bowens being corrupt. We didn't learn very much new though.
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Dec 6, 2022 04:43
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NeoRonTheNeuron posted:Monkey: Content Update 28 posted:
So was the major factor in Rooster acting on his revenge the choice to trust Ox over Monkey? It'd make sense that if people teamed up he wouldn't be able to set up the safe before running into a mark to trick into "solving" it.
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Dec 6, 2022 05:29
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Oh right, I forgot that we learned Tiger's personality. And that Snake was still alive since he basically hasn't talked all route. Pig or Sheep then. Was Rooster holding either's hand? Mouse suggests he threw something with a static charge, and in order to do that he'd have had to let go of someone's hand...someone who did not speak up to let the group know that.
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Dec 7, 2022 16:34
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ZCKaiser posted:Oh right, I forgot that we learned Tiger's personality. And that Snake was still alive since he basically hasn't talked all route. I mentioned that earlier in the thread. The interesting thing is that if I'm reading the rules correct, it goes Sheep > Horse > Rooster > Monkey. So the accused, the real killer, a traitor, and a potential traitor in that line up. If Rooster threw something, he could have used the free hand from Horse standing up.
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Dec 7, 2022 16:54
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I think we are meant to assume what Rooster threw could've been a lighter of his own, because of the one illustration of the figure tossing a lighter in the air, but it's never addressed so I won't say that it's confirmed or anything. 
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Dec 7, 2022 19:05
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okay, no update til next week, there's a really nasty ear/sinus bug going around the office at my new job and i managed to catch it, sorry about that. 
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Dec 9, 2022 02:06
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Mix. posted:there's a really nasty ear/sinus bug going around the office at my new job and i managed to catch it, sorry about that. Ah poo poo, hope you feel better soon! ENT illnesses suck
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Dec 9, 2022 04:13
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Mix. posted:okay, no update til next week, there's a really nasty ear/sinus bug going around the office at my new job and i managed to catch it, sorry about that. So we know the bear has the DISEASED personality. What does that tell us? In all seriousness, I hope you feel better soon. Take the time you need to get well.
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Dec 9, 2022 09:08
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 It's time to get started on another route! The vote which resulted in Rooster's route was actually tied with the one we're about to start on, so I decided we'd just do them back to back to respect the tie (and just had an unrelated party pick between the two). The first choice we'll be making is who we go with in Round Two, and for the route we're going onto we'd need to go with Horse and Sheep again- which we've already seen! This is the workout room where we eventually find the Sheep Major Trinket. Where we're going to start is actually the conversation with Sheep after exploring the room, back in the cafeteria...[BGM: Lamb to the Slaughter]  Horse and Sheep arrived shortly after me. We were the first ones back. Horse took a seat by himself at the side of the room. Sheep, on the other hand, approached me.  Um... Mouse? Yeah, Sheep? We weren't able to find anything useful, were we? Objectively speaking, I guess not. If things keep going like that... people might get desperate. Maybe. So then, do you think we can trust everyone? I mean, I want to, but...She raised a good point. This time, we're going to recommend the other option...  Obviously, we need to try to work together. But Sheep, there may be some people who try to take advantage of you to try to save themselves. So just, you know, keep that in mind. Be careful. Of course. Thanks for the advice Mouse. Don't mention it.From here, we get the same scene once the others return- only Rooster and Dog found Minor Trinkets. The results for Round Two are shown- as usual, everyone hit RUN. From here, the group begins splitting up once more. The pair we're going to be going with this time are Tiger and Dragon, which we've seen as well- the gymnasium, where they have to find the key taped to one of the building supports. And, just like before, they find the room full of weapons.  They hastily make their way to other rooms to enter their actions, and then hurry back to the cafeteria, where the results of Round Three are displayed- everyone hit RUN like usual, but, like before, the Jade Emperor has a message for the group... [BGM: Mousetrap]   Before Round 4 begins, I have an announcement to make. What? There is an additional rule I have yet to inform you all of. A quirk of the race, if you will, that you all may be interested in. No doubt those of you who checked the information tab will have noticed you each have a 'personality' assigned. From the Rat to the Pig, each of your personalities are unique to you. Most of you probably dismissed that, and for most of you that was the right choice. However, for two of you, this personality is an incredibly important variable. First up, I'll talk about the DETERMINED personality. The determined personality wants to finish the race in first place, just like everyone else. However, this personality type isn't content in a big ol' shared victory. For this personality to be satisfied, no more than three animals can tie for first. If this condition isn't satisfied, the animal with this personality will be treated as if they have lost. They will be punished accordingly. Wait, but that means- Are you kidding? That's crazy! No... The other personality to take note of is the SELFLESS personality. Unlike the other personalities, this personality doesn't actually wish to win the race. The animal with this personality wants to be in last place when the race finishes. If that happens, all animals except those possessing the SELFLESS personality and those possessing the DETERMINED personality will be executed. However, this caveat is not applicable if first place is a tie between 9 or more animals.Like before, the Jade Emperor gives everyone 15 extra minutes to process this new information. [BGM: Silence]   Everyone, calm down. We don't need to descend into chaos. Seems like if there were a time to descend into chaos, now might be the one. After all, we've now got two people who'll stop at nothing to survive. Even if it means letting the rest of us die. That's outrageous! Indeed. Trading 10 lives for one's own is quite selfish. Who cares about the numbers, depriving the world of the culturally significant art I provide is a war crime! It's not unthinkable many would prioritize their own survival. It's merely a Plank of Carneades where the scales are a bit unweighted.  Like I said, you all need to calm down. There isn't a need to fall into chaos, because there aren't going to be two traitors. The people with the determined and selfless personalities are going to confess.[BGM: Queen of the Jungle]  Starting with me. Tiger, you're not saying- I have the selfless personality. Seriously? No way! This is certainly a surprise. You're... admitting it?  Of course I'm admitting it! I... I really don't want to die. My inner me is screaming at me right now not to do this. Dying here will leave over a hundred promises broken. But the most uncool thing would be to sacrifice all of you just to save my own skin! If it means keeping everyone together, then I'll proudly stay true to my 'selfless' personality and announce it! This just means you all are going to have to finish my promises for me. Of course. Of course we'll do that for you. Tiger, my friend, you will be hailed as a national hero for this. Your name will live on in perpetuity after you're dead. In perpetuity, huh? I like the sound of that.[BGM: Silence]  Now come on, whoever has the determined personality, join me! We should face the music with our heads held high!Tiger's voice was inspiring. However, her words fell flat. The rest of the room stayed silent. Determined personality...[BGM: Hear No Evil]   Save it. While I admire your bravery and willingness to sacrifice, most aren't willing to give up on everything in their life just to help some strangers. Unfortunately, this is kind of the expected result. If it was a matter of actively betraying the group, most would shudder from action. However, when action leads to one's death, betrayal by inaction is much more palatable. So then what are we going to do? We don't need to change our strategy at all. We now just need to gather 11 Minor Trinkets instead of 12. Then we can all cross the finish line at the same time. But won't the person with the determined personality try and reach the finish line before that? What if it's, say, Pig? Me? It's not me! It was an example. You could use your ability and rush ahead 11 spaces! That puts you way in the front! That would be much akin to getting Check in chess by crashing your Queen through the line of pawns. A move that temporarily gets you in the lead, but will immediately end your chances of success. If Pig makes her intent to betray the group clear from the start, the whole group will team up and make sure she doesn't beat us. Therefore, it would be in her best interest to hide for the time being, and look for some other opportunity to win in one strike.  Stop talking about me like I'm going to betray the group! The bottom line is that if we all stick to the plan, and nothing major goes awry, then the traitor won't have an opportunity to cross the finish line alone. Therefore we should focus on searching for the Minor Trinkets. Hey, before we get to that, there's something we should bring up. Oh yeah! We found a weapon closet in the gym. What? Yeah, the place looked like a drat weapons shop. It's pretty wild. Weapons? Here? Why would Brian give us that?! It is a curious decision... That could be a problem. The last thing we want at this time is to give people a way to kill easily. The mere presence of those things is going to elevate the tension in here tremendously! We should do something about them. Yeah, but what? You said the closet was locked? Could we relock it? Nah, the lock actually fell apart. I guess Brian did that intentionally, huh? Curses. Foiled again by that wily Brian. What a cad. Look, we should just get someone trustworthy to guard them. That way, no one could use them. But that means one less person would be looking for Minor Trinkets. A necessary sacrifice. Tiger's right, a guard system would be simplest, and safest. Furthermore, I propose Dog should be the guard. Me? What a curious choice. Almost traitorlike, picking someone as useless as me to be the trustworthy one. Anecdotally, I believe your personality is least likely to be 'determined'. I think the personalities given somewhat reflect an aspect of our real personalities. Tiger has certainly proved herself worthy of the mantle by announcing her personality, right? And mine is no exception to that fact. If we take that into consideration, I can think of no candidate less 'determined' than Dog. Solid argument. I pass. What? Don't wanna guard. Seems like a lot of work. And like I'm primed for being killed. Now Dog, doesn't that seem a little, um, selfish of you maybe? Yeah. … … Okay then. How about we have Tiger do it? What?! She's already proven not the 'determined' personality, right? So she should be safe. Yeah, but she also would die if she went along with us. How do we know she won't turn around and attack us? She already confessed. She could change her mind! Anyone could change their mind and think things were too dangerous to not turn on the group. Tiger has proven herself to be loyal to the group, and no one would be able to get the jump on her. She should be the guard. Agreed? Dragon looked angry, but no one looked like they wanted to argue with Ox. Aw, that's nice of you Ox. So, should I just go to the gym and sit in the closet until the race is done? Is that really alright? The gym is kinda separated from the rest of the building. If something bad happened, it'd be hard to get other people. Then let's just move the weapons here to the cafeteria. Good idea, Horse! Then we'll go with that.And just like that, we were decided. Tiger, Dragon and I led the group to the gym. We made sure to take careful stock of everything in the closet before anyone was allowed to touch anything. Then the group carried the items back to the cafeteria. We piled all the weapons in the center of the room. An inventory was taken to make sure everything was there, and no one had pocketed anything.  Great! I won't take my eyes off this pile. No one's laying a finger on these weapons on my watch. See to it that no one does. If that's everything, then let's split up and begin looking for Minor Trinkets. Let's.[BGM: Friendly Bunny]  I think I'll search some of the nearby classrooms. Ah! I'll join you. Oh, oh, so will I. Both of you want to come with me? Due to recent events, I don't like the idea of searching on my own as much. Is that why you are going with her? How strange. I simply go this way because I choose to. You all do what you want, I'm gonna search by myself. If it's all the same to you guys, I'll also go by myself. Um, I'd rather be alone right now too. Look people, if you want to work as a group, do so. If you don't, don't. We're all adults, we can make our own decisions. Let's just stop talking about searching, and start searching.Ox's definitive statement broke up the group and sent us all on our way. Like they said they would, Rooster and Pig searched the nearby classrooms with me. As a group, searching rooms went by much quicker. We determined a certain room didn't have any clues in no time flat. We then began to search through the next classroom. However, we weren't searching for long before an announcement started to play out of the speakers of our tablets. [BGM: Silence]  Attention, animals. Attention, jurors. A Major Trinket has been used, and upon activation this announcement plays on all tablets. Th-this can't be good. Someone has activated the Butcher's Knife. With the Butcher's Knife in play, at the end of every round, the user will move an additional 3 spaces forward for every corpse the knife has slashed. Corpse?! Of course, if a corpse already slashed by the Butcher's Knife is slashed again, the movement won't take place. To the innocent, I wish you luck. To the butcher, happy hunting.
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Dec 13, 2022 00:28
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...why does Sheep talk about how Dragon has proveb not to be the Determined personality? Also lmao, we kust started the route and there's already a psycho with a knife, whoever it is has 0 chill.
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Dec 13, 2022 00:41
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GiantRockFromSpace posted:...why does Sheep talk about how Dragon has proveb not to be the Determined personality? She's talking about Tiger there, who has already confessed to being the selfless.
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Dec 13, 2022 01:10
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