Chapter Eight: Demo Playtest, Day Two, Round Two, Investigation Time ③, Scene One
Saturday, November 23rd, 2024, 1:15 P.M.
“Now, please return to the VR space. After returning to your rooms and reconnecting to your RHAPSODYs, please gather in the main hall... Once all seven of you, including Munakata, are there, I will give you your next instructions.”
The voice cut off, but nobody sitting at the round table at Megalodon Manor had the strength to move.
The wind outside had picked up, and the huge fronds of the tropical trees swayed in it. There was still a little sunlight visible outside, but that could change soon enough.
Kamo made up his mind to break the oppressive silence that hung over them.
“Before we disband, we should figure out how we're going to protect Munakata.”
Munakata exhaled.
“Even though I almost killed you and Yuki with my half-assed accusations... You're a sweet old man.”
“Sweet old man?”
The voice came from an unexpected direction. Fuwa glanced at Kamo with a serious expression and continued “As you know, the Executioner is someone in our group. At this moment, that person is probably planning to trick us into creating conditions that will facilitate their planned crime. If we act rashly, it's likely we'll put Mr. Munakata in danger.”
Kenzan, who'd been sitting deep in though with his arms folded, spoke up.
“I agree with Mr. Kamo's proposal. Our highest priority right now should be to protect Mr. Munakata. It's actually quite simple. We just have to make sure that nobody here has a chance to harm Mr. Munakata. If we all act cautiously, the Executioner shouldn't have a chance to interfere.”
Azuma nodded and said “I think so too. Why don't we let Mr. Munakata go back to his room first so nobody else has a chance to sneak ahead and ambush him?”
Munakata shrugged.
“...If staying alive was that easy, we wouldn't be here.”
Although he sounded calm, his eyes were full of deep despair. Michi, who was next to him, gently patted him on the shoulder.
“Hey, don't give up already. All you can do is try hard and do your best.”
In the end, it was decided that Kamo, Yuki, and Fuwa would escort Munakata back to his room.
It was decided that three people would go because any more than that would make it difficult for everyone to keep track of each other. And those specific three were chosen purely because they were going that direction anyway.
Munakata used his smartwatch to unlock his door and gave a quick look around before saying “Will you all stop looking like that? It's like you're the ones who are dying. We're going to see each other in the VR space in a bit anyway.”
There wasn't a hint of his usual arrogance.
Concerned, Fuwa warned him “No matter what happens, do not leave your room. The best thing you can do is lock the door and window and then stay away from them.”
“Relax, I don't plan on obediently giving up and dying.”
Munakata was about to close the door when he stopped and smiled. “By the way, I have a favor to ask of you, Kamo.”
“For me?”
“I'm worried about what'll happen to Retsu if I die. If you make it out of here alive... will you take care of him for me?”
Kamo was surprised, but he immediately agreed.
“...I understand.”
Munakata finally gave a heartfelt smile.
“Thank you.”
That shy smile made him look much younger than the really was. Munakata told Kamo the name of the veterinary clinic where he'd left Retsu, and finally closed the door.
***
Time passed with horrible slowness.
At the moment, Kamo was in his room in Megalodon Manor... in the real world. He sat on his bed and checked his smartwatch more times than he could count.
It was 3:06 P.M. There were less than 25 minutes left of Real World Crime Time.
...I hope nothing happens.
The furniture and bathroom fixtures in Megalodon Manor were a bit old and looked like they'd been in use for a long time. Only the ceiling light was a newer LED model, probably installed within the last ten years.
A hemispherical surveillance camera was mounted on the ceiling next to the light. Usually those weren't inside the guest rooms, so it was obvious that Kurata had set it up specifically to keep an eye on them.
Kamo looked down at the table. On top of it was a plastic bottle of coffee that had been sitting there for a long time. Only glass bottles existed in the VR world, so just staring at the plastic bottle felt strongly of being back in reality.
After they'd seen off Munakata at his room, Kamo had once again left the real world for the VR space.
He leaned against the RHAPSODY in his room and synchronized with the device. Before he'd lowered his VR lenses, he made a point to look out the window.
In the distance was a small patch of sea reflecting a gray sky. It hadn't rained yet.
Once he lowered the lenses, Kamo returned to the faint glow of the save point.
...Kurata's instructions had been to meet in the main hall as soon as they entered the VR space.
Kamo walked out of the room and down the corridor.
Everyone had already arrived except for Kamo and FUWA. All of them sat around the round table, their heads down or their hands over their faces. Nobody had the strength to speak.
He was secretly relieved to see MUNAKATA.
“I'm glad you're alright.”
MUNAKATA raised his head wearily and shrugged.
“For now.”
The hall was dominated by a heavy silence as they waited for FUWA to appear.
KENZAN apparently couldn't take it anymore and slowly raised his head. He stared at MUNAKATA for a moment and carefully scrutinized him, then hesitantly asked “I was wondering this just now... Are you actually Mr. Munakata?”
Hearing those words, MUNAKATA just smiled. He looked drained.
Because they didn't hear an answer, AZUMA and MICHI, who had both been slumped over the table, raised their heads, and YUKI, who had been resting his chin in his right hand, also looked at MUNAKATA.
Just then, Kurata's voice interjected.
“Geez, you all are so unreasonable. The whole reason I asked you to gather in the VR space was so that you could confirm that Munakata was safe after returning to his room... I can promise, this person here is Munakata. Crime Time hasn't even started yet, keep your pants on.”
Earlier, Kurata had also assured them that an avatar's appearance would never change, and that the player behind them couldn't, either. Given that their VR headsets even had iris scanners, Kamo felt he could trust Kurata's words.
Kamo didn't approach the round table, but stood by the wall near the door to the foyer. He chose the spot because it was easier to keep watch over the whole hall from there.
Not long after, FUWA opened the northern door and walked in.
He apologized for being late and went to stand by the wall opposite Kamo, gently resting a hand on his chin. It seemed he'd had the same idea as Kamo.
“Everyone's here, right? Good. From now until 3:30 P.M., it's Real World Crime Time... the time when the detectives are hunted in the real world.”
Kamo was thoroughly chilled. This time was different from before... a real person might be about to die.
Kurata continued happily. “During Real World Crime Time, you all can do whatever you want, as long as you don't leave your rooms in Megalodon Manor. Take this opportunity to organize your thoughts, or just get some lunch.”
YUKI asked warily “Can we enter the VR space?”
“Of course, continuing to investigate the MICHI or YUKI cases could be fun, too. Just remember: once you're in VR, your real body is totally defenseless. I want to remind you all that the number of people the Executioner kills during Real World Crime Time is up to them.”
YUKI smiled bitterly at her words.
“So we don't actually have a choice. To ensure your own safety, you have to stay in the real world.”
With everything said, Kurata announced the official start of Real World Crime Time.
The first person to leave the round table was... MUNAKATA.
His avatar embodied an aura of laziness almost identical to the real person's. But MUNAKATA turned his neck and frowned.
“I didn't expect this would hit me so hard.”
He finished as though he were mocking himself, and left the main hall with steady footsteps. Looking at his thin back now... Kamo suddenly thought he looked so small.
After seeing MUNAKATA leave, the others also returned to their rooms one by one. Returning to the real world via the save point, Kamo was taken aback.
It had already started storming outside.
He hadn't been able to hear the rain due to the VR system's noise canceling. It was so dark you wouldn't believe it was still daytime, and Kamo didn't even see the pen on the floor until he accidentally kicked it.
Stepping out of the RHAPSODY and surveying the window, he saw the plants and trees bend under the force of the pouring rain. Kamo drew the curtains and turned on the ceiling light. He heard thunder in the distance.
...That had been at 1:35 P.M.
It rained for over an hour that day on Inunojima.
It wasn't until 3:00 P.M. that the rain tapered off, and now the sun had finally come out.
Kamo looked at his smartwatch again.
3:30... Real World Crime Time had finally come to an end.
That whole time he hadn't heard any particularly loud noises or anything that could be related to the incident. However, Megalodon Manor was so well soundproofed that he couldn't feel sure until he actually saw Munakata alive.
Kamo made his way into the hallway of Megalodon Manor. The air was damp, presumably because of the rain.
He walked to the door of Munakata's room, and found Yuki already there.
Yuki, who like Kamo was still wearing his VR operation suit, was knocking on Munakata's door. After a series of bangs, there was no response from inside.
Kamo was anxious. He asked “Yuki, you're right next door to Munakata, right? Did you hear anything?”
“I didn't, but the rain was really noisy... But, if there was a real struggle in this room, there's no way I would have missed it.”
At that moment, Fuwa and Azuma arrived as well. Yuki knocked on the door a few more times, louder than before.
“Mr Munakata, please, if you can hear me, answer!”
But nobody did.
“Time to break down another door.” Michi said as she emerged from the lounge. Immediately afterwards, Kenzan also arrived.
This time, the ones who broke down the door were the duo of Kamo and Yuki.
Unlike the room doors in VR, which were designed to be used for locked room tricks and then broken down, the door in the real world was extraordinarily strong. It took the two almost five minutes of kicking and smashing before the lock and the swing bar finally broke.
The moment they entered the room, Kamo had to close his eyes.
About a meter away from the RHAPSODY... a person lay collapsed.
They were lying on their side, knees and waist bent at 90 degree angles, and the face was inclined slightly towards the ground, preventing them from seeing it clearly. However, judging from the hair and body shape, it was clearly Munakata.
The white hilt of a knife stood jutting from his thin back.
Because the VR operation suit was mostly black, it was hard to tell just how much blood Munakata had lost. The only place it was clearly visible... was the slot on the back of the operation suit. That was where the RHAPSODY connected to the suit, and the knife had been stabbed above it, closer to the back of the neck than the slot.
Kamo avoided the blood on the carpet as he approached and gently turned Munakata's face.
The eyes with long lashes were still slightly open, and his perfect lips were stained with a small amount of blood. The knife had pierced clean through his body, the tip protruding from his chest.
He lightly touched the side of Munakata's neck and felt no pulse and a slight chill. The body had gone cold.
Azuma sobbed as she asked “How... why?”
Yuki checked the bathroom and said grimly “There's nobody hiding in the the room.”
Kamo stood up and looked towards the door to the room.
The doors in Megalodon Manor were much like the ones in Puppet Hall.
Judging by the state of the bolt, the door to Munakata's room had been locked from the inside. In addition, based on what they'd felt when breaking down the door, the swing bar should have also been set.
...So it's just like YUKI's case in the VR world. Both the door lock and the swing bar can only be locked from the inside. It would have been extremely difficult to lock the door from the outside.
After Kamo carefully examined the door to the room, he reported his results. “There aren't any traces of tampering on the door.”
Fuwa checked under the bed and pulled back the curtains to look out the window, then finally said “There's nothing weird under the bed, the window is locked, and the glass isn't broken. That lock doesn't show any signs of tampering, either.”
Kenzan, who had silently listened to all of this, shrugged his shoulders, doing nothing to hide his confusion.
“The guest room door in Puppet Hall had a gap above it... The door here in Megalodon Manor doesn't even have a gap large enough to pass a thread through.”
“It's unlikely, but... there aren't any secret passages in this building, are there?”
Hearing Fuwa's words, Michi firmly shook her head.
“There aren't. I specifically investigated that after I got the invitation, and this building is really owned by Megalodonsoft, and is indeed a functional health resort open to its employees.”
“It's a health resort now, but that doesn't mean a previous owner couldn't have installed some secret passages.”
Michi smiled at the way Fuwa stood his ground.
“I didn't realize we thought so similarly. It was precisely because this building seemed so gimmicky that I got curious and did an in-depth investigation, but it doesn't have any particular history to it. About 25 years ago, the Megalodon Group bought a vacant lot and built this health resort on it, that's all.”
Just then, Kamo noticed something on the carpet.
To be precise, he'd noticed the red thing as soon as he entered the room, but at the time he'd thought it was just a drop of blood on the carpet. But when a beam of sunlight from the window hit it, the thing gave off a metallic sheen.
“...What's this?”
Even though the room wasn't that dark, Kamo still asked Yuki to turn on the lights. With the LED lights on the ceiling overhead illuminating it, the thing on the carpet became instantly recognizable.
It was a hexagonal nut.
The spot where it had fallen was about a meter from the body. Michi moved up to take a closer look at it and made a slightly disoriented sound.
“Could it be a part that fell off the RHAPSODY?”
Fuwa and Kenzan immediately went to check the machine. Kamo left that job to them, and picked up the nut using a handkerchief.
“Its diameter is about two centimeters... and it's about four millimeters thick, it's thinner than a normal nut.”
Michi narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
“That nut was on a part of the carpet where there wasn't any blood, does that mean it got stained somewhere else then moved? It's possible it was moved by the victim, or the murderer.”
At that moment, Kenzan poked his head out of the RHAPSODY and reported his findings.
“There aren't any parts missing that we found.”
“And of course, it isn't broken.” Fuwa continued.
Kamo carefully returned the nut to where he had originally found it. Then he showed the handkerchief he'd used to hold the nut to Michi, Fuwa, and the others.
“The blood on that nut's already dry.”
He showed them that his handkerchief hadn't been stained by the blood.
Yuki sniffed and reached out to touch the blood on the carpet. The pool of blood radiated out with Munakata's body at the center, and it had coagulated at the edges, turning black.
“...Looks like it happened a while ago.”
Hearing Yuki's words, Kamo remembered what he'd felt when he first touched the corpse.
“I agree; when I checked his pulse, I noticed that Munakata's body temperature had already dropped quite a bit. It doesn't look like he died recently.”
As if she doubted him, Michi also moved over and touched the body's face and skin under the clothes, then smiled bitterly.
“He's right. The area under the clothes doesn't feel that cold yet, but the exposed parts are chilly.”
That prompted Kamo and the others to begin speculating about the time of death.
While investigating wrongful arrest cases, Kamo had acquired some basic knowledge of forensics. The other five amateur detectives in the room also seemed to have some knowledge.
The general rules are “the exposed body parts become cold between one and two hours after death” and “livor mortis begins to form between one and two hours after death, and becomes fully visible between two and three hours”. The air conditioning at Megalodon Manor was left on a constant temperature 24 hours a day, so there shouldn't have been much deviation from those rough predictors.
Since there was no way to measure Munakata's body temperature, and they didn't have any specialized knowledge to back up their conclusions, they definitely couldn't accurately extrapolate a time. However, since spots had begun to appear on the body, the exposed parts of the skin had turned cold, and the blood had dried, they concluded that he'd probably been dead for over an hour.
In other words, they could assume that Munakata was killed before 2:40 P.M.
Yuki looked down at Munakata's corpse and said “Mr. Munakata was wearing his VR headset and glove controllers when he died.”
Just as he said, Munakata was wearing his VR headset; only the lenses had been lifted.
The button that operated the lenses had to be pushed pretty firmly to activate, so just falling to the ground shouldn't have been able to trigger it. Therefore, they figured that Munakata had probably lifted the lenses himself.
Fuwa thought for a moment and said “Even though these VR headsets aren't that heavy, you would take them off it you weren't using them for a while, right? If he still had his on his head and only lifted the lenses... then it's possible that Mr. Munakata was killed while he was in the VR space, or right after he'd left it.”
The fact that he was also still wearing his glove controllers supported Fuwa's point.
Kamo and the others removed the VR headset and gloves from the body to examine them, and found them all unbroken. Kamo put on the headset and saw a line displayed on it:
This VR headset is registered to Mr. Munakata. You are not the registered owner and may not use it.
That confirmed that the headset was, in fact, Munakata's, and that the iris scan bioauthentication was activated. The RHAPSODYs were also linked to the headset's IDs, so it couldn't have been used with one in another room.
Kamo then examined the glove controllers, and a smartwatch slipped out of one.
Of course, the smartwatch hadn't released its poison needle. It seemed that as soon as it detected its wearer had died, the watch would unlock and detached itself from the wrist automatically.
Kurata must have been waiting for the moment when they finished their examination, because the female voice suddenly spoke up.
“Looks like you all are about finished with the preliminary investigation, then.”
Kamo turned his head, realizing that the voice was coming from the security camera on the ceiling.
“I don't have anything to add this time. Regarding what I gave the Executioner to use in the real world, it's more fun if I keep that a secret, isn't it? For the remainder of Investigation Time, feel free to investigate in the VR space and the real world however you like.”
Kurata ignored the glares Kamo and co were giving the speaker and enthusiastically continued “There are two cases to solve in VR and now one in the real world... You guys better solve this quick before more victims turn up. The more incidents you have to solve, the smaller your hopes of victory get.”
Afterwards, Kamo and the others spent almost an hour investigating Munakata's room.
There were no signs of a struggle in the room. They scrutinized everything from the ceiling to the vent and even the drains, and found nothing abnormal anywhere.
During this time, Kamo's main concern... was Yuki's attitude.
Yuki hadn't helped investigate since he announced that he rejected the role of Detective. He only acted when someone was in danger, or when he wanted to make sure that someone wasn't. That much fit with Yuki's personality. He wasn't the type who could stay aloof forever.
However, he had almost failed to present an effective defense earlier due to his inadequate investigations, and Kamo had expected him to be a bit more engaged after that. But right now, Yuki just looked distracted.
...What exactly is he thinking?
But just as Kamo was on the verge of being distracted by that himself, Azuma made as suggestion.
“It's too inefficient if we all stick together while investigating, so why don't we split up? We can make two groups, one can investigate the VR world and one the real one. We can swap once we're done with our respective worlds.”
Fuwa frowned at that.
“The Executioner is one of us, so I'm afraid it isn't a good idea to split up at a time like this.”
“It's definitely a risk... but it's hard to work efficiently the way things are now. I don't think Kurata intends to create any incidents outside the designated hours, so as long as we stick to a policy of never working in groups of less than three in the real world, we should be fine.”
At Azuma's urging, the group voted to act in groups.
They drew lots, and Kamo, Michi, and Kenzan were declared the group who would investigate the VR space first, while Yuki, Fuwa, and Azuma were the other group, who would start by investigating the real world.
Michi grinned.
“It's almost 5:00 P.M. Let's meet up in the lounge in Megalodon Manor at 7:30 then swap which world we're investigating, okay?”
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