Chapter Thirteen: Demo Playtest, Day Three, Answer Time ④, Scene One

Sunday, November 24^th, 2024, 10:55 A.M.

 

“Not... me?”

Azuma gasped a little, and the other three froze as though they'd forgotten how to breathe.

“...And just what do you mean by that?”

The dual tones resurfaced as Kurata Kaito stepped out in front of the floor to ceiling window of the lounge. His real male voice and the artificial female one mixed into that strange blend.

Michi spoke distractedly “I don't get what you mean either. When Kurata Kaito pushed his sister over in a wheelchair earlier, was that all an act?”

“Precisely. As he's said multiple times, Kurata Kaito has never lied. However, he has used very careful word choices to trick us without lying. He made us believe he was the sole culprit behind everything, and Kurata Chikage was a victim.”

Kurata Kaito was staring silently at Kamo with a glare full of murderous intent. He made no move to rebut him, which just made Kamo feel a stronger chill.

Michi continued “But you just said that it's impossible for anyone other than Azuma to have done it. Then why... are you trying to say that Munakata and Fuwa were both killed remotely by Kurata Chikage from outside Megalodon Manor?”

Is Kamo crazy? Victory was right in front of him! ...It's possible that this was all an act and Kamo is the real Executioner.

Surprise and skepticism were written all over Michi's face.

Kamo looked at Azuma again and said “Actually, I was a bit skeptical from the beginning.”

Azuma's emotionless eyes met his straight on.

“What?”

“It was a simple slip of the tongue. When I arrived on Inunojima and questioned the MegalodonSoft staff, and when I questioned another staff member at the Megalodon Manor dining hall... they both said that 'there were still two guests who had not yet arrived'.”

Kenzan nodded several times at that.

“Actually, I'm also a bit confused. There were a total of eight people invited here, but there were only five when we gathered at Port K, and five when we gathered in the dining hall.”

Despite that, both MegalodonSoft staff members had spoken as though “there were already six guests on the island”.

Kamo nodded and continued “At first, I thought that someone had come on an earlier boat than us, but they hadn't. When you appeared before us last night, Kurata Kaito... you referred to the boat that Fuwa, you, and I had taken as the 'first boat'. In other words, that was the first boat that carried any of the invited guests to the island, and no boats came to the island before that, right?”

Kurata Kaito remained silent.

“...Also, when she was introducing herself, Michi said that she came here on the boat with Munakata, right? And Munakata ran into Azuma on the boat; he said he knew even back then they wouldn't get along. We had that conversation during the investigation of the YUKI case.”

Michi was still looking a bit cautious, but she quickly agreed.

“That's right, I did come on the second boat, same as Munakata and Azuma. Since there were three of us on that boat, it must be that the people from MegalodonSoft just miscounted the number of people.”

Kamo suddenly let out a laugh.

“No, it's us who are wrong. Actually, there were six invited guests on the first boat, and only two on the second.”

Kenzan immediately interjected “How is that possible? The first boat we took had a total of seven passengers.”

“Yes. Me, Yuki, Kenzan, Roppongi, and Fuwa made five. Then there was the duo of Director Juumonji and Producer Kurata.”

“We met with Kurata Kaito, alias Director Juumonji, at the pre-event briefing, so we can be sure that he's a real employee at MegalodonSoft, right? And the staff definitely wouldn't have treated one of their coworkers as an invited guest.”

Kamo nodded as he listened.

“So there's only one possibility. The woman we thought was Kurata Chikage was actually the sixth invited guest... That almond-eyed woman is the real Azuma Yuzuha.”

Yuki's eyes widened, and then he smiled.

“Then the only invited guests on the second boat were Ms. Michi and Mr. Munakata... and the woman we mistakenly thought was Azuma Yuzuha was the real Kurata Chikage?”

“That's right. The person who played the role of the Gamemaster from outside the building was the younger brother, Kaito... while the Executioner who committed the murders inside the building was the older sister, Chikage. This is the truth of the incident.”

Michi looked at the woman who'd called herself Azuma and exclaimed in bewilderment “Huh? Huh!? But we all met Kurata Chikage at the kickoff meeting!”

Kaito smiled bright and interjected “Let me say... it was my sister who was talking to you at that time. As the Gamemaster, what I say contains no lies.”

Indeed, the Azuma in front of them had a face and body that were both round and soft. The eyes with their slightly downturned corners bore no resemblance to almonds.

Kamo shook his head and said “As you said, the one who talked to me at my kickoff meeting was probably the real Kurata Chikage. However... that meeting took place in VR.”

During the meeting, Kamo had told Chikage “Sorry, I forgot to prepare a card of my own.”

However, Kamo never forgot to bring his business cards. Even for this playtest of a video game demo, he'd brought his business card holder alongside his wallet and cell phone as articles that had to be confiscated by the staff.

What he'd meant when he told Kurata Chikage that was that he'd “forgot to prepare a virtual business card that could be exchanged in VR.”

In addition, Kamo had felt thirsty several times during the meeting, but there weren't any drinks on site. That was also proof that they were meeting in VR. If he had physically gone to the offices of MegalodonSoft, surely the conference room would have been stocked with tea.

Kamo spoke again.

“At the kickoff meeting, the attendees all spoke via avatars, so I didn't meet Kurata Chikage in person or hear her real voice. All subsequent communications were with Director Juumonji, and I never got another chance to see her... I'm guessing all of you had the same experience?”

Nobody denied it, and the expressions on their faces confirmed that Kamo's suspicious were completely correct.

Kenzan said in his tired voice with a hint of self-mockery “I didn't think I could fall for such a classic trap, I'm really embarrassed right now. When I saw that almond-eyed woman on the ferry, I just decided that Kurata Chikage looked like the avatar she'd used back then. And how could I have realized... that the person talking so intimately with Director Juumonji was just another guest?”

Yuki also nodded and said “It was impossible for us to have guessed at the time that she wasn't the real Producer Kurata. And... when Mr. Fuwa recognized Director Juumonji's true identity, that scene with the wheelchair he put on completely fooled me.”

Kurata Kaito had reinforced their misconception by putting the almond-eyed Azuma Yuzuha in a wheelchair for Kamo and the others to see. At the time, even Kamo had been convinced that the woman being imprisoned was Kurata Chikage.

Kamo once again turned to the woman who'd claimed to be Azuma.

“In the end, Azuma Yuzuha is another victim of this incident. The person I accuse is you, Kurata Chikage.”

***

She glanced at Kurata Kaito outside the floor to ceiling window, then let out a long sigh.

“Too bad. We were so close... so close to our victory.”

Kaito seemed unable to come to terms with the reality of the situation, and just kept mumbling to himself. “I knew from the start that somebody would manage to figure out the trick to disconnect the devices, and I thought that Azuma Yuzuha would be revealed. But even if all of that was seen through... I thought that as long as the contestant named the wrong person at the end, it wouldn't affect my sister's victory at all....”

Chikage looked at her brother with pity and said “Leave the detectives to me... You stick with the plan and prepare to leave Inunojima.”

Kaito hesitated. His expression had changed and looked almost childish.

“But–”

“Don't worry about me, we'll meet up on the boat afterwards.”

After seeing Kaito leave, Chikage turned to Kamo.

“Saying this might make me sound like a sore loser, but I really didn't expect our employees to reveal unnecessary information like that. It's so hard to find good help these days. In the end it was them who left all the clues to my true identity.”

Kamo looked down at his smartwatch. It was 11:10 A.M. He had gotten his answer in before the time limit.

“So... was my answer correct?”

Chikage nodded helplessly.

“Yes. Game over. We lose. You solved all of the incidents not committed by yourself, and correctly identified the perpetrators... So all that's left is to go free.”

Kamo practically deflated. Instantly, he felt an exhaustion that was probably the worst he'd ever felt in his life.

Not only had he himself gotten away with two murders in a VR world, but he'd also refuted other detectives' faulty reasoning three separate times and, ultimately, as a detective himself, he'd discovered the truth behind three incidents.

Whether they were real or just fictional characters, Kamo couldn't think of any detective who'd gone through so much in under 72 hours.

However, this nightmare is finally about to end.

Kamo took a deep breath, then spoke. “Then release the hostages and–”

Kamo had been about to say “let us all go”, but he was suddenly interrupted by Yuki.

“Before, you said something like this, right?” Yuki said before continuing “...If we can win the game, you'll grant us a wish.”

For a moment, Kamo couldn't even comprehend what Yuki was talking about.

But he quickly remembered that Kurata had indeed mimicked that line from the advertisement for Battle Without Honor and said something like what Yuki'd remembered... That line had originally come from the Emerald Witch, a figure of madness, paranoia, and delusion.

Kamo could only ask “......Yuki?”

The reason he was so confused was because the look in Yuki's eyes when he'd been determined to go to Kakuriyo Island and take revenge had returned.

However, what surprised Kamo even more... was that Chikage's face had turned pale after hearing those words. Her reaction was even more extreme than when Kamo had exposed her.

Yuki looked at his smartwatch and said “There's no time left, so I'll keep this short.”

“What do you want...?” Chikage asked, having regained her original composure.

“When I heard the rules of 'Delicious Death for Detectives', there was one thing that stood out. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out what your real purpose for designing this game was. I couldn't focus on actually playing the game at all because that just kept eating at me.”

Kenzan heard that and frowned as he asked “What are you asking that for? Kurata's birth parents and adoptive father both died, so she hates amateur detectives so much that she gathered the eight of us here as representatives of the whole demographic and tried to kill us all.”

Michi nodded vigorously and said “According to her idea, if we couldn't find out the truth within the time limit, we'd die cursing our arrogance and incompetence.”

After listening to their words, Yuki shook his head and said “I've never heard of this happening in reality before, so I can only use fictional works as examples... But don't you think that in the Death Game genre, the reason why the Gamemasters hold death games at all has been getting more and more obscure?”

Chikage let out a silver bell laugh.

“That's a valid point. In most fictional works, the purpose of putting on a death game is for the Gamemaster to make a profit. But speaking as a game developer... I think it'd be pretty hard to monetize anything that's happened here today.”

Yuki continued casually, showing no hostility towards Kurata Chikage.

“There's also the kind where the Gamemaster uses the game to get revenge on specific people. But don't pretty much all of them make you just want to scream 'There was obviously a less convoluted way!'?”

Chikage shrugged.

“But neither of those motives apply to me.”

“True. You don't want revenge on any specific people, you hate amateur detectives and wanted to gather as many of them as you could and kill them in one fell swoop. I'm guessing you prepared this game to give you a vehicle for that revenge... But even from that perspective, there's still a lot of strange points.”

Kamo couldn't hold his tongue any longer. “Strange points?”

“Kurata Chikage hates amateur detectives so much, yet she produced the Mystery Maker series that encourages people to become detectives. It's a game of extremely high quality that allows players to enjoy the fun of pure deduction... Because of this, it's attracted millions of players all over the world.”

Chikage laughed once again.

“You're such an idiot. Certainly, developing a game about great detectives made me want to vomit... However, I needed some sort of honey to attract you insects, didn't I? What I did was nothing but use my position as a game developer to make a game appropriate for the task at hand.”

“Was that really the only reason?”

Faced with Yuki's piercing question, Chikage's face once again went tense and she fell into silence.

Yuki wasn't done. “If I were going to take revenge, even if it were to take the form of a death game, I would never allow the targets of my revenge any hope of survival. If I had to do it as a game, I'd only ever give my targets the false hope of winning and escaping. But no matter how the game ended, I would never let them live.”

"You're so scary, you're talking like you've actually planned a revenge scheme before.” Heartfelt joy flashed across Chikage's face, followed by a merciless “Like I've already said, as Gamemasters, what we say contains no lies. Even if it's dissatisfying... if you want, I could unlock all your smartwatches and guarantee the hostages' release right now.”

Yuki continued, expression still grave. “I believe you on that. But... that just makes me even more confused. If you only wanted to host one death game, why did you need to make two games about your hated great detectives? If you only wanted to gather detectives to a fake demo event, you could have organized it before the release of the original Mystery Maker.”

The thought had snuck through Kamo's blind spot, and he was now deeply confused.

...He's right, a game company as big as MegalodonSoft could have attracted plenty of amateur detectives to an event for the first installment.

Chikage shook her head.

“You know the reason why the demo of Mystery Maker 2 got such a huge budget is because it's a sequel to a game that sold sixty million copies, right? And it's because we got so much time and budget to lay the groundwork with that we were able to come up with the RHAPSODY to design tricks around.”

Even after being mocked by Chikage, Yuki was unmoved.

“There's no way that was your reason, right? As a game developer, you should know that every company wants to develop games that become unprecedented smash hits, but only a small percentage can actually pull it off. So many games are obviously planned as massive series, only to never develop their second installments because the first didn't sell as well as projected.”

“Heh, that's true.”

“Even if you have absolute confidence in your abilities as a producer, in an era where unpredictable developments like the COVID-19 pandemic can happen, it's just too risky to postpone your revenge plan until the demo of a second installment you don't even know can be made.”

“Maybe.” 

“You aren't the type to act without a plan, so there must be a reason you put off your revenge so long.”

“Say what you like.”

Yuki took her up on her offer and pointedly replied “...In order to achieve your real goal, making the first Mystery Maker a global hit was a necessary prerequisite, wasn't it?”

As soon as the worst left his mouth, Chikage let out that pleasant laugh of hers.

“How boring. And just what benefit do I get out of making the game popular?”

“The time limit you set for 'Delicious Death for Detectives' is noon today, and at that same moment, another event will begin. And event players all over the world are eagerly awaiting.”

The moment he heard those words, Kamo felt a chill down his spine.

“The time trial event... 'The Supreme Great Detective'?”

Yuki nodded.

“That's right. At the same time our event ends, the additional levels for the previous Mystery Maker will be opened to players around the world. I don't think that's just a coincidence.”

Michi murmured in thought “I remember there was a competition to see who was the best detective, right? The first ones to clear the level get a deluxe special edition.”

Kenzan stroked his hair and took over. “But 'Delicious Death for Detectives' isn't directly related to 'The Supreme Great Detective', is it? We're using Mystery Maker 2 as a platform for this game, and that event is for the original.”

Yuki nodded several times.

“That's right. I haven't been able to see what these two plans have in common or how they're connected. However, after thinking about it non-stop for a day or so, I finally had a breakthrough this morning.”

“A breakthrough?” Kenzan asked haltingly.

“What's noteworthy about Mystery Maker are its sales numbers and its overly lavish special events. Over sixty million sales means that the total number of players currently active is at least in the tens of millions. Because of how long it's been since the release, there must be lots of people who don't play anymore. But that situation should have changed drastically once the deluxe early access pass was announced.” Yuki paused then continued seriously “Among the players who have played this game before, the more ardent the fans and the more confident they are in their deductions, the more they'll be looking forward to 'The Supreme Great Detective' level and the more determined they'll be to start it exactly at noon Japan Time, right?”

Kamo muttered in shock “Could it be...?”

“Yes. Mystery Maker's new event, 'The Supreme Great Detective', is a trap to identify people from around the world who share a certain attribute.”

Yuki didn't explicitly state what that certain attribute was, but it was clear to Kamo.

“Could it be... that everyone who participates in the time trial event, demonstrates skill at deduction, and tries to get the deluxe special edition will be labeled by Kurata Chikage as an amateur detective or potential amateur detective?”

Kamo couldn't keep the tremor from his voice anymore.

Even after all he'd already been through, the depths of their distorted minds still horrified him.

Kurata Chikage and Kaito... they'd expanded their vengeance beyond just Roppongi and Fuwa to include all amateur detectives. That alone was proof they were insane.

In that case, it wasn't unlikely that over the years they'd grown even more paranoid... and eventually declared that anyone interested in solving puzzles was a potential amateur detective, and an object of hatred.

Yuki's face grew paler and paler as he continued. “Your real goal isn't just to kill the eight of us. Even imprisoning us in Megalodon Manor was probably just a small part of your real plan.”

Michi gazed at Chikage, who had been silent this whole time, and said “Aren't you overthinking this? Even if they wanted to go after every potential amateur detective and kill them... That's at least a few million people participating in the time trial, maybe tens of millions. Kurata Chikage's just a game developer, what can she do?”

“No, it's precisely because she's a game developer that she could do it.”

Hearing Yuki's answer, Chikage narrowed her eyes with amusement.

“Interesting. Care to share with the class?”

“I really hope this is just my overactive imagination... Mystery Maker can be played with third party VR headsets, but it requires the original glove controllers produced by MegalodonSoft, right? That means... the number of copies of the game sold is also the minimum number of pairs of gloves in circulation.”

Saying that, Yuki looked down at the round table.

His glove controller lay there. Kamo saw the MegalodonSoft logo and couldn't suppress a shudder.

“Could it be that the reason Kurata Chikage waited until the sequel was announced to execute her revenge plot... was because of these gloves?”

“It wasn't that long ago that reselling of glove controllers produced by MegalodonSoft was a social issue, was it? Whether it's software or accessories, there's always a supply shortage for a while after release. My theory... is that Kurata Chikage's revenge plan had to wait until the controllers produced by the company were in the hands of every player.”

At that moment, Kenzan looked down at the glove controller with an expression of terror and asked “Could it be that this controller also has a death trap feature like the one built into the smartwatch?”

Yuki nodded and replied “Yes. Kurata Chikage is both the producer of the Mystery Maker series and the executive director of MegalodonSoft, so it's entirely possible that she tampered with this exclusive controller while it was being developed. Such as by adding a trap that will activate upon receipt of a special message from MegalodonSoft's servers.”

With the game's director, Kaito, also an accomplice, it wasn't impossible. Although Kamo was well aware of that, he raised his right hand to cover his face and shook his head.

“It's not realistic.”

“Why not?”

“If a mechanism visible to the naked eye were added to the controller, it would have been detected during the product review and import/export processes. Also, among the consumers who bought these controllers, there could be some who'd be interested in disassembling and remodeling them. If there were poisoned needles inside the controllers, it would have been discovered a long time ago.”

Yuki seemed to have anticipated that objection, as he smiled in a way that didn't reach his nervous eyes.

“Actually, that bothered me as well. But if it were a simple mechanism that utilized electrical currents, it'd be much harder to find.”

Kamo's eyes instantly went wide.

“In that case... You told me these controllers were notorious for their poor breathability and battery life.”

If the gloves weren't breathable, then wearing them would make the hands sweaty and increase conductivity, and if they were used while being charged, the risk would be even greater.

Yuki looked down at his hands and continued “As long as the current has an entrance and exit, there's a possibility of electrocution, isn't there? If a current passes through the heart, even if it's a very low voltage, it can be life threatening.”

That was because the heartbeat was controlled by electrical signals, and strong currents could trigger severe arrhythmia or even cardiac arrest.

By now Yuki looked like a ghost.

“The voltage inside the household is usually about 100 volts, so even if you get electrocuted you won't necessarily lose your life. But... what if the current goes from one hand's controller to the other? Or what if the current starts in the hand and travels to the ground via the hip and leg? In either case, the current would definitely pass through the heart, the body's #1 vital organ.”

Kamo was completely stunned.

Once electrocution triggered body spasms, the victim wouldn't be able to remove the glove controllers on their own. And having an electric current pass through the heart for a prolonged period... Obviously, the results would be horrifying.

A pleasant laugh reached their ears.

“Oh? What a surprise. I didn't expect you'd even figure that out.”

The moment Kamo saw Chikage's demeanor, the chill in his spine peaked. Hesitant to even ask, he forced out “Are you really......”

“Yeah. Just killing a handful of amateur detectives won't make a whit of difference in this world. What I'm going to do... is lure out every potential amateur detective and eliminate them all at once. I also had to personally send the eight of you, whose sins are particularly bad, into a deep layer of hell.”

Covering her eyes with her right hand, she continued.

“Ahahahahaha! ...It didn't even matter if you all managed to beat 'Delicious Death for Detectives' or not. Naturally, it'd be great if you all choked on your own stupidity and died, but it didn't matter if you all found the truth, either. If you survived, that would just make my revenge even more exciting.”

Hearing the words full of hate, Kamo had to clench his teeth to keep from immediately attacking her.

But Yuki remained at least superficially calm.

“I thought it was strange. When you told us that the prize for winning 'Delicious Death for Detectives' wasn't releasing us and the hostages, but a wish... that was too abnormal.”

“Yeah, my intention was for you all to wish for me to release you and the hostages.”

That was exactly what Kamo had been about to do. If Yuki hadn't interrupted him, he would have gotten exactly what he asked for. However...

Kurata shrieked with laughter. “I had planned to let you all revel in the joy of having beaten the game while millions of people spasmed and died due to the death trap in the glove controllers. You all would have had a moment of pure peace, and then heard the news. There were only a few people in the world who could have averted that tragedy... and you idiots were totally oblivious, and missed your chance to become world heroes for nothing.”

Saying that, Chikage let out a long sigh and continued “I had wanted to see the looks of despair and guilt on your faces the moment you found out you'd failed to save millions of lives. My brother told you, didn't he? Our goal was to plunge you into a living hell where even death would seem a merciful salvation.”

Even Yuki couldn't remain calm at that. He stared knives at Chikage and said “But now... we do still have time to wish for you to disarm the death traps in the glove controllers and avert the mass killing, right?”

Chikage covered her eyes with her right hand and froze completely.

Since that was the case, Kamo knew what he had to say. He took a deep breath then said “If you can grant me any wish... then immediately disarm the death trap in the glove controllers. And also release us and all the hostages and unlock the smartwatches."

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