Chapter Three: Demo Playtest, Day One, Rules, Scene One

Friday, November 22^nd, 2024, 7:30 P.M.

The lenses reset and a familiar scene appeared before him.

This time it wasn't Kamo's home, but the hall of the stage he had helped design.

Kamo sat at the round table in the center of the main hall. The words “Welcome to Puppet Hall!” were displayed in the lower right corner of his vision.

This was the stage Kamo had previously worked with the developers to design for the demo. The dark gray wallpaper and ebony colored round table were both things he had seen during his work in preparation for the event.

There was no question that this was a VR space. No matter how well made it was, it was immediately obvious that this was a world made from CG.

There were already five people in the hall.

Calling them “people” was just for ease of expression. In truth, they were all virtual avatars in the VR space... Perhaps they were the invited guests.

A virtual character who looked like Yuki approached Kamo. The bottom right corner of his vision showed this character's name as “YUKI”, then the text disappeared.

“That's... you, isn't it, Mr. Kamo?”

The tone was uncertain, but that was indeed Yuki's voice.

However, even if the appearance and voice both resembled Yuki, that didn't prove that he was the one controlling the avatar. Because in the VR space, people could freely alter both their appearance and their voice.

YUKI also had an expression of fear and confusion on his face, and seemed equally unsure if the person he was talking to was really Kamo.

Kamo raised his right foot, and his avatar raised his right foot as well.

The VR operation suit had a built-in high performance motion capture system. The device could accurately read the player's movements and synchronize them to the virtual character. For example, if Kamo were to walk with his legs spread apart, his virtual avatar would move in the same way.

Basically, the VR suit and the RHAPSODY were synchronized.

The RHAPSODY connected to the player's body through a wire and read their movements, so the player can make movements such as running safely inside the sphere and get the feeling of running in the VR space.

Kamo tried shaking his fist a few more times, then looked down to check the clothes on his virtual body.

Black jeans, casual shirt, coat, leather shoes. The avatar's attire was consistent with Kamo's in the real world. Even the lean figure and the lengths of his arms, legs, and individual fingers were accurately matched to Kamo's own features.

“What do you see over there?"

“It... certainly looks like Mr. Kamo.”

Hearing YUKI's answer, Kamo lowered his voice and asked, slightly hesitantly “...Who did they take hostage?”

YUKI violently pressed his left wrist. The virtual character was also wearing a smartwatch on his wrist. Then, in an almost inaudible voice, he replied “Ms. Mikumo.”

“...So that's it.”

Yuki had met Mikumo Echika because of the Kakuriyo Island case, and the two had been dating for four years now. Kamo had also met Mikumo, and thought she was a good woman. Better than Yuki deserved, really.

YUKI didn't ask Kamo who the hostage on his side was. If he was the real Yuki, he would have known without asking.

Kamo heard low voices and looked in the direction of the voices, and realized that two familiar characters were talking to each other.

The man with the name “ROPPONGI” had thinning gray hair, and was supposed to be a virtual representation of the retired police officer Roppongi. The man in the green vest, “FUWA”, had the same appearance as the private detective Fuwa. The two of them were sitting on chairs without backrests around the round table, and their faces were very gloomy.

Slightly away from the round table stood a character named “KENZAN”, who looked exactly like the high school student he had seen. He was staring at the dollhouse on the south side of the room, arms crossed over his chest.

That dollhouse stood out quite a bit in Puppet Hall.

Its size was quite a bit larger than a normal dollhouse. At a rough estimation, it looked about three meters long and a meter and a half wide. It sat on a plain black low table that was even larger.

KENZAN reached out and tapped his smartwatch, and a semi-transparent screen immediately appeared in front of him. In the VR space, the smartwatches on each of the virtual characters' hands also functioned as terminals to access the maps and game menus.

With the exception of Kamo, all the other invited guests had to first meet up with Director Juumonji to learn how to use the RHAPSODY and the basic operations within the VR space. It looked like KENZAN could operate it with great skill. He surveyed the map on the menu screen and the dollhouse in front of him in turn, then said “Oh? Turns out this is a model of Puppet Hall.”

The dollhouse was, in fact, a twelve-to-one scale model of Puppet Hall.

According to the developers, the dollhouse was placed to emphasize the concept of the Puppet Hall while also serving as an investigative aid for the detectives. It killed two birds with one stone. In that sense, it could be called quite an efficient device.

The dollhouse had a colonial style roof, of course, and currently that roof was hanging high above the main body of the dollhouse. To be specific, it was suspended just below the ceiling with piano wire.

Kamo looked at the round table again.

There was also a young man he didn't recognize. The system showed his name as “MUNAKATA”.

He was a handsome young man with an appearance that could only be described as “stunning”. His long hair had been permed and he wore an old motorcycle jacket and ripped jeans. For a man, he was a bit on the short side and had narrow shoulders, giving him a somewhat feminine look.

Kamo followed KENZAN's example and touched his smartwatch, pulling up the game participants' profiles from the menu.

The information that was shown was:

Kamo Touma (38) 5.87 Magazine Writer

Aoba Yuki (31) 5.81 Mystery Writer

Roppongi Shido (74) 5.71 Critic

Fuwa Shinichiro (56) 6.30 Director of Fuwa Detective Agency

Michi Chiaki (37) 5.31 Self-Proclaimed Jack-Of-All-Trades

Azuma Yuzuha (35) 5.05 Administrator of T Municipal Hospital

Kenzan Ryohei (17) 5.48 Second Year Student at K O High School

Munakata Nozomi (25) 5.38 Self-Proclaimed Drifter

Then MUNAKATA would be the Munakata Nozomi from that list.

The “self-proclaimed drifter” was a bit different from what Kamo had imagined... But to remain so calm even in a situation like this, it must have been true that he was different from the norm.

Kamo suddenly heard an electronic buzz.

An instant later, in a previously empty place appeared two more avatars.

One of them was named “AZUMA”, a cute woman with a small, rounded figure. The other was also a woman, with an air of decadent elegance about her looks. Her name was displayed as “MICHI”.

Both of them seemed confused as to why they were there, their faces pale with anxiety.

“Everyone, please take your seats at the round table.”

Kamo heard a familiar voice – a slightly nasal woman's voice.

Reluctantly, the eight of them walked over to the round table and sat down, and ROPPONGI asked in a sharp tone “You're Kurata, aren't you?”

There was another electronic buzz, and an almond-eyed woman appeared next to the dollhouse. The name “Kurata” appeared on screen.

“It's been a while, hasn't it, everyone? I don't think I've seen some of you like this since initiation.”

Kurata continued with a smirk “The reason why your cell phones and belongings were taken away was to ensure that you would all be unable to contact the outside world. Those items are currently being kept in special signal-blocking storage boxes. After all, you can never be too careful, don't you agree?”

Hearing that from the new arrival, FUWA shook his head and said “I don't know what you're trying to do, but you've already broken over a hundred laws.”

Undeterred, Kurata's head tilted in an exaggerated motion as its owner retorted “Only a hundred? Not only have I taken all your friends and loved ones hostage... but I also drugged the MegalodonSoft software developers and sales staff on Inunojima and locked them up.”

Kamo looked at the expression of glee on Kurata's face and couldn't help but be overcome with horror.

After the sleeping pills took effect, someone had taken Kamo and the others from the dining hall to their respective rooms. That made it clear that Kurata likely wasn't acting alone.

There should have been no less than twenty MegalodonSoft employees who had come to the island for the event, and they couldn't all be Kurata's accomplices. Even being generous, then, Kurata had imprisoned at least a dozen other employees in addition to Kamo and the game's other participants.

FUWA faltered for a moment, but quickly continued “I would advise you to release everyone right now. If you persist, your crimes will only grow worse.”

As a professional detective, FUWA had definitely handled many more cases than Kamo and the others, so his voice was calm, as though he were speaking to a child.

However, using this tone on Kurata backfired dramatically.

“This is why I hate detectives! You think you know better than everyone else, so you'll be forgiven no matter what you do!”

The rage was such that the avatar's molars showed, voice dripping with hatred.

The hatred Kurata exuded was so strong that even FUWA was shaken. Although it was just a virtual avatar in a virtual world, the momentary crack of Kurata's outburst gave Kamo just a peek at the real face hidden behind the mask.

Witnessing the change brought Kamo to a sudden realization.

What Kurata had been hiding wasn't garden variety malice, but a deep mixture of hatred, madness, and the desire for destruction. And now, this terrible emotion was directed squarely at them.

After about ten seconds had passed in silence, Kamo grit his teeth and threw out the question.

“What do you want?”

Kurata replied with a broad smile “Starting now, all of you are going to play a game in which you bet your lives. The name of the game is―― 'Delicious Death for Detectives'.”

“Don't be ridiculous.”

The raspy voice came from ROPPONGI. He rose from his seat and began pacing back and forth through the hall, his eyes always looking at Kurata with contempt.

“I've been seeing young people like you for decades... That's right, you all think you're amazing, superior beings. You demand the attention of the masses with absurd words, but in actuality there's no substance behind it all, just emptiness.”

Kurata's eyes narrowed.

“You think I'm a person like that?”

“I don't know what kind of horror game you want to play here... but in the end, it's just your petty, disgusting fun.”

However, Roppongi seemed to be alone in his optimism, as tension and unease had surfaced on the faces of all seven of the people left around the table.

Having just witnessed the malice in Kurata's heart, Kamo didn't dare be so naive as to think that “Delicious Death for Detectives” was just a ploy for attention.

Hearing the word “petty”, Kurata smiled once again.

“Thank you, I appreciate the compliment. However, 'Delicious Death for Detectives' isn't that different from the demo you all were expecting. There's only one difference, really.”

“If you fail in the game, you die in real life.”

ROPPONGI immediately returned to his taunts.

“Why are you still clinging to this idea... Nobody is going to be surprised to see a death game in this day and age.”

Kurata snorted before bursting into laughter.

“If you want to revolt, be my guest. It's just... I can't guarantee you'll survive.”

Undeterred by the threat, ROPPONGI walked to the window and then stopped, making the motion of pressing the button to lift his lenses, which weren't represented in the VR space.

“I don't have time for your nonsense. I'm leaving.”

After saying this, the virtual character of ROPPONGI remained motionless, with his right hand still to his temple.

The reason why ROPPONGI's movements froze was because he'd raised the lenses of his VR headset in the real world. As soon as that action was performed, the virtual avatar would enter a static state.

Kurata sighed and muttered “Roppongi left Puppet Hall... There's nothing we can do about it. Let's just move the stage to Megalodon Manor in the real world.”

***

Kamo lifted his lenses, then removed his headset as the connection between the operating device and RHAPSODY was broken automatically. In conjunction with the movement of his body away from the central pillar, the sphere's entrance opened up again.

Cream wallpaper, natural wood bed... This was the same room in the real world where Kamo had originally been.

He first took off his gloves and threw them on the bed. Wearing those things in real life just made it harder to move around.

The door to the room was equipped with a door lock and a swing bar lock, both in the style common to hotels. Right now the door was unlocked, so he turned the handle and walked out.

Outside the room was a corridor with a wooden floor.

A person suddenly walked out of the room to his right – it was Fuwa.

He was wearing a VR operation suit, so he couldn't see his iconic dark green vest. ...When he came a little closer, Kamo could feel the sense of pressure emanating from Fuwa. That was because he was nearly 190 cm tall and had a sturdy, muscular build.

However, his face was extremely mismatched with both his physique and his age, appearing particularly young. At the moment, he was frowning, as though he were facing a great difficulty.

“Mr. Roppongi's got a real temper, when he gets worked up like that, he just explodes... I hope he doesn't do anything stupid.”

As if in response to Fuwa's concern, the sound of a heavy object being dragged resounded from somewhere.

Kamo and Fuwa quickly followed the sound, and Yuki caught up with them shortly afterwards. They were all wearing VR suits that looked like combat suits at a glance, so even though they were in the real world, they gave of an extremely unrealistic feeling.

The sound came from the front door of Megalodon Manor.

Roppongi had dragged one of the wooden chairs from the dining hall. He hadn't even bothered to remove his VR headset or gloves, revealing messy white hair through the gap in his raised lenses.

“Attempting to leave Megalodon Manor is a serious violation of the rules.”

The security camera mounted near the ceiling had built-in speakers, and a familiar voice came from it. Roppongi grunted “Open the door. Didn't I tell you I was leaving? You and the remaining seven idiots can all play together.”

“...If you persist in your resistance, the death trap function in your smartwatch will be activated.”

“Hmph. Do it if you can!”

Roppongi shouted and raised his chair at the door. Kamo and the others tried to stop him, but it was too late.

Instantly, Roppongi's whole body suddenly started spasming. The chair slipped from his hands and hit the wooden floor with a piercing crash.

“The first victim's here.” Kurata murmured in an almost sing-song voice.

Roppongi stared desperately and shook his head, but all he could do was moan in a voice that wasn't human. He fell to the ground with a loud thud, followed by his body twitching on the floor. White foam spilled from the corners of his mouth.

“Get over here and help!”

Fuwa ran to Roppongi's side to attempt first aid.

Together, Kamo and Fuwa pushed Roppongi onto his side so that the white foam and vomit in his mouth would trickle out instead of choking him.

In the process of moving him, Fuwa's fingers touched the button on the VR headset and the lenses slid down, covering Roppongi's eyes. When the foaming had subsided a bit, Fuwa immediately removed the headset that was compressing Roppongi's head. Kamo, meanwhile, loosened Roppongi's tight VR operation suit and began to administer CPR.

However, all of these first aid measures were useless in the face of the poison. A few moments later, Fuwa lightly touched the side of Roppongi's neck with trembling fingertips and whispered “No... it's hopeless.”

Only a few moments had passed since the initial spasm.

All seven people had gathered in the entrance hall, and they gazed straight at the dead Roppongi as though they'd lost their souls.

Kamo removed the glove from the hand of the remains.

As he removed the glove from the right hand, the smartwatch unlocked and loosened, as if it could tell it had already completed its task. There was certainly no longer a pulse from Roppongi's wrist, and upon looking at the outside of the wrist, there was a fresh wound that matched that left by a poisoned needle.

“The death trap in the smartwatch wasn't a bluff.” Kenzan muttered lifelessly.

“...Awful!”

A woman who looked like the avatar AZUMA let out a shrill cry. She held her head in her hands and shook it desperately.

One of the names on the list of game participants was Azuma Yuzuha, so this must have been her.

Azuma was short in stature, only about 155 cm. At the same time, her body shape was on the chubby side, and her face and body were both very round, giving her a very soft feeling. At the moment, she had tears in her round eyes.

Kamo thought she was about to break down, but no. All that Azuma did was take a deep breath then glare at the security camera, her eyes as sharp as those of a cornered beast.

“If you lay a finger on that child... I will make you pay.”

Kurata's smile was so bright it could be heard: “I always heard that mother bears protecting their cubs are very violent, but now it seems that humans are the same. The hostages we picked are all family members or lovers that you'd be willing to protect with your lives. Now, does anyone else want to try to resist?”

This gratuitously heinous behavior made Kamo clench his teeth. With a face full of anger, Azuma asked the camera “Why do you hate us so much? Why would you do this to complete strangers?”

“Azuma, can you really not guess?”

While Azuma just looked confused, Fuwa mumbled with a bloodless face.

“The surname Kurata... Could it be...”

His gaze swept across the void, and he continued as if talking to himself: “That's right, he had two children... Could it be... Are you the daughter of Kurata Youji?”

“It seems you still remember the name of the man you killed.”

Fuwa reddened and shook his head like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

“No, that's...”

He tried to deny it, but he couldn't get the words out. Maybe it was because he remembered his opponent still had the remote to activate the poisoned needle at his wrist, or maybe it was something else. Either way, Fuwa kept his mouth shut.

Kurata continued smugly.

“Now you all get it, don't you? This is revenge.”

“Hmph–” Kamo heard a sigh and turned his head as a handsome young man who looked like the avatar MUNAKATA spoke impatiently “I get that you have a grudge against Fuwa, and I also get that you hate him enough to kill him. So I'm guessing there's someone else among us you also want revenge on, right?”

For a man, Munakata's voice was a bit shrill and had a distinctive rasp to it.

“...That's right.”

“In that case, just target them, why don't you? Leave the rest of us out of it; we all have nothing to do with this.”

His voice was cold. Perhaps it was because of his exceptionally dignified appearance that the coldness in his eyes seemed also exceptional.

A loud laugh suddenly exploded from the speakers.

“Ahahaha! What are you saying? There isn't a single person in your group that isn't involved! Fuwa and Munakata... all of you are in on it!”

“Because... we're all amateur detectives?” Yuki muttered.

Kamo obviously hadn't thought of that. It might have been that the only thing that all the people present had in common was that they were all amateur detectives. Yet, he had never considered that this fact was at all connected to Kurata's motive.

Yuki seemed to be right. Even through the speakers, he could hear the sudden waver in Kurata's breath.

At this point, Yuki was still talking to himself.

“I've been involved in and solved a few cases, but I've never considered myself 'a detective'... But in your eyes, I'm in the same category as them, aren't I?”

That must have been what lay in Yuki's heart.

Kamo didn't know why, but Yuki seemed to hate the title of detective.

A few years ago, on New Year's Eve, a drunken Yuki had told Kamo: “I... ugh... I hate that detective-y vibe you give off... like you can see through everything.” However, after saying those words that caused Kamo a great deal of pain, Yuki himself forgot all about it the next day.

Hearing those words, Kurata hummed a soft laugh.

“You're even more cunning than I thought. I didn't realize you were such a despicable person.”

“......Huh?”

“Are you trying to ask me to spare you because you're the only exception?”

Kurata's voice was dripping with undisguised disgust. Yuki froze at the words, and Kamo sighed softly before saying “Now I understand.”

“What?”

“It's not that you harbor a grudge against someone in particular, but that you hate all so-called amateur detectives, right?”

After a moment of silence, Kurata suddenly made a tired sound.

“Mr. Kamo, I really do pity you. You involve yourself in everything and can't stop yourself from poking your nose in. That's exactly the evidence that your nature is that of a detective.”

Kamo narrowed his eyes self-deprecatingly.

“It's hard to say. If something had gone wrong in the past, I might have become a criminal instead.”

“Childish sophistry. Whatever the case, there's no point guessing at my motives, because my motives won't change your circumstances.”

That was the issue, wasn't it? Even if they knew the game's motive, Kurata had already killed Roppongi. It was unlikely they could resolve things with words now.

Before long, Kurata murmured and continued “Without going into all that... aren't you all curious how you can survive my game?”

The woman who looked exactly like MICHI from the game replied “Could it be... as long as we beat the game, we and all the hostages will be released?”

Kamo remembered the name Michi Chiaki from the list of participants. With the suspicious air around her and the title “Jack-of-all-trades”, Kamo had assumed she was a man.

She was a woman who gave off a very unbalanced feeling.

Her full, dry lips gave her a soft, mature beauty, but her eyes were childish, radiating a mischievous light like a middle school student. On top of that, her body language was haunted by an air of sheer exhaustion with the world.

Kurata answered Michi's question with an exaggerated voice.

“As long as you detectives fulfill the conditions for victory, you will be freed and will be granted one wish. Whatever you wish for, I can grant it.”

It was the tagline from the advertisement for Battle Without Honor.

Kamo's mind flashed back to the witch with emerald green hair.

She looked perfect at a glance, but there was always the feeling of something missing... a witch that gave off a vague aura of madness and obsession... In the game, the Emerald Witch was a trickster and a troublemaker.

Hearing Kurata's answer, Michi looked skeptical.

“Can we trust you?”

“Of course. As the Gamemaster, I would never lie.”

Kenzan fiddled with his bangs as he asked “Don't you think your behavior's a bit contradictory? If you really wanted to kill us, you could have done it as soon as the sleeping pills took effect. Why go to the effort of organizing this roundabout game?”

“Good question. Actually, I originally planned to do just that... but everyone dies anyway, so how can I call it revenge if all I'm doing is hastening something already scheduled? First I have to put you all through the torment of a living, breathing despair that's far more painful than death.”

Michi's expression darkened for a moment, but soon formed a gentle smile.

“So it seems you don't intend on letting us live. What's the next part of the game?”

“I'm going to ask you all to play the VR game Mystery Maker 2, as scheduled.”

“...Huh?”

Michi's smile froze. However, the most alarmed person in the room was Kamo.

As scheduled? Am I still supposed to play the role of the murderer in this situation?

Azuma chose that time to scoff.

“I'm confused. I heard earlier that the person who will be playing the role of the murderer in the demo is one of us, so won't the game be cleared as soon as that person reveals whatever crime plan they came up with?”

“Ahahaha, how is that possible? Such a simple-minded idea, are you an amoeba or something?”

The words were clearly meant to provoke, and Azuma, who seemed to have a fiery temper, looked infuriated.

“Indeed, killers lurk among you, but like the detectives, I have hostages in my hands, so they can only do my bidding. In fact, aside from the murderer role... there's another person among you who is my accomplice.”

Kamo felt his stomach sink.

What little sense of companionship that had begun to sprout between the seven vanished in an instant, replaced by suspicion. They all stared at each other, all of them trying to find the traitor, however impossible it was.

Kurata should have seen this through the security camera, and cheerily continued “Please call my accomplice the 'Executioner'. From now on, the Executioner will serve as my right hand and offer you all up as blood sacrifices.”

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