[LP CYOA] Spiral

[Nevill]

Shinoseki has low self-esteem.

And Mitsuki and Kozaka called us a short fat otaku NEET because they have poor taste in men. Gotcha.

 

[treave]

Shinoseki has low self-esteem.

And Mitsuki and Kozaka called us a short fat otaku NEET because they have poor taste in men. Gotcha.

Grooming is important, Mitsuki's too young, and Kozaka doesn't want you putting the moves on Shiba.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

*sigh* we should have just found a way to kill all the men and eat their souls so they wouldn't reincarnate. Would have solved every problem in the LP. Well, maybe not, but whatever.

 

[treave]

Sakaki, Amanozaki, Sawada

‘The Witch’s Dance’. Sakaki Okitsu’s debut work. A captivating supernatural mystery which catapulted him into the public eye, it was acclaimed as one of the most influential books in 20th century Japan, and he was heralded as one of the most exciting new authors leading the vanguard of modern Japanese literature.

That was then.

This is now.

Sakaki bites down on the cigarette irritably. The editor’s comments are on his messy desk, where they had lain untouched for the past week. Too drawn out. Needs more sex. Ghosts are not popular nowadays, could you write about something else? Twenty books on from ‘The Witch’s Dance’, he has been relegated to a has-been, a writer stuck in a horror rut, a man who can only retread old ground and resurrect stale ideas. His attempts at changing genres had been met with even more derision than his usual writing. In a fit of frustration, Sakaki jabs out the cigarette on his manuscript, and begins thinking.

Hidetaka’s musings on Yomiki Village had helped him to write ‘The Witch’s Dance’. There were still unsolved mysteries there, both in real life and in his book. Maybe a revelation of truth would shed light on the inspiration that he knows is buried somewhere within him. From his early childhood, there had been something that he has always wanted to write, a dream that he wanted to convey in words, but it remained an incomprehensible haze, fleeting in and out of his grasp. ‘The Witch’s Dance’ was the closest that he had ever gotten to his wish.

As he sighs helplessly, Sakaki is suddenly reminded of Hidetaka’s last words, just a few days before he seemingly vanished from this world.

“We know that the Witch dances for the Maiden, but who… or what… is the Maiden?”

Sakaki lights up another cigarette. Perhaps he should take up the offer. To be the man that uncovers the full tale of Yomiki… that may just be what he needs for his magnum opus.

***

Amanozaki waves off the last of her clients for the day. She begins to pack up her street-side stall. Work had been relatively lucrative today, but…

“Hey, Young Miss! Hey!”

Definitely time to run. Hurriedly stuffing the last of her paraphernalia in the bag, she lifts the foldable table she had been using and hurls it at the group of scarred men in suits advancing upon her. The lead thug cries out in pain as the edge of the table catches him square in the face, and she takes the chance to break into a sprint, fleeing as fast as she can. She had hoped that they would not come today. Today is a rather important day after all. She did not know how her father had tracked her down, but there is no way she is going back.

Get married off to some underling, join the family business? Get real! She knows that quitting school and becoming a hostess was a pretty bad decision, as far as life decisions go, but she is quite happy where she is right now, thank you very much. The Sakaguchi-gumi are in her past. Being a famous occultist consultant to the stars is in her future. This, she has foreseen.

After being relatively sure that she has lost them – she didn’t slum in Tokyo for years without picking up some survival skills – Amanozaki heads towards the nearest park. Her father’s men will eventually catch up to her, and before that, she needs to make herself famous enough that they cannot drag her back.

Amanozaki looks at her cellphone: a message confirming that the noted writer Sakaki Okitsu would be at Ikei today. She had been promised that he would be of help: certainly, in this country his knowledge of the occult must be second only to Hidetaka Matsui.

She can’t fail. The story practically writes itself. A girl, descended from a family that moved out West generations ago to seek their fortune, returns to dispel the curse of their ancestral lands, and become famous in the process.

A greedy smile spreads across her lips as she begins imagining the celebrity lifestyle in her future.

***

“You’ll catch a cold, Maya.” Sawada carefully tucks her hand under the covers, taking great care not to dislodge the IV port. The only response he gets is the continuous beeping of the hospital monitors, but that does not discourage his gentle smile at all. He looks at the woman on the bed, her eyes wide open and staring blankly at the ceiling. “Ah, you’re going to dry your eyes out again. Hold on a minute.” Fussing about the side table, Sawada picks up the eye-drops. With a practiced hand, he places a few drops in the open, unblinking eyes.

“There, you should be comfortable now,” he says. After two years of tending to her, Sawada has gotten quite good at it. He still remembered the day he got the call clearly: she had come to the hospital for a routine check and had collapsed all of a sudden, ending up catatonic. He had rushed to the hospital the moment he found out – that had definitely infuriated his agent, and cost him a promising gig – and Seiji was the one to meet him at Ikei.

Apologetic in his cold way, his university buddy had calmly and quietly told him what was going on. An experiment in the hospital had gone wrong. Maya, and a few other patients, had gotten drawn into it entirely by accident, and that had affected their brains. In more simple terms, Seiji had put it, they lost their souls.

Sawada remembered being angry, grabbing Seiji’s collar, and demanding that he set things right.

He could not. Seiji was a marked man: he would be gone soon, one way or another, and he was truly helpless. It was the first time that Sawada saw his friend to be so emotional… so vulnerable. Seiji’s expression conveyed the feeling of some great loss, and though Sawada had grabbed him with every intention of giving the man a good sock to the jaw, he lowered his fist.

There was something he could do, however. Seiji reached into his pocket, and took out a mini USB drive. There were instructions inside, he claimed. A way to restore Maya’s soul to her. Sacrifices would have to be made, but if Sawada thought it was worth it…

He had agonized over it for months before finding his resolve.

If this was to succeed...

Was it worth it?

There was no doubt in Sawada’s mind.

There is still no doubt in Sawada’s mind.

All of the preparations are complete. All of the letters and messages have been sent out. All of the contacts have been made.

He stands up, gently brushing his girlfriend’s cheek with his hand one last time. Reaching into his pocket, he brings out a ring. He had bought it shortly before she was hospitalized - it was one she had picked out herself. Sawada slips the ring onto her finger quietly. Even if he fails, at least they will have this. Seiji’s instructions had been clear on one thing: the plan was akin to throwing dice into a raging ocean, and hoping that it came up with the number that they wanted. Once it began, there would be no way whatsoever to control it.

All they can do would be to attempt to rig the dice as much as they could, before they tossed it.

***

“What are you planning on doing, Sawada-san?” asks Sakaki, alarmed. This… is not what he expected.

“You wanted to see the true Yomiki, Sakaki-san. This is how,” replies Sawada. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep you safe.”

“W-wait, is this really necessary?” Amanozaki asks.

“That’s not-“ Sakaki’s shout is drowned out by a gunshot. He watches in horror as the doctor falls to the ground, groaning. The young man holding the gun trembles from rage and fear, not knowing what to do. Sawada moves towards him, whispers in his ear, and then sends him off.

***

“Sawada-san,” Sakaki says weakly, pleading.

Sawada ignores him, his eyes closed and his lips muttering a chant. Catching bits of it, Sakaki can’t help but gasp. It appears to be some form of Yomiki’s Ritual of Opening.

When Sawada is finished, he says, “Now it all starts. Tokigawa will serve as the initial gateway for the malice of the dead.”

“And… the point?” whispers Amanozaki, frightened by what has just happened.

“To create an offering so large that God cannot ignore it.”

***

As the last of the visions fade away, you realize that the plate has vanished, and that your surroundings have taken on a more life-like form. They are no longer silhouetted shapes, but actual buildings.

“We’re not at the exit yet, Acchan,” says Ei. “This is merely the next level of the labyrinth… so, what do you see? Where are we now? Where have the connections you made between the twelve led you?”

What you see before you is…

A. A Western-style manor in a quiet rural village.

B. A Western-style manor in a town that seems to have been repurposed as a military facility.

C. An old hospital made of brick and wood in the middle of a city robust with growth.

D. A large hospital, its sleek, gleaming towers connected by pathways of glass.

 

[Baltika9]

These are probably the different stages of the hospital's life. Everything here has started during the war/post-war period with the gold, so I'm voting for B. Could be persuaded to A, though.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

A

 

[Nevill]

These are probably the different stages of the hospital's life.

Obviously. Though everything seemed to start with baron Sakaguchi finding the book and diving into the occult with a serious instrument in his hands. Perhaps even earlier, since the builder appeared to be murdered during the construction of the mansion.

B attracts me most, since pedo-nazi-zombies swimming in gold, lolis and, uh, disembodied penises (if we go by the museum) are bound to be something special. Let's see how Maeda made his career in paediatrics and child psychology. I also assume this place contains the origin of the dismemberment mystery, as a result of which people disappear and their bodyparts end up in black bags.

But I wouldn't be opposed to continuing from where we left off and seeing the mystery of the Nurse through. Somehow, I don't think we can afford to skip it.

 

[Kz3r0]

A.

Let's go at the roots of all this.

 

[Kz3r0]

“We know that the Witch dances for the Maiden, but who… or what… is the Maiden?”

So we are missing an important part of the ritual, funny, for us its the opposite, we have an idea of whom the maidens are but we have no idea of whom the witches are, unless we got all wrong and Ei, Seika and Mitsuki are the witches channeling the Maiden and doing her bidding, in this case Fox guy's maid is probably the Maiden.

She can’t fail. The story practically writes itself. A girl, descended from a family that moved out West generations ago to seek their fortune, returns to dispel the curse of their ancestral lands, and become famous in the process.

So Amazonaki too has blood ties to the hospital, or at least her family is from the village practicing the Juunimon ritual, possiibly a distan relative of Uehara family.

“What are you planning on doing, Sawada-san?” asks Sakaki, alarmed. This… is not what he expected.

“You wanted to see the true Yomiki, Sakaki-san. This is how,” replies Sawada. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep you safe.”

“W-wait, is this really necessary?” Amanozaki asks.

Look, we hit the jackpot with these three, in hindsight was obvious, two occultists were summoned in the same place, the most obvious reason was for performing a ritual

When Sawada is finished, he says, “Now it all starts. Tokigawa will serve as the initial gateway for the malice of the dead.”

“And… the point?” whispers Amanozaki, frightened by what has just happened.

“To create an offering so large that God cannot ignore it.”

So this is a blend of my two hypothetic scenario, the malice caused the slaughter but at the same time the slaughter was the set-up for the ritual, on that I was right.

 

[Kayerts]

She can’t fail. The story practically writes itself. A girl, descended from a family that moved out West generations ago to seek their fortune, returns to dispel the curse of their ancestral lands, and become famous in the process.

So Amazonaki too has blood ties to the hospital, or at least her family is from the village practicing the Juunimon ritual, possiibly a distan relative of Uehara family.

Amazonaki is a descendant of Baron Sakaguchi. She mentions her father as a member of the Sakaguchi-gumi, and based on some later comments--referring to it as "the family business," getting married off to "some underling" (because there is no one of equal or greater status to act as an option)--plus the fact that her father was able to send a large number of underlings to try to apprehend her, she is in all likelihood the boss's daughter. "Gumi" means "syndicate;" the Sakaguchi-gumi is the Sakaguchi syndicate or the Sakaguchi crime family. Yakuza organizations generally take their names after their founder rather than their current leadership, which is not always hereditary, but it seems very likely that they are in this case.

 

[Kz3r0]

Let see the connections with the hospital we know of:

Direct Relation With The Juunimon Tree Village

Uehara, twin of Seika, the current maiden/witch, probably both descendants of the medium/exorcist that helped the Baron to start this mess.
Amazonaki, her family is from the Juunimon village where all started, related to the Baron.
Maeda, related to the aforementioned Baron.


Spiritua l Connections

Mitsuki, prospect miden/witch, medium, seems friendly with the ghost Kana, Mori's niece.
Mori, his niece is ghost in the hospital.
Kaiano, relative of the pool ghost.


Direct Connections

Sawada, nurse in the hospital, his love interest is a patient in there, other connections unknown.
Tokigawa, doctor in the hospital, his love interest is a pnurse in there, other connections unknown.
Okuyama, nurse in the hospital, her love interest is a doctor in there, other connections unknown.
Taketatsu, project lead in the Experiment, other connections unknown.

Indirect Connections

Sakaki, occultist, follower of the journalist Matsui who is a ghost in the hospital at the moment.
Sakimura, Uehara schoolmate and would be boyfriend,

 

[Akkudakku]

I vote A> B. Would like to get the full story. And most probably the earlier the time frame the less supernatural shit and more exposition.
Might even come out all this is a self-fulfiling prophecy.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

Hmm. I had wanted to solve the mystery of the nurse. Oh, well. C>B

Edit: flop to A>B

 

[Nevill]

You know, I'll side with Lambchop on that one and follow the dong compass. Kagusa-chan was cute. Nazis are less likely to be. C>B.

 

[Kz3r0]

I vote A> B. Would like to get the full story. And most probably the earlier the time frame the less supernatural shit and more exposition.
Might even come out all this is a self-fulfiling prophecy.

Here's why I think we should vote A:
It's more interesting to tread new ground.
This era predates the Experiment and the pool ghost, so no need for an exorcism and probably both Juuzo and Seiji have less 'power'.
Conversely our 'allies', Ei and Fox Guy, are stronger.
If my guess about Ei is correct we can even encounter her before the book transformation.
Apropos treave can we ask Ei which era,/ building she prefers and in which one she is strobger, also if is it possible to encounter her physical self and in which era if yes.
Sawada when heading towards the basement called that confronting the mid boss, considering that the basement hosts the computer running the experiment, and probably the maiden/witch, that sshould be the final boss, unless there is another stage to clear.
Remember that after the Maeda ending Fox Guy said that we managed to reconstruct our broken psyche, from there we reachd Kaimei the hospital before Ikei, basically we travelled back in time or advanced of one stage, seems reasonable that the mansion where all started is the final stage.
Let's examine the various stages now:
Ikei, modern day era, we had little control or help there.
Kaimei, we got the Lolicomicon, better control over ourselves and people started to trust and help us.
Until now we thought of Shinnoseki Adachi as a construct of the quantum computer/abyss hivemind, but is possible that he is one of the wandering souls, it's possible that the more we regress the more we are approaching our corporeal self, hence we become stronger.

 

[Nevill]

On a more serious note, I am afraid that we might be skipping a part of the story if we jump through a whole arc. What if we can't go back afterwards? If one wants a full story, does it not make sense to read the book page by page insted of opening it in the middle, or skimming through the epilogue?

I assume that Ikei->Kaimei->Ward 169->Sakaguchi mansion is the natural order in which the story was supposed to be revealed.

We have learned the Ikei part, more or less (we still don't know about the first experiment, though). We have barely began scratching Kaimei, and we are completely in the dark about the other two.

 

[Kz3r0]

You know, I'll side with Lambchop on that one and follow the dong compass. Kagusa-chan was cute. Nazis are less likely to be. C>B.

With A we could encounter our Loli waifu when she was a girl and not a book, nothing is cuter than a loli.
Choose A, kawai power.

 

[Nevill]

With A we could encounter our Loli waifu when she was a girl and not a book, nothing is cuter than a loli.
Choose A, kawai power.

To hear the rumors tell it, Maeda Keiji was grooming lolis in droves while he was in charge in Kaimei, so I don't see why that's an argument.

We can save them all and have our own imouto following! How cute would that be?

 

[Grimgravy]

B

C>B

 

[Kz3r0]

I assume that Ikei->Kaimei->Ward 169->Skaguchi mansion is the natural order in which the story was supposed to be revealed.

My guess as well, seeing how we unlocked the whole sequence maybe our choices weren't so bad after all.
We have two options now, cheat and powergame by jumping to the final stage or play the whole sequence.
However going straight to A is the most natural choice, if this wa real, who could want to confront unknown dangers more than necessary?
Unless going through the various stages is the only way to clean this mess I don't see why we should take the risk.

 

[Kz3r0]

With A we could encounter our Loli waifu when she was a girl and not a book, nothing is cuter than a loli.
Choose A, kawai power.

To hear the rumors tell it, Maeda Keiji was grooming lolis in droves while he was in charge in Kaimei, so I don't see why that's an argument.

Don't compare that creep to us, our love is pure .

 

[Nevill]

Unless going through the various stages is the only way to clean this mess I don't see why we should take the risk.

I suspect that is the case. All of these stages contain a puzzle. The Ikei one was to assemble the parts of Seika's essense. The Kaimei one was to put the Nurse to rest. The nazi part might have something to do with children.

Solving them, in theory, makes things 'better'. It weakens the malice, purifies the place, breaks the bonds that lock us in this cycle, allowing us to proceed farther. I suppose if we skip some of them we might have it worse down the road. Perhaps it will affect our ending, our chances tio find a satisfying resolution to this mess.

But even if it doesn't and it just locks us out of a chapter, leading to us missing on a story, it is still bad.

Don't compare that creep to us, our love is pure .

I am not comparing, I am just saying that Kaimei has more lolis for us to mamoru. Hell, even Ikei has more lolis, see Kana.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

On a more serious note, I am afraid that we might be skipping a part of the story if we jump through a whole story arc. What if we can't go back afterwards? If one wants a full story, does it not make sense to read the book page by page insted of opening it in the middle, or skimming through the epilogue?

I assume that Ikei->Kaimei->Ward 169->Skaguchi mansion is the natural order in which the story was supposed to be revealed.

We have learned the Ikei part, more or less (we still don't know about the first experiment, though). We have barely began scratching Kaimei, and we are completely in the dark about the other two.

Exactly. And with C we - hopefully - continue near where we left off. With A, B, D, we have no idea how much of a timeskip there will be.

 

[Kz3r0]

I suspect that is the case. All of these stages contain a puzzle. The Ikei one was to assemble the parts of Seika's essense.

Hmm, maybe the change of stage is due to Uehara succeding in collecting all the talismans, or maybe the Juunimon talisman made the trick?

The Kaimei one was to put the Nurse to rest. The nazi part might have something to do with children.

Our previous successes in solving these ' puzzles' doesn't bode well for future ones.

Solving them, in theory, makes things 'better'. It weakens the malice, purifies the place, breaks the bonds that lock us in this cycle, allowing us to proceed farther. I suppose if we skip some of them we might have it worse down the road. Perhaps it will affect our ending, our chances tio find a satisfying resolution to this mess.

Actually going at the root seems a better option to me, the only caveat I see is that maybe we risk to lose some of our 'companions' if we don't bring them with us.

But even if it doesn't and it just locks us out of a chapter, leading to us missing on a story, it is still bad.

Unless treave grant us infinite reloading the 'whole' story could become very short and unfinished.

 

[Nevill]

I might be mistaken, but I don't think the structure of the story is a coincidence.

Present time. People go missing in the Ikei hospital, accidents happen (see the notice). Culprits: Juuzo, Seiji, and perhaps supernatural possessions. They do something to the victims and they end up in the underworld where they are devoured by hateful spirits. Amanozaki singles out the Nurse as the cause of the spiritual distortion in the area. Seika seems to be the one doing damage control, but she is helpless to actually change anything major.

Way to proceed: gather 100 talismans, something-something that we missed and Uehara didn't understand, delve deeper into Kaimei.

Kaimei. We learn that the Nurse wasn't always a hateful spirit, but a woman who was murdered in an exceedingly sadistic way. The cause of her eventual breakdown and falling out of favor with the ones in power was the mistreatment of children by the director, Maeda Keiji. We have seen the ghosts of children around, though those seemed to me like they were from the war era.

Way to proceed: pacify the Nurse, which has something to do both with the director and young patients, delve deeper into Ward 169.

Ward 169. Some people run experiments on children. Maeda seems to be involved somehow (?)

Way to proceed: ??? (show compassion for the kids? reveal their fates to the future generations? what else can bring them peace?)

Sakaguchi Mansion: ??? (supposedly, here lies the heart of the maze and Seika herself)

So each puzzle contains a part of the solution, and that solution sheds some light on the next puzzle.