* EPHEMERAL.

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                                                               CHAPTER FIVE END                                                        STUDENTS REMAINING: 1/14.

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CHAPTER FIVE | Out of Infinity

The final five participants of the killing game gather for one last time to discover the mysteries behind Neo Hope's Peak Academy. Everything has lead up to this moment, it's time to finally unmask the mastermind behind the killing game.

The first thing on everyone's minds is the eerie similarities between the situation they have found themselves in and the fates of the students who attended the original Hope's Peak Academy. Fourteen years ago in the year 2000 an explosion had occurred that had completely leveled the building. The tragedy left only one survivor who later went missing herself shortly afterwards.

But just what had happened that lead to the destruction of the academy? Was it just a horrific accident or had this all been planned?

Another mystery is the existence of a group known only as Agrippa. Agrippa appears to be a secret organization or cult of some sort and it seems likely that they have ties to the killing game. Some of the students were even able to discover a secret hidden message left by Agrippa in which they claim to be there to rid them of a disease or illness that they had contracted.

But... Nobody there felt ill. At least not any more than they did before. Was there any truth to this or was it all just another mind game from the mastermind.

One last big piece of evidence was the class rosters for the classes of 2000 and 2014.

The 2000 class roster is as follows:

Agatsuma Junko, the Super High School Level Idol

Aimi Yoko, the Super High School Level Meteorologist

Amazawa Dango, the Super High School Level Confectioner

Funaki Gota, the Super High School Level Shepherd

Harima Hana, the Super High School Level Shrine Maiden

Hiromoto Miyuko, the Super High School Level Comedienne

Kataku Nanami, the Super High School Level Roller Blader

Michimi Kino, the Super High School Level Cyclist

Mizumroi Isao, the Super High School Level Lifeguard

Namie Takamasa, The Super High School Level Basketball Player

Nomoto Ishin, the Super High School Level Archer

Sahada Norinao, the Super High School Level Brawler

Sanba Otoha, the Super High School Level Carpenter

Wakiya Kanpei, the Super High School Level Radio Show Host

Yatagai Morifumi, the Super High School Level Novelist

Yoshimura Yumia, the Super High School Level Cosmetologist

For the most part it's names that are mostly unrecognizable. After all, you were just an infant when they died. But one of those names does look a little familiar. Almost like you know somebody by that name.

Agatsuma Junko, the Super High School Level Net Idol

Alexander Hikaru, the Super High School Level Journalist

Ayanokouji Miharu, the Super High School Level Street Medic

Hanamura Chitose, the Super High School Level Engineer

Ito Keizo, the Super High School Level Firefighter

Izayoi Namiko, the Super High School Level Figurehead

Kaiketsu Reo, the Super High School Level Alternative Media Storyteller

Mishra Cristóbal Luiz Castillo, the Super High School Level Polo Athlete

Monroe Catrina Edna, the Super High School Level LARPer

Nagase Kyoji, the Super High School Level Sprinter

Saito Yuna, the Super High School Level ASMRtist

Satono Naruki, the Super High School Level Office Assistant

Shakai Jinrui, the Super High School Level Cult Leader

Shinohara Hinata, the Super High School Level Tennis Pro

Shirokawa Junko, the Super High School Level Winemaker

Sugiyama Goro, the Super High School Level Critic

Meanwhile this list has two extra students and... That wasn't the talent that Jin had claimed to have at the beginning. And you thought the name Junko Agatsuma sounded familiar!

Eventually it comes up that Jin and one of the missing students, Namiko, are closely linked and that Namiko was spared being forced to participate in the killing game as she had to stay back home to perform Jin's duties.

Now there's four clear possibilities of just who was behind this killing game.

Namiko, the mysterious missing cult figurehead.

Jin, the secret cult leader amongst them.

Junko Agatsuma, AKA HOSHI, a supposed survivor of the 2000 Hope's Peak Academy disaster.

Catrina, a second mysterious missing student that seems to have no connections to any of the remaining survivors.

Everyone gathers for one final trial to seek the answer to this last dilemma.

During the trial both Junko Agatsuma and Jin confess to being members of the organization that arranged the killing game, Agrippa, with Junko being the leader. Meanwhile Jin was a sort of asset for Junko, using his skills of social manipulation to push the game in all the directions that Junko needed it to go.

But there's still one big question on everyone's minds... How is Junko Agatsuma still alive? And how did she manage to fit in amongst the others so easily despite logically being in her 30's?

Junko reveals that her class had a genetic experiment performed on them by Hope's Peak Academy which would effectively make them immortal. From that day on Junko began to heal from wounds at superhuman speeds and she no longer aged like a normal human would. And as time has gone on her theoretical immortality has only grown stronger to the point where she's afraid that soon she may be completely incapable of dying.

This is when she reveals to the other four that they too now had to bare her curse. Neo Hope's Peak Academy had recruited her once again to use her genes in order to make her other 15 classmates theoretically immortal as well.

For this reason she organized the group known as Agrippa in order to take down Hope's Peak Academy for everything that they had put her through. However, she didn't want the others to have to live even 14 years like she had, being unable to age and treated like a lab experiment. So she planned to kill each and everyone of her classmates while they still had the chance to die. And she wanted to do it in such a twisted and gruesome way that Hope's Peak Academy would never be able to come back from.

And at this point it becomes clear that just because the game was coming to an end that didn't mean the remaining participants would be leaving with their lives.

You check your bracelet to see the time only to realize...

00:00:03…

00:00:02…

00:00:01…

BOOM!!

A bright light fills your vision and then... It's all over. It seems that in the end HOSHI, or Junko Agatsuma, had gotten exactly what she had wanted all along.

In the end there was only one survivor among the fourteen that participated in the killing game. Though it wasn't any of the five that had made it all the way to the very end. No, instead it was Kyoji Nagase who had jumped out of the building at the very start. His newly obtained theoretical immortality proved handy in this moment as he was ultimately able to survive his fall. From that day he continued to run from his problems traveling along the coast of Japan and spending his free time fishing. From that day he donned a new alias, Akira Chousei.

But this wasn't the ending that you wanted, right?

This story isn't finished yet.

Because you are still trapped in the infinity loop.

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BREAK!! | The Beginning of the End

Hey there! It's been quite a while since one of these informational posts, hasn't it?

Regardless of if you're new to DR OC RP or if this is your fiftieth group, you might find our system for this next phase a bit different. This phase shall have a lot less structure to it than a normal group might.

First things first, investigation of the new area will be conducted via a private channel in the Discord server. Each game will have their own separate one. When investigating, say which room you wish to enter, and the moderator(s) will post a text blurb explaining what's there at a glance.

Should your character wish to examine anything further, please bold what you are investigating and ping your respective game's mod. They will try and get to you as soon as possible.

There is no formal 'Mastermind Trial' and thus there shall be no voting or even a need to return to the trial room, though everyone's characters most certainly can. However, after all the locations have been investigated, any and all IC posts will be submitted to your respective game blog much like how trials operate. This shall be your opportunity for your characters to discuss with one another why they think they've all been brought here to Neo Hope's Peak under these circumstances. Once they reach their answer, something will occur.

Posts can be submitted at any point after you feel as if your character has finished investigating.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask! Thank you for your continued interest in Exaivi!

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MAP UPDATE:

Laboratory

Treatment Center

Control Room

Break Room

Investigate in your game’s text channel on the Discord for more information!

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                                                                  CHAPTER FOUR END                                                           STUDENTS REMAINING: 5/14.

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CHAPTER 4 | There’s A Catch

The video finally comes to an end. There’s a moment of silence before Daichi speaks up once again.

“Just as promised, this killing game is now officially over. We won’t be having anymore motives or trials. This is it.”

“Howeverrrrrrr... I never said you could leave. That would be too easy, right?”

This has to be some sort of joke, right? Naruki sacrifice would mean nothing if Daichi still won’t let everyone leave. He promised...

“Everyone please make your way over to the elevator at once. But this time I won’t be taking you back to the academy. I’ve decided that it’s time for you all to find out the real reason why you are all here right now.”

You’re not entirely sure what he could mean by that. Why does any of this matter, why can’t he just let the few of you that made it this far go home?

Regardless, you make your way over to the elevator as instructed. Once everyone is inside, instead rising up you feel the elevator descend downwards. Once the door opens up you find yourself in a completely new area, some place you could have never imagined.

It’s time to discover the dark secrets of Neo Hope’s Peak Academy.

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CHAPTER 4 | Liminality

You look down at your bracelet as the execution begins to play. This time you see Naruki standing in what looks like a typical office setting. But the closer you look, you realize that something is a bit... off. The fluorescent lights that line the ceiling seem to be much brighter than they really need to be. And unlike sunlight, these fluorescent lights bathe everything in an unpleasant off yellow color.

The office around them is also a little unsettling even outside of the blinding lights, as there are desks and cubicles abound, but no people. No, not just that, there's really nothing there at all. No office chairs for anyone to sit at, no computers to work on, no decorations to bring some personalization to one’s workspace. It's like what you'd imagine an office might look like after a business just shut down and had to move all their supplies and materials out, leaving only what is too big to move.

Naruki begins to look around their surroundings before stepping off towards the nearest doorway. The camera you're watching through follows closely behind them as they enter out into a hallway that seems to stretch on forever in both directions. As they walk down the hallway they peer into the other rooms that occasionally appear along the walls of the hallway. But each and every room seems to just be more and more empty office space. Sometimes they even have openings up into what looks like even more expanses of hallways.

Eventually they decide to try exploring one of the different hallways, only to find more of the same. More empty hallways, more empty office spaces and rooms. Occasionally they run into something a little different, like an empty bathroom or an empty supply closet, but really nothing that points any closer to an exit. Just more emptiness, more yellow fluorescent lights. You're not sure if you're imagining it or not, but the light hum that the lights give off seems to only get louder and louder as the minutes pass.

After a while Naruki switches from walking, to power walking, to eventually full on jogging throughout the massive, seemingly endless facility. No matter how far they run, how many twists and turns they take, it never seems to lead anywhere meaningful, though. Once all of their stamina is used up they come to a full stop so that they can take a chance to catch their breath. Looking around at their surroundings everything seems normal, but for some reason Naruki stumbles backwards in a panic. Your only guess is that they must have seen something in one of the doorways or around a corner for a brief moment.

They get back up to their feet and begin running back at full speed, ignoring their aching, tired body. It's at this point you notice just how much they've been sweating. Sweats pours down their face like an open faucet and their clothes are absolutely drenched. At first you guess that it probably has to do with how much they've been running around. But that can't just be it. The bright fluorescent lights surely can't be of much help either. In fact, just looking around at the whole facility you can't help but realize just how... dry it all looks. Everything is covered in dust and you can practically smell just how musky the place must smell even just looking at it.

As Naruki runs they constantly look behind them as if something is chasing them. But when the camera you're gazing through points to the hallways and rooms behind him you don't see anything. It's as if they're just running from nothing, or something in their imagination. And as they approach a doorway that looks about the same as all of the rest of the hundreds of doorways you must have already seen they stop dead in their tracks once again. But nothings there. And yet still, they spin around in such a hurry that that in their attempt to run away from whatever they must have seen they slam right into one of the walls instead of the doorway they intended to run through.

The pressure from the impact knocks the wind out of them, sending them falling to the floor in defeat. They no longer have the strength or willpower to keep going as the bright lights slowly work to eliminate what little bit of moisture and hydration that still exists in their body.

Naruki Satono, the Super High School Level Office Assistant has been executed.

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CHAPTER 4 |  One Last Time

“Alright everyone. That’s enough.”

Daichi appears once again, breaking the tension as everyone waits for the final execution to begin.

Suddenly the floor beneath Naruki opens up, dropping him into the inky abyss below. Moments later the chasm below closes back up.

“Now then, please direct your attention to the screen on your bracelet.”

You look down at your bracelet to view the execution. You can only hope this will be the last time you’ll have to go through this traumatic experience again.

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does killing the moment count as a murder | Jin | Vierthea 4-1

The roulette of fate spun once again, landing on exactly who he thought it would. There was never any doubt in his mind that he was correct - even with Hikaru’s tactics switching from gunning for him to an attempted self-sacrifice, the truth of the fourth case won out in the end.

Naruki wanted to come to terms with what had happened, prepare himself for the consequences, and it seemed as if he’d managed to do so. Hikaru, on the other hand…

“...”

For a moment, it almost seemed like Jin would be respectful enough to let them have that moment quietly.

Almost.

“If you were so desperate to save Satono, you could have pulled that stunt with the 'confession' faster. Maybe you would have persuaded more people if you were able to convince them of how you pulled it off before you met me and HOSHI.

What?

“If we were on better terms, I might have been more willing to help you deflect the suspicion onto yourself. I’m sure I could have come up with something to support your account of events. I have no interest in seeing you dead, but if you were so determined then who would I be to deny you what you so desperately wanted?”

Is… this really what’s happening right now? Yes? Cool.

“But no. Your hatred of me and refusal to make amends was stronger than your desire and will to protect Satono, and that is why you failed. All I did is what I’ve been doing all along - bringing the truth of these cases to light. And now you'll have to live with the truth of Satono’s crime for the rest of your life. Whether you watch him die or not, you will know what happened. How long are you going to keep resisting reality like this?”

“I warned you that you were going to regret what you did, Kakimasu. It’s a shame it had to turn out this way.”

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Left Behind | Hikaru | Vierthia 1

“You…!”

“You…”

Slowly Hikaru’s expression softens, more and more, until...his eyes water. I’m starting to regret not getting him any crying icons.

“You dumbass…”

There isn’t hate, or even anger in Hikaru’s voice. He’s hurt. 

“Why does it matter if this is the last case? You had to go and get yourself killed now?! I…”

Hikaru knows that there wasn’t exactly any better outcome, he didn’t want to die, he didn’t want anyone to die. He knew it had to be Naruki, it all made sense, he just so badly wanted to be wrong.

“...What am I supposed to do now? You’re the first person I’ve trusted in...so long...and now what? You’re just gonna leave me?”

Hikaru’s words tremble as he grips his tie, now crying for real.

“I c-I can’t just watch you die..."

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Clocking Out | Naruki | Vierthea 1

Time seemed to go by extremely quickly for Naruki. Once Hikaru had spoken up to confess that he did the murder, Naruki froze up as he listened to everything going on. They obviously knew that Hikaru wasn't the killer... because Naruki was the one who did it. It wasn't until he had to agonizingly wait for the votes to tally up and reveal that he was, in fact, the killer of Reo Kaiketsu. He exhaled sharply, but it wasn't one of frustration or anger.

Instead it was one of relief.

"Thank god..."

His first response after that was to then turn towards Hikaru.

"You really didn't need to do that, Kakimasu... I've already had to kill someone over this, and I sure as hell didn't want to kill another. Especially if they weren't involved."

Naruki's voice didn't show much annoyance while he said this to Hikaru, but it didn't have the usual stoic tone he usually kept up. As time went on though, the feeling of guilt eventually started to show on his voice.

"...But I'm sorry. I know it doesn't much, but that's all I got right now. I don't think I had any other option aside from letting the bomb go off, and it would've been stupid to kill 7 people off that way. I didn't trust that anyone else would've done it, that was for sure... and I at least wanted to draw this trial out to actually have time to come to terms with what actually happened..."

"...But I mean, this is the last case you're gonna have to deal with, right?

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CHAPTER 4 | Flip Flop

After what feels like an agonizingly long wait you finally receive the vote tally. It looks like Naruki did received the most votes after all. Daichi finally returns to break the news.

“So it seems that the majority has chosen to vote Naruki Satono as the culprit.”

“I’m sure you’re all dying to know if this was the correct choice. Well, the answer to that is...”

“Yes! I can’t believe it, but you are all 4 for 4! I’m so proud of my students.”

So you actually had gotten it right this time! With the last minute confession it was getting pretty hard to tell just who the culprit actually was. But despite all of that you still managed to pull through yet again.

“Now then. You’ll have a few moments to say your goodbyes while I prepare the execution.”

And with that, Daichi disappears. Thankfully at least this should be the last time you’ll ever have to sit through one of these executions ever again.

[ephemeralxiv]

Calculating votes…

Naruki Satono - 4 Hikaru Kakimasu - 2

NARUKI SATONO, SHSL OFFICE ASSISTANT, HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY.

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CHAPTER 4 | Down to the Wire

It seems like time has run up. Daichi reappears once again to speak.

“Alright everyone, it’s time to lock in your votes.”

All of this was really coming down to the wire. Who is the real killer? Hikaru or Naruki? Or was it someone else entirely?

After a few moments of awkward silence Daichi speaks up again.

“Okay, that seems to be everyone’s votes. Please wait patiently while I tally all of these.”

The suspense is killing you. But you have no choice but to wait to hear the final verdict.

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No Time | Hikaru | Trial 4-8 | RE:Cris

“Tch. We don’t have time to explain how I set it up, now do we? I can explain after the voting, if I must. Just...don’t vote for Naruki for something he didn’t do.”

A short response, there’s not much else to say.

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Getcha head in the game | Cris | Trial 4-3 | RE: Hikaru

Cris sighed, and combed his hair with his hand. For once this was wearing on him.

“Cut the shit kid. You were with Jin.” 

He leaned against his podium. 

“You didn’t physically have the means to do the hit so you’re not the culprit.”

 Cris rolled his head, stretching his neck.