It’s been a few days, and honestly? You’re not sure it’s possible to stay up any longer. Between the sleep deprivation and the Wardens’ cruel punishment of spilling secrets, the entire population is an irritable chaos. The IMs are always an explosive place and everyone’s just hanging on the edge of a breakdown.
When Xiangsheng Magician pops up on your phone’s screen in a video call, you almost, almost wonder if the torture of being sleep-deprived is going to end. Sure enough, she greets you warmly but with a forlorn expression.
“Please report to the play structure south of Dorm One. You have fifteen minutes. Attendance is mandatory. Thank you!”
With that, her visage is gone.
You take your time getting to the play structure. You don’t want to rush and be greeted by anything too bad — though you quickly realize that it’s not possible. You have to choke back your disgust, forcing yourself to approach closer until you can see the body fully.
( Oh my God. Someone actually did it! )
You recognize the victim as Yuri from Dorm Two. You know him vividly for his sarcastic and explosive attitude in the IMs, but it’s surreal that he’s dead. His body is hung by the ankles and soaked in blood. You assume it’s from the multiple cuts that litter his body, torn through his clothes. You could almost say he had been tortured to death, but you wonder if it’s possible, considering how public the area is. How did anyone get away with this?
You’re snapped by your thoughts as the wardens clap their hands in unison, a loud sound that does nothing but startle you. You’re still paying attention now, though.
“Honestly, I can’t believe it took this long,” Yuzu tells the crowd, inspecting her nails and not meeting your eyes. She’s the definition of relaxed, and it makes you sick.
“We were starting to get bored!” Serena chimes in, looking over you with her hands rested on her hips defiantly. You hear a few people whisper but you can’t manage it. “Let’s not waste time. You have a body and now you have a killer to find.”
“The time frame is one day,” Ruri adds, and you feel a protest bubble in your throat. Others protest as well, but a select few seem to just accept it. How odd. “Xiangsheng Magician has been kind enough to update your phones to help you a bit in your quest. Xiang?”
You open your phone, noticing the new app on the home screen — Nature’s Notes. You resist the urge to snort as you open it, noticing the file titled Nature’s Notes: File 1. You open it to find a fairly organized list. Details of the murder, you soon realize. You don’t get to read anything before Xiangsheng Magician’s form is projected from your screen. It’s the first time you’ve seen her in a semi-real form but you can’t appreciate it.
“The Nature’s Notes app will help you when you are investigating a death. The list you see when you open a file is the immediate information your Wardens have gifted to you, such as the time of death and cause of death. If you swipe to the right on that screen, you will be taken to a blank page. Here, you may take down notes which will then be shared with all of your fellow prisoners. If you instead swipe to the left, you will see a private notes page. Please note that while other prisoners cannot see what you write there, the Wardens and myself can. Please use this responsibly or risk confiscation.”
You realize that you had been holding your breath as Xiangsheng Magician’s holographic body flickers out, and you look back to the Wardens.
“There are some more things you should know,” Rin tells you, looking fairly amused with the situation. “The only people you can expect to tell the truth are the four of us. We will not lie to you, but that doesn’t mean we have to answer you either.”
“The magicians can also help you but we do have guidelines for what they can and can’t tell you. They also are not permitted to lie to you,” Ruri adds. She isn’t looking you in the eyes and seems pretty quiet. What’s up with her? “How you collect and share evidence is up to you — also know that one of you is a murderer. That means that not everyone you talk to will be telling the truth. Be on your toes.”
“This shouldn’t be too hard,” Yuzu muses, a smirk on her face. “Finally, on the lock screen of your phone, you’ll see a timer. That’s how much longer you have to solve this. When it hits zero, you must report here to the plaza for your trial. Your time starts...now!”
Yuuya Sakaki ( @pendulumrisen )
Lucy Arisato ( @ceruleansniper )
Yuri Plisetsky ( @lovagape )
Time of death was at 12:30 A.M.
The body was discovered at 11:25 A.M.
Cause of death is blood loss.
There are numerous lacerations.
The body was found hung upside down by the ankles.
There is no chafing around the ankles.
There is a knife embedded deep in the side of the victim’s neck.
The rope holding the body up is tied around the trunk to keep the body in place.
The scent of blood is strong in the area but not overwhelming.
There is very minimal blood in the surrounding area and most of it is found right underneath the body.
Nothing else seems out of place.
You are free to ask Yuzu, Serena, Rin or Ruri any questions you may have. That does not mean they will answer you. ( It really depends on their moods if you’ll get a satisfactory answer. )
The four wardens are not the only people you can ask questions to, there are various NPCs that you can ask questions to as well.
Yuzu, Serena, Rin nor Ruri will confirm or deny your alibis unless they are directly linked to them/ involve their presence in some way.
ALL INQUIRIES SHOULD BE SENT TO THIS BLOG.
The investigation period is purely an evidence collection period. There are no special requirements / asks / whatever you have to send into us. You are left on your own to look over the evidence provided and put together what you believe is a motive, a murder scene, and a culprit.
The mod team will not help you here unless within reason ( read: confirming found evidence, witness accounts, etc. )
Do NOT inject your own evidence into the scene without asking a mod. If you have guesses to where items (such as weapons, clothes, etc) may be, you can ask one of the mods. Unless you get it right, we will not tell you or give you permission to find these items.
Once the investigation period is over (give it a few days to a week), you will collect all evidence and present it at the trial and duke it out with your fellow group members to either prove someone’s innocence or their guilt.
If a mod adds any evidence or if anything else comes to mind, we will post it to the tag. Same for if another muse discovers evidence. Do not rush us for responses to inquiries about evidence / etc. We will reply as quickly as we can!
PLEASE NOTE THE ONLY PERSONAL ACCOUNT OF EVENTS (SOMEONE SAYING THEY SAW SOMETHING / DID SOMETHING) THAT CAN 100% BE BELIEVED IS YOUR WARDEN’S. ALL OTHER CHARACTERS MAY OR MAY NOT BE LYING. YOUR WARDENS ARE THE ONLY ONES YOU CAN TRUST TO NEVER, EVER TELL A LIE.
