Chapter 160 Tears.

Tsukino and Chiya have been at this academy for several days now.

His first day at Talent Prison Academy was also the first day that the high school students he had spent time with had arrived there.

The people here… including the bears, can't see them. Tsukino and Chiya quickly confirmed this. Given the false world created by the red-haired doll to provide them with clues, Tsukino and Chiya weren't particularly surprised or frightened by their current situation, and accepted this development quite naturally.

This is the past, and specifically, the past of Oma Kokichi.

Tsukino and Chiya were certain of this.

The memories of the students gathered at the Talent Prison Academy were not complete, so while they were exchanging clues they knew, Tsukino and Chiya, who were openly listening in, also gained a lot of information.

While they couldn't rule out the possibility that the memories of these students, all of whom held the title of Ultimate High School Student, had been tampered with or that someone had intentionally concealed something, Tsukino and Chiya were more inclined to believe that this was a new world without Hope Peak... probably, at least it was definitely Ouma Shokichi's past.

If you were to ask why Tsukino and Chiya were so certain about this...

This is because the "memory" here is not very stable.

While the past that Tsukino and Chiya can see now is mainly focused on Saikiku Academy, the scene before them occasionally shifts suddenly, turning into earlier memories related to Ohma Kokichi... These memory fragments don't appear for very long. According to Tsukino and Chiya's observations, the earlier Ohma Kokichi's memories appear, the shorter the time they take. Sometimes they just flash by without giving any additional information.

It only allowed Tsukino and Chiya to catch a glimpse of what Ouma Kokichi looked like as a child.

He's absolutely adorable. He's the kind of kid who makes you like him just by his looks. I wonder if he's always had this kind of personality since he was little...

However, although they couldn't clearly see some of Ouma Kokichi's earlier past experiences, Tsukino and Chiya didn't feel regretful.

He was indeed very curious about Ouma Kokichi's past. However, Tsukino and Chiya also knew very well that Ouma Kokichi was different from themselves.

If Tsukino and Chiya were using their own secrets and past as leverage to invite Ohma Kokichi to play the game of "Want to guess my secret?", then Ohma Kokichi was deliberately using lies to completely cover up his past, with no intention of revealing it to others.

Under these circumstances, if Tsukino and Chiya can find any clues about Ohma Kokichi's past on their own, that's their own ability. But if they rely on Aurora's power to directly observe...

Although if Aurora really put the relevant information in front of him, he would still look into it for the clues.

However, although they didn't find any useful clues from those memory fragments, Tsukino and Chiya still managed to analyze some information.

Aurora may not have done it on purpose.

Tsukino and Chiya thought to themselves.

Although she gained the power to interfere with a portion of spacetime, this level of ability was still a bit too overpowered... Even though Aurora claimed to have completely mastered the power, her actions regarding spacetime were still subject to many limitations.

At least that's how Tsukino and Chiya judged it.

Perhaps, unlike the situation where Tsukino and Chiya would arrive directly the next morning at a certain time at night—a situation likely intentionally orchestrated by Aurora—the reason why fragments of Ouma Kokichi's earlier memories occasionally appear in the scenes of the Prison Academy within his memories is... because Aurora cannot fully control the power of spacetime.

After all, these are different worlds, aren't they? No matter how strong the doll is, it can only barely cross the world to see and show some fragments of past memories... As for the fact that Ohma Kokichi appeared in the world where Tsukino and Chiya are, it should be an accident caused by Aurora's inability to control the power when she first obtained it.

Thinking about it this way, shouldn't I be grateful for this unexpected turn of events? Although it might sound a bit cheesy... it really was this unexpected turn of events that led me to meet Ouma Kokichi, right?

While he couldn't be completely certain of Aurora's intentions yet, he had indeed learned more about Wangma Xiaoji through what he had seen at the Talent Academy these past few days.

Although... there are some things that you can only be more certain of after seeing them with your own eyes.

Tsukino and Chiya could better understand why Ohma Kokichi was in that state when they first found him.

Wang Ma... he really has it tough.

If it were me, I could also be like Ohma, escaping from a bizarre death game only to find myself suddenly in a completely new and unfamiliar world, utterly alone, and told that I've been marked by a strange entity and could be drawn into dangerous and bizarre events at any time...

It was truly remarkable that Ohma was able to recover so quickly, at least superficially, and even integrate into this world almost perfectly.

He truly lives up to his reputation as Ouma Kokichi.

These past few days, quite a few things have happened at Caiqiu Academy. Tsukino and Chiya watched from beginning to end, witnessing several student registration trials. He had only heard about these kinds of things from others before, but seeing it with his own eyes... watching these peers being forced into these things, killing or being killed, searching for the real culprit among their companions, the feeling was definitely different.

Tsukino and Chiya knew very well that all of this was in the past.

...Yes, it's all in the past. The lives and deaths of the people here are predetermined, so he can't change anything. Even if he could actually interact with the people or events inside, he could only change a fleeting memory of the past, not affect the real reality.

Since we know we can't change it, we shouldn't invest too much emotion in things we can't control.

Is that right?

But if only feelings were so easy to control. Tsukino and Chiya knew very well that it was because they were sometimes not completely rational, and some thoughts would always pop into their minds uncontrollably, giving others a clue. That's why they finally chose a way to solve the problem once and for all: as long as they used the same expression that was impeccable to a certain extent, they would no longer have to worry about their inner thoughts being seen through.

Tsukino and Chiya watched Ohma Kokichi's figure.

Many people have already left this school, where infighting and executions are constantly taking place.

The purple-haired boy in front of them behaved almost the same as usual, because under layers of lies, no one could tell what was true and what was false.

But... Tsukino and Chiya realized that something was wrong.

And this "something was not right" was soon confirmed.

Tsukino and Chiya witnessed Ohma Kichi's every move. Because this scenario was based on Ohma Kichi's memories, they were able to glean some of his plans from observing him.

Although Tsukino and Chiya had a general idea of ​​how things would develop, but...

He watched as Wang Ma Xiaoji revealed the plan he had come up with on the spot, watched as he and his partner—who was, to put it mildly, completely incompatible with him in this school—cooperated at this moment, and watched as he made himself an indispensable part of the plan.

To turn the tide, they were willing to sacrifice their lives... So, they'd rather die than live in dishonor?

Next, is—

The machine fell.

Is this... the final scene derived from Ouma Shokichi's memories?

Everything before their eyes froze in an instant, but such a freeze was undeniably cruel. Tsukino and Chiya stared at the large pool of blood gushing from the hydraulic press; for a moment, their minds went completely blank.

He knew that was the past.

He knew that the Ouma Shokichi he knew... was the Ouma Shokichi after he had gone through this incident. So, was the person he knew still in reality, or... still alive?

That's all for now; he should focus on what might happen next.

But--

Tsukino and Chiya had no expression on their faces.

But he reached out and simply wiped away the tears welling up in his eyes, preventing them from sliding down his cheeks. Then Tsukino and Chiya closed their eyes, letting their blurred vision fade into darkness, and sighed softly.

Immediately afterwards, he heard footsteps coming from behind him.