Saturday, November 23rd, 2024, 11:50 A.M.
Megalodon Manor smelled strongly of old wood, and the late autumn chill that even the heaters couldn't smother was proof that they were back in reality.
This was the first time Kamo had actually left his room since Roppongi had been killed.
Kamo looked at the floor plan, then went straight south down the hall. The sound of doors opening came from behind him several times, but he never once turned back, just focusing on moving forward.
...It would be lucky if Munakata has solved both incidents.
But what if he's only seen the truth in MICHI's case?
In that case, not only Kamo, but also Rena and Yukina would be killed. The thing that hurt Kamo most was the way there was nothing he could do about it now.
At the end of the hall was the lounge.
He turned the round doorknob and stepped inside. It was empty. It seemed he was the first to arrive.
On the shelves along the wall, paraphernalia related to MegalodonSoft games was on display. Figures, models, strategy guides, setting guides, and more. It felt like a small gaming museum.
There was also a round table in the center of the room.
The round table was the same as the one in Puppet Hall, large enough for eight people to sit around it. However, while the one in the virtual world was the color of ebony, the table in front of him was made of white wood. It also had a huge circular monitor on it.
"...Why is he in such a hurry to make his deduction?" Yuki muttered as he walked in the door. The others also filtered into the lounge, one after the other.
"Uh, yeah." Kamo responded, a bit distracted.
Soon, Munakata entered, and all eyes were on him. A few moments later, Azuma entered, and then there were seven.
All of them were still wearing their VR operation suits and glove controllers.
Munakata was still expressionless, but his composure was forced. Kamo could see the flushing of his face and the intense excitement behind his eyes. In his hands he held a pen and a notepad.
Delivering the results of your deductions was a high risk move for the Detectives; one wrong answer and it was Game Over for not only the game, but your life.
That was why Kamo had advised Munakata not to deliver his answer yet, or to at least try to verify it... However, his concern had been ignored.
A familiar voice came from nowhere.
"This round's contestant is... Munakata Nozomi! ...Please state your reasoning in order. From which incident will you start?"
"Starting from the murder of MICHI."
Kamo couldn't keep his fists from clenching.
There was a buzzing sound and the monitor on the round table lit up.
Kamo had thought it was just a normal monitor, but he was wrong. A 3D hologram was projected above the monitor.
"This is a 3D monitor. It's actually still in development, but it's at least good enough to project game screenshots."
What was now being projected was a perfect image of the VR space.
It was Kamo's first time seeing glasses-free 3D... But more than that, he was surprised that the others were actually huddling together at the table. Because they were all leaning in in their desperation to see the image.
"Hey, you just stepped on my foot!"
Munakata shouted angrily and looked behind him.
His shrill voice scared Fuwa, who was next to him and shrank away. Behind him, Azuma and Kenzan backed away, both indicating with their hands that it wasn't them. Azuma stepped on Yuki's foot as she backed away, causing Yuki to step on Michi's.
Only Kamo was able to avoid getting caught up in the farce, though he was too dazzled by what he saw to notice who had originally stepped on Munakata.
Meanwhile, Kurata was still flatly reading off instructions.
"You can use the glove controller to move and zoom in or out the 3D image, which can show any location in game you need it to."
Michi rotated the image of the main hall with the fingertips of her right hand as she asked "...This 3D projector won't be used in any tricks, will it?"
"No, it won't, because technology hasn't yet reached the point where it could project believable images of anything real. Besides, that would be super lame."
Michi ignored the immature reason and gave a firm wave of her hand. The projected hall spun several times like a top before settling down. The 3D image in front of them flickered a bit, and everyone could tell at a glance it was fake.
Kurata continued in a low voice "Also, contestant, once you start your theorizing you can't stop... Are you ready?"
"Of course."
Munakata looked perfectly calm as he sat down on a stool at the round table.
Kamo and the others followed his lead, straddling the stools fixed to the floor and taking their seats. This time Michi didn't bang her foot and descended smoothly.
Munakata looked around at all of them before placing his elbows on the table and interlacing his fingers.
"First, I'd like to declare a premise: before the start of yesterday's VR Crime Time, I set traps on the north and south doors connecting the main hall to the corridors."
Munakata zoomed in on the 3D image, showing the two doors that led from the hall to the corridors. He then explained that he had glued the blades of utility knives to them.
Fuwa spoke up, confused. "Surely a trap like this couldn't have been hidden from Kurata, could it? I'm afraid the Executioner, who's working with her, won't fall for this."
Munakata's eyes narrowed.
"That's right, my only target with this trap was the Murderer. I saw that only the trap on the north door had been triggered, and the blade on that doorknob was gone. But the residual glue held bloodstains that hadn't been wiped clean."
Kamo had wiped the blood with a wet rag last night, but since he didn't have enough time, he hadn't been able to completely eliminate the traces, and some of it had stuck to the glue.
"Also, I picked up a piece of a black glove next to the dollhouse... that was cut by a blade. The person who fell for it must have wanted to check if the knife and glue were still in the drawer, that's why he walked back to the dollhouse."
As Munakata explained all that, he used the round table's projector to show his room. On the table in MUNAKATA's room was the piece that had fallen from Kamo's glove.
Kenzan hummed and said "...So if anyone's avatar has an injured hand, then that person's the Murderer?"
Kurata gleefully interjected "Oh, if you put your hand over the screen with a glove controller, you can project your avatar's hand."
"Like this?"
Kenzan reached out his hand and the 3D display projected a virtual hand. His was, naturally, unharmed. Then, the others all did the same.
Kamo gave up and also reached his hand out towards the round table.
The person who was most shocked... was Yuki. He stared at Kamo, all the blood drained from his face. Azuma also looked greatly affected. She was surprised because she had been working together with Kamo not long ago.
"...Please give the other person's full name when you reveal it." Kurata interjected.
Munakata immediately spoke up. "I'm going to expose Kamo Touma."
Fuwa looked at Kamo like he was disgusting, but said nothing. Michi, who was next to him, could still joke and said "Oh, so it was Mr. Kamo who killed me."
Kamo displayed the wound that stretched from his right hand's index to ring fingers with a bitter smile.
"As you can see, my avatar does have an injury. But I don't plan on admitting to being the Murderer."
"A pointless struggle." Munakata said viciously.
Kamo turned to him and said "Did you forget? Even if I am the Murderer, the moment I admit that, it'll be viewed as surrendering. If I was the only one who'd die, I wouldn't care, but the hostages of the person who surrenders will also suffer the punishment."
Azuma chose then to interject.
"I understand how you concluded that Mr. Kamo is the Murderer. But, couldn't he have murdered YUKI, not MICHI?"
"No, he couldn't have."
"Why not?"
"Because the one who killed YUKI not only poisoned him, but also made a loud noise in the corridor. It's impossible to do all that without entering the southern section."
Even though Munakata hadn't finished explaining, Azuma already understood. She took over the line of reasoning.
"I see. If Mr. Kamo had moved from the northern section to the southern section, he should have been hit by the trap on the southern door. But only the northern door's trap was triggered. It's a contradiction."
Kamo sighed softly as he listened to their analysis.
...They go from explanation to understanding too quickly. The fact that these amateur detectives received invitations means that none of them are ordinary people.
Fuwa, still wearing his fierce expression, spoke. "Your reasoning isn't bad, but can you tell us how you cracked the locked room?"
"It was a simple physical trick."
Munakata spoke lazily as he pulled up an image of the storeroom, where MICHI's body still lay, alongside the rubber dinghy and the shelf that had been thrown around the chamber.
"When we were testing how the locked room was created, we all agreed that the shelf was placed 45 centimeters from the storeroom door. Because when we sandwiched the rubber dinghy between the door and the shelf, the door wouldn't open."
Fuwa nodded and said "And when we knocked it over, it landed exactly where it should have."
"But that idea is completely wrong. The killer actually placed the shelf over a meter away from the door."
Kamo felt as though all of his blood were leaving him. Even though the heating in the room was on, he still felt an icy chill. ...The thing he feared most was happening right in front of him.
Meanwhile, Azuma looked uncertain.
"If the shelf was that far from the door... even if the inflated rubber boat was sandwiched in between, there would still be over 55 centimeters of empty space. Although it's true he could have easily left the storeroom if he'd done that, it wouldn't have created the locked room."
"That's right, that's why Kamo blocked the door with ice after he left the storeroom."
As Munakata finished with full confidence, Azuma looked even more confused.
"It's true there's an ice maker in the kitchen, but how could he have used ice?"
"Just put it underneath the shelves when you set it up. The key is that the shelf was flipped upside down."
"...Upside down?"
"Just lay the crate of natural water on the floor of the storeroom beforehand, like this."
Munakata picked up the pen and drew a diagram in the notebook. Kamo watched his movements with a heavy heart.
Michi didn't look convinced.
"But if the ice melts, the shelf will just fall over. If it loses its balance before the locked room is broken into, there's good odds it'll fall into the storeroom."
"No, it won't. Ice melts under pressure."
"Ah, so that's how it is. Just put different amounts of ice in different places."
Michi drew the conclusion before Munakata could explain, which seemed to annoy him. He spoke on.
"As long as you put more ice cubes on the storeroom side than the door side, the pressure difference caused by it tilting will make the ice cubes near the door melt faster, thus causing the shelf to fall towards the door.
Munakata's continuous assault of logic made Kamo want to cover his ears, but the reality of the situation wouldn't let him.
Then Munakata took up his pen again and drew another diagram.
Kenzan looked at the diagram for a moment and nodded in agreement.
"I see. Try to push the door like this, and the 'top' of the shelf will slowly slide along the floor into the storeroom."
"As long as you keep hitting the door repeatedly, the shelf will eventually fall with the 'bottom' facing the storeroom door. That was the falling noise we heard. At the same time, the rubber dinghy would have been cut open by the shelf's edge."
Kenzan pointed to the crate of water in the picture and said "But that doesn't explain the water on the shelf, does it? That shelf doesn't have a back panel, so even if you put the water on it, it'll just slide off when the shelf tilts... How did the box on the floor get on the shelf?"
Munakata smirked.
"Simple. The shelf is tilted at an angle so that the bottom shelf fits over the crate of natural water."
Munakata drew up a third diagram. After a few smooth strokes, the third diagram was complete.
"When we opened the door, we found the rubber boat spread on the floor, slowly deflating. Because the case of natural water was inside the shelf, and the bottom of the shelf was facing the door, we mistakenly concluded that the shelf was placed 45 centimeters away from the door. ...That is the entire locked room trick."
Kenzan didn't seem fully convinced, and said so. "It's a crime based entirely on luck."
"That's right, it's a trick based on luck and probability. But... did you forget that this is a crime that occurred in a VR space?"
"What do you mean?"
"Unlike real criminals, the Murderer in this game can carry out simulated experiments in Puppet Hall as often as he wants. With repeated experiments and constant fine-tuning, it isn't hard to make the shelf fall exactly how you want."
Indeed... Kamo had conducted many simulations of the crime while planning it.
The weather data in the VR space could be set at will, and there was no such thing as an unexpected gust ruining the whole plan. Because of that, he could easily get the exact same result as in his simulated rehearsals.
Knowing there was no way he could remain silent, Kamo grit his teeth and opened his mouth.
"...How do you explain the broken bottles of natural water?"
"Those should have been broken by the impact of the shelf falling. In turn, the water spilling from the bottles disguised the traces of the ice having melted. It's an effective way to destroy evidence." Munakata countered with ease, convinced he had easily won.
Looking at Munakata, Kamo couldn't help it. He covered his face. The reason he was in such deep emotional pain...
Was because Munakata's answer was completely wrong.
Since he had given a wrong solution, Munakata would inevitably become a target for the Executioner. What hurt most was the way Munakata himself was unaware of that fact.
Kamo looked at the people around the table.
Almost everyone was looking fixedly at Kamo, who had been exposed as the Murderer.
There was only one person staring at Munakata like a man possessed: Yuki. Panic danced behind his eyes... Perhaps Yuki had also noticed the flaw in Munakata's logic.
A cheery voice suddenly came from the screen, breaking up the tense atmosphere.
"Oh, did I forget to mention? The player who is being accused has an obligation to defend themself."
Kurata's words stunned Kamo.
"Defend myself? What do you mean?"
"If the result of the reasoning submitted by the Detective is wrong, then you have to present counter-evidence in order to survive. If your defense fails, then you AND the incorrect contestant get Game Over'd, and you'll both become targets for the Executioner."
"You're... horrible!"
Azuma's voice shook with anger. However, it was Kurata's tone that suddenly went cold.
"Since you call yourselves detectives, you should at least be able to avoid your own traps. A detective that can't even disprove a false conclusion has no reason to exist... Of course, this is also a rule I set up just to whittle down the number of players faster."
Kurata laughed like a crazy person.
The taste of rust filled Kamo's mouth. It seemed somewhere along the line he'd started clenching his teeth.
The success or failure of the counter-argument... it's a matter of luck, huh.
The person being accused had to organize a rebuttal to a claim they'd never heard before on the spot. To come up with logic in such a short time, how could one rely on anything but luck?
Moreover, even if the answer was completely wrong, there might not be any counter-evidence for the accused to present. A theory could fit all currently known evidence and still be wrong.
The most frustrating thing was that... even if he did succeed in disproving it and saving his own life, Munakata's fate was already sealed. Not only that, but if Kamo did succeed in disproving it, wouldn't that mean he'd essentially guided Munakata towards said fate?
"That rule is unfavorable for your Executioner, isn't it? Even if they're your accomplice, they don't have any advantages over us in terms of their odds of countering an accusation." Yuki interjected in a calm voice.
"You don't need to worry about that. My Executioner accepted the risk when they joined the game. If they fail to disprove an accusation, they'll willingly kill themself and forge evidence of their murder as a final 'screw you' to your investigations."
Yuki's calm mask vanished all at once, exposing an expression of pure disgust.
"So even the Executioner... you'd just abandon them?"
"Why are you talking like that? Someone who can't even disprove the low level reasoning you all have shown doesn't deserve to live."
It seemed Munakata couldn't take it anymore, as he shrugged his shoulders and said "Why are you guys saying all these things that assume I'm wrong? There's clearly no way my theory can be disproven."
Kamo's feelings were complicated, but he still turned to Munakata. "I'm not an expert on chemistry or physics, so I honestly don't know if your 'melting point decreases as pressure on the ice increases' trick would work out. But... even without that sort of expertise, I can assert that there are holes in Munakata's reasoning."
"...Like what?"
"First off, it isn't possible to place the shelf or the crate of water so that the shelf will naturally land around it. How far the shelf slides before it falls is dependent on how much force the person breaking down the door uses. No matter how many times the Murderer repeats the simulation, there's no way to control for that."
"Like I said, you can improve accuracy with experimentation. Moreover, no matter how many times you say it 'could' fail, it doesn't prove that you didn't do the trick I proposed. Does that really count as counter-evidence?"
Hearing Munakata's contemptuous remark, Kamo's mood grew heavier.
"Munakata, if you hadn't been so reluctant to do anything yourself, you would have seen it a long time ago. There's proof at the scene that I didn't use ice."
Kamo pulled up the shelf that had become the center of the issue on screen.
Munakata didn't ask him to explain further, but observed the 3D projected shelf. Soon, his eyes widened.
"............Dust?"
The top of the shelf was covered in a uniformly thick film of dust.
Kamo had seen the top of the shelf with his own eyes when he and Yuki moved the shelf. But Munakata hadn't come over to help, so he hadn't seen the shelf up close.
His own laziness had struck the fatal blow... causing him to fail to notice the contradiction between his own logic and the evidence at the scene.
"The dust coating wasn't shaken off even when the shelf fell to the ground. However, if ice had been placed between the top and the floor, that would have been different, wouldn't it? In that case, water from the melting ice would have washed the dust from the top of the shelf. It certainly wouldn't be so even."
Kamo reached for the screen again and brought up the bottom of the shelf. The dust traces left there were messy.
He looked at the bewildered Munakata and had no choice but to deliver the coup de grace.
"As you can see, the traces on the bottom of the shelf are uneven as a result of the bottle leaking over it. If the trick you described had been used, the dust on the top should have turned out the same way."
At some point, Munakata had started scratching his head. When blood oozed from his fingertips where he'd scratched, he finally lowered his head and mumbled "You're right. It seems my theory was wrong."
***
"Do you want to continue Answer Time?"
An unexpected question came over the loudspeaker.
Everyone around the round table was startled, none more than Munakata. His voice was hoarse as he asked "Can-Can it continue?"
Kurata smiled and said "It'd be so boring if Answer Time ended just like that. Munakata, you only gave an answer to one of the cases, so you must not be satisfied either. In that case, I'll give you another chance to save your life."
When Munakata was silent, Kurata continued in a whispery voice "I can authorize one extension per Answer Time. If Munakata can accurately explain the truth of YUKI's murder, his failure will be negated. How's that? It's an offer that's favorable to you and harmful to nobody."
Munakata's dead eyes lit back up just a little. He murmured hoarsely "...But it's harmful to you, isn't it?"
"Because of the risk that you'll identify the one who killed YUKI, and expose the Executioner? Let me be clear: I can afford to take that risk."
Kurata's cheery voice effectively covered up whatever true thoughts lay within. Kamo grew more and more confused.
Whatever the case, there was no way this proposal was given in the name of charity.
...If Munakata figures out the truth behind YUKI's death, then he'll expose the Executioner hiding among us. If they aren't able to present counter-evidence, there's no way they'll escape their death. But Kurata isn't taking that risk seriously at all.
A frown tightened Kamo's face.
Is Kurata just that confident that the Executioner's plan is unsolvable? Or maybe she doesn't care who dies, as long as the number of bodies increases?
Unfortunately, there was no guarantee that Munakata did have a correct answer to the YUKI poisoning case. On the contrary, the odds were better that he'd give another wrong answer, and drag another Detective's character along to suffer his failures alongside him.
After a short pause, Munakata said gravely "If I want to live... I have to take the risk and drag someone else into my reasoning, is that it?"
"That's right. Because this is a game where you can only win by gambling your own life and trampling on the lives of others."
Munakata sniffed and a cruel smile formed at the corners of his mouth. Fuwa and Michi rushed to stop him somehow, but Munakata had already gotten to his feet.
"Of course I'll continue Answer Time." He glanced at the dumbfounded Fuwa and Michi and tilted his neck as he said "What are you afraid of? Afraid of being accused by me? But... don't worry. The Executioner I'm about to expose isn't either of you."
Hearing his words, the remaining three people's faces suddenly changed.
Setting aside Kamo, who had already been exposed as the Murderer, the person who Munakata was about to name as the Executioner was one of Yuki, Kenzan, or Azuma.
Of the three, only the victim, Yuki, wasn't nervous. He calmly asked "Well, who do you think killed me?"
"It was you, Aoba Yuki."
"Oh... Huh? Me?"
Yuki clearly hadn't expected him to say that, as he coughed and sputtered.
Kamo once again covered his face with his left hand. No matter who Munakata had accused, he would have been surprised... But Munakata had accused Yuki.
Indeed, Yuki sometimes took actions that shocked those around him.
Everyone there would have been shocked to learn he'd once tried to take revenge for his childhood friend.
Yuki himself had no regrets of his decision, and even felt he was the same sort of person as Kurata. In that sense, it was likely he and Kurata were on similar wavelengths.
However, Kamo knew Yuki better than anyone else there, and he didn't believe that Yuki would ever become Kurata's accomplice in real murders.
...I can trust him, right?
Munakata paid no attention to Yuki's coughing and continued measuredly "How did they get into the locked room to poison the water? Thinking about that would just be a waste of time. In that situation, it was impossible for anyone else to poison the water via any method."
Yuki managed to regain his breath, then retorted "Even so, you can't just jump to the conclusion that I committed suicide based on that. That answer doesn't have any shine to it."
Munakata raised his eyebrows at Yuki.
"Just now, Kamo waited until I was finished explaining my reasoning before responding. It seems you're different from him."
"I think that's just because Mr. Kamo was nervous... Anyway, even if you say I myself organized this incident, that still doesn't explain the whole case."
Munakata grinned as Yuki sat up straight and gave his response.
"You mean the poison?"
"That's right. I've been thinking about this since the start of Answer Time. Mr. Munakata, you completely ignored the idea of poison in your answer, didn't you? Mr. Kamo didn't bring it up when he gave his counter-evidence either."
Kamo couldn't help but smile bitterly in the face of Yuki's sharp accusation. The reason he'd avoided the topic was because carelessly discussing the poison could harm his actual position.
Yuki continued "Kurata said that there weren't any poisons or enough sleeping drugs to knock someone out in the entirety of Puppet Hall, is that correct?"
"That's correct. The one and only exception is that someone, either the Murderer or Executioner, was given a vial containing several thousand times a lethal dose of poison."
"However, the fact is that Ms. Michi collapsed from some sort of drug and I died of poisoning. If the Murderer and the Executioner weren't both in possession of poison, there's no way to explain that!"
Munakata smiled lazily.
"The reason I didn't mention the poison is because of how closely related it was to your crime. After all, the only time that poison was actually used was in the death of MICHI."
amo almost gasped, but barely managed to control himself.
Looking at Yuki again, his whole body was tense and he didn't speak for almost ten seconds before he recovered enough to ask "...What is your basis for saying that?"
"First off, the dose of poison Kurata prepared was too large. That cup contained enough water to save five times without refilling, so assuming the poison was placed in the cup, they would have only needed five times the lethal dose to guarantee death."
"That makes sense, there really wasn't any need to prepare over eight thousand times the lethal dose."
Munakata scoffed and grinned.
"Then let's think about it from a different perspective. All of our thoughts so far have involved the idea that 'the poison was ingested via the mouth'. What if... the Murderer actually poisoned her via 'absorbing the poison through the skin'?"
Yuki's eyes went wide.
"You think the poison was on the doorknob?"
"That's right, you're quick on the uptake. Michi's avatar touched the storeroom's doorknob with her bare hands, and the poison was absorbed through her skin. Because the poison is a colorless liquid, it wouldn't be visible no matter where it was applied."
"...Then he wiped the poison off the doorknob and the corpse's hand afterwards to destroy the evidence?"
"Precisely. The only drawback to this method is its inefficiency. Only the avatar's fingers would have touched the small amount of poison on the doorknob, and only a portion of that would have been absorbed through the skin." Munakata looked at Yuki, who hadn't said a word, and declared triumphantly "That's why it was necessary to prepare so much poison. I don't suppose that's wrong, is it, Mr. Kamo?"
Faced with his provocations, Kamo hesitated whether or not to respond.
His rebuttal to the accusation of killing MICHI was already completed; at this point the only parties engaged in Answer Time were Munakata and Yuki. At this point, there was no point in saying anything that would risk a slip of the tongue. Making that judgment, Kamo chose to remain silent for the time being.
"That's an interesting hypothesis. But it doesn't explain how my character died, does it?" The one who refuted Munakata was instead Yuki, who continued mockingly. "If I didn't use the contents of X's poison vial, then how did I kill myself? If you can't explain that, your whole theory is dead on arrival."
Munakata laughed out loud.
"You died of poisoning without using the so-called poison."
Everyone reacted to those words.
"Um... What do you mean?"
Yuki didn't get angry, but instead just looked deeply confused. His expression still looked relaxed, but his face grew paler and paler.
He wondered just how Munakata interpreted his shock as he continued with his malicious grin "One doesn't have to drink 'poison' to die of poisoning. Even something that isn't usually harmful can kill at high dosages. Alcohol poisoning, for example."
Yuki looked caught off guard, but he quickly responded "There isn't any alcohol in Puppet Hall, just tons of natural water... right?"
Yuki suddenly lost steam. Kamo nodded reassuringly at him.
But at the same time, he sighed to himself.
...Yuki had given up his Detective role and hadn't seriously investigated anything, but in doing so he'd harmed himself. Looking at him like this, it was clear he didn't even know what was in the kitchen.
The key to a successful defense was in making good use of the information available.
No matter how you thought about it, Yuki, who hadn't investigated, was at a disadvantage.
Munakata didn't notice Kamo's concern, as he was busy operating the 3D monitor. He quickly pulled up an image of the kitchen.
"I didn't say alcohol was used in this case. You used salt."
"...Salt?" Yuki muttered before lapsing into silence.
On the 3D projected kitchen's shelves were a variety of spices and seasonings.
The palm sized containers were almost empty, especially the salt and miso, which had the least residue left.
"You've heard that too much miso can kill you, right? Once a human body ingests too much salt it can trigger salt poisoning, leading to hypernatremia and even death."
What Munakata said was true. Many things were harmful to the human body in high doses, even things you ate everyday.
Yuki responded in a panic "But those containers are so small. There's no way I could know I'd die from eating that little."
"There's no point in playing dumb. I saw with my own two eyes that there was a bottle of soy sauce under the shelf, and I remember its capacity: 400 milliliters."
Yuki was dumbfounded. He probably agreed that combining the salt, miso, and soy sauce would potentially exceed a lethal dose.
Munakata pitilessly continued "You brought all that salt, miso, and soy sauce back to your room. I expect you also emptied out the other containers because you were afraid we'd suspect something if only the salty seasonings were empty. Then, you locked your door, acted out that scene of you being poisoned as you saved, then drank the soy sauce, dissolved the salt and miso in water, and drank that, too. And just like that, you'd consumed a lethal overdose of salt."
Yuki was silent. Munakata quickly continued.
"A poisoning that involved no poison... It's a brilliant idea, no? Until we got solid proof that it was all organized by Yuki, we'd be forced to uselessly run in circles and try to solve a locked room trick that didn't exist."
Kamo couldn't help but bite his lip.
...That isn't possible. Munakata got it wrong again.
Kamo was confident in his memory, so he could assert that much.
Kamo had confirmed the amount of salt and miso at the very beginning of last night's Investigation Time. The amount left was the same as it was now. Therefore, it was certain that Yuki hadn't eaten any seasonings, whether it was during Investigation Time or Crime Time.
However, Munakata kept talking.
"I realized that Yuki was the mastermind behind his own death when Kurata made that big fuss about the existence of the poison vial... since she said that, we all assumed that poison must have been used in YUKI's murder, right? No one would have thought that he'd actually just eaten a bunch of salt."
Kamo listened absently as he kept thinking.
...It's too bad he didn't at least look at the soy sauce bottle last night.
That had been a mistake. He still had a piece of information that Munakata didn't know: last night, he'd picked up the soy sauce bottle to measure its contents, and the label had read "Reduced Salt". If you were deliberately trying to give yourself salt poisoning, surely you wouldn't use reduced salt soy sauce. It was a weak objection, but he had to take the gamble.
Thinking that, Kamo decided to speak up, but Kurata chose that exact moment to interject.
"Ah, ah, ah. Only the accused can make their own defense; no one can help them. The moment you speak up in his defense, both Yuki and the person who tried to help him will be punished."
Once again having his mind read, Kamo could only swallow his words.
At that moment, Yuki spoke softly. "Puppet Hall has a laundry room, but there isn't any detergent or fabric softener anywhere. And there isn't any dish soap in the kitchen, either, and I didn't see any shampoo or body wash in my bathroom."
Munakata looked hesitant to respond.
"That's your counter-evidence?"
Yuki's gaze shifted from the monitor to Munakata, and he nodded.
"...I think you misunderstood Kurata's words."
"What?"
"When talking about the liquids our avatars were capable of ingesting, Kurata said that she hadn't placed any poisons in the building 'that reached a lethal dose'. Then she said... that she purposely forced us to drink water regularly and that she'd given either the Murderer or the Executioner poison."
Kamo also remembered all that. Munakata seemed to be getting more confused the more he heard.
"So what?"
"If that were the case, then there would be two poisons present in the game, right? Posion... and water."
Munakata laughed.
"How can water be a poison!?"
"Easily. There is such a thing as water poisoning, and if you drink large amounts of water at once, it can be as harmful to the body as salt."
"You're talking nonsense."
"I'm not making it up. I had to research it for a novel once. Water poisoning is the opposite of salt poisoning and will trigger hyponatremia. If the body can't excrete water due to kidney failure, it will cause the same condition."
"...Just how long are you going to spew nonsense like this?"
Munakata's tone was getting vicious, but Yuki just smiled.
"I admit, I'm not being very clear. The issue here isn't 'what is poison', but 'what does Kurata define as poison'. Considering what she said, I think Kurata should have defined both water and salt, which can kill if ingested in sufficient quantities, as poisons."
It was a bit of a stretch, but there weren't any actual flaws in his claim.
Virtual characters can only drink liquids. Kamo hadn't seen any detergent, shampoo, or alcohol in the VR world, so if you thought about it from the perspective of someone avoiding putting any liquids that could kill if ingested in the game, it made sense.
Yuki continued "Assuming that, other than X's poison and 'water, but not enough to cause fatal water poisoning', there aren't any poisons in Puppet Hall... that would mean the reason the salt, miso, and soy sauce containers were empty wasn't because they were used for a crime, but because they were empty from the beginning so that there wouldn't be salt in the game world."
"That's all bullshit! You're distorting the facts!"
Munakata's head shook violently. He was on the verge of tears. Yuki's expression had also grown deeply distorted.
"I don't know how much seasoning there was when the game started... Do you, Mr. Munakata?"
Munakata lowered his head and didn't say anything. Yuki looked to the monitor.
"It's useless for the two of us to keep arguing, so please, let's let the one with the relevant information decide."
A sigh came from the speakers.
"Yuki's deduction isn't wrong, the poisons I was talking about include things like detergent and seasonings, and it's certainly true that the Hall doesn't have enough sodium chloride to give someone salt poisoning. The method of suicide described by Munakata is impossible."
Perhaps he'd had a premonition... After hearing those words, Munakata just looked down at his hands. Yuki was silent, taking no joy in his successful defense.
Kurata continued with a sigh "Man, I wanted to kill off three of you at once with this Answer Time, how was I supposed to know that you'd both manage to defend yourselves? You all are no fun."
"Do I... have to die?" Munakata mumbled.
"Yep. You've made two errors of deduction in a row, there's no more reason for you to live. You will die, and in death you will become a new puzzle to further torment your fellow detectives."