On the Path to Bravery in a Coward's Paradise

Chapter 5: Smile at Hope in the Name of Despair

Smile at Hope in the Name of Despair Daily Life

Now onto Chapter 5. The main deal of OTPTBIACP! Enjoy Smile at Hope in the Name of Despair, guys!
If there was one thing that Nikei knew, it was nothing.
And Mikado knew that Nikei was to blame for the disused machine splattering oil all over him in the Former Ultimate Merchant's Lab.
The Ultimate Wizard had to get his revenge, but how?
One thing was for sure.
That stupid, stupid Nikei didn't know any better.
(https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yyNhlmALBvU)
Chapter 5: Smile at Hope in the Name of Despair
Daily Life
Nanako ate her breakfast in silence.
Once again, tears filled her eyes as the events of yesterday filled her heads.
Another person had been brutally murdered. Nanako didn't expect to see Yuri die in such a gruesome, horrifying way, too. Being tortured by a ghost is a terrifying way to die, and everyone had witnessed that happen to Yuri.
Nanako didn’t expect to see Yuri getting made into ice cream, either.
It took every inch of Nanako’s strength not to cry.
Recent days had been the worst she had ever experienced. Trapped in a place from hell, Nanako had been forced to participate in twisted trials for her very survival.
9 people had died violent, gruesome deaths in those recent days, too.
This mystery novelist had been witness to four of them and she had seen all nine of the bodies.
She was not having a fifth case.
Nanako had to find a way to get out of this nightmarish place, or another day would mean another horrible death.
Two labs had opened: Nikei’s lab and Mikado’s lab.
Nikei and Mikado were absent, however.
Nanako assumed they had gotten poorly.
Monochrome was also strangely gone.
The next few days were peaceful, and strangely… there was no Monochrome to give anyone a motive to murder each other.
Nanako was also wondering where the hell Nikei and Mikado was.
It’s not like whoever the hell the mastermind is privately gave out a motive in an attempt to convince my brother and that creepy Wizard to murder each other… right?
“Everyone, Sora has an announcement to make!†Kokoro announced.
It was three whole days later, and the normally quiet Kokoro was unusually… cheerful.
“Sora says that she figured out her talent!†Kokoro said.
“Please tell me whatever the hell your talent is!†Nanako said.
The silvery blue haired girl sighed.
“I’m not just Sora the normal, amnesiac girl who couldn’t even remember what her talent was… I’m Sora…†She got a kitchen knife. “The Ultimate Assassin.â€
“You’re… the Ultimate Assassin?†Nanako gasped, just as stunned as everyone else. “So… that’s your talent…â€
Emma gasped upon realizing the possible implication.
“This means you’ve killed people in the past,†the actress said. “But, Sora, how? How could someone as good-natured as you do that? It… wasn’t a lie, was it? All that kindness?â€
“It doesn’t matter,†Sora said, putting the kitchen knife back down. “No amount of nice acts can ever make up for how much I’ve hurt people. Too many of them to count.â€
“So that’s why you were cold,†Hajime said.
“That’s right!†Sora said. “Being an assassin means you have to put on a facade of sorts.â€
Sora is an assassin… in a killing game of all things. This won't end well. What if her talent makes the mastermind take direct action against her for being too dangerous?
“You’re an assassin?†Kokoro said. “That talent is too dangerous! Way too dangerous!"
“This is bad! This is really bad!†Nanako heard Emma mutter behind her.
The rest of the day did not go well. Nanako saw people try to restrain Sora so she wouldn’t kill everyone.
She noticed that there was something different about a certain Kokoro Mitsume.
She was now more quiet and more unconfident than she’d ever been. It was as if she was scared of herself.
Kokoro’s been through a reverse Character Development! Maybe she should become more assertive…
The next day, Nanako woke up with severe hunger.
“Maybe I should get some food from Mikado.†She thought.
So Nanako went to the Ultimate Wizard’s Lab, and found herself met with a horrifying sight.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hn3gBV-nYc)
Lying against a wall, blood leaking from the mouth, was the crumpled body of Mikado Sannoji.
Poor Mikado. He was doomed from the moment he set foot in this story. Because of that creepy mask of his, Mikado has a gothic design. Apparently, according to this picture, if you have a gothic or edgy design, then you tend not to survive that long in a killing game. And look what a gothic/edgy design got some of my favorites (I'm looking at you, Celestia, Gundham, Korekiyo and Kirumi). So I decided to make Mikado go further than those characters, and die in chapter 5. Now, if you’re the mastermind, you tend to live until Chapter 6. But here, Mikado has been stripped of his title as the mastermind. In other words, this Ultimate Wizard was never going to walk out of this story alive. My reasons why I chose Mikado to die in Chapter 5 will become clear at the end of the trial.
Smile at Hope in the Name of Despair Deadly Life