3 3 301 DialogEnable Dry moss rolls out over the otherwise stony ground, and the trees part to either side to reveal a straight path ahead.
4 4 301 As the river stops flowing, the ripples carry the pumpkin carriage ever so gently to the other side of the riverbank.
5 5 301 The mountains come together without leaving so much as a crack. The place now looks nothing like what it was when you just arrived.
6 6 301 Chipmunks coming out of nowhere flank the carriage while the bugs and birds sing together for the procession.
7 7 301 You see the long line of sheep at the very end of the horizon. Still hopping over the saddle, they don't seem like they want to move out of the way.
23 23 301 Crimson vines stretch the length of the age-worn spire.
24 24 301 Standing in the shades the sun can never reach, the spire is redolent of an ominous wooden nail driven deep into the blood-red ground.
25 25 301 When seen from a different angle, however...
26 26 301 It seems like the hand of someone that's reaching out from the depths of a mud puddle yearning for salvation.
27 27 401 2 754
28 28 301 The dusty door creaks as Liv and you push it open.
29 29 301 In the air lit up by the faint light that comes in through the door, the dust seems to be greeting you as it tries to tell you just how long-forgotten this place is.
30 30 301 The spiral staircase stretches toward different ends—upward, until it seems to become one with the spire itself, and downward, until it reaches well into the depths of darkness.
31 31 201 1 500524
32 32 301 1 Liv I'll do everything in my power to stop the monster Cinderella spoke of from hurting you, Commandant. 1 100000625
33 33 301 Liv turns around and says as she makes her way up the staircase with red thorns all over it.
34 34 302 And I will go and save your trapped "dreams." 35
35 35 204 1 2
36 36 301 You speak in response to Liv as you take a step forward down the stone staircase that stretches into the darkness underground.
37 37 301 AniZhuanchangBegin You both know exactly what you came here to do.
40 40 301 DialogEnable Liv makes her way up the stairs, succumbing to the darkness that robs her of her sense of direction and monotonous footsteps that blur her sense of time.
41 41 301 In a trance, she seems to hear people whispering.
42 42 301 It's a conversation she has with Hippocrates when she wakes up.
47 47 301 1 Liv Professor, I have some questions for you. 1 100000626
48 48 202 1 1
49 49 201 1 500404
50 50 301 1 Hippocrates Yes? 1 100000858
51 51 202 1 1
52 52 201 1 1031001
53 53 301 1 Liv It's about Deep M.I.N.D. connection... 1 100000627
54 54 301 Liv I just wanted to know if it'd ever affect Commandant in a negative way. 1 100000628
55 55 202 1 1
56 56 201 1 500404 14
57 57 301 1 Hippocrates If you're trying to find out if it's going to cause your commandant migraines or death mirages... 1 100000859
58 58 204 1
59 59 301 Hippocrates I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that it won't. 1 100000860
60 60 301 Hippocrates See, the Deep M.I.N.D. connection doesn't "distribute" your migraines. 1 100000861
61 61 301 Hippocrates What it does is it stabilizes your M.I.N.D. through Mind Beacon's deep connection. 1 100000862
62 62 301 Hippocrates Let's say you have a ship floating out at sea. When the ship shakes to winds or waves, you end up with a mess inside, right? 1 100000863
63 63 204 1 1
64 64 301 Hippocrates But the ship won't shake to the winds and waves if you have an anchor. 1 100000864
65 65 204 1
66 66 301 Hippocrates It's true that Deep M.I.N.D. connection won't cause any damage... 1 100000865
67 67 301 Hippocrates But I still want you to know that, in the process of improving it, we'll need your commandant to dive into your M.I.N.D. many times to collect data. 1 100000866
68 68 301 Hippocrates During which, all the migraines and death mirages experienced will inflict real damage. 1 100000867
69 69 204 1 14
70 70 301 Hippocrates Like what happened last time. 1 100000868
71 71 202 1 1
72 72 201 1 1031001
73 73 301 1 Liv ... 1 100000629
74 74 202 1 1
75 75 201 1 500414
76 76 301 1 Hippocrates So? Are we going to call it quits? 1 100000869
77 77 301 AniZhuanchangBegin Hippocrates Before it's too late to, that is... 1 100000870
87 87 301 Right then, you see light coming through a crack in the bricks up ahead.
88 88 302 (Am I here already?) 89
89 89 301 When you go up for a closer look, however, all you see is the faint figure of a person from behind.
90 90 302 (Move closer.) 91
91 91 301 With a closer look, you can now see it very clearly—the person is wearing a school uniform, the logo on which you can't be more familiar with...
100 100 301 1 What was it that you were going to do again?
101 101 301 Standing in the Instructor's Office in F.O.S., you see an old man sitting in front of you with a straight face.
102 102 301 Instructor I'm not going to stick my nose into your business, but I need to know your reasoning behind your decision as your instructor. 1 100000432
103 103 302 (Right, this is about what I'm going to do after graduating.) 104
104 104 301 Instructor Why did you turn down Command Central's invitation and apply to be a frontline commandant at the Task Force? 1 100000433
105 105 301 The shrewd eyes staring right at you now are the same eyes that have been watching every single student since you entered the school.
106 106 301 You sense neither encouragement nor discontent from his tone—but solemness and gravity.
107 107 301 There is no doubt that those eyes will see right through any petty lies and excuses you come up with.
114 114 301 DialogEnable This was your answer then.
115 115 301 Back then, a list of big names popped into your mind. You knew those names by heart, but it wasn't so much so that you could write their names down on the tests because they were people you deeply admired.
116 116 301 The words people praised these big names with had such nice rings to them back when you still didn't know how the big names got to where they were.
117 117 301 Now, though, the big names—alive and active as they were—are now nothing more than strings of letters inscribed on monuments.
118 118 301 Earth is still a mess, and most of the early accomplishments have been destroyed overnight.
119 119 301 Can you still confidently say what you did back then?
120 120 301 AniZhuanchangBegin ...After knowing the truth, that is.
125 125 301 DialogEnable 1 Liv Did Commandant know about this? 1 100000630
126 126 202 1 1
127 127 201 1 500414
128 128 301 1 Hippocrates Of course, and the commandant still signed the paper right away. 1 100000871
129 129 202 1 1
130 130 201 1 1031001
131 131 301 1 Liv So the Construct's M.I.N.D. is to the ship as the commandant's Mind Beacon is to the anchor, right? 1 100000631
132 132 202 1 1
133 133 201 1 500414
134 134 301 1 Hippocrates ... 1 100000872
135 135 202 1 1
136 136 201 1 1031001
137 137 301 1 Liv If the anchor can help the ship make it through the storm, so, too, can the ship sail forth with the anchor. 1 100000632
138 138 301 Liv Commandant said that risks and concerns should never bog us down. We didn't come together so we can huddle up in fear—but so we can go even further. 1 100000633
139 139 301 Liv I'm happy to have someone by my side who's willing to help me unconditionally. 1 100000634
146 146 301 1 Looking up, Liv now has a much clearer view of what's in front of her—scarlet crystal clusters, crimson tidewater, and blood-red soil, all of which come together to fill the air with tension.
147 147 301 It hit her only just now that she'd arrived at where she set out to come, with the crimson plants lying quietly in hunger behind her.
148 148 202 1 1
149 149 301 Not so far away, a blood-red figure stands surrounded by monsters that seem to have made their way out of someone's worst nightmares.
159 159 302 Because I wanted to become part of the hope. 160
160 160 302 So I can pull this world back from the brink of despair. 161
161 161 401 1 40
162 162 301 DialogEnable Saying nothing, the old man before you seems to be waiting for you to explain yourself.
163 163 301 "I understand that none of the miracles happened as easily as they seemed to. Every step along the way was trial and error in the dark."
164 164 301 "A single wrong step sent some of them down an abyss from which they never returned, leaving their successors with nothing but the knowledge that whatever they did didn't work."
165 165 301 "And they even fought sometimes and went separate ways."
166 166 202 1
167 167 301 "But even then..."
168 168 302 The wise strained their wisdom down to the very last strand of their beings... 169
186 186 301 All these flash past you like a stream. These people—people who are just like you—are the reason you can speak as unwaveringly as you do now.
187 187 301 If anything, reality has made your dream stronger and more lucid than ever.
188 188 201 1 500299
189 189 301 1 Instructor Are you trying to say you're one of the brave? 1 100000434
190 190 301 Instructor I hope you're aware that this is no place for you to discuss a bedtime story. 1 100000435
191 191 301 Instructor Has it ever crossed your mind that your potential might have an easier time shining through if you work in a different position? 1 100000436
192 192 301 "The instructors, I believe, are the ones that made me believe I'm one of the brave."
193 193 301 "Graduating summa cum laude makes it easier for me to make it straight to the Field Command, but F.O.S. was established in the first place to train commandants."
194 194 301 Instructor We came up with this choice for you precisely because we recognized your commanding talent. 1 100000437
195 195 301 "Most of you sitting here today will eventually be mere numbers on battle reports down the road."
196 196 301 "And if you don't experience what they do, you'll never be able to understand the meaning the numbers hold."
197 197 301 "And we didn't come together to make everyone suffer for the mistakes we make as a group."
198 198 302 This is what you said on day one, Instructor... 199
199 199 302 I've been keeping these words close to my heart. 200
200 200 301 Instructor ...Do you know the average life expectancy of a commandant? 1 100000438
201 201 302 I'll keep rolling until I get my pension. 202
202 202 301 Instructor You need to understand that there is no going back. 1 100000439
203 203 302 I think I can tell you very clearly now that I... 204
276 276 301 You've reached the end of the road. Right behind you, debris falls off the broken staircase, finally making the sound of landing on the ground after what seems like an eternity.
277 277 301 Through the crack in the bricks, you seem to see her.
