Disaster Report Diaries (Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories) Part Eleven

This is my exploration of the Disaster Report series, where I will chronicle my playthrough like a text-based Let’s Play. Now let’s continue Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories…

After having become a cult leader and stolen their money before getting ejected, Yuko Ichikawa had carried an old woman several miles to wind up at the Kuchinashi Elementary shelter…

I learned a few details about Danny after our meagre feast, as he explained that he and Rowan were both foreign exchange students who knew a kid named Luang, and Danny worked at a convenience store when not at university. Despite being treated poorly during this disaster situation, he had only positive things to say about Kuchinashi.

Dr. Nishi was nearby, so I spoke to him and he told me that he was leaving, then thanked me for bringing Kiyo to get help. I thanked him and he left — an instant later, a foreign child began expressing discomfort, feeling nauseous and thirsty. Luang said that there was a water source, so I offered to go and get it when Danny asked. He gave me a Plastic Health Recovery Bottle, and since he was vague about where the water was, I asked Luang for the location. He pointed me towards the back of the school, where I had seen water dripping earlier.

On my way towards the drip, I passed a very long line for the portable toilets, and a group of four people looking at the orange smoke rising in the distance. One of them suggested that Housenka Shopping Street might have been on fire, wherever that was.

I noticed that the time was 11:45 PM, then filled the water bottle before returning to the sick child. In short order, they felt better, and I was approached by a man asking me to share it with his child who was suffering from heat stroke, so I did. He was happy with the results and asked me to go and see him at his car, calling it “miracle water”. I wondered if it was even safe to drink…

After refilling the bottle, I met with the guy. He knew of someone else who really needed the water for his wife. I shared the drink with him, and he was soon back reporting happy results! But more people began to gather. Since these locals had been so terrible towards outsiders, I decided to start charging. I asked the first lady for a lot of money and received 10,460 yen and 30 Immoral Points.

I refilled the bottle again and asked the first person who wanted it for some real estate, so he gave me an Apartment Title (and 150 Immoral Points). The mayor arrived out of nowhere, and asked me for some water in the gym, so I filled the bottle once more and headed in that direction.

However, someone along the way asked for water, so I asked for a lot of money and got 13,060 yen and 30 Immoral Points again. I noticed that the time was 1:13 AM, and reupped the bottle, then went to the gym for a little look around. Around the back was a swimming pool, but the only thing of interest was a Circle Compass in a training pool. Oh, and I had Little Need, so I used a squat toilet just in case.

On the stairs inside the gym was another instance of everything going black and a voice telling me to play, then I headed inside. Someone asked me “why” and I answered “it naturally happened”, though I was confused by the encounter. Another person told me that I was scamming people, and I agreed that the “miracle water” was stupid. A third person wanted a handshake, so I did it confidently.

The mayor wanted me on stage, so I got comfortable in the cushioned seat. He told me that he would give me anything in return for some of the water — this included running the credits and changing the actual title of the game. I decided to go for a lot of money, and he happily gave me 40,000 yen after using the water for his grandson. Oh, and 30 Immoral Points.

As the water had run out again, and others were asking for some, the mayor told them to settle down. It was 4:42 AM when I left the gym and went to get more water — hoping for more money, of course. Unfortunately, as I pretended to get miracle water (knowing it was regular water), Danny interrupted me and told me “That’s enough for now”.

The jerk who tried to turn me away when I first arrived was nearby and shouted that he had heard our conversation, where I must reiterate that nothing incriminating had been said. He shouted for everyone else, and in moments, Danny and I were surrounded. The bloke informed everyone that the miracle water was fake, because he had heard Danny talking to me. I tried to insist that it was miracle water, but everyone began throwing stones (and I received 70 Immoral Points).

This continued for at least an hour, because it was daylight before I managed to run away, hoping that Kiyo would be okay and left alone. I arrived at Housenka Shopping Street around 6:00 AM, you know, the place that was on fire hours earlier, and found barely more than ash and debris.

I was greeted by the owner of a store — now a pile of soot — who told me that the fire had only just been put out a short time ago, and had been burning since the earthquake. She insisted that there was nothing there for me, and honestly, I was just passing through. I was speechless at first, but told her that I wanted to see what I could do to help people and she went back to looking at her charcoal.

After receiving 15 Moral Points, I had a look around. Few buildings had more than one wall, even fewer had a roof, but everything was black and wet. Everyone had lost someone, it seemed, so they weren’t in the mood to talk, except for an employee of The __ Store — literally pronounced “The Underscore Store”.

I did come across someone wanting to buy anything that I had, and when I realised that I could sell the title to that two-story apartment building (built in 2008) I had been given for miracle water, I happily sold it. The guy had nothing, so I was more than happy to help. Even happier about the fact he willingly gave me 60 million yen for it, of course, bringing my total cash to 91,532,820 yen.

Nearby, I was stopped by Tomoya — Kanae Tomita’s fiancé — who asked how I was doing. I told him that I was managing, not wanting to get into the shelter incident or that cult business. He told me that Kanae was still helping in Suiren Park, and had been accosted by the guy who was chasing Tomoya right after the earthquake struck. He warned that I should keep an eye out for the guy, too.

With mention of the park, when he bid me a goodbye, I whipped out my map and confirmed that yes, I had gone in a circle. Again. I had a feeling that the park would be my next destination…

While exploring, I found a Faucet Compass in the men’s side of the public baths, but there was no way to get past a felled telegraph pole blocking the street. However, I spotted someone behind a fence, who explained that she was waiting for the surviving children from the orphanage to pray for the ones who didn’t make it. I asked to pray with them, hoping it would lead to a way through, but she refused.

One of the kids came over, saying that the only flowers they could find were burnt. They then asked who I was, so I told them I was just a random person, but I could get flowers for them. The orphanage manager didn’t believe me, so the kid asked if I was lying. I told him that I promised, and would pay him one million yen if I was lying.

On a whim, I climbed a nearby staircase and encountered the voice asking me to play once more. Then, I headed to the burnt flower shop, and though they had none to offer, they did suggest I check the riverbank. I went over and could see them in a flower box, but I couldn’t see a way down into the river to reach it. So, I went back to see The __ Store employee.

They told me that I couldn’t get to the river through the store, as they had packed stuff in the way already; however, the Madoka snack bar also had access. They told me where to find the owner for the key, so I headed right over. Unfortunately, they weren’t happy to let just anyone inside, but asked me to cheer up the local barber and I could have the key.

The barber wanted his favourite scissors, so I set about asking people who might have seen where he dropped them. It turned out that the first person I met, who told me about the fire, had just found them, so asked me to return the scissors. The barber was overjoyed when I gave them to him, and he gave me 10,000 yen, and with that done, Madoka’s owner handed over the key.

Upon unlocking the door into the bar, the man who Tomoya had warned me about shoved a gun in my face! I quietly put my hands up, but he soon put the piece away as he remembered me, and he asked if I’d seen Tomoya yet. I asked what he had done, but the answer was “something unforgivable”, but I told him that I hadn’t seen him.

The man left, so I headed into the bar proper, then entered the toilet room. Before using it, I ate my last Plum Onigiri, and drank my only Bottle Of Oolong Tea — I was now out of drink and only had one piece of food left. I used the toilet, then went out into the alleyway and down into the river. Half of the river was thigh-high, but the rest was waist-high, so I really should have put on the bikini to keep my clothes dry…

As I had spotted, some gerberas and lilies were growing in a box, so I grabbed some, then did a quick check for nearby stuff. This paid off, as I found a Guitar Backpack with 40 spaces! I equipped it, then returned the flowers to the orphans, telling them it was easy peasy. Everyone was very thankful that they could give the others a fitting tribute.

Then Hitler came in, wondering why the orphanage hadn’t been completely razed, and lamenting that it would have been easier to work with an empty lot. Okay, it wasn’t actually Adolf Hitler, but the guy literally had the toothbrush moustache most associated with the Nazi leader and was kicking orphans to the curb during a natural disaster.

One of the orphanage managers said that they were behind on rent, so Hitler was within his rights to jackboot them out, and so I offered to help as much as possible by paying the rent. However, even though he took my 285,000 yen (I got 40 Moral Points), Hitler still wanted them out as the plan was to bulldoze the entire street and put up a shopping emporium. He demanded they leave and trod on the flowers, so the managers began gathering what was left of their belongings…