Satoshi-kun is a good brother who takes great care of his sister.

He went to visit Satoko-chan straight after school and kept encouraging her to get better every day.

Without even hearing Satoshi-kun's stories, it's obvious to me that Satoko-chan never had a good relationship with her step-parents...

She especially didn't get along with her stepfather. Satoko-chan even called a child abuse hotline once.

Not only that, her parents ended up dying in an accident, so she just wasn't able to withstand all that damage.

Satoko-chan is still very young, so everything must have been horrible for her to go through.

......Fortunately, she has a wonderful brother.

Emotional wounds are hard to heal.

But nothing heals those wounds better than love from family members.

I'm sure that one day, Satoko-chan will be able to smile again.

She's still in shock, but when she talks to Satoshi-kun, she smiles a little bit.

...Ooishi from the police department keeps requesting to see her, but I think I need to protect her for just a little longer.

...While he's passionate about his job, I wish he'd be a touch more sensitive.

If he reminds her of her parents' accident, her emotional wounds will start to open again.

...That's the one point I worry about with Satoko-chan.

I heard someone knocking on the door.

...It was Takano-san.

...It doesn't look right, wearing a nurse's uniform like that.

She's a licensed doctor, so she should wear a white coat and act like one.

Maybe this is fun for her, but I think she might be insulting the real nurses...

I didn't say anything, though.

"Dr. Irie, may I talk to you?"

"Oh, yes.

Well, Satoshi-kun, if you'll excuse me."

"Ah, sure."

"Hello, Satoshi-kun.

Please keep Satoko-chan company.

She's always alone, so I bet she's lonely.

Okay?"

"O-Oh no, that's not true."

"Mmph."

"Okay Satoshi-kun, you're in charge."

I got up and let Satoshi-kun take over.

"Did something happen?"

"Not right here, let's go to your office.

Hee hee."

Takano-san smiled meaningfully.

Usually, smiles bring happy feelings.

But when it comes to Takano-san, that's rarely the case.

"...Are you sure?"

"Yes.

The initial test results show there's a possibility she's at L3 or above.

We need to keep her here and run some more tests.

The results aren't in yet, but from what I can see, it's very possible that she's at L4."

Takano-san's eyes sparkled in a weird way.

There's a reason for that.

......For us, finding patients in the terminal stage is a valuable boon to our research.

In fact, as a result of dissecting the murder suspect from last year, we've made great progress in our research.

In other words, we finally managed to isolate the pathogen.

We also discovered that when the host dies, the pathogen melts away within a few hours.

Once that happens, it's undetectable.

That's why we never found the pathogen when we performed autopsies.

Our research made a lot of progress after that.

What we've found in this past year has easily surpassed what the late Dr. Takano found in decades.

We're now studying the nature, the effect, and the symptoms of the pathogen, as well as treatments and vaccines.

In other words, a living specimen who's at the terminal stage is a necessity for our research.

However, we rarely find a patient who's gone that far. Who's reached L5.

Hinamizawa Syndrome once created huge numbers of L5 patients, but today, it doesn't have such potency.

Because of that, we have to secure L5 patients, or patients who are close to reaching L5, as quickly as possible.

......Satoko-chan possibly qualifies to be that next sacrifice.

To keep this strange disease a secret, we can't let patients who may be at L5 go.

We have to run more tests first,

then we'll figure out what to do next.

In any case, Satoko-chan seems so calm.

Her behavior is nothing like the man from last year.

Initial tests are in error sometimes.

We'll have to wait for the results of more detailed tests to determine how serious her condition is.

"...Okay."

"Let's admit her for observation.

Please let the staff know to get things ready."

That sounds like a formal answer, but if the results come back positive, that will be the green light for her dissection.

I don't know Satoko-chan that well,

but I've known her brother, Satoshi-kun, through the baseball team for a long time.

How could I dissect

the apple of Satoshi-kun's eyes?

I can feel scary images flashing in my head for the first time.

"Hee hee.

Don't worry.

Everything is already taken care of."

She smiled as if telling me that the dissection is already being prepared for too.

Is it just her who's smiling?

Am I smiling like her, too?

When I dissected that man last year,

I did feel guilt beforehand.

But once I started,

it was like I was in paradise.

All the pieces of the puzzle that were left by the late Dr. Takano fell into place, and at the same time, they didn't. How exciting it was.

Knowing that we are the first ones to take the first steps to solve a mystery, that is.

I don't even know how to explain this feeling to those who have never experienced it.

There's no way to describe it with words.

The only thing I can say is that even a year later, I still remember it vividly.

So if the results show that Satoshi-kun's beloved sister is to be dissected......

Can I control myself? Can I stay calm?

But... that means I'm a failure of a human being.

I know very well that the Houjou family was treated poorly by the villagers, and I know what Satoko-chan had to go through.

Also, I know Satoshi-kun loves his sister, who is his one and only blood relative.

How can I dissect Satoko-chan, using my research as an excuse?

I didn't feel much guilt for the man from last year, but I feel unbearable guilt towards Satoko-chan.

...That means what I did last year was very sinful.

I don't care if a stranger dies.

But I don't want Satoko-chan to die. That's not right.

All lives are equally precious.

I tried to convince myself that he was a violent murderer,

but maybe he only became that way because he was at the terminal stage.

I don't know anything about him before he became deranged.

Maybe he was a model citizen who was worthy of respect.

......Unfortunately, he became ill and ended up doing what he did. Maybe he was a victim himself.

Just like my father...

I know more about Hinamizawa Syndrome than anybody.

This disease makes people act in bizarre ways,

without those people realizing it.

So when the people at the terminal stage do such strange and violent things, one should be sympathetic.

I already knew that back when I decided to go down this path.

I should have remembered it sooner, but I only did just now.

I've finally realized what sinful research I'm working on.

Satoko Houjou's detailed test results came back.

The results say

L5.

She's at the terminal stage of the terminal stage.

It's actually a surprising result.

In last year's case, the patient was extremely deranged.

According to Takano-san's records, he complained about itching coming from the lymph nodes all over his body, and wanted to claw at his throat, just as the late Dr. Takano mentioned.

But Satoko-chan isn't displaying such symptoms.

Even in the late Takano's data, throat clawing is said to be a characteristic symptom of terminal stage patients. However, not all patients experience that symptom.

Besides, emotional expression is very different in each person.

Even if it's the same emotion, one patient may express it rather violently and another may express it calmly.

There's no way of knowing by just looking at a person.

But Satoko-chan's detailed test results says that she's at the terminal stage of the terminal stage, L5.

In other words, she may be feeling what the man from last year was feeling.

It's just that she isn't expressing that feeling in the same way the man was.

Hinamizawa Syndrome affects the frontal lobes of the brain. It stimulates the most primitive of emotions-"doubt"- very strongly.

As a result, terminal patients are trapped in delusions and paranoia, and end up committing horrible crimes.

Satoko-chan seems to show improvement when she's exchanging friendly words with Satoshi-kun.

But...... there's a paranoia stirring inside her that may put her in a deranged stage at any moment.

...I can't let her leave the clinic like this.

However, if things go according to the manual, I will have to make a decision on her dissection.

......My decision will only be a formality.

I can't actually refuse.

Takano-san appears to be already working on the dissection schedule.

That plan will then come to me.

Would I feel the same way

while dissecting Satoko-chan?

Would I be able to experience that trance once again?

...No, the question is, can I fight the temptation?

As I pretend to question myself, I'm letting Takano-san prepare things on her own. By doing so, am I passively agreeing to Satoko-chan's dissection?

If possible, I want to save Satoko-chan.

I don't want her to be a sacrifice for this research.

I don't want to dissect her.

Then, what about the man from last year?

Do I only care about the lives of the people I know?

If I don't dissect her, do I let her live and leave the clinic?

Do I simply wait for her to become deranged and commit a horrible crime?

And then she'll end up here, just like the man from last year,

and I'll end up dissecting her anyway.

The man from last year

was dissected alive

...and kept that way for several months.

With his skull left open, he wasn't allowed to die for several months. He was kept alive, just for our cruel experiments.

I don't want to do that to her!

I don't know what to do.

Even debating and agonizing over it is leading toward consent to her dissection by elimination...