"Thank you very much for enjoying Higurashi: When They Cry - Ch.3 Tatarigoroshi.

How did you like it? It had a different sort of atmosphere than the previous chapters.

I would be happy if you enjoyed it☆."

"Hee-hee!

A bad end again, the type which we're so fond of, huh?☆

Personally, I wanted to get a scene of the gas coming in, the villagers spasming and foaming at the mouth one by one before dying—do you all think so too?"

"Of course I do not think so!!

Again!

It happened again!!"

"A huuuuge bad end!!

Ku-ku-ku!

Ah-ha-ha!!"

"Huuuh?

Mii-chan, you sure seem happy about the bad end."

"Well, it's more like all we can honestly do at this point is laugh."

"Nah-ha-ha.

The terrible endings have been escalating through each chapter, and it finally reached a culmination, I suppose."

"...Everyone died together as friends.

As friends, nipah~☆."

"Hmm, I guess you could say that!

I die every time though, and I'm a little tired of it!

It would be nice to have an ending where I didn't die once in a while."

"Tomitake-san, you're kind of like a time signal!

When you die, it's like, oh, we're in the second half now!

Kind of~!"

"""Wah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!"""

"Okay!

Now here are our guests that debuted in this chapter.

Everyone give a big round of applause~!!

First is Coach—Irie Kyousuke-san~~!"

"I'm honored to have your introduction.

Hello there.

I was a minor character, but having a full portrait like this makes me really feel important."

"It's true!

You had too many appearances, too much dialogue, and too strong a role for a minor character."

"Hahahaha☆.

I don't know how much I'll get to appear from hereon, so please root for me!"

"Thank you very much!

Next up is our teacher, Chie-sensei~!!"

"Hello there, everyone!

I've appeared in various scenes, and this time I was given that memorable scene, the curry showdown.

...I just can't forgive those who would slight curry."

"...Ah, haha, hahahahaha!

Y-Yes, I wonder!

Oh, someone give Chie-sensei a seat, please~!"

"Okay!

Now everybody is here!

Rena!

You can do the honors again!"

"Okay, everyone~!

Please pick up the cup nearest to you on your table~!

There are plenty of different drinks~!"

"These afterparties have really gotten lively.

How many do we have here now?"

"Including us, I think there are about ten people."

"Now we finally have the same number of minors and adults!

We can all drink without being ashamed!"

"Speaking of beer—how is it that something so delicious when cold turns so bad when warm?

One of the seven wonders of the world, I say."

"Hee-hee-hee!

I wonder why?"

"Okay, I'll pour some beer.

One,

two,

three,

four,

five,

six.

...Huh?

There were six adults here?"

"...Meep♪

I would like the foamy barley tea as well."

"Rika-chan, you can't drink!!"

"Anyway, Rena-san, let's get this moving."

"Well, okay!

Can I have everyone's attention please~~!!"

"All right, everyone!

Excellent work on the Tatarigoroshi chapter!!

Cheers~~!!!"

"""Cheers~~~!!!!"""

Yaaaay!!! Clap clap clap clap clap clap!!

"Okay then.

Let's get down to our traditional plot discussion!"

"Still, though... This chapter just confused us yet again.

...Hmm, well, if anyone has an opinion, please raise your hand!"

"............Wow, everyone's being so discreet.

No hands?"

"...Then why don't I break the ice?

Oh, excuse me, could you change the music please?

To something a little more mysterious.

......Yeah, that's good."

"...The mood has been set."

"All right... Takano-san, take it away!"

"I think that just by poring over the Tatarigoroshi story, the mystery won't be revealed."

"...I know what you mean.

Obviously that's how the stories have been set up."

"...Was there something like that in particular?"

"I don't know if I'm right...

But in Onikakushi, when Maebara-kun was eating in the restaurant with Ooishi-san, Sonozaki-san found out, and it was a little mysterious, right?"

"It was certainly mysterious just in Onikakushi, but after reading Watanagashi a few things made a lot of sense."

"When I mentioned a restaurant with cute uniforms during the story, it must have meant Angel Mort.

And Angel Mort is owned by the Sonozaki family, so..."

"Someone who knew Kei-chan was there too, and told me... It actually makes a good amount of sense, right?

That's what we mean."

"There are subtle differences in the Higurashi stories,

but I think there are three facets that are the same for each.

The character settings, for example."

"...I was scary in Onikakushi, but that wasn't only because it was Onikakushi...

it was because my character was the exact same in all three stories, is that it?"

"I agree with the characters being exactly the same.

...The most extreme case being me dying in the same way in the same place every time."

"...No matter which story it is, you always die on the same day."

"There's a scene where during Watanagashi, Takano-san and Tomitake-san sneak into the ritual implement storehouse.

...The same scene may have still happened in the other stories, even though it wasn't portrayed."

"I think it still happened.

...Save for a few events—the weather the day of the festival, what we did in the club, and Satoko's uncle coming home—it's almost all the same."

"...Which means...... we have a bunch more questions.

If the stories are told in exactly the same environment each time, why do they end up being so different?"

"If we think from the perspective of a general adventure game in the suspense genre... sometimes the story branches depending on choices, right?"

"So in Watanagashi, the point where you do or don't give the doll to my sister?"

"...An unavoidable bad end from a choice so early on... That's pretty scary!"

"Well... hmm.

In Tatarigoroshi... maybe whether you decide to kill the uncle or not."

"I think it was way before that.

...I think it branched back when the uncle's cohabitant disappeared because of some trouble and he returned to Hinamizawa."

"...Then what was the first branch in Onikakushi?"

"I think... it was when I appeared and started talking about the serial freak death incidents related to Oyashiro-sama's curse."

"...You know, I just thought of something.

...If Keiichi-san gave the doll to Mion-san...

And if Ooishi-san and my uncle hadn't appeared... would we not have spent our time in peace, without anything happening?"

"...I see...

Satoko's gotten right to the point.

You're right!

You can say that again!"

"Then maybe we should pray Ooishi-san and her uncle don't show up in this dark story,

and then if we can prevent Sonozaki-san from getting in a bad mood, everyone will be happy?"

"Yaaay, Big Sis, you're needed for the bad ending~!!

Be careful, everyone~!

If you make my sister mad, you're sure to get a bad end~!!"

"W-What are you saying?!

Shioooonnn!!

Next time I'll make sure to be merciless in the pain I put you through!!

You can cry and apologize as much as you like, it won't work!!!

Just you waaaaait!!"

"Ahahahahahaha.

...We can't solve any of the mysteries thus far, but we seem to have put together a plan for how to get the story to end happily."

"......I wonder... if that would really make us happy.

Ooishi-san and Teppei Houjou-san don't show up.

Mion-san gets the doll.

...Is that all we have to make sure of?"

"You're right.

...We're all forgetting the most important thing.

Remember the Great Hinamizawa Disaster?"

"You cannot prevent natural disasters!!

Should we have everyone in the village put on gas masks and move away?!"

"...It's probably Oyashiro-sama's curse.

So we need to make sure not to make Oyashiro-sama angry."

"Nah-ha-ha!

This is getting a little tricky.

We mustn't anger Oyashiro-sama, eh?

And what should we do in order to prevent that?"

"The dam project itself is probably out of the question...

Maybe if there was never a dam project in the first place?"

"That... would be hard.

...If it didn't happen, we would need a ritual to quell Oyashiro-sama's anger."

"Sinking a sacrifice into the Onigafuchi Swamp... A ritual sacrifice!"

"...A-A sacrifice... Who do we sacrifice?"

"Come on, use your head!

Someone who is destined to drop out from the story no matter what happens!

If he's gonna die anyway, then we may as well have it help out Hinamizawa!"

"...Uhh...

...When you say someone who drops out no matter what...

you're talking about me, aren't you?"

"I knew all along... I knew you had some very important role in this story, Jirou-san.

We'll get you to play your part☆."

"And with that... we have a blueprint for getting a nice, happy, good ending, don't we?

Let's give it a try since we have time.

Everyone involved, come over here!"

First... we stop Uncle Houjou, whose lover ran out on him, from returning to Hinamizawa!

"Hiya, my name's Uncle Houjou~ (He has no portrait, so I'm standing in☆).

I'm so lonely and blue because my lover ran away~♪.

Time to go back to Hinamizawa, lock up Satoko-chan, and—hah, hah—raise her into a maid servant~~♪.

Why don't I take my motorbike back?

I'll just put in the key, and click.

...Click?"

Kabooooooooooooooooom!!!!

"Judgment!!!

To ashes and dust shall you return!!!"

"S-Satoko-chan, don't you think this was a little too much gunpowder...?"

(I hope Coach is all right... (sweat)).

Next we stop Ooishi from showing up!!

"Me this time?

Nfu-fu!

My name is Kuraudo Ooishi☆.

A hot, good-looking middle-aged man who looks like a blues singer.

Mfu-fu-fu!"

Kabooooooooooooooooom!!!!

"...Meep!

Judgment for you."

"And, lest we forget, a follow-up service for my sister!

Come here, Big Sis!

There's a cute little doll for you~☆.

Aww, how nice~!"

"Mgh, something about this just doesn't sit right with me!!!"

"And finally... we must quell Oyashiro-sama's anger."

"Then... will our last actor please come up?"

"Tie him fast, wrap him up, and hang him!

He'll sink for three days, right?"

"I'm not that patient—let's just get it over with~!"

"Gbbrhgghnbhgrhbgh!!!!"

"And with that!! The case has been closed!!!"

"Ahahahahaha... Hmm☆.

Oh no, all of a sudden, this arm of mine is glowing with an awesome power☆."

"...This pile of corpses is a pretty big deal."

"Huh?

It's the phone.

......Hello?

Oh, Keiichi-kun?!

Thanks for all your work!"

"Yeah, yeah! Looks like you're all having a roaring old time.

And yet here I am busy with reading the scenario for the next story!!

Whatever.

I'm in a good mood today, so I'll let you off without any teasing.

...Is Shion there?

Can you put her on?"

"What?

You're going to announce it here?

I wanted to keep it secret for a while longer, but okay."

"A secret between Shion-san and Keiichi-san?!"

"Wha-Wha-Wha-What do you meeeeean?!

Nobody told me about this! Nobody!!"

"Okay, Kei-chan, let's say it at the same time.

One, two, three!"

""The main character of the next story will be Shion Sonozaki~~!!""

"""W-Whaaaaaaat?!?!"""

"...Yes, so that's that.

The one topping the popularity charts since her first appearance.

The late-appearing younger sister of twins being popular has been the pattern of things ever since the days of TH♪."

"I have no idea what that means, and it doesn't matter.

Anyway, I've been fired from my main character post for once!

If the rumors are right, I might even get a portrait finally?!

Yahoo!!"

"Well, portraits of Kei-chan would be a big waste of disc space.

If it couldn't all fit on one disc, there's a pretty high chance he'd be the first one dropped."

"...Are you okay with this, Shion-san?

The main character always meets some terrible fate in the end!"

"Ku-ku-ku!

Well, until now.

But that doesn't necessarily mean it'll happen next time!"

"With Tatarigoroshi, we're already at the third game in the Higurashi: When They Cry series.

This first half presented a lot of strange and exciting mysteries, but starting next time...

the mysteries will start to be solved in the second half, marking the start of the Investigation Arc (temporary name)."

"That means it'll be a thrilling story where I become a detective and solve all these crazy, unfair mysteries.

You'd all better think up good signature phrases!

Like...

'You, sir, are the criminal'☆."

"It won't happen, never!!

You'll get too close to the Three Families' secrets, be imprisoned, and then get tormented!

You're a shoo-in to meet a violent, unnatural death!!"

"Sis, I should say the same to you—are you mentally prepared for me to see through all your mysteries and secrets, then have you apologize to me and commit suicide?"

"...No chance of Oyashiro-sama's curse for me, is there?"

"Anyway.

The new story to begin the second half, temporarily called Meakashi, or 'eye-opening,' is currently undergoing diligent development.

We should be able to unveil it to you all in the near future, so I hope you'll look forward to it."

"......Onikakushi,

Watanagashi,

and Tatarigoroshi.

What truths will you all come up with after reading these three stories?

...Or will you just come up with more questions instead of theories?

Hmmm, ahahaha.

Rena has no clue either.

Ahahaha..."

"For all of you warriors who never yielded to these three mysteries and kept on fighting...

we present you with one final scenario as thanks for your enthusiasm, one which we never originally planned on giving to you.

Please enjoy it."