The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy RPG

You wake with a headache, a dry mouth, and your arms curled around your head, facing the smooth grain of a wooden desk. Groans of confusion ripple through the room. What is this? Where are you?

Your head lifts. A classroom. Grey tiled floors and walls, windows sealed shut. The only light is the blinding blue digital screen of the blackboard/monitor ahead. And the other people in the room with you are...

The world thuds and spins. All too familiar figures sit on the desks surrounding yours. The members of the Special Defense Unit. The characters of The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy? Was this a dream? Did you get hit by a truck and die?

The world thuds and spins. As others begin to stir, murmurs and questions fill the air. You already know where you are. This is Day 1 at Last Defense Academy. You’re confused like everyone else, but for different reasons. It's not a killing game, that's for sure.

Ding, dong, bing bong. The bell chimes; the monitor shifts. It's time to get to know all your classmates. Let's all introduce ourselves!

Their spoken lines match what you remember from behind the screen, word for word, yet when they interact with you the script diverges. They feel alive and human; not anime models but people with breath.

You exchange curt intros with the SDU: Takemaru, Shouma, Kako, Ima, Eito, Takumi, Hiruko, Gaku, Tsubasa, Darumi, Moko, Yugamu, Kurara, Kyoshika, Nozomi. Each unique, some stranger than others.

Ding, dong, bing bong. The monitor changes again. Everybody stand ready to greet your commanding officer!

A round robot pops up in a burst of confetti and lands on the teacher’s desk. Sirei. Not Monokuma — more composed, energetic, and weirdly bureaucratic. He announces: you’re in Last Defense Academy, outside the Tokyo Residential Complex, unable to leave. He opens the shutters through his own command with a flash of red eyes; sunlight and a clear blue sky spill in the once-dim room. The others gape — many have never seen an actual sky. They've known only the domed ceiling of the TRC on the Artificial Satellite. Never seen the real sun, moon, stars, rain, snow, all natural properties of Earth.

Beyond the windows, the world is ringed by bright pink barriers: the Undying Flames. Not literal wildfire but tall, burning wards that encircle the school and cannot be extinguished. Intimidating in person, even if you already knew about them.

Your New Duties.

After that, Sirei finally announced the purpose of this gathering of students. The mission you all had to carry out? The complete and utter extermination of all and any enemy troops who dared to threaten the school. All 16 of you would be known as the Special Defense Unit.

Even more questions arose. The mastermind of this all? Well, you didn't need the answer. But before Sirei could deflect or tell the truth of who brought them all here in the first place...

The alarm.

Intruder Alert. Intruder Alert. Unauthorized personnel detected on school grounds detected on school grounds. Defense mode initiated. All available troops, prepare for battle immediately.

The whole classroom flashed red. In fact, every room in this academy was probably consumed by the color. On the blackboard/monitor, Sirei presented the situation with a show of red eyes and a beep once more: monster-like creatures were quickly approaching the school, scrambling to paw and shred through the dome-like barrier that had just been erected.

Sirei's order was to fight...or else the monsters would break in and slaughter you all. The Special Defense Unit would fight with Hemoanima... which you hadn't tried for yourself before. All the others had. Even so, most of them were wary and hesitant to go out onto the battlefield.

Hiruko (I have no intention of dying today.), Takemaru (The strong protect the weak!), and Darumi (Killing game! Us versus them!).

Sirei then mentioned that it wasn't just their lives that would be lost if the school fell to the enemy. Apparently, everyone back at the TRC...everything they held dear... would be forfeit.

For that, Takumi had joined the fight. (To keep a promise to a loved one back home...to protect her no matter what.) With visible anxiety and determination. Everyone who had decided to join the fight rushed to the War Room.

You didn't participate. You knew from playing the game that the small team would turn out fine. For now, you stayed and watched the events play out on the classroom monitor.

In your head, you could remember the entire scene as it played out: the four fighters located and rushed to the Warm Room, given their Infusers, which would activate their Hemoanima with a miraculous transformation. Then, they used the launch pads to phase through the dome and be thrown into battle.

One by one, you witnessed the small group eliminate the colorful monsters―or, as Sirei would name them, invaders. The so-called "enemy of all mankind." The Undying Flames existed to keep them away from the school, but every now and then, the extra-strong creatures would break through, triggering the alarm and requiring the SDU to intervene. Their goal was to reach a "certain something" in the Defense Room. According to Sirei, if they got their hands on it, humanity would become "as good as instinct."

Then came the Commander.

With the size and appearance of a wvyern, the Commander was obviously the biggest threat of the battle. His entire form was skeletal-like and his eyes and claw-tips were a glowing red.

Thrilled by the big catch, Darumi came sprinting at the monstrous creature with enthusiasm.

You were expecting it, but of course, it wasn't pretty to see the life quite literally squeezed out of her.

The commander―Muvrum―crushed her ribs with his claws in mere seconds. He threw her away like a bag of trash. The remaning fighters could only watch with eyes wide and helpless as her body twitched and then stilled. Darumi was dead. (For now.) A drone arose from the Academy and drifted towards the body, taking it into its clutch. The Corpse Recovery Drone.

Yet they couldn't get distracted. It was fight or die. Hiruko was composed and steadfast on her feet. Takemaru was resigned but unwavering. Takumi, although hesitant, followed.

After a few heavy blows, the group didn't defeat Muvrum; the commander ended up flying away from the battle. It was over. The trio returned to the War Room, where you and the rest of the non-fighters quickly approached. Seeing Darumi die via the monitor only divided the fighters and non-fighters further; going out on that battlefield imposed a major risk, but it also could've been prevented had there been others to assist.

But Darumi wasn't dead. Not anymore. She returned with a big smile and her arms spread out as if she didn't have pints of blood squashed out of her mouth. The Revive-O-Matic had worked its magic. Sirei explained its function. The Corpse Recovery Drone picked up dead bodies and brought them to the Infrimary, in which it would be placed inside a recovery pod. There, it would stimulate the remaining of one's Hemoanima, effectively bringing them back to life. Which meant as long as not too much Hemoanima was drained out, you and everyone were immortal.

But even with that benefit, not all were willing to become fighters. Fear and distrust held them back. Only some―Nozomi, Yugamu, Kyoshika, Moko, and Kurara―seemed convinced to join. The rest, it seemed, would need to be persuaded.

---

You spent the rest of the first day and the most second day simply exploring the school and further getting to know your classmates―or more accurately, letting them get to know you.

A thought lingered in the back of your mind. This was Day 2. This morning, the non-fighters pressed Sirei for answers. Not much was provided. Only that Last Defense Academy lied far from the TRC. From time to time, invaders would attack the school. If the invaders got their hands on a certain something inside the school, it would all be "over" for humanity. Everyone here was drafted into the Special Defense Unit, a squad dedicated to protecting the school for a hundred days. Only after that would they be able to return to their lives in the TRC. He refused to give any further answers until everyone agreed to fight.

You knew that at some point in the game, all SDU members would agree to fight. But Sirei was never able to tell them the truth―his version of it, at least.

Because this was Route Zero. Only after the player's first time experiencing the first hundred days could they make their own decisions that would change in the storyline. Every choice made was important to achieve a desired ending. And in this first timeline...it was wrecked to havoc, all thanks to one person.

Eito Aotsuki.

When you spoke to him, he seemed like a nice, albeit socially awkward guy. That was the way he'd acted in the game too; the "Voice of Reason", the protagonist's closest friend and most trusted ally, Eito was a confidant and a viable support. He projected as an isolated man with a sickness that made him spent most of his life in a hospital, preventing him from interacting with others much...and he was initially skeptical towards the whole situation. However, on Day 7, he eventually joined the fight to protect his newfound friends.

As it turns out, he wasn't the innocent man he presented himself as. As the days unfolded, Eito carried out his sinister plan behind the scenes.

First it was Sirei who he took out, with Eito never trusting him from the start, and doing so to prevent anyone from fighting the school invaders. Then it was a direct kill to Hiruko at night, absorbing her power to grow in strength (Day 15). Then, knocking out Takumi and leaving him for dead in the ruins (although ultimately unsuccesful, Day 22), releasing a Commander―Eva―they kept as prisoner (Day 65) who he eventually killed and absorbed, indirectly leaading to the death of Ima (Day 79), turning the group against and eventually causing the indirect death of Nozomi (Day 94). All masterfully executed with his meticulous track-covering and planning.

Night approached. The first domino is about to tumble.

Day 2 was where it all branched off. The air carries a chill as you step outside the dorm. You inhale. Earth as you remember it has never felt this fresh. Your eyes gaze upwards. Glowing like the twinkling celestial bodies in the dark-blue sky is the Artificial Satellite, a structure almost exactly resembling the Earth's moon until you squint. If you made it out alive, you'd end up there someday.

In the corner of your eye, you see a flicker of a pink flame. Its departure is as quick as its appearance. Shion. Not interacting. Just watching. On the 95th day, Eito ended up killing him too and revealed his true colors to everyone. It rendered their whole mission useless. It prevented the final attack on Day 100 from happening.

Eito despised humanity. After that kill, he dropped the act and spilled the truth about himself: he had a cognitive disorder that made him see, hear, smell, feel, perceive all humans as repulsive, grosteque monsters. Everything he did was to ensure LDA's failure and humanity's eradication.

...With this knowledge, you couldn't just stand by and do nothing. Whatever you did now was destined to change the future. It all depended on the actions you'd take in the present.

---

You pick up an Infuser in the War Room and craft a small recorder at the Gift-O-Matic―proof matters. You don’t burst into the Gym; you open its door quietly and peer in.

The gym’s blue night light bathes the room. Eito stands transformed in Class Armor, hefting his Class Weapon: a black-and-red scythe. Sirei is beside him, momentarily unguarded. In a few heartbeats, Sirei will be struck down; a small bomb inside Eito's chest (which everyone has) implanted by Sirei will automatically detonate regardless, but Sirei will stay dead. Eito will be revived afterward.

What should you do about Eito?

If you fight and defeat him, you might kill him—or at least secure a recording as proof. The SDU would have fewer internal threats, though they might view you with suspicion.

If you spare him, he could be caged in the Courtyard, Hemoanima suppressed. But cages break. He could escape.

...Or you could walk away. Sirei isn’t wholly benevolent; his AI serves humanity’s will — a will that planned for Futurans to be wiped out by Day 100. If Sirei is complicit, what then? What would you choose to do about Eito?

A mental guide blinks into view. Time seems to pause, waiting for your decision.

---

SPECIAL INTUITION . . .

Decide Eito's Fate!

• STOP HIM>Let Him Live
• STOP HIM>Kill Him
• Don't Do Anything