Liar Game 1a

All of my translations are RESERVED


Liar Game, Roots of A, Chapter 1 (pp. 3~36)


<3>
=Going back to June of 5 years ago,
=The Teito University campus.

=Here,//We see Shinichi Akiyama in his younger days.
=Shinichi Akiyama (age 22)//Teito University 4th-year humanities major

=Teito University... The most selective elite institution in Japan.
=In fact, of the five 4th-year students enrolled in Professor Okabe's criminal psychology seminar in the Department of Behavioral Studies,
=Three, including Akiyama, have already been promised careers in government office after graduating. The other two have also landed employment at top-rate corporations. They are the cream of the crop.

=...Hey guys,
=Why'd you decide to take Professor Okabe's class in the first place?


<4>
=Criminal psychology just perked my interest, I guess.
Natsuki Igarashi (age 21)//Expected to enter a government ministry

=Same here.//The stuff you study in college doesn't count for shit once you go out into the real world.
=So I figured I may as well pick something interesting.
=Hitoshi Komaki (age 22)//Expected to join a banking institution

=I'm taking it 'cause an upperclassman told me Professor Okabe's classes are actually pretty easy.
=There's way fewer papers required compared to some of the other classes.
=Jiro Ono (age 22)//Expected to join a TV network

=True.
=His classes are generally pretty easy.
=The only problem is...
=Masami Matsuo (age 22)//Expected to enter a government ministry


<5>
=He's got that gloomy atmosphere that puts people off.

=That's true!!//That gloominess has gotta be the biggest reason why Okabe classes are so unpopular.
=I've heard about other professors taking their students out for drinks and having debates with them till morning, but...

=Professor Okabe just—Isn't like that at all.
=He's kinda indifferent, and laid-back, and creepy...

=I'm sure all criminal psychology scholars are like that. They spend the whole year thinking about murderers and people with abnormal tendencies.
=That would make anyone gloomy.
=Right, Akiyama?


<6>
=Yeah,
=I guess so.

GARUCK

WHOOSH
=Yukiya Okabe (age 62)//Teito University School of Humanities Department of Behavioral Studies//Professor of Social Psychology//Specialty: Criminal Psychology

=Good morning.
WHAP
=...G-
=Good morning, sir.


<7>
WHUP

=...W-What's with the silence...?
=That's why everyone thinks you're creepy.

=Up until now, this class has been a series of lectures on criminal psychology.
=But today...

=I'm going to give you an assignment.

=The assignment is...


<8>
=A profiling.

=As explained in the lectures, profiling refers to the investigative method of evaluating a criminal's characteristics from a psychological and scientific standpoint.//I've taken the time to explain those techniques during the past lectures.

=So today,
=I'd like to have you profile a certain individual.
=Umm...

=I thought profiling could only be done with a firsthand look at what was left behind at the crime scene.
=Hah-hah-hah
=It's not a criminal that I want you to profile.

=It's the sender of this letter.
WHAP


<9>
=...What is it?
=Do you know
=What a "balloon letter" is?

=I made one in elementary school.
=It's the one where you attach a letter to the end of a balloon and release it into the air, isn't it?
=That's right.

=This letter was found hanging on the tree of a certain house in Setagaya.
=However,

=The address and name have unfortunately been blotted out.

=The rain must have smeared the ink when it got caught on the tree.
=Maybe so.

=Therefore,
=I'd like to have you deduce the characteristics of the person who sent this letter.

=You have 2 weeks. You may deliberate amongst the five of you.//In 2 weeks, you'll be submitting a paper summarizing your findings.


<10>
=However,
=If I don't find the results to be satisfactory, you will be attending extra lectures over the summer break.

=Huh!?
=Well then, I wish you luck.

=Man,
=Who the hell said Okabe classes were easy?

=Now now,
=We've just got to buckle down and work our brains.

=Alright.
=What do you make of this letter?


<11>
Hello, nice to meet you.

Thank you for picking up this letter.
The snow on the mountains have melted away, and the cherry trees have started to blossom, haven't they.
What about the place where you live?
Has spring arrived yet?

Spring is a time of departure, and a time for new beginnings.
A new school year, new classmates, new jobs...
Spring is a time of hope.
No matter what sorts of hardships you may have gone through,
The buds and flowers overflow with life and energy,
And give us the strength and courage to live.
That is the beauty of spring.
Spring is so wonderful, isn't it.

I sincerely wish that the new season will renew your courage and hope.
And if it's not too much trouble,
Please let me know that you have read this letter.


<12>
=First off, we can tell that the person who wrote it is male.
=He's using the masculine form for "us."
[note]"Bokutachi"; Masculine form for "us" in Japanese.

=And he wrote it in spring.
=That's not a profiling.
=You're just repeating what you read.

=Fine, then you do it.
=It says the season is spring...
=But you can narrow it down even further.

=Most likely,
=From March 24th to March 31st.

=Whoa, that's pretty specific.
=From the "Cherry trees have started to blossom," part?
=That too, but mainly...

="Spring is a time of departure, and a time for new beginnings. A new school year, new classmates, new jobs..."
=The letter lists all the things that happen in spring...

=But no mention of "graduation."
=Oh yeah.


<13>
=So this letter was most likely written when "graduation" had already taken place.//They usually have graduations from around March 10th to March 24th, don't they?
=I see.

=On the other hand, the letter does mention the start of the school and work year... Meaning those events are yet to occur.
=...So going from there...

=Yeah, then it would have to be from March 24th to 31st!!
=That's not all we can deduce.

=The letter lists "school year, classmates, and jobs" in that order.//Normally, you list events in the order that you think of them, right?
[letter excerpt]Has spring arrived yet?//Spring is a time of departure, and a time for new beginnings.//A new school year, new classmates, new jobs...//Spring is a time of hope.
=Which means this person thought of "school year" and "classmates" before "jobs" when they had to list spring events.

=...So it's a student?
=Probably.

=What about the "Snow on the mountains have melted away" part at the beginning? You probably won't find any snowcapped mountains south of Tokyo, even during winter.
=Then it's up north.
=North of Northern Kanto, maybe around the Koushin'etsu region?


<14>
=So to summarize, the sender is a male student living in the northern region. He wrote the letter sometime in late March...

=...So, now what?

=...Nothing, huh.

=The professor's gonna fail us if this is all we can come up with.
=Hmm...

=Hey Akiyama, you haven't said anything. What do you think about our deduction so far?

=Yeah, it's not bad.
=But if I can say one basic thing...


<15>
=Is there a right answer to this?

=Huh?
=Oh yeah... Good point...
=This letter was hanging on the tree of a certain house in Setagaya... Right?

=The professor also lives in Setagaya.
=So maybe...

=The professor found it in his own house?

=Y-Yeah!!//That's totally possible!!
=He picked it up, saw how the name and address were erased, and thought "This would be a perfect assignment to give to the students."


<16>
=...So the professor doesn't know the right answer either!!
=Which means he can't demand better work from us when we submit our paper!!

=Man—So that whole thing about giving up summer break was just a threat to make sure we wouldn't half-ass the paper, huh—
=Phew—
=I feel a lot better now.

=We'll be fine if we just make it sound like we know what we're talking about.
=Hah-hah-hah-hah


<17>
BOW
=Oh.

=So?//How's the paper?
=Yes,
=It's coming along.

=Very well.
=I have one question, professor.

=Are you aware of the correct answer to this profiling?


<18>
=Of course.
=I know exactly who the sender is.

=Thank you very much.
BOW

=He knows the right answer—?
=Hah-hah-hah, that's gotta be a bluff.

=He can't just go, "Actually, there is no right answer," can he?
=I don't know...

=Anyways, we're getting along with the profiling, Akiyama. First off, we wrote that the sender is diligent, neat, and cheerful. This is because his handwriting is well-aligned and...


<19>
=Nao—Let's go.
=Wait,
=I found a 100 yen coin.
[margin arrow]Akiyama

=I have to report it to the police.
=Gosh, why do you have to be so honest? Just keep it.

=Could it be...!

=And now... The due-date of the paper.

=From the lines, "Spring is a time of departure, and a time for new beginnings. A new school year, new classmates, new jobs," one can surmise that this letter was written in late March—
=Several occurrences have been listed as spring events, but oddly enough, "graduation," is not among these.


<20>
=This suggests that "graduation" was long past by the time this letter was written... If the school and work year were to begin afterward, the only possible time frame would be late March.

=It is obvious that the sender is male, since he is using the masculine form of "us." Given the ordering of, "School year, classmates, jobs," one can observe that the sender prioritizes "School year and classmates" before "jobs" when listing spring events, lending weight to the notion that he is a student.
=Judging by the level of his writing, he is likely to be a student in junior-high or high school. A college student would be unlikely to prioritize "classmates" over "jobs."

=Given the fact that there are no mistakes in his spelling and punctuation, he is probably an excellent student. Also, the mention of snows melting from the mountains indicates that he lives in Northern Kanto, or perhaps even Yamanashi Prefecture.
=It would be far too early to mention cherry blossoms during late March in the Tohoku region.

=His neatly aligned sentences, coupled with his meticulous handwriting, indicate that the author has a very diligent personality.

=The prevalence of positive words such as "hope," "courage," and "beginnings," show that the sender has a cheerful and positive nature.
=On the other hand, the act of attaching a letter to a balloon so it will float into the air also suggests that he is a romantic, with some childishness still left in his character...

WHAP

=...The analysis in this paper...


<21>
=Is completely incorrect.

=Wh-Which part is incorrect, sir!?
=Besides, you don't know who sent this letter either! Do you, professor!?
GATHUCK
=I do know.
=I know the exact characteristics of the person who sent this letter.

=Did any of you come up with a different answer?


<22>
WHUP

=Very well. Mr. Akiyama.

GATHUCK
=Sir

=The sender was a 19-year old male with a somewhat dark and negative personality.
=He wrote the letter at the beginning of March, and released it from the southern tip of the Boso Peninsula.

=What the hell?
=That's totally impossible.

=...Hmm.


<23>
=That is correct.

=Whaaat!?

=...Wha!?//How did you get that!?
=I'll explain.

=There were several things that I thought were odd when I saw this letter.
=The first was the smeared ink.

=It got rained on when it was stuck to the tree, right?
=Don't be so sure.

=I sent a letter using a balloon when I was in elementary school, but you're supposed to wrap the letter in a plastic bag before you release it so it won't get wet.

=And when you fold this letter by its creases... See, it goes like this, right?
=It must've been folded when it was sent, and...


<24>
=If it got wet looking like this,
=The body of the letter should also be blurred out, not just the name and address.

=Hey!!
=That's true!!
=Which means,
=The words got blurred after the letter was opened.

=So it's no surprise that the professor knew the sender's name and address.
=But the professor phrased it a little differently.

=I know exactly who the sender is.

="I know exactly who it is" ...That suggests he knows more than just a simple name and address.
=Most likely...

=It indicates that the professor had some sort of contact with the sender.


<25>
=And that's not all.
=This letter was sent to a stranger, right?

=If you were to write a letter to someone you've never met before, how would you write it?
=You'd start off a greeting, right?//...And then?

=Wouldn't you introduce yourself?

=However... This letter contains absolutely no introduction.
[letter]First 4 lines
=Oh,
=Right!!

=It just kept bugging me. Why didn't the person who wrote this letter say anything about himself?
=Did he not want to?

=If he didn't want to, the positive expressions like "hope" and "courage..."
=Must've come as a result of wanting to shake off the difficult conditions that surrounded him.

=If all this is true,
=Maybe it has something to do with the professor knowing the sender...


<26>
=And finally... I discovered,

=The author of this letter.

=How did you deduce that!?
=Sorry,
=It's not gonna be a deduction from here on out.

=I asked the professor's wife.
=...In secret.

=Huh!? What do you mean?//That's not a profiling.
=True... But,
=I couldn't help myself.

=I'm sorry about keeping this secret, Professor...
=But your wife told me everything... The sender...


<27>
=Was gravely ill.

=The person's name was Koshiro Takeda. He fell ill at age 16, and had spent the past 3 years on the sickbed.
=And because of that, he had become silent and recluse. A stark contrast from his once cheery persona.

=He listed the words "school year" and "classmates" before "jobs," despite being 19 years old,
=Because he regretted not being able to spend much time in school due to his illness.

=Concerned for her son's welfare, the mother suggests that he write a balloon letter.
=Anything to give him a more positive outlook.
=Fed up with the monotonous life in the hospital, he was delighted by her suggestion.

=His mother prepared 50 balloons, and carefully hand-wrote 50 copies of the letter.
=However, he made absolutely no mention of his own illness. Substituting it instead with words of hope. Not wanting to attract sympathy, he did the best he could to put up a bold front.

=Maybe he didn't include "graduation" because it conjures up the feeling of "departure."
NOD


<28>
=He hadn't seen the outside scenery for a long time because he was bedridden... Having gone to Chiba to get a change of air, he wasn't aware that there is no snow on the mountains of the Boso Peninsula.
=?//Then how do you explain the "snow on the mountains" part?

=The scenery from his hometown in Niigata.
=Those were the memories from when he was healthy.

=And one day during the beginning of March, his mother released 50 balloons off the roof of the hospital on a southerly wind.

=Balloon letters don't make it into people's hands very often.
=But luckily, one balloon did reach a young girl living in Setagaya.

=Her name was Reiko...
=Professor Okabe's only daughter, who was 18 years old at the time.

=Huh!?

=Ms. Reiko was also living a reclusive life. Once an avid basketball player, she was even selected for the national team, but a grave knee injury had forced her to give up the sport.
=Since then, she had spent her days locked up in her room, not knowing what she wanted to do with her life, even with her high school graduation fast approaching.


<29>
=That letter saved her from her condition.

=Spring and hope will always arrive if one bears through the harsh winter...
=The outlook in the letter gave her strength and courage.

=The following day, she finally stepped outside her house to apply for a preparatory school.
=The first step towards turning her life around. She was reborn.

=She immediately wrote a response to the author of the letter.
=Thanking Koshiro for giving her the strength to continue living.

=And before long, her letter was answered.
=But the response was quite unexpected.

=The letter had been written by Koshiro's mother.


<30>
=Koshiro had passed away,
=Shortly after receiving Ms. Reiko's letter.

=Here's what the letter said.

="Koshiro was happy. The letter he wrote had given courage to someone else—
=Thank you, Ms. Reiko. Koshiro read your letter before he left us."

=Realizing for the first time that Koshiro had been gravely ill, Ms. Reiko was unable to grasp the situation at first.

=But when she returned to her room and took another look at Koshiro's letter,
=Her tears began to overflow.


<31>
=The name and address had been blotted out,
=Because of Ms. Reiko's tears.

=Professor

=I apologize for ignoring the assignment and barging into this matter.

=I'm not going to reproach you.
=...In fact,


<32>
=You did the right thing.

=Huh?

=I handed this class a letter, and demanded a profiling of its sender... Normally, one would try to guess the sender's identity from the content of the letter.
=As was done in this paper.

=But not Mr. Akiyama... He approached me.
=Trying to figure out why I had this letter... Why I would give out an assignment like this.

=That was the purpose of this assignment.


<33>
=You are all talented.
=Once you go out into the world, you will stand above others as the leaders of society.

=But because you have such wonderful minds,
=Over time, you may forget to consider other people's feelings.

=Psychology is a study that probes human feelings.//And as students in the psychology department—

=I ask that you always pause to consider people's feelings.


<34>
=Because a sophisticated profiling,
=Can never compare to the importance of making contact with another human being.

=That concludes the lecture.
=Concentrate on your dissertations after the summer break.

=...And also...

=All of you have passed this assignment.


<35>
=Yeah—!
OHHHH

[bubble]Man—//I thought we were screwed//Hah-hah

=Professor

=What is it?
=Do I still have time to apply for the graduate school?

=You do, but haven't you already received a job offer?
=No


<36>
=I've changed my mind.
=I want to learn more about the "human mind" with you, Professor Okabe.

=...I see.

=And so, Akiyama chose to continue his studies at the graduate level.
=5 years prior to his encounter with Nao Kanzaki.

LIAR GAME roots of A (END)