Human Killing

“Your” Office 1

• Examine all the objects, including the frame on the wall.

The girl’s house 1

• Focus on the living room and the bedroom. Make sure to read the books.
• After the phone rings, Iroas can now read something she couldn’t before because of what she just realized.
• If you don’t know the password, the hint is in something you just read.

“Your” Office 2

• Examine the shelves.

The girl’s house 2

• Now you need a weapon.
• If you need a hint about the next scene, explore the house before opening the front door.
• When you sneak, you should not run.
• Items aren’t used automatically—you’ll need to select them from the Items menu.

“Your” Office 3

• If you don’t know the lock combination, just try any number first. You will be given a hint.

The girl’s house 3

• The story will proceed if you reach a certain area from a specific direction.
• Even if it’s dark, the map stays the same. Your goal in the scene is to escape the room, just as the girl mentioned.
• In the next scene, the directions that appear won’t change, so you can memorize them if it is too fast to react on your first attempts.

The girl’s house 4

• You can only attack after successful dodges.
• You can only shoot when you are next to the enemy.

Extra

• You need to read all the books on one of the bookshelves, including A Beginner’s Guide to Riddles.

“Your” Office

Examine the following objects to progress the story:

• Shelves (right and left)
• Coffee maker
• Phone
• Safe
• PC
• Trash can
• Printer
• Frames (right wall toward the bottom)
• Entrance

The Girl’s House

Examine the following objects and then reach the designated area to progress the story:

• Calendar (living room)
• Note left by mom (living room)
• Books on the wider bookshelf (bedroom)
• Rule for Going Outside (bedroom)

“Find a way to protect her little brother.” 

After reading the December 26 entry in Mom’s diary, investigate the box under the bed. 

The password hint is in the same diary entry: “I’ll never forget that day.” (1225)

“Your” Office

Examine the following objects to progress the story: 

• Shelf to the right
  
• “Your” diary
• Letter from Apprentice

The Girl’s House

“Prepare for a battle against evil”

Get a kitchen knife from the kitchen. 
Then, open the front door to confront the enemy. 
Before unlocking the front door, it is recommended to save the game.

“Find a place to hide”

Iroas cannot attack the enemy at this stage. 
Hide Iroas in the bathtub before the enemy enters the area. 
Afterward, the enemy will investigate the closet in the bedroom. 
Walk (don’t run) from the north door to his back, and use the “Kitchen Knife” from the Items menu.

“Your” Office

If you haven’t obtained the gun, open the safe using the code 1225. Then, leave the office.
If you already have the gun, simply leave the office.

The Girl’s House

Try to move from the kitchen to the bathroom to progress the story. 
You’ll then be prompted to select either “Dodge” or “Do Nothing” four times. 

• First time: Either option works
• Second time: Either option works
• Third time: Choose “Do Nothing” or don’t select anything
• Fourth time: Choose “Dodge”

Escape from the Dark Room

Investigate the bottom-right corner three times to find a crowbar.
After examining the top-right corner once, hit the door with the crowbar 20 times by pressing Enter. 
Then, check the circuit breaker.

Battle Against Another “Bad Person”

Press arrow keys in the order they appear: Down, (Conversation), Up, Right, Right
Talk to Birdie afterward to progress the story.

When “you” arrive the girl’s house, investigate “your” apprentice. 
Skip the monologue before Iroas reaches “you.” 
Then, dodge her attack by pressing either Up or Right before Iroas reaches “you.”

Battle against Iroas

The outcome of the battle is predetermined: “you” cannot die here, and Iroas cannot win. 
You might notice that Iroas stops attacking after the second time—that’s intentional. 
Press Enter while facing Iroas when her eyes are not glowing. 
Afterward, follow the on-screen directions. 

Remember Iroas’s words: “I shall dance — until the curtain falls.”
This battle is just part of a play. 
You need to act out a battle; first, keep your distance from your enemy, then attack when she’s tired.

“Respond to the Letter”

You cannot answer the phone. After the phone stops ringing, simply try to leave the phone area to progress the story.

Examine the following objects and move to the designated areas to “find the truths and conceal them.”

•  Main room:
  • Corpse of the apprentice girl
  • Corpse of Iroas
  • Trash can
  • Human Killing on the bookshelf
• Bathroom:
  • Mirror
• Bedroom:
  • Rules for Going Outside
  • All the books on the longer bookshelf
  • Someone’s Diary
  • Closet (automatic dialogue will play)

Then, follow the on-screen directions.

Once you arrive at the office, take “Your” Diary and Letter from Apprentice. Then, leave the office. 

Note: This is the only chance to read the December 25 entry of “your” diary.

Translation Note

In general, I tried to be as faithful as possible to the original Japanese text. However, I did occasionally deviate from the original meaning, which I will briefly explain here.

• Letter from Iroas

  The most notable deviation is in the Letter from Iroas, where I modified some of the wording to preserve the acrostic. I did my best to keep the phrase “Kill Me as a Human” as an acrostic, while also maintaining the original intention of the dummy letter.

  In what follows, I provide a direct translation of the original Japanese text.

  Page 1:
  [JP] わたしたちを　たすけて
  ただ　ふつうに　いきていた　だけ
  しんじて　まっている　のに
  おかあさん　が　かえってこない

  [EN] Save us, please.
  We were just living ordinary lives.
  We are patiently waiting for our mom,
  but she hasn’t come back.

  Page 2:
  にげられない　わたしたちでは
  んっと、なんてかけばいいのだろう
  げんじつだと　しんじたくなくてこ
  んなことになるなんて

  We can’t escape.
  Hmm …, I don’t know how to put this into words.
  I don’t want to believe this is real. How did it end
  up like this?

  (Here, I intentionally break the last sentence, as in the original Japanese text.)
  

  Page 3:

  とても　こわいけど　でも
  しんじている　あなた　なら
  てをさしのべてくれると

  I’m really scared.
  But I believe in you…
  that you can save us.

  Page 4:

  こんばん　わたしたちの　いえに
  ろじを　こえた　さき
  しろい　とりが　とんでいる
  てき　が　ころす　まえに　きて
  

  待ってるから　イロアス

  Please come to our house tonight.
  It’s past the alley.
  A white bird is flying above it.
  Please come before our enemies kill us.

  I’m waiting for you, Iroas.

• “Follow the heads”

  The phrase “Follow the heads” serves as a clue for the hidden wish in the letter from Iroas in the game. The original Japanese phrase was “頭を使って,” which literally means “use your head.” Since "use you head" is not a clear clue, I chose to use "Follow the heads."

• Translation of “apprentices” and “Uncle Player”

  In the original Japanese script, the player’s two apprentices are referred to as “部下,” which literally means “subordinates.” I chose to translate this as “apprentices” to reflect their roles as hunters and their close relationship between the player.

  Additionally, the two apprentices address the player as “Uncle Player.” In the original Japanese text, they simply call the player “Player-san,” which is also used by the police officers in the game. In the English translation, I wanted to differentiate how the apprentices address the player based on their relationship with him, while maintaining a respectful tone.

• "wuxx tqd" on the Loading Screen

  In the original Japanese game, garbled text appears on the loading screen. In my English translation, I applied a Caesar cipher with a shift of 12 letters. You can try to decipher the original words yourself.

• Villain vs. Evil

  In the original Japanese text, the word “evil” (悪) is used throughout. For the English version, I used “villain” (悪役) in the final conversation between the player and Iroas to emphasize the contrast with “hero.”

• “A bloodstained knife and crowbar were found on her”

  A more literal translation of the original Japanese text would be “A bloodstained knife and crowbar were found concealed on Iroas’s body.” I removed the word “concealed” to stay consistent with the earlier description that “Iroas was wielding a weapon.”

• "Now, I shall dance—Until the curtain falls"

  When you confront Iroas at the end of the main story, she says “THIS is the greatest stage I’ve envisioned. Now, I shall dance—until the curtain falls.” This is the script that appears in Human Killing. Note that double-quotation marks are added to what Iroas says in this scene (and also right after she finishes reading Human killing.).

  However, there is a subtle difference in the original Japanese text regarding the “Now, I shall dance” phrase.

  In the book Human Killing, the original Japanese text says “さあ、踊れ” while Iroas says “さあ、私よ踊れ”. The latter means “Now, I shall dance.” However, the former does not have a subject “私” or “I” in the original Japanese text. Because English sentences typically require an explicit subject, I added “I” in the book's script as well. Still, since the subject is missing in the original Japanese text in Human Killing, the phrase could be interpreted differently, like “Now, dance with me.”

• Colored texts

  In the game, both blue and red text are used to refer to a “hero.” Blue is associated with the player (or hunters), while red is associated with Iroas (or vampires). Because Japanese sentences often omit subjects, I added color to the pronouns “you” and “I” whenever they refer specifically to either Iroas or the player.
  

  However, there are some exceptions. First, the red color is used for Iroas only after her name’s color changes during the final conversation. Second, the blue color is not used for “I” when the player refers to himself, because he writes “I am no hero” in his diary. Third, “us” is colored separately by red and blue colors at the end of the final conversation between Iroas and the player. 

Below, I will discuss some details about the game’s story based on Yakaro’s YouTube stream. Only selected points are covered here, not everything she mentioned in the stream.

• What does Iroas mean?

  Iroas (イロアス, pronounced ee-roh-as in Japanese) is derived from the Greek word ηρωας, which means “hero.”

  There is a feminine form, which is Iroida ("heroine"), but I chose to retain the original Japanese name. In Japanese culture, the word “heroine” (ヒロイン) typically refers to a romantic lead, rather than a female hero.

• About the title

  At the end of the game, you’ll understand why the original game creator, Yakaro, specifically chose this title—even in the original Japanese version—instead of something like “Murder.” The title “Human Killing” was chosen to indicate that Iroas was killed as a human, not as a vampire.

  In addition, in the title logo, a strikethrough appears over “Human Killing,” symbolizing that Iroas was not human.

• Who is behind Iroas on the title screen?

  It is the protagonist of Human Killing.

  More specifically, it’s the protagonist of the novel Human Killing in the game Human Killing.

• About the phone

  When the player said, “The phone. I know it won’t ring,” he was actually waiting for a phone call from Iroas so he can apologize. This contrasts with the scene in which Iroas says she doesn’t have anyone to call. 

  Also, in the extra story, you cannot answer the phone. Yakaro did not want the conversation between the creator (that is, Yakaro herself) and the player to happen within the game. 

• What is A Mysterious Book?

  Some of you may have noticed that the content of this book is difficult to understand, especially the last two sentences.
  The first part of the book is actually based on another of Yakaro’s works, while the ending seems to foreshadow her future projects.

• About the shelf in the kitchen

  Initially, the shelf in the kitchen contains a rope. After the scene in which Iroas moves the bed, the rope is no longer mentioned when you examine the shelf, as it has been used to tie up her little brother.
  

• About paintings and photos in the house

  The photos above the toilet included images of the moon, grapes, etc., which were symbols associated with vampires.

  The blue sky behind the bookshelf was just a painting, not a window.

  The photo frame containing a picture of the moon was actually a photo of Iroas and her family. But, since they were vampires, their figures did not appear in the photo; only the moon was visible. You could find the family’s figures above the bookshelf, but this was just a painting.

• “You” shoot Iroas before she finishes saying “thank you” because “you” don't want to hear anyone saying “thank you” to “you” anymore, as written in “your” diary entry from December 25.

• Iroas could endure three shots when she was fighting against a “bad person.” That’s why “you” needed to shoot her three times.

• Why does Iroas suddenly act like a bad person when she confronts “you”?

  When “you” first arrive at the girl’s house, “you” bring police officers with “you.” If you examine the front door of the house, you can find this information.

  When Iroas first meets “you,” she is trying to tell you something: “Hey, I ——…” Basically, she wants to reveal her plan and ask “you” to play the role of a “human killer”.

  But she senses the presence of police officers surrounding the house.

  That’s why Iroas asks “you” whether “you” have ‘followed the heads,’ meaning whether “you” understand her hidden wish in her letter.

  Then, she acts as an “evil, murderous” girl and raises her voice so that the police outside can hear her

Timeline of the Story

• December 25, last year

  Iroas’s father went to town to buy her a birthday birthday present but was killed by a hero (the player).
  The hero realized that he was no hero, but merely a murder.

• December 26, last year

  The player apologized to Iroas’s mother.
  Iroas’s mother attacked the player and took his eye.
  After hearing that the player was attacked by a vampire, the player’s apprentices began chasing her.

• December 25, this year
  Iroas’s mother went to town to buy a birthday present for Iroas but was killed by the apprentices.

The game starts here.

• 6 p.m. 
  Iroas realized that her mom had been killed.
  Iroas found her birthday present under the bed and read Human Killing.
• Between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m.
  Iroas tied up her little brother in the closet and moved the bed.
• 7 p.m.
  Iroas confronted a “bad person” and killed him.
  Iroas confronted another “bad person” and killed her.
  Iroas wrote a letter and had Birdie deliver it to the player.
• 9 p.m.
  The player received the letter from Iroas.
  The player visited Iroas’s house and killed her.
  The player concealed the truth and left the town.

Easter Eggs / Hidden features / Secrets

• Enter your name as Iroas.
• While playing as Iroas, examine the mirror five times and ten times.
• Look for the gray-colored text beneath the instruction on how to beat Iroas.
• When “you” collide with Iroas for the first time ... and for the second time onward ...
• Step backward when prompted to “Step forward to kill Iroas.”
• Select “Don’t kill her” three times
• If “you” hesitate to kill her even once, “your” expression changes in the pixel art after “you” have killed her.