Grave of Cherry Blossoms

* Ingame
* Crop

**This Abnormality is Capable of Instadeath**

**This Abnormality is Capable of Possession**

**This Abnormality can Benefit the Facility**

## Probabilities

> *"The more blood it has, the more beautiful it is."*
> - Grave of Cherry Blossoms' Entry
>
>

**Grave of Cherry Blossoms (O-04-100)** is an Abnormality with the appearance of a dark brown/blood color tree, having a hole between the trunk and its roots, with a pair of hands visible in its interior. The tree starts without any leaves or fruits on its branches, which only has buds at the start, but it can bloom cherry blossoms in great amounts when interacting with it.

## Ability

Grave of Cherry Blossoms' ability will trigger when its  Qliphoth Counter reaches 0. Its  Qliphoth Counter can fluctuate in the following ways:

* Decrease by 1 when getting a  Good Work Result.
* Decrease by 1 when Agent Panics in its Containment Unit.

At different stages, depending on its  Qliphoth Counter, its physical appearance changes:

* 3 Qliphoth Counter: The tree almost doesn't possess any leaves or fruits, but buds on its branches.
* 2 Qliphoth Counter: The tree start to bloom cherry blossoms, covering part of its branches.
* 1 Qliphoth Counter: More cherry blossoms bloom and almost cover all the branches.
* Qliphoth Counter drops to 0: The tree is covered completely in cherry blossoms, without any branch visible in this state.

When the  Qliphoth Counter is depleted, no more works can be performed until the  Qliphoth Counter is not at 0, and a group of around 5 employees (Agents and/or Clerks) will be randomly possessed, under a state called 'Captive', being lured to Grave of Cherry Blossoms' containment unit. If an employee reaches the containment room, the tree will capture the employee with a long arm-like appendage coming out from the hole between its trunk and roots, taking the employee and killing them. After this, all other captive employees will be released from the possession and receive 15-18  **W**hite Damage. However, the 'Captive' employees can be released prematurely by clicking on them several times, similar to Red Shoes's possession or Void Dream's sleep ability, no penalties will be applied. At the end of either way, the  Qliphoth Counter will return back to its maximum (3), but only when an employee is killed by the tree it will remain in its current form. Otherwise, it will return to its first form and repeat the process.

When another employee works with it when fully bloomed, at the end of the task, the tree's flowers will slowly fall down and in a bright burst of pink light, all the employees in the facility will have their  HP and  SP fully healed. Afterwards, it returns to its first form.

## Origin

Part of its origin is currently unknown, but seems that for the tree to reach 'full maturity', it needs a corpse to consume, and after one person else sees the tree, it will drop back to lose all its flowers and remain with buds to repeat the process.

## Details

Grave of Cherry Blossoms responds to the four works in order of best to worst:  Attachment and  Insight;  Instinct, and  Repression.

Like all Abnormalities, its energy output is determined by the number of PE Boxes (Positive Enkephalin boxes) at the end of the interaction.

Grave of Cherry Blossoms' emotional state is divided into 3 sections:  Bad,  Normal, and  Good. Completing 0-3 E Boxes will cause it to feel  Distressed, completing 4-6 will cause it to feel  Normal, and 7-12 will make it  Happy. Its usual cooldown timer after a task is around 10 seconds and its  Qliphoth Counter is 3.

### Unlockable Information/Upgrades

**Basic Information** (Cost:  12 PE Boxes)

Unlocks and shows the name of the Abnormality, subject classification, Risk Level ( TETH), portrait, Damage Type ( White 2-4), the amount of  E-Boxes (12), its emotional states, and  Qliphoth Counter (3).

**Instinct/Insight/Attachment/Repression Work Favor** (Cost:  4 PE Boxes)

Unlocks the percentage level list to the respective work.

**Managerial Works 1/2/3/4/5/6** (Cost:  2 PE Boxes)

* "Managerial Tips 1"
	+ "When the work result was Good, the Qliphoth Counter lowered."

* "Managerial Tips 2"
	+ "When an employee panicked in the Containment Unit, the Qliphoth Counter lowered."

* "Managerial Tips 3"
	+ "When the Qliphoth Counter reached 0, a few random employees in the facility began to move towards Grave of Cherry Blossoms’s unit. (This status was designated as “Captivated”)."

* "Managerial Tips 4"
	+ "When a captivated employee reached the Containment Unit, they were dragged into the tree."

* "Managerial Tips 5"
	+ "After continuously attempting to select and converse with <name>, who was captivated, they seemingly returned to normal. When all captivated employees returned to normal, the Qliphoth Counter returned to its maximum."

* "Managerial Tips 6"
	+ "After dragging an employee in, when another employee commenced work with Grave of Cherry Blossoms, its Qliphoth Counter returned to its maximum. Furthermore, the HP and SP of every employee in the facility was healed."

**Escape Information** (Cost:  12 PE Boxes)

Information if the Abnormality can escape or not, plus its  Qliphoth Counter (3). "Non Escaped Object"

### Observation Level

**Level 1** (1 Section unlocked):  Speed Rate +6

**Level 2** (2 Sections unlocked):  Success Rate +4%

Unlocks an E.G.O. **Gift** 'Cherry Blossoms'.

**Level 3** (3 Sections unlocked):  Speed Rate +6

Unlocks the **Weapon** and **Suit** 'Cherry Blossoms'.

**Level 4** (All details unlocked):  Success Rate +4%

### E.G.O. Equipment

* Weapon
* Suit
* Gift

**E.G.O. Weapon Cherry Blossoms**

 **Requirements:** None

The spring breeze clad in cherry blossom petals is still cold and painful.
Do not miss me, for I shall return as buds when winter leaves."

**E.G.O. Suit Cherry Blossoms**

When the cherry trees are in full bloom, let us take a rest from life by watching those petals scatter.
Sitting under the tree’s shadow makes you feel like these gloomy days will flutter away like the petals of a flower."

**E.G.O. Gift Cherry Blossoms**

 **Effects**:  **SP** +2,  Movement Speed +2, Attack Speed +2

**Observation Level:** 2

## Story

"A tree that stands in the middle of the Containment Unit. It never withers even if it is not given any form of nutrition. Some employees take time to rest near this tree. Employees sometimes enter its Containment Unit for leisure."

"Pansy: Hey Xavier, did you see that new Abnormality? I think you got put in charge of it.

Xavier: Yeah, I saw it alright. Just some tree with buds along its branches. I don’t think they’ll be able to blossom without sunlight.

Pansy: Did you start making observations and writing reports yet?

Xavier: Nah, I think I’ll get to it soon enough, though.

Pansy: Alrighty, take care."

"Pansy: Heya, long time no see. How’s it going lately?

Xavier: Yo, get this! Y’know that Abnormality we talked about before? I don’t think it’s hostile. And guess what? It started blooming! It was so surreal looking at them, it felt like spring had come for the first time in this place.

Pansy: Is that okay? Usually, any sort of change is a bad omen for something catastrophic here.

Xavier: Don’t worry, it’s just some harmless little flowers. Thanks for worrying about me though."

Pansy: Bonjour again. How’s work been going for you?

Xavier: Golly, the flowers just keep blooming. I think it’ll fill up the whole unit at this rate. You should see it for yourself. It’s really beautiful. I don’t think I’d ever get sick of looking at it.

Pansy: I’d love to, man, but I can’t. I’ve been so busy lately.

Xavier: Really? Damn, what a shame... It’s absolutely magnificent, I’m telling ya.

Pansy: Hmm... You doing alright by the way? You’ve been making a lotta mistakes these days... It seems like you’ve been spacing out a ton too.

Xavier: Don’t worry, it’s nothing. I gotta head back now. Oh, I’ve been making a sketch of the tree, actually. I’ll let you be the first person to see it when I’m done.

<Audio Recording of Counseling Session>
"...Yeah, I’ve been better recently. I got better at managing Abnormalities, too. Going to Grave of Cherry Blossoms’s chamber makes me feel weirdly amazing, like you said. I never believed that mumbo-jumbo about flora giving out a good aura or whatever...

But I guess it was true. It’s such a shame I can’t see those cherry blossoms with Xavier. I got to see his work in progress sketch when I was rummaging through his stuff one time. The actual tree was much more beautiful. It was more magnificent than everything he’d described it as. It’s such a tragedy that he went missing before seeing how it is now. If you find any Abnormality suspicious, please make sure you look into ‘em, alright?

...Yep, I’m fine now. I shook off that feeling. The cherry blossoms all fell after I saw it that time. Yet, I saw buds poking out of the branches again... Would it be alright if I oversaw the Abnormality from now on? No, it’s no big deal. I just wanna see those flowers in full bloom again.
Yes, thank you."

<Notice of Advice>
"We’ve received reports about an alarming increase in the number of employees who want to view Grave of Cherry Blossoms’s containment. This fervent rush of requests is likely due to the absence of natural scenery in our facility. However, I don’t think there is any need to make a rule against it. We’ve found that our staff’s mental contamination indices decreased when looking at Grave of Cherry Blossoms.

The reason behind this is unimportant. It could be “flora giving out a good aura” for all anyone cares. The only thing that’s certain is that Grave of Cherry Blossoms captivates our employees, and they don’t know what lies beneath its roots.

Did you realize that the cherry blossoms are strikingly crimson, and its unmatched beauty is caused by its color? The more blood it has, the more beautiful it is. Our employees who are oblivious to it are drawn to it again and again...
Just keep everything hush-hush for now. It’s how things work in this place."

## Flavour Text

* "Grave of Cherry Blossoms’s Containment Unit is bright, as if there were an incandescent source of light."
* "Petals shall fall like screams when everything is over."
* "When the beauty is at its peak, the ritual of the end will come."
* "All those who look at it in this sunless place feel pure peace."

## Trivia

* The Gift, Cherry Blossoms, increases SP by +2, contrary to the in game text saying it increases HP by +2
* The Abnormality is clearly based on the cherry blossom flowers of the Japanese cherry tree.
	+ Cherry blossoms are perhaps best known as motivation for kamikaze pilots embarking on suicide missions during the Second World War. The quote "Petals shall fall like scream when everything's over." might be related to this in some way.
	+ Motojiro Kajii, a Japanese writer from the Meiji period, wrote in his works that ``A corpse is buried under a cherry tree.'' He imagined that this was the reason why cherry blossoms bloom so beautifully.
	+ The Abnormality may potentially be a reference to the Saigyou Ayakashi from Touhou Project. Both being abnormal cherry blossom trees that lure people to their death in order to feast on them, with it becoming closer to bloom the more life it consumes.
	+ The abnormalty also might be based off of the jubokko of japanase folklore, due to it feeding off the blood of other agents to maintain it's beauty and youth
* This Abnormality, along with Void Dream, are part of the Abnormality ideas made by the Japanese translation team.

## Gallery

Grave of Cherry Blossoms' containmentAt Qliphoth Counter 2At Qliphoth Counter 1At Qliphoth Counter 0An employee under the 'Captive' possessionCapturing an employeeDittoPreparing to burst in a pink auraThe Abnormality releasing an aura of healingGrave of Cherry Blossoms' details unlocked