Chapter Text

General Notes

Each weird route can be triggered separately, but if you have not completed previous weird routes, you will not get far, as they require weird route skills or key items from before. To avoid missables due to the weird routes, anything otherwise inaccessible, such as medals or key items, that count towards completion will be given out by an obscured figure behind some rocks in the Outskirts, for a price.

Chapter 1: A Dysfunctional Trio

“TO BEGIN GETTING STRONGER, ONE MUST FREE THEMSELVES FROM THEIR OWN BINDINGS” - a hidden roach tablet at the top of the second geyser room

Note: What you do in the tutorial battle against Maki has no bearing on anything after, meaning you can do nothing or you can attack him, or anything in between, it really doesn’t matter at all.

Kabbu and Vi get their Explorer’s Permit, the ant guard opens the gate up for them, and they begin their adventure... These two don’t realize just what kind of ride they are in for.

Right away, you MUST defeat all four Seedling encounters before entering the room where you meet Chuck for the first time, and if you miss them, you cannot continue the Chapter 1 weird route. Of course, given that violence is the norm in this game, you probably were already going to do that. Then, you must defeat every encounter there is prior to falling into Snakemouth Depths. Once entering Snakemouth Depths, there is no turning back, and if you miss even a single encounter, you will not be able to trigger the weird route.

The duo spot Leif in the Spider’s web, they try to free him, the Spider ambushes them, Kabbu is left to fight alone, Vi eventually comes back to his rescue... Everything up to this point has been standard.

In the second cutscene battle against the Spider, you will want Kabbu and Vi to Do Nothing for six turns straight, being KO’d obviously counts towards this turn limit. If you have fulfilled the violence conditions above, at the end of Turn 3, Kabbu will say, “Remember the plan, Vi! I’ll distract the spider and you’ll attack the web!”

If you find that Kabbu doesn’t say this line, you have missed one or more encounters and you are locked out of the route. Otherwise, at the end of Turn 6, Kabbu will say, “Vi?! Why aren’t you doing any-” Before an icicle will form just above the Spider and hit it, freezing him solid. Another icicle forms and hits the web, freeing Leif from it. It is at this point that snd_ominous.wav plays for the first time...

Kabbu: “What the...? W-Well, we shouldn’t worry about that right now! We have to get out of here!”

At this point, Kabbu picks up Leif like normal, and he and Vi get out, though the Spider does not chase after them as he is currently frozen.

(minibubble)Kabbu: “Huff... huff...”
Vi: “The heck was that?! An icicle came outta nowhere and froze that spider solid!”
Kabbu: “I’m just thankful everyone is still alive...”
Vi: “...Um, Kabbu? I’m sorry for running away... a-and for freezing up just then...”
Kabbu: “...Sigh. Very well. You are forgiven. It was... understandable.”
Vi: “Took you long enough! Most people would be crying at getting rescued!”
(minibubble)Leif: “cough cough”
Kabbu: “Let’s turn over a new leaf. This moth is our priority.”

It’s at this point Leif awakens. The exchange is slightly different now.

Kabbu: “You’re awake!”
Leif: “...”
Leif: “...Djiohf? Wdfhuy egu orhjuio? Wdfhuy egu orhjuio?!”
Vi: “What the... Hey! You okay? You hit your head?”
Leif: “Hrej dhgw hdfeuwy sdjifhuirhi... Hrej dhgw yugw poueirh...!”
Kabbu: “Could this moth be speaking in an ancient tongue? Perhaps he is of the fabled tribes lurking underground.”
Leif: “...N-no. We can speak Bugnish.”
Vi: “Do you need like, a minute?”
Leif: “...No.”
Leif: “We are fine now.”
Kabbu: “Thank goodness, you had us quite worried.”
Leif: “Where are we? Where’s the spider?”
Kabbu: “Right... Let’s get you up to speed.”

After Kabbu and Vi explain the current situation to Leif...

Leif: “...We see. We did feel some magic... coursing through our body, could we be the reason the spider was frozen...?”
Kabbu: “If it is, you seem to be a formidable fighter already.”
Leif: “We’re unsure how we even got this magic.”
Vi: “Hey, uh, whatever your name is, how can we be sure you aren’t a wanted criminal with a HUGE bounty?” (minibubble Kabbu: “Vi!”)
Leif: “If we were, you’d have no way of proving it. And if you need a name, we go by Leif.”
Kabbu: “Please forgive Vi’s loose mouth, Leif! A-Anyways, were you looking for treasure as well, alongside fellow explorers?”
Leif: “Somewhat. A scouting mission, in fact.”
Vi: “I guess this ice magic of yours has kept you alive for all of the time you were trapped here. Did you learn anything scouting? About the artifact?”
Leif: “Artifact? If it is here, it's probably ahead.”
Kabbu: “If we work together, we will surely find both it and the exit!”
Leif: “...Then let us proceed.”
Kabbu: “Considering your display of power back there, I suppose you can fight.”
Leif: “We certainly can try. Though this still feels new to us.”
Vi: “Ok, we’ve spent WAY too much time here. Let’s look for the exit!”

Unlike normal, you can actually backtrack to the room with the Spider, and you’ll get some unique dialogue by both spying the room and by checking the ice block.

Spy dialogue:

Kabbu: “Well, we’re trapped. At least, me and Leif.”
Leif: “And since we fell a long way down, it appears there are no easy means of escape.”
Vi: “Well let’s get moving then! This room feels unsafe even with that spider being frozen!”

Checking the ice block:

Vi: “How long do you think it’ll be frozen?”
Leif: “It won’t be for too long. Best to get out of here while we still can.”
Kabbu: “Agreed.”

In the very first battle you fight while in Snakemouth Depths, Kabbu gives his Turn Relay tutorial, instead of necessarily waiting until the first Jellyshroom encounter. Leif’s basic attack now has the chance to freeze, and the base chance increases the less HP the target has left. To continue on the Weird Route, Leif must be the one to deliver the final blow, to each and every enemy. Each time he does this, the enemy is encased in an ice cube that is much more opaque than standard ice cubes, with a hint of white as well, indicating permafrost.

The first Zombiant encounter must be defeated this way before any other encounter, and it’ll prompt some new dialogue.

Vi: “W-What the heck?! That zombiant isn’t just frozen, it’s super mega frozen!”
Leif: “...Our power seems to be stronger than we thought.”
Kabbu: “This sight... unnerves me. Is this really necessary?”

A textbox pulls up at this point, with two options, “It’s overkill, we’ll try to control it.” and “We must grow stronger.”

In order to continue the route, you must pick the latter option.

Leif: “We have no way of telling how long the spider will stay contained in that ice block. We must get stronger.”
Vi: “If the spider ever unfreezes, I-I can always just beat it up with my Beemerang!”
Vi: “No need to do... this!”
Leif: “No, Vi. That won’t do. You couldn’t take it on before, what makes you think you could now?”
Kabbu: “Leif, if... if you really think what you’re doing is necessary, then I won’t stop you.”

snd_ominous.wav plays again. From this point on, the rest of the encounters pre-Jellyshroom must be frozen in this way. Snakemouth Den’s theme is changed to a less upbeat, more empty version, akin to the Snowgrave version of “WELCOME TO THE CITY” (internally, Cave0alt.ogg)

Once you’ve made Leif freeze every last enemy, snd_ominous.wav will play again, and a textbox will pop up.

“...”
“Your power grows.”
Leif: “...Let’s move forward.”

This is the signal that you are ready to progress to the Jellyshroom encounter. At this point, Leif will don a shadow over his eyes, and Kabbu and Vi will change to more worried expressions. The spy dialogue changes.

Vi: “...”
Kabbu: “You got something on your mind, Vi?”
Vi: “...This room feels... eerily quiet?”
Leif: “At least the monsters will no longer bother us in this room.”

Triggering the Jellyshroom encounter has a drastically different outcome as the battle isn’t started at all.

Kabbu: “...Nice work, every-”

Kabbu and Vi turn around to see a Jellyshroom behind Leif, but before they can say anything, Leif freezes it, and it drops to the ground, trapped in the permafrost ice block.

Vi: “...”
Kabbu: “...”
Leif: “...Let’s get going. No sense standing around.”

The EXP is awarded outside of battle, and, if you Rank Up at this point, you select a stat to boost like normal, but without any celebration. snd_ominous.wav plays yet again.

To progress in this route from here on out, Leif must freeze every enemy BEFORE you try to open the door. Once every enemy has been frozen, snd_ominous.wav will play.

Hitting the first switch has the following exchange:

Kabbu: “Is everyone alright...?”
Leif: “We must’ve caused the tremor.”
Vi: “...Guess we’re one step closer to opening the big door.”

Hitting the second switch has the following exchange:

Vi: “Both switches are on.”
Kabbu: “The door should be opened now!”
Leif: “Good. This place is starting to wear on us.”

At this point, when you return to the room with the big door, it won’t open. Upon interacting with it, Leif will start the dialogue with:

Leif: “Hmm? Why isn’t the door budging?”
Kabbu: “Maybe it jammed up? It has been a while since this place was last inhabited.”

And now, you have a choice.

“Wait for the door to open”

or

“Proceed”

You must choose “Proceed”

Leif: “(...But how?)”

The option will pop up again, and you must choose “Proceed” again.

Leif: “(...Could we... break the door open?)”

Leif will raise his arms in the air and a moment later, a massive ice stalagmite will impale the door, breaking it off its hinges and opening the path. Kabbu and Vi adorn looks of shock.

Vi: “...”
Kabbu: “...”
Vi: “(You’re... scaring me...!)”

snd_ominous.wav plays again, and “Your power grows stronger” will pop up again.

The last remaining encounters must be frozen in the same way as before, and snd_ominous.wav plays one last time for the chapter.

Leif: “...We finally feel powerful enough.”
Kabbu: “Was it really necessary to-”
Leif: “It was.”

Leif gets a +1 to ATK, but he can only keep that boost if he completes the weird route.

All that is left to do is to battle Spuder. Walking up to the artifact starts the cutscene like so:

Kabbu: “Could this be the artifact? Some sort of mask?”
Vi: “...”
Leif: “Rfikeqh? Tikaqr dirrfi keqh...!”
Vi: “L-Leif?!”
Kabbu: “Are you alright!?”
Leif: “Y-Yes... This mask has very potent magic. We reacted strongly to it…”
Kabbu: “This has to be the real artifact then…”
Vi: “Dibs. I dunno if Leif should be touching it anyways…”
Kabbu: “The Queen has claimed it already, Vi.” (minibubble Leif: “The Queen…”)
Vi: “Right...”
Textbox: “You have found the Ancient Mask!”

As normal, the pedestal lowers and water starts flowing in.

(minibubble Vi: “Eep!”)
(minibubble Kabbu: “What!?”)
(minibubble Leif: “Oh dear.”)
Kabbu: “Curses! It’s a trap!”
Leif: “Let us deal with it.”
Vi: “How do you expec-”

Leif begins charging up a massive icicle to freeze the deluge of water, but the Spider drops down before he finishes.

Kabbu: “YOU!”
Vi: “S-Seriously!? The spider!?”
Kabbu: “This is the worst possible timing!”
Leif: “...We disagree. It's the perfect time for payback.”

Leif redirects the half formed icicle at the spider and freezes him, it takes a bit longer to break out of the ice but it manages.

Leif: “We have to defeat it. It is a threat.”
Vi: “B-But last time we had to run!”
Leif: “We are now strong enough. This spider is a foe we cannot run from.”
Kabbu: “(It doesn’t know what it’s in for...)”

The battle begins. To finish the weird route, Leif must be constantly attacking (using skills counts as well) while he is above 0 HP. The final hit on the Spider must be Leif using Icefall. Spuder uses its stronger attacks much more often, but the battle goes as normal otherwise. Once the last hit is dealt towards Spuder, it permafreezes, and all of the other enemies that are still present are also frozen over. snd_ominous.wav plays at a lower pitch, indicating the route has finally finished.

Kabbu: “...”
Vi: “...”
Leif: “...We have to leave.”

Before their escape can be made, the room rumbles.

Kabbu: “Crud! We forgot about the flood!”

The water rises up, quickly engulfing the trio.

Everyone: “Aaaaaaaaaah!”

Intermission

“The adventurous duo, Vi and Kabbu, dove into Snakemouth Den for their team's first exploration mission.

A place known for having consumed any previous explorer that dared to enter.

Even so, the team stuck together, and were surprised with a new companion, Leif.

With his might, he froze each enemy in his way before finding one of the fabled artifacts that the Ant Queen has been looking for.

Triggering a trap, he put the vile spider on ice before being swept away alongside Vi and Kabbu.

What will happen to this trio who met due to chance? Will they stick together in their journey?

Little do they know, that their adventure could really take a weird route…”

Kabbu wakes up first, just like in the normal route. However, the dialogue is different this time, Kabbu doesn’t display as much worry for Leif as he normally would.

Kabbu: “Ngh... What…”

After a moment, Kabbu looks around in panic.

Kabbu: “Vi! L-Leif! Are you alright?!”
Vi: “Ugh, I’m all soaked!”
Vi: ”Cripes... we really got lucky...”
Kabbu: “I’m a bit hazy... We got the artifact... then that spider... it got-”
Vi: “Eep! The artifact! I dropped it!”
Leif: “...”
Vi: “Leif! Did you grab the artifact?!”
Kabbu: “Really, Vi? We can figure out where it is later. Let’s first make sure Leif is alright.”
Leif: “*Cough*. Next time, we’ll freeze the whole dumb river. We mean it.”
Kabbu: “I’m just glad you are okay.”
Vi: “So...? Did you catch the artifact or...”
Leif: “It’s over there, Vi.”
Vi walks over to the artifact and picks it up.
Vi: “Alrighty! Not a scratch!”
Leif: “...”

Leif gives a cold stare to Vi and she loses her cheery expression.

Vi: “A-And I’m glad you’re alive too!”
Kabbu: “W-Well, we completed the mission!”
Kabbu: “Uff. We’re going to need a good rest.”
Vi: “After we figure out where we are...”
Leif: “We know this place, it’s close to the Ant Kingdom. We should get back to the city quickly.”
Leif: “...The sun feels alright. We’re glad to be able to go back.”
Kabbu: “Heh. Let’s get you home, Leif.”
Vi: “And claim that reward from the Queen too!”
Leif: “(Elizant...)”

The rest of the intermission between Chapter 1 and 2 is the same.

Aborting The Route

For the dialogue option: “It’s overkill, we’ll try to control it.” and “We must grow stronger.”

Picking the former aborts the route, playing snd_ominous_cancel.wav, and prompting this dialogue:

Leif: “We’re sorry for scaring you two like this. We’ll try to control it more.” (minibubble Kabbu: “Phew...”)

Aborting the route after permafreezing over the first Jellyshroom (either by missing an encounter when opening the door or by defeating an enemy without using Leif) triggers snd_ominous_cancel.wav and some dialogue.

“A sense of relief washes over everyone.”

Leif: “We, we aren’t sure what came over us... why did we feel the need to get stronger?”
Kabbu: “W-Well, you were concerned for our well being, that’s all!” (minibubble Kabbu: “(I-I think...!)”)
Vi: “That was kinda creeping me out, honestly. Glad that’s done with!”

For the dialogue option: “Wait for the door to open” or “Proceed”

If, at any point, you elect to pick the former, then Leif will first say “(We may need a bit of patience, this place appears to be ancient...)” and then the door will open on its own. The above aborted route dialogue will then play out the same.