Cherreads

Chapter 242 - [236] A Shocking Script!

Seeing the lines of text appearing one after another on Akifumi's blackboard, the viewers in the livestream were first stunned.

Then, they completely exploded with excitement!

———————————————————————

"Wait, is this how scripts are usually written for a story creation competition? Someone tell me I'm not being tricked!"

"Scripts are indeed written like this, but whether they are done this way in competitions, I have no idea!"

"As someone who has watched this competition for three years straight, I can confidently say—no one has ever done this before!"

"This isn't just writing a story—he's literally drafting an entire episodic plot by hand!"

"No wonder he had the confidence to just take a nap! If I were this prepared, I'd sleep too!"

"Wait, what's the difference between the two methods?"

———————————————————————

Judging by the chat reactions, it was clear just how much of an impact this scene had on the audience.

While new viewers joined the competition each year, the majority were loyal fans from previous seasons.

They knew the typical process of writing a story inside out: spend half the time designing characters, devote most of the remaining time crafting a compelling plot or a few key highlights, and then add in some dialogue at the end.

That was the usual eight-hour competition workflow.

The best contestants might go a step further and sketch out a few rough storyboard frames.

But writing out an entire episodic script from the very beginning?

Unheard of.

With more time, anyone could create a story full of tension and dramatic highs.

But in a time-constrained competition, there simply wasn't room to meticulously refine every detail. That often resulted in generic or underwhelming openings.

Most contestants avoided that issue by skipping directly to the most dramatic moments of their story and polishing that scene to perfection.

Akifumi, however, wasn't following any conventional approach.

His bold move was shocking, but if his story wasn't compelling, this stunt would be nothing more than attention-seeking.

Yet, his first episode was so solid that no one could find fault with it.

"Nameless Poison." What kind of poison is it?

Why did another person who worked with Takanojima die right after him?

Was it really an accident, or is this a carefully orchestrated murder?

With just an opening, the audience was already hooked.

After a brief pause, Akifumi continued writing.

———————————————————————

"Could this be a case of serial poisoning?"

This thought crossed the minds of the investigators at the Unnatural Death Investigation Office, prompting them to launch a deeper probe.

Unfortunately, by the time they reached out to examine the latest victim's body, it had already been cremated.

Without a body, an autopsy was impossible.

Meanwhile, due to her work, Mikoto Misumi once again had to postpone a date with her boyfriend.

By the time she arrived at their meeting place, the sky had long since turned dark, and her boyfriend had already fallen asleep at the table while waiting.

Later, at a yakiniku restaurant, he used this opportunity to bring up the idea of introducing their parents and discussing engagement.

Back at her foster parents' home, Mikoto appeared visibly conflicted.

Though she loved him, her past made the idea of starting a family feel daunting.

Still, she shared the news with her family, and her foster mother, Natsuyo Misumi, was moved to tears of joy.

On the other hand, Rokuro met with a tabloid journalist at a bar, where a young and naïve boy voiced his outrage.

He accused the investigators of leaving a grieving family's home laughing and chatting as if they didn't care about the dead.

The next day, the toxicology report for Takanojima came out.

However, rather than confirming poisoning, the report stated that no toxic substances had been detected.

The reason? The testing machine could only identify 200 known toxins. There were countless other unknown poisons that wouldn't show up in the results.

The only way to confirm the cause of death was to conduct individual, painstaking tests for every possible toxin.

———————————————————————

As the audience read this, an eerie realization crept over them.

A poison that couldn't be named, that required exhaustive testing to even identify…

Could this be the 'Nameless Poison'?

The revelation sent chills down their spines.

The title suddenly made perfect sense.

But that wasn't what shocked them the most.

The real shock was that, in such a short amount of time, Akifumi had crafted a story with such an impressive level of completeness!

The title wasn't randomly chosen, it carried deep meaning that tied directly to the plot.

So… was this really a case of serial poisoning?

The audience was desperate to know what happened next.

And right on cue, Akifumi introduced the core concept of the 'Nameless Poison.'

———————————————————————

The most terrifying poison in the world—an Nameless poison.

By definition, poisons are only identifiable when compared against known substances.

In other words, if a poison with completely new components were created, no one would ever be able to detect it.

If someone could successfully create such a poison… they could kill anyone, anywhere, without leaving a trace.

———————————————————————

A horrifying image surfaced in the audience's minds: a shadowy figure, face obscured, carefully dripping an unknown liquid into a drink or a meal.

Days later, the victim would suddenly collapse and die at home.

Shiver.

A wave of unease washed over the viewers. Their backs felt cold with sweat.

How did a medical drama suddenly turn into a horror story!?

This is terrifying!!

———————————————————————

The parents of Takanojima provided the investigators with a key to his residence.

The team at the Unnatural Death Investigation Office returned to the scene to collect more samples.

While they were gathering evidence, Takanojima's girlfriend, Baba, suddenly arrived.

According to her, he had been absent from work for two consecutive days without explanation.

Concerned, she had used her spare key to check on him—only to discover his lifeless body.

———————————————————————

At this moment, the livestream chat exploded again.

———————————————————————

"Wait a minute… is Baba the killer?"

"I don't know…"

"This is just a script, isn't it? Can't Akifumi take the story in any direction he wants?"

"I think she's suspicious! Why else would she be mentioned out of nowhere!?"

———————————————————————

While the audience debated wildly, Akifumi remained focused, his pen never pausing for a moment.

———————————————————————

Feeling that something was off, Rokuro couldn't help but question Baba, asking where she had been during the time of the incident and why she had chosen that specific moment to visit.

Though Mikoto quickly intervened to stop him, the tension in the room became palpable.

The next day, the team visited Takanojima's workplace to sift through his belongings, hoping to find clues that would shed light on the mystery.

But little did they know… the real horror was yet to unfold.

———————————————————————

More Chapters