Chapter 72: Finding the Real Culprit

Eventually, someone died.

I didn’t expect a death to happen so soon.

How long had these students even known each other before things escalated this far?

They were definitely not in their right minds.

Of course, I wasn’t the one who did it.

“What a shame…”

Even though Chihaya had been such a perfect target, there was no command to actually commit murder myself.

I won’t deny that I felt a little disappointed.

In survival games like this, the most fun part is going on a rampage.

It seemed this game was designed for the protagonist to escape without killing any of their classmates.

Since they were meant to be a righteous figure, it made sense that murder wasn’t an option.

The victim was an unnamed male student, “A.”

During introductions, he mentioned that his dream was to become an inventor.

He had been assigned to investigate the gym, but was found collapsed inside, alone.

-“Eh?! Yuki-kun…!”

-“Why…?”

-“To think something like this could really happen… This place is terrifying.”

The students panicked at the sight of Yuki’s corpse.

Afterward, paranoia set in, and they started doubting each other, sinking into despair.

In this place, no one could be trusted. The only person you could rely on was yourself.

Even so, we had to uncover the truth.

We had to solve this case…!

“So that’s how the story goes. Now we just have to catch the real culprit, right?”

[“Explain why you were licking your lips while looking at Chihaya.”]

[“Mollru really wants to kill someone…”]

[“Well, Chihaya does look tasty.”]

[“Ahem.”]

[“2D harassment alert.”]

[“This is not that kind of game.”]

[“That’s just how the streamer is, can’t help it.”]

[“It’s a detective game, guys~”]

I had no idea what they were misunderstanding.

I was fully enjoying this detective game.

“So, what should we do first…? We should probably investigate the scene.”

Having played countless games before, I had a sense of how this would unfold.

Although my main games lately had been physical skill-based ones like Age of War, I had played plenty of mystery games before.

“The weapon is… a baseball bat? A baseball bat…”

This seemed way too obvious.

Still, there was no harm in throwing out a theory.

My first suspect was B-kun, the ace of the baseball club, who had mentioned his dream was to become a pro player.

-“M-me?! No way! That’s nonsense! Mollru, you bastard! You’re suspecting me?!”

He looked completely flustered.

During introductions, he had come across as a serious and composed person, but in this unexpected situation, he was clearly panicking.

Not a surprising reaction.

Analyzing their personalities and observing their responses was the first step.

[“Baseball bat = baseball player? This logic is wild.”]

[“This is some crazy intuition-based deduction.”]

[“Look at him stammering. He’s totally shaken.”]

[“To be fair, any normal person would be shocked. If someone wasn’t reacting, that would be more suspicious.”]

[“This is some first-grade level detective work, sir.”]

“I mean, I was just testing the waters. I’m not saying Yamada is actually the culprit.”

[“Ah, classic detective work—asking questions to get reactions.”]

[“Who interrogates people by immediately accusing them?”]

[“This is aggressive investigation tactics.”]

[“Lol, so many amateurs here. I actually work in law enforcement, and we do use this tactic often.”]

[“Chatroom FBI agents at it again.”]

Ignoring the usual nonsense from the viewers, I continued the investigation.

After the interaction with Yamada, my evidence log updated with new clues.

Gathering and piecing together clues was clearly the key to solving this case.

This wasn’t going to be hard.

I’d solve it all, no problem.

Now it was time to analyze the collected clues and deduce the culprit.

The scattered students regrouped and began sharing their findings.

Some of the information was useless, but some of it was crucial.

It was great that we were gathering intel and discussing it together.

However, I couldn’t shake this thought—

Were they even trying to find the culprit?

-“I have no intention of getting involved. You guys figure it out.”

This guy acted like he already knew the answer but contributed nothing to the investigation.

-“Oh, I totally forgot there was a separate auditorium in the annex! My bad!”

This one was oddly cheerful despite the situation.

-“The culprit is Yamada! The murder weapon was a baseball bat, so it has to be him!”

An idiot with strong convictions, making baseless accusations.

-“Let’s go over the case from the beginning. Mollru, you must have noticed something off by now, right?”

A guy who actually had brains but was conveniently pushing all the responsibility onto me.

He was dropping hints, waiting for me to piece everything together.

“What’s with this guy? Why is he making me do all the thinking?”

[“If he solved everything himself, the game wouldn’t progress.”]

[“He’s just the ‘supportive companion’ character.”]

[“He probably finds it fun watching Mollru struggle.”]

[“That’s just your style, streamer.”]

[Mollru is experiencing self-hatred.]

What are these people even talking about?

I would never act so pettily.

Despite everything, the discussion moved forward.

With so many trolls in the mix, progress was slow, but we were inching closer to the truth.

The direction of the deduction had long been set, and all clues pointed to one person.

-“Identify the culprit.”

“The culprit is… Student C!”

This was too easy.

Was it because it was just Chapter 1?

Excitedly, I pointed out the suspect without hesitation.

-“Morikawa-kun… why did you do it?”

-“Why did you kill Yuki so brutally, Morikawa?!”

But the boy they called Morikawa only smiled silently in response.

-“Heh… Hehehe… Hah…!”

“What’s up with him?”

I asked the viewers, but their responses were cryptic.

[“Phase 2 incoming.”]

[“This is the desperation phase.”]

[“It’s not over till it’s over, lol.”]

The next step was uncovering his motive.

Why?

Shouldn’t the case be over once we identified the killer and threw him in jail?

I didn’t understand.

“Do I really need to figure out the motive too? Ugh, what a hassle.”

-“Mori-kun, please! Find out why Morikawa made this choice!”

“No, you do it. Why do you keep dumping everything on me while doing nothing yourself?”

[“If Chihaya asks, you have to do it.”]

[“Your friend is asking for help!”]

[“Come on, just do it~”]

[“Aren’t you curious about the motive?”]

[“Honestly, I am a little curious.”]

[“He’s clearly guilty, let’s just arrest him.”]

With Chihaya’s teary eyes and the chat buzzing in agreement, I continued the interrogation.

After pressing him further, he finally confessed everything.

-“Ugh… That guy… He mocked my dream. My precious dream!”

Yuki had been a promising inventor since childhood, frequently competing in science contests.

After graduation, he had plans to join a prestigious institute and conduct independent research.

In contrast, Morikawa was also in the field of mechanical engineering but had yet to achieve anything noteworthy.

The talent of his peer, working in the same field, must have been enough to make him feel small.

The breaking point came when Yuki said something to Morikawa.

-“Morikawa, wouldn’t this method work better than your approach?”

Yuki had casually given advice while looking at Morikawa’s blueprint.

But that blueprint was Morikawa’s masterpiece—years of work poured into it.

If he could successfully build this machine, recognition in the academic world was just a matter of time.

Yet, Yuki immediately spotted a flaw in the design.

-“I was wrong…? No… That can’t be… That can’t be!”

Deep down, Morikawa knew Yuki was right but couldn’t accept it.

He couldn’t bear to acknowledge that the work he had poured his soul into was flawed.

And in his anger… he killed Yuki.

As the truth came to light, the students erupted into chaos.

-“All that… over something so trivial…?!”

-“Trivial? Trivial?! It wasn’t trivial to me! That blueprint was my life’s work! But that guy—without knowing anything—just kept lecturing me on what was right and wrong…!”

To Morikawa, Yuki’s advice wasn’t guidance—it was backseat coaching.

This case proved that even advice needed to be given carefully.

A truly tragic story.

It was even somewhat relatable.

Surely, the viewers found it thought-provoking too?

I hoped they shared the same sentiment as me.

“See? Backseat coaching is dangerous. If you keep lecturing people, you might end up getting your skull cracked.”

[“Lesson learned: Don’t backseat coach.”]

[“Backseating is a crime, confirmed.”]

[“Wait… Are you threatening us? Are you saying you’ll kill us if we backseat?”]

[“Gasp…”]

[“Mollru/Controversy/Viewer Threats.”]

[“I’m scared ᅲᅲ.”]

[“I’m sorry! Please spare me!”]

[“Hug me.”]

[“Maybe if we get a hug, everything will be okay.”]

“What do you mean, hug? What is wrong with you people?”

Were my viewers suffering from collective delusions?

Shaking my head, I sighed as I watched their ridiculous reactions flood the chat.

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