dmims Page 130
Page 130
"Yes." Kato Megumi nodded. "Although it's sad, it's much better than the last one."
Eriri, however, was still immersed in her husband's tragedy, her eyes red: "That stupid husband... he was so pitiful."
As Yuto observed their different reactions, the movie script in his mind began to take shape.
He could integrate the core of these three stories into a structure similar to turtle soup, where several protagonists, in the process of telling and deducing these stories, gradually uncover a more terrifying truth about their own lives.
The main characters of the story are based on these four women.
……
……
[P.S.: Recommending a friend's new book]
After losing her memory, she begins a new life as a female band member.
A car accident caused Toru Furuta to lose his memories of traveling through Tokyo for 16 years.
A close female friend?
A band you used to be in?
That despicable and shameless self? (Part 1) Abandoning selfishness without end (Part 8)
Haha, I've forgotten all of that!
A youth that starts from scratch, a life that begins anew.
The fact that I have lost my memory must not be known to anyone.
A blissful and fulfilling life is beckoning to Toru Furuta!
Volume 1: Chapter 131: Please guide me, Director Itsuka (Bonus chapter for donations from [It's Zeppelin])
After seeing off the three girls who were still reluctant to leave, Yuto Itsuka practically sprinted back to his apartment.
He didn't turn on the light, but went straight to his desk and, using the neon lights of the city streaming in through the window, flipped open his laptop.
The screen's light instantly illuminated his slightly excited face.
The first story, a suspenseful home invasion, can serve as the film's opening, using a seemingly ordinary detail to instantly drag the audience into an abyss of unease.
In the second story, the mother's morbid love, that twisted "protection," can become the core motivation for the monster's birth.
In the third story, the husband and wife's scheming and irony in their despair serve as a key plot twist in the middle of the story, revealing the fragility and greed of human nature under fear.
"That's it..."
Yuto muttered to himself, his fingers already dancing wildly on the keyboard.
He was completely absorbed in his own world.
Thoughts surged forth like a burst dam, washing away and recombining isolated elements of horror, character motivations, and plot twists, ultimately converging into a complete and thrilling story framework.
A few hours later, Yuto typed the final period heavily.
He leaned back in his chair, exhaled a long breath, his body was exhausted, but his mind was in a state of unprecedented satisfaction and excitement.
On the screen, a first draft of a script titled "Echo" lay quietly, with a line of small print clearly marked below the title: Screenwriter: Beautiful Girl Knight.
He packaged the document almost without hesitation and sent it directly to one person on his LINE list—Kasumigaoka Utaha.
In terms of creative writing, no one is more suitable to be his first reader and critic than this sharp-tongued senior.
[Who's more handsome than me: Senior, are you still awake? Here's a gift to wake you up.]
He sent the script file over.
After doing all this, he felt a strong drowsiness wash over him, and he fell into a deep sleep as soon as he lay down on the table.
He didn't know how much time had passed when his phone vibrated and woke him up.
[Xia Shizi: The structure is somewhat interesting, but the characters' motivations are too predictable, the plot twists are as abrupt as a patient with a broken bone, and the ending is simply insulting to the audience's intelligence. Overall, it's barely watchable.]
As always, he was sharp-tongued. Yuto rubbed his eyes; he was used to it.
He was about to reply with "Thank you for the compliment, senior" when the other party's second message popped up.
[Xia Shizi: In the third act, the key point where the main characters discover the overlap between reality and the story shouldn't be the photograph; that feels too contrived. It should be changed to the main characters accidentally discovering a video they had long forgotten about, filmed in their childhood, while sorting through old belongings.]
[Xia Shizi: In the video, besides the childhood protagonists, there is also a fleeting, blurry figure that shouldn't be there. This not only creates an intertextual connection with the "photo" element of the first turtle soup story, but also evokes a deeper, forgotten "past," enhancing the suspense.]
Yuto instantly regained his senses.
He stared at the text, and suddenly everything became clear in his mind.
Shiyu's suggestion was a stroke of genius, not only solving the problem of the abrupt transition but also adding a layer of depth to the whole story.
[Who's more handsome than me?: Senior is indeed a professional.]
[Kasumi Shiko: Hmph, only realizing it now? Also, one of the female protagonists, the "long-haired black-haired senior," has a too-flat personality; besides her sharp tongue, she has no other distinguishing features.]
[Xia Shizi: You should give her more room to cry? 05 [The Strange Tale of Passing Away] seems to contain some struggles and vulnerabilities. For example, beneath her seemingly strong exterior lies a fear of a certain thing, and this fear is precisely the key to the final mystery.]
[Who's more handsome than me: For example?] II零貳陾lingVIII弍
[Kasumi Shiko: For example... she has an extreme fear of confined, small spaces.]
The two then began their discussion, covering everything from plot logic and character arcs to the implications of camera language and the double meanings in the dialogue.
……
The next day.
Inside the classroom of Class 2-F at Toyonosaki Academy, Eriri was absentmindedly twirling her pen.
The story about the mother and child last night gave her nightmares all night.
She arrived at school early this morning with two light dark circles under her eyes.
What infuriated her even more was that in the club's four-person group chat, Yuto Itsuka and Utaha Kasumigaoka were chatting about "scripts," "twists," and "character arcs" without a care in the world, having a lively discussion.
"Hmph, it's just writing a lousy script, what's so great about it?" Eriri muttered under her breath, her pencil scribbling furiously on the draft paper.
Despite complaining, she couldn't help but refresh the chat history again and again, watching the two people's discussion.
She couldn't understand the technical terms, but she could sense that there was a tacit understanding between Yuto and that woman that she couldn't intrude upon.
A bittersweet feeling, mixed with a defiant spirit, fermented in her heart.
Why should I? Is writing screenplays something to be proud of?
I'm in charge of the art direction! Without my monster designs, even the best script is just empty talk!
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became, and her movements became faster and faster.
What started as an unconscious scribble gradually transformed into a clearly defined image on the paper.
It was a monster huddled in the crack of the wardrobe. Its body looked like countless withered arms twisted together. On its face, which had no features, there was only a huge, murky eye that was coldly staring out through the crack in the door.
After finishing the drawing, Eriri herself was startled.
But what followed was a strange sense of excitement.
She opened a brand new sketchbook, her eyes becoming focused.
She wanted to design the most terrifying and sanity-draining monster in the world, so that everyone would be terrified the moment they saw her artwork.
She wanted to use her paintings to make that guy, and everyone else, look at her with new eyes!
……
Meanwhile, a black van was driving smoothly through the city.
Mai Sakurajima leaned back in the seat, holding a tablet in her hand. On the screen was the first draft of the script that Yuto and Utaha were discussing intensely.
No one knows how the documents ended up in her hands.
She watched very intently, her beautiful eyebrows occasionally lifting slightly.
When she saw Shiyu's suggestion to revise the "childhood videotape," the corners of her mouth turned up imperceptibly.
"Interesting," she murmured to herself.
She was not surprised at all by Yuto Itsuka's talent, which she had already witnessed in the simulated world.
But what interests her more is where this project, which he spearheaded and involved several girls with different personalities, will ultimately lead.
……
The final draft of the script was completed on Monday of the second week.
Yuto and Shiwa practically drained each other's brains, and after several major revisions, the story's horror atmosphere and plot twists reached a satisfying level.
Next came finding actors.
Yuto plans to find a few classmates from his class to participate in the performance.
During the morning break, he went to the podium and gave a brief introduction to the script he had written.
"...So, that's about it. We need a few students to play the 'victims' in the play."
"The role is small, with almost no lines. It mainly involves... appearing briefly in specific scenes and in specific poses."
He put it quite tactfully, but the students in the audience clearly understood.
"A specific posture? Like... being stuffed in a closet?" a boy asked in a low voice.
“Or…fall off the balcony?” another girl added, her face filled with terror.
"And...it was made into turtle soup?"
Someone made a joke, and the whole class burst into laughter.
“Um… Itsuka-kun.” The class president stood up, adjusting his glasses with some difficulty, “Your script sounds very creative, but… playing the role of a ‘victim’ feels a bit… unlucky.”
"Yeah, yeah, what if it gets contaminated with something bad?"
"My mom says that playing a dead person will shorten your lifespan!"
The students were whispering amongst themselves, their eyes darting around, but no one dared to meet Yuuto's gaze on the podium.
"I'll act it!"
A loud voice broke the deadlock.
Onodera Kohei stood up, patted his chest, and said, "Itsuka, count me in as cannon fodder! It's just playing a corpse, I can even take a nap while I'm at it!"
"Then I'll play the passerby who's scared out of his wits," Yoshihiko Uesugi said with a smile, pushing up his glasses. "It'll be a good opportunity to experience what it's like to be chased by a beautiful girl."
But two boys are far from enough.
……
After school, in the club activity room.
"I told you, this script is too dark!" Eriri crossed her arms, her golden twin tails drooping listlessly. "What ordinary girl would want to play a role like this!"
"Hmph, what's the use of making sarcastic remarks now?" Kasumigaoka Utaha said, holding a cup of red tea. "If some people had put some of the passion they had for drawing monsters into figuring out how to solve problems back then, things wouldn't be like this now."
"What did you say?! I stayed up several nights in a row for the art design! What have you done besides talking?" Eriri immediately bristled.
"I at least improved that flawed script, making it barely a second-and-a-half-rate story instead of a third-rate one."
"You scheming, bespectacled woman!"
"Useless blonde loser!"
Seeing that the two were about to start arguing again, Yuto rubbed his temples with a headache. "Alright, let's both stop talking. The problem now is how to find actors."
"How about... we change the script to be a bit more positive?" Kato Megumi suggested in a low voice, "For example, how about changing it to something like the mystery club solving the seven mysteries of the school?"
"No way." Yuto and Kasumigaoka Utaha refused almost in unison.
This script is the culmination of their hard work; its layered suspense and chilling core must not be diluted.
Just as the club was at a stalemate, the door to the activity room was suddenly flung open.
The afterglow of the setting sun poured in from outside the door, outlining a slender and graceful figure.
The person who arrived was wearing Toyonosaki's school uniform, with long, black hair that reached her waist, gleaming softly in the light.
She simply stood there quietly, as if she had her own spotlight, instantly attracting the attention of everyone in the room.
It's Sakurajima Mai.