Chousuinou Kei 1

Chousuinou Kei 1

*Reserved for use by the NilaiTP Group

p1:
Box: My name is Kazaoka Kei. / When I was little, a strange disease afflicted my brain for which the science of the day had no cure.

Midline: Super scientific investigative mysteries going above and beyond the limits of humans!!!!!

Left: Chousuinou Kei
Middle: Every doctor had given up on me.

Midline: Starting off serialization with 50 pages!!!!!!!!!!!!!

However…

Beep x 10-ish

p2-3:
Blue text in the middle: Super difficult cases VS. a super-geniuis!!!!!
Top text: A prodigy sophomore high school student with an ultra computer in his brain handles the toughest cases with his divine gift of reasoning!!!!!!!!!!!
Lower right:
Story: Gomi Kazuo
Art: Tanaka Yoshiki
Scenario: Mizuno Mitsuhiro
Lower Left: Chousuinou Kei
(yellow text): Ultra-Mysterious Case Files
Lower left, white text: Cursed Melody Chapter 1
Episode 1: The Miraculous Brain

p4:
Box: My father, a mad scientist, changed my destiny.

I must bet everything on this…

The odds of success were below 0.01%.

SFX: Click

He did so / by taking a computer far better than any supercomputer of the day,

his homemade quantum computer, / and inserted it into my brain.

Bottom: The boy, having received brain surgery in his darkest night…

p5:
It was unthinkably dangerous. / However, though the odds of success were all but zero, a miracle occurred. / He succeeded.

About a decade later…

p6:
I entered Komamine Private High School, or “Komakou” for short, a school which boasted a 90% accept rate into Tokyo University. / It is now the autumn of my senior year.

And…

Thanks to this club I’ve joined, / I spend my days encountering the most difficult cases.
Sign: Mystery Research Club HYPER

p7:
Maori: Ah! / You’re late, Kazaoka-sempai!

Kei: This is Kinoshita Maori, a freshman.

Maori: So President, / what was the trick behind the case of killing people using sound?

Kei: And this person is…
SFX: Chuckle

p8:
Kei: The President of the Mystery Club, Tadokoro Kaname, a senior.
Kaname: Chuckle Chuckle… / Chuckle…

Kaname: The trick behind Oguri Mushitarou’s Black Death Hall Murders was not “murder.”
Maori: Huh? Really?

Kaname: Look.

Kaname: Using acoustics, he set the piano in a certain point in the hall / so that the sound would focus on a certain point, causing a person to faint.
Maori: Wow.

Kaname: But if there were a work where a person died due to sound, it would be Gloomy Sunday.
Maori: <aside: Huh?! > / What’s that?! The title of some novel?

Kaname: What do you think?

Maori: Hm?
Kaname: Sorry. I’ll answer now.

p9:
Kaname: It all began in Hungary, in 1933. / Gloomy Sunday was a song themed on suicide.

Kaname: Its lyrics were especially despairing. / They say hundreds of people committed suicide after hearing it.
Maori: So—so there really is a song like that!

Maori: So the rumors about an unpleasant song being played on cellphones, / a “cursed song,” which can kill people are…

Kaname: It might be real, that one.

Kaname: Normally, an urban legend like that one would murder indiscriminately, / but according to rumor…

p10:
Kaname: With this one the sound is pinpointed and sent towards the person you curse, / and then that person dies…

Kaname: … Or so / I’ve heard.
Maori: …..

Box: ……I’m sure there’s some other club members,

Maori: What do you think, Kazaoka-sempai? / Do you think music could kill someone?
Box: but they rarely come to meetings, so I’m not sure how many there are.

p11:
Box: And then,

Box: There’s me.
(Bottom text): Kazaoka Kei (17)

Maori: Kazaoka-sempai?

p12:
Maori: …..

Maori: Hey! / Are you listening, Sempai?! / Do you think the rumors of cursed music from a cellphone are…

p13:
?

Kei: Kinoshita,

Kei: Did you / cut your hair?

Maori: Oh, so you noticed? / I just cut my bangs a little, but…
Kei: It looks bad on you.
Maori: ?!

Maori: …… / You…

Maori: How can you say that?!

Maori: Hm?

Maori: Wah!!

p14:
Maori: ……?!

p15:
Baseballers: We’re—We’re sorry! / Are you guys all right?!

Maori: Of course we’re not “all right”! / Go play somewhere with a net!

Maori: You guys could have really hurt someone! / <aside: This ball’s hard! > / If the window didn’t just happen to be open…

MaorI: …..!

Baseballers: …? / …….
Maori: If the window didn’t just happen to be open…

p16:
Maori: ……………

Maori: Sometimes, Kazaoka-sempai, when I’m with you, / really amazing things seem to happen.

p17:
Maori: ………

Maori: Don’t tell me / you have some sort of foresight?!

Kei: ….. / It’s a coincidence, nothing more.

Maori: …. / Of course it is…

Kei: The truth is, / I really do have the ability to see the—

p18:
Kei: present, not the future.

Kei: My eyes take in the phenomena around me, / and then I do nothing more than apply the laws of physics.

Kei: From the moment the pitcher starts his wind-up / and throws the two-seam fastball.

Kei: Its initial velocity is 131.7 kilometers per hour. / It’s low and to the inside.

Kei: The batter swings his bat at 32.76 meters per second. / Simulating the trajectory of the ball, I determine the ball will likely fly into the club’s window.

p19:
Kei: The distance from the pitcher’s mound to home plate is 18.44 meters. / From home plate to the club room is 47.85 meters.

Kei: Ergo, the ball would fly into the club room in 1.78 seconds.

Kei: Considering the arrangement of the room, / the angle of incidence and angles of reflection, I predicted the ball’s flight trajectory.

Kei: And since Maori cut her bangs 8 millimeters since yesterday, / and since I knew her reactions when she gets angry are always over-the-top, I angered her on purpose. (A bit forceful, but it was an emergency.)

Kei: Therefore,

Kei: What I did was not “foresight,”

p20:
Kei: but simply the machinations of my messed-up brain.

…….

Maori: …President, / what’s your opinion on foresight abilities?

Maori: !

Kaname: Yes.

p21:
Kaname: …Hello. / Yes. / OK. / Understood.

Kaname: Kei-kun, the inspector’s asking for you.

Kei: Again?

Kaname: Here’s the address.

Kei: You should come along once in a while. / To a real crime scene.

p22:
Kaname: I’m good, thanks. / I have plenty to do here.
Maori: You’re only busy because you’re reading lots of mystery novels, right?

Kaname: Hey, hey, Kei-kun, shouldn’t you get going?
Kei: Yeah, yeah. / I just have to go, right? I’m going.

Maori: Ah!

Maori: I’m going, too!

Maori: Wait for me, Sempai!

p23:
Scene of the crime: An apartment building in Higashishibanshi’s port district

Hiroshi: Huh? / What are you kids doing here?
Text: Metropolitan Police Department Investigative Division One Detective / Suzumori Hiroshi

Maori: <aside: Ah! > / We’re the mystery club from Komakou.

Hiroshi: Huh? / Komakou? Mystery club? What are you on about?
Maori: Umm…
Hiroshi: You see this? This ain’t a place for high school kids. Now scat! Go home!
Maori: But you see…
(?): We’re the police! Now get out of here!!

Inspector: Suzumori.
Hiroshi: Inspector…!
Inspector: It’s fine. Let them through.

Inspector: Oh, right. This is your first time, isn’t it?
Hiroshi: Huh?
Inspector: You see, they’re support I called in.
Hiroshi: Support?

p24:
Hiroshi: H—Hey!
Kei: Excuse us.
Hiroshi:Huh— / What?

Inspector: You were just assigned here last week, / so I guess this is your first time at an actual crime scene.
Hiroshi: Yeah…

Inspector: Those kids from the mystery research club should be good for a hint or two. / If nothing else, think of them as consultants. / Don’t mind them.

Hiroshi: Understood… / If you say so, Inspector.

Kei: Nikaidou-sempai’s an alumnus of Komakou’s mystery club, / so he works us like slaves.

Nikaidou: Well, you don’t have to put it like that.
Text: Tokyo Metropolitan Police Investigative Division One Assistant Inspector / Nikaidou Shigemi

p25:
Kei: So what does it look like?
Nikaidou: Just take a look.

Hiroshi: Come to think of it, the Inspector came from Komakou and then went to Tokyo University.

Maori: !

Maori: What’s… What’s with this room? Yuck!

p26-27:
Maori: Eeeek!!

Hiroshi: It’s just an accident. No need to be so surprised. / This guy got drunk, fell down, / and crashed into an object on the floor…

Hiroshi: It pains me to say it, but it looks like the guy just got unlucky.

Hiroshi: Well, / these things happen.

Hiroshi: ……

p28:
Kei: ………..

Nikaidou: Suzumori, / please give a detailed report on the situation.
Hiroshi: Huh?! It’s only an accident.
Kei: ……
Nikaidou: Just do it.

Hiroshi: Urg. / Cough. / Umm….

Hiroshi: The deceased is Kanzaki Tora, age 35. / A self-styled “sound creator.”

p29:
Maori: A “sound creator”?

Hiroshi: He made music apps for cell phones. Must’ve earned a pretty penny doing it, too. / It wouldn’t surprise me if rent for this place topped a million yen.

Hiroshi: …Two hours ago, / some sales people from a corporation came here. They had an appointment to conduct negotiations with the deceased.

Hiroshi: However, they couldn’t contact him, either with the intercom or cell phone. / Thinking this suspicious, the men contacted the super, and then the police.

Hiroshi: The super unlocked the door and called in, but there was no answer. / On the request of the super, we, the police, / cut the chain on the door and entered.
Upper left: Kanzaki-san!!
Lower right: I cut it perfectly.

Hiroshi: We found things like this. / The window was locked from the inside, / and we’re on the sixth floor besides. Therefore…

Hiroshi: This is a closed room, one no one can enter, so it must have been an accidental suicide.

Nikaidou: Well, that’s the gist of it. / Based on the rigidity of the body, / we believe he died last night…

p30:
Hiroshi: Just in case, we checked the camera footage from around his time of death, / but there were no images recorded of anyone suspicious.

Hiroshi: As you can see, / he drank quite a bit of alcohol. This stuff would run you about 5,000 yen a glass at a bar.

Kei: Old Bar… / 18 years old.

Hiroshi: What?! You’re in high school—why would you know that?!
Kei: <aside: Well… > / It’s written on the bottle.
!

Hiroshi: At any rate… / He drank quite a lot, huh… / …..

Hiroshi: This was opened recently, but…

Hiroshi: This guy must’ve been dead drunk when he sat down in his chair, chatting on his cell phone. / Then a screw popped out of the chair, he lost his balance and fell.

p31:
Hiroshi: He never even had a chance to react. / And considering his body weight…

Hiroshi: When he fell, he was unlucky enough to hit the temporal region of his head against an object on the floor.

Hiroshi: It pierced right through his left ear.

Hiroshi: He died from the resulting blood loss.

Maori: So it really was an accidental death, / wasn’t it?
Hiroshi: There’s nothing else it could be.

Hiroshi: The room’s sealed, and we’re on the sixth floor. / There’s no signs of anyone else, / no signs of a struggle, / no signs of him even being forced to drink.

p32:
Hiroshi: The guy got drunk on his own and collapsed. / I don’t even think there’s a need to call in the National Research Institute of Police Science.

Maori: Then why call us?

Hiroshi: I don’t know. / Ask the Inspector here.

Kei: It looks like a lot of things have been moved here.

Hiroshi: Here? / Don’t be ridiculous.

Hiroshi: Everything’s exactly like it was at the moment of the accident… / Nothing / has / changed.

p33:
……

Kei: Well, in this dangerous a room, / an accident could happen at any time.

Maori: But since you called us here, Nikaidou-san, / doesn’t that mean you feel this might be a crime, not an accident?
Hiroshi: …What part of this room feels like a crime scene?

Nikaidou: If you look normally, it’s just an accident… / However…

Nikaidou: I can’t let myself look at it normally.
Hiroshi: What… What do you mean?!

p34:
Nikaidou: Look at his cell phone.

Hiroshi: ?!

Nikaidou: I feel uneasy / about that cell phone.

Maori: The misfortune happened while he was talking on his phone. / …Does that mean something?

Nikaidou: Yeah…

Nikaidou: If I’m right, a fearsome crime might be hiding right under our noses….
Hiroshi: I knew it! I thought so!

Hiroshi: …The phone… / I see…!

Hiroshi: Some person, holding a grudge and knowing that the victim is dead drunk, / calls the victim up and during the call suddenly screams, shocking the victim. / The victim is unexpectedly taken aback, suddenly strikes against the chair, and collapses! / Whoever called the victim at or around the time of death must be the culprit!!

p35:
Kei: ……

Nikaidou: No…
Hiroshi: OK!

Hiroshi: Hm? / What’s this?

Hiroshi: What an interesting icon.

Maori: Not “unknown number,” but “cannot determine number”?
Hiroshi: Huh?
Maori: What does it mean?

Hiroshi: Ah! You’re right.
Phone: “cannot determine number”

Hiroshi: Hmmmm…

Hiroshi: Ah! I get it! For some reason, / the victim recorded the culprit’s name as “cannot determine number”!
Nikaidou: …Hey, cool it!

p36:
Nikaidou: You know, that’s what the phone normally displays if you get a call from overseas. / It’s common sense.

Kei: …But that skull icon defies common sense. / It must be some clue to the nature of the crime.

Kei: So that’s why you called me.
Nikaidou: Well, there’s that, too…
Hiroshi: Umm….

Maori: What does the skull mean?

Nikaidou: You see, / even at HQ not many people yet know the truth. / It’s under a gag order so that we don’t lose control of the situation…

p37:
Hiroshi: That’s mean, Nikaidou-san! / Why wouldn’t you tell me?!
Nikaidou: There’s no need to be so angry. / You’re new here. And I’m going to tell you now.

Nikaidou: However, / don’t speak of this to anyone, not even within the police.

Nikaidou: You’ll keep quite too, right?
SFX: Nod nod nod

Nikaidou: These past six months, there have been a series of cases where the same thing was reported being found on each victim’s cell phone.

Nikaidou: That thing was the skull icon we all just saw, coupled with a call from an undeterminable number.

Nikaidou: This makes the fourth such incident.

Hiroshi: Don’t tell me…

Maori: Ah, you mean / the rumors of music which, when played from a phone, / kills you!

Nikaidou: Rumors? I guess we weren’t able to keep a lid on it…
Maori: It’s rather well known.

p38:
Maori: Using a phone app, / you attach a certain URL to an e-mail you send to the person you want to curse and kill. / The app will download on its own, and the phone will ring. / Then the music that plays kills the listener— / Right? / But why a skull on the wallpaper? And come to think of it…

Hiroshi: Umm, isn’t that just an urban legend on the net?!
Nikaidou: No, it’s more than that. / A lot of people would sink their teeth into an app which allows them to kill people with just a curse.

Nikaidou: …But still, / the one the skull targeted during the first accidental death was—

Nikaidou: It’s me.
Bottom: Some months ago.

Right before dawn on the westbound lanes of the Bayshore Route, a car slid and there was an accident. / The driver and passenger of a black sedan both died instantly. / Spark!

p39:
Hey. / Ah!

HQ, based on the driver and the belongings we’ve found,

we believe the deceased to be a politician, Representative Z.

I’m Nikaidou, from headquarters. / Good work here!

p40:
Maori: So it’s not just a rumor…

Maori: Isn’t this like the modern version / of Gloomy Sunday?!
Kei: Yes. And then…

Kei: The person who created the app was this man.

Hiroshi: Huh?!

Maori: What?!

Kei: The Software Development Kit, or SDK… / Everyone who wishes to make an app must use one. / He also has downloaded tools related to music.

p41:
Hiroshi: Even so…

Maori: Ah! / Look at that folder!

!

Maori: Tweezers?

Kei: …….

p42:
…!

Nikaidou: A cursed melody? / It’s the design for the app!

Maori: You’re right… So he really did make it!!

Hiroshi: That’s ridiculous!!

Hiroshi: Th—That would mean… / that the person who created the cursed music was himself cursed and killed…

Maori: He died to the cursed music he himself created? / That… definitely seems wrong, somehow.

p43:
Hiroshi: So his death wasn’t just an accident?
Maori: The app must have something to do with it….
Hiroshi: I… guess so.

MPlayer: Cursed Melody.

SFX bubble: Cl / Click

Maori: Sempai?

Hiroshi: Huh?! H—Hey!

Stop!

p44:
SFX bubble: Clang…

Maori: Sempai, what if listening to that sound actually killed you?!

Kei: ….. / If nothing else, it would have proven that the cursed melody is real.

p45:
Maori: What are you saying?!!

Hiroshi: … Well, / ignoring the cursed tune for a moment, this time must have been an accident.

Hiroshi: This is a perfect closed room, / and there’s no signs of any intruders. <aside: As I said before. >

Hiroshi: We looked at the human angle, and found nothing… / Either this was suicide, or it was an accident.
Kei: ……

Hiroshi: Well, you get it now, kid. / The real world’s nothing like your books.

p46:
Kei: To be sure, / this looks like the scene of an accident at first glance. You can’t help but say that.

Kei: However, Detective Suzumori, it feels less like you are judging this to be an accident, / and more that you are hoping that it is. / That attitude will blind you to the real truth.

Hiroshi: Then what is it, huh?! / Are you saying this wasn’t an accident?! / <aside: Prove it! >

p47:
Maori: Sempai?

Nikaidou: A perfect closed room,

Nikaidou: the man died holding his cellphone tightly,

Nikaidou: Left on it are a skull icon and a call from an unidentifiable number…

p48:
Maori: Sempai, maybe this man really did die to cursed music! / I mean, there’s no other explanation…
Hiroshi: It’s some type of ringtone, right? It can’t be! That makes no sense.

Nikaidou: Can you solve / this mystery,

Nikaidou: Kazaoka?

p49:
<no text>

p50:
Kei: Has there ever been a case / I couldn’t solve?
Left side: Next time, Kei will spill the beans using his superhuman brain!!
Bottom left: To be continued in Issue 18.