Shinkai (Free Mystery Sound Novel): Introduction, Impressions, and Walkthrough Hints

Preface

I played "Shinkai," a sound novel set in the deep sea with a mystery element where you try to find the culprit.
I was initially drawn to the deep-sea atmosphere depicted on the title screen, which sparked my interest.

I think it took me a little over an hour to complete one playthrough.
The time required to reach the true ending and complete the game is approximately two hours.

Game Overview

This game has the atmosphere of the early days of sound novels (that is, games like "Otogirisou" and "Kamaitachi no Yoru" on the Super Famicom).
The characters are primarily represented by silhouettes, and the story progresses by making choices.

The game's synopsis is as follows:

That's the summary.
Because the number of victims increases rapidly depending on the player's actions, it is important to identify the culprit as early as possible.
However, the more victims there are, the more clues we have to deduce.

When trying to deduce the culprit, there are times when you have to freely input the evidence.
Finding that evidence will require attentiveness to not overlook the smallest details, and the deductive reasoning skills to draw conclusions from them.
It would probably be difficult to reach that point on the first playthrough.

Review (no spoilers)

I was able to clear it on my own, so I felt a great sense of accomplishment.
Even if you know who the culprit is, I feel it's quite difficult to notice the evidence.

What's unique about this work is that the culprit isn't a murderer.
In mystery stories, the classic trope is for the culprit to commit murders one after another, and then the victim is identified.

However, the "culprit" in this film is the "infected."
If the conditions are right, infected individuals can rapidly increase the number of their followers.
That's what made it different from a typical murder case, and I found it interesting.

The idea of "the number of perpetrators increasing" is something I haven't encountered much before, so I personally found it refreshing.
Since the perpetrators lie and protect each other, I think it can be seen as a game similar to Werewolf.
It's not a very long game, and it's not particularly complex, so if you approach it with the same mindset as reading a mystery novel, I think you'll enjoy it.

One system-related complaint I had was the inability to change the text speed.
You can skip using the Ctrl key, but the text displays a bit slowly, so I wished it would speed up.
It seems that games made with TyranoBuilder often lack a configuration option to change the text speed.
(There may be reasons such as the implementation being time-consuming.)

Strategy hints (contains spoilers)

Now, in this game, once the first incident occurs and the initial search is complete, you'll have a chance to deduce who the culprit is.
I was correct in identifying the culprit, but I struggled to find the evidence to support my claim.
Here are some points to consider when making your deductions.

Clues to the mystery

If you were infected, when and how did you get infected?
Since he met Nomi when no one else was around, he shouldn't have an alibi.
Nomi has been spotted offering coffee to others.
Ultimately, since Nomi cannot go and cut the cable himself, he must have given the key to someone else.
It's not unnatural, but upon closer examination, it's strange that it's there.

answer

The word you should enter is the result of reading the first letter of each character vertically in the previous section.