Panic! at the Game Show

Panic! at the Game Show is a fanganronpa novel written by instagram user killedbytoiletpaper / AO3 user feralratdad. It features Hosoo Yushiro as the main protagonist and Shinzo Mashiro as the main support. There is no antagonist because I forgot \*cries so goddamn hard\*, though there are characters who serve as minor antagonists throughout various chapters. It takes place in an alternate reality where the main Danganronpa franchise never happened.

## Cast

* Hosoo Yushiro (protag) - ultimate debater
* Shinzo Mashiro (support) - ultimate high school dropout
* Jio Konosuke - ultimate public speaker
* Kiya Anju - ultimate social media influencer
* Shima Tokaji - ultimate drummer
* Izuhara Isao - ultimate basketball player
* Tauji Hairi - ultimate humanitarian
* Rai Gihei - ultimate ecomonist
* Kanda Akio - ultimate lifeguard
* Sawa Rikyu - ultimate gardener
* Toyoda Keita - ultimate RPG player
* Saiki Umi - ultimate small business owner
* Nii Tamako - ultimate film critic
* Morimoto Motomori - ultimate cheerleader
* Ishiwari Shoken - ultimate bodyguard
* Ige Heijei - ultimate janitor

## Plot

Hosoo Yushiro wakes up to find himself on a stage with fifteen other ultimates. It's soon revealed that they've been kidnapped and are being forced to take part in a killing game show. Every round, a motive based on an existing game show is revealed to prompt the contestants into killing each other. As Hosoo attempts to navigate the class trials and save his new friends, he begins to unravel the mystery of how the game show exists in the first place.

### Prologue: Welcome, Contestants, to the Ultimate Game Show!

Sixteen ultimates wake up to find themselves trapped in a facility with no exit and are forced to compete in a killing game show where the only way out is to murder a fellow contestant.

### Chapter one: the Wheel of (Mis)fortune

In a motive based off of the Wheel of Fortune, Monokuma threatens to kill someone at random if there is no murder in the next twenty-four hours. The contestants are forced into their first class trial and learn the horrible reality of their situation.

### Chapter two: Outwit, Outplay, Outlast!

In a motive based off of Survivor, Monokuma locks off the cafeteria and turns off all sources of water. As civil war begins breaking out among the contestants, Hosoo struggles to keep everyone together and is forced to decide who he trusts.

### Chapter three: Foul Play, Foul Shots

In the wake of a basketball game that was supposed to bring them together, the contestants stumble upon two bodies. Hosoo and Rai team up to unravel the strange murder full of contradictions and try to answer the question of why someone would kill without a motive.

### Chapter four: the Day the World Stopped Turning

In a motive based off of Jeopardy, Monokuma informs the surviving contestants of what's happening in their lives in the outside world. The morning after they hold a memorial service to mourn the dead, the group finds a body in the cafeteria, launching another investigation. Meanwhile, Hosoo learns the truth about Shinzo.

### Chapter five: the Cost of Freedom

In a motive (very vaguely) based off of Deal or No Deal, Monokuma offers an unknown sum of cash to whoever kills someone next. Confident that no one would kill over money, the survivors are horrified to find a body in the game show floor only hours after the motive. Once again, Hosoo grapples over who he can trust as he attempts to solve a murder that just doesn't make sense.

### Chapter six: the Debater and the Dropout

Determined to end the killing game show, Hosoo confronts Shinzo about what he knows. However, a new murder startles everyone, and it's up to Hosoo and Shinzo to figure out which one of their few remaining friends is a murderer.

### Chapter seven: the Season Finale of Hope and Despair

In a final motive based off of Family Feud, Monokuma tells the contestants that if they can solve the mystery of the killing game show, they're allowed to walk free. To end the game show, it'll take a fierce battle of wits, but the truth is far more horrifying than anyone could have imagined.

## Launch

P!ATGS was initially launched as a serial novel on Tumblr. It was soon discontinued because of the sheer length of it, and serial novel format didn't work very well. There are now plans to relaunch it on Archive of Our Own, though the novel itself is available to read through Google Docs.

## Sequel

There is a planned sequel, the Next Season of Despair, featuring Hosoo's younger brother as the main protagonist. I don't know if I have the brain cells and dedication to actually write it, though. Maybe it'll exist one day.