Conan: I'm Really Not the Manipulator

Lu Renjia's gaze lingered on a certain spot in the air for a moment, and he noticed that Edogawa Conan was looking at him with a somewhat nervous tone.

Edogawa Conan bent down to pick up a few boxes of game cartridges that had fallen at his feet, and while handing them over, he asked casually, "Uncle, how did you end up in the hospital?"

Lu Renjia said calmly, "I was shopping at night when a steel bar fell from a building. A kind person pushed me to avoid it. I was not hit by it, but my head accidentally hit the ground, and then I was admitted to the hospital..."

The other party's description aroused more suspicion, and Edogawa Conan asked again: "Was it an accident?"

"uncertain."

Lu Renjia sighed and scratched his pants nervously. "After I woke up, the police came to take my statement and said it might be human error. After that, there was no movement... By the way, I saw him walk over just now, but it didn't seem like he came for my business. He didn't say hello to me."

Edogawa Conan nodded thoughtfully.

Seeing that he didn't say anything, the unlucky Mr. Lu Renjia began to pack up. When he saw the cover of one of the cassettes, Edogawa Conan was stunned for a moment.

The cover features a real-life waterfall with the game’s name running right through the center.

"Little boy, if you have nothing else, I'll leave first." Lu Renjia said to him after putting the cassette back into the shopping bag.

But Edogawa Conan called him again and asked one last question: "By the way, uncle, why were you so surprised when you bumped into me just now?"

Lu Renjia was not flustered at all. He looked down at his face and said, "Because I think you look very much like someone I know, but the age is not right..."

Edogawa Conan was stunned. Before he could panic and deny it, the other party added: "... and he said he was an only child and had no younger brother."

“Is that so? What a coincidence.”

Edogawa Conan laughed dryly, turned around and left without further investigation.

……

Looking at the departing figure of the protagonist of this world, Miwa Kazuya looked at the system pop-up window floating in the air.

[Gluttony: I met Conan! ]

[Gluttony: What should I do? I seem to have overreacted. Will he suspect me? ]

【Rage: Calm down first. 】

[Angry: Detectives are more or less suspicious, but Kudo is special. He just became a small child not long ago, and he is not used to hiding this secret yet, so he will try his best to avoid others finding out. ]

[Angry: You just look too surprised. There are many people who like to be surprised in real life. Just don't act suspiciously. In the original novel, Tequila, who was dressed in black, was not targeted until he revealed Gin and the others' names in public.]

[Gluttony: I understand the reason, but can you just tell me what to do...]

[Angry: He knows you are a mystery novelist. With your identity, you pay attention to Japanese cases and detectives. It is normal for you to have seen Kudo Shinichi on TV and recognize his face.]

【Angry: So, as long as you say you think he looks familiar, he will take the initiative to avoid you. 】

The above is the solution he received from his teammates after he urgently asked for help after meeting Conan Edogawa.

He just added a few things to the plan to make the tone seem more sincere, he specifically mentioned Kaito, and finally got through safely.

Miwa Kazuya breathed a sigh of relief and didn't want to stay here any longer, so he walked towards the elevator.

……

Edogawa Conan's clenched heart gradually calmed down, and he came to the door of the meeting room.

The meeting room was at the corner, and there was a tall pot of green plants next to the door. He did not enter the room, but hid his body behind the green plants to avoid being discovered by the nurses or patients passing by, and then carefully put his ear close to it.

The sound of conversation inside could be heard.

"He fell very abruptly. When I helped him up, he was obviously panicked, which didn't seem like a sudden illness. I was worried that someone had pushed him on purpose. There are occasional pranks like this in the United States. I asked him if he wanted to call the police, but..."

It was Aoyagi Binkou's voice.

"I... I didn't get enough rest these past few days, and I was thinking about something at the time, so I didn't notice if I was pushed. I thought I just slipped accidentally, so there was no need to disturb you..."

This was Kawai Koichi's answer.

When Edogawa Conan heard his tone, his suspicion level began to rise again.

He finally remembered where he had seen the name Kawai Koichi before.

Aoyagi Akimitsu likes to read mystery novels, but his own reasoning and deciphering abilities are not strong. When he encounters troublesome cases or other puzzles in daily life, he occasionally asks his father for help.

During a transatlantic phone call, Kudo Yukiko mentioned something.

"Xiao Xin, have you ever played a mystery game called "Perfect Crime"?"

"I have no impression." Kudo Shinichi was puzzled. "Why are you asking this?"

Could it be that someone asked my dad to design the script?

"No, it was Aoyagi who was playing this game a few days ago and couldn't solve it, so he sent an email to Yusaku for help." Kudo Yukiko smiled.

"In the end, Yusaku didn't figure it out either."

This time Kudo Shinichi was completely surprised.

"Really? Then I'll go check it out."

Kudo Shinichi is a man with strong action ability. He hung up the phone, ran out to buy a game cartridge, and tried to complete the game that night. He ended up playing until the next morning and successfully put himself into a state of autism.

He couldn't help but call again: "Is there something wrong with this game?!"

Obviously the locked room method was very old-fashioned, which gave him a strong sense of déjà vu, but why couldn't he deduce it? ?

Yukiko Kudo, who was having dinner on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, said, "It seems so. Yusaku said that the clues in the game are not complete, and the existing physical evidence has big loopholes. Unless you have read the script in advance, it is impossible to deduce who the criminal is."

Kudo Shinichi breathed a sigh of relief when he learned that it was not his problem. He hung up the phone, searched for the game online, found the official website of the game, and wanted to read the comments of other players.

Then his face was covered with all kinds of black mud.

Almost all the players who bought the game are cursing.

"A mystery puzzle game deliberately doesn't give players clues. Is this a prank?"

"They hid the clues and didn't dare let the players know. The existing clues were all wrong! You call this a challenge? If you can't afford to lose, don't make games!"

"Am I the only one who thinks this technique looks familiar?"

"It's plagiarism, right? This locked room technique is obviously borrowed from..."

At the bottom of these accusations and insults is the designer’s response.

[No plagiarism! This is my own idea! - Kawai Koichi]

Chapter 266: An unknown little person

About ten minutes later, the conference room door opened.

"Mr. Kawai, please come with us to the Metropolitan Police Department for another confirmation." Megure Jusan said to Kawai Koichi, "Don't worry, this time the physical and human evidence is complete, and it will be sent for inspection soon."

Kawai Takashi showed a look of joy and nodded repeatedly.

Conan Edogawa, who was hiding behind the green plants, saw his expression clearly, but he did not follow him and sneaked into the room.

There were some photos on the table, but Edogawa Conan didn't look at them for the time being and walked straight towards Aoyagi Akimitsu who was sitting in his original seat.

"Mr. Qingliu..."

Aoyagi Binguang was sending a message on his phone. When he heard the words, he looked up and was stunned when he saw it was him.

"Conan-kun? Why are you here? Did you follow us up here?"

Edogawa Conan smiled awkwardly: "Because I remembered that I had played the game designed by the uncle just now, so I followed along..."

The silly smile on his face lasted less than a few seconds. He remembered the conversation he had just heard, and without waiting for Aoyagi Binkou to respond, he couldn't wait to ask for other information he wanted to know.

"Mr. Aoyagi, after you saved Mr. Kawai the day before yesterday, did he invite you to dinner?"

"Yeah." Aoyagi Binguang responded, "He said he wanted to thank me no matter what, so he invited me to the best Western restaurant nearby."

Conan Edogawa recalled the nearby map and quickly determined which restaurant it was.

He thought about the prices there, and then about the clothes Kawai Koichi had just worn. Thanks to his mother, he could tell that they were all old styles. The watch on his wrist was a famous one, but it was also very old.

He obviously didn't have much money, but he still wanted to go to that kind of place. Was it for his own face, or... Edogawa Conan frowned.

"I'll send a message to Miss Maori and ask her to come up to pick you up." Qing Liu Bingguang didn't seem to notice his serious expression. He lowered his head and glanced at his feet: "I'm here on leave and will be back soon. Do you want me to give you a ride?"

Conan Edogawa raised his hand to stop him: "Wait, Mr. Aoyagi, I have another question - what did he say when you were having dinner together?"

This time, Aoyagi stared at him for several seconds.

"Why are you asking this?" His voice was flat and serious.

"Because I'm curious about him."

Edogawa Conan tried to sound like a child, "I've seen his company's official website, which says he's going to design a new detective game, this time with a realistic style, so I'm curious if he'll ask you about real-life cases handled by the FBI..."

"He did ask that."

Aoyagi Binkou leaned his elbows on the armrests, his fists resting on his chin, with a nostalgic expression on his face.

"He asked me if there was a 'perfect crime' in reality, and also mentioned to me that there were new development plans."

He paused and said regretfully, "It's just that the sales of his last game were a disappointment and the company is on the verge of bankruptcy. With his current financial situation, he simply doesn't have the power to support a new project. And from his tone, his father doesn't intend to help him."

"I suggested to him that he should go and persuade his father first. After all, he is his son, and getting support would make things much easier, but he..."

Aoyagi Binkou's tone was sincere and helpless.

Edogawa Conan didn't hear anything unusual, every word the other party said was the truth.

The perfect crime...

Edogawa Conan muttered this word in his heart.

The cover of Kawai Koichi's game is the Reichenbach Falls, and the technique is inspired by Sherlock Holmes and another writer, Carl, the "King of Locked Rooms". It is obvious that he is a fan of mystery novels.

The perfect crime in the minds of mystery fans is a completely different concept from those crimes in reality where the criminals are never caught.

Of all the detective novels he had read, the one that fits this description best is...

At this moment, a sound of hurried footsteps was heard. Conan Edogawa thought it was Ran Mouri who came. He was about to explain, but when he looked up, he saw the police officer who looked very honest.

"Sorry, I forgot to take something."

Takagi Shigeru smiled embarrassedly at Aoyagi Akimitsu and reached out to take the photos on the table.

Edogawa Conan scanned the photos, and when he saw one of them, his eyes suddenly froze: "Wait a minute! These photos are..."