Yuji Kudo, the manga artist behind Detective Conan.

"Did I wake up in Tokyo again? Damn it, my body hurts so much."

Feeling as if his brain had been repeatedly spun and shaken in a washing machine, Conan let out a painful cry like he was having a hangover. He then slowly climbed up, leaning against the wall by the roadside, and opened his eyes to find a row of various mineral waters placed next to him.

They must be office workers having a team-building drinking session tonight. What do these guys think he is? If they see a child who has fainted on the street, they should rush him to the hospital, okay?

After tidying up their things, they walked to the left and soon noticed Mihua Street not far away. To verify their guess, the elementary school student took out a small bottle of mineral water from the plastic bag they had picked up, opened it, drank it all in one gulp, and then ran over quickly.

"what!"

Sure enough, at the next intersection, they found the bronze dog statue standing at the crossroads. Conan breathed a sigh of relief and smiled happily.

"Finally home."

Beika Street isn't far from Beika Shopping Street, so he should be able to get back to the Mouri Detective Agency in ten minutes. He went into a roadside convenience store, checked the time with the clerk, and corrected his watch. Conan was looking forward to meeting Ran.

She would definitely be very interested if she heard stories from another world.

"I'll buy a croquette on my way home... Where's the shop?"

As usual, Conan planned to buy fried croquettes from the old lady as soon as he entered the shopping street, but he saw that the familiar shop had turned into a takeaway takoyaki shop. Conan hurriedly climbed onto the shop counter and looked at the shop assistant inside.

"Arno, where's the grandma who sells croquettes here?"

"Croquettes? Those are too greasy. How about some takoyaki?" When Conan shook his head, the other person waved to the elementary school student, indicating that he shouldn't block the way if he wasn't going to buy anything.

"Strange, the fishmonger and the vegetable vendor are gone, and so is the new bald-headed sushi shop... What's going on? Didn't I come back?"

Conan's hand holding the plastic bag tightened slightly, but he was eventually drawn to the sound of the wood being pulled.

"Thank you for your hard work! Let Okiya take over the second shift today."

An unfamiliar long-haired man walked out of Kogoro Yakitori restaurant. He watched a girl with a bowl cut hairstyle and a chubby face leave, then took out his phone and made a call.

"Hey, Okiya, what are you doing? You're already late, you know that? Ha, you just ask for leave like that, and I'm supposed to cover for you?! I'm the manager... You promised, cute girl! You have to be cute!"

The somewhat pitiful shop manager accepted the empty promises made over the phone, turned around and went into the shop, which eased Conan's initial doubts a little.

"Shu... Mr. Subaru is still working here, so there shouldn't be any major problems. Besides, Polo Coffee Shop is also here."

Although the glass in the store has been changed to a dark brown color so that it's hard to see clearly, the blond guy standing behind the counter is obviously Amuro Tooru.

"Uncle must be watching the horse racing right now." Conan was about to look up at the second-floor window when he heard a very familiar scream from upstairs. "Number two, it's Team number two who won! I knew my luck was good today! We won a whole million yen!"

As expected, there was no difference from usual. However, since Uncle Kogoro won so much money, it looks like we can have something nice to eat at home tonight.

"Should we have eel or French cuisine...?"

Carrying a bottle of mineral water, Conan pushed open the door to the second floor and, smelling the smoke and alcohol in the air, habitually called out, "Oh-chan, I'm home."

"You're back so early today, kid."

"Ah, me... eh?"

The bag containing the drink fell to the ground. Conan stood there blankly. The layout of the room had not changed at all, but all the posters on the wall had disappeared. In their place were posters of a man dressed like Sherlock Holmes.

The large, bulky TV Uncle Mori used to watch horse racing on the desk was replaced by a tablet computer. However, the man looking at the tablet had plugged his headphones into the computer, so there was no sound.

"I thought it was that kid from the Third Generation, but it turns out it wasn't him. But you little brat... why do you look so familiar?"

The man behind the desk pushed aside the ashtray and beer cans on the table, rummaged through several cigarette packs and found his glasses. He slowly put them on, and after regaining normal vision, he fell into thought, just like the elementary school student he had imagined.

"I wouldn't..."

Conan looked behind the man at the glass where sunlight had cast words on the floor, clearly showing the words "Kudo Detective Agency".

"...It must be the future."

"Hmm." The man suddenly realized what Conan meant, as if he had finally found some long-forgotten memory in his head: "So it was around this time."

How could I have become like this!

Conan silently screamed in his heart. His peripheral vision fell on the cigarette butt and the wine can. He turned around, wanting to leave first to calm down, but the sudden opening of the door of the agency startled him.

"That's strange. Dad didn't watch the betting today. I thought you must have won money again."

A playful voice followed by a surprised exclamation. A girl with a single ponytail, wearing the Teitan school uniform, blinked and tossed aside her bamboo sword and backpack used for kendo practice.

"Huh? Where did this child come from? So cute!" (End of Chapter)