Detective Conan: The Literary Genius is Actually a Great Scientist

"Let's go inside first," Ayako Suzuki stepped aside. "The rest of you are almost here. Go upstairs, put your luggage away, rest for a bit, and then come back down so I can introduce you to the place."

The four of them walked into the villa together.

The interior of the villa looked much better than the exterior. Although the decor was somewhat dated, it was very clean, fully furnished, and a fire was burning in the fireplace, its warmth dispelling the chill of the mountain forest.

Ayako Suzuki stood in the living room, silently watching the boy who was sandwiched between two girls, chatting and laughing as he walked up to the second floor.

She had a very good first impression of Lin Ran when they first met.

Compared to the photos, the real-life boy has a much better temperament, with a refined scholarly air that is incredibly charming and extremely attractive to women. No wonder Sonoko fell for him so easily.

But after the initial amazement came the worry.

Lin Ran is indeed outstanding, both in appearance and talent, but it is precisely because she is too outstanding, to the point of being unreal, that she becomes a source of worry.

As the older sister, she knows Yuanzi's personality best. She's carefree, simple, straightforward, and without any guile. Can a younger sister like that really hold onto a guy like Lin Ran?

It's like a child carrying a precious treasure in a bustling city; it could be snatched away at any moment, or the child could break it themselves.

Ayako Suzuki sighed softly.

Forget it, let's observe first and then decide.

……

The second floor.

The three of them were staring blankly at a row of rooms with all the doors closed.

"Which room should we be in?"

"I forgot to ask my sister, how about we just open any room..."

Seeing that the two were about to take action as they talked, Lin Ran quickly stepped forward, stopping Xiao Lan, whose hand was already on the doorknob, and said with a complaint:

"Hey you two, couldn't you at least knock before coming in? What if someone was inside, changing clothes? Do you want to be seen as perverts?"

As he spoke, he reached out to knock on the door.

"Squeak~"

The door opened.

It wasn't opened from the inside, but... it was already slightly ajar, and after being knocked on, it slowly opened on its own.

Lin Ran's hand froze in mid-air as she stared at a bespectacled, "obese" man inside who was shirtless and tidying up something.

"Sorry to bother you."

He silently closed the door.

After closing the door, he remained silent for a few seconds, then turned to look at the two girls behind him who were trembling with suppressed laughter.

"I just knocked once, and the door opened by itself."

Lin Ran said expressionlessly.

Someone... no, someone's trying to scam me!

"Pfft, hahaha—" Sonoko finally couldn't help but burst out laughing. "Lin Ran, you're so unlucky!"

"that......"

Xiaolan suppressed a laugh, "The people inside don't seem to be wearing any clothes?"

"He's only half-dressed," Lin Ran's lips twitched slightly, "at least he's wearing pants."

In fact, the bespectacled man in the room was also completely bewildered.

He knew the door lock was broken, of course. He was planning to get the parts to fix it later, but he was busy with his "cosplay" outfit and hadn't had time yet.

And then... the door opened.

Lin Ran opened the door, apologized, and closed the door.

The series of movements were so fluid that he didn't even have time to react.

A fierce glint flashed in the man's eyes as he looked at the props on the bed.

……

Lin Ran felt like she was being targeted.

Childhood trauma is driving him to commit murder.

He originally just wanted to stop the scenario in the original story where Xiaolan opened doors randomly, accidentally discovered the killer's true physique, and was subsequently chased down.

To everyone's surprise, Xiaolan was fine, but he was in trouble.

Thinking of the scene she had just witnessed—a lean man lurking around the room—Lin Ran's lips twitched slightly. She tossed her backpack onto her bed, lay down, and sighed softly.

"I hope you don't do something stupid..."

He just wanted to watch the show and maybe get to know the beautiful women better; he never intended to participate himself.

But what if the other person is also put on a kill list because they've seen their "secret"...

Then don't blame me for being impolite.

Lin Ran touched the "Railgun's coin" in his pocket, and then felt the genes that were slowly strengthening in his body and the faint telekinetic power.

I'm a cheat code with superpowers.

You mess with me? I'll electrocute you.

...

After putting away my luggage, I rested in my room for a while.

When Lin Ran came downstairs, everyone had already gathered in the living room. Thunder rumbled outside the villa, and rain began to fall.

"Lin Ran, here, here."

Sonoko waved to him, deliberately leaving him a spot between herself and Ran, giving him the treatment of being embraced on both sides.

Lin Ran walked over and sat down, while Ayako Suzuki stood up with a smile: "Now that everyone is here, let me introduce you all."

There were three boys and one girl among her classmates present.

Sonoko and the others had been members of the same film club since college, and they agreed to meet every two years after graduation. This time, it was Ayako Suzuki's turn to be there.

They are the main figures of the Film Association: Masaru Ota.

A handsome young man with long hair.

Hiroki Kakutani, who was in charge of photography for the Film Association.

A man with a middle-aged face who likes to hold a camera.

The culprit in charge of props for the Film Association: Ryoichi Takahashi

A man who appears to be "overweight" is also the bandaged monster who left a shadow on Lin Ran's childhood and just appeared on the bridge.

And the director of the film association, the deceased: Chikako Ikeda.

A short-haired, aloof woman, who was also the victim in the recent bandaged man murder case at the mountain villa, was a well-known writer who stole her friend's work and published it first, causing her friend to commit suicide.

As a fellow writer, Lin Ran had a very bad impression of him.

For a writer, a work is their life's work, no different from their own child. When Attorney Fei had only slightly doubted it, Lin Ran immediately retaliated, forcing her to apologize with a gift from her beloved daughter.

Therefore, Lin Ran had no intention of stopping Takahashi Ryoichi's desire for revenge; in fact, she had prepared melon seeds and watermelon to watch the show, provided that...

The other side shouldn't be as bloodthirsty as they were in the original story.

He was a scholar who never engaged in fighting.

After introducing her classmates, Ayako Suzuki then introduced Sonoko and Ran before finally introducing Lin Ran, who was sitting between the two.

Before he could even speak, the handsome Ota Masaru preemptively said:

"You must be Lin Ran? The famous high school mathematician genius? I've seen your story in the newspaper."

As soon as he finished speaking, the other three people present also showed expressions of sudden realization.

When this outstanding young man came down, they felt he looked familiar, but since it didn't involve their own field, they didn't realize it at first.

Now, reminded by Katsuichi Ota, I immediately remembered.

"This is Lin Ran? I've seen her on the news!" Hiroki Kakutani excitedly raised his camera. "A mathematician... Can I take a close-up of you? It would be very memorable!"

"Please go ahead," Lin Ran said with a smile.

Ryoichi Takahashi chuckled憨厚ly, "That's amazing, to have achieved so much at such a young age..."

Even the usually aloof Chikako Ikeda glanced at Lin Ran with surprise and said, "Wow, that's amazing. I was terrified of math in college; I got a headache just looking at numbers."

"You flatter me. Everyone has different areas of expertise."

Lin Ran nodded politely to everyone, neither humble nor arrogant.

Seeing how popular Lin Ran was, Sonoko looked smug and winked at her sister, as if to say, "See, sister? The boy I like is really great, isn't he?"

Ayako Suzuki smiled slightly, but the worry in her eyes deepened.

So excellent...

After getting to know each other, everyone sat around the table and began reminiscing about the past. It was called a gathering, but it was actually their class reunion. Lin Ran and her two companions were just bystanders who had snuck in.

"Oh, so Ms. Chikako is the author of the novel 'Blue Kingdom' that's currently airing on TV!"

Xiao Lan stumbled upon some unexpected news while gossiping.

She had just watched the show, so she was very surprised.

Hearing Ran's words, Ayako Suzuki smiled and said, "Yes, that was Chikako's work during her student days. Now... it finally has the opportunity to be made public."

"Let's not talk about the past, okay?" Despite being praised, Chikako Ikeda wasn't as happy as one might expect. Instead, she changed the subject somewhat awkwardly, saying, "It's all ancient history."

Lin Ran observed her expression with great interest.

He knew exactly what was going on, because "The Blue Kingdom" was stolen from his friend.

When faced with praise, one inevitably feels guilty and uneasy if the work is not something one has painstakingly created.

The atmosphere in the living room was always pleasant.

The old classmates, who hadn't seen each other for two years, had a great time chatting and joking with each other. Hiroki Kakutani, who was standing nearby, even held up a camera to "record memories" for everyone, saying he would edit it into a commemorative video.

"Chikako-sensei, would you please say a few words to your fans?" Hiroki Kakutani said jokingly, pointing the camera at Chikako Ikeda.

"Kotani, stop teasing me." Chikako Ikeda waved her hand, but the corners of her mouth couldn't help but turn up—being called a "master" was quite pleasing.

"Speaking of which, Takahashi, have you gained weight again recently?" Ota Katsumi teased, looking at Takahashi Ryoichi's chubby figure.

"Oh, almost 100 kilograms..."

Ryoichi Takahashi scratched his head sheepishly.

"You're almost too big to fit in the camera lens, hahaha..." Hiroki Kakutani laughed.

Seeing everyone enjoying themselves so much, Ayako Suzuki, who had been listening with a smile the whole time, also smiled and said:

"Being with everyone reminds me of the past. Back then, we often stayed up all night filming short videos, doing retakes for a single shot. It was tiring, but we were very happy..."

As she spoke, she suddenly sighed:

"If that incident hadn't happened with Atsuko, she'd be here today, chatting and laughing with us..."

As soon as Ayako Suzuki finished speaking, the cheerful atmosphere in the living room instantly froze.

The name "Dunzi" is like a key that unlocks a dusty box that everyone wants to forget.

Chikako Ikeda had the strongest reaction.

Her expression changed drastically. She slammed her hand on the table and stood up abruptly, her chest heaving violently. Her voice was shrill: "Can't you just stop mentioning Dunzi?"

The living room was completely silent.

The only sounds were the rain and distant thunder outside the window, and the crackling of the firewood burning in the fireplace.

Ota Masaru and Kakutani Hiroki exchanged a complicated look. Takahashi Ryoichi had his head down, so his expression was not visible, but his round body seemed to tense up for a moment.

Lin Ran, who was already feeling sleepy from listening, immediately sat up straight.

Here it comes!

Our top initiator has arrived.

Boring! I want to see rivers of blood! (Eating popcorn face)

Seeing Ikeda Chikako's furious expression and near-explosive demeanor before her, Suzuki Ayako's smile faded. She gave a slight bow, her voice still gentle:

"I'm sorry, I misspoke."

Chikako Ikeda sat back down, arms crossed, and said with obvious displeasure, "I finally managed to squeeze in some time from my busy schedule to come here and relax, not to talk to you, Ayako, about someone who died two years ago!"

This attitude surprised Lin Ran.

Hey sis, do you know who you're talking to?

Ayako Suzuki's expression remained unchanged, but before she could apologize, someone else spoke first.

"What's so great about writing a book?"

Seeing someone dare to be rude to her doting older sister, Sonoko got angry. Regardless of whether the person was her sister's classmate or not, her face fell, and she immediately started mocking.

Without giving Ikeda Chikako, whose expression had changed, a chance to retaliate, she grabbed Lin Ran's arm, proudly raising her chin like a little peacock showing off its treasure:

"My Lin Ran is not only a genius mathematician, but also a great writer! Her books are bestsellers nationwide! Did I say anything? Did I feel proud? Did I feel honored?"

……

……

(Little author, I'm so happy today!)

Hehe, this is my first time reaching 20 words!