Ke Xue Lu Ren Wang

"Next up are Conan and Ran~" Tomomi Matsuzaka pointed the finger of punishment at the two in the corner.

Ran Mouri became a little nervous when her name was called.

"Hmm... let me think about what kind of punishment I should give you~ I won't make things difficult for you, how about a dance?" Tomomi Matsuzaka tilted her head and made a request that sounded very simple.

"Dancing?" Ran Mouri asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Yes. Any dance is fine." Tomomi Matsuzaka nodded affirmatively.

Conan, sitting in the corner, looked at Ran Mouri, who was clearly relieved, and wondered what was going on in his little head.

"Um... Conan, can you dance?" Ran Mouri bent down and asked Conan in a low voice.

"Huh?" Conan was taken aback at first, then realized what he meant and nodded vigorously. "Yeah, the school taught us ballroom dancing, so I know how to do it."

Conan readily offered the same reason as Toru Hanyu.

Of course, his ballroom dancing was taught by his mother, Yukiko Kudo. In the words of his show-off mother, "Who knows, it might come in handy someday." Unexpectedly, it actually came in handy today.

After receiving Conan's affirmative answer, Ran Mouri was relieved.

She stood up, took Conan's little hand, and after they nodded to each other, they slowly began to dance a ballroom dance to soothing music in front of the private room.

Looking at Conan's serious expression, whose dance steps were even more precise than her own, Ran Mouri couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"What's wrong, Ran-neechan?" Conan was engrossed in dancing when he suddenly heard Ran Mouri's laughter and looked up.

"Conan, you look so focused~ I've never seen you this focused before." Ran Mouri said with a smile, finding Conan especially adorable at that moment.

"Uh... well... of course..." Conan's cheeks flushed slightly after Ran Mouri smiled at him like that.

He was indeed dancing with great focus, for no other reason than that this was his first dance with Ran. The only drawback was that he was now Conan Edogawa, not Shinichi Kudo, so he felt a little awkward while dancing, and the height difference also forced him to tilt his head back the whole time.

Fortunately, a minute passed quickly, and Ran Mouri released Conan's hand, only to find that his small palms were already covered in sweat.

The two sat back down on the sofa, and Ran leaned close to Conan's ear, teasingly whispering, "I didn't expect Conan to be so shy~"

"No, no~" Conan hurriedly waved his hand to explain.

"It's okay, Conan is cute like this~" Ran Mouri said gently with a smile.

Conan's cheeks turned even redder as he listened to Ran Mouri's words.

"Alright, the first round is over!" Matsuzaka Tomomi announced, clapping her hands as everyone finished their punishments. She glanced at the time, then looked at everyone again, "We arrived at 6:30, and it's only 7:30 now. We'll grab a bite to eat and chat for a bit, then play until around 10:00. That means there are at least a few more rounds of competition. Good luck to you all!"

Upon hearing this, Yuzuru instinctively exchanged a glance with Sonoko Suzuki beside him.

The girl was looking at him too. The shyness from before had faded in her bright eyes, replaced by a hint of unwavering determination.

We can't afford to lose a single game from now on!

The thought arose in both of their minds at the same time.

For Toru Hanyu, getting close to a pure and beautiful girl like Sonoko Suzuki was actually not something he minded.

After all, Sonoko Suzuki really looked good after taking off that headband. Her appearance improved by several levels, and she was just as good as the previous school beauty from Ekoda, or even better.

Even so, he couldn't possibly do something as intense as what Shimizu Chizuru and the others had done in front of so many people. Just thinking about it made him feel ashamed and embarrassed.

This is also true for Sonoko Suzuki.

Although she usually enjoys chasing after handsome men and easily becomes captivated by good-looking guys, her values ​​are actually quite sound. To date, she has never had a serious relationship, except for those guys who are after her status as the second young lady of the Suzuki family.

But Toru Hanyu is different.

Although they were pretending to be a couple, he gave her a completely different feeling.

That calm gaze, that heartfelt "confession" in front of everyone, made her heart race and she couldn't control herself. She even had a strange feeling that this might not be acting.

[Ding! You have gained favor with Sonoko Suzuki.]

[Completing the beginner's quests will unlock the next stage of the "Suzuki Sonoko" quest.]

[Ding! The item shop is now open.]

As the two stared at each other, a series of cold system notifications suddenly rang in Yuzuru's mind. He was slightly taken aback; he hadn't expected that an increase in favorability would trigger a notification.

As for Sonoko Suzuki's next quest, it will only unlock after completing the current beginner quests. And what exactly is this item shop?

A hint of curiosity arose in Yuzuru's heart. He glanced at the group who were ordering songs, drinking beverages, and eating snacks, and then made an excuse to stand up: "I'm going to the restroom."

"Okay, hurry back!" Sonoko Suzuki nodded obediently.

Just as Yuzuru left the private room, Conan, who was on the other side, also stood up, clutching his stomach, and said to Ran Mouri, "Ran-neechan, I also need to go to the restroom; my stomach hurts a bit."

He felt a slight pain in his stomach, probably from drinking a cold beverage and being too nervous and shy while dancing.

……

As Yuzuru walked down the long corridor of the KTV, various wailing and howling singing voices came from the cracks in the doors of the private rooms on both sides, making it very noisy.

"It's amazing that no murders occurred during my first interaction with characters from the original work." This thought only slowly popped into Yuzuru's mind after he left the private room.

This doesn't quite fit the rules of the Conan world.

Although he had been interacting with Sonoko Suzuki, he was also secretly observing the relationships between the other people in the private room.

First and foremost is Shimizu Chizuru. If something were to really happen, she would definitely be the first person to be implicated. Her personality, coupled with her undisguised jealousy, makes her too prone to causing trouble.

Secondly, there's Tomomi Matsuzaka. This girl isn't very petty, but she speaks very bluntly. She's also a sucker for good looks, and she doesn't really consider her boyfriend's feelings when she speaks, making her an easy victim.

As for their two boyfriends, to be honest, I personally feel that the probability of it being Toru Hanyu is not very high.

After all, in this world, sometimes a single word or offending someone can trigger a crime of passion. Situations like Chizuru Shimizu and Tomomi Matsuzaka certainly make them easy targets.

As Yuzuru was walking and analyzing, a strange smell, a mixture of fishy sweetness and fermented beer, suddenly entered his nose.

The smell wasn't very strong; mixed with other smells of food, perfume, and smoke, it was somewhat unpleasant, but the faint scent of blood was exceptionally clear.

Yuzuru paused, looked up, and his gaze instantly locked onto the direction from which the smell was coming.

Not far away, the door to a small private room was half-open.

In the dim light, a girl was lying on the sofa inside.

Blood gushed from the back of her head, staining the bright carpet a dark red pool, making it seem as if her life was hanging in the balance.