Conan: I'm really not the mastermind behind the scenes

Meanwhile, in another room.

The room was dark, with the curtains drawn tightly. Sanlun Kazuya sat in the dimly lit room, the only light source being the computer screen.

The screen light fell on his face, illuminating his expressionless face and tightly pursed lips. He was half-lying on the table in an unsteady posture, his eyes fixed on the words on the screen.

"...We're just kids, and the police don't trust our testimony at all."

【Then we'll find the body ourselves!】

"But if the body is really inside, then that uncle is the murderer, right? It would be very dangerous for us to confront him..."

So what? Does that mean we should back down when faced with danger? Don't forget, we are the Young Adventurers! Investigating the truth and restoring justice for the deceased is our mission!

[...And so it went. In the darkness of night, several small hands clasped together. Under the moonlight, they made a vow, encouraging each other, and together they walked towards the dangerous house. Not one of them flinched...]

"...Tsk."

Kazuya Miwa scratched his hair in frustration, then pressed the delete button, erasing the entire ending of the chapter he had painstakingly written.

The document I worked on all night was instantly turned into a blank page.

Even though the glaring words were gone, Kazuya Miwa's agitated mood did not improve in the slightest.

He took a deep breath, slammed his hand on the laptop screen, turned on the desk lamp, picked up the game console next to him, and planned to play some games to change his mood. He had recently bought a lot of new game cartridges.

Soon, the room was filled with game sound effects, some soothing, some exciting, echoing throughout the room as the game progressed.

It was quiet outside; there was no sign of his roommates rushing in and frantically banging on the door to tell him to be quiet. His roommates never got angry with him over such trivial matters.

Kazuya Miwa stared intently at the screen, his fingers occasionally pressing heavily on the buttons. After his car, which was ranked last, was hit by a bomb and sent flying, he felt a slight choke.

"...So annoying."

He muttered a complaint under his breath.

It seems like nothing is going smoothly today.

Kazuya Miwa scratched his already messy hair again, and ignoring the game, he casually tossed the handheld console aside, walked to the bedside, and fell straight down face down.

His cheeks were buried in the soft fabric; it felt a little stuffy, but not suffocating. Because it was a quilt that Aoyagi Akimitsu had just washed and brought back today, Miwa Kazuya could even smell a very faint scent of laundry detergent on it.

Kazuya Miwa remained in that position, eyes open, for a very long time without moving.

So what? Does that mean we should back down from danger?

The words he had personally deleted resurfaced in his mind, even clearer than the black text on a white background on the computer screen.

Kazuya Miwa's hand, which was pressed against his cheek, slowly tightened as he took a deep breath...

Then the breath was released even faster.

"..."

Kazuya Miwa let out a long sigh.

He rolled over in bed, looked up at the dark ceiling, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a cell phone.

He opened his usual social media platform, clicked on the hottest news post, and looked at the reports and photos.

Shin Kadoya, one of the perpetrators in today's kidnapping livestream case, is only seventeen years old, yet his photo has been released in the media.

In the photo, Shin Kadoya, with his greasy bangs and slovenly clothes, nervously avoids the camera, while Kazuya Miwa stares back at him from afar.

This is the second one.

This is the second photo of a minor suspect published by Japanese media in recent years; the first was of Kazuya Miwa two years ago.

Kazuya Miwa, who had been an adult for many years, quietly watched this real boy who had fallen into the abyss before he was even an adult, as if something was pressing on his heart.

At this moment, he felt not only irritable, but also exhausted, and even more so, fear and confusion about the unknown.

What can I do?

He asked himself that question.

He's currently playing on the black side, which sounds impressive, like someone like Gin who kills and plants bombs without batting an eye. But he knows very well how much of his black side skill is genuine.

His turning against us was just an accident; his true allies have always been bystanders.

He can argue with people who disagree with him online for eight hundred rounds, deliberately create dark and tragic stories to evoke sympathy or praise from immature teenagers, or write articles full of positive energy when asked by his boss to be published in official media.

However, if you actually asked him to do it, he wouldn't even dare to touch an elderly person who has fallen on the roadside—he wouldn't dare to help them up, nor would he dare to step on them.

Although this is a game world, not his original reality... all his needs for food, drink, and sanitation, as well as the joys and sorrows of the people around him, are almost exactly the same as in reality. He even feels pain when he pinches himself hard.

He's all talk and no action; he won't do anything dangerous unless he's pushed to the brink.

Kazuya Miwa remained silent, taking several deep breaths to slowly dispel the pent-up emotions in his chest.

He put down his phone, gently rubbing his thumb against the system ring on his index finger. A huge fly appeared out of thin air, crawled on it, and began to gnaw on a corner of it.

Because the fly demon's design is disgusting, Kazuya Sanro has never liked using the ring to access the game system, but he has no choice since his system phone was confiscated by the police two years ago.

His group chat interface shows the original casual chat group (which he has left), the current Black Party group, and two private chats, one with "Arrogance" and the other with...

Kazuya Miwa looked at the temporary chat with [Sloth] and opened it.

Slowly pulling up, Kazuya Miwa saw a conversation from three years ago.

[Gluttony: I found her. Because of the snacks you sent me via international express, I tried to warn her, but whether she listens or not is beyond my control.]

This is a chat between Lazy and the Red-Haired Serial Killer during the case.

She seemed to sense that her jealous red-haired girlfriend was in trouble, so she asked him if he could warn her to break up with her boyfriend sooner rather than later, saying that if she broke up with him sooner, she would most likely not die.

Kazuya Miwa was speechless at the request. Only acquaintances could persuade someone to break up. Would she listen to a stranger?

However, considering her good attitude and the fact that she sent him a large box of snacks he had never tried before as a reward, he still went. Under the guise of giving his classmate emotional advice, he subtly reminded her of something.

After that, the case continued. Miwa Kazuya had been educated by Hojo Tobika about the number of murders in the Conan world, so he didn't feel much about this serial murder case. He just asked the police if they should go and remind them again since they hadn't caught the culprit yet.

But laziness rejected it the second time.

Laziness: Unnecessary and pointless.

[Gluttony: Didn't you say she would die? If it involved your own life, wouldn't you at least listen to what I said?]

【Lazy:……】

Laziness: Useless.

[Laziness: How to explain this...? His jealousy of his girlfriend is less about being a simp and more about being love-struck.]

[Binge eating: What's the difference between these two?]

[Laziness: "Simp" refers more to the one-sided stage of getting to know and pursuing someone, while arrogance is more suitable for the police academy group; "love-struck" refers to having an excessively idealized view of love and the other person's behavior after a successful relationship, even if they are beaten or cheated on, they will refuse to break up with others and will say things like, "Actually, they were quite good to me usually."]

[Gluttony: ...Fine. I think you're pretty experienced too.]

There was silence for a few seconds.

[Lazy: There are quite a few people like this in real life. Before I came here, I had a roommate who was in a relationship. When they broke up, I tried to persuade her to stay, but every time, her boyfriend managed to coax her back, and they made up. Afterwards, she went around saying that I was just jealous that she had a boyfriend and that I was stirring things up between them, making me feel like I was caught in the middle.]

Binge eating: ...

Laziness: So I learned something later. If someone is about to do something dangerous, I politely offer advice once. If they insist on continuing, I respect their decision and wish them well. Ultimately, it has nothing to do with me; their misfortune wasn't caused by me.

[Laziness: The same applies to being jealous of your girlfriend.]

[Lazy: One piece of advice is enough. Trying to persuade them again will only cause trouble.]

"..."

Kazuya Miwa looked at the chat log.

[Lazy] is currently the only random player.

After playing the game for years, he still didn't know what "Sloth's" real name was. She never said it, even when Hojo Tobika repeatedly pressed her for an answer, she remained silent.

Shortly after the game began, she went abroad. She never explained the specifics of her skills, only mentioning them when she planned to return to rescue the others, saying that she had a chance to change the outcome of Matsuda and the others' deaths.

Seeing this group chat again after three years, and comparing the current situations of the two people.

Kazuya Miwa used to think she was overly cautious, and even suspected she had paranoia. Now, however, he thinks that what she's doing might be the right thing to do.

This is currently the only remaining player among them. Greed seems to be an undercover agent for the organization. He himself has contacted Conan and the Detective Boys, not to mention his teammates. He knows and has contact with many people from both the Red and Black sides...

Only [Sloth] has not yet been involved in the plot.

Kazuya Miwa sighed.

I hope she's alright... Aoyagi Akimitsu had seen his system chat before, but she hadn't revealed anything in it. Could he really possibly take advantage of a player who had absolutely no information about him?

Miwa Kazuya's mood calmed down a bit, and he sat up, wanting to go back to his desk to continue working on his manuscript.

But just then, his phone rang.

"...?"

Kazuya Miwa glanced at the time with some confusion. It was a little past nine o'clock at night, not too late, but who would call him at this hour? He hadn't ordered any packages recently.

He answered the phone, and an unfamiliar female voice answered: "Hello, is this Mr. Lu Ren?"

"It's me. May I ask who you are...?"

"Hello, Mr. Lu Ren, I am the screenwriter of the TV series 'Day and Night'."

The other party quickly revealed their identities.

Kazuya Miwa was stunned for a moment, then understood.

Adapting a novel into a TV series isn't as simple as just filming the chapters directly from the novel. It requires a professional screenwriter to adapt it first; the screenwriter is merely the "original author."

He greeted the person opposite him, then asked with a puzzled look, "I remember I had full authorization and wouldn't interfere with your filming. Is there something you need from me now?"

The other party smiled wryly and said, "It's like this. Do you know the news this morning? Due to the extremely negative impact, an urgent notice came from above saying that films and TV dramas involving the police, especially those involving undercover agents, will be investigated by the public security bureau soon."

"……so?"

"The later episodes involving undercover agents need to be reshot," the screenwriter said. "The director said we can mention undercover agents, but we can't write about their specific experiences and actions during their infiltration, as that's too sensitive. I'm in a bit of a dilemma, so I came to ask you, the original author, for your opinion."

Kazuya Miwa was speechless at this: "Do you have any inspiration?"

"How about a story where an undercover agent returns safely after completing a mission, but is still traumatized, and eventually overcomes his psychological trauma with the help of others?"

The screenwriter may already have a draft, and now they're just spouting off.

"This way, others can see the hardships and difficulties faced by undercover agents, giving them more support and understanding. Adding a little element of family or love... the police won't have any objections..."

Miwa Kazuya was a little annoyed and said dismissively, "It's fine, let's leave it at that."

He genuinely didn't care.

Anyway, it's just a regular TV series, unlike Hojo Tobika who adapted the original Conan manga.

There shouldn't be any problems.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Gluttony and laziness react to people they dislike as follows:

Binge eating: cursing and frantically breaking heads

Laziness: Hmm, okay, you're right. Respect and blessings. (End of Chapter)