Conan: Death is Watching Me

Chapter 1 Resurrection from the Dead

"He's dead. Does he have any family?"

"Can't get in touch."

"Tick!"

The intermittent sound of dripping water reached Gao Mo's ears.

My body was unable to move as if I was sleep paralyzed, and even breathing seemed extremely difficult.

Cold, dark, smelly, rotten...

Seawater kept pouring into his throat, and he was getting further and further away from the water surface where there was still a glimmer of light.

It was as if something was pulling him, and he kept falling into the darkest seabed in the world.

what's the situation?
Who died?
Gao Mo woke up and struggled, wanting to shout but no sound came out. He could only hear the sound of a TV coming from somewhere.

On and off.

"Kudo Shinichi, the Sherlock Holmes of the Heisei era, reveals the secrets of the detective case, the roller coaster beheading case..."

"The kidnapping of the chairman's daughter, Maori Detective Agency..."

"what--!"

Gao Mo seemed to have grabbed a life-saving straw. He suddenly jumped up from the ground, opened his eyes wide and gasped for breath.

Come to life!

Still alive!!
Wiping the sweat off his face, Gao Mo was still in shock. He looked around with a pale face, his expression gradually becoming confused.

It's not your own room.

The small bedroom was covered with posters and various news briefs, and there were some medals on the table.

It looks like an idol artist's room, but the person on the poster is indeed him.

Long, fine hair, melancholic and intellectual temperament...

Another version of myself?

Gao Mo touched his cheek and got up with confusion.

The TV was still playing in the living room, and I could hear the exaggerated and smug laughter from the interview.

A live-action version of "Detective Conan"?

Gao Mo stood in the aisle with a dazed look on his face, looking at the spacious living room and the mural TV, feeling like he was still dreaming.

But whether it is vision, hearing, smell or touch, it is all so real.

He seemed to have died and been reborn...

He was showing off his skills on the forum just a moment ago, but he traveled through time like this in such a trivial way.

Is this some kind of prank show?

Gao Mo hurriedly looked through magazines and newspapers, then found a mobile phone of unknown brand and unlocked it, and finally accepted the fact that he had traveled through time.

Not only was the environment unfamiliar to him, but he also felt a slight sense of disconnection when reading Japanese, as he only knew a few words of Japanese.

And it's not an ordinary time travel and rebirth, he seems to have entered the world of "Detective Conan".

……

A quarter of an hour later.

Gao Mo gulped down a bottle of ice cola, rubbed his fine medium-length hair, and sank his whole body into the soft sofa.

It really is the world of Conan.

After some vague fragments of memory gradually emerged, he almost understood his current situation.

In this world, he is an outdated idol, Takami Shirodo, 25 years old. He recently terminated his contract with the company and now relies on a part-time job as a supermarket cashier. His entire fortune is only this luxury apartment.

He doesn't have much debt, but it's very difficult for him to maintain his daily life. He also has the image of an idol, and is used to spending lavishly, and he always spends more than he earns.

I got upset again at work in the supermarket these days.

The strong-willed idol seemed unable to accept the current situation, so he chose to commit suicide by taking pills...

It wasn't too bad for him, he didn't have any trouble and even got a luxurious apartment with 3 bedrooms.

Now that things have come to this, I can only accept my new identity and enjoy life...

"Snapped!"

The lights in the room suddenly went out and the sound of the TV stopped.

power cut.

Gao Mo followed the moonlight from the floor-to-ceiling window to the switch and pressed it several times but there was no response.

Can’t even pay the electricity bill?
In his previous life, he was just a librarian, without even a house, but he lived a relatively comfortable life without any desires or demands...

I don't know how he died.

Gao Mo returned to the bedroom in silence and tried to find a flashlight.

There should still be electricity.

"Ok?"

I returned to the bedroom, and perhaps because of the power outage, I saw a notebook glowing at the place where he had committed suicide, with the handwriting on the cover distorted.

It's like a novel, but...

The same feeling of sinking into the sea and dying that Gao Mo had felt before resurfaced in his mind.

The cold wind blew directly on my neck, and inexplicable and terrifying whispers echoed faintly in my ears.

The Conan world should just be an ordinary detective world, without any supernatural powers, right?
But...it's hard to say.

Even rebirth happened to him.

"call!"

The notebook flipped without wind, and the glowing words on the cover almost jumped out.

"Congratulations on your resurrection. You have been marked by the god of death. Will you accept death or become someone who defies fate?"

"Death? Mark?"

Gao Mo murmured, suddenly feeling the deep malice around him.

The curtains were blown by the wind, and the pen rolled off the desk and onto the floor...

As if something exists.

Gao Mo shuddered back to his senses and quickly closed the window, only to find the notebook lying there quietly, without any abnormality. It seemed that everything was just his illusion.

calm down!

Perhaps the near-death effects haven't worn off yet.

This isn't the Final Destination movie world, so there's nothing to worry about.

Science also needs to pay attention to the basic world view, right?
Taking a deep breath, Gao Mo comforted himself and stepped forward to pick up the notebook.

call!
Sure enough, there was nothing special about it. It was just an ordinary career guidance book.

Gao Mo wiped his forehead and carefully looked at the book in his hand.

The edges were damaged, as if it had been flipped through many times.

In this world, he, an out-of-date idol crushed by life, may have also tried to struggle.

only……

Gao Mo was momentarily distracted, then he laughed at himself and put down the employment guidance book.

The other him is also him.

Perhaps it is because of experiencing real death that we finally understand the preciousness of life.

Even if the vision just now was not an illusion, he would live well, cherish this new life, and never repeat the same mistakes.

Next…

"Ding dong!"

The ringing of the doorbell outside the house brought Gao Mo back to his senses.

what happened again?
"Hello, is anyone home?"

A soft and sweet female voice sounded outside the door.

Gao Mo approached cautiously and saw through the peephole a girl wearing a beige home sweater, holding a small pot that looked like oden in her hands.

After observing carefully for a while, Gao Mo didn't find any relevant impression of the girl in his memory, but he still opened the door.

"you are?"

"I'm the new neighbor next door, nice to meet you." The girl had a bun on her head, her skin was fair and delicate, she had a sweet smile, and her eyes were curved as if they could speak.

"This is the midnight snack I made, if you don't mind..."

"boom!"

Gao Mo slammed the door shut without saying anything.

I don’t know why I thought of the words in the notebook just now. I leaned against the entrance with my heart pounding, as if I was facing death again.

what happened?

I leaned closer to the peephole again and saw the girl put away her smile and went back to the next room cursing.

Being treated as a freak.

He's settled into his new home and has been getting along well with his neighbors, so there doesn't seem to be any problems. Is he overreacting?

But something is really wrong.

Something felt wrong from the moment I woke up.

Death Mark?

Gao Mo swallowed hard, turned around and ran back to the bedroom.

The "Employment Guidance" on the table had somehow turned back into a notebook.

A new string of glowing words emerged.

"Congratulations on becoming a fate-defying person. Please live well, enjoy eternal life, and reverse your fate of death. Also... be sure to hide yourself."

"hide?"

Gao Mo only felt his vision flash, and when he came to his senses, the notebook had disappeared out of thin air, and even the "Employment Guidance" was completely gone.

So there was nothing at the beginning? Neither a notebook nor a career guide...

Gao Mo stared at the empty table for a while, his expression solemn.

The window that had been closed was opened again, and the cold wind blew in slowly.

Is there a god of death in this world?

I don’t know if there’s something wrong with the world or with him.

I can't have mental problems after being near death...

He was more afraid of being mentally ill than anything supernatural.

Gao Mo took a deep breath and looked around the apartment again.

Perhaps because the notebook disappeared, the strange feeling was much lessened.

Don't think too much.

Have a good rest first, I think I have to go to the supermarket to work tomorrow.

“Yes, I still have to work.”

"Gululu!"

A protest sounded from my stomach.

The pot of oden just now was actually quite fragrant.

Gao Mo cheered himself up, suppressed his wandering thoughts and went to the kitchen refrigerator.

He didn't expect his other self to cook. The refrigerator was empty, with only a few bottles of ice-cold Coke left, and he had already finished one.

The rest are beer.

There was no food at all when the upper and lower cabinet doors were opened.

Fortunately, I finally found a bowl of instant noodles in the corner. It was so small that it could only fill my stomach.

"Damn, the water is out. Can't I even pay the water bill?"

Gao Mo looked at the dripping faucet, scratched his head in pain, and found a crumpled water and electricity payment notice in the trash can next to him.

There was no electricity, no water, and apparently no gas either.

I can only eat instant noodles with ice cola.

The only consolation is that the view from the floor-to-ceiling windows is quite good.

The city under neon lights has a dreamy beauty.

At least I'm still alive and at least I have a high-rise apartment.

It’s a blessing to start in Tokyo, Japan.

……

On the first day of his rebirth, Gao Mo fell asleep on the sofa while watching the night view from the floor-to-ceiling window.

It wasn't until the next morning that I was woken up by the noise outside and the ringing of my cell phone.

I shuddered and answered the phone subconsciously, and my ears were almost deafened by the sharp shouting.

"Chirodo Gao Mo! Do you still want to do this?"

He is a supermarket manager.

Gao Mo moved his phone away and found a bunch of missed calls.

The working hours were 9 a.m., but he actually slept until 9:30.

"Sorry, I'll be right there!"

Gao Mo hurriedly got up, but before he could explain, he found that his phone had run out of battery. The screen went black with a beep.

The house leaks and it rains all night.

Don’t worry about anything else and just get to work.

If it was any later, I don’t know what would happen. I would probably get a scolding.

I looked at the bedroom where the notebook appeared last night.

Gao Mo paused slightly, then changed his clothes and put on his shoes like the wind.

I remember that my workplace was an international supermarket catering to foreigners nearby. It wasn’t very far away, so it shouldn’t take long to run there.

Whether it's for food or daily expenses, this job cannot be lost for the time being.

Be patient and think of a solution later.

"Excuse me for interrupting you so suddenly. You are Mr. Kido who lives here, right?"

Two policemen, one fat and one thin, stopped Gao Mo outside the door.

"I'm Megure from the Metropolitan Police Department, and this is Inspector Takagi. I have a few questions for Ms. Yamada in Room 1603 next door."

"what?"

Only then did Gao Mo notice that there were police officers coming in and out of the next room.

A murder occurred?
I couldn't see inside the room, but the crowd was talking about the girl from yesterday in groups of three or four.

The middle-aged woman who discovered the body was pale and seemed to be extremely shocked. She spoke incoherently and kept shaking.

The investigators were carrying the body by, and the wind blew up a corner of the cover, revealing the girl's gray face covered in water marks, her eyes wide open, her hair wet, and her skin slightly swollen...

It's quite shocking for someone who sees a corpse for the first time.

It really is the girl from yesterday.

How could he die?
Gao Mo's Adam's apple rolled, and he was a little scared, but his face was surprisingly calm.

"How tragic! I heard he committed suicide by cutting his wrists in the bathtub." The neighbors made way.

"No, it seems like he was murdered."

"Please keep quiet."

Megure gave an order helplessly, then turned to Gao Mo and continued to ask: "Did you see Ms. Yamada last night? Ms. Yamada was murdered at about 11 o'clock, at that time..."

"I just said one thing to her. Sorry, I have to go to work in a hurry. Can we talk about it later? I promise to cooperate!"

Gao Mo looked above the heads of Megure and the other man, and his eyes inadvertently swept over the neighbors who were watching the fun.

I don’t know if it was an illusion, but there seemed to be a faint glow above the heads of everyone present, especially Megure and the other two. After concentrating their attention, they could actually see the same glowing text as last night.

It shows [Catch the murderer] and [Let me date Officer Sato] respectively...

It’s not that he has a mental problem, definitely not!

Goldfinger?
Last night wasn't an illusion... Is there really a Grim Reaper?!
I must catch up on my studies on Monday and Tuesday, please _('-'_)⌒)_ otherwise my grades won’t improve.

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(End of this chapter)