Conan: Death is Watching Me

Chapter 143 Mori: Are you serious?

University Building.

Several cars were parked downstairs, and Kenzaki Osamu, Okino Yoko, and a few others got out of the cars one after another.

The man with the mustache still lingered around Yoko—it's hard to say whether to call him loyal or what, even with the beautiful Kaori Shinna, he still prioritized Yoko first.

"Miss Yoko lost today, it's all my fault. If I hadn't..."

"It has nothing to do with Mr. Mori."

"call!"

Gao Mo looked up at the office building, which was still brightly lit even though it was late at night, and then turned to the photography crew surrounding him and many celebrities.

To my utter surprise, the TV station even arranged for outdoor filming.

"The editorial department is still busy."

"Is midnight today the deadline for Mr. Shinmei to submit his manuscript this week?"

"Yes, but we definitely won't be filming until midnight."

"If you ask me, it should be turned into a live broadcast..."

"Do not make jokes."

A large group of people surged into the office building. Staff from the editorial department had already come to meet them, but the elevators couldn't accommodate too many people at once, so they had to go up in batches.

Gao Mo lagged behind, and only when he saw the mustachioed man walking ahead of Kenzaki Osamu with his head held high did he realize the weight of the famous detective.

The world seems to have a great deal of respect for professionals—even though the man with the mustache is a charlatan who often talks nonsense.

Domoto Hajime wasn't exactly a bad name, but from his allocation of dressing rooms at the TV station to his travel arrangements, his status was nowhere near that of Kenzaki Osamu, who was currently very popular.

Still just a nobody.

Despite being an outsider, the man with the mustache received the highest level of treatment.

Perhaps we could appropriately enhance the detective aspect of this identity.

"Buzz!"

Just as Gao Mo was about to catch up, his spare phone in his pocket suddenly vibrated.

A strange feeling arose in my heart. Even without checking my phone, I could feel an email in my mind, and a Tier 2 badge was projected onto the wall in front of me.

A series of glowing text appeared one after another.

It's an invitation.

This time, however, it wasn't done via mail.

A month later, I attended an offline gathering of magic enthusiasts that I had met online.

Occupation: Magician.

"What's wrong, Domoto?"

"fine."

Gao Mo looked away and entered the elevator with Yamamoto Azusa and the others.

This role-playing assignment was pretty good; I finally encountered a profession that I needed.

Not only can new professions be included, but role-playing ratings also have new possibilities.

And a month... is enough time for him to prepare properly.

……

"Doo-doo-doo!"

"Hurry! There's only one day left!"

"Have you contacted the teacher?"

"Why did you bring the TV station here at this time?"

"Feel sorry……"

At the University Building editorial office, Gao Mo could hear the lively shouts mixed with the ringing of telephones as soon as he entered the door.

The editor with the middle-part hair, who was in charge of the new name Nittarou, was busy greeting everyone. He checked the time, wiped the sweat from his chubby face, and said, "When filming, we need to be careful to avoid the documents... Many of the articles haven't been published yet."

"Is my dad still unreachable?" Shinmei Kaori couldn't help but ask.

“Miss Xinming hasn’t given up yet,” the chubby editor said with a wry smile. “Didn’t you already confirm the teacher’s signature? Since the teacher asked you to host the event, he must need to focus on writing. He’s probably in seclusion somewhere with your mother right now.”

Kenzaki Osamu's personality is different from the character he plays on TV. He is quite green, but he still showed his professionalism and stepped forward at the director's signal: "Can we take a look at Shinmei-sensei's manuscript first? Maybe we can contact the teacher if we solve the mystery."

"Solve the mystery?"

The chubby editor stared blankly at the grand spectacle the TV station was putting on.

"You guys aren't going to reveal the mystery on the show, are you? Let me make this clear, we don't have the answers here... Even our editorial department doesn't know what Ms. Shinmei is hiding. We thought Ms. Shinmei would know..."

“I don’t know,” Shinmei Kaori said, her mind completely elsewhere, her expression growing increasingly sad. “My parents disappeared before the serialization even started, leaving only a note saying they were gone for a few days. The editorial department also told me about the event.”

"No other content in the message?"

"No."

"Don't worry about solving the mystery," the director chuckled. "This time we've invited the famous detective Kogoro Mouri. He'll be able to solve the mystery set by Shinmei-sensei very soon, right, Mr. Mouri?"

"what?"

The man with the mustache had already received all the manuscripts for "The Halfway Point," and upon hearing this, cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

There's absolutely no mystery to be found.

"Yes, yes." Facing the eager gazes of the crowd, the man with the mustache forced a smile.

"Don't worry, Mr. Mori," the director whispered in the mustache's ear, "the mystery in the program will be revealed by Kenzaki, but the fee will still be yours. We will also give you an extra appearance fee. How about 200 million?"

"Well..." The man with the mustache secretly wiped away sweat.

I thought it was just a formality, but it turns out he really has to solve the mystery.

Shouldn't it be for the sake of the show?
"Not enough?" The director was surprised by the mustachioed man's huge appetite and said with a pained expression, "300 million is the most I can offer."

"It's not about the money... I... I'll think about it some more."

The man with the mustache was also feeling the pinch.

It's not that he doesn't want to earn this money, the key is that he doesn't have the ability.

Moreover, not making money is a minor issue; losing face is the real problem.

No, I have to get Kido's help no matter what, and just try to fool the production team.

"The editorial department should have met with Professor Xinming, right?" Gao Mo asked, quickly glancing at the manuscript.

"I've seen him a few times before the serialization started," the chubby editor noticed Gao Mo a beat late. "After the serialization started, I couldn't find him at all, but the manuscript would still be sent over promptly at midnight every Saturday."

What did he say to you?

"This... besides asking about the serialization, he specifically instructed us that if we didn't publish according to his text, we should immediately stop writing. Not only the text, but even the layout couldn't be changed."

Why give such instructions?

"We only discovered after the series started that some of the dialogue was not consistent."

The chubby editor said, scratching his head.

"Shinmei-sensei does have a lot of strange things going on. He suddenly started serializing, his attitude is more assertive than before, and he even used the preface to provoke readers outside the school. He would never have done that before..."

"Could it be that it was written by a ghostwriter?"

"How could that be? We can still tell the difference in the teacher's writing style."

"This new work," Gao Mo flipped through the latest chapter, "is there anything different about it compared to your previous works?"

"The difference... is probably that Shinmei himself appears in the novel, right?" the chubby editor laughed. "He sets himself up as Zuo Wenzi's old friend, a struggling novelist living in France."

This is the first time in nearly 40 books in the series that a real-life character has been introduced, and it's the teacher himself.

"I see."

Gao Mo has released the latest chapter.

It has been confirmed that this well-known mystery novelist was playing with words.

The editorial department didn't know the answer, but they were practically the key to unlocking the mystery.

Shinmei Nittarou probably didn't expect that someone could break through from the editorial department.

However, solving the puzzle accurately is not that simple.

"Wow!"

Gao Mo closed his eyes, and his mental palace projected all the text of the manuscript, highlighting all the suspicious parts.

With the help of several detective talents, a large number of possibilities emerged, which were then quickly eliminated to further supplement and improve the mystery "key".

It took Conan a while to finish reading all five episodes. When he turned around and saw Gao Mo's reaction, his eyebrows twitched.

This person... their question was very pertinent.

He was initially clueless, but after a few questions, it was like jumping to the final level in a game.

Did you see through the secret in the manuscript at a glance?
What terrifying observational skills.

Conan looked up at the other side of the film crew, where Kenzaki Osamu and Okino Yoko were filming the "exploration" segment.

It seems my uncle made an excuse to pee and ran away.

For some reason, when he was at Nichiri TV station, he felt like someone was hiding around him, just like when he faced Kido and Kaito.

However, I haven't been able to find the source of that feeling.

Now he has reason to doubt "Domoto Hajime".

A young actor, seemingly possessing exceptional observation and reasoning abilities, practically confessed without being asked.

Don't think you can fool him this time.

Give it a try...

Conan temporarily put aside the mystery and went to the side to make a phone call.

"Beep!"

Gao Mo's phone vibrated simultaneously, causing Conan to reveal a slight smile as if he had caught someone red-handed.

Kido actually made such a basic mistake.

I was just trying to see if anyone would answer the phone... but I ended up being revealed to the real person.

Gao Mo took out his phone, paused briefly, and pressed the answer button under Conan's gaze: "Director Gondo... Yes, I'm at the University Building."

"?"

"Hello?" Conan's phone was answered immediately. "Why are you calling so late at night?"

"Kirouto-nii-san..."

"Let's talk about it tomorrow!"

"Beep!"

Conan stared blankly as the phone in his hand was hung up, then shook his head with a self-deprecating laugh.

He was becoming extremely paranoid.

(End of this chapter)