Detective Conan: Birth of the Demon Child

Equipment Name: Demon Mask

Type: Jewelry

Quality: Rare

Effect 1 (Ghostly Aura): The aura emanating from the wearer will transform into a rich ghostly aura.

Effect 2 (Fierce and menacing): After wearing the mask, the wearer's appearance is greatly reduced, while their intimidating power is greatly increased.

Note: This is terrifying!

"..."

After reviewing the attributes of the [Demon Mask], Suzuki Seimei was speechless.

Judging from the equipment attributes of the [Demon Mask], this equipment provides almost no improvement to the wearer's strength; it seems more suitable for pranks and scaring people.

"I advise you to leave here as soon as possible!"

After intimidating Kogoro Mouri and his group, Kikuji Banmachi swaggered out of the apartment with an air of utter indifference.

Watching Kikuji Banmachi's arrogant departure, Kogoro Mouri couldn't help but ask, "Otonashi-san, who was that person just now?"

"His name is Kikuji Bancho, and he's a guest staying in room number four."

Yoshikazu Otonashi explained, "I heard he works at a model shop and usually stays in his room making scary horror dolls."

"Dad, let's get out of here quickly! What if we really encounter a ghost?"

Ran Mouri, who was already having second thoughts, was even more frightened by Kikuji Bancho's words and now wanted to leave even more.

"Crash..."

Suddenly, the sound of a toilet flushing rang out, and a somewhat gloomy-looking fat man walked out of the bathroom, revealing a strange smile. He said, "What are you afraid of? It's more lively with you guys staying! It's been so quiet lately, it's really boring. I'm really looking forward to shooting some new material!"

After finishing his sentence, the fat man smiled at Ran and the others, then went into his room.

"Gudong..."

Seeing this, Ran and Sonoko shifted their feet nervously and instinctively gripped each other's hands tightly.

What's going on with this apartment?

It's one thing that the apartment itself is weird, but why do the residents here seem like they're all from the underworld?

Help!

Not only is Ran Mouri scared, but Sonoko is also feeling a bit uneasy.

If it weren't for Kogoro Mouri and Seimei Suzuki being there, Sonoko would have turned around and left without saying a word.

Although Sonoko isn't as afraid of ghosts as Ran Mouri, she's not much braver. If she really encountered those monsters, she would definitely scream even louder than Ran Mouri.

Kogoro Mouri, somewhat speechless, asked, "Otonashi-san, who is this person?"

"His name is Yotsuya Iwao, and he is the guest in room number two. He is very fond of horror photography, and all the videotapes in his room are horror movies."

Yin Wufang couldn't help but sigh halfway through her sentence, "He's a very brave person. Everyone else tries to move out of this apartment after hearing the rumors of it being haunted."

He moved to this apartment specifically after hearing the ghost stories, hoping to take valuable photos of the haunted place.

I heard that he and his classmates even filmed a horror movie using our apartment as a backdrop. I wonder if he'd be willing to show it to us?

"Those kinds of movies are not worth watching at all. They use non-existent phantoms as the theme of the movie. It's utterly stupid and absurd!"

No sooner had Yin Wufang finished speaking than a sudden rebuttal rang out, and a man with a square face walked down from the second floor with a disdainful expression.

When Yin Wufang saw the person coming down from the second floor, she couldn't help but ask curiously, "Mr. Mudan, isn't your room number one?"

"The toilet on the first floor was occupied by that guy Yotsuya, so I had to go to the toilet on the second floor."

The square-faced man gave a casual explanation, then turned his gaze to Kogoro Mouri and the others, saying in a somewhat impatient tone, "I don't care if you're here to see ghosts or to prove there are no ghosts here, I just ask you to stop making so much noise."

If I can't finish that paper by tomorrow because of you, you won't be able to afford to compensate me!

After the square-faced man finished speaking, he walked to the door of room number one, opened the door, and went inside.

Looking at the door that had closed again, Kogoro Mouri asked curiously, "Mr. Otonashi, who is this person?"

Yin Wufang said, "His name is Mudan Luyan. He is a resident of room number one. He is currently studying for a master's degree. Of the four remaining residents, he is the only one who has not yet seen a ghost with his own eyes."

"Have you...have you ever seen a ghost with your own eyes?!"

Ran Mouri immediately grasped the key point of his words and asked incredulously, "Mr. Otonashi, have you really seen a ghost here?"

"That's right!"

Upon hearing this, Yoruichi smiled and nodded, saying, "Originally, there were a total of eight residents in this apartment building."

Apart from Mr. Peony, who hasn't seen a ghost yet, seven other residents, including myself, have all seen ghosts, but the other four have already moved away.

Chapter 398 Sadako Appears

"Half of the residents were scared away!"

Upon hearing what Otonashi Yoshikazu said, Kogoro Mouri's expression also began to turn serious.

Although Kogoro Mouri doesn't believe in ghosts or monsters, the fact that half of the residents in this apartment building have been scared away suggests that things aren't as simple as he initially thought.

Yin Wufang said with a solemn expression, "Actually, this matter started that night when I got up to go to the toilet in the middle of the night and accidentally saw will-o'-the-wisps floating on the unfinished building across the street."

"Will-o'-the-wisp?"

“That’s right! At first, no one believed me, but then a lot of ghost stories happened in our apartment. Sometimes the water in the toilet would suddenly turn red, and sometimes strange ghostly figures would appear outside the window.”

Yin Wufang paused halfway through her sentence, then stroked her chin and said, "These strange things happened one after another. Later, even TV stations and magazines came to interview us, but they couldn't figure out why this place was haunted."

"If that's the case, then why didn't you move out, Grandpa?" Suzuki Haruaki asked curiously.

"Haha~"

Yin Wufang smiled and shook her head, saying, "I'm already halfway to my grave, what's there to be afraid of? Anyway, I've gotten used to living here, so I'm too lazy to move to another place."

Conan asked, "Grandpa, when do ghost stories usually happen here? Do they happen during the day too, or only at night?"

"Little brother, don't be too anxious."

Seeing Conan's curious expression, Otonashi Yoshikazu smiled and said, "Those things don't dare to come out during the day; they only come out after dark."

"Oh no! I haven't done my homework yet..."

Ran Mouri glanced at the setting sun outside the window and suddenly stood up, saying, "Sonoko, you haven't done your homework yet, have you? Why don't we go back and do it?"

???

Sonoko blinked in confusion after hearing Ran's words.

If I remember correctly, the teacher didn't assign any homework today, right?

Just as Sonoko was feeling a bit confused, she suddenly noticed that Ran Mouri was giving her meaningful glances, and she immediately understood her true intentions.

It's obvious that Ran Mouri is simply afraid of ghosts and just wants an excuse to leave this gloomy apartment!

Sonoko is a little bolder than Ran Mouri, but not by much.

Upon hearing Yoshimi Otonashi mention that the apartment was often haunted, Sonoko began to have second thoughts, and saw this as a perfect opportunity to slip away, thanks to Ran Mouri's offer.

"Yes! Our homework..."

Just as Sonoko was about to agree to Ran's suggestion, Seimei Suzuki suddenly asked, "Ran-neechan, have you ever heard of the Time of the Demon?"

"The Time of Twilight?"

Faced with Ran Mouri's questioning gaze, Seimei Suzuki explained mysteriously, "Legend has it that whenever day and night alternate, that is, during twilight, the passage between the human world and the demon world opens, and humans are more likely to encounter demons and monsters. Therefore, this period is also known as the time of 'twilight'."

Especially in places with frequent ghost stories, there's a high chance of encountering unclean spirits through gaps in the passageway connecting to the demon realm. Going out at this time makes it very easy to run into unclean things.

"Gudong..."

Upon hearing this, Ran and Sonoko couldn't help but swallow hard.

"Xiaolan, are you sure you're not mistaken? The teacher didn't assign any homework today, did she?"

After Yuanzi finished speaking, she calmly sat back down, picked up the juice in front of her, took a sip, and eased her nervousness.

Ran Mouri smiled awkwardly and said, "I...I think I really did remember wrong. In that case, let's sit here for a while longer."

Noticing Suzuki Seimei's slightly upturned lips and the fleeting hint of mockery in his eyes, Haibara Ai shook her head with amusement and said, "What a cute little rascal~"

It's obvious that Suzuki Seimei was explaining the Oma Twilight event to Ran and the others to prevent them from deserting at the last minute.

Time passed slowly, and soon it was ten o'clock at night.

"A pair of 2!"

"Wang Bang!"

"I can't afford it!"

"Airplane, I won again!"

Sonoko, with over a dozen slips of paper stuck to her face, looked at the two bombs in her hand that she hadn't even had a chance to throw yet, and couldn't help but scream in despair, "Seimei, are you cheating? How come you win every single round?"

Suzuki Seimei said innocently, "Sonoko-neechan, I was just a little lucky. How could you smear someone's reputation?"

(?--)

The four friends, including Ai Haibara, whose faces were also covered in notes, twitched at the corners of their mouths as they looked at Seimei Suzuki's innocent expression.

I don't believe you for a second!

That old geezer is wicked!

If Suzuki Seimei won every time he played "Dou Dizhu" (a popular Chinese card game), it could perhaps be explained by good luck. But the fact that he always got the landlord card is a bit much!

It's practically telling Conan and the others in broad daylight that I am cheating, but they just can't find any evidence of it.

Actually, Conan and his friends wronged Suzuki Haruaki, because he really didn't cheat.

The reason for this situation is mainly because the effect of the perfect-level "Gambling Skill" is too strong.

Compared to true gambling masters, Conan and his friends' card-shuffling speed is practically snail-paced.

With the blessing of the perfected "Gambling Techniques", Suzuki Seimei only needed to glance at it to memorize the entire order of the playing cards.