I was the fourth disaster in Yokohama and was loved by everyone.

Chapter 174 I Understand

Po was full of confidence and planned to make a big splash.

After the contest, Po Jun was defeated.

We've lost again!

Poe was so distracted that he stayed in his room, completely withdrawn, that he didn't even notice that Carl had gone out to play again.

Isabel asked with some concern, "Edgar seems very disappointed. Is it alright to leave him alone?"

Zhu Yu stood up: "Perhaps he needs help."

Ranpo lazily nestled on the sofa, yawning, and pressed Zhu Yu back down: "Let Po-kun be alone for a while, he'll be fine soon."

"Alright." Zhu Yu obediently followed Ranbu's instructions and didn't move again.

The three of them huddled together and continued making crafts.

*

As darkness fell outside the window, only a faint light remained in the room, outlining Po's lonely figure.

He didn't turn on the light, letting himself shrink into the corner, his back against the cold wall, his knees against his chin, pretending that he had turned into a dark mushroom.

His latest detective novel, laid out on the desk, now seemed like a silent mockery, stinging his eyes.

He's a genius, yet he lost so miserably in his own area of ​​expertise.

This happened several times in a row!

Unwilling to be overwhelmed like a tidal wave, he bit his lip hard until he tasted a faint metallic taste of blood, then he suddenly opened his mouth.

He sat there quietly, letting his negative emotions weigh him down.

After an unknown amount of time, moonlight streamed in through the window, casting a silvery sheen on the floor.

He slowly raised his head, his eyes still shrouded in lingering gloom.

He thought of many things, of Ranpo's composed deductions, of Zhu Yu's concerned inquiry. Those images flashed back repeatedly, and his eyes gradually hardened.

His pride prevented him from wallowing in the pain of failure.

"A loss is a loss," he said to himself in a low voice, his voice slightly hoarse but unusually calm. "But we will not lose forever."

"We will definitely defeat Miss Meichuan and Ranpo!"

He slowly straightened up and clenched his fists to encourage himself.

He exhaled a deep breath and turned on the room light, which dispelled the darkness.

He went to his desk, took out paper and pen, and began to carefully analyze the reasons for his failures and formulate a plan for victory.

The moonlight flowed quietly outside the window. He wrote intently for a while until his hand started to ache before putting down his pen, finally letting his tense nerves relax completely.

Only then did he belatedly realize that the silence around him was somewhat unusual. He subconsciously looked around; the room was empty, with only his own breathing echoing in the background.

“...Carl has disappeared again!” Poe was struck dumb.

*

The detective competition came to a perfect end, and Zhu Yu successfully completed her mission.

She had originally planned to rush back to Yokohama, but Ranpo stopped her, glaring at her angrily: "How can you, as the assistant of a famous detective, abandon him and leave on your own!"

Zhu Yu repeatedly checked that her task panel indeed showed "Completed". Since the task had been settled, her role as a temporary detective assistant should also be over, right?

"Hmph, KOKO-chan is a big idiot!"

Ranpo stood with his hands on his hips, trying to look serious, but he was so excited that his shoulders shrugged slightly, like an agitated little animal with his eyes wide open.

"The famous detective is angry!"

After saying that, he turned and strode away from Zhu Yu's room, his steps heavy with obvious sullenness, leaving behind the words, "The famous detective has decided not to talk to you for an hour."

Everything happened so fast that Zhu Yu hadn't even had time to react before Luan Bu disappeared without a trace.

Wait, the player hasn't done anything yet!

Why would an NPC refuse to talk to a player for an hour?

Completely bewildered.jpg

"Little sister, how could Edogawa talk to you like that? His temper is too much." Verlaine seized the opportunity to sow discord, "Your brother would never get angry with you."

Ah, this childish detective has finally stopped being so oblivious and hogging his sister's free time.

"Would you like your brother to tell you a bedtime story later?" Verlaine's voice softened, and his eyes curved slightly.

The book says that telling bedtime stories to family members can greatly build trust and promote emotional connection.

Let's give it a try.

Verlaine quickly recalled the hundreds of carefully selected bedtime stories he had prepared—inspired by the various missions he had carried out for France, including assassinations, espionage, and poisoning. He had heard that such adventure stories were quite popular, and his sister would definitely be very interested.

Verlaine was extremely confident.

Rimbaud was unaware that the bedtime story his friends and family had prepared was completely different in style from the popular bedtime stories on the market. Otherwise, he might have remained silent for a while before letting his friends and family give up on the idea of ​​telling a story—[Kuzi] You fall asleep the moment your head hits the pillow every day, have you forgotten? What kind of bedtime story is this...?

“Edogawa-kun is waiting for you, aren’t you going to go find him?” Lanbo saw Zhu Yu standing there in a daze and the corners of his lips curled up slightly.

Sigh, why am I spacing out again?

"Wait for me?" Zhu Yu repeated.

“Edogawa-kun values ​​you a lot, you know. He says he doesn’t want to talk to you, but if you go to him, he’ll definitely be all over it.” Rimbaud spoke slowly. Having dealt with Ranpo many times, he knew that this clever detective was just a child at heart and could be easily appeased.

The skill of "stroking the fur smoothly" is maxed out by [Kuzi].

Rimbaud watched the show with a smile.

"After all, your original plan was to leave the United States without saying a word, so it's understandable that Edogawa-kun reacted a bit strongly. It's like if one day you [Kuzi] were to go do something and leave me without telling me anything, I would also be very distressed."

Rimbaud lowered his head, his brow furrowing slightly, looking somewhat troubled.

Zhu Yu: ...Is that so? So players have to inform the NPCs before parting ways?

understood.

Zhu Yu nodded and immediately put it into practice. After saying goodbye to Rimbaud and Verlaine, she went to look for Ranpo's whereabouts.

Open your friends list and click "Follow".

Following the signs, we arrived at a room.

Somewhat familiar.

After thinking about it, I decided not to break down the door, but to knock first to see if anyone was home.

"Who...who is it?" Po asked tremulously.

Ah, it's Po's room.

That's fine.

Zhu Yu pushed the door open and entered without any politeness.

"Ah, it's Miss Meichuan. What brings you here?"

Po remained in the position of reaching out to open the door, but when he saw Zhu Yu walk in directly, his hand froze in mid-air, and he was stunned. A trace of panic flashed in his eyes, as if he had done something wrong and been caught red-handed.

"Hello, Po-kun. I'm here to see Ranpo." Zhu Yu looked around Po from left to right, wondering why a sweating, crying face emoji was popping up above his head.

This is a sign of nervousness and insecurity.

Did he do something bad?

Zhu Yu's eyes sharpened.

Chapter 175 "Coercion"

Upon hearing this, Po instinctively shrank back, his eyes darting away, unable to look Zhu Yu in the eye.

"Looking for Ranpo-kun? He's not here, and I don't know where he went. Yes, that's it."

Poe spoke very quickly, his arms swinging erratically.

Even more suspicious.

Zhu Yu quickly approached the slope, getting closer to observe his expression. At this moment, his lips were tightly pursed, and he chose to remain silent.

Ranpo's location is shown in Saka's room, but Saka says he has never seen Ranpo.

Considering his guilty look...

You NPC with thick eyebrows and big eyes, how could you lie to the players?

"Po Jun is lying." Zhu Yu's eyes showed reproach. "Weren't we secretly hunting chickens?"

They're already on the player's friend list, yet they still lie to the player (pointing fingers).

"Friend..." Upon hearing this word, it was as if something had gently struck his heart, instantly making his already chaotic thoughts even more disordered, a complete mess.

So, it turns out that Miss Meichuan already considered us friends...

Well, actually, we are also...

Zhu Yu's gaze was fixed on him, and that gaze felt so real that he was at a loss for what to do.

Ugh... Ranpo-kun, we can't hold on any longer.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something in explanation, but the words caught in his throat as he stammered, "Um, I didn't... no... well, it's like this..."

Her stammering words trailed off, her cheeks flushed even more, as if dyed by the sunset, even her ears were tinged with pink.

Finally, unable to bear it any longer, he closed his eyes and shouted, "I didn't mean to lie to you!"

This sentence served as a breakthrough, allowing the rest of the speech to flow smoothly.

He took a deep breath, his voice trembling slightly with emotion: "I truly never intended to lie to you! It's just... it's just..."

I'm sorry, Ranpo-kun!

Seeing the still suspicious look in the other person's eyes, he hurriedly explained, "Actually, Ranpo-kun is in my room, but he told me not to tell you for the time being."

"—Po-kun, I'll leave it to you then. Try your best to hold off KOKO-chan, the great detective is still angry!"

We did our best, Ranpo-kun...

After explaining the whole story, fearing that Zhu Yu might not believe him, he turned around, took a book from the bookshelf, and handed it to Zhu Yu.

"Ranpo-kun is in this book."

Zhu Yu glanced at the location of the random step provided by the system, and the indicator was indeed stationary above the ordinary book.

"This is my special ability, 'The Black Cat of Morgue Street,' which allows me to put people into the novels I write. No one in the book can use their abilities." Poe continued to explain, "If you want to find Ranpo in the book, just open this book."

He stood aside, nervously watching Zhu Yu, hoping she wouldn't mind his concealment.

Zhu Yu, oblivious to his fluctuating emotions, instinctively opened the book as he suggested, her gaze falling upon the words within—

The scene before my eyes changed instantly, and the skill [Special Ability] on the system panel turned gray and became unusable.

The sweet, creamy aroma filled the air.

This is a sweet candy house. Looking back, you see a door made of cotton candy clouds, and looking down, you see chocolate-paved floor tiles, while the surrounding walls are covered with a thick layer of syrup.

The furniture is made from various types of desserts, exuding a rich aroma.

Ranpo was lazily nestled in a huge dumpling-shaped cushion, his fingertips pinching a hazelnut chocolate bar, which he was happily crunching.

Hearing the noise, he paused in his chocolate bar eating, but didn't turn around.

Just as Zhu Yu was about to speak, he suddenly turned around, his back to her, silently expressing that he didn't want to talk.

"Ranpo, are you still angry?" Zhu Yu asked.

Her response was a muffled groan, mixed with the crisp sound of a chocolate bar being bitten off.

Zhu Yu: It seems you're still angry. There's no angry icon above your head. Are you just pretending to be angry?

Zhu Yu lifted her foot, wanting to walk around to Ranpo's front to see his expression, but as soon as she took a step, Ranpo seemed to have eyes in the back of his head and immediately turned around, still facing away from her with his straight back.