Detective Conan: The System Takes Me to Zero's World

In a blink of an eye, it was time for the birthday party. Soft lights sprinkled in the carefully decorated banquet hall. Everyone sat together, laughing and talking.

On the dining table were exquisite steaks and cheeses with tempting aromas. Mao Lilan picked up her knife and fork, cut off a small piece of steak and put it in her mouth. After chewing it carefully, she drank a sip of coffee with satisfaction, "It's really delicious."

Suzuki Sonoko suggested: "Let's have dessert next."

Masumi Sera leaned forward with one hand on the table, "The birthday cake I mentioned earlier is about to appear."

"I'm looking forward to it!" Mao Lilan looked at Kudo Yuki who was sitting next to Conan, her eyes full of curiosity: "Sister Yuki, what do you think the atmosphere will be like later?"

Kudo Yuki uttered two words lightly: "Warmth."

Suddenly, the lights in the room went out without warning, and the entire banquet hall fell into darkness. Then the birthday song started, and everyone followed the sound and looked towards the door.

Chu Gen Ji Nan slowly appeared in everyone's sight, pushing a food cart full of cakes. The cakes on the food cart were filled with flickering candles. The candlelight swayed in the darkness, creating a romantic atmosphere.

He walked step by step to the Guanze sisters under the flash lights. As the two stood up and blew out the candles, everyone present applauded enthusiastically and celebrated their birthdays: "Happy birthday!"

After the two sisters sat down, Reimi Sekizawa accidentally glanced at Hanasaki Ruijun's glasses and was attracted by their unique light: "Your glasses are glowing!"

"How about it, isn't it cool?"

The host of the hotel smiled and said, "Dear guests, while we are dividing the cake, let's enjoy the images that the two sisters, Reimei and Youmei, have treasured."

The screen began to play commemorative photos of the Guan Ze sisters from birth to adulthood, each photo recording every detail of their growth.

Mao Lilan was very interested in the photo and pointed at it, "Youmei is so small."

Hatsune Tsugumo distributed the cut cakes to everyone present. While the cakes were being distributed, Kushiyama Ken hurriedly stood up with a slightly apologetic look on his face: "Sorry, I have to excuse myself for a moment."

A strawberry accidentally fell on the table, and Sekizawa Reimi put it in her mouth and ate it.

Guan Ze Youmei saw it and scolded: "Sister, what are you doing?"

"Three-second rule."

"You." Guan Ze Youmei shook her head helplessly, and Guan Ze Reimi looked at her with a smile. The interaction between the two sisters was full of warmth.

However, the next second, the situation suddenly changed.

Hanasaki Ruijun opened his mouth, making unclear whimpering sounds in his throat, and waving his hands wildly in the air. He just stood up, his body trembled for two seconds, and suddenly he fell to the ground like a kite with a broken string.

When he fell to the ground, he happened to touch the switch of the video being played, and the image was instantly turned off, and the surroundings fell into darkness.

Hanasaki Ruijun was motionless and unconscious.

The room was instantly dark, and Kudo Yuki instinctively sensed something was wrong, "Someone has fallen down."

Mao Lilan's voice was filled with obvious fear: "Yes, who fell down?"

Sera Masumi frowned and guessed doubtfully: "Is it that makeup artist?"

Then, with a "bang", a bottle shattered on the ground.

Only then did everyone come to their senses. Fear instantly took over everyone's heart and everyone kept screaming.

Kudo Yuki was shocked by the high-decibel scream and had no choice but to cover her ears, trying to suffer less from the scream.

The host tried to control the situation and kept his voice as calm as possible: "Sorry, a red wine bottle was broken. Please don't come near here."

The people present couldn't remain calm and started talking.

"where?"

"Don't get close to anywhere?"

"Turn on the light."

In the dark, the brother and sister both noticed the pair of glowing glasses that Mr. Hanasaki was wearing. The faint light from the glasses allowed them to vaguely see a figure swaying next to his head.

Then, the lights suddenly came on, and the strong light caused brief discomfort in everyone's eyes.

After getting used to it, everyone was horrified to find Hanazaki Ruijun lying on the ground without a breath. His eyes were wide open, his face was pale, and there were two black characters "Heavenly Punishment" on his forehead. The handwriting was crooked and written with thick ink.

This time the scream was louder than last time, as if it was going to break through the roof.

Kudo Yukisei covered her ears helplessly, complaining in her heart: "Can you please let my ears go! This is too torturous." Her brows were tightly furrowed, and her face was full of helplessness and depression.

Mao Lilan was so scared that her face turned pale and her body trembled uncontrollably. Suzuki Sonoko covered her mouth with both hands, her eyes full of fear. Conan quickly squatted down and observed Hanazaki Ruijun's body and the surrounding situation.

The others were also in a panic. Some stood there in a daze, while others ran around. The whole scene was in chaos.

The restaurant owner turned pale and called the police in a panic.

Soon, Inspector Megure arrived at the crime scene without stopping. He looked solemn and frowned, "Poisoned! Are you saying that the victim, Mr. Hanazaki Ruijun, died because he ate something poisonous?"

"According to the forensic investigator, someone must have poisoned the cake, and the victim fell to the ground and died after eating the poisoned cake."

Officer Gao Mu looked serious as he picked up the small bottle of evidence in his hand and examined it carefully. "We found a small bottle of cyanide poison under the victim's table."

"But, how do you do this at a birthday party?"

"It seems that the victim fell down just when the projector was playing the photos. The light in the store was very dim at the time."

"But the problem is, no matter how dark the store was at the time, the murderer used a permanent marker to write on the victim's forehead. Someone must have been able to see it, right?"

"This is because after the victim fell, the projector suddenly lost power, so the whole room was dark. In addition, the glasses the victim wore were actually party props. They glow in the dark."

"So that's how it is. As long as I know the position of my head, I can feel my way around in the dark and write."

"And the words on the forehead were written crookedly. The murderer probably used his non-dominant hand to cover up the handwriting."

Inspector Megure looked at the people in the hotel with different expressions, and said worriedly: "But there are about 40 guests and staff in the hotel. It's a bit difficult to identify the murderer among them."

Conan deliberately murmured in an unclear voice: "Thinking comes first."

"One person first?" Inspector Megure was stunned, looking puzzled.

Sera Masumi quickly translated: "What he meant to say is that there are four suspects."

Officer Takagi was a little surprised and glanced at everyone: "You are here too, and Miss Kudo."

Masumi Sera was the first to explain: "Model Sekizawa Reimi's sister Sekizawa Yumi is our classmate. She invited Xiaolan Sonoko and a few of us to attend this birthday party. And Sister Xue is also our temporary parent."

Inspector Megure changed the subject: "By the way, why do you say there are four suspects?"

"You'll know when you look at the scene. There's a projector to the left of the victim, and our table is right next to it. We can't get through at all." Sera Masatsugu said as he walked to the broken wine bottle on the ground and pointed at it.

"And on the floor to the right of the victim. You see, the clerk accidentally broke the red wine bottle in the dark. The floor was full of red wine, and it looked like no one had stepped on the red wine.

In addition, there is a door on the side where the victim's head was facing, and opening that door leads to the kitchen. But the chef told us that no one left the kitchen during the time when the projector was powered off and the lights were turned on. "

Conan gently pushed Kudo Yuki from behind and gave his elder sister an anxious look, signaling her to go out and help. His throat was not healed yet and he was not suitable to say too much.

Kudo Yuki understood what he meant, rubbed Conan's head and walked forward: "In other words, the murder scene this time is actually a closed space.

After the victim ate the poisoned cake and fell down, no one left here. We didn’t know the victim, so after eliminating us, there are only four suspects left.”

Officer Megure was puzzled: "Who are those 4 suspects?"

"To prevent them from taking anything out, I asked them to wait in the corner of the room."

Sera Masumi said, following Kudo Yuki's gaze. "These four people all had the opportunity to poison and kill the victim."

Suzuki Sonoko and Mao Li Ran moved closer indignantly.

"Hey, wait a minute."

"Is Yumi also a suspect?"

"Don't count her in."

Sera Masumi refused to give in: "Let's count her in first. After all, she knew the victim, Conan, right?"

Conan looked at her helplessly, "Like."

Sera Masumi squatted down to be at eye level with Conan, her eyes full of concern: "What's wrong? Your mouth ulcer hasn't healed yet? I think you should take some more medicine."

“No, no.”

Inspector Megure looked at the group of people gathered around him. "By the way, his guests can go back first. We will contact each of you to find out the situation.

Could you please explain your relationship with the victim, and what you were doing before and after the victim collapsed from the poisoning?"

Sekizawa Reimi was the first to speak, with a look of panic on her face: "The murdered Mr. Hanasaki was a makeup artist. I asked him to do most of my makeup. He was very skilled and many people came to him for help. I am very grateful that he could help me."

"Are you just working friends?"

"Yes. However, he has expressed his desire to pursue me several times."

"Pursue you?" Officer Takagi was surprised. "I remember Mr. Hanasaki was married."

Inspector Megure then asked: "Extramarital affair?"

"I always turned him down. I thought he was only half joking."

Officer Gao Mu then asked: "What were you doing when the crime happened?"

"I was chatting with Mr. Hanasaki about his light-up glasses, and then the cake came. I had just eaten for a while when I saw Mr. Hanasaki suddenly stand up and then fall to the ground. After that, I stayed at my seat until the lights in the store came on."

"Didn't you do anything else besides eating cake?"

"Because the projector was playing photos at the time, the light in the store was dim, and I accidentally spilled the strawberries on the cake onto the table."

Guan Ze Youmei hurriedly explained: "I can testify to this. After my sister said the three-second rule, she immediately picked up the strawberry and ate it."

Officers Megure and Takagi were confused: "Three-second rule?"

Guan Ze Li Mei said to her sister coquettishly: "Why did you bring this up?"

"Feel sorry."

Officer Gao Mu coughed lightly and asked: "Were you staying by your sister's side at the time of the incident?"

"Yes, I love cake and I finished it quickly. When I wanted to go to the bathroom, I heard Mr. Hanasaki groaning, and then he fell to the ground."

Inspector Megure asked: "After that, you didn't go to his side, right?"

"Yes. Because it was pitch black, and someone said the wine bottle was broken."

"You didn't know the victim very well, did you?"

"Yeah. But he also showed his affection to me several times, and I rejected him one by one."

Officer Gao Mu was completely shocked: "He, is he interested in you too?"

"Yes."

Then, Kushiyama Ken slowly told the story: "I often see Mr. Hanasaki at work. After all, he is the makeup artist responsible for Sekizawa's styling."

Inspector Megure asked, "So, did you have any friction with him?"

Kushiyama frowned, looking a little annoyed: "Guan Ze just said that he is very skilled and in great demand. In order to allow him to give priority to styling Guan Ze, I must meet all the various requests he has made."

"What are your requests?"

"For example, tell him Guan Ze's favorite flowers, favorite food, etc. This time, the request is to arrange his seat next to Guan Ze."

Kushiyama Ken's brows furrowed even more tightly. "I also want to make my work go smoothly, so I can only try my best to meet his unreasonable demands."

Officer Takagi interrupted: "What were you doing at the time of the incident?"

"Just then a phone call came in, and I got up to answer it before I even finished my cake." Zhishan pointed at the untouched cake on the table and said, "Look, my cake hasn't been touched yet.

Then, Mr. Hanasaki fell to the ground while I was on the phone. Then the lights came on and you police officers arrived at the scene. So after I went to answer the phone, I never returned to my seat. "

Finally, it was Hatsune Tsuneo who provided the clue: "I made this cake myself. Reimi and I are classmates, and today is her birthday, so I asked the chef to let me make the cake."

Inspector Megure asked: "You were responsible for cutting the cake and giving it to the victim, right?"

"Yes. I put strawberries on each plate because Li Mei likes to eat strawberries. I specially selected the plumpest and freshest strawberries so that everyone can be satisfied."

"Do you know the victim, Mr. Hanasaki?"

"I don't know him. This is the first time I saw him today. But I heard from Reimi's sister Yumi that Reimi seems to be entangled by that man."

"So, what were you doing at the time of the crime?"

"I was dividing the cake when the room suddenly went dark. Before the lights came on, I held onto the cake cart to prevent it from being accidentally knocked over."

Hatsune Tsuneo paused and said, "It was pitch black around me, and I was really worried that something might go wrong with the cake. By the way, you should check everyone's belongings first."

Officer Gao Mu looked puzzled: "Why do you say that?"

"Because of the pen. When the lights went out, the murderer used a pen to write on Mr. Hanasaki's forehead. So, the person with the pen should be the murderer. Of course, I don't have a pen."

"Please let me confirm this."

Hatsune Tsugumi stretched out his hands to both sides, and Officer Takagi searched them carefully: "You definitely don't have a pen on you."

To be continued...