Epilogue of Chapter 136

I first encountered the concept of "fan-made content" (or "fan-made fanfiction") shortly after entering the Detective Conan fanfiction community. At first, I found it very novel and thought: Wow! I never imagined you could do this!

Later, by some chance, I started to think about something: since so many people are writing fanfiction, why can't I write the original work?

As I mentioned earlier, the initial inspiration for the pause button came from Xiao Ke and Matsuda. Later, after some wild and imaginative thinking, I completed the main plot: one half is about "mistaking good people for bad people," mainly focusing on the misunderstandings between Xiao Ke and the police academy team; the other half is about "mistaking bad people for good people," which is the part about Little Golden Crow. The initial idea was to focus on the main storyline, in the style of the original work, which leans towards realism. To this end, I incorporated many real-life events, from nuclear power plant leaks to underwater volcanic eruptions, all having real-world counterparts. I also paid close attention to the handling of time and seasonal changes, striving to increase realism.

One problem is that when I wrote the outline, I assumed the police academy group was alive. But how did they survive? I could say it's an "IF" scenario—that the police academy group survived—but that's obviously unrealistic. I want a more believable reason, but I don't want to write about relief efforts because that clashes with my existing outline.

Then I racked my brains, trying to come up with a plausible reason to live. The more I thought about it, the angrier I got. Why should I go to all that trouble to bring back a character the old thief wrote to die? What did Shinichi say again? Killing requires a reason, saving doesn't. So living doesn't need a reason, dying does!

Think about how the police academy group died in the comics? The author wrote them to die! So, to take it a step further, could the police academy group have stayed alive? Of course they could, as long as they didn't die in real life. The author should take the blame for the police academy group's deaths; it's perfectly reasonable, legal, and compliant—there's absolutely nothing wrong with it.

Therefore, the idea of ​​"the original of the original" arose from the above background.

After having an idea, there are still a few problems to solve:

1. Is it necessary to state the true original text at the beginning?

It's not that it's impossible, but I don't want to do it that way. First, it feels a bit unconventional, and second, if I spoil this at the beginning, the suspense will be greatly diminished. I want to keep this as my final trump card.

Second, this story is set within a three-tiered narrative: the bottom tier is the real world, the middle tier is Jingguang's autobiographical novel "Cats and Dogs" based on real experiences, and the top tier is the old thief's "fan fiction" manga "Detective Conan." So, from which tier does the pause button begin its story?

Logically, the story should unfold from the bottom up, revealing the layers from the lower levels. However, since the decision was made to use the original manga as the final trump card, the beginning would inevitably make everyone think it's just a typical Conan fanfic. Therefore, the logic is reversed, creating a sense of gradually unveiling the mystery. Note that I didn't focus on a single layer; instead, I mixed all three together. The paused sections contain many paragraphs written in a retrospective tone, which is actually modeled after the style of Neko and Goku.

Let me explain the rather fantastical opening of Chapter 1 a bit more. The Scottish suicide is a watershed moment between Cat and Dog and Detective Conan, and thus the entire story begins from this point. As Hikari said in an interview, extreme cold symbolizes a life-or-death moment, and absolute zero refers to Scotland being on the verge of death. But that doesn't mean the situation was actually like that (this is fiction, for goodness' sake!). Chapter 1 is actually meant to echo the real pause button in the Crystal Network game later on. Also, the level of confusion you felt reading Chapter 1 is probably similar to how Attorney Hirose felt when Shinichi recounted his experience at the Twilight Villa (just kidding).

3. Even if Detective Conan is a fanfiction about cats and dogs, why was the main character of the "original work" killed off and replaced with a supporting character?

This can actually be explained by the creative freedom of fan fiction. However, I actually tried my best to rationalize this in the story. First, in Chapter 118, I had Iori Muga introduce a speculation—the real Scotland is dead, which was also mentioned in the final reporter interview. Second, Conan's position in Neko and Dog is similar to Tooru's position in Detective Conan; he has a lot of screen time and plays a crucial and irreplaceable role in the main storyline. I also arranged it this way in the pause button scene.

Finally, I have always held a reader-centric view.

Writing a novel is about telling a story. There is only one truth, but there can be many versions of a story. You are free to choose which version to believe and how to interpret it, and I have no right to interfere.

You can think I'm talking nonsense, but if you're willing to believe that they were all real people who achieved earthly happiness, then the pause button is, of course, a happy ending in the traditional sense.

Okay, that's enough rambling for now. See you in the next book!