Chapter 235, Seventy-Third Cycle (65)
"The game rules only said to keep the real identity card a secret, which was probably to make us find the traitor Judas ourselves, right?"
The four members of the band discussed it among themselves for a while before coming over to consult with them.
"And they also said that we have to perfectly play the roles, and if we go out of character five times, we'll be eliminated. Does that mean the novel characters we're playing can be spoken aloud?"
"Should we introduce ourselves first? Exchange some information, and figure out how to proceed?"
These four people now look like novel readers and game players.
“Okay, no problem.” Kenji Hagiwara was the first to raise his hand with a smile.
There's never a dull moment when he's around.
In terms of livening up the atmosphere, he probably only failed when he tried to break up a fight between Matsuda Jinpei and Furuya Rei at the police academy.
Others echoed this sentiment without offering any objections.
Kenji Hagiwara said, "I'll go first. The role I'll be playing is the protagonist of the first part of the novel, Jun Hayami."
Conan Edogawa's eyes narrowed.
Kenji Hagiwara... He does have some similarities to the protagonist of the first part. When he saw it before, he wondered if it was a coincidence or a deliberate design.
Is it really that much of a coincidence? He also just happened to draw the identity of a primary school student.
If it was intentional, it's possible that there were church staff members inside who rearranged the serial numbers on the envelopes according to the order in which they entered.
Is it a priest written on a piece of paper?
Matsuda Jinpei yawned and leaned against the wall: "I'm the protagonist of the second part, Shibata Jun."
Edogawa Conan didn't react much this time. The protagonist of the second part is really too similar to Matsuda Jinpei, especially in terms of his unruly personality and sunglasses.
There aren't that many coincidences in the world, but it's a bit unlikely that the novel's protagonist was based on them, and there are many inconsistencies.
Basically, the staff observes them from behind the scenes and then assigns them corresponding identities that fit the established roles in order.
Most importantly, it's highly unlikely that a novel would portray an outstanding police officer as such a tragic figure who is killed off. The Metropolitan Police Department would never allow it.
Conan Edogawa looked at Wataru Date, mentally listing the similarities between him and the protagonist of the fourth part.
It's not entirely impossible.
Kenji Hagiwara, Jinpei Matsuda, and Wataru Date became famous shortly after graduating from police academy, and now they have even earned the nickname "angel police officers." It's not impossible that they would be used as character models in novels that feature police officers as protagonists.
However, to avoid getting into trouble, the author only captured some of the distinctive elements and did not make him exactly like a real police officer.
That's a possibility.
If that's the case, then the protagonist of the third installment will probably also have a prototype, and it won't be a simple one.
Conan Edogawa's gaze involuntarily drifted towards Hikaru Midorikawa.
The protagonist of the third film is codenamed Scotland...
“What a coincidence! I’m the protagonist of the third part, Masaya Oki,” Hikaru Midorikawa said shyly.
Conan Edogawa: "..."
Yes, what a coincidence!
Hikaru Midorikawa's image clearly doesn't match Okiga's at all...
Moreover, given his extensive experience reading mystery novels, his character will definitely have many more scenes with Chongya later on.
Date Wataru smiled, a toothpick dangling from his mouth: "I am the protagonist of the fourth part, Ishihara Yujiro."
Conan Edogawa's guess should have been confirmed, but the difference in Hikaru Midorikawa's role disrupted his train of thought and concentration.
Moreover, to be honest, Date Wataru and this character don't quite fit the established image.
Ichihara Yujiro had a very loving fiancée, Natalie, but he gave up the marriage because of his dangerous police career.
But this is understandable. The previous main characters all died young, and the main character in the fourth installment will definitely die as well. Not taking the initiative to dissolve the marriage would only lead to more sorrow.
Most importantly, this author doesn't seem to be good at writing romance. The lovers and couples in the story are basically introduced in murder cases, which makes people almost afraid of marriage.
Therefore, the situation with Ida Air is yet to be determined.
Conan Edogawa adjusted his glasses and looked at the others.
"I, Kogoro Mouri, didn't even get the protagonist card." Kogoro Mouri muttered to himself, but quickly straightened his chest and said proudly, "I am Saburo Akechi, a meticulous detective, and I am also very strong in combat."
The letter stated that he was the most skilled detective in the novel, and even the main police officers often sought his help.
As expected of him!
Conan Edogawa: "..."
Conan Edogawa is a bit conflicted.
If you ignore the timeline, the real-life inspiration for this detective does indeed resemble the legendary Sleeping Kogoro.
But when Saburo Akechi appeared, Kogoro Mouri was still an unknown, useless detective who mostly investigated extramarital affairs and looked for cats. He only became famous after Conan Edogawa arrived.
Subaru Okiya pushed up his glasses: "I am Junichi Ikeda, an assassin, but actually an undercover agent sent to infiltrate the organization, disguised as an elementary school teacher."
Conan Edogawa's heart skipped a beat again.
The most important characteristic of this character is that he is a top-notch sniper.
The sense of déjà vu is getting stronger and stronger.
Conan Edogawa couldn't help but look at Tooru Amuro.
Now that things have come to this, if it's not a coincidence, but rather intentional, then the only person he can think of who could have written this script is Rei Furuya.
Only Rei Furuya knew about Shuichi Akai and even suspected that Subaru Okiya was Shuichi Akai.
Furthermore, if the author, Taki Ryuichi, who has never appeared, is Furuya Rei, then Matsuda Jinpei and the others certainly wouldn't care that the character they were based on died tragically. Even if there were any negative consequences, the Public Security Bureau could easily step in and everything would be fine.
“I am… Kobayashi Masakazu.” Amuro Tooru sighed helplessly.
The others were stunned for a moment, then looked at Amuro Tooru's face, suddenly realizing what he meant and wanting to laugh.
Kobayashi Shoichi, also known as Kobayashi the Boy, is actually an adult, having reached the age of 20 when he first appears in the story. However, because of his youthful and adorable face, people who meet him for the first time often mistake him for a minor, while acquaintances jokingly call him Kobayashi the Boy.
He appears frequently and is quite popular in the novel; he is Saburo Akechi's top disciple and also an assistant at the detective agency. He learned a range of skills from Saburo Akechi, including boxing and driving, but his outstanding abilities lie in disguise and costume changing.
Conan Edogawa: "..."
Conan Edogawa now thinks the possibility of Tooru Amuro being the author is very small.
He's not the kind of person who would create such a script for himself.
"I am Akira Miyano." Hakuba Saguru was still clutching his letter, his lips slightly pursed. His usually smiling face was now drooping, clearly indicating that he was not happy.
Conan Edogawa's glasses instantly began to reflect light.
Akira Miyano, the eldest son of a wealthy family who appears throughout all four novels, is of British and Japanese descent. He is narcissistic and arrogant, but also deeply kind and righteous. Therefore, he built an underground base and forged a suit of armor similar to Iron Man's, going out every night to right wrongs. While his intentions are good, he sometimes acts excessively, making him a morally ambiguous character in the story.
Under normal circumstances, it wouldn't matter, but now, this persona reminds him of Kaito Kid.
Could Hakuba Saguru be Kaito Kid in disguise? But how did the staff behind him know? And what role did Kaito Kid play in all of this?
Conan Edogawa made a note of him for the time being, and then looked at the remaining four unfamiliar band members.
The four band members' self-introductions were very short, consisting only of their names and professions.
From the very beginning of their discussion about the novel until now, Conan Edogawa has discovered that the bald guy and the blond guy among them don't even know anything about the novel.
Two of them were informants for the police, and the other two were police officers they were working with.
When they appeared, they were basically dealing with a gang whose prototype was the Yamaguchi-gumi. The lead female singer's character even went undercover in Kabukicho.
This gang appeared in the first movie, started causing trouble in the second movie and was even related to that organization, was wiped out and disbanded in the third movie, and remnants still caused trouble in the fourth movie.
The one who ultimately ran over and killed the protagonist of the fourth film was a remnant of this gang.
"Where's Conan?" Hikaru Midorikawa asked, looking down with a smile. "What role did Conan draw?"
What do you mean by drawing this role? It's obvious that someone arranged it for them based on their intelligence.
“I drew a name called Dazai Huai, who is also an elementary school student like me.” Conan Edogawa looked up at the group of adults with an innocent and cute smile, his voice sweet. “I don’t think I’ve seen his name in any novels, but the letter said that I am Mr. Date’s adopted child.”
Date Wataru nodded, testifying for him: "I did write it here, that the child adopted by Ishihara Yujiro was named Dazai Huai."
"What use is a primary school student..." The bespectacled man in the band clicked his tongue quietly, "It's not like we're playing house."
“He’s not just an ordinary elementary school student.” Hakuba Saguru glanced at his watch. “He’s a real detective too.”
Hikaru Midorikawa smiled and nodded: "Yes, Conan-kun has probably seen more cases with Master Kogoro than you've ever heard of."
The band members over there looked at Conan Edogawa with disbelief.
Conan Edogawa smiled at them sheepishly, and they fell silent.
At this point, everyone had a basic understanding of the current situation.
The timeline is set near the end of the first part, when Jun Hayami, played by Kenji Hagiwara, has just graduated from the police academy and has just come into contact with the organization. He is about to die in a month and is 22 years old.
At this time, the protagonist of the second part is also 22 years old. He is childhood friends with the protagonist of the first part. After the other party died, he was transferred from the Explosives Unit to the First Investigation Division. The second part started a month later.
In other words, the time limit for the first part is one month.
The second part takes two years, the third part takes three years, and the fourth part takes ten years.
At this point in the first part, everyone was still alive, but since they didn't have much interaction before, it's obviously abnormal for them to be gathered together now.
Hikaru Midorikawa seemed to be the reader who liked and knew the novel the most among those present. Although he was usually a bit introverted and shy, he became a completely different person when it came to mystery-related matters, exuding confidence and ease.
He walked to the middle of the group, standing right under the cross, and said, "We have no other clues now, so why don't we go find the priest whose name is on the paper?"
The first floor only has an entrance hall, a chapel, and a toilet.
So they went up to the second floor.
It's almost seven o'clock now, and it's completely dark.
The wind and snow outside the window grew heavier and heavier; all that could be seen was darkness, and the wind howled.
The priest's room was right next to the stairs.
As he grew increasingly excited, Midorikawa Hikaru, who was leading the group, turned around and exchanged a nervous glance with everyone.
It's normal to feel a little nervous in this atmosphere.
Everyone nodded, indicating that it was okay and they should go for it.
Hikaru Midorikawa turned around, his long black hair flying past everyone's eyes before falling back down.
He took a deep breath, reached out, and slowly pushed open the priest's door.
Taking advantage of his small size, Conan Edogawa rushed to the front, standing right next to Hikaru Midorikawa's feet, and pretended to look inside curiously.
The door creaked open, and the flickering candlelight pierced the darkness, adding a touch of warmth and comfort to the dark and cold church.
But looking further inside, one discovers that the person in the center of the light is a pale-skinned man dressed in a long, black robe, with a silver cross swaying slightly in front of his chest, reflecting a cold light.
The extreme contrast between black and white, along with the man's indifferent demeanor and features far superior to those of ordinary people, completely obliterated any trace of humanity, making him seem almost inhuman at first glance.
The moment the man looked up, and those all-seeing blue, upturned eyes swept over him, Conan Edogawa froze, as if struck by lightning.
That person... How could Morofushi Takaaki be a priest here?!
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