Chapter 40: I’m Not Normal Either

Guest room on the second floor of the villa.

Gao Mo removed his mask and, sipping an iced cola, flipped through the "Makeup Guide" once more. The sound of turning pages mingled with the patter of light rain. As the projected text flickered and faded, the "Makeup Guide" finally fulfilled its purpose and vanished, leaving behind only a notification that his Makeup skill had reached Professional Level 2.

He had finally mastered the entire contents of this 4-star book. The sheer volume of material regarding cinematic makeup and feminine aesthetics had become a form of torture toward the end. However, with this, there was nothing left to learn from it; he didn't believe that reading the "Makeup Guide" alone would allow him to surpass Taeko Togaki, so reaching Level 3 was likely out of reach. He might be able to land a job as a makeup artist with these skills, but achieving the level of disguise he envisioned remained a distant dream. The disguise abilities possessed by people like Kaito Kid and Vermouth seemed to contain a degree of "Conan-science."

"Only two books left."

Gao Mo turned his attention to the system information for the 4-star "Pistol Shooting Guide" and the 5-star "Elderly Guide." Although they wouldn't disappear if left alone, the system was so mysterious and uncanny that he felt he could only be at ease once he had truly mastered them.

Continue...

"What? Ran was attacked in the forest?"

"It's the Bandaged Man!"

Another commotion downstairs interrupted Gao Mo's reading state. Soon, the sound of hurried footsteps ascended the stairs.

"Bang! Bang!"

Gao Mo put his mask back on and opened the door to the heavy knocking.

"Mr. Ninzaburo," Suzuki Ayako blocked the aggressive, long-haired handsome man and his companions, asking Gao Mo with concern, "You haven't left the room, have you?"

Gao Mo took a pen and paper: I have been in my room reading the whole time. What happened?

"Ran and the others encountered the Bandaged Man again just now," Ayako said uneasily. "He had an axe and tried to attack..."

Gao Mo scanned the people outside the door thoughtfully. The Bandaged Man... it had to be one of them. But why attack Ran? If only he had watched this case before...

Ran and Sonoko did not come up; only Conan followed, peering in to find Gao Mo's clothes clean, with no signs of having been out in the rain.

"Hmph, you'd better not have gone out. There's a limit to playing the mysterious type," the long-haired man clearly didn't believe Gao Mo, though he lacked his earlier bravado.

Under Ayako's calming influence, the group returned to the dining room. Ran remained in a state of shock, her face pale, her combat effectiveness plummeting to zero.

"Don't think about it too much, Ran," Sonoko encouraged from the side. "I'm sure that guy just ran into the woods on purpose to scare us."

"Exactly," the long-haired man stared intently at Ran, who was huddled next to Sonoko, his eyes filled with growing desire. "Who knows what kind of thoughts someone like that has? If he dares to act out again, we'll lock him up and turn him over to the police tomorrow!"

"But still, it's really something."

Sonoko looked at her best friend, who was finally regaining her composure, and felt a bit puzzled. "Ran, why didn't you just use karate to subdue him? You don't have to be afraid of a guy like that at all!"

"I... I forgot," Ran said, stunned in retrospect. "And it was thundering at the time..."

"It's a good thing you're okay." Sonoko patted her chest; although she had been frightened too, her face was flushed with a thrill of excitement. "Anyway... it's suddenly gotten interesting."

"What's interesting?"

"Don't you think it's just like a movie plot?" Sonoko’s eyes sparkled with longing as she fell into her own wonderful delusions. "A group of people trapped in a remote villa, suddenly encountering a murderer hiding in the forest. When the beautiful heroine is attacked, a handsome Prince Charming appears to save the day... they defeat the killer together and live happily ever after... hee-hee."

Conan glanced at Sonoko, who was cupping her flushed, hot cheeks—she buried her head in shyness, wondering what she was thinking about. To still be caught up in romantic fantasies at a time like this; she really was incredibly thick-skinned.

***

The group ignored Sonoko as she played out her internal drama, pretending not to see her as they began preparing dinner.

"Sigh!" Sonoko, left out in the cold, finally snapped back to reality, letting out a long, regretful sigh. "But why didn't a Prince Charming come to save me? My Prince Charming, where are you..."

"Heh." Conan stepped a little further away. What kind of daydreaming was this?

Ran didn't know what to do with her imaginative best friend, but after the commotion, the fear in her heart had dissipated quite a bit. Seeing Suzuki Ayako carefully pushing the food cart over, she quickly ran to help. "Let me!"

"Thank you, Ran."

"It's nothing, I do chores at home all the time."

"What a lavish dinner."

The steaming soup pot was placed on the table, and the alluring aroma spread through the dining room, instantly whetting everyone's appetite. The long-haired man made no move to help, sitting straight down at the table while boasting about his past.

"Honestly, if it weren't for going to college, I might have debuted directly. Maybe I'd be as famous as that Kido Gao Mo from back in the day... I even went to the same junior high as that guy, but unfortunately, my family kept a tight leash on me..."

After lamenting his own missed opportunities, the long-haired man began flirting with Ran again. "If we film later, I'll be the male lead. Who should be the female lead? How about you, Ran? I think you'd be perfect. If you debuted, you'd definitely be the next Yoko Okino..."

"N-no, thank you." Ran's smile stiffened. She didn't want to act in any suspense short film and experience being attacked by a weirdo again. "I can't do it, I'm nowhere near as good as Miss Okino."

"Why do you sound like you know Yoko Okino?" The long-haired man raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Of course I know her," Sonoko said, hugging Ran's arm with pride. "Ran's father is the famous detective Kogoro Mouri. Not only does she know Yoko Okino, but she's also very close with Kido Gao Mo. We even got a bunch of autographs from them last time."

"A famous detective?" The people in the villa stopped their movements, illuminated by a flash of lightning from outside the window, as if stunned.

"That's amazing, so you're the daughter of a famous detective!"

"Is that the famous detective from the Yoko Okino apartment case?"

"To know so many stars..."

The man with the center-parted hair continued filming with the recharged camera. "Speaking of which, what is Kido Gao Mo doing now? He was quite popular back in our college days, but there's been no news of him since he started working."

"That's strange," Suzuki Ayako said, placing the last dish on the table. "Where is Chikako? Didn't she come back with you all?"

"Who cares about that woman?" The long-haired man was still angry. He turned to the man with the center-parted hair who was recording. "Kadotani, weren't you following her the whole time?"

"No," the man with the center-parted hair shook his head repeatedly. "Because the rain was getting heavy, I came back to get an umbrella..."

"I think you're just afraid of thunder." The long-haired man dismissed him, pretending to be elegant as he arranged his cutlery. "I'm digging in, I'm starving... but come to think of it, is that guy upstairs really not coming down to eat?"

"I already asked him just now," the chubby man explained quickly. "Mr. Ninzaburo said he wasn't hungry and to leave him a portion... probably because I brought him some snacks earlier."

...

In the mountain forest next to the villa.

The rain had thinned out considerably. Gao Mo stepped over the wet leaves to find the spot where the chubby man had set up the outdoor props. Cold gusts of wind swept through one after another, and even with his healthy constitution, he began to feel a chill.

That chubby man had said the filming had already started... and told him to come here early to prepare. But after arriving, he had a nagging feeling that there was something wrong with the guy. Recalling how he had been tricked several times by the seemingly simple-minded Iijima at the museum, Gao Mo raised his guard.

He didn't sense an immediate threat of death, but that didn't mean there weren't other troubles. He didn't trust guys who looked this simple anymore, especially in a place where a crime was likely to occur...

"Whoosh!"

Gao Mo activated his Eagle Eye vision. Instantly, the entire forest became as clear as day, and a massive amount of detailed information flooded his view. After scanning the area, a splash of red in the woods ahead caught his attention. It was mixed into the grass, carrying a thick scent of death.

Blood?

Gao Mo's gaze trembled. He approached cautiously.

A lower leg wearing a red shoe came into his field of vision. The severed end looked as if it had been hacked by a sharp weapon, with blood mixing into a large pool with the rainwater. Further ahead, pale fingers poked out from between the grasses, like someone playing hide-and-seek. It was a severed hand, cruelly hacked off at the shoulder.

The headless torso was mired in a puddle in the grass on the other side—under his Eagle Eye vision, the layers of muscle and blood vessels at the neck were clearly visible. The spray of blood was far greater than in other areas, suggesting she had been decapitated first, and then the body parts were scattered and discarded in this forest. From the clothes, he could tell it was the screenwriter, Chikako Ikeda.

She hadn't returned with the others!

"Hah!" Gao Mo's breathing grew heavy. He had expected to vomit, but his body's reaction was surprisingly calm. It seemed he wasn't quite normal anymore either.

...

"Ninzaburo!"

"Chikako!"

Just then, shouts rang out from the direction of the villa, and someone was calling his name in anger—

It was a trap.

That fat guy... he seemed to want to frame him as the killer.

Noticing the blood-stained axe left under a large tree, Gao Mo felt his scalp tingle. It was going to be hard to explain... No, framing a stranger he had just met today? Was this appropriate? What kind of twisted logic was that?

Footsteps surged into the forest; the group from the villa seemed to be following the chubby man. If he hadn't discovered it early, he would have been caught red-handed.

But now...

Gao Mo's expression shifted. After a moment of thought, he decided to avoid the bloodstains and leave from the other side. The chubby man might have other tricks up his sleeve, so it was best to go back first. Giving the others time to buffer, Conan's abilities would surely lead him to the truth.

"Swish, swish!"

The rain grew heavier again. Just as Gao Mo reached the back door of the villa, he heard screams of terror from the woods—the film club members had "accidentally" found the dismemberment site.

Good thing he ran fast.

The results of his recent training had finally paid off, though it was under these circumstances. Gao Mo gave a helpless, bitter smile. As he changed into his slippers and prepared to return to his room, a sudden chill struck the back of his neck.

This time, his Death Perception was finally triggered. Under the erosion of the terrifying threat, his consciousness felt as if it were being dragged into the abyss once again.

That fat guy...

Gao Mo's expression turned cold. After the frame-up failed, he decided to go for the kill?