Chapter 68: My Body Possesses the Extraordinary

The next morning.

Haibara was already humming a cheerful tune and preparing breakfast early, using plenty of ingredients left over from the detective agency's grand opening party.

Although she was being hunted by the Black Organization, and although her future was fraught with numerous uncertainties, her mood right now was far more relaxed than it had been in her previous life.

She had successfully saved her sister, and a copy of the APTX-4869 research data was safely preserved.

Even Kudo Shinichi, who had shrunk into Conan... for some reason, seemed much more cautious and mature than she remembered.

Perhaps this world could completely alter that unfortunate future.

Surely...

"Bang!"

A sudden crash echoed from the direction of the guest room.

In the bedroom, Gao Mo rolled off the bed wrapped in a blanket, clutched his head, and stood up wobbling, nearly dazed by the fall.

Lately, whether in his career as an actor or as a detective, he had been making steady progress. The only exception was kendo, which he regarded as his ultimate hope for combat capability, yet it showed no improvement whatsoever.

Perhaps due to his daily arduous training, in his dreams he transformed into a top-tier kendo master, ultimately wielding a wooden katana and slicing apart even a satellite.

Reality...

"Hiss."

Gao Mo rubbed his head as he walked out of the guest room and headed to the bathroom to wash up and brush his teeth.

Whether it was the influence of that mysterious notebook or not, his physical coordination was simply too painful to watch, making him the absolute polar opposite of his idol-turned alter ego.

This was also the fundamental reason why his kendo skills refused to advance.

It seemed he was destined to remain nothing more than a theoretical master.

[Supernatural Ability: Eagle Eye Vision]
[Career Talent: Rapid Immersion, Ageless Vigor, Disguise Expert, King of Kids, Photographic Memory]
[Book Abilities: Makeup Lv3, Marksmanship Lv2, Deduction Lv2, Swordsmanship Lv0]
[Storage Pool: 25 Stars]
[Careers: Actor Lv2, Detective Lv2, Librarian Lv1]

...

The notebook's projection materialized upon the mirror surface.

Aside from swordsmanship, his marksmanship had also hit a bottleneck—ultimately, it still lacked sufficient training.

Reaching Lv2 at all was simply thanks to a sliver of innate talent.

As for the theoretical side, he felt amply equipped...

Should he find some time to take a trip to Hawaii?

Gao Mo peeled off the bandage in front of the mirror. Yesterday's wound had completely vanished; after rinsing it with water, not even a trace remained.

It was utterly unscientific.

Reapplying a fresh bandage, Gao Mo gazed slightly absentmindedly at the notebook's projection.

He recalled once again the phrase: "Will you accept death, or become one who defies fate?"

No matter what, he wanted to survive in this world.

He was going to step into the realm of the extraordinary...

***

"Swish!"

As Gao Mo's gaze locked on them, the icons for the Actor and Detective careers simultaneously emitted a faint glow.

He had already completed the upgrade quests for both professions: "Two or more qualified performances" and "Establish a detective agency."

His storage pool now held 25 stars, leaving him just 5 stars short of upgrading one of them to Lv3.

Originally, he had intended to focus primarily on acting, but now the detective profession somehow seemed much easier to level up.

Gao Mo cupped his hands together and hurriedly splashed some water on his face.

Right on cue, Haibara had finished making breakfast—this girl always seemed capable of timing things precisely to his waking hour.

"I have to go out tonight," Gao Mo said, sitting across from Haibara. "Decide for yourself whether you want to stay at the agency or go over to the Doctor's place."

"I'll just stay home and watch TV."

Haibara took off her apron, sat down steadily at the dining table, and swung her legs back and forth.

"That Amuro-san from yesterday... he said he wanted to work part-time at the agency..."

"Sure, assign some minor cases to him."

Gao Mo took a sip of his rice porridge.

Where else could an ordinary person hope to hire an elite heavyweight like Toru Amuro? Naturally, he wouldn't refuse.

Besides, the appearance of Rum was somewhat related to Toru Amuro anyway.

Regardless of what schemes Toru Amuro might be plotting, just dump all the hard and exhausting work onto him—he could do the job of several people, and there was no need to pay him an exorbitant salary either.

Who knows, they might even build a solid reputation through information-gathering and investigative commissions.

...

After breakfast, Gao Mo helped with the simple cleanup of the kitchen. Instead of going out for a run, he grabbed a bamboo sword and headed to the backyard to continue practicing kendo.

He always seemed just a fraction shy of reaching professional entry-level, though it wasn't entirely useless.

Amateur-level combat prowess was still combat capability.

Now that he was aware of his physical anomalies, he no longer had to worry about injuring himself through over-training.

It was practically a disguised form of cheating.

At the very least, he had to climb to the pinnacle of the amateur tier...

From the second-floor window, Haibara pulled back the curtain and quietly looked down at Gao Mo in the yard as he shed sweat.

When practicing decomposed movements and stances, he almost looked like a true swordsman, but as soon as he tried to string them together rapidly, he became flustered and chaotic, almost "committing seppuku" on several occasions.

"..."

Incomprehensible.

A swordsmanship master with zero combat capability?

After watching him continuously for half an hour, Haibara completely lost interest once Gao Mo began to rest.

She really wanted to tell Gao Mo.

This kind of meaningless endeavor was an utter waste of time.

Everyone had their own strengths and weaknesses, and investing limited time and energy into areas of proficiency was the only correct choice.

It was just like playing a video game: a wizard should just focus on being a wizard, with no need to stubbornly butt heads trying to be a warrior.

***

In the afternoon.

Gao Mo skipped lunch, and after informing Haibara, he left early carrying a briefcase containing his disguise tools.

Tonight was the broadcast featuring that TV host from Nichiuri TV.

It was rumored to be a special live broadcast.

The airtime was scheduled from 8:00 PM to 9:00 PM.

He needed to transform into "Kogoro Akechi" ahead of schedule and head to Nichiuri TV alongside "Moustache" (Mouri Kogoro) to make preparations.

If there was a script, he would need to spend time familiarizing himself with it—though with his photographic memory, that was no issue for him; his primary concern was Moustache.

The impact of tonight's broadcast was quite important to him.

Not only would it mark the official debut of "Kogoro Akechi" in the public eye, but he also intended to use the opportunity to promote his own detective agency.

"I'll leave the agency in your hands."

Gao Mo's figure gradually faded from view.

Haibara Ai leaned out to watch for a moment, then let out a long sigh.

For some reason, being around Gao Mo always gave her a lingering sense of pressure—even though Gao Mo respected and understood her deeply, proactively maintaining a certain distance.

"Tonight's weather in the Kanto region..."

Lying on the sofa with the TV turned on, Haibara Ai pulled out Gao Mo's spare cell phone and began scrolling through the news.

Overseas news was dominated by reports of large-scale criminal enterprises, unlike Japan, where crimes tended to be isolated, individual murder cases.

Her sister had joined the FBI Witness Protection Program; logically speaking, she should be infinitely safe.

While one couldn't completely rule out the presence of Organization moles within the FBI, even in her previous life, the Witness Protection Program had never suffered any major flaws, and other protected witnesses were far more important than her sister, who had been a low-ranking operative in the Organization.

Only...

She still couldn't shake a lingering sense of unease.

Yet now was not the time to leave Japan; at the very least, she had to wait until *that person* arrived.

Haibara Ai thought of Shuichi Akai, the FBI undercover agent who had defected from the Organization long ago.

"Buzz, buzz!"

The phone's vibration pulled Haibara Ai back from her thoughts.

Ayumi... no, Ran, whose contact info she had just added, was calling her.

"Ai-chan, are you free tonight?" Ran's voice sounded cheerful. "We're going to Nichiuri TV to watch my dad's live broadcast. There happen to be extra tickets, so you should come along too."

"Ahem, ahem."

Haibara Ai deliberately coughed a few times.

"I'm still not feeling well... watching it on TV at home is the same."

"Alright then... remember, it starts at 8 o'clock. Dad and Kido... wait? Isn't it Kido-san?"

The dialogue between father and daughter drifted through the other end of the line, as they seemed to be discussing something regarding "Kogoro Akechi."

"Beep!"

The call disconnected. Haibara Ai looked around the empty living room and suddenly felt a touch of loneliness.