Chapter 69: The Television Station, and the Rival is a Great Detective

Nichiyuri TV.

Kogoro Mouri brought Ran and Sonoko into the building with high expectations, only to be told that Yoko Okino was out filming on location.

Ran and Sonoko, visiting a television station for the very first time, were exceptionally excited, finding everything around them novel and fascinating.

Unfortunately, without catching a glimpse of any celebrities, they were promptly escorted by a staff member to the ninth-floor studio.

Such a wonderful opportunity, yet they could not even get an autograph.

Because Kogoro had dawdled, Gao Mo had arrived at the television station ahead of schedule and happened to catch the filming of *Kamen Yaiba* in the neighboring studio.

Since his actor persona had not yet been established, he merely watched the commotion as a bystander, only to be mistaken for a crew member and roped into playing an extra.

"Humph, the end of Kamen Yaiba has come..."

"The Master will not spare you!"

"Cut!"

After delivering a few lines, he collected his bento box, left to watch the main cast continue posing and acting cool.

Gao Mo fell into deep thought as he clutched his on-the-spot extra's pay.

The acting profession was actually quite complicated.

Compared to realistic portrayal, performance on the screen was noticeably more deliberate and theatrical.

Further development required consideration of facial expressions, posture, emotion, lines, stage positioning, rhythm...

The skill levels in his status notes were only used to acquire innate traits and did not supplement other professional abilities. Although he was now a Level 2 actor, his actual capabilities were limited to "Rapid Immersion" and "Disguise."

These were useful in reality because they were open-ended roles; he only needed to perform as another version of himself.

Whether he could use them to make a name for himself in the acting circle was another story entirely.

As an idol, he had starred in several productions, but that was due to the momentum generated by his existing fame.

Debuting, building popularity... unless one was lucky enough to explode in popularity overnight, the entire process took at least a year.

Shooting a drama was not as straightforward as solving a case.

It seemed difficult to reap any rewards in a short period if he wanted to attain professional actor achievements.

It appeared that his primary target for leveling up should still be the detective profession.

He currently needed star ratings, a vast number of star ratings... Otherwise, let alone the Grim Reaper hanging over his head, even the Black Organization would prove to be a massive trouble.

"Teacher Kindaichi?"

A program crew member ran down the corridor wiping sweat and hurriedly chased after Gao Mo upon spotting him.

"Host Matsuo has been looking everywhere for you! The live broadcast is about to start!"

"Starting already?" Gao Mo only then realized that it was already half-past seven in the evening.

"Please hurry," the staff member looked on the verge of tears, "this is a live broadcast! You haven't even looked at the script..."

"I was told there was no script when I arrived."

Some precautions for the guests still exist, and if an accident happens during a live broadcast, it cannot be edited out... Anyway, please hurry upstairs!

The *Kamen Yaiba* studio had just entered a break period, and the director along with the lead actors all watched in stunned confusion.

"That's someone from Matsuo's side."

"Does that guy just now have some special background?"

"I have no idea, I thought he was from our crew..."

"To be a guest on Matsuo's show, he must be some sort of celebrity, right?"

...

The studio for the program *Detective Bureau* was located on the ninth floor.

Running all the way up felt like navigating a maze, but it did not take too long. By the time Gao Mo arrived, the studio was still in the preparatory phase.

"Teacher Kindaichi has arrived!"

"Strange, where is Mr. Suwa?"

"The producer must be watching the live broadcast downstairs."

"The audience is all in place..."

"What are the lighting technicians doing? Hurry up and calibrate, there's no time left!"

Amidst the chaos, Gao Mo found Kogoro Mouri. To his surprise, the previously encountered Ooe Shuzen was also present.

There appeared to be three guests in total.

Seeing that the man still wore a sullen expression, Gao Mo did not bother inviting contempt upon himself and walked straight toward the seat bearing his name—Hajime Kindaichi.

The protagonist of another detective manga shared the name Hajime Kindaichi, supposedly the grandson of the famous detective Kosuke Kindaichi, so he simply borrowed it.

"Kid Kido," the mustache twitched nervously. After greeting Ran and Sonoko in the audience, he finally calmed down somewhat upon seeing Gao Mo, "During the deduction segment later, we absolutely cannot lose to that guy Ooe!"

These people at the television station truly played dirty.

They never mentioned beforehand that there would be other detectives.

Now they had effectively put him on the spot...

Although he was not very fond of Ooe Shuzen, he had to admit that the man possessed genuine skill, having dealt him a severe psychological blow upon their very first meeting.

Yet, sitting here, he felt completely devoid of sleepiness; in his lucid state, he could only pin his hopes on Gao Mo.

"Ugh..."

Gao Mo glanced at Ooe Shuzen on the other side, who was sitting composedly with his eyes closed to preserve his energy.

Thanks to Shinichi Kudo's *Guide to Deduction*, he had a relatively clear understanding of ability levels.

Level 0 deduction was amateur level, Level 1 reached ordinary professional grade, Level 2 could only be considered elite grade, and only at Level 3 could one truly be called a master detective.

Shinichi Kudo was probably somewhere between Level 4 and Level 5.

As for this Ooe Shuzen, master detective or not, his deduction ability certainly would not be lower than Level 3.

His only advantage was the supernatural ability "Eagle Eye Vision," which barely propped up his Level 2 deduction—not exactly easy to deploy in a television studio setting.

Could he pull Conan up from the audience seating below?

"Speaking of which, what is up with you?" Gao Mo withdrew his gaze and stared at the dark circles under the mustache that even makeup could not conceal.

"Don't mention it," the mustache successfully had his attention diverted. "That girl Ran insisted on helping me sign up for Hage's gym... Is that flesh-molding place going to perform surgery on me? I certainly don't want to turn into some kind of freak."

"What are you thinking... Aren't I doing fine right now? It's just normal training."

Facing the mustache's suspicious glare, Gao Mo instinctively touched his forehead.

His body was indeed a little strange, but it had nothing to do with Hage's muscle-building class.

...

In the audience seating below.

Sonoko cast a few more suspicious glances at the disguised Gao Mo, then pulled Ran close and whispered, "Is that the Kindaichi partnered with Uncle Mouri?"

"Yes," Ran said blankly, "apparently he's a distant relative of Kido-san and has affiliated himself with the Kido Detective Agency... Oh, my dad has an affiliation here too, they call it a cooperative relationship."

Conan rested his chin on his hand in boredom, half-listening to the whispered conversation between the two girls.

To this day, he still had no idea where Gao Mo had learned the art of disguise.

From initially being able to recognize him at a glance, it had become increasingly difficult to distinguish him; the last time at the library, even he had been completely deceived.

If there were still any flaws, they were probably minor behavioral details and habits that remained unchanged, making it easy to spot the shadow of "Gao Mo Kido" upon close inspection.

Perhaps realizing this, Gao Mo had chosen the most difficult old-age disguise and supplemented it with the background of a distant relative.

Truth mixed with falsehood... if one weren't an insider, it would truly be hard to judge.

However, compared to the disguise, he cared more about other aspects...

Watching Gao Mo converse with Kogoro Mouri on stage, Conan, who had initially lost interest, felt a stirring of anticipation.

Opportunities to directly observe Gao Mo's deduction skills were rare—he was simply too low-key.

On several previous occasions, Gao Mo had beaten him to solving the cases, leaving him feeling somewhat resentful yet intensely curious.

Just how high was the deduction ability of Gao Mo, a person praised so highly by his father even before leaving Japan?

"Teacher Kindaichi," a makeup artist on stage hurried over to Gao Mo's side, "do you think you need a quick touch-up?"

"No need, I applied my own touch-up." Gao Mo refused the makeup artist, inexplicably feeling a surge of pressure as if targeted by something foul.

The Grim Reaper?

The television building was indeed permeated with an aura of death; some case was bound to occur, but it was not directed at him.

Gao Mo turned his head in confusion, running straight into Ooe Shuzen's gaze.

There was a faint sensation of death lingering around this guy as well...