Jiangxia Tongzhi found Yoshinori Ara's reaction a bit strange when suddenly a woman with long black hair peeked out from inside the door.
Naoko Kuroda pushed up her black-rimmed glasses and looked at Jiangxia with a knowing "never judge a book by its cover" kind of expression.
After a pause, she said with some feeling, "You didn't swap usernames with Ms. Tanaka, did you? Her 'Ikasama Doji' usually talks like some Showa-era tough guy, but your 'Disciple of the Mage' speaks even more… cough…" She struggled to find the right words, then gave Jiangxia a look that said it all.
Jiangxia gradually felt things were spiraling out of control. Although the long-haired woman started with "You wouldn't XXX," anyone could tell it was just teasing. In reality, they'd already decided the 'Disciple of the Mage'—who always spoke in a soft, cute voice—was the Jiangxia standing right in front of them.
Not long after the long-haired woman finished, Ms. Tanaka—the one known for "talking like a tough guy"—came over after hearing the commotion.
She shook her head, "I'm not pretending to be a man on purpose. Everyone has their own way of speaking. Judging gender based solely on tone? That's just not accurate."
Naoko Kuroda suddenly seemed to remember something and nodded in deep agreement, "Exactly. The Disciple of the Mage at least told us straight up he's a man. Compared to him, some people who deliberately pretend to be cute girls are the most annoying."
As she said this, she glanced at the curly-haired man behind her with a hint of disdain and pointed at him, "I really thought this guy was a woman! I even discussed perfumes and lingerie brands with him."
Toshiya Hamano, who was pretending to be a cute girl, sensed the vibe and quickly threw up a playful excuse, "Haha, no matter how good I am at mimicking, people often say, 'You sound like a boy!' — but this Disciple of the Mage sounds way more natural. But hey, surrounded by girls all the time and even bringing two girlfriends to an online meetup, your tone's bound to be affected, right?"
He said this with a sly look toward Jiangxia, then glanced at the two young girls standing behind him.
Originally meant as a jab, tears of envy almost welled up at the corner of his mouth as he spoke.
Sonoko Suzuki, who had been quietly chuckling behind them, froze for a second at those words.
…Oh right, she had bragged earlier about bringing a girlfriend. Originally, "girlfriend" meant Ran Mouri. But then plans changed at the last minute, and Jiangxia came along too.
Seeing it like this, Jiangxia had actually brought two girlfriends to the meetup. Hmm… and one of the girlfriends' dads too. No wonder Yoshinori Ara gave Jiangxia that look earlier… Wait, wouldn't this mess up Jiangxia's reputation? He's a famous detective after all…
Sonoko Suzuki glanced around guiltily.
Then she relaxed when she saw nobody here recognized Jiangxia. That made sense—even the biggest celebrities aren't known by everyone, and Jiangxia wasn't exactly a celebrity. Hmm… since that's the case, she'd spill the truth at the end of the gathering. No need to start weird rumors.
But before that, she was going to enjoy this rare chance for some fun!
…
Winter in the mountains was cold. The door had only been open for a moment, yet the few people without coats at the entrance were already shivering.
With the new members arrived, they chatted as they headed back inside.
The whole "forum gender" issue was quickly dropped. As expected, everyone quietly accepted Jiangxia as the Disciple of the Mage.
Jiangxia instinctively made a small gesture toward their backs. Are these people really from the Detective Conan universe? Show a little skepticism!
No one heard his silent groan of disappointment.
He sighed and silently followed the others into the house. He was right—he hadn't been online long enough and forgot a basic truth: no matter what happens on the internet, your real-life appearance is the final standard. Careless…
With a solution in mind, Sonoko Suzuki relaxed again and happily linked arms with Ran Mouri as they entered the house.
While no one was looking, she secretly mouthed to Jiangxia, "Brilliant."
She even gave a cheerful thumbs-up.
Jiangxia: "…"
Fine, as long as you're happy.
Fortunately, he knew nothing about the details of their past forum chats. Once they started talking forum content, the username would have to switch back to Sonoko Suzuki…
…
Sonoko Suzuki didn't know that the teammate she'd sold out was secretly plotting to sell her out.
After entering, she hung up her coat and started scanning the living room for "Red Herring," the online friend-turned-pen pal.
Everyone in the room told her their IDs. None were Red Herring.
Sonoko Suzuki grew more curious but felt too embarrassed to ask in front of Jiangxia—especially since she was currently playing the role of "girlfriend" accompanying Jiangxia to an offline meetup… Hehe, how embarrassing… Oh no, focus, Red Herring… Her thoughts bounced around.
Just then, a kindly-faced, chubby man came down the stairs.
He had small eyes, a large nose, and a round, plump face. He looked friendly enough but definitely not the "ideal handsome guy" Sonoko Suzuki had imagined.
She glanced over subconsciously, froze for a moment, and a bad feeling hit her—could this be Red Herring?!
No, wait, two more people hadn't arrived yet: the unpleasant-sounding "Escape King" and the somewhat gloomy "Shadow Master." Based on odds, the man must be…
"Hello, I'm Red Herring."
The chubby man smiled warmly. He sized up Sonoko Suzuki, who looked as if she'd been struck by lightning, and said, "Are you the Disciple of the Mage? Haha, you really are a cute girl."
Sonoko Suzuki: "…" %&#*@
While Sonoko Suzuki was screaming internally, Jiangxia's gaze passed over her to look at "Red Herring."
Though his appearance was flawless, Jiangxia knew from spoilers this was Kid, in a rare male disguise.
Kid hadn't stolen anything yet and carried no energy cores, so the ghosts didn't recognize him. They were completely uninterested in this fresh red herring. Instead, they all clustered around Kikuke Tanaka, the "tough guy" speaker, and played with the killing intent surrounding her.
Besides the killing intent, a fresh shikigami clung tightly to Kikuke Tanaka's leg.
The newborn shikigami was scared by the ghosts swarming around it like bullies and clung to its culprit's leg, as if trying to bury its head.
It seemed she had already killed someone before coming here… Jiangxia's eyes lingered on her leg for a moment, then quickly looked away.
After Kid greeted Sonoko Suzuki, he noticed her twitching eye and inability to speak, chuckled to himself quietly, and began observing the others.
As he scanned the room, he suddenly spotted the boy behind Sonoko Suzuki, who was turned sideways and looked somewhat familiar… Wait, isn't that the famous detective who solves cases in a blink?!
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 31 - 90 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 13/60(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS
Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.
Progress:2/10*