Chapter 5: The Birth of Conan
Natsume swiped a finger through the empty air, pulling up the system's task bar. A soft, translucent glow illuminated her face in the evening shadows. The world task she had accepted just moments ago now bore a bright, golden stamp reading "Completed." The corresponding rewards had already been deposited into her inventory.
A heavy breath escaped her lips, carrying away the tension that had coiled in her shoulders. 'Great. I almost thought that completing the task through such a loophole wouldn't count.'
A short distance away, Kudo Shinichi threw a fleeting glance over his shoulder. The strange, blonde foreign girl who had been standing there moments ago was gone. He frowned slightly, but quickly pushed the anomaly to the back of his mind.
Compared to a disappearing tourist, his attention was entirely consumed by the two men clad in pitch-black trench coats who had ridden the roller coaster with him. Their eyes were dead, carrying a chilling indifference toward human life. It was the unmistakable gaze of men who had bathed in blood.
Just then, Shinichi caught sight of one of the men in black sprinting past the crowd. Detective instincts flaring, he immediately gave chase. He turned back just long enough to shout at Mouri Ran, telling her to head home first and not to wait up for him.
Ran took a step to follow, but a sharp snap halted her in her tracks. She looked down. Her shoelace had broken completely. Rooted to the spot, she could only watch helplessly as Shinichi's figure disappeared into the gathering dusk.
The invisible gears of fate began to turn.
Recklessness always demanded a price, and Kudo Shinichi was about to pay his in full.
Deep within a secluded area of the amusement park, Gin stood over the collapsed high school detective. He had just forced the organization's newly developed experimental poison down the boy's throat. Cold and methodical, Gin swept his gaze over the area, ensuring no traces were left behind, before melting away into the shadows.
Silence descended, broken only by the distant, muffled sounds of the park.
Then, the grass rustled. A tall figure stepped out from the cover of the trees.
On the ground, Kudo Shinichi was trapped in a hellscape of agony. The poison ravaged his system. It felt as though his very bones were melting into molten slag, burning him from the inside out. His consciousness fractured, slipping away into a haze of white-hot pain, rendering him completely blind and deaf to his surroundings.
Alhaitham stood a few paces away, his striking emerald eyes fixed on the iconic scene unfolding before him. He watched with the detached, analytical gaze of a true Sumeru scholar. As he observed the boy's writhing form, he silently counted the seconds. Biological rejuvenation of this magnitude was a miracle—an anomaly that even the Adepti of Teyvat could rarely achieve.
'Thirty-five seconds after ingesting APTX4869, the body begins to react, exhibiting signs of severe, systemic pain,'Alhaitham noted internally, his mind cataloging every twitch and gasp.'The acute pain phase lasts for exactly one minute and twenty-eight seconds. Cellular structure begins to alter. The skeletal framework gradually shrinks, and physical functions regress to a prepubescent state. Currently observed regression time spans approximately ten years. The physical transformation is relatively brief, lasting about fifteen seconds. Post-transformation, the subject exhibits no obvious secondary reactions.'
With his observations concluded, Alhaitham reached into his coat. He withdrew an unused, sterile syringe he had quietly acquired from the amusement park's infirmary earlier. He stepped forward, the crunch of his boots masked by the boy's ragged breathing, and knelt beside the shrunken figure.
With practiced precision, he found a vein on the inside of Shinichi's arm—an inconspicuous spot that would easily be overlooked as a scrape—and drew a small vial of blood.
He secured the crimson sample in his coat pocket. Without a second glance at the unconscious child lying in the dirt, Alhaitham turned and walked away.
His sharp ears had already picked up the faint sound of approaching footsteps and distant voices. It would not be long before park security or a passerby discovered the boy. There was absolutely no need for him to linger or interfere further.
Across the park, Natsume remained entirely oblivious to what Alhaitham had just done to the world's protagonist. She was currently absorbed in reviewing the spoils of her completed task.
Alongside a generous sum of Mora and a stack of purple EXP books, the system had granted her two crucial items: a complete set of personal identification documents and a property deed.
A genuine smile touched her lips. She had been quietly stressing over where they would sleep once the sun went down. Now, armed with legal identities and a safehouse, she was ready to call it a night.
handling the system interface, Natsume discovered a messaging function designed to contact specific individuals. Currently, her contact list only held two names. Lisa's icon was a dull, inactive grey, indicating the librarian had not yet manifested in this world. Alhaitham's icon, however, glowed with a steady light.
Natsume tapped out a quick, tentative message, asking him to meet her at the main entrance of the amusement park.
Less than a minute later, a reply popped up on her screen: [Understood.]
It seemed their communication network was fully functional.
Natsume leaned against a lamppost near the entrance, watching the crowds thin out. It did not take long for Alhaitham's tall, distinctive figure to emerge from the flow of exiting tourists. His expression was as calm and unreadable as ever. He had absolutely no intention of mentioning the blood sample resting in his pocket.
In his logical framework, the experiment was his own private business. He had his own long-term plans, and they would not negatively impact Natsume. Disclosing the information now would serve no practical purpose and might only cause her unnecessary anxiety.
Natsume pulled out the property deed, squinting at the printed address under the streetlights. "10, 39-chome, Beika Town."
She blinked, a memory surfacing from her past life's extensive anime knowledge. The Mouri Detective Agency was located at 1, 39-chome, Beika Town. That meant their new safehouse was only a few doors down from the epicenter of the plot.
They handled the quiet streets of Beika Town, the ambient city noise fading as they entered the residential district. When they arrived at the destination, Natsume's suspicions were confirmed. The building sat diagonally opposite the Mouri Detective Agency. Standing on the pavement, she could just barely make out the large, bold characters painted on the agency's second-floor window.
Their new property was a three-story detached house, standing independently without sharing walls with the neighboring structures. The ground floor featured a wide glass front, clearly designed to operate as a small commercial storefront. Natsume ran a hand along the glass, pondering. She had no immediate business plans, so leaving it empty for now was the most sensible choice.
They headed up the stairs. The second floor served as the primary living space, featuring a modest kitchen, a bathroom, and two bedrooms—one master and one guest. It was not a sprawling mansion, but for two people, it was perfectly comfortable.
The third floor consisted of a small, cozy attic with a single window facing the street. Natsume walked up and peered through the glass. From this vantage point, she had a direct line of sight to the windows of the Mouri Detective Agency. While she could not see fine details, she could easily track the silhouettes moving inside, giving her a clear headcount of the agency's occupants.
A fleeting thought crossed her mind to buy a telescope, but she quickly discarded it. Peering into a teenage girl's home with binoculars crossed the line into creepy territory.
More, Conan's situational awareness was terrifyingly sharp. If the shrunken detective caught the glare of a telescope lens reflecting in the night, he would instantly flag their house as suspicious. Natsume had no desire to invent an excuse for why she was spying on a sleeping child and a washed-up detective.
Satisfied with the security and layout of the house, Natsume headed back down to the second floor, her muscles aching with exhaustion. She fully intended to take the smaller guest bedroom. Alhaitham was a tall, broad-shouldered man; cramming him into a tiny bed seemed unfair.
But when she pushed open the door to the second-floor hallway, she found Alhaitham already standing in the doorway of the guest room, his coat draped over a chair.
He met her surprised gaze with calm, rational eyes. "This is your house. There is no logical reason for the owner to sleep in the guest quarters., I do not find this room cramped. My requirements are minimal—I only need a quiet space to rest and read."
Natsume did not argue. She knew his personality well enough by now. If Alhaitham stated a preference, it was a calculated decision, not empty politeness.
"Alright. Goodnight, Alhaitham."
"Goodnight."
Retreating to the master bedroom, Natsume collapsed onto the mattress. The soft sheets felt like heaven after a day of transmigrating, dodging criminals, and completing system tasks. Staring up at the ceiling, she finally had a moment of quiet to consult Paimon.
Between the chaotic gacha pulls, the role-playing mechanics, and the immediate survival tasks, she had barely scratched the surface of the system's rules.
One pressing issue weighed heavily on her mind. Where would her future companions live?
The current arrangement worked perfectly for two people. Even if she managed to summon Lisa next, they could make it work—she wouldn't mind sharing the master bedroom with the librarian. But if she pulled a fourth, fifth, or sixth character, this modest house would burst at the seams. She absolutely refused to make her Teyvat family sleep on the floor.
Sensing her distress, Paimon's voice chimed cheerfully in her mind. [Traveler, didn't you know? The characters you pull will already have their own places to live!]
Natsume blinked, staring at the ceiling. 'Wait, really?'
[Yep!] Paimon explained. [Only you, the Traveler, needed to earn your identity and housing through tasks, because you arrived as a complete outsider with zero background data in this world.]
Natsume was genuinely stunned. She had operated under the assumption that every character she summoned would spawn into the world as an undocumented ghost, just like she had.
Paimon let out a sheepish little laugh, her voice tinged with embarrassment. [Ah... it seems I forgot to mention that part. Sorry! Actually, the moment a character from your card pool materializes in the real world, the world consciousness automatically generates a relevant, legal identity for them. After all, we are here to help fix this world's anomalies, so the world consciousness has to provide some logistical support in return. Hehe!]
Natsume relaxed into the pillows, a massive weight lifting from her chest.
[The provided identity will always mirror the character's original background and skills,] Paimon continued, her tone turning a bit more informative. [This prevents the locals from noticing any glaring inconsistencies. The people in this world will even have vague, fabricated memories of the character—the kind where they know the person exists and belongs here, but they won't have any concrete, contradictory memories to question.]
[Inorin's Note:
Enjoying the story? Dropping a quick review, comment, or Power Stone means the world to me and keeps these daily updates flowing!
Want to read 50 chapters ahead or just want to help keep a shameless translator alive? (My livelihood actually depends on this, haha 😭). You can support me directly here:
(P.S. Just remove the brackets and replace the [.] with a regular dot . to use the links!)
✨ Patreon (50 Advanced Chapters): patreon[.]com/InorinTL
☕ Ko-fi (Support / Sponsor): ko-fi[.]com/InorinTL
Thank you so much for reading and keeping this project alive!]