It's Fujino-A-Dream!

"A guessing game?"

Fujino seemed quite familiar with this activity; the old man appeared to really enjoy playing riddles.

"Another riddle game!"

"Should we just run away?"

"Alright, that must have been something Professor Agasa came up with through his hard work..."

Compared to Mitsuhiko and Genta, Ayumi seemed much cuter, and chuckled, "Let's listen to it for a bit, otherwise the professor will be disappointed."

Professor Agasa: "..."

Is my guessing game really that boring?

He hasn't said it yet!

"But since we're going to play riddles..."

Fujino chuckled softly, "Then I'll add my own stake."

"Could it be an invitation to Snow King Ice City?"

Genta looked excited, while Mitsuhiko rubbed his chin and said, "I think it should be something more profound."

"Brother Fujino's reward?"

Ayumi, looking like a little girl, asked expectantly, "What could it be?"

I won't reveal what it is yet.

Fujino said meaningfully, "This is a reward you would never expect."

"Ahem!"

Professor Agasa cleared his throat. "Speaking of which, there's an employee, A, at a game company who accidentally became obsessed with 'Cocoon' while working. What action should the boss take after discovering the employee's behavior?"

"First, the public praise is because I completed the game!"

"Secondly, he was fired because he played games during work hours!"

"Thirdly, because A was sleeping peacefully in the 'cocoon,' we let A continue to sleep soundly!"

"Yes, let him continue sleeping!"

Ayumi held up three fingers and immediately gave her answer, "Because the shape of the cocoon is very similar to a cradle!"

"Wrong!"

Mitsuhiko hesitated for a moment and asked, "Then it's one?"

"That's not right either!"

"That's number two!"

Genta gave him a deadpan look. "But why is it number two?"

"Hey-hey!"

Professor Agasa smiled and looked at Ai Haibara: "Ai must know the answer, right?"

"..."

Ai Haibara turned her head away, clearly not wanting to answer the question. She crossed her arms and gripped her upper arms, looking quite cold. "I'm not dressed very warmly today, so let Edogawa explain."

"Ah?"

Since he had been named by name, Conan could only helplessly explain, "Cocoon refers to silkworm. Cocoons are made by silkworms, so the Japanese word for silkworm sounds like 'dismissal,' which means to fire someone."

"Ha ha..."

Fujino chuckled dryly, also feeling that the joke was a bit lame.

What do puns and such have to do with riddles?

"It's so cold, can someone go get some hot drinks?"

"The professor is making those lame jokes again."

"Alas... it's a pity that none of us guessed correctly, so we won't get the reward."

"Although we didn't guess the riddle correctly, since Conan has explained its meaning, we can consider it a solved riddle."

Fujino glanced at the few kids who were stunned by the lame joke, then pulled out a few badges from his pocket. "Today's mystery reward—a trial badge for [Cocoon]!"

"Well?!"

"Really!"

"It's actually the Cocoon trial badge!"

The children's eyes lit up when they saw the badges, and they excitedly took them, looking overjoyed.

At the same time, they didn't forget to give one to Ai Haibara who was standing to the side. "Haibara, here, your badge!"

"..."

Ai Haibara took the badge and silently glanced at the happy children.

She felt that receiving the badge wasn't exactly unexpected.

If it were Fujino, seeing how disappointed these kids looked, he would definitely pull out all sorts of things from his pocket to satisfy them.

Thinking of this, she pinned the badge to her chest, a slight smile curving her lips.

Really...

It's almost like Doraemon, who can do anything...

Hmm, maybe it's the omnipotent Fujino A-Meng?

"Conan, your badge!"

Ayumi happily handed another badge to Conan.

"It really is a badge?"

Conan's reaction to the badge being handed to him was a little different; he blinked and was momentarily stunned.

Wasn't it supposed to be an internal gift? How come this guy pulled out several right away?!

The key point is that he already had the badge; it was just given to him by Professor Agasa and his father!

He didn't say it, mainly because he was afraid of those few jealous people; he had already decided to quit.

But now...

"Conan, don't you want to play?"

Ayumi looked at Conan, who was hesitant, and asked curiously.

"That's not it..."

Conan felt a little flustered under the gaze.

"Oh dear, could it be that someone got the badge ahead of time?"

Ai Haibara muttered to herself, "If I had two badges, that would definitely be troublesome."

"This guy..."

Upon hearing this, Conan's eyelids twitched violently, revealing a resentful look in his eyes.

What does it mean to receive a medal ahead of schedule?

Isn't this obviously a diss track against him?!

Wait, how did this fake little girl know he had a badge?

"..."

Ai Haibara crossed her arms and, judging from the other person's reaction, knew she had guessed correctly.

Since Yusaku Kudo was the one who came up with the idea for this press conference.

As the son of a world-class novelist, do you dare say you don't have one?

Hmph, the ugly hereditary system of Japan.

He received the medal but didn't tell anyone, planning to sneak off to play by himself.

Conan felt a little uncomfortable being stared at, so he took out a badge from his pocket and said with a helpless smile, "Actually, I already have a badge."

"Well?!"

"Conan, where did you get that badge from?!"

"Damn it, they ran off without us!"

Ayumi was surprised to hear this, while Mitsuhiko and Genta reacted even more strongly, some even wanting to grab Conan and give him a good beating.

Conan's expression turned strange. To be honest, he really couldn't defend himself in this matter.

"Haha, this was actually given to him by Conan's relative."

Professor Agasa stepped in to help Conan out of the predicament, then changed the subject, saying, "But Fujino- kun, where did you get so many badges?"

"Yeah yeah!"

Sonoko was standing nearby, was also a little curious. "I remember these badges were supposed to be given away internally. Even if they were, it would be impossible to give out so many at once."

"Actually, it was given by the client, which is a bit complicated to explain."

Fujino explained, "Well, I have a friend who's involved in the Cocoon project. I can't say what the commission was for, since it's highly confidential. After the commission was completed, I was planning to let these kids play this latest game, so I asked him for six of them."

"So that's how it is..."

Everyone nodded upon hearing this, indicating that they understood the origin of these badges.

Fujino wasn't lying either.

Noah's Ark is indeed considered an "insider" of the Cocoon.

Everything he said was true, but not all of it was true.

This is the art of language.

They were just selectively telling the truth.

Well, fooling someone isn't the same as lying.