Killer of Young Girls

~

"Buzz buzz buzz..."

With a buzzing sound, Fujino opened his eyes, and the scene before him changed.

Fifty boys and girls were standing in a boundless dark space on a platform that floated in mid-air and shimmered with light.

Everyone around looked excited.

Fujino, on the other hand, tried calling up his system interface.

"The system has detected that the host is in a subconscious state... System analysis suggests this may be due to virtual images simulated by electrical stimulation... Would you like to spend 1 million yen to unlock the restriction?"

"It seems the system is deeply bound to my consciousness... Even Game machine can't affect it?"

Fujino listened to the sounds around him and murmured to himself.

Suddenly, he looked up and surveyed his surroundings. "Since Noah's Ark can establish a connection through the mind, then the system... could it be..."

A bad thought flashed through Fujino, but he quickly dismissed it.

Whether or not we know his thoughts is actually irrelevant.

Noah is now just an AI, or at best, an electronic soul; he doesn't even have a physical body.

To him, a materialist, there was no difference between him and a dead person; at most, he was just a soul.

Even if he told people, no one would believe in any nonsense about a system.

"That's amazing!"

At this moment, Mitsuhiko opened his eyes and patted his cheeks. "Even though we are in a hypnotic state, it feels exactly like reality."

"Although I had heard long ago that this investment was in something extraordinary."

Sonoko lowered her eyes and pinched her arm. "I never expected it to be so amazing..."

"Uh-huh!"

Ayumi nodded in agreement, "Being able to move around freely is like having a lucid dream!"

"The reality is quite the opposite."

Ai Haibara also examined her own body, her eyes narrowing slightly as she said, "Forget about freedom, our senses of smell, taste, sight, and touch are all controlled by computers..."

"In this situation, if a hacker were to break in, it would be disastrous."

Fujino picked up the conversation, looking at the colorful halo that had suddenly appeared above his head. "They might just get killed by the hacker."

"There might actually be that possibility..."

Ai Haibara lowered her eyes and pondered, "Using the electric current of the Game machine to burn out the central nervous system or something."

"..."

Conan observed the two people uttering mournful words and fell silent for a moment.

Can't these two guys have a better outlook?

"Hello to all first-time users of Cocoon!"

At that moment, the halo suddenly flickered, and a mechanical voice came from all directions. "My name is Noah's Ark, nice to meet you."

"Next, I will briefly introduce the following five scenarios. Please choose the game you want to play based on your own situation."

As soon as he finished speaking, five doors suddenly appeared around them.

"However, before that, I still need to remind you of something..."

Noah's tone then turned serious. "This is not a simple game; it's a game where lives are at stake!"

"Once all players in the game are eliminated, none of them will be able to return to the real world!"

"However, if even one of you completes the game, then everyone will return to the real world. That's the rule I set. Do you understand?"

As soon as Noah's Ark finished speaking, the children around them panicked and looked around in bewilderment.

"You've come as expected, hello there, Noah the Hacker."

Fujino looked up, glanced at the halo with interest, and teased.

"Hello, Detective Fujino."

Noah's Ark greeted them politely, then continued, "Back to our previous topic, if everyone dies in this game, I will release a special electric current that will destroy everyone's brains..."

"Hmm, it's like a sudden circuit breaker. This cyberpunk concept is quite creative. I'd give it nine points."

Fujino twitched his chin and interrupted, "As for the remaining point, I was afraid you'd think you're too good, so I won't give it to you. Okay, I was just joking because the atmosphere was tense. Do you have anything else to say?"

"..."

Noah's Ark remained silent for a moment.

Is it really interesting for this detective to keep interrupting others?

Although I don't understand...

I was quite embarrassed by what they did...

"In short, this is a game that gambles on the future of Japan, please be aware of that."

After a brief pause, Noah's Ark resumed flashing its halo. "Although those inside cannot hear the sounds of reality, since an adult just asked a question, I will answer what it means to gamble on the future of Japan."

"Look at yourselves now. I suppose the children of corrupt politicians will only become corrupt politicians, and doctors who are only interested in making money will only become that kind of doctor."

Noah's Ark paused, then his tone suddenly turned serious. "Japan wants to get rid of this situation, the only way is to sever this relationship once and for all."

"Now that we've said all that, it's time for us to start the game."

Noah's Ark briefly introduced the five games.

The first is a pirate-themed Viking world, the second is a racing-themed global rally, the third is a PVP Roman Colosseum, and the fourth is a treasure hunter.

The last one is a detective-themed game where you travel back to 19th-century London to solve the Jack the Ripper case.

"Why did this happen to us..."

"I didn't want to be Dad's child..."

"I probably won't make it through..."

"I don't care who survives, just please save me!"

The group of children didn't listen to Noah's words and began to feel down, complaining incessantly.

"Hey, big brother!"

At that moment, a little girl with long, brown hair in pigtails recognized Fujino and exclaimed in surprise, "You wouldn't happen to be that Great Detective Fujino, would you?!"

"There's hope!"

Immediately afterwards, a group of cute little girls with buns and short black hair gathered around Fujino, surrounding him like dumplings. "Great! As long as the Dark Detective is here, we'll definitely survive!"

Fujino: "..."

Why does this little girl seem to have a lot of fans?

It was the same last time at the orphanage...

Sigh, just thinking about that little girl makes him feel sad.

If you think about it, his audience is indeed more among young girls.

His nicknames seem pretty cringeworthy, like "Detective Saburou" or "Dark Detective." If you didn't know better, you'd think he was some kind of Superman, like Kamen Rider.

If this continues, she'll soon become Killer of Young Girls.

"Actually, Noah's Ark said isn't wrong. There's no choice in life. Everyone is born an unknown, and whoever you become their child determines your right to choose them..."

Coming to his senses, Fujino glanced around and said in a deep voice, "May I ask, among all of you here, who dares to say that you are from an ordinary family, have never enjoyed the conveniences of power, or that your parents have never done anything wrong?"

"..."

The children present fell silent upon hearing this, none of them daring to respond to Fujino's words.

"Just like those little devils."

As she spoke, Fujino looked at the group of kids from before. "They used to say I was their dog and could be fired at any time, so I can't be sure if you guys are like them."

"That's outrageous!"

"How could they say such things about Detective Brother!"

The little girls present all looked at the few unruly children, frowned, and their eyes were filled with obvious resentment. "It's outrageous! It's because of kids like them that we're trapped in the game!"

Even though they were children, they could tell that because of those people, the Great Detective's opinion of them had plummeted...

In other words, it is because of themselves that they cannot be saved.