A month later.
In the bright hospital room, the pale green curtains had been drawn open, and one of the windows stood half open. Air carrying the fresh scent of earth drifted in from outside, diluting the smell of disinfectant.
White blankets, gleaming floors. Shu Yunwen lay comfortably in bed, wearing a hospital gown.
A bouquet of flowers from a visitor sat on one bedside cabinet, while some fruit had been placed on the other.
Muffled voices could be heard outside the door. On the stool beside Shu Yunwen's bed, a little kid sat drooling as he stared at the strawberries and bananas in the fruit bowl. "Brother Yunwen, can I have one of the strawberries?"
"Ha... If you want one, just eat it. Who's going to stop you?" Shu Yunwen replied casually. The kid immediately grabbed a strawberry from the fruit bowl and started eating. What a little glutton. No wonder he was so chubby.
With his hands behind his head, Shu Yunwen mulled over his current situation.
He'd spent the past month pondering it whenever he was awake, but even now, he still couldn't quite make sense of it.
He remembered that he should have died in the car accident. Yet, in a daze, he'd woken up—and, having taken over another person's body, he'd survived.
This was Japan, in the 1990s.
The guy whose body he'd "possessed" was also named Shu Yunwen. He was half Chinese and half Japanese; his father was Chinese, and his mother was Japanese.
Two years ago, the family of three had been on a trip. On their way home, they'd gotten into a car accident. His parents had died, and he'd been the only survivor. After lying unconscious for two years, Shu Yunwen had woken up. The body's original owner seemed to have left for good, leaving behind only a few scattered, incomplete memories.
Yes, that was right. Everything around Shu Yunwen felt unfamiliar.
Like Kojima Genji, who'd looked after him all this time; Genji's wife, Kojima Mie; and Kojima Genta, who was happily stuffing his face with fruit right beside him.
Well, those names did sound a little familiar, and Kojima Mie was even the younger sister of Shu Yunwen's biological mother. Still, he only had a vague impression of them.
Then there were Tsukamoto Kazumi, Seko Kunishige, and Mononobe Masao, who'd visited him earlier. They'd all said they'd been his high school classmates, but he couldn't remember any of them. Still, the girl named Tsukamoto Kazumi seemed quite pretty. And he had the feeling that his former self and Tsukamoto Kazumi had shared a rather unusual relationship.
Of course, not remembering wasn't a big deal. The doctors had said the car accident had caused gaps in Shu Yunwen's memory, so it was perfectly normal for him to have forgotten everything. And remembering his family at all was already pretty good. He could recover the memories he'd lost over time.
What about his plans for the future?
When Kojima Genji and Kojima Mie had chatted with Shu Yunwen earlier, they'd brought it up.
Genji and Mie wanted Shu Yunwen to return to school and go to college. Shu Yunwen, on the other hand, wanted to take over his late father's exorcism agency. That was right—his biological father had been a fake spiritualist. In Japan, people called that sort of thing exorcism or Onmyoji work, but it was all basically the same.
From the memories of his former self, Shu Yunwen could tell that his late father had been a complete fraud. He'd come to Japan illegally with a book on Maoshan Daoism and made a living with a few utterly useless talismans. Well, the reason his father had managed to marry his beautiful mother was that, while "exorcising" her, the fake spiritualist had ended up in bed with her...
In short, his biological father had been a con man.
That said, Shu Yunwen's late father had been pretty good at swindling people.
With his "useless" Daoist tricks and talismans, his father had somehow managed to fool plenty of big shots. He'd grown close to politicians, major financial groups, and other influential people. With their support, he'd built an exorcism agency with over fifty employees, becoming a prominent figure in the exorcism world. In fact, just a couple of days ago, a guy claiming to be a member of the Diet had come to visit Shu Yunwen.
Those were connections Shu Yunwen might be able to take over in the future.
Neither side had managed to convince the other about whether he should go back to school or take over the exorcism agency. In the end, they'd settled on a compromise: Shu Yunwen would return to school as normal, but he could continue running the agency in his spare time.
That was the compromise they'd settled on.
After all, Kojima Mie had been crying and pleading with him, and Shu Yunwen just couldn't take it!
She was the one who'd spent two years tirelessly caring for his body, and she was his only living blood relative. He couldn't bring himself to turn his back on her and do whatever he wanted.
With a creak, the hospital room door opened, and the doctor, Kojima Genji, and Kojima Mie walked in.
Mie spotted Kojima Genta stuffing his face and immediately went over to tug his ear. "Genta, those are a get-well gift from your Brother Yunwen's friend. How can you eat them?"
"Ow! My ear's coming off! My ear's coming off!" Kojima Genta yelped.
"Aunt Mie, I couldn't finish them, so I told him to eat them," Shu Yunwen hurriedly explained.
Only then did Mie let go of Genta. "Yunwen, I'm so sorry. Genta's been a bother."
"You don't have to apologize, Aunt Mie. I'm the one who's been causing you trouble."
Kojima Genta rubbed his ear beside them, looking like he'd "finally been rescued."
The doctor smiled. "Shu-san, your recovery over the past month has been nothing short of a miracle. Aside from being a little weak and needing rest, there's nothing wrong with you now. You can be discharged at any time."
Kojima Genji said seriously, "Yunwen, we've talked it over with Dr. Tanaka. You'll rest here for one more day. Tomorrow, Dr. Tanaka will give you another thorough examination, and then you can go home. Of course, you'll still need to come to the hospital for a checkup once a week..."
"I understand, Uncle Genji."
"Also, Yunwen, you'll need to prepare to return to school. Given your age, Genji and I think you should enroll in the second year at Teitan High School... You used to do very well in school and had even taught yourself the entire high school curriculum. Do you remember?" Mie asked with concern.
I was almost done with college in my past life, for crying out loud!
Shu Yunwen grumbled inwardly, but said, "I remember all of that."
He really did remember what his former self had learned.
"That's good." Mie nodded. "I'll contact Teitan High School and arrange your entrance exam. If your health is fine, you should be able to start school in about half a month."
"...Heh."
He'd been about to graduate from college, and now he had to go to high school in Japan. All Shu Yunwen could do was offer a "heh."
Dr. Tanaka said, "You can start studying again during this time, Shu-san, but don't overexert yourself."
"I understand. Thank you, Dr. Tanaka." Shu Yunwen thanked him.
Kojima Genji added, "You were unconscious for two years, Yunwen, so you've fallen out of touch with the world. It'd be best to read more newspapers and watch the news during this time."
"I understand, Uncle Genji."
Kojima Genji and Kojima Mie had other things to do, so they left first. Kojima Genta stayed behind to keep Shu Yunwen company.
After eating two more pieces of fruit, Kojima Genta went out for a while. Then he came back with a few newspapers and set them down in front of Shu Yunwen. "Brother Yunwen, these are today's papers. Dad said you should read more newspapers!"
"Uh..."
Shu Yunwen rolled his eyes.
What a little brat!
He picked up a newspaper and opened it. It was covered in Japanese text, but thanks to the memories he'd inherited from his former self, he could read it with ease.
The front-page headline was about a student.
"Kudo Shinichi, the Sherlock Holmes of the Heisei era, the savior of the police..."
Kudo Shinichi?
Shinichi?
Shinichi-kun?
Washing Machine?
What the hell was going on?
In his past life, he hadn't exactly been an anime fan, and he'd always fast-forwarded through the shows he watched. But even he knew the famous "Washing Machine"!
This was a character from the manga Detective Conan, for crying out loud!
Detective Conan, the most successful work by Gosho Aoyama, had been running for over twenty years and had countless fans and accolades...
And now, it seemed he'd transmigrated into the world of Detective Conan—
Are you kidding me?
Wait!
Shu Yunwen suddenly seemed to remember something. He turned to look at the little brat beside him...
Wasn't this kid named... Kojima Genta?
"Genta, do you know anyone named Ayumi?" Shu Yunwen asked.
At the same time, he kept muttering to himself, I don't know her. I don't know her...
Kojima Genta pulled his hand back from the banana. "Huh? You mean Yoshida? Yoshida Ayumi's my classmate and a good friend. But I don't think I've ever told you about Ayumi, Brother Yunwen. How do you know her?"
"Heh... I saw it in the anime." The corners of Shu Yunwen's mouth twitched.
Well, not only had he transmigrated into the world of Conan, but his cousin was also a member of the famous Junior Detective League.
You've got to be kidding me!
Kojima Genta didn't understand. "Anime? I like Kamen Yaiba best! Kamen Yaiba, transform! Boom, boom, boom..."
Boom, boom, boom...
Boom, boom, my ass!
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