World of the Great Detective

"Main Quest 1: [Find]. Quest reward: 500 Source Points. Failure carries no penalty."

"Quest objective: Find the Detective Agency and enter it within seventy-two hours."

"Main Quest 2: Unlocks after completing Main Quest 1."

Quest hint: "The Detective Agency in the World of the Great Detective is as common as hairs on an ox. You must find the right Detective Agency to complete the quest!"

Quest hint: "After accepting this quest, you can try asking the police for help. Surely they'll know who the great detectives are!"

Hint: "You can earn the following achievements in this world, including its extended worlds."

"Drunkard: You must drink fifty bottles of beer at the Detective Agency."

"Beauty Killer: You must have sex with at least one woman. (This cannot involve money or violence; it only counts if she consents.)"

"..."

"You lack the Contribution Points required to probe the other achievements."

"Unlock the corresponding title by earning its achievement."

"Each Adventurer can have multiple titles, but can equip only one at a time. Titles grant all kinds of special effects. In most cases, you cannot change titles after entering combat."

"Warning: From the moment you accept a quest, you may face great danger. Death in the Dimension is real death. But great risks also bring great opportunities. Adventurers must not reveal the Dimension's existence to any major character in the Dimension, whether intentionally or otherwise."

"Additional information: This is a peaceful scenario. If an Adventurer is killed, they will not drop any items. The digitized character information module is also active. Adventurers can check their personal attributes at any time through their Space Mark. Your appearance has been specially altered and will automatically return to normal when you return to the real world. You can also adjust your appearance in the Dimension. If you have any questions, think them and query them through your Space Mark. You will receive an answer if your clearance is high enough."

As Lin Maoxian listened to the long introduction, he summoned his character panel and checked his attributes.

Number: 258

Strength: 9 Agility: 12 Stamina: 7.5 Intelligence: 7.5 Charisma: 9 Perception: 10.5 Willpower: 10.5

Health: 75, recovers 7.5 health per minute

Energy: 75, recovers 7.5 energy per minute

Attack: 9

Defense: 7.5

Resistance to Abnormal Status: 10.5%

His attributes had indeed increased by half since the last time he had checked. He could feel that his body was in much better shape than before. He clenched his fist; it was stronger, and even his thoughts seemed clearer. As for the quest, he had no idea how to find and enter the Detective Agency, but given that the difficulty was marked easy, it probably wouldn't be too hard.

"Adventurer teleporting..."

Before he could react, everything went dark.

Ring! Ring!

Lin Maoxian woke to the shrill sound of a telephone. He quickly scanned his surroundings. He was in a Japanese-style room. He walked over to the desk and picked up the phone.

"Hello!"

"Hello, this is the hotel front desk. Are you the gentleman in Room 258? You have a package here."

"My package? All right, have someone bring it up."

"Of course. Sorry for the trouble. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"Um... could you get me a map?"

"Certainly. We're happy to help. Goodbye!"

He hung up and looked around carefully. It was a Japanese-style hotel room. A television sat on the table, with an old-fashioned VCR beneath it. The only other thing was a wardrobe. There was nothing else. He turned on the TV, but Action Mask was playing. He flipped through several channels, but they were all cartoons or romantic dramas. There wasn't a single bit of useful information.

Knock, knock, knock!

"Hello, I'm from Hakuba Express Company. I'm here to deliver a package. Is anyone there?"

Lin Maoxian went to the door and opened it. The courier was a young man around twenty-four or twenty-five.

"Hello, are you Mr. 258? This is your package. Please sign here." The young man handed him a pen.

Lin Maoxian took the pen and signed where the courier pointed.

"Hello, my surname is Lin. I'm from China and just arrived here. I wanted to ask, do you know any great detectives?" Lin Maoxian returned the pen, taking the opportunity to ask about his quest.

"Hello, Mr. Lin. My surname is Ikeda. As far as I know, Tokyo has the high school detective Kudo Shinichi, known as the Sherlock Holmes of the Heisei era, though I haven't heard anything about him in quite a while. Then there's the recently famous Mouri Kogoro, known as Sleeping Kogoro. Apparently, people gave him that nickname because he seems to be asleep when solving cases. Those are the two in Tokyo. I hear there's also a young great detective in the Kanto region." Ikeda took the pen and thought for a moment before answering.

"Thank you, Mr. Ikeda. What you told me was a great help."

"Don't mention it. I'm glad I could help. Well, if there's nothing else, I'll be on my way. I have other packages to deliver."

"Go ahead. Thanks again for your help. Goodbye!" Lin Maoxian watched Ikeda leave, then carried the package into the room and shut the door. He opened it and found some identification documents, including a visa and passport.

"The Dimension really thought of everything! From what Mr. Ikeda just said, I must be in the world of Detective Conan. The great detective I'm supposed to find must be him. He lives at the Mouri Detective Agency, so I just need to find that place to complete Main Quest 1. But there's no rush. More urgently, I need to get some money. There's no need to do anything illegal; getting caught in the world of the great detective could cause trouble. Luckily, I still have this jade pendant on me. I should be able to sell it for a lot." It was a fine piece of jade, said to date back to the Ming dynasty. Someone had once offered him a high price for it, but he had politely declined because he liked it so much. After thinking it over, he picked up his passport and other documents, tucked them away, and headed to the hotel front desk.

The receptionist was a pretty young woman. She was holding a map.

"Hello, is the map I asked for ready?"

"Hello, sir. Here's the map you requested." The receptionist handed it to him.

He took the map from her and looked over the addresses marked on it. Pointing to it, he asked, "Do you know where the detective agency of the great detective Mouri Kogoro is?"

The receptionist put a finger to her temple and tilted her face upward in thought. A moment later, she said, "The Mouri Detective Agency, Sleeping Kogoro's office? I only know it's somewhere in Beika Town. I don't know the exact address. I'm very sorry!"

Lin Maoxian looked at the receptionist's adorable expression and said, "It's nothing. I should be thanking you. Do you know of any famous jade shops in Beika Town?"

"A jade shop? The most famous one there is Jade Pavilion."

"Thank you for your help. I don't need the map anymore, so you can have it back." He handed it back to her, turned, and walked toward the hotel entrance.

"Take care, and we hope to see you again!"

As he walked down the street and watched the traffic go by, he hailed a taxi.

"Driver, sorry for the trouble, but could you take me to Jade Pavilion in Beika Town?"

Half an hour later, the car stopped in front of a large building.

After getting out, Lin Maoxian glanced at the attendants on either side of the entrance, then went inside.

"Hello, I'm Guangya Taizi. How may I help you?" Guangya Taizi approached with a smile. The customer was Chinese and dressed quite respectably. He was probably visiting Japan and had come to Jade Pavilion to buy jade as a souvenir. Perhaps she could close this sale and add another entry to her commission record.

Looking at the beautiful woman smiling at him, Lin Maoxian smiled and said, "Hello. I heard yours is one of the more famous jade shops in Beika Town. I wanted to ask if you buy jade. I have an antique jade piece I'd like to sell."

Guangya Taizi felt as if her heart had been struck by a heavy hammer. She had thought he'd come to buy jade, but instead he was here to sell it. There went another sale from her record. Still, her professionalism kept her smiling as she answered, "Yes, we have a department that specializes in buying jade. Please wait a moment while I get the manager."

"All right, go ahead."

Before long, Guangya Taizi returned with a short, portly, middle-aged man.

"Hello, I'm Inoue Nakao. Guangya tells me you'd like to do business with our shop." Inoue Nakao smiled at the young man before him. Antique jade was valuable merchandise. A top-quality piece could be worth tens of millions. This young man looked no older than twenty-five or twenty-six. How much experience could he have? Could he even tell genuine antique jade from the rest? If he didn't drive the price down and make a profit, even Amaterasu would disapprove.

Looking at the short, stout middle-aged man's fake smile, Lin Maoxian knew from years of experience that he planned to take advantage of his youth and push the price down. But he was being far too presumptuous. Dealing with a mere old man would be a piece of cake for him.