What Era Is It, Still Writing Traditional Diaries

It was as if Tom had installed some sort of surveillance device on him; the moment he caught a slight cold, the other party had Jerry come over to deliver something.

Conan mused to himself, but his feet didn't hesitate. He led Jerry directly to the law firm's entrance, where he found a small bottle filled with a transparent liquid.

There wasn't much inside, perhaps only a hundred or two hundred milliliters.

Jerry handed the bottle directly to Conan and then stood by, looking expectant, as if waiting for him to drink the medicine.

Conan was wary of this unknown liquid.

He had originally intended to open the bottle, take a sniff, and then hand it over to Professor Agasa for research, to see if he could determine the liquid's composition.

However, as soon as he opened the cap and brought the bottle to his nose, before he could even smell anything, he saw arcs of light, like lightning, erupt from Jerry in front of him and surge towards him.

This time, however, its target wasn't some vengeful spirit, but the bottle of liquid in his hand!

Even though Conan had sensed something was wrong, his speed was still far too slow compared to Jerry.

Under the influence of the mysterious power emanating from Jerry, he felt his mouth begin to open uncontrollably.

The next moment, he had already drunk the entire bottle of unknown liquid.

It was only after he had finished the entire bottle that Conan felt a burning sensation in his throat and finally smelled the residual alcohol from the bottle.

"Tom sent me a bottle of alcohol and specifically asked Jerry to hand it to me personally. What exactly does that guy mean by this?"

Chapter Seventy-Seven: A Startling Change

In response to Conan's reaction, Jerry took out a pre-prepared small piece of paper and handed it to him.

Conan, already feeling a bit unwell, felt his head swim even more after drinking the alcohol.

However, the amount of alcohol wasn't enough to make him pass out completely, so he still understood what Jerry meant.

He opened the paper, which contained a line of printed text. It was impossible to discern the handwriting.

The content of the note was simple: he was to go back to his room and get a good night's sleep. By the time he woke up tomorrow, his cold should be gone, and if he was lucky, his body might undergo some surprising changes.

Surprising changes?

Conan frowned slightly. He had heard of medicinal wines before, but he had never heard of drinking alcohol to treat a cold.

However, since it was Tom's decision, he decided to follow his wishes for now. He would likely understand what changes would occur by the time he woke up tomorrow morning.

At the same time, he didn't forget to put the bottle away. After all, there was still a little alcohol left, and he could still ask Professor Agasa to help analyze it.

After putting the bottle away, Conan returned to the house.

He wasn't worried about Ran discovering that he had just drunk alcohol. After all, Uncle Mouri was currently in his room celebrating the 10 million yen check his mother had given him, and the room was already filled with the smell of alcohol. A little bit of alcohol scent on him shouldn't attract Ran's attention.

Ran indeed didn't notice anything unusual about Conan. She was still chattering away, scolding her father for drinking too much that day, and then she took Conan to take a bath with her.

Conan initially wanted to refuse, but he eventually relented.

Half an hour later, Conan emerged from the bathroom with a flushed face, looking as if the water temperature had been a bit too high.

Ran didn't seem to notice anything amiss, but Conan vaguely felt a strange stirring within his body.

Could the medicinal wine's effects already be kicking in?

Conan nervously returned to Ran's bedroom. He usually slept in the same bedroom as Uncle Mouri, but since Uncle Mouri had drunk too much today, Ran had let him sleep in her room for the night.

Conan had only intended to lie down on the futon prepared on the floor and ponder the strange stirring he had just felt.

However, after their "brief separation," Ran was now quite interested in his parents' situation and kept probing him about his family.

Conan could only recount the identity he and his parents had agreed upon, supplementing it with some fabricated details.

Ran didn't become suspicious. She simply felt that Conan was a truly unfortunate child. She also completely failed to notice that the temperature in the room seemed to have risen slightly compared to before.

At this moment, she was still contemplating how to improve the relationship between Conan and his parents.

But Conan had no such thoughts at the moment.

He was the one who could most clearly feel the changes in his body.

During the bath, his heart had been racing due to nervousness, and he hadn't thought much of it then.

But after finishing his bath and his mood gradually calmed down, he realized that his heartbeat showed no signs of slowing down and was actually accelerating.

Even his body temperature was steadily rising. Sweat had already broken out on him. If someone were to measure his temperature now, he felt it would already exceed 40 degrees Celsius.

Is this the effect of the medicinal wine? For such a small bottle, the effect is too significant!

Conan gritted his teeth, trying not to make a sound, but his gradually deepening breaths caught Ran's attention on the bed.

Ran had been talking to Conan about his parents when she suddenly felt that something was wrong with Conan, who was sleeping on the floor.

She curiously leaned over and saw Conan, drenched in sweat, clutching his chest and gasping for breath, his eyes already unfocused.

"Hey, Conan, what's wrong?" Ran, thinking Conan was having a sudden illness, quickly reached out to touch his forehead and immediately realized that his entire body was burning hot.

So hot! This is definitely more than 40 degrees. Even the hot water from our shower earlier wasn't as hot as Conan is now!

This situation was completely beyond the understanding of an ordinary high school student like Ran. She quickly reached for her phone to call for an ambulance.

But for some reason, the emergency number was busy all evening. She tried calling several times without success.

"Conan, I'll go find a doctor nearby for you right now!" Ran said, getting up quickly to find a doctor at a nearby clinic.

Conan wanted to stop Ran, but at this moment, he couldn't even speak a complete sentence. He could only watch as Ran changed her clothes, preparing to go out.

At this moment, he even thought he had returned to the day he was force-fed the poison by the man named Gin.

Wait?

The feeling of being force-fed the poison?!

Could that Tom have fed him another dose of that APTX4869? If his body were to regress again, wouldn't he turn into an infant who had just been born?

Conan thought that Tom wouldn't do something like that, but the next moment, he suddenly felt his own soaked pajamas suddenly become tight.

This change made his eyes widen, and an unimaginable emotion surged in his heart.

Could it be that his current situation wasn't about shrinking, but about returning to his original form?

What exactly did that Tom give him to drink?

If it were before, this would indeed be a surprising change.

But now Ran was by his side. If he were to revert to his original appearance at this moment, wouldn't his identity be completely exposed?

However, what was more important now was that he absolutely couldn't let Ran go out to call a doctor. Otherwise, if those doctors saw him restored to his original appearance, everything would be impossible to conceal!

Under these circumstances, his return to his original form was completely a shocking change!

Thinking of this, Conan didn't know where he got the strength from. He directly reached out and grabbed Ran's pant leg as she was preparing to go out, forcing her to stop her movement.

"Conan, what are you doing..." Ran, who was full of anxiety, was suddenly pulled and became a little angry. She turned her head, intending to scold Conan properly and tell him to lie down and not move around.

But it was only then that she suddenly noticed that Conan's appearance seemed to have changed quite a bit from before.

If Conan was previously a child less than a meter tall, then the current Conan looked like a big kid in the fifth or sixth grade.

His pajamas, which were quite loose on him before, now looked somewhat comical on him because they were too tight?

But what was even more unbelievable was Conan's gaze towards her, which instantly reminded her of the young man who had disappeared before her for a month or two.

"Shin... Shinichi?" She looked at the boy in front of her with some astonishment, feeling like her brain was completely overloaded.

Chapter 78: That Tom Guy Was Actually Quite Nice

Ten minutes later, Shinichi Kudo, wrapped in a blanket, was explaining to Ran with a sweat-covered forehead.

He hid nothing, from the reason his body had shrunk, to his plan to hide in the Mouri family, to the Black Organization, and even that his mother who picked him up yesterday was his real mother, Yukiko Kudo, in disguise.

Even the matter of Tom was explained as a collaborator seeking revenge against the Organization, just as they had discussed beforehand.

Although he wasn't prepared for this at all beforehand, being screwed over by Tom to this extent, he naturally couldn't keep up the pretense anymore. He could only honestly explain everything to Ran to gain her forgiveness.

To be honest, after he started speaking, he felt like everything had become much easier.

He no longer had to deceive Ran, and in the future, he wouldn't have to worry about his identity being suspected by Ran.

If there was any regret, it was probably that he couldn't bathe with Ran anymore?

Shinichi Kudo quickly dismissed this thought.

No, now that he had returned to his original appearance, he couldn't live in the Mouri residence anymore. While their parents probably hadn't left Japan yet, why not ask his mother for a human skin mask to change his identity?

Back when he went to Hawaii with his dad to learn various skills, why didn't he think of learning his mom's craft as well? Otherwise, he wouldn't be in such a predicament now.

As for Ran, her emotions had also undergone a roller-coaster change within these ten minutes.

From initial anxiety, to shock, to anger after being deceived, and then to worry upon knowing the truth.

She could never have imagined that the two men in black she saw at the amusement park would be involved with a powerful transnational criminal organization, and that they had given him a poison that caused him to become like this.

She recalled that the day Conan appeared was indeed the day Shinichi Kudo disappeared.

Afterward, she had suspected something. After all, ever since Conan arrived, her father had suddenly become a famous detective and inexplicably gained the nickname "Sleeping Kogoro." Could there be something fishy about this?

But at that time, her suspicion was dispelled by the voice-changing bow tie invented by Professor Agasa.

Looking back now, all the changes in their home over the past few months were orchestrated by Shinichi Kudo after he had shrunk.

Ran, who had been worried about Shinichi getting into such big trouble, suddenly became angry again.

After all, she had been deceived for so long. If Shinichi hadn't suddenly felt unwell today, who knew how long it would have taken him to tell her about this.

Thinking that they had both been bathing together just now, Ran Mouri's hands clenched tightly. If Shinichi Kudo hadn't still been sweating profusely, she probably would have hit him on the spot.

Shinichi Kudo, who had returned to his original appearance, nervously watched Ran's hand gripping the cup, afraid she would squeeze too hard and shatter the cup.

After a long while, feeling that Ran had likely calmed down, Shinichi Kudo continued to explain to Ran, using reassurances and playing the victim to finally appease Ran.

After calming down, Ran Mouri then asked Shinichi Kudo about his current situation again.

"So, have you found the antidote now?"

Confirming that Ran was finally on board, Shinichi Kudo wiped his forehead and then shook his head. "I'm not too sure. This was all given to me by that Tom. I initially thought it was medicine for my cold."

He clenched his fist and could feel that he was still very weak. He even had a vague feeling that he had only temporarily returned to his original form.

Just then, there was a sudden knocking sound from Ran's bedroom window, which startled Ran greatly.

After all, this wasn't the first floor. Who would come knocking on her window?

Shinichi Kudo keenly sensed that it should be Jerry's voice and immediately told Ran to open the window and see.

Ran gave Shinichi Kudo a somewhat suspicious glance, but trusting him, she carefully did as he asked.

After opening the window, she saw a note placed on the windowsill. She looked around, but couldn't see anyone.

Ran quickly took the note and closed the window, then returned to Shinichi Kudo.

She hadn't discovered anything, but Shinichi Kudo had. Shortly after Ran turned away, Jerry's small head popped out from beside the window. It greeted him with a wave and then made a gesture of farewell, as if its task for the night was complete.

Judging by Jerry's expression, it seemed only curious about his current situation, without any particular surprise. It appeared to have expected this.

"It's a note, and it looks like there's quite a bit written on it," Ran said, glancing at Shinichi Kudo. After confirming it was okay, she opened the note.

"I wonder how you feel about the gift I gave you. Although there's still resistance to it, and the duration probably won't last too long, it should be a pleasant surprise for you.

The next time we meet, I'll tell you what you drank today. However, I suspect that since your Ran sister already knows your identity, you probably won't be in such a hurry to become Shinichi Kudo again until the Organization is dealt with."

Ran read the note with a puzzled expression and then looked at Shinichi Kudo in front of her.

Shinichi Kudo sighed helplessly. The note had clearly been prepared in advance, and his reaction after drinking that liquor was entirely within the other party's expectations.

Tom's personality was truly terrible.

He had previously suggested that Shinichi Kudo come clean to Ran, but he was still hesitating. The other party had obviously seen that he wasn't ready for it and had decided to take matters into their own hands, giving him a push from behind.

The current situation was exactly as the other party had said; his parents and Ran now knew about his situation.

To avoid drawing attention, he indeed didn't need to rush to become Shinichi Kudo again.

"This is the partner I mentioned to you. He was the one who suggested I tell you the truth. I was planning to find a suitable opportunity, but I didn't expect that guy to pull a stunt like this. It's such a waste of a precious antidote to use it now," Shinichi Kudo said with a wry smile, recounting the suggestion the other party had made to him.