Chapter 40: The Never-Defeated [Blank]
"But doing all this won't be easy — I need to do a lot of preventative work. I don't want to end up creating a bunch of electronic ghosts or demon programs on the net and become the era's network destroyer," Renji muttered.
"When Haibara escapes the Black Organization later, I'll let her research that stuff. With her brain, she'll be perfect for it," Renji added, more to himself than to anyone else.
Not long after Renji returned home, Professor Agasa's place had become noticeably livelier — it seemed Agasa had already picked up Conan and his family. Renji didn't need to be told; since he lived next door he could sense the household's movements well enough.
Sure enough, the next morning Renji could pick up Conan's complaints from school. Conan had indeed caught a cold after the previous night's events and was grumbling about what "gift" Renji had left him in exchange for that cold.
From Conan's half-formed mutterings, Renji pieced together the rest of the previous night: the staged wake-up, the conversation with his parents, and the careful agreement Conan had struck — that, for now, Renji would be described as another "victim" who had been threatened by the Organization and was helping Conan discreetly. How Yūsaku and Yukiko felt about it would be their private matter, Renji decided; as long as Ran stayed in town, Conan would remain here.
After school that afternoon, Renji quietly bought a few bottles of strong shōchū to leave at the agency — small medicine for a boy with a cough. It was nothing dramatic, just something to hand off to Conan later.
Then he opened his diary and wrote today's entry.
> Last night I ran into the protagonist of a certain series and had a delightful time messing with his head and interrogating him. I even left him a little surprise. I hope he's happy with it.
Also, I've been developing small devices that can help against vengeful spirits. They exorcise by consuming life energy. I'll distribute a few later — who gets them will depend on luck.
Yotsuya Miko, don't expect too much. Those tools depend on the wielder's life energy. Against powerful vengeful spirits your current life energy would barely make them sneeze. For you they'll mostly help detect spirits and clear out the small fry.
Black Cat — what did you think about my VTuber idea? Your voice and skill would suit that industry. If you debut, I might even sponsor you.
By the way, in your gaming circles there's a legend called [Blank]. I think you and Umaru have at least heard of the name. [Blank] supposedly sets records in multiple games and never loses — an urban legend of an unbeatable duo.
If what the diary says is true, [Blank] are actually siblings whose skill is beyond ordinary players. They were so dominant that a "God of Games" from another world noticed them and invited them into a world where life is governed by games. They won and were summoned to save that world.
I'm curious about them, so I plan to meet them eventually. Also — I might try to find that God of Games and ask whether gods have any idea why diaries like this appear. I don't want any weird savior duties forced on me; let me write my diary in peace for a few years, please.
Renji's casual diary-dropping sent the chat group into a frenzy. If [Blank] were real — and never defeated — then Black Cat and Umaru, both competitive gamers, had to know something, right?
Umaru: "I've heard of [Blank] but never played them. I thought they were a pro guild. That they're siblings? So cool!"
Black Cat: "I only know the name. People say [Blank] only appears in online competitive games and never in arcade scenes — so a lot of players suspected cheating."
The group's gaming experts were disappointed when neither Umaru nor Black Cat could claim a match against [Blank]. Just then, a quiet member who rarely spoke up chimed in.
NO NAME (Hinata Aoi): "I fought [Blank]. When AttaFami came out I got absolutely crushed."
The group buzzed, and everyone searched for AttaFami — a popular online fighting game that had sold over a million copies in Japan and produced countless high-level match videos. Umaru admitted she had climbed to the top fifty on the ladder for a while, but stopped to play other titles. She tagged NO NAME and asked whether the top slot "nanashi" was really [Blank].
NO NAME quickly clarified: nanashi wasn't [Blank]. Nanashi had earned the top through hard work and losses; NO NAME had been second and believed they could overtake nanashi with a week of spending Reading Value to boost gaming performance. But [Blank], NO NAME said, was different — they'd appeared suddenly, blasted to the number-one spot with a perfect record, stayed undefeated for two weeks, and then vanished. NO NAME had personally played against them twice and described the experience like fighting a flawless machine.
Black Cat, impressed and a touch awed, asked whether the duo had been one player or two. NO NAME said it didn't matter — different matches could have been handled by either sibling. The forum rumor was that their account ID was literally blank: a space character only, which made people suspect technical tricks or cheating.
Several members volunteered to trace the duo's trajectory. Umaru even challenged NO NAME to an AttaFami match.
Kasumi Utaha popped in to steer the chat back to the diary's bigger alarms. "Let's not be distracted. The diary mentioned gods from other worlds pulling people to save theirs. Reincarnation, vengeful spirits, exorcists, gems that grant immortality — our world is in chaos."
Kaguya added, practical as ever: "I'll look into [Blank}, but the diary didn't give many leads. For now the gods and that duo don't change our daily lives, though the diary also mentioned 'the duty of a Transmigrator.' We should prepare mentally; I'm also saving Reading Value. Shitamachi Kamubo taught a simple cultivation method I can use with 50 Reading Value to merge different systems. It'll take a month at current rates."
Miko said she'd save Reading Value too — for her, just holding the diary kept the spirits from noticing her, so she could wait.
The new fusion function excited everyone. If Reading Value could merge power systems, it might allow combining Ripple with spiritual cultivation — something normally very difficult. But 50 Reading Value was a lot; most members agreed to hoard it.
While the girls fretted over Reading Value, Conan's night had seen other progress. Despite his cold, he had explained his situation to his parents and managed to secure their consent to let him stay in Japan. That evening, disguised by Yukiko, he returned to the Mouri Detective Agency. Kogoro grumbled initially but cheered up when handed a check. Ran was relieved and happy to have Conan back; she still suspected something odd but for now accepted things as they were.
Conan decided he would not tell Ran his real identity yet — not until he learned more from Renji. He resolved to use the tranquilizer watch less, and at the same time to pay attention to whether suspects might have been influenced by vengeful spirits.
"I'll have to adapt," he murmured. "No detective before me has ever seen this kind of thing."
Later, preparing for bed, Conan felt a gentle tug at his ankle. He looked down and saw the familiar brown mouse.
"Jerry?"
The mouse nodded and waved.
Conan glanced around to make sure Ran and Kogoro were asleep, then bent down. Jerry hopped onto his palm, tiny and warm, and seemed to gesture that there was one more thing to discuss. Conan closed his eyes for a moment and accepted that the world he knew had broadened in ways he could not yet measure.