Chapter 111: Movie-watching style? No, it's live-streaming style.
[six]
The world of the original work.
Before the live stream started, Furuya Rei had the police investigate the apps on his phone, but strangely, everyone else—including his subordinate Kazami Yuuya—said it was just an ordinary food app (incidentally, the latest recommendation they saw was coffee jelly).
Kazami Yuuya also subtly reminded him that his sleep quality hadn't been very good lately. Furuya Rei's lips twitched. He wasn't stupid and quickly realized that Kazami Yuuya really meant to ask him how his mental state was.
Furuya Rei didn't think the police would play such a joke on him, so he didn't let them get involved and decided to find the problem himself before solving it.
There is another group of people who share the same predicament—simply put, they are the counterparts of all the people that Morofushi Sora'aki met in the other world.
People like Akai Shuuichi and Edogawa Conan, who need to hide their identities, react similarly to Furuya Rei: they are vigilant and wary.
However, for people like Mouri Ran and Suzuki Sonoko, their first reaction was that their phones were infected with a virus, but after trying to delete it, they were at a loss.
The easygoing Suzuki Sonoko didn't care at all, but the sensitive Mouri Ran was a little worried, only to be comforted by her friend.
In short, in this atmosphere, after the little red dot for the live stream was lit up, they all made the same choice after hesitating and pondering.
Rather than keeping people on edge about the unknown, it's definitely better to turn the "unknown" into the "known" so that they have a chance to find a solution.
Then, they saw a youthful face that could still be described as immature.
[seven]
Suzuki Sonoko's reaction to seeing a handsome guy is always so genuine. Her first reaction was to hug her best friend and exclaim in surprise, "I thought some scary picture would pop up, but it's a handsome guy with cat eyes!"
"You should have said so earlier! I was so worried!"
Mouri Ran was utterly exasperated: "Sonoko—"
Unlike their reactions, Furuya Rei and Akai Shuuichi were shocked and widened their eyes when they saw this face.
To be precise, one of them opened his eyes.
Fortunately, they are all alone now, so their reaction will go unnoticed.
The boy on the screen seemed to be a quiet person with a pair of blue earrings on his earlobes. His eyes, which were the same color, were upturned, making him appear particularly aloof. He even exuded an inexplicable air of delinquency.
After he introduced himself, the camera suddenly shook, and the boy on the screen looked up and said with displeasure, "Brother, don't move around."
"Sorry, sorry, I received a message—ah, Zero said he's coming." The screen still showed only the boy, but the voice of a mature man came from the phone.
Upon hearing those words, Furuya Rei froze completely. He was absolutely certain he wouldn't mistake that person's voice; he could never forget either the tone or the manner of speaking.
—Has his identity been exposed? Has someone found a recording of Hiro that wasn't properly cleaned up and used to create a fake voice? If he's really exposed, how should he retreat?
Despite these thoughts flashing through his mind, Furuya Rei kept his eyes glued to his phone screen, his hands trembling uncontrollably. Even if it was an illusion… he hadn't heard that voice in so long.
Edogawa Conan and Akai Shuuichi, who knew Amuro Tooru's identity as "Furuya Rei", immediately realized who the "Zero" the man was referring to, and immediately became worried about Furuya Rei's situation.
"Rei-nii?" The boy on the screen tilted his head. "Did my brother invite him?"
"No, he probably needs to talk to me about something." The man said with a smile, "Can Sora'aki do his own live stream for now? I'll contact him first."
"Okay." The boy took the phone, and the camera swung slightly; he wasn't very familiar with it yet, so the lens ended up very close to his face. Faced with such a close-up "beauty filter attack," Suzuki Sonoko immediately grabbed Mouri Ran's hand and let out a howl.
Once the camera was back in control, on the screen
The boy finally finished his self-introduction.
[eight]
"I am Morofushi Sora'aki, and I am 18 years old." Morofushi Sora'aki said. "This live stream is from another world. For various reasons, if you don't want to watch, you can simply turn it off. This is not mandatory."
Upon hearing his statement, Suzuki Sonoko, who was filled with fantasies about other worlds, immediately believed him, leaving Mouri Ran somewhat speechless. The others, however, who were more skeptical, decided to continue watching.
Morofushi Sora'aki blinked, thinking for a moment about what he should say: "But I don't think you guys will shut it down."
He stood up, causing the camera to shake slightly: "First, could you introduce my family background?"
"I am—no, I've already repeated that twice." Morofushi Sora'aki still didn't quite understand how to do a live stream, so he flipped the camera around, switching from a front-facing camera to a rear-facing one.
A cozy two-story Western-style suite was then presented to the people of this other world.
Morofushi Sora'aki's room wasn't messy like a boy his age—Morofushi Sora'aki said that was a stereotype—but rather exceptionally tidy, with his schoolbag hanging on a chair and a small, exquisite amulet on it.
There were no strange posters on the walls; it was just a clean and tidy room for a young boy.
Morofushi Sora'aki walked out with his phone in his hand: "These are my parents, but there doesn't seem to be any need to introduce them, since you don't know them."
The Morofushi couple, who were already prepared to greet them, were speechless.
Morofushi Taka'aki, who was working, finally had a short break. He sat down at his desk and took a sip of tea when he heard his colleague say to him, "Officer Morofushi, your phone just vibrated. Can you check if anyone is looking for you?"
"This is troublesome." Morofushi Taka'aki nodded in acknowledgment, picked up the phone that had been on the table, and noticed that the strange app had pushed a message. He pondered for a few seconds, but ultimately decided to open it.
Then, upon seeing the couple on the screen, and looking at those two familiar faces, Morofushi Taka'aki was stunned.
The Morofushi couple looked helpless: "Sora'aki, are you going out?"
"Yes, I need to find Miyano... Shiho." Under his family's tutelage, Morofushi Sora'aki finally stopped calling Miyano Shiho by her full name.
Hearing her own name mentioned, Miyano Shiho—Haibara Ai—was visibly startled. She pursed her lips as she watched the screen. No matter how you looked at it, it was just a typical high school student's livestream—if her name hadn't been mentioned, and if she hadn't been able to delete it before.
"Haha, Sora'aki and Shiho are such good friends." Mother Morofushi exclaimed.
At that moment, the camera focused on Morofushi Hiromitsu, who walked out from the side holding a phone. Morofushi Hiromitsu smiled and waved his hand, saying, "Zero needs to see me, so I'm going out now."
"Goodbye, brother." Morofushi Sora'aki waved while holding his phone.
Upon seeing the real Morofushi Hiromitsu, Furuya Rei took a deep breath, while Akai Shuuichi narrowed his eyes, his doubts and suspicions deepening.
[Morofushi Sora'aki walked out with his phone in his hand. This is probably the unique effect of a comedy manga. After only a few steps, Morofushi Sora'aki encountered Matsuda Jinpei and Hagiwara Kenji, who were walking side by side.]
Upon seeing Morofushi Sora'aki holding his phone, Hagiwara Kenji's eyes lit up: "Sora'aki-chan~ Good afternoon."
Matsuda Jinpei clicked his tongue: "Good afternoon, what are you doing?"
"These are Hagiwara Kenji and Matsuda Jinpei, but probably no one recognizes them, so I won't introduce them." said Morofushi Sora'aki.
"Huh?" This is Matsuda Jinpei.
"Eh—Is Kenji-chan really that unpopular in this other world?" This is Hagiwara Kenji.
"Please tell me more!" This was still Hagiwara Kenji.
"No, since it's a live broadcast, I'll just..." Matsuda Jinpei was interrupted by Morofushi Sora'aki before he could finish speaking.
"Okay, Hagiwara." Against the backdrop of Hagiwara Kenji's insistence on calling him "Hagiwara-nii" (older brother), Morofushi Sora'aki honestly stated, "Hagiwara, who single-handedly achieved..."
"He was offered a high salary by the host club owner, to stay as the top male host at the club."
Hagiwara Kenji: "..."
Matsuda Jinpei: "Pfft!"
Hagiwara Kenji was shocked: "Wait? When did I go to a host club... Wait?! Why am I dressed as a woman?!"
"That's something that will happen in the next four years, so please don't worry." said Morofushi Sora'aki, speaking in the voice of a prophet.
Hagiwara Kenji: "?!"
After Hagiwara Kenji finished, it was Matsuda Jinpei's turn.
Matsuda Jinpei: "Wait a minute? I'll pass, I don't need to..."
However, Morofushi Sora'aki had already spoken.
"This is Jin-...this is Matsuda. He has a minor girlfriend, and a three-year-old child and a seven-year-old child."
"Wait a minute? A three-year-old is one thing, but where did a seven-year-old come from?" Matsuda Jinpei was also shocked.
Morofushi Sora'aki: "I have a photograph."
As he spoke, Morofushi Sora'aki handed his phone, which was live-streaming, to Hagiwara Kenji, asking him to hold it for him. Then he took out his own phone, entered the password, and opened the relevant photo album.
Then he pointed his phone screen at the camera, and also at Hagiwara and Matsuda: "Look, a seven-year-old child."
The photo shows 7-year-old Matsuda Jinpei and Hagiwara Kenji, who were shrunk by Morofushi Sora'aki after their faction was reversed.
Matsuda Jinpei: "I'll let it go, but why is there another Hagi?"
Morofushi Sora'aki thought for a moment, then said seriously, "Because you played with a woman?"
Hagiwara Kenji: "..."
Matsuda Jinpei: "..."
Hagiwara Kenji covered his face: "Who taught you to say these things?! Jinpei-chan, you have to take responsibility!"
Matsuda Jinpei: "What does this have to do with me? If anyone should be responsible, it should be you!!"
Morofushi Sora'aki said in a serious tone, "Look, they've already started shifting the blame onto each other. I feel so sorry for them."
"Who's really suffering now?!" Matsuda Jinpei and Hagiwara Kenji, true to their childhood friendship, shouted in unison.
Looking at his lively classmates on the screen, Furuya Rei felt he should be gratified and moved, but why... couldn't he feel that emotion at all right now?
Furuya Rei thought to himself expressionlessly.
Please give me back the gratitude I felt.