On the other side of the parallel world, the news of the conclusion of the latest special chapter of the Police Academy Arc swept from the manga homepage and comment section all the way to major social platforms at an unprecedented speed.
The discussion volume related to the chapter "The Fatal Game of Halloween" surpassed that of the previous highest-trending "Graduation Ceremony" chapter within a few hours of its release, even climbing to number one on the trending list of the online manga platform.
In particular, keywords with an extremely high screen-refreshing rate like #Kuno Nozomu Died in the Line of Duty#, #Police Academy Group Unresolved Regret#, and #Mysterious Bomb Culprit# made those readers who originally only focused on the main manga and never cared about spin-off works unable to resist paying attention to a question.
"Who is Kuno Nozomu?"
It was just a short manga telling the story of Furuya Rei's police academy days, which by right should be filled with youthful, hot-blooded daily stories, but the overwhelming wailing and defense-breaking comments on the homepage really made people feel bewildered.
"No way, is it worth crying like this?"
"Aren't these kinds of spin-off works all supposed to be relaxed and heartwarming?"
"This is Conan after all, it's nothing rare for a person to die."
Carrying different thoughts, many passers-by who didn't know the truth slightly spent some time catching up on the manga out of curiosity, and the result was as expected—they were dumbfounded by the knife.
However, compared to these passers-by, those old readers who had been chasing the serialization from beginning to end felt much more heartache.
They watched the six people go from strangers to familiar friends, watched the six people play around together and fight side by side, and watched the six people make the promise that "not a single one can be missing," taking a photo together closely under the ginkgo tree.
And now, this promise was completely broken.
No one anticipated that the black-haired, red-eyed youth would exit suddenly in such a tragic way.
"We clearly agreed to walk on together... now one person is missing forever..."
"Why do I have to be knifed like this in a Halloween special?? What I wanted to see was a cute dress-up party!"
"Author, you have no heart!! I cried until the neighbors called the police, wailing."
"Usually calling him Nozomu-chan every day... now he really became 'remains' (sadness)."
"The one upstairs, shut up, wailing! I'm not listening, I'm not listening."
"Detestable crow mask, killing you a thousand times is still not enough!!"
"Return Nozomu to me, ahhh! Don't use friendship knives to kill me (tears)."
"It really feels like such an unresolved regret, he originally should have had a beautiful and happy future..."
"Reasonably suspecting he was forced to go offline because his combat power was too much of a bug."
"Eh? The appearance score is so high, to think he died so early, no wonder he wasn't seen in the main story."
Countless bullet comments and reviews refreshed like snowflakes, letting more and more passer-by readers understand the story of the "Police Academy Group of Six," and also making the search index for the name "Kuno Nozomu" continuously increase.
Asano Mei curled up on the sofa of her apartment browsing the forum, staring at the screen absentmindedly.
After catching up on the special chapter on the train earlier, her mood had fallen into a low valley and she hadn't recovered from it all this time.
Perhaps only people who also lost their favorite character overnight could feel the same empathy as Mei. "Everything, just like this... ended?"
As the ace member of the art club and a veteran artist in the fan group, she was clearly still producing funny fan art of the police academy group last week, and clearly still arguing with friends yesterday over topics like "whether Nozomu will have an official pairing in the future"...
How did those vivid, bright daily lives suddenly... vanish into thin air?
Asano Mei bit her lip, a burst of sourness in her heart. She clicked open the group chat and found that "Did the Police Academy Group of Six frame together today" had already exploded.
After developing for so long, this group was already no longer the scale of only three people at the beginning. Many readers who loved the group of six joined in, often chatting idly, shipping pairings, or analyzing the plot in the group.
1L [Overbearing Kuno Falls in Love with Me]
Everyone... I just read the special chapter several times, and I still can't believe this is true...
2L [Don't Want Bento Box or Anything]
I don't accept it!!! (crying hard) This is absolutely fake, right? There will be a reversal in the next chapter, right?
3L [This Touko is a Bit Sweet]
It seems there is no next chapter anymore... (screenshot) Look, guys, the last frame is Touko swearing to avenge Nozomu, there is no other content.
4L [Hiromitsu Cat Breeder]
Wailing, too cruel... Hiro must be so sad!
5L [Did Hagiwara Kenji Escape Being Single Today]
The most painful thing is that Nozomu was still regretting that he couldn't celebrate birthdays together with everyone at the end... (screenshot) Also, Hagi kept holding the charred police badge tightly, luckily Matsuda made him cheer up in the end.
6L [This Touko is a Bit Sweet]
Before, some people kept saying Nozomu was a hidden villain or something, now that the special chapter is out, they don't dare make a sound. Sigh, didn't think the old thief would really strike so ruthlessly... During the vote in the forum last time, guessing who would pack a bento box, those who chose Hagiwara were still more than those who chose Nozomu. Seriously, will someone else in the group of six die later on?
7L [Did Hagiwara Kenji Escape Being Single Today]
Don't! Already lost one, don't continue to hurt the others!!
8L [Childhood Friends are Good Civilization]
The most knifing thing is the wish Hiromitsu made... "Hope these kinds of days can continue forever"... as a result, two weeks later...
9L [Don't Want Bento Box or Anything]
(tears in eyes) I still want to see them eat hotpot together!
10L [Overbearing Kuno Falls in Love with Me]
(screenshot) (screenshot) The close-up of Nozomu looking out at the night view five seconds before the explosion is beautiful to the point of causing heartbreak. Who understands this invincible white moonlight atmosphere...
11L [Hiromitsu Cat Breeder]
Seriously speaking, that bomb culprit absolutely has a relationship with the organization, right?! The crow mask man who toys with people's hearts... definitely a code-named member, no doubt!
12L [This Touko is a Bit Sweet]
It's also possible it's a bad woman like Vermouth... I feel it doesn't look like the organization's style instead, aren't the bad things they do all for profit? This person is just for fun, (screenshot) look, that guy said "played very happily" at the end, completely a pleasure criminal!
13L [Overbearing Kuno Falls in Love with Me]
Speaking of which, there's still a bit of resemblance to Nozomu... ah, spit spit spit! How can that kind of perverted eccentric be compared with my husband!
14L [Don't Want Bento Box or Anything]
Say, you guys, is there any possibility that Nozomu is still alive? Like being taken away by some mysterious organization? Or faking death?
15L [Author, Be a Human Being]
Even body fragments came out, and there's still a reversal? The old thief drew it so clearly, it's just to sell the knife blades to explosion (lighting a cigarette.jpg).
16L [Don't Want Bento Box or Anything]
DNA replacement or something is also possible, right? By the way, with Nozomu's superhuman physical fitness, why didn't he make it to run to the elevator at that time? Feels like a plot kill.
17L [Overbearing Kuno Falls in Love with Me]
To make a choice between life and death in such a short time, anyone would find it hard to react, right? It's also possible he had misgivings that the third bomb would be detonated, hesitating a bit more.
18L [Author, Be a Human Being]
In the end, there was no other bomb at all... (blood pressure soaring.jpg)
19L [Childhood Friends are Good Civilization]
Heavens, knifed to the limit, can someone give me a bite of food from an IF line? I want to see the plot of future Nozomu dining together with the other five after becoming a senior police commissioner (crying hard).
Seeing here, Mei originally wanted to reply with something, but unexpectedly received a private message.
"This is..."
[Gojo-sama is the Treasure of the World]:
...Sorry, Mei, I shouldn't have said before that Nozomu was a substitute for Gojo-sama. He died to protect his companions, he is the unique Kuno Nozomu, our hero.
Asano Mei froze. "Kako..."
She couldn't help the bridge of her nose turning sour, shedding tears once again.
A few minutes later, Mei packed up her mood and quietly returned to her room. She took a deep breath and turned on the digital tablet. Her finger hovered above the stylus, the cold light of the screen reflecting on those eye sockets that were still turning red.
"If... Nozomu is still there ten years later..."
She brought up the manga cover as a reference, the pen tip falling slowly to make the first line. Her pen tip seemed to be injected with life, completing a whole drawing in one go, the lines incredibly smooth.
In the center of the picture was Kuno Nozomu ten years later. He was wearing a smart senior police commissioner uniform, a completely undamaged cherry blossom police badge pinned to his chest, the slightly upturned corner of his mouth still carrying a youth-like sharpness, only adding a bit of a mature and steady temperament.
Beside him, Furuya Rei and Morofushi Hiromitsu raised their glasses to celebrate, Matsuda and Hagiwara put their arms around each other's shoulders, and Date Wataru held a toothpick in his mouth, grinning.
[To dear Officer Kuno— No matter where you are, please definitely be happy.]
The moment she clicked post, she wiped her eyes. "This is more like it..."
At least, in my story, you never left.