Chapter 180: The Soon-to-be-Activated Movie World
The first "fun" the God of Joy left on him? And who was he, truly?
Facing these two questions, Karasuma XX felt adrift in confusion. But his bewilderment went unanswered, as the majestic Blood-Giant withdrew its gaze.
The despairing cage returned to its former darkness. However, it was slightly better than before; Karasuma's budding madness had been temporarily suppressed. Regardless of His reasons, the God of Fun had manifested before him, and though He offered no salvation, He had provided hints.
Karasuma XX pondered intensely. The first question was secondary; the second was vital, for the answer seemed obvious.
The so-called "Mysterious Boss" of the Distillery, the "Second Generation" heir to that Lord's will—it was all a sham. It was a persona bestowed upon him by the Evil God Shinichi Kudo to sustain His game. Strip away that mask, and the being named Karasuma XX was nothing. One could even question if he qualified as a "human." He was merely a dream-bubble whose memories could be overwritten at whim—a stage puppet who existed only because the script demanded it!
Yet Karasuma was certain the God's hints weren't mere mockery. They had a deeper meaning. (Of course, it was possible the God just wanted to watch him suffer through useless overthinking, but Karasuma dismissed that immediately; such a thought offered zero help to his current situation.)
In this dead end, he had to grasp even an illusory straw. He set the second question aside and focused on the first.
"Have I met the God of Fun before? What 'fun' did He have with me? Karasuma, remember! REMEMBER!"
Knowing his memories were unreliable, Karasuma nonetheless scoured them for traces. His thinking bore fruit. At the end of the previous world line, when Gin had carried the Distillery's providence to snipe Shinichi Kudo, Karasuma's Stand had been summoned as a buff for Gin. In that moment, a "hole" had appeared in Karasuma's memory. When his memory resumed, the world line had already been reshaped.
"What happened in that hole? Wake up! REMEMBER!"
He pushed against the fog of the "hole." His effort wasn't in vain, for he possessed the innate gift of a photographic memory—a trait likely given to him only to ensure he fulfilled his persona as a high-level Boss.
As he delved deeper, the mist thinned. Karasuma recalled something. A pain from behind... as if he had been ambushed. Then, a loss of consciousness. Before the dark claimed him, a gloomy, low voice had echoed. The exact words were fuzzy, but fragments remained...
"You're too boring..."
Karasuma's spirit soared. Upon hearing the word "boring," he knew this was the sacred moment the God of Fun first sought amusement in him.
Next came the sound of a chainsaw tearing through flesh and bone. Recalling this triggered a wave of phantom pain. Evidently, the God's method of seeking fun was brutal. But Karasuma didn't care; he kept digging. Soon, the gloomy voice echoed clearly in his memory:
"The grand Shadow Boss of the Distillery is just a generic guy who inherited a name? Boring. Let's add some spice. How should I mod him? Ah, I have it! First, a blessing: I'll add a divine power to his right hand to automatically cook and launch instant ramen. We'll call it the God's Instant Ramen Right Hand. That'll give Shinichi Kudo a shock..."
Karasuma XX froze. He slowly lifted his mangled right hand and pointed it forward.
A few seconds later, several half-cooked noodles, accompanied by lukewarm broth, shot from his fingertips!
Karasuma went from expressionless to a look of total bewilderment (囧).
The good news: he could solve his hunger and thirst without the chair. The bad news: the God of Fun was even more twisted than he imagined.
But he didn't give up. He felt a God wouldn't stop at just a noodle dispenser. Sure enough, more memories surfaced:
"Left and right must be symmetrical. What should go in the left hand? Got it! Ramen needs ham sausage. I'll grant your left hand the power to automatically produce ham sausages..."
"What else? Fine, two blessings are enough. I'll give your right leg a curse. I curse you to become a total monster—cursed by light, able only to dwell in darkness, ageless and immortal, living on blood..."
"Wait, ramen and sausage aren't enough. Needs nutrition. I'll grant your left leg the power to grow vegetable leaves when you stomp. Meat, veg, and protein—that's a healthy meal..."
"I wonder what face this boring guy will make when he wakes up modded like this. I can't wait!"
Karasuma XX now had a deeper understanding of the God watching him from across time. Three blessings and one curse. The blessings were filler—the ability to summon a balanced meal was nonsensical. But the curse had a deeper purpose.
Armed with this knowledge, his pulped flesh began to writhe. The surrounding darkness huddled around him, accelerating his recovery until his body restored itself to human form!
"Modding me into a supernatural creature like a vampire... that was the first 'fun.' But what does it mean? Is it related to the second question?"
Karasuma fell into deep thought. Who am I, truly?
On the other side of time and space, in a higher dimension, the Blood-Giant—who was still watching Karasuma despite withdrawing his direct gaze—let out a "Tsk."
Even as God, Mo Yu had to admit he occasionally miscalculated. At the end of the last world line, he had modded Karasuma into a vampire for a simple reason: Conan was a Stand User, so he needed a Vampire Arch-Villain as a rival (a Dio to his JoJo).
But in the new world line, Mo Yu discovered the world's true style was a divine war between two Eternal Gods. In that context, a simple vampire mod wasn't "intense" enough. Worse, Karasuma had been so bound by his "Shadow Boss" script that he remained muddled and never noticed his own anomaly, rendering Mo Yu's efforts a waste.
But as God, a miscalculation was easily fixed. Stimulated by Conan's "Special Movie" plan, Karasuma had finally "woken up." Mo Yu immediately began targeted remediation.
However, Mo Yu was busy. He was currently fighting two other giants. With a hand-blade that tore through all things, he sent the radiant Light Demon (Conan) flying; with a punch of shockwaves, he blasted the pitch-black Giant of Light (Ichigo) back.
The Light Demon symbolized Conan; the Giant symbolized Ichigo. Mo Yu was currently suppressing both protagonists single-handedly.
Well, reality was a bit different. If one looked closely, all three giants appeared blurry and distorted. Their power was "for show"—their attacks were all generic "ki blasts" differing only in color (White, Black, and Red). The blasts were strong, but rigid, failing to reflect the true realms of the three entities.
The reason was simple: these weren't the true bodies. They were "Balloon Men" mappings. The Blood-Giant was so dominant only because Mo Yu's will had descended into his mapping, giving it a massive boost to rub the other two into the dirt.
The battle of the giants wasn't the point. The point was the "Ground" they walked on. As they clashed, the leaked radiance fell to their feet, birthing the world.
When Ichigo had peered into the future, he thought they were fighting across a timeline. He was wrong. The giants weren't moving through time; rather, "Past," "Present," and "Future" scenes were being birthed beneath their feet. This was Genesis.
The true driver of this creation wasn't God or the King of Purity, but Conan. It was driven by his Protagonist Power. When Conan made his "Time Travel" plan, Destiny struck the bell of the Great Dao. The three giants were born to act as the "Civil Engineers" of this Movie World, as well as its first batch of NPCs.
Since Conan wanted to go to the "Past," a "Past" world had to exist. That "Past" required a "Past Conan"—the Balloon Man Light Demon fulfilled that role.
Normally, the Light Demon would be enough to sustain this world. But since Conan hadn't reclaimed his true form or mastered his authority, complications arose. Ichigo was a factor Conan didn't fully comprehend—his existence is power. Since Conan hadn't rejected Ichigo's company for the trip, Ichigo gained a seat in the Movie as a Balloon Man NPC. And Mo Yu, the God of Crime, was the inevitable shadow to Conan's light—a destined bond.
Genesis by committee had its advantages—the world was more robust—but the giants had conflicting ideas. The Light Demon (Conan) wanted a 1:1 replica of Beika "ten years ago," complete with complex cases to solve. The Giant of Light (Ichigo) didn't care for details; he wanted everyone to be "intense." Under his blessing, every citizen—man, woman, and child—would be a muscular brawler who barked: "You should have messed with a tiger before you messed with me!"
The two clashed violently. The world shifted with every punch. Mo Yu, the God of Crime, hadn't expected his first Genesis project to involve such internal bickering. He sighed, rolled up his sleeves, and joined the fray to beat some sense into them.
Under Mo Yu's "Criminal Fist," a compromise was reached.
The time node: Post-War Japan. The center: Beika Town. Cases would drive the plot (Conan's wish), but there would be a glorious, bone-crunching Kengan Match tournament (Ichigo's wish).
And Mo Yu had his own demands. Heavenly Media Bible, Chapter 2 (Conan), Verse 1: "The Lord said: All is void, only Fun is eternal. Let the play begin!"
As the powers of the three creator-gods merged, Karasuma XX's brain began to receive those strange memories. Though the Movie World wasn't finished, its nature as the "Past Arc" allowed it to infect the "Present Arc."
Karasuma's memories shifted. Gin and Vodka set out for a time machine. Conan and Ichigo "drew" the blueprints. Even Inspector Megure began to recall "legends" of old Beika. Destiny was marching toward the node.
Mo Yu wouldn't stop Conan's plan. It was the protagonist's first tailor-made project to solve everything. But Mo Yu had a plan for Karasuma XX.
The second hint he gave Karasuma was vital. In this forming Movie World, countless souls were manifesting. They didn't know they were born a minute ago; they followed the script of their lives. They were actors.
Mo Yu, the director of a blockbuster, wanted perfection. The extras were set, but the leads were still open. Karasuma XX could be any character he wanted—this was Mo Yu's "patch." In the "Present Arc," Karasuma was useless. In the "Past Arc," he had potential.
But Karasuma had to figure it out first. The first "fun" buried in him was part of "Moriarty." True evil isn't an impulse; it's a resolve. Karasuma had to find the part of himself that resonated with "Moriarty" to earn his ticket to the Past.
And Mo Yu wanted more than just Karasuma. He reached out with his will to influence the "Present Arc" and etch a pre-determined result:
Professor Agasa will build a Time Machine, but the moment it starts, it will explode.
That explosion would produce a very... interesting effect.
End of Chapter
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