Chapter 54 That Classic Matter

Upon learning that both Mouri Ran and Conan had arrived, Suzuki Ayako asked Kurosaki Tamahana to help serve the lavish dinner on the table.

"Haru-chan, dinner is ready. Go call the older brothers and sisters down to eat!"

"Okay!"

Hearing Suzuki Ayako's words, Suzuki Harime put down his game controller, toddled over on his short little legs, ran up to the second floor, and knocked on the guests' bedroom doors.

Besides Mouri Ran and Conan, there were four other guests in the villa: three men and one woman.

The short-haired beauty wearing a purple top, a knee-length skirt, and a jewelry necklace was named Ikeda Chikako. She was the president of the university movie club and currently a moderately well-known director and screenwriter.

The names of the other three men were Ota Masaru, Kakutani Hiroki, and Takahashi Ryoichi.

Ota Masaru was a handsome man with long hair who usually played the male lead in the university movie club and currently worked in sales.

Kakutani Hiroki was a tall man who loved photography, serving as the cameraman in the movie club, and currently worked at a news agency.

As for Takahashi Ryoichi, he appeared to be an amiable chubby man on the surface, but was actually a round-faced thin person underneath, as well as the culprit of the upcoming murder case.

The bandage-wrapped fiend that Mouri Ran and Conan had seen earlier was actually a disguise worn by Takahashi Ryoichi, intended to lay the groundwork for the upcoming murder.

In the original plot, the Bandaged Monster Murder Case could definitely be classified as one of the top ten childhood traumas.

Therefore, Suzuki Harime had a very deep memory of the plot surrounding this murder case.

The moment he saw Takahashi Ryoichi and Ikeda Chikako, Suzuki Harime had already recalled the relevant storyline.

Two years ago, the reason why Suzuki Ayako's good friend Atsuko suddenly hanged herself was because she had been betrayed by her most trusted friend.

Ikeda Chikako's published work, "The Blue Kingdom," won her the Best Newcomer Award and shot her to fame, but this work had actually been plagiarized and adapted from Atsuko's work, "The Sky-Blue Country," ultimately leading to Atsuko's suicide.

Meanwhile, Takahashi Ryoichi had harbored a secret crush on Atsuko. When he learned the truth from Atsuko's suicide note, he developed the intention to kill Ikeda Chikako to avenge Atsuko.

"Ding! Congratulations on successfully signing in at Ikeda Chikako. Reward: two years of [Lifespan]. The host may claim it at any time."

"Ding! Congratulations on successfully signing in at Takahashi Ryoichi. Reward: +1 Constitution point. The host may claim it at any time."

Taking advantage of the opportunity to call everyone downstairs for dinner, Suzuki Harime secretly brushed against both of them and successfully obtained the sign-in rewards.

"Come, come, come. Let me introduce everyone. This is my good friend Mouri Ran. You can just call her Ran."

Seeing that everyone was seated, Sonoko proactively and enthusiastically started the introductions. "Ran, these four are members of my older sister's university movie club. They are extremely close, so they gather together every two years.

The handsome guy sitting next to you is Big Brother Ota Masaru, and he usually plays the male lead in the movie club."

"Hello~"

Ota Masaru gently tossed his long hair, struck a handsome and charming pose, and smiled faintly at Mouri Ran.

So handsome!

Sonoko instinctively fangirled for a moment, then pointed at the muscular man next to Ota Masaru to introduce him. "This is Big Brother Kakutani Hiroki. He is the dedicated cameraman of the movie club."

"Hi!"

Upon hearing this, Kakutani Hiroki raised the camera in his hand, turned to look at Mouri Ran, smiled, and nodded at her.

"The person next to Big Brother Kakutani is Big Brother Takahashi Ryoichi. He is the prop master in charge of props for the movie club."

Takahashi Ryoichi gave an honest, good-natured smile. "Hello."

"As for these two beauties next to me, this one is my older sister, who is responsible for actors' makeup and costumes while simultaneously scouting for marriage candidates," Sonoko teased with a smile.

"Oh, really~ You're just making fun of me."

"And the last beauty here is the director and screenwriter of the movie club, as well as the movie club president, Big Sister Ikeda Chikako."

"Please advise me."

Ikeda Chikako parted her delicate lips slightly and offered a shallow smile.

"Ikeda Chikako?" Mouri Ran was slightly startled at first, then said with an astonished look, "Could you be the screenwriter of that currently trending movie, *The Blue Kingdom*?"

"That's right. *The Blue Kingdom* was Chikako's work from her university days," Suzuki Ayako nodded slightly.

"A work from her university days? That's amazing!" Hearing this, Mouri Ran was filled with admiration.

(╬◣д◢)

Takahashi Ryoichi involuntarily clenched his fists, a flash of thinly veiled murderous intent deep within his eyes.

Because Takahashi Ryoichi knew that Ikeda Chikako's *The Blue Kingdom* was actually plagiarized from Atsuko's work, the more Mouri Ran admired Ikeda Chikako, the more hatred he felt in his heart for this despicable plagiarist.

All of that praise should have belonged to Atsuko!

"It's nothing really. Back then, when I was creating *The Blue Kingdom*, just the conceptualization alone took me several years," Ikeda Chikako smiled modestly in the face of Mouri Ran's admiring gaze, then quickly changed the subject. "Compared to our genius little manga artist here, a rookie screenwriter like me still has a long way to go~"

Although Ikeda Chikako and the others did not know that Suzuki Ayako was actually the young heiress of the Suzuki Group, they had already learned from Suzuki Sonoko that Suzuki Harime was the author of *Pokémon*.

The people present might not necessarily be fans of *Pokémon*, but just by seeing the various Pokémon plush toys in street claw machines and the diverse Pokémon merchandise in shopping malls, one could tell how wildly popular *Pokémon* was.

Therefore, even though Suzuki Harime was just a child, Ikeda Chikako and the others did not dare to look down on him; the money he earned was probably more than all of theirs combined.

(*^▽^*)

Suzuki Harime smiled somewhat self-consciously. "Hehe~ I never expected *Pokémon* to be this popular."

To be honest, Suzuki Harime still felt a little guilty, because strictly speaking, he seemed to be a plagiarist as well.

It was just that the *Pokémon* Suzuki Harime plagiarized had been replicated from the world of his previous life, so he didn't need to worry about anyone coming to hack him for it.

Watching everyone chatting happily and getting along so well, Suzuki Ayako couldn't help but sigh with emotion. "Gathering together with everyone like this reminds me of the days back in school. And... if only Atsuko were here too, that would be wonderful."

Silence!!!

The moment Suzuki Ayako's voice trailed off, the living room instantly plunged into absolute silence.

"Atsuko?"

Seeing the drastic change in everyone's expressions, Mouri Ran couldn't help casting an inquiring look at Sonoko.

"Can you please stop bringing up Atsuko?!" Before Sonoko could explain, Ikeda Chikako lost control of her emotions and shouted out, forcing herself to calm down before continuing. "Really, I finally managed to carve out some time from my busy schedule to come here and relax. Can you guys please stop talking about such a mood-killing topic?"