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To witness a two-dimensional version of oneself appearing in a manga with one's own eyes was, it had to be said, a highly surreal experience.
Satoru Gojo stared at himself on the title page for a few moments longer, comparing his own art style with that of the others, and smacked his lips in a slightly punchable manner.
Sigh~ there's really no helping it. Even if it's just an avatar, this family head's unparalleled beauty isn't something a mere paintbrush can fully capture.
Despite his words, his hands were entirely honest as he swiped to the next page of the manga.
The gorgeous coloring present on the title page ceased to exist once the main narrative began, leaving nothing but a stark world of black and white.
The system popped up, fulfilling its duty meticulously: [In the timeline of that world, the manga is serialized weekly, and the contents depicted are focused on major plot points. One thing is certain: as long as you remain consistently active in front of the key plot characters, your appearance rate will definitely not be low.]
Well, obviously. Just looking at his positioning on the title page, he knew the trouble he had intentionally stirred up earlier hadn't gone to waste. As an "inserted actor," if he wanted to make a name for himself on a set crowded with popular characters, he naturally needed a bit of calculating ingenuity to steal the scene.
I wonder what his grand debut in the manga looks like from the readers' perspective?
Driven by a mixture of novelty and curiosity, Gojo read on carefully. As he admired "Gosho Aoyama's" art style—which was incredibly similar to the original yet distinctly more refined—he noticed a continuous stream of bullet comments appearing in the margins.
"Ahhhhh! Heavens, I've been looking forward to this for so long, the new short series is finally online!"
"Old Man Aoyama kept saying he was going to supplement Amuro-tan's past before. I thought he was just drawing a pie in the sky, but it actually materialized?!"
"Hahaha, it's the familiar art style! I hope he draws Amuro-tan handsome enough. Face value is everything!"
"My Rei looks beautiful no matter how he's drawn! Let me lick lick lick lick—"
"This title page is way too stimulating, a uniform boy band? I'm dreaming of an immediate idol debut right on the spot!"
"I only recognize Rei and Hiromitsu, are the others all new characters? They're all handsome guys!!"
"I remember it said this is a story about Rei attending the police academy, right? Looking at the uniforms, they should all be classmates... trusted companions, perhaps?"
"Holy crap, the youthfulness is off the charts! And that low ponytail, biting a lollipop—that's just way too cute! Even though this is the first time we've met, I know you are my fated new waifu!"
"So handsome, so handsome! Except for the tallest one who isn't my type, the other few are practically Otome game male leads!! The curly hair is my absolute favorite!"
"The tough-guy type is also very handsome. Betting my underwear that the big guy is definitely the instructor."
"Am I the only one who thinks a police academy story sounds boring... feels like there won't be much substance."
"If you're bored, look at the top right corner and exit. Have a nice trip, won't miss you."
"Who cares? Even if the plot is boring, just looking at the faces makes it worth it."
"These are the real-time comments from the parallel world readers. The host can turn them on or off at any time."
"Real-time comments?"
Gojo skimmed through the bullet comments. It was blatantly obvious that the click-through rate for this new supplementary prequel was very high, but it certainly couldn't compare to the main original series. Most of the audience consisted of fans turning up specifically for Furuya Rei and Scotch, while a good number of readers were just passersby dropping in to enjoy the spectacle, possessing only a half-baked understanding of the lore.
No matter, a mosquito is still meat, however small. Being able to fleece popularity points ahead of schedule was a net positive, regardless of the amount.
Gojo maintained a highly optimistic mindset, skipping past the comments next to the title page to read further. Since Furuya Rei was the protagonist of this spin-off manga, the initial panels naturally revolved around him.
First came a scene of him packing his luggage at his private residence, with a narrative box pointing out that today was the day the police academy opened. After using a few panels to depict Furuya's high-spirited and formidable state, the manga gave a close-up panel of him closing his eyes.
In the next second, utilizing a transition technique common to many manga formats, Furuya Rei opened his eyes again, finding himself at the gates of the police academy where cherry blossoms drifted through the air. He raised his hand to lightly touch his academy badge, his short hair reflecting a faint halo under the sunlight, uniform buttons fastened meticulously to the very top. His gaze was incomparably resolute as his internal monologue read: This place... will be my brand-new starting point.
"Ahhhhh it's police uniform Rei! This sense of abstinence is absolute death for me!!"
"Compared to the main story, he really looks so much greener... Old Man Aoyama's hands belong in heaven."
"As expected of the Japanese Wolf, even at this early stage, he already radiates the vibe of having the country as his lover."
"I wonder what he went through to eventually turn into Bourbon... It's definitely because he used to work under that man, right?"
"That man? You mean 『——』, right."
"Who else besides 『——』, he's a total smiling tiger..."
"What are you talking about, 『——』 is clearly the handsomest!"
Hmm? What are these bullet comments talking about? Who is this 『——』 that's been censored into garbled text?
Could it be...
Next, precisely in line with Gojo's memory, Furuya Rei detected a gaze coming from the roof of the gymnasium. Just as he wanted to warn the person to be careful not to fall, his eyes were blanketed by countless flower petals, leaving no trace of the figure behind. Within the aesthetic cherry blossom rain, the silhouette on the roof appeared like a hidden beauty partially veiled by a lute, revealing only half of an attractive profile and the vague outline of long black hair.
Witnessing such a dramatic first encounter, the bullet comments instantly exploded.
"What kind of Shoujo manga is this?! The 'fated encounter' vibe is way too strong! Where's the childhood friend? Where is he?!"
"Hahaha, although childhood friends usually lose to the fated newcomer, don't forget that the author is a massive childhood-friend-trope fanatic."
"No, wait, does the trajectory of those falling petals actually conform to aerodynamics?"
"Nobody told me there would be a female lead in the spin-off, I don't want Rei to date anyone!"
"Do you vulgar people only have shipping on your minds? It's clearly a guy, judging by the looks, it should be the long-haired youth from the title page."
"Hehehe, isn't a guy even better?"
"Being able to vanish from the roof that quickly makes zero logical sense! Does the new character have superpowers?"
"How is that possible? This is a prequel to a mystery detective series, there's no way there'll be any supernatural nonsense like that."
"Oh come on, why take a manga so seriously? Don't worry about the details."
"Save me, the way he bites his lollipop makes him look exactly like a cat!"
Following that was the appearance of Hiromitsu Morofushi.
"By the way, were you spacing out just now? Did something happen?"
Furuya Rei spoke to him about the "strange person" he had just run into, and the two walked toward the dorm building, chatting and laughing. At this point, the bullet comments continuously flooded the screen due to their interaction.
"Waaaaah, so Scotch looked like this during his police academy days, so pure and cute!"
"Those cat-like eyes really hit the spot—sadly, such beautiful eyes will never open again a few years from now..."
"Ahhhhh the person upstairs, what are you trying to do! Don't stab my weak, pitiful, and helpless heart with angsty knives!"
"Hiromitsu, I can't live without you, Hiromitsu!"
Seeing these words, Gojo temporarily fell into deep thought.
"System, if the manga is built upon a future timeline... does that mean in this world I currently inhabit, Hiromitsu Morofushi will still die as Scotch a few years down the road?"
According to his plan, he fully intended to help Hiromitsu kick away his death flag. Could it be that "Scotch's" demise was truly unavoidable?
The system took a good while before answering: "Apologies, host. I cannot disclose matters involving the future."
Gojo already had a few calculations in his heart, but quickly thought of another point.
"In the future manga, since both Scotch and Bourbon make an appearance, there should be no reason for 'Caesar' to remain hidden, right?" he stated. "Yet, with so many bullet comments, not a single person has mentioned this name..."
It wasn't that he was being narcissistic; it was a matter of fact. Certain comments seemed to be muted by an unknown existence, exhibiting a strange sense of fragmentation.
"Or could it be that the 『——』 I saw earlier is actually...?"
"The host is very sharp," the system praised, explaining, "Yes, a significant number of readers indeed mentioned the future 'Caesar,' but according to the regulations of the Time-Space Administration Bureau, to prevent the host from learning certain unnecessary pieces of information, all comments and bullet points regarding 'Satoru Gojo' and 'Caesar' will be filtered."
They say that... but the information leaked is already quite substantial.
"If you wish to unlock them, the host will have to wait until Conan's Year One when the main story forum officially opens."
Gojo understood and didn't linger on the topic, returning his gaze to the black-and-white manga panels.
Furuya Rei and Hiromitsu Morofushi learned that the single rooms had been changed to double rooms, and were currently guessing who their roommates would be. Simultaneously, the bullet comments discussed the matter with great interest.
"Ooh ooh ooh, double rooms? This makes it way too convenient for me to write fanfiction, hehehe..."
"I hope Hiromitsu and Rei are roommates, I just want to see wholesome childhood-friend daily life!"
"But judging by the dramatic tension required in a manga, things definitely won't be that simple."
"+1, I bet Rei's roommate is the one he just met amidst the cherry blossoms, that black-cat-like youth prprprpr"
"Hahaha, no matter who it is, a deep bond will definitely form~"
At this moment, completely defying the expectations of the bullet comments, Jinpei Matsuda made his debut with a head of natural black curls.
"Give me a break, who wants to squeeze into a room with two grown men? I didn't come to the police academy to endure this kind of grievance."
"Ahhh! A new handsome guy is here! I like him!"
"Eh? This curly-haired guy, could he be the legendary first love of Miwako Sato?"
"The man who has always loomed in the background of rumors but never made an official appearance?"
"Hey hey, don't talk nonsense, isn't Sato together with Takagi?"
"This guy looks like he's quite difficult to deal with."
"And the handsome guy next to the curly-haired one is one of the guys from the title page!"
"Behind a handsome face is an equally handsome face... can I really eat this well?"
The subsequent panels depicted the scene where Matsuda and Furuya clashed over a disagreement, standing in direct opposition to each other.
"I suggest you memorize the school management regulations thoroughly before lecturing me." Matsuda Jinpei poked his finger against Furuya Rei's chest. "Especially you, dying your hair blond when you're a future police officer, that's just way too arrogant."
"I am mixed-race, my hair color is natural. Please watch your words."
"Learned something new. Next time I dye my hair, I'll tell the teacher I'm mixed-race too."
"The person upstairs, do you have skin as dark as Amuro's?"
"Go sunbathe in Hawaii for 365 days first before talking."
"Is this Matsuda a stick of dynamite? He explodes at the slightest spark, don't touch Rei, waaaah!"
"He even talked about dismantling someone into parts... he's definitely going to the bomb disposal squad later, no doubt about it."
"According to my years of manga-reading intuition, Matsuda Jinpei is definitely a Tsundere."
"Although Matsuda-kun is also very handsome... I already belong to the unknown long-haired brother! Sorry~"
"Hey hey, don't fight over my waifu—"
"You guys can squabble all you want, they're all my husbands anyway."
"Is Hagiwara Matsuda's childhood friend? This ship is locked in."
"Power-scaler here. Does it feel like Matsuda is better at fighting than Furuya, or is it just an illusion?"
After the assembly whistle blew, the announcement came that there were fifteen minutes left until the opening ceremony.
"Hagi, I have to have a fight with that blond bastard!"
"Hiro, let me settle things with that curly-haired bastard first!"
"Hahaha, I'm hallucinating them into my family's Husky and Golden Retriever, dying of laughter."
"Looking at this, are these two destined rivals?"
"Rivals are great, rivals can't turn into wives—"
"Predicting a turning-from-enemies-to-friends arc!"
"Don't fight, you're going to be late for the opening ceremony~"
"If you want to fight, go to the dance studio, don't fight here!"
Watching the netizens of the parallel world discussing everything in such a blazing frenzy, Gojo couldn't help but sigh with admiration: "Every single one of them is a formidable talent, and they speak so beautifully."
If only the manga forum had opened a bit earlier, he could have found a lot more entertainment.
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