The north wind howled through the air.
The woman's miserable crying still echoed in everyone's ears. Because of the tragic story between the couple, Ran Mouri had cried so hard that her eyes were swollen.
But the ghost Beifeng was holding was even more innocent!
There are countless breakups in the world—so why was I the one who had to die?!
Beifeng rubbed the ghost with his thumb.
He pressed a finger onto the miserable-looking ghost's face and carefully adjusted it for his next life.
"You should move on now," Beifeng said calmly.
"In your next life, you will be Juligoudai, a completely new person."
The ghost was instantly recycled with a whoosh, now wearing a face that looked as if it had been kicked once by God himself.
Beifeng thought silently:
I'm not holding a grudge. Really.
Ghost: "..."
After reincarnation—performed with a completely incorrect posture—the baby was born in a hospital.
The strange shape of the newborn's head frightened his mother so badly that she almost fainted.
The doctor hurriedly reassured her.
"Madam, don't panic! This child has an extraordinary skull structure!"
"He will surely become a pillar of our great Japan!"
Of course, Beifeng knew none of this.
He simply noticed that another name had appeared in the Grim Reaper Notebook.
This emotionless, workaholic God of Death continued on his path of delivering boxed lunches of death.
As Beifeng walked down the road, he noticed someone outside an alley.
The horn-haired girl, Ran, was clutching her injured ankle and trembling slightly as she watched the beloved "rolling washing machine" run into the alley.
She suddenly had a terrible feeling—
A feeling that she might never see him again.
(PS: This warning comes from Ran's lucky horn.)
From far away, Beifeng even saw the girl's famous horn-shaped hairstyle tremble slightly.
Carrying his lunchbox, he hurried into the alley.
Ran seemed lost in memories.
Tears shimmered on her beautiful face as the surrounding environment—and even Beifeng himself—faded into the background.
Only the final corner of Shinichi Kudo's clothes disappeared into the alley.
"Shinichi… please come back safely…"
The girl wiped her tears and slowly limped toward a bench.
Meanwhile, Beifeng had arrived at the battlefield.
He watched as the dark muzzle of a gun pointed directly at the illegal transaction's buyer—a fat man.
Beifeng immediately rushed forward.
Right before the bullet could arrive—
He moved faster.
Right in front of Shinichi Kudo's shocked eyes, Beifeng stuffed a spoonful of rice into the fat man's mouth.
The fat man blinked in confusion.
He was still chewing when the bullet struck his head.
But strangely—
There was no spray of blood.
No explosion of flesh.
The bullet deviated by one millimeter.
It became stuck in the man's eye socket.
Without hesitation, Gin fired another shot—this time aimed at Beifeng's forehead.
The bullet burst through with a splash of blood.
Shinichi wanted to shout a warning—
But before he could speak, someone struck him from behind with a heavy blow.
Gin fired another shot at the fat man and calmly put away his gun.
"Big brother, the police probably heard the gunshots. Let's leave," said Vodka.
Gin snorted coldly.
He didn't bother shooting Shinichi again.
Instead, he took out a pill box.
He stuffed a capsule directly into Shinichi's mouth.
Then, with protagonist-level courtesy, he even poured water down his throat.
Medicine administered—washing machine removed.
From that day forward—
The world no longer had the "washing machine."
Instead, it gained a mischievous child whose brain remained brilliant but whose height barely reached an adult's knees—
Edogawa Conan.
On the ground…
Beifeng slowly reached toward the hole in the center of his forehead.
He dug the bullet out.
Crushed it between his fingers.
Then calmly rolled over.
Beifeng thought lazily:
Why didn't I die after being shot in the head?
Because I'm the God of Death.
If I died… who would collect my soul?
The hole in his forehead healed instantly.
Even the blood on the ground disappeared without a trace.
No one noticed anything.
Gin simply said:
"I never look at corpses."
Vodka nodded.
"I support Big Brother!"
Meanwhile, Shinichi groaned on the ground:
"Ah… I'm fainting…"
Beifeng lay on the ground professionally, watching the fake-liquor duo walk away.
Nearby, Shinichi began groaning painfully while rubbing against the grass.
His fingernails were filled with dirt and grass fragments.
"Ahhh… ah…"
Shinichi's groans were strangely melodious.
If recorded, they might sell for millions in a nightclub.
Unfortunately, Beifeng wasn't the kind of man who would sell his soul for money.
He merely recorded the sound with the Grim Reaper Notebook.
Definitely not for sale.
Five minutes later, Shinichi finally began to shrink.
The transformation was spectacular.
His head grew larger.
His body shrank to roughly one-third of its original size.
Now Shinichi could reach only Beifeng's waist.
If he jumped, he might even perform a legendary sneak attack.
He now looked like a seven- or eight-year-old child.
Terrifying indeed.
Beifeng looked down at the now child-sized Conan.
Without saying anything, he stepped forward and carried him away.
Half-conscious, Conan vaguely felt a pair of large hands moving around him.
His shirt was removed and wrapped around his now naked body as he was carried away.
In truth, there were no wandering hands.
It was simply because his clothes had become far too large after shrinking.
Still—
Beifeng really did carry him away.
Conan drifted into unconsciousness.
Between sleep and waking, something strange happened to the world.
The scientific world began to change.
"Conan Logic" began fighting against normal science.
Eventually, the two reached a strange balance.
At that moment—
The Death God power around Shinichi suddenly flared brilliantly.
The aura turned red… almost green.
It was already one level higher than Beifeng's lowest black Grim Reaper aura.
Beifeng inhaled deeply.
Then he casually rotated his own halo.
A dark purple-black Grim Reaper aura appeared around him—
Three levels higher than Shinichi's.
Watching Shinichi's glowing aura slowly calm down, Beifeng snorted coldly.
"Don't even think about cursing me to death."
He walked out of the alley.
Ran was still waiting outside.
When she saw a man wrapped tightly in clothes carrying a child, she froze in confusion.
She watched him walk away.
Then question marks slowly appeared above her head.
Why does that shirt look so familiar…?
Ran waited the entire night.
Until she was almost freezing.
But Shinichi never came out.
Maybe Shinichi already went home…
Worried, she rubbed her bruised ankle and limped toward home.
Meanwhile…
Conan, who had been dumped into the bushes near his own house by Beifeng, clutched the shirt around his body.
He slowly poked his head out.
Nearby, Beifeng was counting money.
Completely confused, Conan asked three philosophical questions of life:
"Am I dead?"
"Oh! It's you—the guy who got shot in the head!" Conan said happily.
"At least I have company in the afterlife!"
Beifeng calmly stuffed the stack of cash into his pocket.
This money was the Grim Reaper Fund.
It was probably enough to rent an apartment in Japan for a year—
And survive another half month.
Finding a job had suddenly become extremely urgent.
Beifeng looked at Conan.
Conan stared back at Beifeng.
Suddenly, an explosion sounded somewhere in the distance.
Conan snapped back to reality.
Then he noticed something strange.
The grass… looked taller.
The cold-eyed man finished putting away the money and nodded at him.
"I am Morihara Beifeng."
"Nice to meet you… Washing Machine."
Shinichi felt something in the world had changed.
But he still hadn't realized the truth.
Conan reached out his tiny hand toward Beifeng's.
The icy cold touch made him shiver.
"Are we… dead?"
Beifeng frowned slightly.
"Kid, I'm alive."
"And so are you."
"Trust me."
"Kid?!"
Conan froze.
Looking at the tall grass…
Then at his own tiny hand…
Then, at the huge difference between himself and Beifeng—
He suddenly understood everything.
It wasn't the world that had changed.
It was him.
Shinichi Kudo—
The savior of the Heisei era.
The best partner of the Japanese police.
Inspector Megure's favorite "Kudo brother."
Ran's childhood friend.
Son of a world-famous novelist and a legendary actress.
Had become…