Dimensional Codex System: I'm really not a cultist!

When Fang Zheng sat on the plane returning to the homeland, he felt completely refreshed.

Ah, finally no need to squeeze with those damned detectives and lawyers in a set anymore. Our place back home is spacious and doesn’t have so many annoying issues, it’ll be comfortable going back.

Once back, I want to eat Xiaolongbao, beef noodles, lamb stew, chopped chili fish head... This world is still in the early 90s, and if Fang Zheng remembers correctly, this can be considered the last glorious moment of Chinese folk snack skills. Ten or twenty years later, after complete marketization, those folk snacks became fast consumer goods, no longer tasting the same as now.

Just in time to take Little Ai and Akemi to eat authentic Chinese cuisine, so they won’t develop some strange perception of Chinese cuisine because of the junk from Japanese restaurants.

Embracing beautiful expectations, Fang Zheng fell into a deep sleep.

When he woke up after a nice nap, he found Akemi and Little Ai talking enthusiastically with a girl sitting next to them.

The girl looked about sixteen or seventeen, wearing a regular school uniform, very pretty with long black hair down to her waist, and seemed very lively and cheerful.

”Ah, Mr. Fang Zheng, you’re awake.”

Seeing Fang Zheng wake up, Akemi hurriedly greeted him.

”Listen to me, this young lady here is quite impressive, she says she’s going to China to meet a friend.”

”It’s a pen pal...”

Hearing Akemi’s words, the girl spoke a bit shyly.

”We got to know each other in Tokyo a year ago, so I thought of suddenly going over to give her a surprise.”

”Oh ho...”

Hearing the girl’s response, Fang Zheng’s first reaction was... so rich.

This is the 90s, after all, a high school student daring to fly abroad to meet a pen pal?

”But isn’t traveling alone dangerous?”

Little Ai also spoke up, and the girl waved her hand.

”Don’t worry, I brought someone along, you see.”

While speaking, the girl turned to the side, and then everyone saw that beside the girl was a boy about her age, looking ordinary, currently sound asleep in the chair.

”I see, a young couple on a honeymoon trip?”

”N-no, it’s not like that.”

Hearing Fang Zheng’s teasing, the girl blushed immediately and waved her hands frantically.

”We are just childhood friends, not a couple...”

”...”

Seeing this, Fang Zheng raised an eyebrow.

This reaction, why does it seem like I’ve seen it somewhere?

But early 90s, two high school students traveling abroad together alone — wow, really so rich!!!

”Ah, right, since we’re all here, why don’t we travel together?”

At this time, Akemi proposed.

”It’s a bit too dangerous for two students to go out alone, why don’t we go with you? Besides, Mr. Fang Zheng speaks Chinese, it will surely be more convenient for communication.”

”Really, can we?”

Hearing this, the girl showed a bit of relief. After all, it’s impossible not to worry about two high school students going abroad alone. Moreover, during their chat, she learned that the others are employees of a big company and traveling with a child, so naturally, it wasn’t too concerning.

”But will it disturb your plans...”

”I don’t mind, Mr. Fang Zheng said he’s taking us to explore China without any specific destination... Mr. Fang Zheng?”

”I don’t mind.”

Facing Akemi’s inquiry, Fang Zheng shrugged his shoulders.

”But do you have the address of your pen pal? Hopefully, it’s not somewhere remote.”

”Ah, rest assured, I have her address, she lives at this flight’s destination, Shanghai!”

”That’s good then.”

Hearing this, Fang Zheng nodded.

”No problem, we’re just wandering around anyway.”

”That’s great!!”

With Fang Zheng’s response, the young girl became even more excited. No matter what, Fang Zheng and Akemi are adults, and at least trustworthy.

”Oh right, I haven’t introduced myself yet. I’m Nanase Miyuki, a second-year at Tokyo’s private Fudou High School, and this is...”

As she spoke, the girl named Nanase Miyuki grabbed the ear of the boy next to her and yanked it hard, waking him directly from his sleep.

”Ugh, what are you doing?”

”Come on, Hajime, say hello... Ah, Mr. Fang Zheng, this is my childhood friend, Kindaichi Hajime!”

”.........”

Seeing the sleepy, bewildered boy in front of him, Fang Zheng’s mind had only one thing to say.

Which was — Kick rocks!!!

Even after getting off the plane, Fang Zheng’s heart remained in turmoil.

He never thought he painstakingly fled Japan only to end up encountering the Grim Reaper!

And it’s the scariest one at that!

In China, Kindaichi isn’t as popular as Conan. Although there were many theories from Fang Zheng’s previous life’s netizens, he felt the main reason Kindaichi wasn’t as popular was that it wasn’t as family-friendly as Conan.

Indeed, compared to Conan, the Kindaichi series is much more bloody and terrifying. There are a few episodes in the Conan series that were dubbed as ”childhood nightmares” by many netizens for being overly gruesome, but if you applied this standard to Kindaichi, nearly each episode would hit the ”childhood nightmare” mark.

When you’re with Conan, the main question is who will die, how many will die, and how they’ll die.

But with Kindaichi, there’s another question—that is, how gruesome the death will be.

Moreover, Conan’s animation occasionally solves cases of disappearances or smuggling that aren’t so intense, but in Kindaichi, Fang Zheng remembers the suffix of all the names being ”XXXXX Murder Case.”

Almost without exception.

You could say this is the genuine Grim Reaper; compared to this, Conan is a knockoff... After all, Conan is just one series, whereas the Kindaichi series is ”deeply rooted,” with the family ancestor being Kindaichi Kosuke, whom the famous Japanese mystery novelist Seishi Yokomizo created, and Kindaichi Hajime is Kindaichi Kosuke’s grandson.

And from the same era as the creator of Kindaichi Kosuke, Seishi Yokomizo, was the mystery novelist Edogawa Ranpo — yes, the source of Edogawa Conan’s surname ”Edogawa.” He also created a detective ”Kogoro Akechi.”

So from this point of view, Conan, as the Grim Reaper is an apprentice, while Kindaichi is ”born into the trade,” having a long-standing tradition.

The Grim Reaper’s aura is truly passed down from his grandfather!

Fang Zheng now feels if nobody dies on the plane, it would be very unscientific...

As for why Kindaichi isn’t as popular as Conan, Fang Zheng sees it as not being ”exciting” enough. Conan’s case-solving sessions are very gratifying. When everyone sees Conan pointing out ”the culprit is you,” there’s a sense of truth revealed. No matter how sly the criminal, they’re still going to drink Conan’s footbath water.

But the Kindaichi series is entirely different. Fang Zheng hasn’t watched much of Kindaichi Hajime’s series but has seen Kindaichi Kosuke’s series. In simple terms, the cases Kindaichi encounters are unpleasant, whether in process or ending.

Perhaps many viewers remember Conan’s ”Moonlight Sonata Murder Case,” which became a nightmare for many, even though Conan unveiled the truth in the end, Dr. Aso Narumi still chose to play the piano and commit suicide in the fire. This episode left many viewers without the pleasure of the truth being revealed, no excitement from pointing out the culprit, just the dire sight of the burning civic hall accompanied by the piano sound, leaving viewers feeling uneasy.

However, in Kindaichi’s cases, almost all have similar plots. Although the motives and murder methods differ, viewers finish each case without the gratification Conan offers, leaving only sighs and helpless lamentations.

This may explain why Kindaichi’s series gradually declined while Conan’s has remained enduringly popular. People enjoy seeing the truth revealed, the culprit identified, the victims avenged, and the criminals receiving their consequences—a HAPPY END.

And not like Kindaichi, where solving the case doesn’t make you happy, but solving it leaves you even less happy—what’s the point in that?

If Fang Zheng had a choice, he’d choose to follow Conan, never Kindaichi, or he’d risk becoming depressed over time and possibly lose hope in the whole world.

But speaking of which, Conan only causes harm in Japan—don’t tell me you’re coming to harm China too?

If it were just Kindaichi and Miyuki, finding the place might be difficult, but Fang Zheng is different. Umbrella also has a branch office in Shanghai. Fang Zheng made a call, and soon someone came with a special car to pick them up. They then followed the address Miyuki mentioned in her letter, arriving at a...

”Ship?”

Looking at the large vessel docked at the pier, Fang Zheng frowned and turned to Miyuki.

”Miss Nanase, your pen pal lives here?”

”Yes, her name is Yang Liling, and she’s a member of this acrobatic troupe.”

”So it’s an acrobatic troupe...”

Upon hearing this, Fang Zheng became interested, as acrobatic troupes were a childhood memory. As an adult, due to brainless animal rights advocates and various regulations, acrobatic troupes have become rare—of course, there’s still the national acrobatics team, but street-performers have vanished.

Fang Zheng remembers seeing a street performer with a monkey dressed as Sun Wukong wielding a stick and doing flips in his childhood... If this were now, countless people online would condemn it as animal cruelty.

Hmm, clearly people are too content.

”Well, let’s go in and take a look.”

Putting aside his memories, Fang Zheng pushed open the door and went inside.