I Started a business in Detective Conan Chapter 19

Chapter 19: First Experience in SAO

Ran just saw that Sonoko was hugging Keita, shocked, she asked, "You and Keita are dating? When did that happen?"

She and Shinichi were in the US for a month, how did they start dating in just that time?

Sonoko happily said, "Last night, when we were watching the fireworks, Keita confessed his feelings to me. How about you and Shinichi? Did that deduction idiot confess to you?"

This time, Ran wasn't embarrassed and said somewhat worriedly, "I don't know what Shinichi thinks, I don't know if he likes me or not..."

Looking at Ran like this, Sonoko consoled her, "Don't worry, don't worry, Shinichi definitely likes you. That brat, how can a grown man not be as brave as my Keita and take the initiative? He's such a blockhead." The more Sonoko spoke, the more annoyed she became.

Ran's expression turned somewhat sad, but she didn't say anything.

Keita returned backstage and noticed the tense atmosphere. He asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Since the press conference is over, let's go back."

After removing their makeup and changing clothes, the two of them left the backstage area together. They met Shinichi Kudo and Kogoro Mori from the venue.

This was Keita's first time meeting Kogoro Mori. He felt that the real person wasn't as comical as he appeared in anime, quite serious in fact.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Keita Yoshida." Keita took the initiative to shake hands and greet.

"I'm Kogoro Mori, a detective. If you need anything, feel free to look me up." Kogoro shook hands with Keita and took out his business card from his pocket.

"Mori Detective Agency. Got it, just by looking at your appearance, I can tell you're going to be a famous detective in the future. I'll definitely look you up next time."

"Haha, I also feel like I'll become the detective Kogoro Mori in the future."

Well, there goes the facade.

The young men arranged to play the game together tomorrow after its launch and then went their separate ways.

At 7 PM, Future Game Company began a massive update on their official accounts on N Station and YouTube. They showcased in-game scenes, featuring famous landmarks from the first three floors, enticing players and keeping them awake through the night.

7-Eleven convenience stores around the world were surrounded by a large number of players, rushing to buy game helmets day and night. The prices of the helmets varied in different regions, and the price of Japan's helmets was 100,000 yen. In the first batch, 1 million helmets were produced.

Out of these, 100,000 were sold online. Keita was trying to cultivate players' habit of using electronic payments, so this time, besides bank transfers, the official website promoted Line Pay for purchasing the game helmets.

The initial batch of 10,000 helmets reserved through the official website had all been shipped. Thanks to the press conference, the remaining 90,000 helmets were also sold out before the livestream ended.

Offline, some 7-Eleven stores in Japan major cities had already sold out. Calls were made to the company to urge them to restock quickly.

Although they anticipated that the game helmets would sell well, it still exceeded Future Group's expectations. Future Company urgently decided to establish factories in some countries.

...

The next day.

The Future Forum was held at the venue, and Keita didn't attend in person. "Future" and the Minister of Technology attended the meeting, albeit via voice conference.

The Future Forum had many emerging internet companies participating and eventually formed an Intelligent Alliance, with the shadow of major online giants like Microsoft, Google, ONY, and others in it.

Of course, all this had nothing to do with Keita. Right now, he was only concerned about playing the game.

At exactly 10 o'clock.

"LINK START!"

With Keita's command, a flow of light surrounded him.

He logged into his account and created his character. In this game, he couldn't customize his appearance or gender. Keita chose to be a human swordsman and entered the game.

A flash~

Keita opened his eyes and found himself in the central square of the Starting Town. He clenched his fingers, touched his body, and found himself wearing newbie equipment, a newbie sword hanging by his waist.

This was his starting gear.

In SAO, the first thing you did was open the menu.

There was a log-out button.

Whew~

Thankfully, he hadn't encountered any inhumane weirdos.

In Conan's world, there were plenty of bizarre murder cases. Keita was also afraid of encountering situations like in the original SAO story.

A flash~

A boy who looked around 5 or 6 years old appeared next to Keita. He looked a bit like a young Keita and was dressed as a swordsman, with silver hair. Keita didn't remember there being an option to change hair color.

"Hey, kiddo. How did you change your hair color?"

The boy turned around, facing Keita, and with a serious expression said, "I'm not a kid, I'm Future."

Oh, it seems Future also entered the game.

Since he didn't seem to recognize me, let's go with the prearranged plan—sealing his memories to experience the game. But I wonder why Future is playing the game now when he should be attending the forum?

"CORD SYSTEM: Restore memory. Future, why did you enter the game now? What about the Future Forum?"

Using the prearranged command, Keita temporarily awakened Future's memories. This command could only be used once, otherwise, Future would become suspicious and start self-examination, potentially losing the original purpose of experiencing the game. This command was also meant to help Keita find Future in the game, as Future is currently in an amnesiac state.

"It's you, Keita. I sent a part of my consciousness into SAO. My main self is still at the forum, don't worry, I'll synchronize my memories every day." Future's main self spoke, his tone and attitude different from his game self, more indifferent.

"OK, got it. I won't disturb you, have a great time playing the game."

Future's expression changed briefly before returning to his usual poker face.

"Hey, kiddo, you're kinda cute. Do you want to be friends? I'm off to find my girlfriend now, maybe we can play together another time." Keita also pretended not to recognize Future.

"I... am... not... a... kid. My... name... is... Future." Future's face turned red.

Keita ignored him, sent a friend request, and left on his own.

Future looked at Keita's departing figure, gritted his teeth, and accepted the friend request.

"Darn it, underestimating me, you'll regret it later.

 Why am I here?" Future's eyes were confused, scanning the central square where white light kept appearing intermittently, with each flash bringing a new figure—human, elf, and even orc.

Keita saw the friend request was accepted and smiled slightly. He didn't plan to play the game with Future. Having a kid along while playing a game didn't feel right. It was more normal to play with his girlfriend.

Keita and the others had arranged to meet at the exit of the square.

When Keita arrived, Sonoko, Ran, and Shinichi hadn't arrived yet. They were probably still figuring things out.

One of Sword Art Online's distinctive features was its sword skill system. As long as a character's skill reached a certain level of proficiency, the battle system would help them execute the skill, characterized by the swords glowing.

Keita opened the menu, and all his skills were at the lowest level.

He drew his sword, bent his body slightly, and charged it for a moment.

Buzz~

The sword's blade flashed red.

Keita dashed forward, leaving behind a red sword trail.

This was the basic skill "Thrusting Sword."

*Clap clap clap~*

Applause sounded from the side, and Sonoko's voice followed.

"Sugoi, Keita, teach me."