Chapter 109: The Fourth World-Line Divergence
In that instant, Shinichi Kudo's brain, which had almost never stopped churning since his birth, experienced its first total system crash!
Waking up from a deathbed—it turns out the clown was me all along!?
"When the magical die rolls, the Steins;Gate opens, and a brand-new world line descends. This is a magnificent miracle of chaos that neither you nor I can resist. Rejoice! Shinichi Kudo has finally discovered his own evil countenance. The Great Darkness that reigns atop the criminal world shall descend upon the mortal realm, spreading the gospel of sin and evil to the lost lambs of the earth..."
The gloomy voice spoke with a heavy trace of mockery. Shinichi snapped out of it, stammering in a panic:
"What... what kind of joke is this? How could I be you? There's definitely a trick in that rearview mirror! Right, it's a display screen disguised as a mirror! Yes, that's it!"
"Heh. Your first reaction is doubt? It matters not. You will eventually know, you will eventually understand, and you will eventually accept. Because... everything is the choice of the Steins;Gate!"
The low, gloomy voice slowly faded, and the silhouette's face in the mirror dissipated along with it. Shinichi could clearly sense that the chilling aura that made him so uncomfortable had also vanished.
Subconsciously, Shinichi drove the bento cart back to his house. He dismantled the rearview mirror and inspected it a hundred times, confirming it was just an ordinary motorcycle mirror with no hidden electronics. He collapsed onto his sofa, his mind a chaotic mess.
"No, my mental health has always been excellent. I've even taken professional psychological tests. It's impossible to have a split personality. It's unrealistic! I'm the man who's going to be the Sherlock Holmes of the Heisei era. How could I call myself 'Moriarty, the Emperor of Crime'..."
Halfway through his mutterings, Shinichi felt something was wrong. At some unknown point, a black briefcase had appeared by his hand. With trembling fingers, he reached out and clicked it open. The stacks upon stacks of banknotes inside left him speechless!
From these non-sequential, semi-used bills, Shinichi could easily deduce that this case of money was, with 99% certainty, linked to those two criminal gangs from the secret transaction!
Deducing that fact, however, didn't explain why the briefcase had appeared beside him.
Excluding the "unscientific" reason of [The mysterious shadow stopped time and quietly placed the briefcase beside me], Shinichi felt the most logical explanation was...
There was never any mysterious shadow. It was just Shinichi Kudo, controlled by a dark split personality, who had taken fries to the docks, conducted a "black-on-black" heist via explosive bentos, and stolen the transaction money!
This explanation perfectly solved several previous mysteries: why the shadow was so elusive, why the fries vanished, why he switched from running to riding a bike in the blink of an eye, and why the money was in his hand.
It was all a one-man show staged by Shinichi Kudo as he wavered between madness and sanity!
The explanation was so perfect it almost made Shinichi want to jump up and shout that there is only one truth!
But deduction requires evidence. Or rather, Shinichi still wanted to struggle:
"Impossible, impossible. The deduction has flaws. Even if I learned how to make explosives in Hawaii, making that many explosive bentos requires a massive amount of raw materials and a place for assembly. I can find the materials if I try, but where would I have such a space? Wait... the basement might work. No, no, no, the basement has always been for storage. There's no way..."
But Shinichi found himself standing up. While muttering "impossible," he slowly walked toward the basement of the Kudo mansion.
Opening the door, he took two glances and slammed it shut!
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! I must be seeing things..."
He muttered for a long while, took several deep breaths, and performed some mental construction. Then, he opened the basement door once more.
What met his eyes was not a storage room full of junk, but a workshop filled with suspicious raw materials, various tools, half-finished "Explosive Bentos," and crates of finished products stacked to the side.
If there was still any room for doubt, the sign posted on the wall—[Moriarty's Exclusive Explosive Production Workshop. Unauthorized Personnel Keep Out]—told Shinichi exactly what was happening.
Excluding the absurd reason of [Moriarty sneaked into my house, used a god-like 'Super-Speed Construction' skill to silently renovate my basement into a bomb factory in thirty minutes, and manufactured a mountain of explosives], Shinichi felt it was more plausible that his split personality took over every night while he slept to perform the renovations and production.
He had the deduction. He had the evidence. But at this moment, Shinichi didn't want to shout that there is only one truth!
He looked grim, wondering if he should turn himself in.
It was a difficult choice.
By the way... how many years is the sentence for illegal manufacturing of explosives?
When he got out of prison, would he still be able to be Sherlock Holmes?
When Ran Mouri arrived later with a bento, she found Shinichi curled up on the sofa, his expression vacant, lying as still as a salted fish.
"Shinichi, what's wrong?"
"Ran... don't come near me. I'm afraid my inner darkness will lose control and hurt you!"
Hearing this, Ran tilted her head, then wore a look of sudden realization. She said gently:
"Shinichi, you don't have the 'Power of the Evil King's Black Dragon' sealed inside you. Don't worry. Also, the 'Mystery Geek' persona is enough; adding 'Chuunibyou' to it will make your parents really worried."
Shinichi only gave a bitter smile. He said nothing to Ran because he didn't want her to worry. He simply took the bento and ate in silence.
Ran noticed her childhood friend was off, but she didn't push. Shinichi's path as a detective wasn't always smooth; he occasionally hit dead ends or felt depressed. During such times, Ran would be gentler than usual, waiting for him to pick himself back up.
Of course, Shinichi, whose EQ was famously low, never noticed her subtle consideration.
After dinner and some small talk, Ran left.
As Shinichi watched her leave, he felt a sudden pang of reluctance. But his rational side quickly suppressed the emotion. He returned to his room, only to hear that low, gloomy voice echoing in his ear again:
"Dear Holmes, are you ready to accept your dark side and spread the gospel of sin and evil to the lost lambs of the world?"
Shinichi instinctively turned. The voice came from outside the window. As night fell and the light grew dim, he could only see a blurry, dark humanoid silhouette standing outside the glass, staring at him.
The only problem was... this was the second floor!
Shinichi remained silent. He was tired of deducing. He only said coldly:
"I am a detective. I won't believe you, and I won't follow your lead. No matter what the truth is, I will walk my own path..."
"Your childhood friend's 'Bento of Love' was unexpectedly effective; it seems you've rallied. However, your answer is as boring as ever. Why not ask the Magical Die? See if it has a more interesting suggestion?"
The "wrong" feeling hit him again. Before Shinichi could process it, the irregular six-sided die appeared in his hand. Caught off guard, the die slipped from his tilted palm and fell.
The die hit the floor, tumbled irregularly, and came to a rest. Since it had no numbers, Shinichi had no idea what it showed. Only the gloomy voice echoed:
"Oho! Is that the suggestion? Not exactly 'interesting,' but acceptable. Fine, fine... everything is the choice of the Beika Town Gate!"
Shinichi hadn't forgotten the strange events following the previous rolls. His heart climbed into his throat. He couldn't help but ask: "Didn't you call it 'Steins;Gate' before? Why is it 'Beika Town Gate' now?"
"Oh, my mistake. It's not Beika Town Gate; it's the Kudo Mansion Gate. Right, Mr. Omnipotent Magical Snail-Die...?"
The voice sounded increasingly insane. Shinichi was speechless. He wanted to say: If you're really my second personality, please act normal so I don't lose face. But he kept quiet.
"The world-line divergence has settled. Dear Mr. Holmes, I have a suggestion: Run. Otherwise, that darkness—not small, but certainly potent enough—will swallow you whole..."
The black figure outside the second-floor window vanished instantly. Shinichi sensed something. He looked out the window and saw a Porsche stopping right in front of his house.
"Is this the place?"
Gin asked flatly, a cigarette in his mouth. Driving the car, Vodka nodded. "That's right, Big Brother. According to the perimeter scouts, the guy who threw the explosives and stole the protection money is the high school detective, Shinichi Kudo. He lives here."
As a detective who often appeared in newspapers and was hailed as the Savior of the Police Force, Shinichi had a high level of fame. It was perfectly reasonable.
Having fled on a bento-motorcycle without a disguise and frequently looking back—being recognized was also reasonable.
The result of Gin coming to his door was the most reasonable thing of all.
"High schoolers these days are unexpectedly gutsy. 'Moriarty-brand Explosive Bentos,' is it? You like seeing the world burn? Then let him throw himself into his favorite fire along with his bentos. Let him pay for the sin of desecrating my Porsche and robbing the Organization..."
Gin stepped out of the car and looked up. His gaze collided with Shinichi's through the window.
A massive chill surged in Shinichi's heart, telling him immediately that the newcomers meant trouble. Especially when he saw Gin draw a gun and aim it at him. He instinctively dove for the floor. The window shattered, and two bullet holes appeared in the wall.
"An assassin!?"
As an ordinary high school detective who hadn't yet been shrunk, Shinichi had never experienced a scene like this. His face turned pale, but his body moved with sharp agility. He tried to reach for his phone to call the police.
But he underestimated Gin. Invading the un-monitored Kudo mansion took almost no time. Just as Shinichi reached the living room, he bumped right into Gin walking through the front door.
Bang! Bang! If not for Shinichi's quick reflexes, he would have taken two lead "peanuts" to the head.
"Damn it! What is going on!?"
Fleeing in a panic, he scrambled back to his room and barricaded the door with a steel cabinet. Shinichi's voice was full of resentment.
At that moment, the gloomy voice answered him.
"Dear Mr. Holmes, to skip your boring deduction process, your most loyal Moriarty is here to explain. The Magical Snail was thrown four times, causing the Steins;Gate—no, the Teitan High School Gate—to open four times, triggering four world-line divergences. We'll ignore the first and second. The third divergence caused two criminal gangs to spawn before your eyes. The fourth divergence... the Organization behind those gangs has manifested, and they've come to have a heart-to-heart talk with you..."
Shinichi's pupils shrank. He instinctively retorted: "What kind of joke is that? A piece of plastic can change reality and make criminal gangs and secret organizations appear out of thin air!?"
"Heh. Why not ask Mr. Magical Snail? If it's willing to respond and be thrown by you, perhaps in the fifth divergence, aliens will appear. Of course... that's assuming you survive the fourth!"
"I'll believe you when ghosts are real!"
Shinichi roared, but he had to admit one thing: surviving Gin was his only priority.
Gin, the emotionless killer, saw the door blocked by the cabinet. He merely sneered. He shot out the lock, then delivered a kick with his long legs, slamming the door and the cabinet wide open.
He stormed in, but found the room empty. The window was wide open.
"A boring 'east-to-west' feint."
Gin approached the window, then suddenly tilted his body, dodging a heavy vase swung down by Shinichi. Gin instantly pointed his gun at the boy.
He pulled the trigger!
End of Chapter
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