Not a detective

Page 123

A very familiar time.

Yes... yesterday.

Did he go back to yesterday?

Asakawa Riku clearly remembered that the meeting and departure time for the school trip was Friday, and they boarded that cruise ship at noon, and they were on the cruise ship now.

At this point in time, the ship has not yet sunk.

Could it be... that everything that happened before was just a dream he had? Just like his experience in the snow-capped mountains last summer, where nothing actually happened?

A strong sense of incongruity rushed into his mind, making him somewhat confused and unable to distinguish which side was real.

However, Asakawa Riku immediately regained his senses. He had already confirmed through "meditation" that what had happened was not a dream or hallucination, but reality.

Unless someone's skill in this area surpasses that of the legendary monster "Baku," and they can manipulate Asakawa Riku at will, such power should not exist.

But... if it wasn't a dream, then there's only one explanation left.

He went back to a day earlier, and a phenomenon called "time reversal" occurred!

After he died, he returned to the timeline of "June 13, 2025," a time when he was still alive and had just been invited by Xingyu to take a walk on the deck.

Such incredible miracles are even harder to achieve than so-called dreams. Superpowered individuals or monsters who can manipulate time should not exist, right?

Did you do this...?

Asakawa Riku looked at the girl in front of him and couldn't help but ask a question.

He also thought the idea was absurd, but in his mind, the only superpowered person who might have this ability was Hoshimi Kouha.

However, Xingyu seemed not to understand his words, and instead took his hand with concern:

"What are you talking about... Your face has been frightening since the beginning, and you've been saying strange things..."

It seems she realized that Asakawa Riku's state was not right, and this was not the time to joke.

Asakawa Riku could only shake his head: "I'm fine."

He confirmed it; Xingyu's expression didn't lie. She genuinely seemed unaware of the [time reversal] thing.

That's obvious, it's absurd. If she had such powerful superpowers, she could have handled the incident at [Jiutianguan] all by herself last winter.

What exactly is going on...? We still need to think about it and reason it out...

Asakawa Riku said to her:

"I'm sorry to have worried you. I think I didn't eat dinner and I'm a little seasick..."

"Oh, you should have said so earlier."

Xingyu smiled, holding his hand but not letting go, instead pulling him back: "Then let's not go for a walk. Come on, let's go to the cafeteria and see if there's anything to eat."

Asakawa Riku had no reason to refuse; even if the sky were to fall, filling his stomach was the top priority.

A strong physique allows him to conserve his strength when hungry, but since he relies on his body for sustenance, maintaining sufficient energy will allow him to perform at his best and deal with what comes next.

The two left the deck and walked into the cabin, naturally letting go of each other's hands. Along the way, Hoshino was very considerate, worried about Asakawa Riku's condition, and would occasionally strike up a conversation:

"Is that book really that good? It's so addictive that you'd skip meals to get hooked on it. It's like I'm the one who ruined it for you."

"Is it good-looking...? It's definitely very profound."

Asakawa Riku's lips twitched slightly, giving a very subtle reply.

When he opened the book a day earlier, he never imagined that he would experience a memory so similar to the content of the book.

Walking around the cabin at this time, you can still see the students around you. They are still wearing normal clothes, doing normal things, and saying normal things.

No one would act like a primitive or aboriginal person, nor would they claim to be a follower of Lord Red Ray...

Looking at those familiar faces, who seemed to be charging at him angrily just a second ago, only to be sent flying by his punch, their flesh mangled and bloody.

These faces and voices kept overlapping, leaving Asakawa Riku feeling disoriented.

"...What happened?"

I looked up; in any case, we were now in the ship's dining room.

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Summer of the Crimson Stingray: Chapter Eighteen Proof

The restaurant on the cruise ship is temporarily closed, apparently because it's already 7:30 PM, past mealtime, and the chefs have all gone home; the restaurant is empty.

However, Asakawa Riku already knew about this.

He had experienced the same thing yesterday (yesterday in his senses, but actually today). He arrived at the restaurant too late, and the chef had already gone home. He could only fill his stomach with bread, canned food, and instant noodles. But today, he saw that the food was still on the shelves, in its original position, untouched.

The moment Asakawa Riku turned on the light, he paused, staring at the identical scene, and deeply felt the terror of "time reversal".

It felt as if I had experienced everything, and everything was proceeding as planned.

"Oh... there are no set meals left, but there is a kitchen here. Asakawa-kun, please sit down and let me see what I can make for you."

However, unlike last time, there was another person present.

Last time, he came to eat alone after saying goodbye to Xingyu, but this time Xingyu came along.

"No need, I'll just eat whatever I want."

"How can that be? After all, it's my fault that you haven't been able to eat properly, so of course I have to take responsibility."

"You lent me your book, you didn't harm me."

"Alright, stop being so wishy-washy, sit down quickly and let me show you my cooking."

After a couple of polite refusals, Asakawa Riku couldn't insist any further and had no choice but to agree.

Xingyu didn't forget to protect her white dress, so she found a temporary apron in the kitchen and put it on. Then she rummaged through the ingredients in the freezer and found things like noodles, ham and eggs. After all, they were using the ingredients secretly, so they were too embarrassed to use anything too precious. They suggested making fried noodles, and Asakawa Riku thought it was fine.

Watching the girl skillfully lift the wok, turn on the fire, and pour in the oil, Asakawa Riku realized that this girl's cooking skills seemed pretty good as well.

After all, she was always the one taking care of that lazy, rich second-generation detective at the agency.

"Thank you."

Asakawa Riku felt a warmth. To be honest, he was easy to please. He remembered every girl who had cooked for him.

"It's nothing. Asakawa-kun, you always say you don't know me well, so I was just thinking of letting you get to know me better in different ways."

Xingyu brought up the fact that he didn't recognize her again.

These words led Asakawa Riku to make a decision: he decided to trust his "trust" just this once.

"—Star Feather."

"what?"

She didn't turn around, still focused on frying the noodles, and casually replied.

"If I told you that I experienced a phenomenon of [time travel], would you believe me?"

Asakawa Riku decides to tell her the truth.

"Huh?...Are you out of your mind from hunger?"

As expected, Xingyu reacted as a normal person would.

But Asakawa Riku ignored him and continued, "This is the second time I've eaten at a restaurant like this. Last night, you invited me out too, but I ended up going back to my room to sleep alone. That night, the ship had an accident, and when I woke up again, I found myself on a deserted island with a village there—"

"Oh dear, I put in too much salt."

Hoshino turned her head away, annoyed: "Seriously, Asakawa-kun, don't scare me with stories from books. It's summer, not a test of courage—"

She stopped mid-sentence because she saw a deep sense of unease and struggle on Asakawa Riku's face.

That expression was definitely not a feigned pain, but a genuine one.

Hoshino immediately sensed something was wrong, but she couldn't immediately believe the absurd claims made by Asakawa Riku...

"Is what you said true?"

"I can prove it."

Asakawa Riku said calmly, pointing to the freezer next to him: "Open it."

"Okay." Xingyu did as instructed.

“Take out the second egg from the left in the first row of the grid.”

Xingyu picked it up.

Asakawa Riku immediately said, "That's a double-yolk egg."

Xingyu was stunned for a moment: "Impossible... You know, even Miss doesn't have the superpower of prophecy, you couldn't possibly know what's inside the egg..."

Shinonome Motsuki's prophecy is not a true prophecy; it was deduced using a vast memory and detailed information, along with powerful computational abilities.

If you take out a single, unbroken egg, without the aid of professional equipment, even she wouldn't be able to tell how many yolks are inside.

"But I just know."

Faced with this situation, Asakawa Riku remained unmoved, his eyes resolute: "If you don't believe me, you can test it out yourself."

"Okay."

Xingyu hesitated for a moment. She had originally wanted to add an egg to the fried noodles, but seeing this, she broke it in the bowl.

To everyone's surprise, what came out... was actually two egg yolks!

"What...how is this possible..."

She was shaken.

Even if Asakawa Riku is very skilled, and he can sense the shaking structure inside the egg through it, he should at least be able to touch the eggshell, right?

The two were at least several meters apart, yet he could tell it was a double-yolk egg just by looking at it—that's at least a level of X-ray vision…

Seeing her surprised expression, Asakawa Riku finally relaxed his tense face, smiled, and explained:

"Because for me, I already ate this egg yesterday."

Yes, when he came to the restaurant yesterday, he felt that eating fast food was not healthy, so he also cooked a fried egg, but his cooking skills were still worrying, so the fried egg did not taste good.

However, because it happened to be a double-yolk egg, he remembered it very well and also remembered exactly where it was placed in the freezer.

"Now you should believe what I'm saying, right?"

"........."

Xingyu fell silent. The facts were right in front of her. The experiment was indeed flawless. It was impossible for Asakawa Riku to have deliberately placed an egg here beforehand just to mess with her.

She had just finished scrambling the eggs and cooking them, then put them on a plate with the steaming noodles and brought it to the table.

Asakawa Riku picked up his chopsticks, put his hands together and said, "I'm starting to eat," and began to eat.

Xingyu's cooking skills are indeed excellent, with a great wok hei (wok aroma). Apart from being a little too salty, there's nothing to criticize. Perhaps she did add too much salt earlier.

He ate with satisfaction, and at that moment Xingyu also took off her apron, hung it back in its original place in the kitchen, and walked over step by step.

Finally, the girl sat in the opposite seat, remained silent for a long time, and then spoke:

"Alright, I believe you, Asakawa-kun."

"No matter how absurd the story is, whether it involves time travel, being stranded on a desert island, or a world within a book... just tell me about it first."

Summer of the Crimson Stingray: Chapter Nineteen - Operation Plan

"Is that island really called Stingray Island?"

"To be precise, the village is called Red Stingray Village. We don't know the name of the island, and we can't even confirm its exact latitude and longitude, but it should be in this sea area."

"Just like the plot in the book? Why? Is there something wrong with that book?"

"I was going to ask you that too, where did you get that copy of 'Summer of the Red Ray'?"

"It's just a bestseller I randomly picked up from the bookstore; it shouldn't have been tampered with..."

"Hmm... I can't figure out the reason either."

"The students on the island have all been brainwashed into fanatical villagers. Why is that? By the way, where did I go? Aren't I among the villagers?"