**Chapter 27: The Medieval Museum Ghost Story**
"This urban legend? I've heard about it," Ran said after thinking for a moment, her interest piqued. "They say that medieval armor comes to life at night and roams around the museum!"
"Medieval armor roaming the museum?"
Fujino frowned at the familiar-sounding ghost story.
**Night at the Museum...** No, wait!
It should be the art museum murder case in *Detective Conan*.
If he remembered correctly, this case happened at the Medieval Museum.
And the armor in the legend was probably the curator, Ochiai, in disguise.
The old curator was an art-loving senior who cherished art pieces as his life. He had dedicated most of his life to the Medieval Museum where he was currently the curator.
However, due to the recent economic downturn in Japan, the company that had originally invested in the museum went bankrupt, and the museum was now about to be taken over by another company.
That wouldn't be much of an issue, except that the new owner, Mr. Manaka, wanted to demolish the museum and turn it into a hotel.
Enraged, Ochiai decided to commit murder.
He disguised himself as a ghostly armor to practice how to swiftly and cleanly kill Mr. Manaka, preventing the museum from being demolished.
"Huh?"
Sonoko looked at Fujino in surprise, as if discovering a new side of him. "Could it be that you're also interested in these ghost stories, Fujino-senpai?!"
"Not really interested, just a bit curious."
Fujino nodded. "After all, if ghost stories exist, there must be some reason behind them."
"That's a surprise. Compared to that arrogant detective maniac, you're so much better, Fujino-senpai!"
"If that arrogant detective were here, he'd definitely say something like: 'Ghost stories are just for scaring kids...'"
Sonoko mimicked Shinichi Kudo's tone and glanced at Fujino. "Why is there such a big difference between detectives?"
Suddenly, as if remembering something, she asked Ran, "By the way, Ran, I haven't seen that guy at school for a long time."
"Shinichi..."
Ran frowned and sighed. "He went to handle a complicated case... He might not be back for a while..."
"That's why I say, that arrogant detective maniac is so unreliable!"
Sonoko said indignantly, "I bet he's ditched you, Ran, to secretly meet some other pretty girl!"
"Sonoko!"
Ran pouted, her face showing a hint of shyness like a little girl.
"Hahaha..."
Seeing Ran's shy expression, Sonoko laughed meaningfully.
Then she invited the two of them, "Fujino-senpai, Ran, tomorrow is the weekend. How about we go to the Medieval Museum to check out the walking armor?"
"The weekend?"
Fujino frowned.
It's clearly Monday today, and tomorrow is the weekend... He really couldn't understand the time logic in the Conan world.
**Ding, detective occupation level-up mission detected.**
At that moment, the system's prompt sounded in Fujino's ear.
Fujino was taken aback. He opened the system interface and saw the mission:
**[Detective Occupation Level-Up Mission: Art Museum Ghost Story Murder Case]**
**Mission Objective: Solve the Art Museum Ghost Story Murder Case**
**Mission Option 1: Ensure no one dies**
**Reward: 50 detective reputation points, 500,000 yen reward, random occupation upgrade ticket (purple)**
**Mission Option 2: Solve the Art Museum Ghost Story case**
**Reward: 50 detective reputation points, 500,000 yen reward, False Mask (purple)**
**Mission time limit: 2 days**
"Two options?"
Fujino was stunned by the system mission.
Unlike the usual single-choice missions, this time there were two options.
And the rewards for completing the two options were different...
"Hey! Fujino-senpai, are you free to go to the Medieval Museum tomorrow?"
Hearing the voice, Fujino closed the system interface and saw Sonoko looking at him expectantly.
"Ahem."
He cleared his throat, thought for a moment, and agreed, "If we have a day off tomorrow, I do have time. I haven't had a proper break for a while, and visiting the museum to cultivate my taste sounds nice..."
"It's settled then!"
Sonoko smiled knowingly.
She gave Fujino a meaningful look.
...
Sunset.
Fujino returned home, took off his school uniform and hung it in the wardrobe. He changed into his usual suit, ate a system-rewarded cream pudding, and opened the system interface, contemplating the options.
The two options provided by the system were fundamentally different approaches.
Option one, ensuring no one dies, meant he had to prevent Curator Ochiai from committing murder, thus solving the case.
The reward was a purple random level-up ticket, which could randomly upgrade an occupation.
Option two was more in line with usual missions.
But this time, he knew the case was about to happen.
To solve the case, he needed to wait until Curator Ochiai committed the murder, then go to the crime scene and solve it.
Both were about solving the case, but one involved preventing it from happening, while the other allowed the murder to occur.
After a moment of deep thought, Fujino made his decision...
Midnight, Medieval Museum.
Fujino carried a wooden sword on his back, with two enhancement cards at his waist, and sneaked into the Medieval Museum.
His infiltration was smooth, not because he was particularly good at it, but because the museum's security was so lax.
Due to the recent ghost story and the museum closing in ten days, the security guards hadn't been paid for a month.
Without pay, who would work?
So, the vast museum had only one old man on patrol duty.
The old man was over sixty, and only came to work for free because of the curator.
The Medieval Museum had four exhibition halls: Sky Hall, Earth Hall, Ocean Hall, and Hell Hall, each named after the theme of the exhibits.
After entering the museum, Fujino headed straight to the Hell Hall.
If he remembered correctly, the murder case happened in the Hell Hall.
"Wonder if the curator came to practice tonight..."
Fujino murmured as he walked down the dim hallway of the exhibit, "If not..."
**Clang! Clang! Clang!**
Before he could finish, he heard the sound of metal clanking from the Hell Hall.
Fujino's heart tightened. He raised the wooden sword and cautiously walked toward the source of the sound.
Peeking around the corner into the Hell Hall, he saw a medieval armor swinging a sword...
(End of chapter)