Work Text:
Ranpo Edogawa stretched lazily, glancing at the station sign with a bored expression.
This case of mysterious disappearances on the subway had only seemed interesting until he figured out that all the vanishings happened in one specific train carriage: 4951.
At that point, Ranpo laughed. Disappearances? Really? Did they seriously think a genius like him wouldn’t solve it in five minutes?
And so, here he was, waiting for the train.
With a bag of snacks in hand and his detective hat tilted slightly on his head, Ranpo didn’t seem worried at all.
In fact, he was impatient to solve the whole thing spectacularly. As always.
The train arrived with a metallic screech, and the doors of the carriage 4951 opened. Ranpo stepped in with his usual nonchalance, taking a glance around. The carriage seemed... normal? Unremarkable. Except for one detail.
When the doors closed behind him, the world around him seemed to distort for a moment. The familiar hum of the train disappeared, replaced by utter silence. Ranpo looked out the window, expecting to see the subway tunnels.
But instead, he saw... space.
“Interesting,” he muttered, a playful smile tugging at his lips as he adjusted his hat.
The train car now seemed to be floating in the starry void, a place outside time and space. Yet, Ranpo didn’t seem the least bit surprised.
One other passenger occupied the far end of the car, a man in a white coat staring out the window as if he had been there for an eternity.
The man turned as Ranpo entered, visibly startled.
It wasn’t every day that someone arrived in his space.
The man, Kim Dokja, looked at him with a mix of curiosity and suspicion. “How did you get here?” he asked, his voice calm but tense.
Ranpo merely tilted his head, walking closer with his hands in his pockets, the usual smug grin on his face. “Oh, this? Not so hard for me, you know? After all, I’m the world’s greatest detective.”
Kim Dokja blinked. “The… world’s greatest detective?”
“Exactly!” Ranpo plopped down across from him, lounging as if he were on a couch. “Edogawa Ranpo, pleased to meet you. And you are… let me guess…”
He raised an eyebrow, observing Kim Dokja for a few seconds. Then, he clapped his hands. “Ah, I’ve got it! You’re stuck here because you’ve taken on the role of the ‘Oldest Dream,’ right? Keeping an entire world alive just by existing... How boring.”
Kim Dokja stared at him in disbelief. Not only had this man figured out his situation in seconds, but he also described it with a casualness that was almost insulting.
“How do you know that?”
Ranpo chuckled, pulling a snack from his bag.
“Eh, just by looking at you. Everything about you screams ‘tragic hero who sacrificed himself to keep his friends’ world alive.’ But don’t worry, I’ve already figured out how to solve your problem.”
Dokja looked even more skeptical. “Excuse me, but are you sure you understand the situation? I can’t just… leave.”
Ranpo sighed. “Tsk, tsk, tsk. You’re really slow, huh? For being the ‘Oldest Dream,’ you’re not very sharp.”
He straightened a bit, pointing an accusing finger at Dokja.
“You’re trapped here because you think if you stop dreaming, the world will collapse. But that’s only because you’re an idiot.”
Kim Dokja stiffened. “An... idiot?”
“Exactly! You can’t expect the world’s greatest detective to get stuck in something as silly as this, can you? Think about it!” Ranpo gestured grandly, as if explaining the obvious.
“You’ve already created the world! It doesn’t need you anymore! Your sacrifice was your idea, not a necessity. Now it’s strong enough to stand on its own.”
Kim Dokja was silent. That explanation was… absurd. But something about Ranpo’s effortless confidence made it seem so incredibly logical.
Ranpo grinned triumphantly. “Have you ever thought about just leaving it all behind and seeing what happens? You don’t have to be the hero forever, you know. You can leave this train. All you have to do is want it.”
“It’s not that simple,” Dokja muttered, looking out the window. “If I stop dreaming…”
“…the world will keep going,” Ranpo finished, crunching noisily on his snack. “You don’t need to be a genius like me to understand that. You’ve already done enough. Let them live on their own.”
Kim Dokja reflected for a long moment. He had spent so much time believing he was the only one who could keep the world alive. But… what if this person was right?
“All right,” he said after a long silence, standing up slowly. “Let’s see if you’re right, detective.”
Ranpo smiled triumphantly, as if he was already certain of the outcome.
“Finally! Took you long enough.”
He stood up as well, as casual as ever. “I bet when you step off this train, the world will still be there. And then, of course, you’ll have me to thank. But that’s normal, since I’m the best.”
Kim Dokja approached the door of the train car. He paused just for a moment before opening it, casting one last glance at the detective. “If you’re wrong, I might have to come back here.”
Ranpo laughed, shrugging. “Don’t worry. I’m never wrong.”
With a deep breath, Kim Dokja opened the door and stepped out. For a moment, Ranpo remained alone in the infinite space. Then, the stars around him began to fade, and the train resumed moving through a familiar tunnel.
Ranpo sighed in satisfaction, grabbing another snack. “Case closed. And with one hundred percent accuracy, as usual.”
That evening, the Armed Detective Agency received a detailed report on the resolution of The Mystery of Train Carriage 4951.
“Easy,” was the only comment Ranpo left at the bottom of the page.
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[Meanwhile in the 8612th planetary system]
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Kim Dokja found himself back on solid ground, the wind gently brushing his face.
"I'm back," Kim Dokja said nonchalantly, looking at his companions with a bright smile on his face.
In front of him, his companions stood frozen in shock.
Yoo Joonghyuk, Han Sooyoung, Shin Yoosung, Lee Hyunsung, and the others stared at him as if they were seeing a ghost.
"Kim Dokja..?" Han Sooyoung was the first to speak, her eyes wide with disbelief.
"How… how did you get out? We thought you were trapped there forever, with no way out! It should be impossible and it's not like we weren't thinking about to attacking that subway or anything to kidnap-, i mean save you.."
Even Yoo Joonghyuk was looking at him, though his gaze was more calculating, as if searching for a logical explanation.
[Kim Dokja is an idiot]
Maybe he was...
Yoo Joonghyuk looked relieved, as if a huge weight had just been lifted off his chest.
"I'll think about this later."
Kim Dokja paused for a moment, a faint, enigmatic smile started playing on his lips.
"Well," he began, with the calm tone he often used to conceal his deeper thoughts, "I had an unexpected visitor."
The others looked at him with growing curiosity.
“The world’s greatest detective paid me a visit. He explained everything,” Dokja continued, pausing, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “And thanks to him, I was able to leave the subway.”
There was a moment of total silence. Han Sooyoung was the first to laugh, incredulous. "The world’s greatest detective? Seriously? You couldn’t come up with a better excuse? What's next? A giant squid suddenly told you that they want to be your teacher so you can kill them to save the world?"
Dokja just smiled, shrugging slightly. “Believe it or not, that’s what happened.”
Yoo Joonghyuk remained silent, his expression unreadable, but Shin Yoosung and Lee Gilyoung rushed over, clinging tightly to Dokja’s arms.
“It doesn’t matter how you got out, ahjussi, the important thing is that you’re here!”
"Hyung you're not allowed to leave us again!"
Lee Hyunsung nodded, his eyes filled with relief.
Dokja extended his arms, pulling everyone into an unexpected group hug. "I’m back," he said, a rare warmth in his voice. "And this time, I’m not going anywhere."
His companions hugged him back, their relief palpable. The "Oldest Dream" had finally found his way home, thanks to a detective he would never meet again, but whose mystery had been solved.
And in that moment, for the first time in a long while, Kim Dokja truly felt free.