All in with one million!
Congratulations, Host, on obtaining the following rewards: Instant noodles that could fill your stomach in one go x3, delicious jelly pudding x2, a certain raccoon-brand instant noodles, a portable mobile phone, a toy teddy bear, a Temporary Ability Boost Card (strength and perception boosted; duration: one minute), and a Purple Profession Card (Student).
Damn!
Fujino looked at the pile of things he had drawn and could not help twitching at the corner of his mouth.
One million yen, and all I got was a Student profession?
With a soft sigh, he suppressed fifty years' worth of high blood pressure and opened the system's profession panel:
New secondary profession: Student: Beginner (100 proficiency points required for the next upgrade) New profession skill: Student Discount (Beginner: Receive a 5% discount when using any system function!) Current remaining funds: 53,100 yen
Well, that Student profession skill was pretty ruthless.
Looking at the Student Discount profession skill, Fujino could not help letting out a sigh of admiration.
A 5% discount meant that future ten-pulls for Profession Balls would cost only 950,000 yen!
It might not have seemed like much.
But accumulated over time, it would become quite a considerable sum.
Besides, professions could be upgraded. It was hard to imagine just how terrifying the Student profession would become at higher levels.
In short, this draw had seemed to yield a pile of useless junk, but the upgradeable Student skill alone had already made him a killing.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the classroom, a pair of unfriendly eyes was staring at him.
Sonoko gazed at Fujino with a lovestruck expression, looking as though she was practically about to drool.
"Hey, Ran, is that handsome guy by the window a new transfer student?"
She poked Ran, who was seated in front of her, in the back and asked.
"Sonoko, class is still in session!"
Ran turned around and softly complained before replying in a low voice, "Are you talking about Senior Fujino? Did you forget? He's the student who was held back and transferred into our class this year."
"Huh? Then how come I've never seen him before?"
Sonoko froze for a moment, somewhat puzzled.
"Senior Fujino is a Full-time Detective now, so he rarely comes to school."
Ran explained, "And the few times he did come to school, you happened to be out on sick leave."
"Another high school detective!"
Sonoko scratched her shoulder-length short hair and complained resentfully, "Fujino isn't some deduction maniac like that Kudo Shinichi guy, is he?"
"No."
Ran waved her hand and explained, "A year ago, Senior Fujino lost both his parents in an accident. He became a Full-time Detective afterward, and it seems he's currently making a living by taking on commissions."
"So that's how it is! Senior was forced into this by life?!"
Sonoko flapped her hands, regret evident in her voice. "If I'd known, I wouldn't have taken so many sick days to go out and have fun. Damn it, I only discovered such a handsome guy now..."
"Ha... ha..."
Ran rolled her eyes at that, utterly speechless at her lovestruck best friend.
"But speaking of which, Ran, how do you know so much about him?"
Suzuki Sonoko seemed to have suddenly discovered the truth. Slipping back into gossip mode, she peppered Ran with questions. "You're usually not interested in this kind of thing, and from what you said earlier, it sounds like you even went to his house. Could it be... have you fallen for someone else?!"
Ran's face immediately turned bright red, and she hurriedly defended herself. "Sonoko, what nonsense are you talking about? What do you mean, fallen for someone else? Senior Fujino lives across from my house, and the teacher only asked me to go over and check on him... Besides, Shinichi and I are just childhood friends!"
"Oho, you're blushing!"
Sonoko let out an unkind gossiping laugh. "And when I said you'd fallen for someone else, I never even mentioned that brat Kudo."
"Anyway, anyway, it's not what you think!"
Ran was nearly losing her mind. Honestly, there was no one besides Sonoko who could push Ran to this extent.
"Ahem! Quiet!"
The middle-aged teacher on the podium gave a light cough.
Sonoko and Ran immediately sat upright.
As for Fujino, he continued studying his Cheat Skill.
After school, Fujino drove home from the parking lot. Having endured another day of torment, he felt exhausted in both body and mind.
Fortunately, a day of hard work had brought rewards as well.
His Student profession had reached fifty proficiency points.
So different professions had different methods of leveling up?
Fujino glanced at his balance of less than fifty thousand yen, and another headache came over him.
After spending the original one million yen on the ten-pull, this was all he had left. His already cash-strapped life had just gotten even worse!
Damn pay-to-win system!
After silently cursing it, Fujino could not help sighing. "So making money is the most urgent matter right now?"
For him, there were only three ways to make money: work a job, complete commissions, or solve cases.
Working was out of the question. Even if he starved to death, he would never work a job.
As for commissions, those depended on opportunity.
"Looks like solving cases is the only path left?"
Fujino held the steering wheel with one hand and rubbed his chin.
With the Detective profession's attributes, even if the police did not pay him, solving a case would still earn him a hefty reward.
The only problem was that cases were hard to come by.
He was not some grim reaper high school student who could stumble upon a murder case just by taking a walk.
"New Detective Profession Mission detected. Please check it."
Hearing the system notification by his ear, Fujino immediately slammed on the brakes.
He opened the system interface, and the mission list appeared before him:
Detective Profession Mission: Haunted House Murder Case Mission objective: Solve the Haunted House Murder Case from five years ago Mission time limit: One hour Mission reward: 500,000 yen bounty, system starter equipment gift pack
"Haunted House Murder Case? Five hundred thousand yen?!"
Fujino muttered in confusion, then turned his gaze to the side and spotted a gloomy Western-style mansion.
Fujino remembered this dilapidated mansion well. Its fence was overgrown with weeds, and a Yamada Family nameplate hung from its gatepost.
If he remembered correctly, this was the scene of the Haunted House Murder Case from five years ago. The mother and son who had killed the head of the Yamada Family were currently hiding in its basement.
Fujino lowered his head and frowned in thought for a while before deciding to accept the mission.
He parked in an open area nearby, then made his way back to the mansion. Following his memories, he found a secret entrance along one side of the vegetation-covered courtyard wall.
Looking at the small hole covered with wooden boards, barely large enough for one person to pass through, Fujino could not help complaining, "Why does this feel like crawling through a dog hole?"
After entering the courtyard and pushing open the old front door, he was greeted by four demon statues.
Under the light of the setting sun, those demon statues appeared especially chilling.
"These statues were probably meant to scare people away."
Fujino muttered to himself before continuing deeper into the house.
After passing through the dim corridor, a clean carpet at the end of it caught his attention.
If he had guessed correctly, this should be the secret entrance to the house's basement.
Fujino took a deep breath, gripped the Strength Boost Card in his hand, and lifted the stone slab covering the basement.
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