Small Portable Space Upgrade

"Two million?"

In the Ford Taurus, Fujino glanced at the balance on the system interface, [2.2 million], and murmured, "Looks like that newspaper company really put in the effort."

"No… if it were just the newspaper, they wouldn't so easily hand over two million for information."

Fujino pondered for a moment, a knowing smile spreading across his lips, "Did the company behind that newspaper make a move?"

This transaction went very smoothly. Money exchanged hands, goods were delivered, and both parties benefited.

The newspaper company got the dirt, and Fujino got the money.

As for whether the company behind the newspaper could bring down Ikeda Chikako.

Fujino wasn't worried about that.

As the eldest son of the Fujino family, once a beneficiary of capital, he clearly understood how brutal the wars of capital could be.

Let alone a slight slip-up, even fabricating something out of thin air wouldn't be easily overlooked by other capitalists.

If there's no evidence, then manufacture it.

Once the label is affixed, even if it's not true, it becomes true if enough people say it.

The masses are easily swayed; words can kill.

In this era, people's primary source of information is the media.

And the media belongs to capital.

As for Beika Batman… it can only be said that this name doesn't have any other meaning.

It was purely a name Fujino casually made up, inspired by the local Kyoto newspaper's headline, [Numabuchi Kiichiro Arrested, Who is Batman?].

Of course, he, Fujino, wasn't Batman biting a lighter with a Batman mask on, but a dark knight walking in the shadows wearing a Batman mask.

Early morning, just as dawn was breaking.

Dawn lifted the veil of night, and the sky turned a pale, milky white. Outside the window, everything was covered in a layer of snow, vast and boundless, with snowflakes drifting down like fluffy cotton buds.

Fujino stood by the windowsill, gazing calmly out the window. Through his hazy vision, the glass was covered in a thin layer of mist. Through the mist, it looked as if white flowers of snow were falling outside.

As the sky grew brighter, the accumulated snow on the ground cast dappled shadows. Fujino looked up, just in time to hide the sorrow in his eyes.

"This timeline in the Conan World is truly strange."

Fujino took out his phone and looked at the date on it, Monday, October 7th, and murmured.

Yesterday it was early autumn, and today it's already snowing.

This isn't scientific; this is very Conan-esque, and also quite reasonable.

Thinking of this, he shook his head, as if accustomed to it all.

October 7th is the second Monday of October, and in Japan, it's the national holiday, Sports Day. As a student, he didn't need to go to school.

After washing up, Fujino went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for himself.

Of course, what he called breakfast was just a packet of self-heating rice.

However, this time there was no golden flash, just an ordinary packet of self-heating rice.

But his proficiency in the Chef profession had increased.

Fujino opened the system and focused on the Chef proficiency in the profession interface:

[Chef: Novice (95 proficiency points needed for next level)]

[Special Grade Chef (Novice: Any food made by the host has a 5% chance of receiving a random enhancement)]

Just as other professions gain proficiency and reputation by doing things within their profession, the Chef profession gains proficiency by cooking.

As for the proficiency points for the Chef profession, based on Fujino's observations over the past few days.

It's likely that making food of different levels grants corresponding points.

A packet of self-heating rice only increases proficiency by one point, while instant noodles can increase it by two.

Fujino hasn't tried any other food yet.

The reason is simple: as a single man, Fujino doesn't know how to cook.

"Looks like I'll have to learn some cooking skills from Ran someday," Fujino murmured.

In his opinion, Ran's cooking skills were quite good among the people he knew. Although it wasn't restaurant quality, it was still delicious home-style cooking.

The proficiency gained from making home-style dishes would surely be more than from instant noodles or self-heating rice.

Of course, he could also get a part-time job at a restaurant…

But Fujino was a former young master of a wealthy family. Working part-time was absolutely out of the question; he'd never work in this lifetime!

Putting his thoughts aside, Fujino shifted his gaze back to the Portable Space within the system inventory:

[Small Portable Space: Can store items at any time, current space size (0.5x0.5x0.5m) Note: Can be upgraded, current upgrade cost: 1.5 million Yen]

The Portable Space, golden quality, was currently his highest-level item.

Unlike other purple items or equipment, the Portable Space could be upgraded.

Currently, the Portable Space was a fifty-centimeter cube, about the size of a cardboard box.

But Fujino felt it was still a bit small.

Especially as the amount of things he needed to carry grew, the originally insufficient space became even more restrictive.

"Looks like I need to upgrade it,"

Fujino sighed softly, staring at the amount needed to upgrade the Portable Space, and frowned. "But 1.5 million is a bit too much, isn't it..."

1.5 million was close to two chances at the lottery.

However, for a convenient item that transcended reality, 1.5 million for expansion wasn't really too expensive; it was even much cheaper than housing prices.

After spending 1.35 million, the Portable Space was successfully upgraded.

[Consumed 1.35 million for upgrade (Portable Space)]

[Small Portable Space: Allows items to be placed inside at any time. Current space size (1x1x1m). Note: Can be upgraded. Current upgrade cost: 2.5 million Yen]

[Current remaining balance: 850,000 Yen]

"A one-meter cube?"

Fujino examined the expanded system space and exclaimed in surprise, "An eight-fold increase in space from before?"

Suddenly, he felt the heartache he had experienced earlier completely vanish.

It seemed this system had some conscience; at least the expansion wasn't just double, but geometric.

If it had expanded to a sixty-centimeter cube, that would have been truly terrible.

"Ring ring!"

Just as he finished upgrading the system space, his phone rang in his pocket.

Fujino took the phone out of his pocket and answered it. A middle-aged man's voice came from the other end: "Is this Mr. Fujino?"

"Yes, who is this?"

Normally, clients would call him Detective Fujino.

This "Mr." seemed to indicate it wasn't a client.

"I'm an installer from Beika Furniture City. The furniture you ordered has been loaded onto the truck. When would be a good time for us to come and install it?"

"Right now is fine. I have the day off today."

"Okay."

Even though it was a public holiday, the furniture city staff were still working.

For workers living in Japanese society, holidays were the best opportunity to earn money.

Working overtime on holidays was harder, but they received high overtime pay.