Slacker Assassin's Multiverse Daily

He had secretly observed the adult media of this world, and quite a few familiar works were missing. He couldn't tell if it was simple butterfly effect or if those stories actually took place in this world... Anyway, let's skip this topic.

But one thing Jiang Hang could be sure of was that if he used the budget of a mainstream anime to produce adult content without regard for cost, at the standard price of around 10 million yen per episode for ordinary animation, with a system bigshot backing him as the financier, he could totally afford it!

He could even go for super high-budget productions. At worst, he'd just grind a few more commissions every day, put together a top-tier adult anime costing forty to fifty million yen per episode, and make a whole series to satisfy the raging desires of otaku worldwide.

At this rate, he might even become a legendary "Father of Adult Anime," revered by countless otaku.

No, that future was way too beautiful. Just a little bit, just a tiny bit more, and Jiang Hang would have shouted "Take off!" in his heart.

In the end, considering the existence of the Crab God, Jiang Hang decisively shut down that not-so-great idea. If he actually did that, the furious and despairing girls would probably come at him with knives to stab him to death. He was still young and didn't want to walk down Makoto's path.

Even if he really wanted to do that stuff, he'd have to do it secretly, making sure no one found out...

It was at this moment that Jiang Hang suddenly realized his focus had drifted a little off course.

Wait, wasn't I supposed to be concerned about Shizuka Sakaki? Why did I suddenly start thinking about this stuff?

Chapter 33: Jiang Hang's Embarrassing Past

Once a person becomes noticeable, even if their nature is that of a salted fish, their life will still start to be plagued by all sorts of troubles.

Just like Jiang Hang, who had worked hard for three days and planned to slack off for half a day, only to find four audacious brats had run into his office when he wasn't paying attention.

Especially that chubby kid who kept shouting "Eel rice, eel rice," scaring Koharu Yoshino, who had just fallen asleep reading a mystery novel, awake.

That's right, the ones who came were the famous Detective Boys four-person group, which would soon become a five-person group.

With a bunch of kids around, Jiang Hang definitely couldn't keep watching anime.

After all, he didn't want to be watching his late-night animations when those kids ran up behind him and innocently said, "Big brother, are you still watching cartoons?" or "Big brother, isn't this a magical girl anime only girls should watch?"

Because Jiang Hang remembered that when he was little, if he saw Cardcaptor Sakura or Cat's Eye playing on TV and a parent was nearby, he absolutely couldn't bring himself to watch. At most, he'd sneak a peek with a red face when no one was home.

What left a particularly deep impression on him was that one day, because his family was home, he missed the finale of Cardcaptor Sakura. The next day, he specially went to secretly ask his female deskmate at the time if she had seen the last episode and what it was about.

Then his female deskmate gave him a strange look, as if to say, "A boy like you watches Cardcaptor Sakura?"

And Jiang Hang, wanting to save face, instinctively mastered the "inventing a friend" trick on the spot, telling her it was his (nonexistent) little sister who asked him to find out. That barely got him through.

It wasn't until Jiang Hang grew up that he realized anime full of cute girls were the otaku's love, while those shows about guys sweating it out and bonding over youth were actually the disaster zone for fujoshi.

These little boys probably wouldn't understand the beauty of yuri anime for another ten years. How pitiful, when you think about it.

Wait, actually, there's nothing pitiful about that.

Jiang Hang thought this, then silently sighed.

"Alright, I was planning to eat barbecue today, but eel rice doesn't sound bad either. Let's go out for eel rice tonight." He had promised to treat them to eel rice before, and as an adult, he couldn't lie to kids about something like that.

Unlike Genta, Mitsuhiko and Ayumi were curious about Jiang Hang's office. As soon as they arrived, they ran around everywhere.

"Big brother's detective agency seems a lot better than Conan's detective agency!" Kids always spoke so bluntly.

If Kogoro Mouri heard that, that petty middle-aged man would probably hold a grudge against Jiang Hang again.

Conan silently observed the office.

Just as Mitsuhiko said, Jiang Hang's detective agency was meticulously designed, both in decoration and furniture layout.

Being able to hire such a designer meant Jiang Hang must have spent a lot of money renovating the office.

And Conan keenly noticed that, as Jiang Hang had said, the office had only recently opened. He could tell from the dust accumulated in hard-to-clean spots.

Was the money to open the office provided by Jiang Hang's family, or did Jiang Hang earn it himself?

Conan pondered this in his mind, while Mitsuhiko discovered the Ezio's Outfit hanging on one side.

"Wow, is this a costume you collected, big brother? It looks amazing."

The silver-white clothes, red cape and belt, and the beak-shaped hood, with exquisite craftsmanship, gave off a classical vibe.

"Yeah, pretty cool, right? There's only one set like this in the whole world!" That was for sure. Since this world didn't have the Assassin's Creed game, this Ezio's Outfit was truly one of a kind.

Jiang Hang didn't say anything related to assassins. After all, Conan believed in Sherlock Holmes's famous quote—"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

And he had even developed the classic line "The truth is only one" from that.

He was really afraid that if he said too much about this, Conan would notice something off, deduce his background, and expose him.

For this reason, Jiang Hang hadn't told Koharu Yoshino or Shizuka Sakaki about these things either, to prevent that overly suspicious brat Conan from squeezing information out of them.

As for the hidden blade, he had naturally put it away long ago. Even Koharu and the others only knew he had prepared a self-defense weapon, but Jiang Hang had never let them touch it.

After these brats had thoroughly explored Jiang Hang's office, seeing that their natural mischievous tendencies were about to kick in, Jiang Hang quickly had Koharu Yoshino drive them to the best nearby restaurant that served eel rice, to avoid his office getting wrecked.

The kids didn't say anything about Jiang Hang's AE86. After all, only Jiang Hang in this world treated the 86 as a nostalgic thing. Conan didn't pay much attention to the car either, since Japan's auto industry was developed and every model had its loyal fans. He just saw Jiang Hang as a devoted fan of the classic AE86.

Seven people squeezed into one car was a bit tight, but four kids could manage. Soon, Koharu Yoshino drove them to the entrance of a high-end restaurant nearby.

After some commotion, Genta finally got to eat his beloved eel rice, and it was the highest-grade special premium eel rice. A big bowl full of delicious top-quality eel, coated in special sauce over premium rice. Just smelling the aroma made the chubby kid look like he was in ecstasy.

Conan, meanwhile, kept observing Jiang Hang from beside him.

But... no matter how he looked at him, Jiang Hang seemed pretty ordinary... An ordinary detective should be especially aware of everything around them, but from the moment Jiang Hang walked into the restaurant, he had completely focused on the outrageously priced special premium eel rice, as if he hadn't noticed his surroundings at all.

He didn't seem like any particularly impressive detective. Sure, he was definitely more reliable than that Mouri detective at his house, but he was still far from the level Conan had imagined.

He had recently heard Ran chatting at home about how Jiang Hang was especially good at finding lost items, basically able to help people find what they'd lost after just a few questions and a couple of glances.

Conan thought he could easily pull off something like that, but he still wanted to test Jiang Hang himself.

Watching the other man wolf down his eel rice with table manners barely better than Genta's, Conan rubbed his forehead, then used his recently honed skill of playing the kid—wide eyes and all—to ask Jiang Hang, "Big brother Jiang Hang, I know your reasoning ability is amazing. I lost my favorite pen recently. Can you help me find it?"

He'd already planned out what answers to give if Jiang Hang asked about the pen, and what reasoning traps to plant in his words.

A half-baked detective would naturally fall for the traps in his speech; only a truly sharp one could see through to the core and deduce the most likely place it was dropped.

Hearing Conan's deliberately childish voice, Jiang Hang felt a shiver run down his spine.

Then he looked at Conan.

You little brat, trying to test me, huh?

"Conan, what pen did you lose? After we finish eating, I'll take you to buy a whole box of the same ones, how about that?"

He had no idea if the pen in Conan's mouth even existed, and he wasn't interested in playing this game.

Truth be told, going out with Conan made Jiang Hang cautious. Though he seemed focused on the eel rice in front of him, his Eagle Eye was flicking on now and then, keeping tabs on the restaurant's surroundings.

He didn't want to take Conan out for eel rice only to stumble into some random incident again.

Chapter 34: Chapter 34: Spend Money to Get Stronger

Hearing Jiang Hang's patronizing tone, Conan's mouth twitched. He hadn't expected that, after his request, Jiang Hang's first reaction would be to buy him a new pen.

No good—that wouldn't let him test the guy's reasoning skills.

So he kept up the kid voice, "Big brother Jiang Hang, but that pen was a special limited edition—you can't buy it anymore now... Can you just help me think about where I might have dropped it? Please~"

Gross. Watching Conan play the kid in the anime was fun, but knowing his real background, Jiang Hang felt his skin crawl.

He grabbed a napkin, wiped his mouth, and pulled out his phone.

"Little brother Conan, let me tell you something today: spending money is the main way to get stronger. As long as you have cash, no matter how limited or exclusive a product is, you can find it online. This is Amazon's secondhand market—what did your pen look like? I'll help you look for it?"

Is it really okay to say stuff like that to a kid?

Conan grumbled internally, but he wasn't ready to give up yet. He quickly shook his head, putting on a pitiful look.

"No, that pen was a special gift from big sister Ran. If she finds out I lost it, she'll be sad."

Keep bluffing, keep bluffing. Now you're dragging your big sister Ran into it to fool me, huh?

Jiang Hang thought this, then straightened his expression. He reached out with his hand—still a bit greasy despite the napkin—and ruffled Conan's hair.

"If it's that important, then there's no helping it."

Conan was disgusted by Jiang Hang's hand but forced himself to endure it.

"Really? Thanks so much, big brother—"

"Go apologize to your big sister Ran, Conan. If she gave you something and you lost it by accident, you should own up and say sorry. I'm sure she won't be sad if you apologize—she might even think you've grown up and be happy about it."

"?"

Conan stared at Jiang Hang with a face full of question marks.

Everything he was about to say got shut down. That pen didn't even exist; Ran had bought him stationery before, but it was just ordinary pens you could find anywhere. If Jiang Hang dragged him to apologize to Ran, wouldn't the whole thing fall apart?

His expression turned awkward. "But maybe I can still find it. Maybe I just left it somewhere and forgot..."

"Then think hard. I believe in you—you can find it on your own. If you still can't, go apologize to your big sister Ran."

Just then, the Detective Boys overheard their conversation.

"Conan, did you lose something? Want us all to help you look?" kind-hearted Ayumi asked.

Seeing the kids about to get involved, Conan felt a wave of panic.

"No, no need. I just thought it over and remembered a few places I might have left it. I'll check when I get back. If I really can't find it, I'll apologize to big sister Ran."

He quickly changed the subject.

"Oh, right, Ayumi, weren't you saying you wanted to go explore that haunted house? How about after we finish the eel rice, we head over to that place you mentioned?"

"Huh, haunted house after eel rice?" Genta, whose face was practically buried in his bowl, perked up. "Yeah, yeah! I've got all this energy from the eel rice—let's all go explore the haunted house together!"

"Haunted house...?" Jiang Hang was curious. Was this another one of the Detective Boys' death-defying adventures?

Ayumi turned to Jiang Hang and explained.

It wasn't a theme park haunted house. A few nights ago, when Ayumi passed by a house that had been empty for a long time, she saw strange ghostly flames inside. She asked her parents and learned that someone had died in that house five years ago, and it had been abandoned ever since.

Rumor had it that scary noises came from the house at midnight.

They'd planned to explore it today, but then Conan brought up Jiang Hang's eel rice, and between that and the haunted house, they chose the delicious eel rice.

Conan had meant to let the haunted house thing slide, but after Jiang Hang threw him off balance, he blurted it out again.

No helping it now. But with an adult around, they'd probably stop them, right? Conan was pretty satisfied with his quick thinking.

"I brought you guys here for eel rice, and your parents know you're with me, right? If I let you go to a haunted house and something happens, it'd be on me..." Jiang Hang rubbed his chin, saying this.

Koharu Yoshino and Shizuka Sakaki were both adults. Maybe they'd loved risky stuff as kids, but not anymore. Koharu tried to soften her voice.

A five-year-old murder case, a haunted house, screams at night—that sounded terrifying. She'd just witnessed a murder a few days ago and was mentally drained. She had no desire to take a bunch of kids to explore a haunted crime scene.

"How about after we eat, big sister takes you to the park? I'll drive you home when it gets dark. The haunted house can wait for another day—what do you think?"

Why do a bunch of kids insist on going exploring in a place where someone died, anyway? Are kids these days just that fearless?

Koharu Yoshino was still thinking that Jiang Hang had made the right decision this time when he suddenly changed his tune.

"But I'm a bit interested in that murder case from five years ago. Little Ayumi, do you know who the killer was in that case?"

"Uh... I'm not really sure either. It seems like they were never caught..." Ayumi said hesitantly.

Hearing that, Jiang Hang figured it was pretty much settled.

The murderer from five years ago hadn't been caught. It happened right in Beika City and must have caused quite a stir back then, yet for the past five years, even Shinichi Kudo—or rather, Conan—hadn't solved it.

After thinking it over, Jiang Hang could only chalk it up to "plot necessity." Maybe it wasn't the right time back then. Shinichi Kudo might have checked it out but found no special clues, so the case faded from his memory.

Anyway, the Detective Boys' routine death wish, combined with a location where a crime had occurred, basically meant a case was waiting for Conan.

Of course, now it also meant one was waiting for Jiang Hang.

"Then let's go check out that haunted house. I'm pretty interested in haunted houses and such, but you kids can't run around," Jiang Hang decided on the spot.

Chapter 35: Chapter 35: Messing with Conan's Head

The moment a haunted house adventure was mentioned, Koharu Yoshino and Shizuka Sakaki, the two adult women, promptly chickened out.

Jiang Hang didn't force them and said that after the haunted house exploration was over, he'd call a taxi to take the kids home.

Of course, based on his estimate, if things went normally, he wouldn't need to call a taxi—he'd just have Inspector Megure help send them back.

But the two women weren't that cowardly. They could skip the haunted house but still wait at a café or something at the end of the street for Jiang Hang and the others to come out.

And Koharu Yoshino came up with a good excuse for their cowardice—off-site support. Though that support was utterly useless to Jiang Hang.

Glancing at the particularly gloomy Conan, Jiang Hang's mood brightened.