Slacker Assassin's Multiverse Daily

"And then yesterday my younger sister called to ask about my audition results. I didn't even know what to tell her..."

Hearing Shizuka Sakaki's words, Jiang Hang also fell slightly silent for a moment.

Shizuka Sakaki had performed at her usual level, but she failed. Aside from issues with her own strength, it might also have been that the audition role she chose didn't match the voice she projected. Yet considering this role was also a choice Shizuka Sakaki made after careful deliberation, the greater possibility was still the former.

She had poured in countless efforts and sweat, trying her hardest among all possible opportunities to find the one with the highest chance, and yet in the end, she still failed.

This could be said to be the most agonizing kind of failure.

Coupled with the murder case they encountered tonight, triggered by "successive failures" as the fuse, Shizuka Sakaki was probably feeling down because of all these things.

"Ahem, in my country, there is a person like this. The things he said have inspired many people, including myself."

A trace of confusion surfaced on Shizuka Sakaki's face, and she seemed to develop a shred of curiosity about the person who could inspire Jiang Hang.

Then Jiang Hang suddenly spoke to Shizuka Sakaki in a solemn news-broadcasting tone.

"No matter what difficulties we encounter, do not be afraid. Face it with a smile! The best way to eliminate fear is to face fear. Persistence is victory! Come on, Oli Gei!"

"..." Watching Jiang Hang, who suddenly clenched his fist and struck an encouraging pose on the side, Shizuka Sakaki twitched the corners of her eyes slightly.

"Is this a cold joke unique to your country, Jiang Hang-kun?"

Chapter 40: Keep up the hard work, righteous director-san

For the entire evening, Jiang Hang saw a smile on Shizuka Sakaki's face for the first time.

Oli Gei really was something that could bring smiles to others.

"I'm very serious," Jiang Hang resumed his normal speaking tone. "That really is something said by a very famous positive-energy streamer. Look at yourself now—after listening to what I just said, don't you feel your mood is a lot better?"

Seeming to notice the expression on her face, Shizuka Sakaki quickly reined back the smile she momentarily failed to hold in.

"Actually, you don't need to be too depressed. Both your personality and your surrounding environment are completely different from that person's, so you simply can't lump them together for discussion," Jiang Hang continued.

"His father, I imagine, should be that very standard upper-class Japanese type, exercising very strict discipline over his son. As long as his son's performance failed to reach his expectations and made him lose face, he would subject him to a bout of scolding or even physical blows. Judging from his mother's performance, perhaps she also feared her own husband, yet didn't dare speak up for her son. Under such a repressive growing environment, the scolding and beatings after the son failed the university entrance exams for the third time caused the other party's spirit to completely collapse, which ultimately led to such a tragedy."

"As for your side, if I guessed correctly, regarding your ideal to become a voice actress, even if your family doesn't exactly agree, at the very least they haven't opposed it."

"Yes, the money for me to come to Tokyo for voice acting school was mostly paid by my parents, with only a small portion being money I saved up from working part-time at a convenience store," Shizuka Sakaki did not deny this point. Her father neither supported nor opposed it, but her mother and her younger sister at home were very supportive of her ideas.

"I remember when you were in high school, you even made anime with your friends, right? Come to think of it, if those friends of yours are still planning to go into the anime industry now, they should all be in Tokyo."

"Yes, a few days ago when I just joined the agency, we even had a gathering," Shizuka Sakaki was slightly puzzled. She didn't seem to have told Jiang Hang about her high school matters, but thinking that Jiang Hang was a detective, perhaps before deciding to hire her, he had already gone to investigate her background. With Jiang Hang's abilities, finding out about these things wasn't strange.

As for Jiang Hang, he silently felt a bit of regret in his heart. Good old Miyamori and Ema had been missed by him; it seemed he would just have to wait for another opportunity next time to talk about it.

"Your family and friends around you are all supporting you. That is the most precious thing of all."

"Besides, it's never easy for newcomers to make a name for themselves in the voice-acting industry. You've only failed twice; those people who spent their entire youth in the voice-acting industry would probably have an amount of failures higher than yours even if you shaved two zeros off. Anyway, just keep working hard to improve yourself. I think your potential is still quite large." Jiang Hang paused, and then began spouting nonsense. "If really no one hires you, then just wait until I acquire an animation company someday, and directly adapt your failure deeds into an anime about the current state of industry voice actors. I'll make you the lead, and then find a bunch of debuted-yet-unknown voice actors to come over and recount the bitter history of the voice-acting circle. Look at my idea—how is it? Is it super solid? Who knows, maybe after the BD discs go on sale, they can casually sell over eighty-eight thousand copies."

Shizuka Sakaki was so frightened by Jiang Hang's sudden provocative words that she slammed on the brakes directly. Not only did her own head almost crash into the steering wheel, but even the car behind them nearly collided with them.

Listening to the continuous, abrasive honking from the car behind that had almost been caught in the crossfire—sounding practically like curses—Shizuka Sakaki's face flushed red. Then, continually muttering apologies under her breath, she restarted the car.

"Jiang Hang-kun, you were probably just joking earlier, right?" After driving out of that street, Shizuka Sakaki finally issued an inquiry to Jiang Hang in a low voice.

"No, you know that when I'm bored at the agency, I watch new anime and things like that. I've been thinking about growing up to make anime ever since I was a kid. But for now, the money on hand is temporarily not quite enough; I reckon I can only buy the kind that makes adult anime... Wait, Sakaki, would you mind debuting in adult anime? Actually, I think adult anime... ahem, I'm just kidding. Sakaki, you wouldn't take it seriously, right?"

Sensing the murderous glare from Shizuka Sakaki, Jiang Hang hastily changed his tune.

Though if one really had to talk about it, the adult-anime voice-acting world was actually relatively easier to debut in. After all, the competitors were fewer to begin with, and as long as one dared to open up their voice, Jiang Hang felt Shizuka Sakaki completely had that capability... But naturally, words like this couldn't be said to a young girl who still wanted to keep striving.

Jiang Hang acted as though he had forgotten whatever he had just said and kept right on talking.

"So, Sakaki, since you're hanging around the voice-acting scene, your friends should be mixed up in this circle. If you hear about any animation company in the industry that's failing and wants to transfer ownership, you can indeed contact me. When the time comes, owning an animation company of my own, and making whatever animation I want to make—this is my lifelong goal!"

Then why on earth did you give up your lifelong goal back then and run off to open a detective agency?

Shizuka Sakaki viciously complained in her heart about what Jiang Hang had said.

"Even if Jiang Hang-kun really does buy an animation company in the future, if possible, I still hope to pass a normal audition and rely on my own strength to become a voice actress," she suddenly said this to Jiang Hang with a serious expression.

"I know, Sakaki, you've always been that kind of person." In the anime, she suffered countless failures, yet even when she had the opportunity to take the back door later on, she never acted on it. Her ultimate success was merely an accident born from countless failures.

"However... if Jiang Hang-kun really is going to make an anime with me as the prototype, I feel that as the person involved, I should be able to better grasp my own thoughts and feelings at the time..."

By the end of it, Shizuka Sakaki couldn't even continue. Perhaps feeling that she had just uttered such righteous words earlier, following them up with these felt a bit too embarrassing.

Hence she hurriedly made a supplementary addition: "I mean only this one anime! The rest can just follow the regular procedures!"

Seeing Shizuka Sakaki, whose mood had gradually improved, Jiang Hang also breathed a sigh of relief. Acting as this kind of boss, it was so late at night and he still had to come give psychological counseling to his own assistant.

At this moment, the car had already driven downstairs to the apartment building where Shizuka Sakaki lived.

"Thank you both for your hard work today as well. Get some rest early after going back. Voice acting debuts and whatnot—there will be plenty of opportunities in the future. Who knows, maybe one day you'll catch someone's eye." Though he knew that if he didn't intervene, Shizuka Sakaki would probably have to wait another year or even longer for that opportunity to find her.

Come to think of it, this world really was cruel.

Stepping out of the car, Jiang Hang waved to this ill-fated young girl through the car window. He was already used to wandering around Tokyo at night; as long as Shizuka Sakaki remembered to drive the car to the agency tomorrow morning, it would be fine.

"Mm, I'll work hard... Oli Gei... It goes like this, right?" Shizuka Sakaki tried to clench her fist and imitate the positive-energy quote Jiang Hang had told her earlier, and then she seemed to suddenly think of something else.

Her gaze landed on Jiang Hang, maintaining as serious a tone as possible.

"You need to keep up the hard work too, righteous director-san."

The excessive elements brought by the triple combo of forbidden words made the expression on Jiang Hang's face exceptionally colorful.

Successfully seeing the exasperated look on Jiang Hang's face once more, Shizuka Sakaki also contentedly rolled up the car window and silently drove away.

Daring to tell a girl to let her debut in adult anime and things like that—what a shameless guy.

She thought this to herself, yet the corners of her mouth curved upward slightly.

Chapter 41: Who would want such an ugly sword cane... Actually, it's pretty great

Days continued to pass. Jiang Hang still maintained his "diligent" work attitude of working for two days and slacking off for half a day, and the agency finally became a Level 3 agency following the haunted house incident.

Aside from the basic reward of fifty million yen after this upgrade, the future remuneration upon completing commissions was also directly doubled.

If an ordinary commission originally paid one million yen, it now became two million. The speed of saving money directly multiplied by x2, practically making people high as a kite.

On top of that, the commission search range on the bulletin board expanded by another fold. This meant Jiang Hang could search for suitable commissions among a wider array of appropriate tasks, though it also meant he would have to run around the vicinity of the agency more frequently.

"The warm-hearted Detective Jiang Hang" was also gradually becoming a phrase frequently kept on the lips and praised by the elderly residents of Beika City.

There was only one point that left Jiang Hang slightly unsatisfied: ever since the last system maintenance gave him a set of hidden blades and then fed him a bunch of nonsense, this damned system seemed to have started liking to water down his task rewards.

The reward for this haunted house incident turned out to be merely a beginner-level "Sword Cane Mastery" virtual space training session, paired with a pitch-black sword cane.

This sword cane looked completely like an ordinary walking stick. Forget having any styling, it didn't even have decorative patterns or anything of the sort, completely different from the stylish and cool sword cane he had imagined.

"System, honestly confess—did you skim a commission cut off the reward that was originally supposed to be mine?"

Jiang Hang lodged a protest with the system. Would it kill you to fix me up with a better-looking sword cane? If this gadget were placed in a video game, not a single player would develop any desire to collect it!

"Please trust the professionalism of this system. Considering the era background where the host is located, the appearance of this sword cane is currently the most suitable for the host. If the host wishes to use a more ornate sword cane, you may seek out a craftsman to make one yourself."

Making it himself was out of the question. No matter what, it was still a bladed weapon and couldn't just be casually hammered out by finding someone; moreover, sword canes crafted by those people would never be as reliable to use as the fine goods produced by the system.

Jiang Hang also knew the system couldn't possibly change his reward. After lightly complaining about this system, he still focused his attention on this newly acquired sword cane.

The weight of the sword cane itself was moderate. When he tried leaning on it to walk a bit, the length was just right and it was very smooth to use; it should have been specially adjusted by the system.

As for the hardness, Jiang Hang tapped the shaft slightly. He didn't know what kind of wood it was made of, and tapping it didn't reveal any special sensation, but when he tried taking a knife and hacking at the cane, using half his strength failed to leave a single mark on the cane, and not even the paint chipped off.

It was probably another piece of black-technology material the system dug up from somewhere.

Twisting the pommel of the sword cane, the cane separated into two pieces. A sharp blade about thirty centimeters long appeared before his eyes, and besides this spot, at the very end of the cane, there was also a small mechanism that could pop out another sharp little knife. If one didn't observe closely, it wouldn't be discovered either.

Examining his own sword cane inside the agency, although he had initially disdained its lack of a special appearance, after trying to use it for a bit, Jiang Hang couldn't pick out any flaws anywhere else aside from the exterior.

In other words, after a round of ineffective protests, Jiang Hang still resolutely fell for it.

As a detective paired with a walking stick, as a self-defense weapon, it really couldn't be more appropriate.

Looking up and down at himself holding the sword cane in the mirror, Jiang Hang ultimately nodded with satisfaction.

At this moment, Koharu Yoshino, who had brought the express deliveries up from downstairs, was holding several envelopes in addition to her own courier packages.

"There are a few more letters sent over asking Jiang Hang-kun to accept commissions. Um... this one is asking Jiang Hang-kun to go to Hokkaido, and this one is asking Jiang Hang-kun to go to Chiba... Do you want to take a look, Jiang Hang-kun?"

Jiang Hang put down the sword cane, looked at Koharu Yoshino, and let out a somewhat helpless sigh.

"I'm already running all over Tokyo every day taking commissions and feeling exhausted, and now you want me to go out of town? You're setting me up for death by overwork, aren't you? Not taking them, not taking them, out-of-town commissions are rejected across the board. Such matters should just be left to their local detectives to resolve!"

Koharu Yoshino shrugged, evidently already accustomed to Jiang Hang's speaking style: "Then I'll take a look at these letters anyway. At least the senders also came holding hope; no matter what, we should still write them a reply letter."

When it came down to it, girls really were more meticulous in their thinking. At least a lazybones like Jiang Hang would never think of the task of writing a reply to someone.

Anyway, he wasn't the one writing the reply, so Jiang Hang nodded, considering it permission for Koharu Yoshino and the others to handle it themselves.

"As expected, they're all rather nasty commissions—investigating a grandfather's will contents, looking for proof of adultery between a husband and a younger sister. These things are indeed a bit hard to speak of over the phone." Looking through those bizarre commissions, Koharu Yoshino also had her horizons broadened.

After watching for a little while, Koharu Yoshino suddenly let out a soft "eh".

"This letter is so strange. Other people's letters are handwritten at least, but this one is printed, and it looks like an invitation letter. No... this should be a challenge letter!"

Koharu Yoshino's expression suddenly grew excited, making Shizuka Sakaki also develop a strong interest in the letter in her hand as she hurried over to take a look.

Jiang Hang's expression remained unchanged.

"Challenges or whatever can just be left there. There will always be some people who think they're amazing, so just write them a letter back saying I know my own talent is inferior to the other party's, so I have no confidence to accept their challenge. Write that and it's done."

Who knew what kind of conspiracy lurked behind these messy challenge letters? If he were a true master detective, he certainly wouldn't fear any plots or traps, resolutely accepting the other party's challenge and ultimately cracking the puzzle the other party laid out.

But Jiang Hang was different. He deeply comprehended one sentence—As long as I am trashy enough, no one can exploit me.

You want to show off your talent in front of other detectives? Fine, I admit you're better than me. I'm begging you to go find other detectives and not come looking for me.

Jiang Hang's speed at backing down made even Koharu Yoshino feel a bit helpless. How was her own detective's train of thought completely on a different channel from other detectives?

She was the one who had aspired just these past few days to become the Watson of the next era; how could the Sherlock Holmes she had her eye on be such a salted fish?

"Even so, Jiang Hang-kun, take a look at it anyway. I just checked, the place where the letter was sent from isn't very far; it's still within the Tokyo metropolitan area. Making a trip there and back for a challenge won't take up much time."

Seeing Koharu Yoshino's thoroughly interested appearance, Jiang Hang also sighed and took the so-called "challenge letter".

"At the next full moon, the shadow of Moon Shadow Island will vanish once more. I hope you can come investigate—Keiji Aso."

Such a line of text entered Jiang Hang's eyes.

"Look, Moon Shadow Island is right here. After taking a car and then taking a boat over, it won't take long. Jiang Hang-kun, let's go take a look over there. Who knows, maybe a really big case will happen!" Koharu Yoshino pulled out her phone, found the location of Moon Shadow Island, and pointed it out to Jiang Hang.

Only, she didn't notice that the moment Jiang Hang's gaze saw this piece of letter paper, it seemed to sink into a certain memory.

He hadn't expected that this case would also, through a twist of fate, end up in his hands. If not for this letter, he really wouldn't have remembered it.

Jiang Hang sighed inwardly.

If someone asked which of Conan's early cases left the deepest impression on people, the Moonlight Sonata murder case would certainly rank among the very best.

Even counting the thousand-plus episodes of the Conan anime alongside those twenty-some theatrical films, quite a few people considered this one of the most moving cases in all of Conan.

The exceptional atmosphere, paired with the culprit who dressed as a woman for years to avenge his family, and that Moonlight Sonata played amidst the flames within the plot, left a deep impression on a young Jiang Hang.

Strictly speaking, for Jiang Hang, probably only the initial few episodes where Conan first shrank left a more profound impression than this case.

Although the causes and course of the case, along with the culprit's methods and motives, had long since faded entirely from Jiang Hang's memory as time passed.

Yet the ending of this particular case was something Jiang Hang still remembered vividly to this day.

The culprit, once identified by Conan, ultimately played Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata inside the burning house, welcoming the end of his own life.

In the heart of the young Jiang Hang, such an ending was profoundly shocking to witness, and for Conan himself, this was likely one of the most deeply regretful cases of his detective career.

He never expected that, after all these years, this letter would actually end up in his own hands.

"The next full moon night..." Jiang Hang glanced at the calendar; there was still a full week left until the next full moon night mentioned by the writer, so time was ample.

The sender was naturally the murderer from the anime, but his purpose in sending the letter wasn't to issue a challenge, but rather in the hope that the detective receiving it could stop him from committing an unforgivable crime.

To that end, the person had even mailed the letter a week in advance, yet it was a pity that Kogoro Mouri and his party should have gone to Moon Shadow Island only on the day of the incident, and without any prior investigation, they ultimately failed to prevent the tragedy from happening.

And now, this letter had fallen into his own hands.

Jiang Hang's expression turned solemn.

In that case, I'll take your commission.