After learning that he had crossed into the wrong world, the veteran system shut down in despair.
It knew that not only had its chance to become an outstanding system of this era vanished, but for the next ten eras, it could forget about earning a title, getting promoted, receiving a raise, and reaching the pinnacle of systems!
However, as a veteran system that had existed for several eras and trained numerous hosts, the Legendary Assassin System did not despair. After using its remaining energy to scan and analyze this world, it finally found a turning point.
According to its judgment, detectives in this world were a profession close to the world's origin. Some top-tier detectives even contained a trace of the world's origin, as though they were the protagonists of this world.
As long as it could make its host into a legendary detective in this world, it would have a chance to steal a trace of this world's origin power and replenish itself.
Moreover, if it could train the host under such circumstances, that would count as finding another path. If it did well, it might even become a considerable achievement on its system résumé.
With that thought in mind, the system sent this host a friendly invitation—"Please work together with this system and become the finest ass... detective in this world."
Although that slip of the tongue had been a flaw, surely the host could feel this system's sincere intentions.
At that moment, Jiang Hang snapped out of his thoughts at the system's response.
"Then what do you want me to do? Compete with Conan for cases and solve every single one myself?"
"That would naturally be best. However, this system mainly trains the host's own abilities and will not assist the host in solving cases. In the future, the host must personally search for clues and the murderer's motive in any case encountered."
Hearing the system's reply again, Jiang Hang curled his lip.
So it was still such an old-fashioned system. Come to think of it, although he had grown up watching Detective Conan, out of more than a thousand episodes, he had really only watched the first few dozen on television as a child. At most, he had watched a few movies unrelated to the main plot. He barely knew anything about the later story, not even how far the main storyline had progressed.
A few years ago, he had heard that the boss in Detective Conan had finally appeared. At the time, he thought the series was really about to end, but there seemed to have been no news again over the past few years.
Although Jiang Hang was confident that, with the bug-like Eagle Eye, he could compete with Conan for a few cases early on, taking every case that this Shinigami encountered was impossible no matter how he thought about it.
The more Jiang Hang thought about it, the more troublesome it seemed.
"Forget it, then. With Conan's luck, he might stumble into a murder case in the time it takes to blink. I'll start out as an ordinary little detective."
Legendary Assassin System: ...
It suddenly remembered that while shut-in hosts could provide more rating bonuses at the System Management Bureau, most shut-ins had a common flaw: laziness.
In its original plan, after taking the host to Renaissance Florence, it would quickly let him witness the darkness of that era and thus dispel his laziness. But now that the crossing had gone wrong, the host seemed to have developed a certain distrust of the system. At the same time, because of the conveniences of modern life, his lazy nature had resurfaced after getting used to this world.
Under normal circumstances, when faced with such a host, it would apply to the System Management Bureau for authorization to administer punishment and use some simple penalties to stir up the host's fighting spirit.
But once it submitted an application to the System Management Bureau, this accident would clearly be placed on record. Its original plan to conceal the truth would be ruined.
When the system itself had made a serious mistake, applying for system punishments to force the host into obedience was something only those unlicensed, no-name trash systems would do. If this got out, it would never receive the title of Outstanding System for the rest of its existence.
Still, it was an experienced and mature system. Since punishment was not an option, it would use more rewards to raise the host's motivation.
High-value rewards like assassin abilities naturally could not be handed out casually. The host had to improve step by step. However, there was one thing that was utterly useless to a system, easy to produce in massive quantities, and extremely tempting to humans.
That was right. It was the evil of all evils: money.
It had not originally possessed this function. After all, why would an assassin need money? If one truly lacked money, one could just take it from a rich tycoon's home. The yen exchange function had been included in the 2D Patch Pack, and it could finally be put to use now.
I really am an ingenious system.
With that thought, the Legendary Assassin System immediately issued a new mission to its host.
"Solve cases: As a detective, solving cases is the most important ability. For every case meeting this system's requirements that the host solves, the host will receive a reward. Mission reward: rewards vary according to the difficulty of the case, starting at one million yen, with no upper limit."
Preparations for the Agency's Opening
The system's absurd wealth made Jiang Hang feel as though he had found a ghost.
Jiang Hang still remembered that when he had first crossed into this world, after the system resolved his residency and identity issues, it had given him a nine-figure compensation payment as settlement money, seemingly to keep him quiet.
Moreover, under the system's arrangements, the source of that money was entirely reasonable. Part of it was inheritance from parents who did not exist in this world, while the rest was a massive insurance payout Jiang Hang received after those nonexistent parents died in an "accident."
Assets worth over a hundred million yen might be nothing before those major conglomerates, but as long as Japan in this world did not suffer some financial crisis that turned the money into worthless paper, he could comfortably coast through the rest of his life on it.
And now, this outrageously rich system was continuing to bombard Jiang Hang's young and fragile heart with enormous sums of money.
Jiang Hang, who had initially found the whole thing troublesome, began thinking about the plot of Detective Conan when faced with such a huge reward.
According to the vague memories he still had, he remembered that tonight was also the first case Shinichi Kudo handled after shrinking and beginning life as Conan.
From what he remembered watching as a child, it seemed to be a case where a rich girl, tired of her father being unable to accompany her every day, arranged her own kidnapping, only to end up being kidnapped by a real kidnapper.
"That case has nothing to do with me, though?" He knew the little girl had been kidnapped, but he truly could not remember where. A tall building that looked like a giant smokestack—although that scene was classic, this was Tokyo, where such skyscrapers were everywhere. Who knew how Conan figured out that the building the girl mentioned was precisely the one he identified?
Jiang Hang wanted the system to provide him with some convenience, but the system simply placed the initial mission before him.
"Please complete the initial mission as soon as possible."
It seemed that before the agency opened, he would not be getting any help from this rigid system.
"Forget it. I won't run around blindly tonight. I'll get the detective agency up and running first."
While Conan was already recognizing Professor Agasa, Jiang Hang carefully collected the feather above the Kudo Residence. Collecting the first feather had given him a reward of five million yen and a classic assassin outfit from Ezio. That made Jiang Hang look forward even more to collecting feathers in the future. Making money this way was far easier than solving cases.
As for the outfit, while it came with no attributes or skill bonuses and was merely exquisitely made clothing, it fit him perfectly. If he had the chance in the future, he could even wear it to a convention.
After returning home, Jiang Hang took a comfortable hot shower. Thinking about how Conan had gotten drenched in the rain and still had to miserably search for the murderer outside at this hour, his mood immediately improved considerably.
Far away, Conan, who was holding Ran's hand, suddenly sneezed.
Perhaps the system felt that changing its name had made it more confident. Early the next morning, when dawn had barely broken, Jiang Hang—who was accustomed to sleeping until eight or nine and waking whenever he felt like it—was roused by the alarm the system had set.
The system's built-in alarm was truly terrifying. Jiang Hang could not even turn it off.
He wanted to argue with the system about pushing his wake-up time back a little in the future, but the system directly slapped the training mission in his face, along with the one-million-yen reward for checking in after completing the Daily Training mission every day.
Under the assault of the irritating alarm and the lure of a vast sum of money, Jiang Hang finally climbed out of bed with a yawn.
A ten-kilometer run, one hundred push-ups, squats, and sit-ups. Though these tasks looked simple, an ordinary person might not actually be able to complete them. After running a few laps around a nearby park, Jiang Hang already felt short of breath.
The ten-kilometer run alone took Jiang Hang nearly an entire morning. By the end, he was persevering at a jogging speed even slower than walking. After all, the ten-kilometer run required by the system had to be completed in one go; he could not split it into intermittent segments.
After he finished all the remaining exercises and completed the first check-in of his life, almost the entire morning had passed.
Fortunately, the assassin bloodline gave him far greater recovery than an ordinary person. Otherwise, Jiang Hang figured he would have collapsed halfway through.
When he saw the one million yen he received after checking in, Jiang Hang felt that he could probably grit his teeth and persevere again tomorrow.
After resting through noon, Jiang Hang began working on the detective agency that afternoon. Since he had money, many things were no longer troublesome. Both the agency's premises and the legal procedures required to establish a detective agency could be handled through an agent.
Under the power of money, the agent had found Jiang Hang quite a few suitable properties by evening.
After inspecting them all, Jiang Hang ultimately chose a place neither too close nor too far from the Mori Detective Agency.
It would not be so close that he and Uncle Mori would become rivals because their agencies were right next to each other, but it was only two streets away. If anything happened, it was just a ten-minute walk.
Jiang Hang had originally wanted to spend lavishly and buy an entire floor in a commercial building near a station, then renovate it from top to bottom. But Tokyo property prices truly were not as cheap as he had imagined, especially for buildings near stations. Buying a single floor could easily cost several hundred million yen.
Not only could Jiang Hang not afford that much for the time being, but he also wanted to follow the Mori Detective Agency's example and open the agency in his own home. Otherwise, having to commute back and forth every day would be troublesome even to him.
In a residential building beside a shopping street, Jiang Hang rented an entire floor for fifteen million yen a year. Once he had more money in the future, he could choose to purchase that floor as well.
Besides the rent, renovating the agency was another considerable expense. Since Jiang Hang was not short on money, he naturally made everything as comfortable as he pleased and spent another large sum on renovations.
Over the following days, Jiang Hang's life became simple. He woke up in the morning for Daily Training, checked on the agency's renovations in the afternoon, and wandered all over Tokyo at night to complete exploration missions.
Only when the mission deadline was nearly up did everything at the agency finally become ready, leaving only the official opening.
From Today On, I'm a Positive-Energy Detective
"The initial mission has been completed. Mission rewards have been issued. The agency interface is now opening. Please check it yourself."
It was not a special day, nor was there any particular ceremony.
There were no flowers or distinguished guests. Perhaps even the residents next door in the building did not know that a detective agency had appeared beside them.
It had been so simple that Jiang Hang merely looked at the renovated agency early in the morning and casually said, "I suppose this counts as officially opening," when the initial mission was immediately marked complete. He had not even put up the newly custom-made Pathfinder Detective Agency sign yet.
Still, this simple style suited Jiang Hang, who disliked trouble.
He set aside the agency flyers he had prepared for people to distribute later, then checked the system rewards and the functions of the newly opened agency interface.
There was not much to say about the Meditation skill. In games, it was used to change the time: meditate during the day, and it became night; meditate again, and it became day.
In reality, it allowed him to enter a resting state faster and more effectively. While asleep, it accelerated the recovery of his physical strength and mental energy. Maintaining it over time could also slightly improve his constitution.
It was not particularly useful, but as a basic skill, it was still decent.
Over the past week, Jiang Hang had finally completed the first stages of two exploration missions by wandering around every night. He received a constitution boost and mastered Assassin's Footwork, which allowed him to make almost no sound while walking.
The most obvious change was that, after keeping up sufficient training, his assassin bloodline had finally begun to gradually reveal its potential. Jiang Hang no longer struggled as though he were dying when completing his Daily Training missions.
He focused his attention on the agency interface.
Clearly, this system had once again taken the manor system from Assassin's Creed and modified it beyond recognition.
His agency was obviously the lowest level right now, and he needed to solve cases to gain reputation and upgrade it.
This reputation was easy to understand. It was the fame of Jiang Hang's detective agency. The more cases it solved, and the bigger those cases were, the more people would know about it.
As for the agency's functions, they were simple and direct. Its core function was displaying whether residents within one thousand meters of the agency needed help on the bulletin board. As for whether Jiang Hang should resolve those matters, or what methods he should use, there were no instructions at all.
As the agency level increased, the range of commissions would expand. Perhaps after gaining a few dozen levels, Jiang Hang could sit in his detective agency and see whether any major cases had occurred anywhere in Japan.
The commissions on the bulletin board were also arranged from highest to lowest according to the system's ratings.
For example, at the very top of the board, Jiang Hang could see a five-star "commission" rated by the system.
"Miss Ran Mori has a childhood friend named Shinichi Kudo. However, after they separated at the Amusement Park a week ago, she has not seen him again. She is deeply worried about Shinichi Kudo's safety. Please help her find Shinichi Kudo's whereabouts."
Jiang Hang took one look at the reputation reward for this commission and estimated that it would be enough to raise his rookie level-one agency by one or two levels.
Honestly, this mission was quite simple. Conan had always worried that Ran learning his identity would put her in danger, but Conan had been pretending for more than a thousand episodes. One undercover agent after another had emerged from The Black Organization, and they had all figured out Conan's true identity. Only poor Gin and his unnamed lackey were still in the dark.
No matter how Jiang Hang thought about it, whether Conan hid his identity or not seemed to have little connection to Ran's safety.
But there was no rush. He could wait until he got a little more familiar with Conan first.
Jiang Hang looked at the other commissions on the bulletin board.
As expected, they were all trivial matters. Someone had forgotten their wallet when going out. Someone else had no idea where they had thrown their keys.
There was even a commission from a screenwriter with an approaching deadline, who was suffering at home because he had no inspiration and could not write anything, hoping someone would help him find inspiration.
There were not even the cat-and-dog-finding commissions Jiang Hang had imagined. Most people's lives really were quite normal. Only Conan, that walking disaster, seemed to get tangled up in murder cases at every turn.
Looking at these strange commissions that had absolutely nothing to do with cases, Jiang Hang could not help complaining inwardly, Is this a detective agency or an Odd Jobs Agency?
Still, considering that his system had forcibly changed careers from an Assassin System to a Detective System, he was already thankful it had managed this much through last-minute cramming.
After finding several commissions on the bulletin board that looked simple and could be completed easily, Jiang Hang prepared to head out.
But when he saw the empty agency as he closed the door, Jiang Hang began to ponder.
With this bulletin board and the exploration missions issued by the system, it was easy to imagine that he would not spend much time in the agency in the future. What if someone came looking for him while he was outside?
It looked like he needed to find a receptionist or assistant as soon as possible.
At the thought of words like receptionist and assistant, some wonderful things immediately flashed through Jiang Hang's mind.
Ahem. Jiang Hang coughed lightly. He had absolutely not thought about anything like taking advantage of his position. As an upright detective, he would never entertain such inappropriate thoughts.
Still, no matter what, the assistant had to be pleasing to the eye.
As usual, as long as he had money, finding an assistant would be easy. After explaining his requirements to the agency he had worked with before, all he had to do next was wait for them to send him a suitable list.
For the rest of the day, Jiang Hang basically wandered all around his neighborhood.
He did small things like guiding a lost young man. Then there was an elderly woman buying groceries who realized she had forgotten her wallet when it was time to pay, and Jiang Hang happened to pass by and generously paid for her. Another child sprained his ankle while playing with friends, and Jiang Hang happened to pass by and took him to a nearby clinic for treatment.
After completing the commissions, he not only received reputation rewards but also gained the goodwill of the surrounding neighbors. More importantly, completing the bulletin board commissions also rewarded him with money starting at one million yen!
In just one afternoon, Jiang Hang's funds increased by nearly ten million yen.
When the injured child's parents thanked him, Jiang Hang glanced at his wallet and revealed a gratified smile as well.
From today onward, I am an upright detective who promotes positive energy.
Sigh, the life of a positive-energy detective was just so plain, unpretentious, and boring.
First Meeting with the Detective Boys
By evening, after helping an elderly woman cross the street, Jiang Hang planned to have dinner first before doing exploration missions that night.
If a group of elementary school students had not excitedly run past him, with one chubby kid directly crashing into him, such a fulfilling day would have almost made Jiang Hang forget that Conan even existed in this world.
Before you continue