Slacker Assassin's Multiverse Daily

"Was it just for the money?" After learning the details of the case from Inspector Megure, Jiang Hang thanked him, hung up, then sat in his office chair and stared blankly into space.

Koharu Yoshino made Jiang Hang a cup of tea and brought it over.

"What is Jiang Hang still thinking about?"

Jiang Hang raised his head to face Koharu Yoshino, then sighed without voicing what he was truly thinking.

"I was just thinking—I helped that guy fulfill his request, but it looks like I won't be getting the remaining 300,000 yen of the fee. Koharu, if I went to the detention center to ask him for the money now, do you think he'd give it to me?"

Jiang Hang tried to ask Koharu Yoshino in as humorous a tone as possible.

Koharu Yoshino's expression became somewhat strange.

"I think he'd probably want to beat you up, Jiang Hang. After all, you were the one who personally sent him to prison."

"That's true." It wasn't as if Jiang Hang actually needed the 300,000 yen. He could pick up any wallet on the street and return it to its owner, and the system boss would give him one million yen.

He merely wanted to ask Abe Yutaka face-to-face how he had made up his mind to kill a friend for five hundred million.

But in the end, he dismissed the thought.

Wasn't greed for money one of the most common things in this world? Abe Yutaka was not the first, and he certainly would not be the last. What did a friend of twenty years amount to? In his previous life, Jiang Hang had even seen a news report about someone who had personally killed his own mother because she refused to give him money.

It was just that, in the past, Jiang Hang had viewed such incidents as a bystander reading the news—one of the "onlookers enjoying the drama," so to speak.

Now, however, he had become a detective. This case had unfolded right before his eyes, and he had personally stopped it. His mindset simply had not adjusted yet.

He had previously told Koharu Yoshino and Shizuka Sakaki to prepare themselves for murder cases. Had it turned out that he was the one who hadn't adjusted his mindset?

If he was going to compete with Conan for business, then the criminals he encountered in the future would kill for all kinds of messy motives. Though "beneath every great general's success lie countless bones" sounded odd when applied to the profession of detective, every great detective grew through countless murder cases. The saying was not wrong.

When those great detectives encountered a murder case, their first priority was to search for clues and the culprit. There was certainly nothing wrong with that.

But after a case like this ended, there was nothing wrong with quietly sitting in his office to think over its course, while taking a moment to relax and ease his emotions.

With that thought, Jiang Hang glanced out the window.

A light rain was still falling outside, so he turned on his computer and put on some anime from this world that he had not seen before.

The rain made it impossible to spread positive energy, and no clients were coming through the door. So he might as well enjoy slacking off in the office, where someone brought him water when he was thirsty and cooked for him when he was hungry.

Sigh, it couldn't be helped.

Jiang Hang silently hoped that the rain would keep falling for a few more days.

86 Heads Up the Mountain

Several days had passed since Abe Yutaka's murder-for-insurance-fraud case ended.

Negishi Masaki, who had nearly been murdered, even came personally to thank Jiang Hang. As a token of gratitude, he voluntarily offered one million yen, which Jiang Hang only "reluctantly" accepted after making a token refusal.

It was just that presenting commemorative banners was not particularly popular in Japan. Otherwise, the man might have specially sent Jiang Hang one as well.

Thinking that his office would not be filled with commemorative banners people had given him in the future, Jiang Hang felt a small twinge of regret.

It wasn't as though the office had done nothing these past few days. Jiang Hang spent one morning completing a dog-finding commission from a socialite. Though the payment was only 100,000 yen, after completing the one-star commission, the system still awarded him an additional three million yen.

Compared with that, however, Jiang Hang's greatest gain over the past few days had been his reputation in the neighborhood.

Though only a few days had passed, word spread from person to person among those Jiang Hang had helped. Before long, the residents of Beika City learned that a new detective agency had opened in town, and that its Chinese detective was a warmhearted young man.

All day long, he was either helping elderly people cross the street or carrying heavy things upstairs for others. If a child got hurt, he would take them to a clinic, and he would even pay the medical bills himself.

Moreover, whenever he learned that someone had lost something, he always found the owner in the shortest possible time. If someone hired him to locate a lost item, as long as not too much time had passed, he could find it in most cases.

And for such lost-item commissions, he generally charged only a token fee of a few hundred to one thousand yen.

Though this good reputation had not yet brought Jiang Hang any more valuable commissions, as his prestige rose—especially after he built good relationships with the neighborhood aunties, who were best informed about all the gossip—he could get plenty of currently popular rumors from them.

And just moments ago, Jiang Hang had received a very valuable piece of news.

Recently, rumors had spread around the Beika Art Museum that medieval armor walked around the exhibition halls every night. It had even frightened two night-shift security guards so badly that they had not dared return to the museum for days.

Whether the rumor was true or not could wait, but when Jiang Hang heard it, the plot seemed strangely familiar.

It seemed that when he watched Conan as a child, one of his childhood traumas had been an armored murder case?

Though he was not entirely sure, he silently filed the rumor away in his mind.

Back at the office, Jiang Hang looked at Shizuka Sakaki practicing her vocalization by the window, then at Koharu Yoshino, who was holding a detective novel and nodding off.

Very good. It seemed everyone had already adapted to the office's style.

He clapped his hands.

"I'm going to the art museum. Does anyone want to come with me?"

"The art museum?" The moment she heard they were going out, Koharu Yoshino snapped awake from the verge of dozing off. "I want to go!"

Shizuka Sakaki hesitated. Not only did Jiang Hang not mind her practicing vocalization at the office; from the very beginning, he had been the one who chiefly insisted that she practice there.

"The whole office is too quiet. Sakaki, aren't you a voice actress? While there are no commissions coming in, let me see how you usually practice," Jiang Hang had said at the time.

Shizuka Sakaki had wanted to discuss vocalization techniques with Jiang Hang, but she had been too embarrassed to bring it up herself. To her surprise, Jiang Hang had taken the initiative to let her practice in the office, and after her sessions, he had even offered quite a few suggestions.

She was also grateful to Jiang Hang for the opportunity. Naturally, she wanted to visit the art museum too. After all, spending every day in the office was easy, but it could still get a little boring.

But then she remembered that Koharu Yoshino had already said she was going. If she went along too, no one would be left at the office. What if a commission came in? Wouldn't they miss it?

She had known Jiang Hang for a few days and knew that he was an easygoing person. They had also heard the rumors circulating around town.

Even if both of them wanted to go to the art museum, Jiang Hang definitely would not refuse. At worst, they could close the agency for a day. That was exactly the sort of thing Jiang Hang, who never seemed short on money, would do.

But Shizuka Sakaki felt that she still had to live up to the opportunity Jiang Hang had given her, as well as this job.

"In that case, I'll stay at the agency. If a client comes by, I'll carefully record what they need and contact Jiang Hang."

Jiang Hang did not think much of it. He assumed Shizuka Sakaki intended to keep practicing at the agency, and he silently approved of the diligent girl.

"Keep it up too, Sakaki. I'm sure you'll successfully debut."

Jiang Hang made an encouraging gesture toward Shizuka Sakaki. Though she did not understand why he had suddenly told her to keep it up, she still nodded firmly at him.

"I'll work hard!"

"Then we'll be going. If nothing comes up, you can just clock out when it's time." Jiang Hang waved, then took Koharu Yoshino and got into the AE86 he had bought two days ago.

Yes, that legendary AE86.

For some reason, although the AE86 had already fallen somewhat behind the times in this world, it had not been discontinued and was still being sold normally.

As an anime nerd, Jiang Hang did not really understand the so-called romance of cars. Rather than study all sorts of vehicle specifications and performance figures to pick out a car he liked, he would rather stay at the agency and watch two more episodes of a new anime.

His original plan had been to find a car dealership, pick a vehicle that looked decent, and buy it right away—solving his future transportation problems as quickly as possible.

Yet somehow, he had stumbled upon the "godly car" that was the AE86.

So without a second thought, he bought it. He even copied the style of Initial D and had the words "Pathfinder Detective Agency" painted in black on the body.

Unfortunately, this world did not have an anime called Initial D. As a result, Koharu Yoshino simply could not understand why her boss, despite having enough money to buy a high-end sports car, had ultimately chosen such an ordinary-looking and rather dated AE86.

And the lettering on the car looked so lame. Did Jiang Hang really not find it strange? In this regard, Jiang Hang truly was different from ordinary people.

Could this car hold some special meaning for Jiang Hang?

Koharu Yoshino could not figure it out, so she could only chalk it up to Jiang Hang's unusual tastes.

Before long, Koharu Yoshino drove them to the Beika Art Museum.

And honestly, her driving skills were quite good. There was none of that stereotypical female-driver behavior about her.

Jiang Hang was even thinking that he could not be bothered to get a driver's license himself. Maybe he should just let Koharu Yoshino drive for him from now on.

But on second thought, he had yet to practice the legendary gutter turn. He really ought to get his license sometime soon. He wondered whether that damn system had any driving-related skills. If he could not become the Mount Akina Speed King, becoming the Beika City Speed King would still be pretty good.

After getting out of the car, Jiang Hang stretched lazily.

At the same time, he glanced toward the other side of the parking lot.

That one glance was enough for Jiang Hang to know that this trip to the art museum had not been in vain. Unless something unexpected happened, a case was bound to occur here.

Why?

Because Conan was here!

Jiang Hang only remembered that early on in the Conan anime, there seemed to have been an Art Museum Murder Case. However, all he remembered was that the culprit had used a suit of armor as a disguise to commit murder. He no longer recalled the motive or method.

After hearing the rumors about armor that walked around inside the art museum, he had planned to bring Koharu Yoshino over first to scout the place out and see whether they could identify a potential suspect before the crime occurred.

As for what to do after finding them—whether to persuade them not to go through with it or make some other choice—he did not know himself yet.

He had not expected such a coincidence. The moment he arrived at the Beika Art Museum and stepped out of the car, he saw Conan's group of three.

Seeing Jiang Hang suddenly staring in one direction, Koharu Yoshino could not help feeling curious.

"Did you see someone you know, Jiang Hang?"

"Mm." Jiang Hang withdrew his gaze. "I saw another very capable detective... Koharu, are you ready?"

"Ready...? You never told me to prepare anything, Jiang Hang. Do you want me to drive back to the agency to get it?" Koharu Yoshino was instead somewhat interested in the highly capable detective Jiang Hang had mentioned.

"That's not what I mean. That detective may be very skilled, but he's also a famous 'jinx.' Trouble happens everywhere he goes. Now that he's come to the art museum, if his jinx-like constitution acts up again, are you ready to deal with a case?"

Koharu Yoshino's expression abruptly changed.

"Jiang Hang... you're joking, right? A jinx and all that? It's already the twenty-first century. Isn't that just superstition...?"

Koharu Yoshino looked toward where Jiang Hang had been staring. There was a middle-aged man there, with what appeared to be his daughter and son beside him.

She did not know Kogoro Mouri or Conan. Still, Kogoro Mouri was the only person in that direction who looked like a detective. Though she did not truly believe Jiang Hang, she quietly placed that man into the category of people she should absolutely never approach.

Jiang Hang did not continue scaring her. Once the case happened, she would understand what he meant.

"It's only a rumor, so don't take it too seriously, Koharu. Come on. Should we go say hello to them?"

After hearing that, Koharu Yoshino's good mood from getting to take a breather at the art museum had almost completely vanished.

Still, she followed behind Jiang Hang as he walked over.

"Conan, are you out visiting the art museum with your family today?"

Jiang Hang walked up to Kogoro Mouri's group and directly greeted Conan, whom he had met before.

Naturally, Koharu Yoshino could never have guessed that the capable detective Jiang Hang had been talking about was actually this first-grade elementary school boy.

"You are...?" Kogoro Mouri had never met Jiang Hang before, so he asked in puzzlement.

"It's Mr. Jiang Hang. Thank you for helping out with the trouble Conan caused before." Ran Mori had met Jiang Hang before. During the Maple Gold Coin Case, the Detective Boys had all been told by the police to have their parents come take them home. Ran Mori had naturally come to pick Conan up, so the two of them had gotten acquainted then.

Ran Mori knew that Jiang Hang was a detective, but his agency was several streets away from her family's. On top of that, she had heard rumors from the shopping district about Jiang Hang helping others, so she had a rather good impression of him.

She briefly introduced Jiang Hang's identity to Kogoro Mouri. Once he learned that Jiang Hang was also a detective, the expression on Kogoro Mouri's face was no longer quite so friendly.

Even if their agencies were separated by two streets, he still felt that every other detective was trying to steal his business.

"Miss Mori, you flatter me. This must be the famous Detective Mouri, right? I've heard so much about you. Meeting you truly lives up to your reputation."

Jiang Hang naturally noticed the change in Kogoro Mouri's expression, so he promptly laid on the praise.

He was actually quite curious about Kogoro Mouri. Before transmigrating, quite a few Conan enthusiasts on major forums, aside from tearing each other apart in the ShinRan and ConanAi ship wars, had also spun conspiracy theories about Kogoro Mouri. They claimed that he had long known Conan's true identity and had merely been cooperating with him all along.

Otherwise, it was simply too unbelievable that someone could be jabbed in the back of the neck over a thousand times, then somehow solve a whole slew of bizarre cases, without noticing anything himself.

To be honest, that premise was indeed a little absurd, and Jiang Hang had mocked it more than once. But at the end of the day, that was a setup from an anime.

In reality, what kind of person Kogoro Mouri truly was could never be known without dealing with him personally.

Still, from the outside, Kogoro Mouri really did seem like the sort of fool who would practically float into the sky after being praised a couple of times.

After hearing Jiang Hang's flattery, Kogoro Mouri's attitude toward him immediately brightened again.

He even warmly patted Jiang Hang on the shoulder, saying that the kid was indeed pretty decent, and that if he worked hard, he might one day become a great detective like him.

Jiang Hang said that he would work hard.

But as for working hard to become a detective, he would rather pass. It sounded like he would be raising a death flag for himself—way too unlucky.

After the mutual flattery with Kogoro Mouri ended, Jiang Hang looked at Conan. Sure enough, the boy wore an utterly lifeless expression.

Sure enough, Conan's emotional intelligence was seriously lacking.

No matter how much he looked down on Kogoro Mouri's deductive skills, Kogoro Mouri was still his future father-in-law. As the future son-in-law, did he not know to flatter his future father-in-law once in a while?

Then again, Conan was a detective series, and Aoyama was a staunch supporter of childhood-friends romance, which was why Shinichi Kudo and Ran Mori could end up together in the end.