Tokyo, Beika Town, Teimuzu River.
It was dawn, and the sky was still somewhat dim.
Several Cruise Ships hurried across the river, sailing eastward toward the rising sun.
On a park bench by the river, a newcomer from another world was carefully examining "his" driver's license:
"Name: Lin Xinyi."
"Born May 4, Showa 47."
The moment he saw the words "Showa," he felt as though he had been struck by lightning, like the Washington Monument on a rainy night.
When he tried converting "Showa 47" into the Gregorian calendar he knew, the last trace of luck in his heart was mercilessly torn apart by some mysterious force of nature, like an American flag in a gale.
After a long silence, the otherworldly visitor, who could now be called "Lin Xinyi," began to regulate his emotions:
"I actually transmigrated into someone born in the seventies."
"Fine. At least my surname is still the same. It's still Lin."
In fact, it was completely different. Japan's Lin surname only looked the same as China's Lin surname; their pronunciation and origins were entirely unrelated.
"I don't look bad either. At least I didn't become uglier after transmigrating."
For an ID photo on a driver's license to look this good, this body's looks had to be quite remarkable.
"Ah..."
With a soft sigh, he put down the driver's license and pulled out a phone from his pocket.
It was an old Nokia model sturdy enough to crack walnuts. Its buttons had faded from overuse, and there was even some uncleaned black grime lodged in the gaps between them.
"Looks like 'I' wasn't a very clean person."
Lin Xinyi frowned slightly.
Out of professional habit, he liked to keep everything around him spotless.
But the unlucky fellow whose body he had "taken over" clearly did not share that good habit.
Moreover, the guy was steeped in a heavy smell of cigarettes, and Lin Xinyi did not like smoking.
With some distaste, he pressed the button to light up the phone screen. The date displayed on it was unmistakably: "1996."
Seeing this, Lin Xinyi's expression became even more subtle.
Sure enough, not only had he transmigrated into a Japanese man from the Showa era, he had somehow returned to the "past" more than twenty years ago.
Though he had once fantasized about living another kind of life, this sudden transmigration—one that did not even come with the original owner's memories—felt absolutely awful.
After the initial panic, confusion, and even pain, once he had confirmed that he had become another person, he had to face an extremely important question:
"Who exactly am 'I'?"
Lin Xinyi knew nothing about this body's original owner.
A driver's license alone was nowhere near enough for him to understand "his" identity.
And if he wanted to live safely and legally in Japan of the past, he needed to quickly settle into the role of Lin Xinyi.
So he could only carefully inspect the personal belongings "he" carried, hoping to find useful clues that would help him take over this identity.
"The thickness of this wallet is quite pleasing to the eye. Looks like I'm a well-off young man."
"A Shibishi Bank credit card and a driver's license."
"The driver's license has an address. Hopefully it matches my actual residence."
"A lighter in my pocket, an empty cigarette pack... Great, the house key is here too."
With an address and a key, the newly arrived Lin Xinyi at least had a place to stay.
And there should be more of "Lin Xinyi's" personal belongings at home, which could help him better understand this role.
"Let's check the phone too."
"There might be useful information in the contacts and text messages."
Thinking this, Lin Xinyi took that antique phone from his pocket again.
But just then, a shout suddenly rang out behind him in this sparsely populated riverside green space:
"Shinichi~"
"Hurry up and catch up!"
The voice was crisp and pleasant, carrying the vitality unique to a young girl.
"Hm?" Lin Xinyi froze.
Though the original owner's experiential memories were gone, skill-based memories like language seemed to have remained intact in his body.
So he could now use Japanese fluently, reading, writing, speaking, and listening just like a native Tokyo resident.
And that "Shinichi" just now was obviously calling his name.
Was it someone the original owner knew?
Should I respond quickly? It would be bad if an acquaintance noticed something strange.
Thinking this, Lin Xinyi hurriedly got to his feet and waved in the direction of the voice.
"I'm over here!"
"Huh?" The girl responded with a face full of confusion.
She wore a loose white training uniform, and a thin layer of sweat dotted her pretty cheeks. She was clearly an athletic girl who had come to the park for early morning practice.
Setting aside her beauty, the most eye-catching thing about her was the prominent "horn" protruding from the top of her head due to her overly fluffy hair.
Not far from this horned beauty stood a young man who looked utterly out of breath from running.
The young man wore a casually styled white shirt. Though his face was somewhat pale and his clothes were rumpled from exercise, he still gave off an undeniable air of handsomeness.
A handsome man and a beautiful woman—they were probably the kind of flawless pair everyone admired.
And now, both of them were looking at Lin Xinyi with puzzled expressions.
Their gazes seemed to say, "And who might you be?"
"Uh..." Lin Xinyi quickly realized something was wrong.
He awkwardly scratched his head and asked tentatively, "Wasn't that 'Shinichi' just now calling for me?"
"No, it wasn't."
The "unicorn girl" pointed blankly at the young man beside her.
"I was calling him."
"That's right, Ran was calling me."
The young man instantly realized what had happened.
"My name is Kudo Shinichi. Shinichi is my given name."
"If I'm not mistaken..."
He looked at Lin Xinyi, an unconsciously confident smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.
"Sir, you must just happen to share my name."
"So we have the same name."
Lin Xinyi let out a quiet sigh of relief and replied,
"My name is Lin Xinyi. My given name is Shinichi too."
"But..." He paused slightly and muttered to himself, "Kudo Shinichi... Why does that name sound familiar?"
"Haha."
Hearing that, Kudo Shinichi gave a confident little laugh.
"Perhaps you saw it in the newspaper."
"I guarantee you'll have many more chances to hear that name in the future."
As he spoke, his gaze began drifting toward Lin Xinyi again.
That gaze was focused and meticulous, as though he were intently examining an object.
Lin Xinyi felt vaguely uncomfortable and asked, "What are you looking at?"
"Ah, sorry."
Kudo Shinichi offered a shallow apology with a smile.
"I'm a high school detective. I'm used to observing the details on people at first sight."
"You know, like Sherlock Holmes."
"A high school detective?"
Lin Xinyi smiled politely.
Shouldn't high school students be studying hard and preparing for college entrance exams? What kind of detective were they supposed to be?
Private detectives usually only took on minor jobs like catching cheating spouses. Not only were their social standing and income far from respectable, but because they often relied on illegal methods like stalking and wiretapping, they also risked being invited by the police for a little chat at any time.
It was clearly not a glamorous profession that high school students would aspire to.
Based on everything he had seen and heard in his previous life, he had never imagined those two words could even go together.
But in truth, that was only because he had not seen enough.
If he had watched the anime called "Detective Conan," rather than merely having heard of it without ever looking into it, he would have known what kind of absurdly gifted high schooler stood before him now.
Lin Xinyi was puzzled, but Kudo Shinichi, the self-proclaimed high school detective, could not help asking,
"Mr. Lin, may I ask something?"
"Why are your shoes and lower legs all wet?"
"Your slacks and leather shoes both look quite expensive. Isn't it bad to soak them like that?"
"..."
Lin Xinyi chose silence.
His pants and shoes had already been wet when he transmigrated here.
It had nothing to do with him, a transmigrator who had only just taken over this body, and he did not want to discuss it in depth with a high school student who liked playing detective.
"Um, Lin..."
Kudo Shinichi smiled awkwardly, as though he wanted to ask more.
But the girl beside him, Ran, tugged at the corner of his shirt in dissatisfaction.
"Shin! Ichi! Don't keep asking strangers questions. It's very rude."
"Wait, I still have something to ask."
Kudo Shinichi shook off Ran's hand as though he had not heard her.
It was as though Mr. Lin Xinyi, whom he had just met by chance, was more appealing than the childhood friend at his side.
"Mr. Lin Xinyi, are you all right?"
Kudo Shinichi suddenly asked out of nowhere.
Slightly surprised, Lin Xinyi looked back at the young high schooler. After a brief pause, he smiled. "Don't worry, I'm fine."
"..."
Kudo Shinichi finally fell quiet, but his eyes remained fixed on Lin Xinyi as he looked him over from head to toe.
That continued until Ran clenched her fist, her knuckles cracking alongside a gentle smile.
"Shinichi~ Stop causing trouble for other people!"
"And have you forgotten that you were the one who said you'd accompany me for morning training today, to prepare for the karate tournament?"
"Uh, wait..."
Kudo Shinichi seemed to want to say something but stopped himself.
His eyes were still firmly drawn to Lin Xinyi, but Ran, with her astonishing strength, had already dragged him several meters away.
He looked like a greedy child being forcibly pulled away from a dessert shop by his mother.
In the end, Kudo Shinichi withdrew his gaze and muttered,
"Forget it. He should be fine."
"You'd have no problems if you stopped bothering strangers!"
Without looking back, Ran dragged Kudo Shinichi into the distance while helplessly scolding this hopeless deduction fanatic.
Hearing the playful laughter of the young couple gradually fade away, Lin Xinyi, left where he stood, could not help but sigh.
"Youth really is wonderful."
Having already worked for several years, he could not help recalling his own school days.
His student years had been completely buried in books, seemingly not colorful in the slightest.
"Yes... Since I've been given another life, I should live it differently."
"In my previous life, I focused too much on training, academics, and work. I always forgot about myself."
"Finding a less exhausting job and making time to seriously fall in love once—only then would this journey be worthwhile."
Thinking of his formerly monotonous life, spent year after year in the company of corpses, Lin Xinyi could not help sighing.
"In this life, I'm going to live a peaceful, happy life!"
That was what Lin Xinyi was thinking.
But from the riverbank not far away came Ran's powerful scream:
"Ahhhhh!!!"
A flock of birds burst from the woods.
"There's a... there's a corpse in the water!"
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