While the two girls were inside the office discussing what kind of person Jiang Hang really was, Jiang Hang himself continued his usual routine of spreading positive energy around the city.
Upgrading the detective agency was actually quite simple. One requirement was completing enough cases, and the other was accumulating sufficient reputation points.
To upgrade a Level 1 agency, Jiang Hang needed to participate in at least one two-star or higher case and accumulate 1,000 reputation points.
The Maple Leaf Gold Coin case had been rated as a three-star case, which alone provided Jiang Hang with 800 reputation points. As a result, the agency was already on the verge of upgrading.
As for the trivial commissions constantly appearing on the office bulletin board, they felt more like daily quests in a game.
New tasks refreshed almost every moment, while older ones quickly disappeared if they were not completed in time. Each task generally rewarded Jiang Hang with five to twenty reputation points.
Individually, the rewards were small.
But over time, they added up. In periods without major cases, these small tasks still provided a respectable amount of reputation.
After helping an elderly woman who had fallen and escorting her to a nearby hospital, Jiang Hang received heartfelt thanks from her family when they arrived.
At that moment, his detective agency successfully upgraded to Level 2.
Jiang Hang immediately checked the requirements for Level 3.
Five cases rated two stars or higher, and 5,000 reputation points.
Essentially, the requirements had increased to five times the previous level.
Then the system notification appeared in his mind.
[System Notification]
Congratulations. The host's detective agency has been upgraded. Upgrade rewards have been issued. Please check them at your convenience.
This time, the system rewards were quite generous.
First, the exploration range for bulletin board commissions expanded to two thousand meters. In addition, a new feature was unlocked: if a case occurred within fifty meters of Jiang Hang, the system would immediately notify him.
In other words, whenever the system issued a notification, it meant that a case had just occurred within fifty meters of him.
It was quite a useful function. Considering Jiang Hang already completed exploration tasks every day, there was always a chance he would encounter cases during his patrols.
As for personal rewards, aside from the massive yen bonuses Jiang Hang had already grown accustomed to, he also received a new ability.
Disguise (Beginner).
A flood of knowledge entered Jiang Hang's mind, and he realized he had learned another skill.
Disguise was a very common ability for assassins. When an assassin needed to approach a target, carry out surveillance, or gather intelligence, this skill was extremely useful.
The Beginner Disguise skill allowed Jiang Hang to perform basic disguises when given enough preparation time. It also included some elementary knowledge of makeup and facial alteration techniques—though they were rather crude.
At close distance, a normal person would easily notice the flaws in such disguises. Furthermore, Jiang Hang could only disguise himself as men with body types similar to his own.
Even his voice imitation was extremely rough.
Compared to the almost supernatural disguise and voice mimicry techniques of Kaito Kid, Jiang Hang's disguise skill felt rather unimpressive.
Still, the skill was only at the beginner level. Perhaps once it reached a higher level, he might be able to achieve disguises as perfect as those of Kaito Kid.
For now, however, the skill was not particularly useful.
Unless someone hired him for a surveillance assignment, where disguising himself would help prevent the target from recognizing him.
Unfortunately, his detective agency had only been open for two days. Even though he had placed advertisements in the newspaper, no clients had visited yet.
Of course, Jiang Hang did not rely on commissions to survive.
All he really needed to do each day was check the bulletin board for the names Conan Edogawa, Ran Mouri, or others related to the Mouri Detective Agency.
This idea had suddenly occurred to him earlier that day.
Although his detective agency was not located very close to the Mouri Detective Agency, the straight-line distance was still less than one kilometer, which fell within the exploration range of the bulletin board.
That meant if a client visited the Mouri Detective Agency with a case, Jiang Hang would be able to see the commission information from his own office.
If the case seemed suitable, he could potentially solve it before Conan Edogawa even made a move.
Of course, that would be somewhat unfair.
Ideally, Jiang Hang would intercept the client before they even reached the Mouri Detective Agency. If Kogoro Mouri and Conan Edogawa never knew about the case, then it wouldn't matter.
Just as Jiang Hang was thinking about this strategy, his phone suddenly rang.
It was Shizuka Sakaki.
Jiang Hang answered the call.
"Jiang Hang, a client has arrived at the agency. Can you come back for a moment?"
Jiang Hang was slightly surprised.
He had just been wondering when his detective agency would finally receive its first official commission. Yet a client had already arrived.
He wondered whether it was because his reputation had reached 1,000 points, or simply because someone had seen the newspaper advertisement.
"Alright, I understand," Jiang Hang replied.
"Shizuka, please entertain the guest and record the details of their request. I'll be back at the office in ten minutes."
After hanging up, Jiang Hang opened the bulletin board interface.
If the client's request was genuine, the system should display it.
The bulletin board always listed commissions from highest difficulty to lowest. A normal commission should at least rank higher than something trivial like helping an old lady cross the street.
Sure enough, a one-star commission had appeared.
"Commission: For personal reasons, Toyo Abe seeks a detective to help fabricate an alibi. One-star commission. Completion reward: fifty reputation points."
The location of the commission matched Jiang Hang's office.
So this must be the client who had just arrived.
What caught Jiang Hang's attention, however, was the client's motive.
The system bulletin board displayed the true intentions hidden in a person's heart. On this matter, Jiang Hang trusted the system completely.
He had not realized the bulletin board could be used in this way.
In the future, any client who came to him with ulterior motives would practically be delivering reputation points to his door.
Thinking of this, Jiang Hang's spirits lifted.
In the world of Detective Conan, clients who deliberately hid information or attempted to deceive detectives were not rare at all.
And if the system's information was correct, this client seemed to be hiding something far more sinister.
He wanted Jiang Hang to fabricate an alibi for him?
Jiang Hang had not expected his first official commission to be a trap.
Was it because his office was located too close to Conan Edogawa, causing him to absorb Conan's legendary bad luck?
Or had his detective agency somehow attracted a client who would normally have gone to the Mouri Detective Agency?
Interesting.
Jiang Hang decided it was best to return to the office and find out what was really going on.
With that thought, he hurried back to the detective agency.
The client, Toyo Abe, was forty-two years old. He wore black-framed glasses and had a refined, gentle appearance.
According to his own explanation, he was the president of a company—a successful businessman in the eyes of most people.
Shizuka Sakaki had done her job well. She had already recorded the details of his request.
Simply put, Toyo Abe wanted Jiang Hang to follow someone for the next three days.
As long as Jiang Hang was not discovered and carefully recorded the places the target visited during those three days, he would receive a reward of five hundred thousand yen.
Although the system frequently rewarded Jiang Hang with tens of millions of yen, five hundred thousand yen was actually a respectable amount.
For an ordinary office worker in Japan, that was roughly a month's salary.
Earning five hundred thousand yen simply by following someone for three days was a job many people would happily accept.
"Surveillance…"
Jiang Hang silently analyzed the situation.
If Toyo Abe wanted him to fabricate an alibi, that meant something very troubling.
Perhaps Toyo Abe intended to kill the person Jiang Hang was tracking during those three days, and then use Jiang Hang's investigation as proof of his own innocence.