The next day, rain fell across Tokyo.
Holding an umbrella, Jiang Hang completed his usual ten-kilometer morning run. The remaining parts of his daily training routine were finished inside the detective agency.
With today's completion, his daily sign-in task had reached ten consecutive days.
Along with the usual yen reward, he also received the first-stage sign-in reward.
[Skill Obtained: Presence Concealment (Beginner)]
The effect of the skill was simple and straightforward.
It reduced Jiang Hang's sense of presence.
As long as he deliberately kept a low profile, even people with sharp perception would find it difficult to notice him unless they saw him directly with their own eyes.
It already bordered on something supernatural.
Once the skill reached a higher level, it might even produce an effect similar to invisibility.
Jiang Hang rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
His tracking skill set had grown again.
Eagle Vision + Assassin Steps + Presence Concealment + Disguise
With all four abilities combined, following someone without being discovered would become even easier.
There was one thing that pleased him, however.
Most of the abilities he had received previously came from Assassin's Creed. Jiang Hang had almost begun to suspect that the system only rewarded skills from that series.
But this Presence Concealment clearly belonged to the Assassin class from another legendary world.
Thinking about those various Assassin-type heroes, Jiang Hang's imagination ran wild.
If he could eventually obtain the abilities—or even the Noble Phantasms—of those legendary figures, then he might truly become unstoppable in this world.
Just as he finished checking his reward, his phone rang.
It was Inspector Megure.
The police had worked quickly.
After being arrested, Toyo Abe had soon confessed his motive for the crime, along with the method he had prepared to create his so-called alibi.
Jiang Hang had originally expected the motive to be more complicated.
Perhaps a dispute over emotions.
Or some personal grudge between the two men.
But the answer Inspector Megure gave him was far simpler than that.
Toyo Abe's company had made a serious strategic mistake earlier that year.
As a result, the company was now buried under three hundred million yen in debt.
Three months earlier, Toyo Abe had jokingly said to Masaki Negishi:
"We're already forty-two years old. Who knows how long we'll live?"
"Why don't we make a bet to see who lives longer?"
He suggested that both of them buy life insurance worth five hundred million yen, naming each other as the beneficiary.
If either of them died first, the other would receive the five hundred million yen payout.
For some reason, Masaki Negishi had actually agreed.
Whether his brain had malfunctioned or he simply lacked caution, no one could say.
But he really did go with Toyo Abe to purchase the insurance.
Three months later, the insurance policy had officially taken effect.
Facing the crushing losses of his company, Toyo Abe suddenly remembered that insurance.
And so he began planning the murder of his friend.
The reason wasn't love.
It wasn't hatred.
There was no complicated history or dramatic grudge like in television dramas.
It was simply because Masaki Negishi's life was worth five hundred million yen.
Jiang Hang remained silent for a long time after hearing this explanation.
He couldn't help wondering what Masaki Negishi would feel once he woke up in the hospital and learned the truth.
To discover that a friend of twenty years had tried to kill him for money.
As for Toyo Abe's planned alibi, the scheme itself was not particularly complicated.
He had already found a man who resembled Masaki Negishi.
After paying him some money, that man would pretend to be Negishi.
For three days, Jiang Hang would unknowingly follow this fake Negishi.
Meanwhile, Toyo Abe planned to burn the real Negishi's body to ashes and secretly move the remains near the location of a festival that would take place four days later.
When the festival began, the burned corpse would be discovered.
Since Jiang Hang would testify that he had been following "Masaki Negishi" for those three days, the estimated time of death would appear to fall between the third night and the fourth morning.
And during that period, Toyo Abe would be out of town with his employees, creating a perfect alibi.
At least, that had been his plan.
From Jiang Hang's perspective, however, the method was laughably crude.
The fake Negishi alone posed a huge risk of exposure.
More importantly, Toyo Abe clearly had no idea how advanced modern forensic technology had become.
Even if a body was burned beyond recognition, the police could still perform an autopsy.
Once forensic doctors examined the body, they could determine the approximate time of death through internal evidence.
At that point, Toyo Abe's alibi would collapse instantly.
"So… it was just for money?"
After finishing the call with Inspector Megure, Jiang Hang thanked him and hung up.
He sat quietly in the chair inside his detective agency, staring blankly into space.
Yoshino Koharu brought him a cup of tea and placed it on the desk.
"What are you thinking about, Jiang Hang?"
Jiang Hang looked up at her and sighed softly.
He didn't voice the thoughts actually running through his mind.
Instead, he spoke in a deliberately light tone.
"I was just thinking… I technically completed that guy's commission."
"But it seems the remaining three hundred thousand yen payment isn't going to happen anymore."
"Koharu, if I go to the detention center and ask him for the money, do you think he'd pay me?"
Yoshino Koharu's expression became slightly complicated.
"I think he'd probably want to beat you up instead."
"After all… you were the one who personally sent him to prison."
"That's true," Jiang Hang said with a small laugh.
In reality, he wasn't worried about the three hundred thousand yen.
These days, even returning a lost wallet could earn him one million yen from the system.
What he truly wanted was to ask Toyo Abe face-to-face how he had managed to make the decision to kill a friend for money.
But in the end, he abandoned the idea.
After all, evil intentions born from money were one of the most common things in the world.
Toyo Abe was not the first.
And he certainly wouldn't be the last.
In his previous life, Jiang Hang had once read news about a man who murdered his own mother simply because she refused to give him money.
Back then, Jiang Hang had only been an observer.
Just another passerby reading shocking headlines.
But now he was a detective.
This case had unfolded directly in front of him.
He had personally intervened and stopped it.
Perhaps that was why his mindset had not fully adjusted yet.
Just yesterday, he had been telling Yoshino Koharu and Shizuka Sakaki to prepare themselves for the possibility of encountering murder cases.
And yet now it seemed that he himself was the one struggling to adjust.
If he wanted to compete with Conan Edogawa for detective work in the future, then he would inevitably face criminals with countless bizarre motives.
There was an old saying:
One general's success is built upon ten thousand bones.
Using that phrase for detectives sounded strange, but the idea still held some truth.
Every great detective grew through countless murder cases.
When famous detectives encountered a crime scene, their first instinct was always to search for clues and uncover the culprit.
There was nothing wrong with that.
But after a case ended, quietly reflecting on everything in one's own office—taking a moment to relax and process the emotions—was not such a bad thing either.
With that thought, Jiang Hang glanced out the window.
Rain still drizzled steadily outside.
He turned on his computer and randomly selected an anime he had never seen before.
Since the rain prevented him from going out to spread justice, and there were no clients today, he decided to simply relax in the agency.
Someone would bring him water when he was thirsty.
Someone would cook when he was hungry.
For once, he could enjoy the peaceful life of doing absolutely nothing.
Jiang Hang silently hoped the rain would last for a few more days.