Although Jiangxia Tongzhi had agreed to help Kogoro Mouri get the merch from around Yoko Kinoshita's new album, he didn't actually ask Yoko for it.
The albums she sent out were just the regular editions—no fancy extras. But a while ago, Jiangxia noticed that Xiaobai kept staring at other people's merch and drooling a little when they were out and about.
So ever since then, Jiangxia would order two sets every time: one for Xiaobai to play with, and one to dangle in front of Mouri like bait.
…
The next day, Jiangxia went to his usual audio-visual store. After a few visits, he'd gotten friendly with the store owner. Sometimes when he was too busy to swing by, the lady would set aside two copies for him anyway.
Today was no different.
The enthusiastic proprietress quickly brought him two sets. But Jiangxia noticed that the merch included with them was all black.
This album had two merch variants—black and blue. And after what happened yesterday, it seemed Kogoro Mouri had developed a minor trauma related to the black headband—Jiangxia caught him last night sneakily eyeing fans wearing blue ones instead.
Jiangxia bought both sets anyway and asked, "Do you have any with the blue merch?"
"Sure do, but they're sold out at the moment." The store owner rested her cheek on her hand and smiled. "I thought you liked black."
Jiangxia did prefer black. Dark colors looked more intimidating and matched his tattoo. Honestly, he felt like he had a spiritual connection with the color. The store owner knew her customers well… but this time was special.
He found out the next restock would take a few days, so he pre-ordered a blue set.
After leaving the store, Jiangxia was originally planning to head to the office and check his inbox for new commissions.
But on the way, as he passed the Beika City Restaurant, he spotted a very conspicuous man in black from a distance.
The man was tall, wearing a little black hat—just like Vodka's—and a black suit—also like Vodka's. Even his square jaw was similar. The only difference was the beard and the fact that he looked even taller.
Jiangxia stared for a second. He was 80% sure this guy was one of his organization's colleagues. Too bad Ai Haibara wasn't with him—he could've asked her to "feel" it out.
The tall man disappeared into the building.
Jiangxia slowed down and looked at the sign by the entrance: "Game Launch Presentation."
His eyes narrowed.
With that, the briefcase tucked under the man's arm, and the location, he suddenly remembered a case—and a code name: Tequila.
A fully ranked member of the organization.
If he remembered right, Tequila would somehow bumble into a murder today and die in an accidental explosion.
It was a dumb way to go out, but still—he was a code-named member. If something went sideways...
Jiangxia froze mid-step.
But he kept walking—he vaguely remembered that Gin and Vodka would also be nearby today. If Tequila kicked the bucket and they looked into it… and then found Jiangxia had followed him into the restaurant… yeah, he'd definitely end up getting interrogated again.
His plan was to lurk nearby, wait for the boom, and then stroll in casually to assess the aftermath and hopefully grab a ghost or two.
But just as he passed the gate, three familiar figures popped out from around the corner—Sonoko Suzuki, Ran Mouri, and Conan.
They all looked surprised and happy to see each other. Well, almost all—Conan looked distinctly not thrilled.
A minute later, Jiangxia was heading into the building with his three classmates.
…
Originally, Sonoko and Ran had planned to check out a newly opened fashion concept store. But it turned out today was its regular holiday, so they settled for doing some light shopping nearby before turning back.
On the way, Sonoko spotted some staff members hurrying past with briefcases. It reminded her about the game press conference happening at this venue. Her family had recently partnered with Mantian on a game release, and she'd even given some notes on it. So she decided to kill some time here instead.
This setup was perfect for Jiangxia. Hanging out with classmates was completely normal. Even if Gin found out Tequila died, it wouldn't be suspicious.
Way better than sneaking in afterward.
Plus, y'know… bombs. Explosions don't always respect boundaries. With three murder magnets beside him—each carrying their own exclusive case flags—Jiangxia wanted to personally supervise things and keep them in one piece.
Thanks to Sonoko's VIP name, they got in easily. The two girls had shopping bags with them, so they stopped to use the luggage storage.
Jiangxia waited in line, but just as it was their turn, three office workers—clearly late—rushed over and cut in to stash their briefcases.
Sonoko squinted at them, annoyed. But they apologized profusely, and the chattiest one dramatically explained how being late meant a massive deduction from their bonus… and how that meant instant noodles for the rest of the month.
Sonoko, who had never once worried about money, stood frozen. It took her a few seconds to mentally link "losing a bonus" with "eating instant noodles." By the time she recovered, the trio had vanished like wind.
Ran didn't mind the delay, but she did feel a little bad for the people behind them.
After they finished checking their bags, she smiled again and showed off the luggage tag: "Look! We got number 100. That's a lucky number—we might have good luck today!" She showed it to Conan too.
Jiangxia nodded, mildly entertained.
As they entered the venue, he snuck a glance at Tequila, who was lurking in a corner. Jiangxia hoped the guy would at least leave a decent ghost behind and not embarrass the organization.
…
The hall was packed with game consoles—retro classics, modern hits, and even some unreleased prototypes.
Jiangxia looked around and remembered what Sonoko said earlier. "Which one did you help with?"
Sonoko opened her mouth, then froze like she just remembered something deeply regrettable.
Ran, unaware of her friend's silent crisis, cheerfully answered, "I think it was called Phantom Thief Capture Encyclopedia... Ah! That one!"
Jiangxia looked over and saw a bizarrely heart-shaped game console. The casing was baby pink. It looked like a rejected magical girl prop.
Maybe because of its tacky name or weird design, there was no crowd around it. As soon as the group stopped, a staff member noticed and came over to excitedly invite them to try it out.
Sonoko broke out in a silent, nervous sweat.
She looked around desperately for an excuse to drag Jiangxia away. But it was too late—he was already intrigued and had followed the staff to the console.
The name made it sound like a detective game. The pink heart shell made it look like a dating sim. But when the game actually started, it turned out to be a side-scrolling combat game with a dramatic storyline.
The player controlled a detective who had to fight their way through levels, catch a phantom thief, and retrieve stolen gems.
Jiangxia stared at the intro cutscene while holding the controller, eyeing the stick-wielding protagonist dressed all in black.
...Huh.
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 30 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 14/50(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS
Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.
Progress:1/10*
Glossary:
Case collector: A sarcastic nickname for Conan, Ran, and Sonoko—wherever they go, murders follow
Ghost: In this fanfic, characters who die sometimes become ghosts that Jiangxia can "pick up"