Tokyo Metropolis – in a high-rise apartment within a bustling commercial district.
Ran stood by the window of the hallway on the 25th floor, overlooking the neon-lit cityscape of Tokyo. She couldn't help but sigh in admiration, "The view here is something."
Turning around, she smiled softly at Fujino and asked, "Isn't that right, Fujino-senpai?"
"Yeah,"
Fujino replied briefly, his mind wandering.
The view was impressive. From here, you could practically overlook half of Tokyo's neon cityscape.
The neon lights flickering across nighttime Tokyo, the endless stream of cars flowing along the roads—
It was a truly unique sight.
But… that view came with a price.
From what Fujino knew, a 25th-floor apartment like this in the city center started at around 100 million yen. This was a true, bona fide residence for the elite of Tokyo.
A view like this—most ordinary people would probably never get to see it in their lifetimes, no matter how hard they worked.
To be fair, Ran's family wasn't doing too badly either. The small building she lived in was worth at least 50 million yen to start.
Strictly speaking, Ran was a bit of a rich girl herself.
"Ah!"
At that moment, a scream suddenly echoed from behind—the voice of Chouno Yoko, who had just opened the door to her apartment.
Right after that scream, a familiar system notification rang in Fujino's ears: "New Detective Career Mission detected. Please check immediately!"
A translucent interface promptly appeared in front of him:
[Detective Career Mission: Bloody Idol Case]
Mission Objective: Solve the Bloody Idol Murder Case
Time Limit: 3 hours
Mission Reward: 500,000 yen
So… the case still happened after all.
Standing there, Fujino narrowed his eyes slightly and let out a faint sigh.
He quickly rushed over to Chouno Yoko's side and looked into the apartment.
As expected—a murder had just taken place.
A fat man lay dead inside Chouno Yoko's home.
His corpse was sprawled across the dimly lit floor, a fruit knife embedded deep in his back, with a massive amount of blood gushing from the wound. The scarlet liquid had soaked the surrounding carpet and seeped into the cracks of the wooden floor.
Looking at the corpse, Fujino couldn't help but think to himself—Welp… this apartment's value just tanked.
There was something peculiar about houses in Beika Town—properties where people had died usually plummeted in value, while homes with no deaths saw their prices skyrocket to absurd levels.
He just wasn't sure if this place was rented or owned by Chouno Yoko.
If it was rented… the landlord was probably contemplating jumping off the roof by now.
While everyone else was staring at the corpse in shock and horror, Fujino was the only one with the mental space to joke about Beika Town's real estate market.
"Ran, call the police!"
Snapping back to reality, Fujino instinctively ordered Ran, his usual go-to "report-the-crime" assistant.
But on second thought, he stopped her. "Wait… never mind, Ran."
"Huh? What's wrong, Fujino-senpai?"
Ran halted mid-step, turning back with confusion written all over her face.
"Actually… I do have a mobile phone on me…"
As he spoke, Fujino scratched the back of his head awkwardly and pulled his phone out of his pocket.
"Mobile phone?"
Ran curiously glanced at Fujino's device but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. She just asked, "Is that the newest model on the market?"
"Yeah… but I don't think it's officially released yet. One of my clients gave it to me for trial use."
Fujino explained briefly. Just as he was about to dial the emergency number and give Ran a break from her usual police-calling duties—
The manager couldn't hold back anymore.
"Wait, Detective Fujino! If possible… could you please handle this matter discreetly?!"
The manager glanced nervously at the horrified Chouno Yoko, then quickly grabbed Fujino's hand and pleaded, "If this incident gets out to the public, it'll destroy Yoko's reputation!"
"Huh?!"