Ding
Like a dewdrop falling into a calm lake, the crisp mechanical sound echoing in Akikawa Sosuke's mind rippled across his eyelids.
As Akikawa Sosuke gradually regained consciousness from his stupor, the first thing that flooded his mind was a splitting headache, akin to the aftermath of a heavy drinking binge.
His body felt as heavy as if it had been filled with lead.
The taste of rust spread in his mouth; Akikawa Sosuke was intimately familiar with this, the taste of hemoglobin from blood.
The spinning world gradually stabilized.
The next second.
The sight before him caused Akikawa Sosuke to suddenly widen his eyes.
A sealed, locked boxcar.
The car's front windshield was covered in spiderweb-like cracks, completely obscuring the view ahead.
And the source of his body's heaviness—the woman sprawled on top of him.
Akikawa Sosuke wanted to push the woman off.
As he slightly moved his fingers, he felt a hard and sticky sensation in his hand.
Only then did Akikawa Sosuke notice that he seemed to be holding something.
After Akikawa Sosuke used all his strength to push the woman pressing down on him back into the passenger seat on his right, he finally got a clear look at the woman beside him.
The woman beside him had died a rather gruesome death—
The woman's neck, chest, and abdomen were covered in stab wounds.
Her faintly visible beige T-shirt was already soaked in blood, appearing like a grotesque painting in the dim light.
The hard sensation Akikawa Sosuke had felt earlier came from the hilt of the dagger plunged into the woman's abdomen, and the sticky sensation naturally came from the blood on the woman's abdomen.
It was clear that the woman had been stabbed to death with a dagger.
Recalling the scene when he woke up with the woman on top of him, and the dagger plunged into the woman's abdomen, which he had still been clutching even after losing consciousness.
Akikawa Sosuke's heart rate also began to gradually quicken.
For Akikawa Sosuke, who had seen many dead people, the scene before him, though impactful, was far less shocking than the realization that he was in an unknown place at this moment.
"Where is this?"
"Who is this woman?"
"Why am I still alive?"
Akikawa Sosuke didn't understand why he, who should have died, would appear here.
Nor did he have any memory of killing the woman before him.
Whoosh—
Suddenly.
The sound of police sirens approaching from a distance roused Akikawa Sosuke from his confusion.
Akikawa Sosuke realized a problem.
"No matter how unfamiliar this scene is to me, if others see this, they'll probably assume I killed this woman..."
Akikawa Sosuke thought to himself,
Just then, translucent azure text appeared before his eyes, accompanied by the mechanical sound in his mind.
[Option System Bound]
[Newbie Gift Pack Granted: Japanese (S) (Native Level)]
[The system will grant corresponding rewards based on the Host's choices.]
[A car like a locked room, a woman dead from multiple stab wounds, increasingly close police sirens, and you, the suspected murderer—what choice will you make?]
[1. Do nothing, quietly wait for the police to arrive, then surrender to the police and admit to killing the woman.]
[Reward: Recovery Card x1 (Can restore the Host's injuries)]
[2. Do nothing, quietly wait for the police to arrive, but firmly deny killing the woman.]
[Reward: Trait Card x1 (Permanently gain a random trait from a character)]
[3. Flee.]
[Reward: Constitution +3]
[4. Before the police arrive, try your best to conceal your murder evidence and evade responsibility.]
[Reward: Skill Card x1 (Permanently gain a random skill from a character)]
The splitting headache and dizziness he felt upon waking still lingered in Akikawa Sosuke's head.
Although his thinking ability had been severely impaired, the sudden appearance of the translucent azure text before his eyes and the mechanical sound in his mind still allowed Akikawa Sosuke to guess the current situation.
"Sure enough, I've transmigrated... I can't believe something like this actually happens..."
"The newbie gift pack gave me [Japanese], so that means this is Japan?"
Although Akikawa Sosuke still had many questions about this so-called system, the current situation was clearly not one where he could leisurely research the benefits of a transmigrator.
He didn't know how much longer his consciousness would last.
"At first glance, there are four options, but option 3 is too absurd. With this body, how could I possibly escape..."
Just pushing the woman who had collapsed on him back into the driver's seat had already exhausted Akikawa Sosuke considerably.
He had no doubt that if he were to engage in strenuous activity in this condition, his extremely weak body would immediately fall apart like building blocks.
The option to flee was ruled out. As for the two options of quietly waiting...
Akikawa Sosuke had no memory of the original owner before transmigrating.
And even if he did, he had no interest in taking responsibility for the original owner's mistakes.
"Denying it also carries a high risk, because it seems highly probable that the original owner killed this woman..."
"In that case, there's only one option left, isn't there..."
Akikawa Sosuke made his decision and turned his head again to look at the woman in the driver's seat beside him.
—
"The first case occurred on August 2nd, and a note with a number written on it was left beside the victim."
"The second case occurred a week later, on August 9th, and a note with a number written on it was also left beside the victim."
Inside a civilian residence in Tokyo, near a National Highway.
A young girl with short, wavy black hair was smiling as she spoke to the man subdued by two Detectives and pressed to the floor.
Beside her stood a grade schooler wearing a red bow tie and large, round-rimmed glasses.
"The third case occurred a week ago, and a note with a number written on it was also left beside the third victim. From that moment, I determined that this was a premeditated serial murder."
"After investigating the information of the three victims, I found that they had no connection whatsoever."
"Then the information on the notes left at the scene is a trick you few designed to disguise unrelated cases as serial murders committed by the same person!"
"Thinking about it this way, the numbers on the notes are also easy to understand. The number minus the date is exactly the destination of this crime."
"Y-you... who exactly are you?"
The man pressed to the floor struggled to lift his head, looking in shock at the high schooler before him, whose gender was somewhat indistinguishable and whose appearance was quite delicate.
"My name is Sera Masumi, and I am a Detective."
After Sera Masumi finished speaking, she looked back at the grade schooler beside her, a triumphant curve on her lips.
"..."
Conan's mouth hung open as he speechlessy looked at the tomboy who had not only stolen his thunder but also his lines, ultimately suppressing the urge to retort.
"Thank you, Masumi Sera."
"This time, we really owe it to Masumi Sera."
The two Detectives in the room thanked Sera Masumi.
"It's nothing, it's nothing. As for the culprits of the previous three cases, you just need to ask him..."
Sera Masumi instructed the Detectives on what to do next.
Meanwhile, Conan, who was beside her, looked out the room's window, gazing at the National Highway across the way, which was obscured by a sound barrier.
Just as they caught the culprit, a car accident occurred on the National Highway.
Although it was most likely just a simple traffic accident, for some reason, Conan always felt a slight unease.
After all, in terms of timing, the car accident occurred too coincidentally with their serial murder case.
"Kid, let's go."
Sera Masumi, who had finished instructing the Detectives on the follow-up matters of the serial murder case, greeted the beautiful Sato Miwako, who had just handcuffed the culprit and was on the phone, then lightly kicked Conan, who was staring blankly out the window.
Conan came back to his senses, nodded, and prepared to leave with Sera Masumi.
"This is Sato. Yes, a car accident occurred on the National Highway across from the apartment I'm in a little while ago..."
Sato Miwako's voice came through.
However.
In the next instant.
Sato Miwako's suddenly raised volume caused the two Detectives to abruptly stop in their tracks.
"Huh?! What did you say?! I'll be right there!"