The battle between Fujino and the man named Bitou began.
The area around the arcade machine was already packed with people, and the fighting game was displayed live on the big screen.
"Senpai, you have to crush him!" Sonoko shouted, clearly agitated.
"Go, Senpai!" Ran cheered him on.
"Take him down!" Jodie was also getting caught up in the excitement.
Fujino took a deep breath, focusing his gaze on the screen. He hadn't played this game before. However, with his real-life combat skills, taking down these kinds of street thugs in a game would be easy. The reason Ran lost was mainly because she wasn't used to the game and applied her actual martial arts sense to it. While her skills were fine against regular people, in a fighting game, they were just... terrible.
The match started. Bitou landed the first heavy punch on Fujino's character, then quickly retreated. Simultaneously, a sense of pain was transmitted back to Fujino. Fujino frowned slightly, now having a sense of the pain feedback.
After getting used to the controls, it was his turn. Iron Mountain Lean, Tiger and Crane Double Form, Eight Extreme Steps! He unleashed a variety of moves directly onto the opponent's character. Fujino's fighting style was tricky; although he targeted areas with very low HP, they were also the places on the body with the most concentrated pain receptors.
"Ah--!"
"KO!"
Along with a scream, the match ended. Bitou was clutching his stomach, groaning in pain. Fujino, on the other hand, had managed to dodge all attacks except the very first one, thanks to his incredible reaction speed.
"We won!"
"Fujino-senpai, what kind of moves were those?!"
"Could that be... Chinese Kung Fu?" Jodie seemed to have some knowledge.
"Chinese Kung Fu?" Ran looked a bit curious.
"Yeah... I saw moves from Baji Quan in there just now. I don't understand the others, but they looked like Chinese martial arts too." Jodie looked at Fujino, curious. "I didn't expect Fujino-kun to know such advanced fighting techniques. If this were real life, the opponent would probably be dead by now."
"Huh?!" Ran and Sonoko were startled. "Dead?!"
"That's right," Jodie nodded. "Every attack just now targeted areas that could cause life-threatening injuries. It's completely different from traditional competitive martial arts."
"Alright, alright, I was just imitating," Fujino explained with a chuckle. "It's only a game. If it were real life, I wouldn't be able to use those moves effectively at all." As he said this, he couldn't help but form a new impression of Jodie. As expected of the FBI, she could even discern a bit about the martial arts he knew.
Thinking of this, Fujino looked at Jodie again. "But Jodie-sensei is really impressive. Not only firearms, but you even understand Chinese martial arts."
"That's because I really like Chinese Kung Fu," Jodie said with an embarrassed smile. "Honestly, I even studied with a martial arts master before, but I only got a superficial understanding, not even the basics."
"Is that so..."
"You brat!" Bitou walked over with a pained expression. "You definitely haven't played this for the first time, have you?!" He was still clutching his stomach, clearly having been beaten pretty badly by Fujino. This confirmed one thing for him: the person opposite him was definitely an expert.
"Of course, it's my first time playing." Fujino lowered his gaze. "Maybe the only difference is... I've experienced real life-and-death battles..."
Bitou: "...Huh?" Life-and-death battles? Hey, hey, hey! You're just a high school student, right? Where would you have life-and-death duels...? Bitou grumbled internally, but he also felt a bit apprehensive. He felt like the other person looked somewhat familiar, and his presence made him feel a little scared. It would be a problem if this guy was the boss of some violent gang... Bitou thought this to himself and turned to leave. "A bet's a bet. From now on, this seat is yours!"
"Don't worry about the seat," Fujino stood up from the machine. "I'm not so obsessed with arcade games that I need to claim territory."
"Huh?" Bitou turned back, frowning at Fujino.
"Didn't expect you to be defeated sometimes," a man in a blue suit walked over at this moment. "I thought I was the only one who could beat you."
"You're here, big brother," Bitou turned his head. "In that case, hurry up and play a round with me!"
"What's the rush?" The man took a cigarette from his pocket and lit it. "Did you lose and now you want to regain your face from me, Lucas the undefeated of Beika?"
"Tch..."
"Hey, Jodie-sensei, Fujino-senpai," Ran glanced at the complicated environment around them. "Maybe we should leave here soon."
"Huh?" Jodie looked puzzled. "Why?"
"Yeah, yeah, there are other arcade machines in other places, let's go play somewhere else," Sonoko nodded in agreement. "Although Fujino-senpai taught that guy a good lesson, you never know if something else troublesome might happen later."
"Is that so..." Jodie also glanced around, nodded, and then walked straight towards a racing game machine nearby. "In that case, let's leave after I finish this game... Fujino-kun, your gaming talent seems really good. How about it, want to compete with me?"
"Racing game?" Fujino looked at the machine next to them. He had played these before. But in terms of skill, he often crashed and couldn't even finish the whole race. He wondered what level he could reach now with his enhanced perception...
While Fujino and Jodie were playing the racing game, the street thug and the other man also started a new match. Ran, Sonoko, Conan, and the others were drawn to it, and a large crowd of onlookers gathered again.
Soon, the match ended in a draw. The murmuring around them also gradually became noisy. Conan was the first to notice something was wrong and shouted loudly, "Ran-neechan, call the police quickly!"
Fujino had just finished his racing game with Jodie, looking at the 'WIN' displayed on the screen. At the same time, a system prompt echoed in his ears.
**[Detective Profession Task: The Trap of the Fighting Game]**
**[Task Reward: 1,000,000 Yen · 100 Detective Prestige]**
After glancing at the system interface, Fujino stood up and slowly walked towards Conan. At the arcade machine where he had just been sitting, Bitou was wearing the game helmet, his eyes wide, his jaw unnaturally open, and saliva drooling from the corner of his mouth.
...
Not long after, Inspector Megure arrived at the crime scene with the police siren wailing. As soon as he pushed open the door of the arcade, he saw Fujino immediately.
"Fujino-kun, you've run into another murder case, huh..." Inspector Megure walked over, looked at Fujino, sighed helplessly, and then looked around. "But speaking of which, where is the victim..."
"He's right there at that arcade machine!" Conan collected his thoughts and, in his childish voice, explained the whole incident. "There was a match going on just now. When the match ended, we found that he was already dead."
"I see... Takagi, go investigate if anyone at the scene knew him." Inspector Megure was already used to Conan. He naturally walked over to take a look at the body, called out to Takagi, turned around, and scanned his surroundings again. "Did Mouri not come over?"
"Mouri-ojisan didn't come," Fujino was also speechless for a moment. "This time I came with Ran, Sonoko, and Conan. By chance, we met our school teacher, Jodie-sensei, and then the murder happened."
"Ah... Fujino-kun, you don't have it easy either. You just busted a drug ring a few days ago." Inspector Megure sighed, secretly thinking that Fujino had been infected by Mouri and become the second harbinger of misfortune.
Meanwhile, Conan caught the key point: 'drug ring'. Did this Fujino guy solve another big case? Why hadn't he heard about it? Thinking, he looked at Fujino and asked, "Fujino-niichan, did you run into another case a few days ago?"
"Just a small case," Fujino glanced at Conan. This kid really gets excited when he hears about cases.
"A small case?" Conan frowned, feeling that things weren't that simple. With this Fujino guy, anything involving drugs couldn't possibly be a "small case," could it? That kind of thing usually leads to several homicides...
"Inspector Megure, we've identified the victim!" Just as Conan was thinking, Takagi hurried back, pulled out his notepad, and reported in a low voice. "The victim's name is Bitou Kengo, twenty-one years old. He's currently unemployed and usually comes to this arcade to play. However, because he's very rude, other people don't have a good opinion of him."
"So he's a street thug?" Inspector Megure looked at Bitou. "But is this guy really twenty-one? He doesn't look it..."
"Yeah, I think so too," Fujino agreed, nodding from the side. This guy is twenty-one? Isn't he just messing with honest people? Look at that build, that blonde hair, and that red tank top. Anyone who didn't know better would think he was a street thug pushing thirty.
Unlike the two who were off-topic and focusing on the victim's age, Conan was thoughtfully examining the body.
"Um, Ran, are that police officer and Mr. Mouri and Fujino-kun acquaintances?" Jodie asked Ran from the side.
"Yes, Inspector Megure and Fujino-senpai are old acquaintances," Ran nodded. "The Inspector used to be my dad's boss."
"Is that so?" Jodie turned to the few people who were talking and blinked, looking a bit confused. A murder case, and they're happily discussing the details with a high school student and an elementary school student? Are Japanese police really this open-minded?
"Hmm?" Megure turned around at that moment, looking curiously at Jodie behind him, who was wearing a light red slip dress that exposed half of her moderately-sized chest.
"This is our high school English teacher," Ran introduced.
Inspector Megure looked at Jodie with a serious expression. "You're an English teacher?" She doesn't look like one... Are English teachers this open-minded these days?
"Yes! My name is Jodie Saintemillion, Officer. It's a pleasure to meet you." Jodie introduced herself with a smile.
"Oh!!" Inspector Megure's expression suddenly changed, and he smiled with his broken English. "My name is Megure. I am a Japanese policemen!"
"Police? Tut, tut, tut!" Jodie suddenly wagged her finger. "You shouldn't say 'policemen' right now, you should say 'policeman'!"
"'Policeman~'?" Inspector Megure tried his best to imitate, his tone becoming increasingly strange.
Fujino: "..." One dares to speak, and the other dares to learn... Wait, he remembered this was a crime scene, right? What's with this cheerful atmosphere? Good grief, Megure, you're not doing any real work. Not focusing on your job at a crime scene, using your position to squeeze in some foreign language learning, huh? Spending too much time at internet cafes?
[A movie reference/gag, likely.]
Conan: "..."
Ran: "..."
Takagi: "..."
"Ahem." Fujino lightly coughed, interrupting their inappropriate behavior of studying English at a crime scene.
"Ahem." Megure also awkwardly coughed and said seriously, "Anyway, what we need to figure out now is why this guy died at the arcade machine." Saying this, he looked at Fujino. "Fujino-kun, did you find any useful clues back then?"
"About that... no," Fujino looked at Jodie. "I was playing the racing game with Jodie-sensei at the time, so I didn't have any spare time to look at him."
"I don't have any useful clues either," Takagi said regretfully from the side. "According to the people at the scene, there were no suspicious individuals around the victim at the time. The customer next to Mr. Bitou didn't see him eat anything, so it shouldn't be suicide either."
"I see..." Megure stroked his chin, turning to Bitou. "But what was this guy doing? Wearing a helmet, was he shooting a movie or something?"
"Because this is a virtual combat game..." The man who picked up the coin earlier explained. "When players in the game suffer damage, it's transmitted to the player in real-time. When a specific part is attacked, that area will feel a certain amount of pain, just like in a real fight."
"They have things like this now... I see!" Inspector Megure squinted his eyes and reasoned while looking at Bitou. "Could this guy have died from playing the game?!"
"That's impossible," the man in the blue suit from earlier walked over. "This kind of game is just a slight vibration at most. It can't kill anyone. That young man should have experienced it too."
"Is that right, Fujino-kun?" Megure turned to Fujino.
"Yes, although it causes continuous pain, it's not enough to kill someone from the pain. At most, it feels like being punched lightly," Fujino nodded.
"Just a light punch? Then it shouldn't be enough to kill someone from the pain..." Inspector Megure looked at the man again. "But speaking of which, who are you?"
"My name is Shimizu Takayasu," the man introduced himself. "I was the one who was fighting that guy just before he... well, before he passed away."
"Then how did he die...?"
"I think he must have died from shock!" Conan glanced at Fujino, feeling confident this time he would win, and then continued, "But there are no marks on his neck from being strangled, and no obvious injuries on his body. I think he might have died from poisoning."
"Conan..." Takagi helplessly picked Conan up from beside the body. "But he was just playing a game at the time, and no one saw him eat anything. If he was poisoned beforehand, there should have been symptoms."
Megure turned to Ran and Sonoko. "Did either of you see anything unusual about him?"
"No..." Ran thought about it.
"Forget unusual, he was full of energy back then!" Sonoko complained. "He even gave Ran a good beating."
"A beating?" Inspector Megure was surprised, looking at Ran with suspicion. Good grief, Mouri's daughter got beaten by someone? If they said Ran beat someone up, that would be more believable. But someone beating Ran... He vaguely remembered the tough guy who beat him up last time; he was knocked unconscious by Ran immediately after. He had seen Ran's skills. Could anyone really beat her?
"Actually, she got beaten up in the game, and then I beat him up," Fujino explained with a chuckle. "His behavior back then wasn't unusual at all. It shouldn't have been poisoned beforehand..."
"But they could have used a syringe to inject it!" Conan suddenly added. "In this noisy environment, even if someone did it, they wouldn't be noticed. If they injected poison then, they could poison him while his body was confined by the arcade machine."
Inspector Megure thought for a moment and felt that Conan's words made sense. He then called out to the police officers who had arrived with him. "Send the victim's body for a forensic examination! At least we need to determine the cause of death!"
Seeing this, Conan nodded in satisfaction and looked at Fujino. Hmph, this time he finally got the jump on him!
Jodie's attention was also drawn, and she looked at Conan with interest. This kid... has something to him.
"If it really was poisoning, then we'll have to identify the suspects first..." Inspector Megure and Takagi then looked troubled again. "There are over thirty people at the scene. It's too difficult to investigate them one by one..."
"Um, actually, I know..." Conan was about to say that his brilliant mind had already memorized all the suspects who had come into contact with the victim when Fujino directly interrupted his moment. "Actually, we can just look at the surveillance footage."
Conan, whose moment was interrupted: "...Surveillance?"
Inspector Megure was also startled. "They have that here?"
"..." Fujino pointed to the top of the arcade, where an old-looking surveillance camera was located. "Isn't it right there?"
Conan looked up: "..." There really is one...
"Oh!" Inspector Megure looked up excitedly. "It's definitely surveillance footage!"
Takagi also rubbed his chin, looking at the camera overhead. "I didn't expect there to be something like this here..."
Fujino: "..." There's a camera at the crime scene, and you're reacting this strongly? Are cameras rare items now? But thinking about it, that's probably true. In Beika City, cameras are indeed quite uncommon. If it were like his past life, where every street pole had surveillance cameras, let alone a murder case, even if Hannibal Lecter came today, it would only take two days to catch him.
(End of Chapter)