I was the fourth disaster in Yokohama and was loved by everyone.

Dazai was silent for a moment, then took a half step back, casually fiddling with the bandage wrapped around his arm: "...Never mind, I don't really care anyway—"

But the slight tightening in his fingertips betrayed him.

Zhu Yu glanced at the little dark cloud hanging over Dazai's head with some distress—did Dazai really want to be her boss?

Wouldn't it be better if we just maintained a pure, platonic relationship like this?

Even if you're an NPC that players like, it won't work!

Of course... unless the player is the boss :P

"Dazai... although I can't be your subordinate, I'll still visit your office often." Zhu Yu reacted quickly, grabbing Dazai's sleeve to prevent him, with his history of running away, from fleeing on the spot. "Also, about your question from before—"

"Actually, whether you are my boss or not, I will not dislike you."

"So, you can—not hate me either?" She leaned closer and looked earnestly into his eyes.

The dark eyes lit up the moment they got close, like someone casting a handful of moonlight onto a dark lake.

Don't dislike a player just because they refuse to be your subordinate!

Dazai blinked twice, his eyelashes fluttering, like a bewildered fledgling.

Her fingertips curled up unconsciously, leaving a few shallow crescent-shaped marks on her palm.

He wanted to say something, but all the words got stuck in his throat, and in the end, they turned into a barely audible hum.

"...Ugh, this is so annoying." Dazai finally spoke, his voice a few decibels softer than usual. "Alright then."

He definitely didn't want to say something like "I don't dislike it"...

Upon receiving the other party's affirmation, Zhu Yu jumped up and down a few times with joy—the player knew that the player would never be disliked!

*

That day, the two finally reached a complete agreement on the condition that Zhu Yu would stay in Dazai's office and play games with him except during necessary office hours. In this way, Zhu Yu successfully obtained Dazai's help and could finally continue the investigation mission without any restraint.

Dazai takes care of the cleanup work, and when he's in a good mood, he'll even give her directions on where to investigate and gather information.

Of course, players' schedules are always very busy. This task is a tedious side quest with a long timeline, so she usually only has time to complete it after clearing all the other tasks on her daily quest list.

The progress of this side quest is naturally not fast.

The days passed by in this way, as I ran around to different places every day.

Players' stealth ability stats have all increased significantly.

The old "stealth" involved eliminating everyone so that no one would know she had quietly infiltrated.

The current "stealth" – in order to avoid mission failure, under Dazai's insistence, she could only obediently follow the traditional "stealth" and began to sneak around by climbing through windows and over walls.

Damn it, players always used the main gate before!

Just wait, once the player completes this extremely cautious task, they'll be able to return to their carefree days (angry).

Her actions in investigating a thorny incident did not escape the watchful eyes of a clever cat.

"What... You could have asked the all-knowing detective for help."

The green-eyed detective was quite dissatisfied that his handpicked assistant hadn't chosen to ask him for help when she encountered a problem.

W-what!

So the little detective is an NPC that players can ask for help from?

Zhu Yu is caught up in the cat head universe...

But the PTSD from being inexplicably notified of mission failure last time still lingered in her mind, and she couldn't help but hesitate for a moment—

Chapter 82 Can’t Laugh.jpg

After cautiously saving the file, Zhu Yu chose to ask for help.

Ranpo had already noticed Zhu Yu's slightly furrowed brows and hesitant expression. He wrinkled his nose slightly and let out a small "humph" from his nose.

"The famous detective is going to be driven crazy by his idiot assistant..." he muttered, reaching out to snatch the various documents she pulled from her backpack.

He angrily took out his glasses and put them on, flipping through the documents three times faster than usual, the papers rustling as if he were throwing a tantrum.

He forcefully pulled the pen away, leaving slightly darker ink marks on the paper.

“Here, here, and here—” The pen tip jabbed several key place names with such force that it almost pierced the paper. “I’ve circled the most important places. Just go and you’ll get the key clues.”

As he finished speaking, the task progress on the task panel jumped, indicating that he had entered the next stage.

"As punishment for making the famous detective angry, your cake is mine!" He righteously pulled the cake plate in front of him, viciously stabbing the cream with his fork, as if venting his anger.

Zhu Yu stared blankly at Ranbu's series of fluid and seamless actions, her eyes widening involuntarily.

Because the key information she needed to search for was so time-consuming, she had been stuck on this task for a long time. Unexpectedly, the little detective's intervention made the long-stagnant task progress jump by a lot.

Essentially, as long as you follow the little detective's clues, you can basically complete the task.

Good heavens, what about all the hard work the players put in following the system's clues before?!

Does that count as the player being diligent?

Can't laugh.jpg

Previously, the tasks she did were mostly simple, unlike this "investigating her background" task which required a lot of time to gather clues.

Therefore, she had never considered the possibility of seeking help from other NPCs before.

After all, in this single-player game, Zhu Yu mainly explores the map on his own, and the "lone wolf" mentality prevails. Even when he forms a temporary team with NPCs while doing quests, the team disbands after the quest ends.

The people we do tasks with next time might be different.

Dazai and Chuuya are still the two NPCs she has partnered with the longest and had the most enjoyable team-up experience. It's just a pity that the Port Mafia hasn't been able to generate any high-difficulty missions recently, so the three of them haven't gone on any missions together.

So sad... all the players' best partners have run away.

In typical game settings, NPCs who are detectives are usually very intelligent. When players get stuck on "investigation" tasks, the detective NPC will appear and guide the players in the right direction.

Surprisingly, she actually encountered a detective NPC in the game who was willing to guide players through their missions.

Come to think of it, she had always treated the little detective as a regular customer who visited the dessert shop regularly—she had no idea that she could ask him for help.

Alas... It's a pity the little detective is from the opposing faction, the Armed Detective Agency, so there's no way to poach her as her mission partner.

"Ranpo, wanna join the Port Mafia?"

"No way! Why doesn't Miss Kuko come to our detective agency?!"

The above dialogue actually happened. As a result, the little detective's anger level skyrocketed, and the bewildered player had to offer a box of desserts to resolve the situation.

Feeling a pang of sympathy, Zhu Yu dared not bring up the matter of having the young detective switch jobs again, and could only remain silent about it.

After all, the little detective is awesome (thumbs up)

"Wow, that's amazing!" she exclaimed involuntarily. "No wonder he's a famous detective."

Subconsciously touching her aching liver, the little detective's eyes lit up with admiration!

"Ranpo is amazing." She stood up and silently moved closer, observing his clear, emerald eyes up close, wondering why his green eyes were so beautiful. Unaware that a strand of her hair had gently brushed against his exposed neck, she thought, "I can't live without you..."

If I could, I'd love to team up with Ranpo!

Ranpo's hand suddenly trembled, and the strawberry that he could have perfectly held with his fork rolled over and fell onto the plate. Luckily, it landed on the plate.

He looked up abruptly and met Zhu Yu's gaze, a gaze so bright it left him speechless for a moment—it was like the midday sun in summer, direct, intense, and with an undeniable presence.

Ranpo's eyelashes fluttered rapidly a few times, like butterflies startled by the sunlight.

"Of course!" Ranpo hurriedly tried to poke the fallen strawberry with his fork, but the strawberry, covered in cream, just slipped and rolled around in the dish several times. "...That's how important a great detective is."

As he spoke, his confidence grew.

"The detective wouldn't abandon his assistant."

“So…” Ranpo, in this almost embracing posture, carefully pinched the strand of hair that had been floating on his neck, like gently gathering a butterfly resting in his palm, “Rely on me without worry!”

Oh... Little detective, the players can't do without you!

Deeply moved, Zhu Yu naturally wanted to reciprocate. She quickly picked up another fork from the table and swiftly and accurately stabbed the strawberry that Ranbu had struggled to reach.

"Ranpo, please have some." She held the strawberry to Ranpo's mouth, feeding him enthusiastically.

Ranpo: "......"

He squinted at the fork, his ear tips flushed a light pink, and without hesitation, he took a big bite of the strawberry: "Detective, I accept!" The way he chewed with his cheeks puffed out looked like a proud cat accepting a tribute with a clear conscience.

*

Ranpo's encounter with Zhu Yu this time was truly unexpected, after all, neither of them were idle people.

Ranpo usually handles cases for the detective agency and occasionally travels to other places to complete requests from local police stations; Zhu Yu is busy with Port Mafia missions and also finds time to trigger and complete various tasks while wandering the streets.

It's a rare occurrence for the two of them to bump into each other at a dessert shop.

Ranpo's delightful dessert time didn't last long. He had only eaten the third piece of cake when Fukuzawa Yukichi called and asked him to return to the detective office because a client had come to his door.

The detective agency is short-staffed, and almost all the detective cases are now being handled by Edogawa Ranpo alone.

Reluctantly, Ranbu packed the cake up and carried it back home.

Before leaving, he opened his eyes and reminded Zhu Yu in a somewhat serious tone, "Be careful of strange people who suddenly approach you lately~"

A weirdo?

Although she didn't know what constituted a weirdo, she obediently agreed.

*

Um, could this person be the weirdo Ranpo mentioned?

Zhu Yu looked at the person who suddenly appeared in front of her and fell into deep thought.

Chapter 83 Fishing?

After receiving the information from Ranpo, Zhu Yu felt a great weight lifted from her shoulders.

Once Ranpo left, she had no desire to sit idly in the dessert shop any longer and went straight to those locations to gather intelligence.

These locations were quite far apart, and it took her another day to gather all the intelligence.

The moment the message "[Mission Completed]" appeared, she breathed a sigh of relief—finally, she no longer had to cautiously gather intelligence every day.

When the collected information was handed over to the pianist, the pianist was clearly surprised.

"Ms. Kawakami is amazing. I thought it would take longer..." After all, it is not easy to collect such highly confidential information that few people know about.

The pianist took the information, his brows relaxing like silk smoothed by a spring breeze, the tense lines melting away: "Now, we'll make it in time..."

"Hey, [Kawakami]-san, how about we come celebrate for Chuuya that day?" Ado-bird grinned and put his right hand on Zhu Yu's shoulder, leaning half his weight on her.

Some are heavy...

Zhu Yu thought for a moment, then, mimicking the silly bird, tried to free her left hand and put it on his shoulder as well: "Okay."

Because Ah-Dai-Niao was quite tall, it was a bit difficult for him to put his arm around her shoulder, so Zhu Yu secretly stood on tiptoe, hoping not to be noticed.

"Don't let that silly bird crush Miss Kawakami," the PR officer interjected with a smile, casually supporting Zhu Yu's arm and pulling the silly bird's arm away.

The silly bird scratched its head and laughed to indicate that it didn't mean it.

Having agreed on the time and place for the celebration, Zhu Yu waved goodbye to the flag bearers.

She would go to see Dazai whenever there was nothing else to do. He'd been very clingy lately, and if he found out she'd been out for too long without visiting him, he'd start making all sorts of incomprehensible noises.

The player sighed...

*

After completing the time-consuming task of investigating her background, Zhu Yu felt much more relaxed.

Aside from the regular missions available within the Port Mafia, daily missions are similar to—

[The Wish of a Working Woman: Poor Miss Lin is being harassed by her unscrupulous boss today. Can you help her solve her problem?]

That's simple. Just kidnap the boss, threaten him fiercely, and release him; he'll behave. Although I don't know why he was chased by the military and police the whole way afterward.