Chapter 85
When a fruit looks like an apple, smells like an apple, and tastes like an apple, then it is an apple.
Similarly, when Hiromitsu looks like Rum, his phone number is Rum’s, and his fingerprints, voiceprint, and DNA are Rum’s, then he is Rum.
Fan An said proudly, “This is the principle of combining like terms. My math is pretty good, right?”
Hiromitsu stared at himself in the mirror and, with great difficulty, nodded up and down.
His shiny bald head was sparkling in the mirror.
Namu Amida Butsu.
Hiromitsu: I once had a chance to cos Gin, but I didn’t cherish it. If time could be turned back, I swear I would never complain about Gin’s waist-length hair again.
He would even accept the ancient-style pretty boy. At least his hair quality was good.
So bald. Rum is so bald. His hair management is too advanced. Hiromitsu can’t appreciate it.
That being said, Fan An’s phone still had a video of Rum acting cute, meowing like a cat, and dancing a girl group dance, in the same album as Gin’s, a neat and tidy family.
The undercover Public Security officer didn’t dare to think about the consequences of these videos being submitted as evidence in court. Even with his deep-seated hatred for the distillery, he had to say that they didn’t deserve this.
Hiromitsu had worked for the Black Organization for a long time and had some camaraderie with the real liquor members. He really couldn’t bear to see the famous Top Killer make his grand debut at the Metropolitan Police Department as a borderline streamer.
Leave them some dignity, Hiromitsu thought silently. A kind-hearted person like him would definitely let his former colleagues be convicted of normal crimes instead of being persecuted by Suspect An.
An’an didn’t like to hear that. “The tens of millions of viewers in the live stream all saw it. I was a witness this time, not a suspect.”
How could he slander an innocent person?!
That’s right. The tens of millions of viewers in the live stream all saw it.
The recording of the celebration party’s live stream was all over the internet. A tragic case of three deaths in one minute was rare even in Beika, let alone for normal netizens outside the crime city.
Although the case was quickly solved, the netizens’ enthusiasm for gossip did not diminish. They watched it in slow motion with a microscope, frame by frame.
And they saw something fishy.
[Did everyone watch the live stream? Blind student here, I found a shocking point!]
1L: As the title says, am I the only one who found it?
2L: What live stream? Am I disconnected from the internet?
3L: No way, no way! Is there anyone who hasn’t watched the live stream? My friend, you’ve missed out on a fortune! (heartbroken.jpg)
4L: What point? Related to you-know-who?
5L: I can’t take it anymore! Is my sister’s name so hard to say? Fun fact, you can call her by her full name.
6L: And then quickly derail to a pun (knocks on wooden fish.jpg)
7L: knocks on wooden fish.jpg
8L: knocks on wooden fish.jpg
…
22L: Stop knocking! Even a monk would be knocked back into the secular world! All of you above, your merit points -1-1
23L: Where’s the gossip?! Where’s my ripe gossip?! I clicked in to eat gossip!
24L: Why is everyone guessing it’s related to you-know-who? Doesn’t our Sharon have any presence?
25L: Are you referring to the famous international movie star Sharon Vineyard, who only guest-starred for a few minutes but specially came to the celebration party, refused to open the champagne, gave the opportunity to the first-time collaborator you-know-who, and whose eyes never left her from beginning to end?
26L: Gentlemen, the lily flowers of our hometown have bloomed.
27L: Sobbing! There’s even after-sales service after the movie ended! My CP is real!
28L: Isn’t this movie selling the saintly male lead × the cold-hearted villain? (eating gossip.jpg)
29L: Ship it! Ship it all! I’ll go everywhere to mooch off food with a gong and a drum.
30L: So fragrant!
31L: On-screen couples are all just hype. Do you dare to eat our real-life couple?!
32L: Oh my god, someone finally said it! Although it was just a few fleeting scenes, you can tell they’re really dating.
33L: What’s the deal? Spill the tea!
34L: Riddle-makers, get out of the earth! I’m so anxious I’m like a badger jumping up and down in a melon field.
35L: Ahhh, someone finally found it! I’m the OP, I’ll say it. Wait a minute, I type very slowly.
36L: Quick, quick, quick! I’m the impatient king!
37L: If you can’t, just do a live stream and tell us. The family will send you gifts.
38L: And then a live stream accident, a second time, three deaths in a row?
39L: LOL, are you comparing the OP to a conceptual god?
40L: But the OP’s IP is in Beika.
41L: F*ck!
42L: F*ck!
…
52L: Stop it! What’s wrong with Beika? This is regional discrimination.
53L: Our Beika is great! Housing prices are falling every year, there are fireworks every night, the police response time is first-class, and the detective industry is highly developed. Who says we’re not a livable city?
54L: That’s right! I used to have a nervous breakdown from the gunfights in the middle of the night. After I moved to Beika, the world became peaceful.
55L: Are you from Yokohama?
56L: How did you know? Are you investigating me?
57L: I’m the OP. I’m back.
58L: (I’m the OP) To prevent being flamed, I certainly can’t call the person by her real name. You-know-who is too long, and the pun is too hellish. I’ve decided to use the official term.
59L: What official term?
60L: I know! I’m sister’s die-hard fan! I’ve read every one of her official announcements.
61L: Hint, which section’s front page does she have the most headlines in?
62L: Uh, the entertainment section?
63L: Fake fan! Get out and be beaten to death with a stick!
64L: Who understands the weight of my family suddenly asking me why I’m obsessed with the crime headlines and if I want to learn to break the law?
65L: (I’m the OP) Without further ado, let’s start analyzing from the first scene where Suspect An appeared.
As everyone knows, Suspect An doesn’t like to make public appearances, but she’s very dedicated. If Director Ochi had said before that he was going to do a live stream, we should have seen her waving and greeting the moment the camera turned on.
Obviously, Director Ochi started the live stream on a whim. Suspect An didn’t know beforehand.
66L: My sister just wanted to steal a cream puff! What did she do wrong?!
67L: Can she do a mukbang stream, can she, can she—
68L: She’s eating so happily… it makes me so happy to watch.
69L: The all-positive fan is already taking screenshots.
70L: So you must have captured a picture of the cream on the corner of her mouth, her head tilting away from the camera, and then the cream disappearing, right?
71L: (I’m the OP) How are you stealing my lines? That’s right! The first thing we need to analyze is these few scenes.
Although we can’t see what’s happening off-camera, there are only two truths: first, Suspect An’s true identity is Ryomen Sukuna, and she has four hands; second, someone helped her wipe the cream from the corner of her mouth.
The question is, who wiped it? A man or a woman?
How did they wipe it? With their hand or their mouth?
72L: I’m a great detective. I support the Suspect An Ryomen Sukuna theory.
73L: If you think about it, it’s terrifying. Suspect An has never denied that she is Ryomen Sukuna.
74L: What kind of hellish collaboration is this? I have to try it.
75L: Stop deceiving yourselves!
76L: The OP’s question is too sharp! I don’t dare to answer! I really don’t dare to answer!
77L: Well, fun fact, Suspect An has no assistant and no agent, but she has a car to pick her up. And the person who drives is no stranger to everyone.
78L: It’s the crew consultant that Director Ochi specially thanked, right? I heard he’s a great detective.
79L: He showed his face later in the live stream. A stunningly handsome man.
80L: Beika residents definitely know him. Mr. Amuro is very popular, and he’s handsome and gentle.
81L: But the script consultant and the actress are just colleagues, right? Do ordinary colleagues need to be picked up and dropped off by car every day?
82L: My cousin’s classmate’s sister works on the set. I asked. Mr. Amuro said it was on the way.
83L: These two are neighbors.
84L: ???
85L: What?
86L: 83L casually dropped a bombshell.
87L: A short sentence destroyed my Dao heart.
88L: Neighbors. Then it’s very much on the way.
89L: Should I say at least they’re not living together… what’s the difference between being neighbors and living together?! Just a wall!
90L: How’s the soundproofing in Beika’s buildings?
91L: Pretty good. You wouldn’t even know if someone died next door.
92L: Then doesn’t he get to see my sister every day? I’m so jealous I could die! I’m so jealous I could die!
93L: (I’m the OP) You’re already jealous enough to die now. What are you going to do later?
We can only imagine what happened off-camera, unless an insider leaks something. But so far, not a single paparazzi has spoken up. It seems the rumor that the paparazzi were scared out of their wits by Suspect An is true.
Let’s put the previous question aside for now and continue watching.
The live stream camera was fixed on the center of the banquet hall. After Suspect An opened the champagne, she never appeared on camera again.
So I used the process of elimination.
Comparing the guest list, after careful investigation, you will find that after Suspect An left the screen, besides a certain script consultant, everyone else appeared on camera at least once.
You can see that some people were dancing, some were talking. Basically, no one was alone—a celebration party is a social event, after all. If you’re alone in such a situation, someone will soon come and talk to you.
And it’s absolutely impossible for the star of the party to be hiding alone. There must be at least one person with her.
The question is, who was with her all the time?
And here’s a side note, the male lead looked in the same direction several times, clearly wanting to go over and talk, but he didn’t dare to move. Why?
94L: OP… are you a detective in real life?
95L: I held my breath while reading.
96L: Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!
97L: It makes so much sense… it makes so much sense…
98L: It’s all connected! It’s all connected!
99L: At this point, I’ll take a bite. 99
100L: I’ll take a bite with you. A hundred years of happiness.
101L: (I’m the OP) We’ve broken 100 floors, so I’ll say a little more.
I got the layout of the banquet hall. Still using the process of elimination, Suspect An and the script consultant should have been on the garden balcony for a long time.
(Attached photo) (Attached photo)
Just, this environment, a man and a woman alone. I don’t believe their eyes were empty.
102L: It’s over. It’s completely confirmed now.
103L: Such a beautiful moonlight, such a beautiful flower scene. Who is here acting like they’re just neighbors?
104L: How is this a confirmation? At most, it’s just the OP’s speculation.
105L: Stop being stubborn. Actually, there’s always been the biggest piece of evidence. That is, despite all the rumors, no one has come out to clarify.
106L: Didn’t you say before that she has no team?
107L: Sharon does! They’re so close! It’s just a matter of making a public announcement.
108L: That’s right! There are so many people from the industry at the celebration party. There must be someone who wants to do her a favor. If they wanted to clarify, they would have done it long ago.
109L: That’s right. Why hasn’t anyone from the industry spoken up?
110L: Maybe the industry people are also secretly shipping them. They look so good together. Shipping this couple makes my taste extraordinary.
111L: Hmm… is it possible that the industry people are already used to it?
112L: OMG, has the ban been lifted? If it has, I’m really going to say it! I’m a prop master on Director Yuko’s team, and I’m currently a temporary worker on Director Ochi’s side. You have no idea how hard it has been for me to hold it in!
113L: I feel sorry for the netizens who have to use a microscope to find sugar. It’s really not necessary. If you come to the scene, you’ll die of sweetness.
114L: How do you think the “lingering affection” gaze between the villain and the male lead was acted out? (dog head)
115L: Hot knowledge: Teacher An’an is a villain specialist. She’s not good at acting in romance scenes.
116L: Even hotter knowledge: she only knows how to act naturally with her true feelings.
117L: Earth-core-melting knowledge: her smurf account on the internet has been dug up by netizens.
118L: Are you talking about the initial avatar smurf account whose homepage is only full of lottery retweets for the “Beika Town Murderers’ Collaborative Publication” series?
119L: Yes, that’s her account.
120L: Teacher An’an is so supportive of the labor reform of the Beika murderers. She really… I’m crying.
121L: Is this book really that attractive? I’ll buy a copy and see.
122L: It seems non-Beika residents can’t buy it. For some reason, the police control is quite strict.
123L: I’ve followed her, but her homepage is really just full of lottery retweets. Not a single life update.
124L: Is the legend of not making public appearances just for show?
125L: I want to see a selfie, ahhh!
126L: Wait a minute, I think something just flashed by.
127L: She posted! She posted! She posted!
128L: ? Did you win the lottery?
129L: F*ck! It really came!
130L: No, why is it still a lottery retweet?
[Punny Name Deducts Money: A lot of new followers all of a sudden. Are you all here for the new book? Good taste! Retweet + comment to draw one lucky friend to win the complete set of the “Beika Town Murderers’ Collaborative Publication” series, including 1000 episodes of the great detective Sleeping Kogoro’s case-solving stories.]
Below is an attached photo. The physical books are piled high, like a mountain.
The mountain is really too high and is about to collapse. It’s only held up by one hand. The owner of the hand also has to be in the shot, flashing a peace sign at the camera.
It’s not a selfie. The person taking the photo has cast a long shadow on the ground.
The sunlight is pouring down. A full-length mirror is placed diagonally in the living room, accidentally reflecting the person in the picture.
Comments section:
“Don’t make a fuss. It’s just neighbors helping each other. (50 cents per post, delete the part in parentheses)”
“I’m blind. I can’t see the couple’s loungewear.”
“You’ve kept it from me for so long! You’ve kept it from me for so long!”
“Sister, stop retweeting that broken book. How about you draw a lucky fan for a one-day tour of your apartment?”
“I support! I want to see if the wall between you has been knocked down!”