"iqin, you've been a bit distracted lately, what's going on?" In the UDI autopsy room, Tokairin Yūko was cleaning the autopsy table with Misumi Mikoto when she noticed Mikoto zoning out again, prompting her to finally ask, "Ever since the murder livestream event, you often seem out of it. Is sothing bothering you?"
"Huh? Oh… It's nothing, just haven't been sleeping well lately. Don't worry about ," Mikoto snapped back to reality upon being called by Yūko, vigorously scrubbing the bloodstained autopsy table in response. Enjoy exclusive content from My Virtual Library Empire
However, Yūko didn't let go of her concern and continued to probe: "Not sleeping well? What's the matter? Are you still upset over your breakup with your boyfriend? If you ask , you should join at the social event and et other n. You might find a new romance there, you know?"
"A social event? I'll pass, Yūko. Your taste in n is terrible," Mikoto shook her head, displaying distrust toward Yūko: "Have you forgotten about that fitness club debacle? Not only did you narrowly escape being taken advantage of, but the so-called high-quality n you t turned out to be four con artists. I almost got dragged into that ss too—I haven't even settled that score with you yet!"
Yūko felt embarrassed when she recalled the incident. She had been drugged and taken to a hotel, nearly losing her virtue. Indeed, it was a misstep on her part, and if it weren't for that man's murder, she might have really been compromised. Moreover, it was thanks to Mikoto's help that she was able to get out of that situation, which was one of the reasons why she was so eager to help Mikoto now.
"Didn't I already apologize for that? And it was who paid when we went out for barbecue!" Yūko employed her one hundred and first skill—acting coy and cute, pleading with Mikoto: "Co on, iqin! This ti I specifically consulted a very accurate fortune teller, who said I'm certain to et my true love!"
"Divination is all just a scam." Despite Yūko's act, Mikoto was unmoved, continuing to rinse the autopsy table as she delivered another blow: "Even if the divination were accurate, and you did et your true love, your judgnt in n is so poor, Yūko, that even if your fate were right in front of you, you wouldn't recognize it."
"iqin~!" Yūko's face fell instantly, clearly hurt by Mikoto's pointed comnt.
However, when Yūko ntioned divination, Mikoto seed struck by a sudden thought and asked, "Yūko, have you ever heard of the term 'Transcendent'?"
"Transcendent? I think I've heard it ntioned before, what about it? Is there an issue with that word?" The banter between Yūko and Mikoto had beco routine by now; Yūko's upset expression a mont ago was an act, and now, curious about Mikoto's question, she dropped the act and explained, "I think it was so rich kid who said it.
It's supposed to refer to individuals in this world who possess powers beyond re mortals, like those in myths. They know spells and stuff, so they are called Transcendents.
But that's probably just an urban legend. It's the 21st century, who believes in those things? If soone really knew spells, what's the need for us forensic scientists, just clairvoyantly ask the deceased how they died, right? We could even find out the identities of the unidentified bodies in the basent, just directly ask them their nas!
So instead of believing in that stuff, iqin, you might as well co with tonight to..."
"Wait a second!" Mikoto suddenly shouted, startling Yūko: "What did you just say, Yūko?"
"I said, co with tonight to..." Yūko was about to repeat herself, but clearly, Mikoto wanted to hear sothing else: "No, the sentence before that!"
"The sentence before? I said... we could directly ask the unidentified bodies in the basent their nas, what about it?" Yūko recalled her earlier words and repeated them, puzzled as she looked at Mikoto.
"Exactly! If we don't know the nas of the dead, we can just ask them directly! How co I didn't think of that!" Suddenly enlightened, Mikoto dropped the half-rinsed autopsy table and rushed out of the autopsy room.
Watching Mikoto dash out, Yūko reached out wanting to call her back, but could only watch as Mikoto's figure disappeared outside the autopsy room's door, leaving her alone to sullenly finish cleaning the table that was ant to be washed by both of them.
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"Rokuro! Rokuro!" Rushing back to the office, Mikoto didn't even bother to take off her disposable surgical gown before she approached Kube Rokuro, grabbing his shirtfront and demanding, "Rokuro, do you rember when Xiao Sanmao's case was first pulled from the water, there was a woman with a Sword Bag who called Doctor Chen 'master'?"
"The Xiao Sanmao case from back then? There seed to be soone, yes, but it's so long ago I hardly rember, what about it, Dr. Misumi?" Rokuro looked at the agitated Mikoto, puzzled by her sudden questioning of the past event.
Rokuro's response didn't clear Mikoto's confusion—or rather, it wasn't the only question she had in mind. After hearing his vague recall, she pressured him further, "You must rember Xiao Sanmao's funeral, right? What was the na carved on the tombstone at her burial? Do you rember?"
"I rember that, it was Saegusa Mikie. Brother Yu used his connections to find Xiao Sanmao's real na, and we later relayed the information to the police, who also found her records, right? Dr. Misumi, what's going on with you? You already knew about this, didn't you?" Rokuro's face was full of confusion, not understanding why Dr. Misumi was concerned about things she was well aware of.
"Used his connections… of course, it was an oversight on my part. Even the police took so effort to find Xiao Sanmao's records after learning her na, so why could Doctor Chen find out her na so quickly? That's right!
With this, everything makes sense!" Realization seed to dawn on Mikoto, and behind her long lashes, her eyes sparked with intense clarity, sending a chill down the back of Rokuro, who was being stared at so intently, "Rokuro, what do you know about Doctor Chen?"
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