Mihua Second Apartnt
A high-end single-family apartnt located close to the center of Beihua City.
After entering the apartnt and changing into indoor slippers, Hayashiki poured himself a glass of water and walked over to the computer desk in the bedroom.
On the desk sat a bulky, old-fashioned computer monitor.
The evolution of technology in Detective Conan was always an interesting contradiction—while there was no clear ti setting in the series, its world evolved in sync with the real one. Since the manga began serialization in 1994, only a few months have passed in-story, yet architecture and electronic devices have continued to modernize.
This old computer, Hayashiki figured, could probably be replaced soon.
But that wasn't the focus right now.
Hayashiki opened the drawer of the desk, lifted a wooden panel disguised as part of the drawer, and retrieved a black notebook hidden beneath it.
"DEATH NOTE"
These words were printed in slightly uneven pale lettering across the dark cover.
That was the handwriting of Death.
Literally translated, it ant Death Note—a notebook that causes the death of anyone whose na is written in it. (In chinese, is another word, so here especifically translate the words)
This was a prop from another famous high-IQ mystery manga.
Hayashiki had no idea where it had co from.
But when he first arrived in this world, the Death Note had already been in his possession.
After a series of trials, he confird that it was the real deal.
As long as he pictured a person's face and accurately wrote their real na in the notebook, they would die of a heart attack exactly forty seconds later.
Once the na was written, no amount of erasing or correction would save the person. Their death beca inevitable.
However, in addition to heart attacks, the user could specify both the cause and ti of death—be it illness, accident, or even murder—so long as the cause was physically possible. The ti of death, however, had to fall within 23 days of writing the na.
"As long as the cause of death is physically feasible, the Death Note can control any action of the target before their death."
"In other words, if soone is set to die of a heart attack in one hour, any of their actions within that hour can be controlled by the Death Note."
Of course, what's physically feasible must be taken literally: a person currently in Tokyo cannot die in New York in 60 minutes. That defies physics.
In such cases, the Note will default to a heart attack after the specified ti, since the condition couldn't be fulfilled.
"Just like I wrote it... Nishikawa Shigehiko's death was reported on the news this afternoon. If I can pull that off, things will beco a lot more convenient going forward."
Hayashiki slowly opened the Death Note.
Although the pages never seed to run out, the notebook itself appeared deceptively thin. Flipping to the most recent entry, he saw the following:
Shigehiko Nishikawa
-> At 20:23:47 on March 16, he was arrested by police and died of a heart attack while trying to escape.
Izumi Ito
-> At 16:48 on April 1st, he was shot dead by police during the commission of a routine cri. On March 17, before his death, he listened to a press conference broadcast on television in which the Tokyo tropolitan Police confird Shigehiko Nishikawa's death. Then, on March 18 at 14:21:30, he heard the sa news on the Tokyo Midday News radio.
That's what Hayashiki had written the night before last.
He had no doubts about the Death Note's lethal ability. What he wanted to test now was the supplental conditions he had written in Izumi Ito's entry.
The notebook could manipulate a target's actions while alive.
If listening to a news report could count as a pre-death "action," then that could be a powerful tool—especially if such an event could be frad as causally realistic.
And sure enough, just as Hayashiki expected, the news broadcast reporting Nishikawa's death occurred exactly when he had written it would.
Hayashiki didn't know when that news would've aired under normal circumstances, but because he had written that Izumi Ito would hear it at precisely 14:21:30 during the midday broadcast, that's exactly when it aired—just as Hayashiki boarded the taxi.
It played out like a script.
This ant that, to a certain extent, Hayashiki could use the Death Note to subtly "control" the world around him.
But this control had limits.
First, the condition could only succeed if the event in question was sothing that could reasonably happen. The news about Nishikawa had to be scheduled to air around that ti. The Death Note rely refined the timing to match Hayashiki's specifications.
If the news hadn't been slated to appear at all, then the action he scripted for Izumi Ito would have been nullified.
More experints were necessary.
...
With that thought, Hayashiki powered on the computer.
Over the past year, unless absolutely necessary, he had primarily targeted criminals. Fortunately, he had access to a source of information about such people.
After waiting for the sluggish machine to boot and connecting to the internet, he navigated to a specific website.
He logged in with his account and password.
Then he adjusted the external cara.
The mont the login was successful, the screen flooded with data—like a waterfall of information. In addition to basic listings, there were several categories:
The most notable was the Shopping Section:
Intelligence. Drugs. Firearms. Forged docunts...
Aside from the varying prices, obtaining these illegal items through this website was as easy as buying chewing gum online.
There was plenty of illegal content across the site, but Hayashiki's account only had access to the superficial layers.
Also, during the session, the computer's external webcam had to remain pointed at Hayashiki's upper body. He was sure soone on the other side was monitoring his movents closely, watching for any suspicious behavior beyond simple mouse clicks.
Hayashiki knew full well that every click was tracked. So, in addition to gathering information, he randomly browsed unrelated listings to disguise his intent.
Only when the sky outside began to darken and the glow of the screen grew harsh did he finally close the browser. He reached for the cara to cover it back up with black tape.
Buzz—Buzz—Buzz!
His flip phone suddenly vibrated on the desk.
He flipped it open to find an anonymous text ssage:
"Tonight at 9 p.m. — 'Cocktail' bar, rooftop of the Daikoku Building."
Hayashiki's eyes narrowed slightly.
After a few monts...
A faint smile appeared on his face as he whispered to himself:
"The sun's gone down... Guess it's ti to turn on the lights."
I didn't expect readers would be interested in the hidden cara on the dark web...Turn the page, and you'll see the protagonist receiving a ssage from Gin. It's now clear this was sent by the syndicate's inner circle.
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