In an abandoned wooden cabin deep within Beika Park.
Ema Shiraishi stared in disbelief at the bound figures of Ran and Sonoko.
He rubbed his eyes and took another careful look.
He wasn't mistaken.
It really was Ran and Sonoko.
What on earth was going on?
Ema felt completely lost. How did the world change after just one nap? And why were Ran and Sonoko tied up?
As he was puzzling over this, his head suddenly spun.
Fragment after fragment of memories flooded his mind.
Gradually, Ema Shiraishi began to understand what had happened.
His "original self" was a student at Teitan High School. After his parents died in a car crash, he couldn't handle the shock and became addicted to the pinball game, Pachinko.
Unsurprisingly, he gambled away his entire family fortune.
He then borrowed from loan sharks, lost everything down to his last pair of shorts, and ended up neck-deep in debt.
Under pressure and persuasion from the loan sharks, he finally walked the path of crime—by kidnapping Sonoko Suzuki.
"Sigh, what a terrible start," Ema Shiraishi sighed.
Kidnapping Sonoko Suzuki?
This was a classic case of being too ignorant to be afraid.
Did he really think the Suzuki Corporation built its empire through purely legal and compliant business practices?
Which major corporation that becomes truly powerful doesn't have a hand in both the light and the dark?
Not to mention this was Japan, where the yakuza are legalized.
A company without some ruthless methods would have been eliminated by the market long ago.
"But still..." Ema wondered, "As the daughter of a financial conglomerate, Sonoko Suzuki should have bodyguards. How did 'I' manage to kidnap her?"
The memories then provided the answer.
The method for kidnapping Sonoko was incredibly simple.
"He" had written her a love letter and easily lured her here.
Ran had just tagged along to see the fun and got tied up as well.
"..." Ema didn't know what to say.
All he could think was that a girl with a head full of romance was truly easy to manipulate.
Whatever. Now wasn't the time to dwell on that. He had to let them go.
Then, he would apologize and plead for lenient treatment. The best-case scenario would be for them to be magnanimous and forgive his "original self's" mistake.
Just then, Ema suddenly heard a voice in his ear.
[Ding! System is booting up...]
[Vicious Criminal System has successfully activated.]
[Successfully bound to host!]
[Congratulations to the host for receiving the novice welfare package.]
[You have obtained: the Ah Zu Mask, one AK-47, one Glock pistol, and twenty universal magazines.]
[Current Mission: Accumulate a total of 100 million yen in ill-gotten gains.]
"You've got to be kidding me," Ema said, speechless.
He was a fine young man, a law-abiding citizen. How did he get saddled with a system like this?
It was clearly trying to push him further down the path of crime!
No way, not happening!
As a transmigrator, he could reach the pinnacle of life just by plagiarizing Shinichi Kudo's deductions.
Why would he be a vicious criminal?
Wasn't that just narrowing his own path?
With that thought, Ema ignored the system, walked over to the bound Ran and Sonoko, and removed the gags from their mouths.
"You... what do you want?" Sonoko asked, her face full of fear. "I... I advise you to let us go!"
"If you let us go now, we can pretend nothing happened!" Ran, though scared, was still relatively calm.
"Oh? Really?" Ema's face lit up. "If I let you go now, you'll really act like this never happened?"
"???" Both Ran and Sonoko were clearly stunned for a moment.
They felt like they must have misheard something.
"Then it's a deal. I'll let you go, and you pretend this never happened," Ema said, not giving them a chance to back out.
He immediately used a small knife to cut the ropes on their bodies.
"Alright! I've cut the ropes. You can go," Ema said, taking two steps back and tossing the knife aside to show he was no longer a threat.
This turn of events was far beyond what Ran and Sonoko had expected.
For a moment, even though they were free, they were too stunned to react, unsure of what to do.
Ran and Sonoko subconsciously glanced at each other, seeing the same confusion and bewilderment in each other's eyes.
He just let them go?
Though confused, the two stood up and patted the dirt and grass from their skirts.
"So... we're... just leaving?" Ran asked tentatively.
"Yes, you can go," Ema said, even thoughtfully pointing the way. "The exit is this way. Just follow this path and you'll get out."
"Th-Thank you." The ever-polite Ran thanked him out of habit, then quickly grabbed Sonoko and headed for the exit.
Although she didn't understand why he had changed his mind, escaping was the priority.
"Wait!" Sonoko stopped, suddenly unwilling to leave.
He kidnapped her and then just let her go.
If she didn't figure out the reason, her curiosity would kill her!
Sonoko looked at the kidnapper before her and asked, bewildered, "Why did you suddenly decide to let us go?"
"Sonoko! Now is not the time for this!" Ran urged anxiously, worried he might change his mind again and they wouldn't be able to leave.
"Ran, don't be nervous. If he didn't want us to leave, we wouldn't be able to!" Sonoko was unconcerned. Instead, she looked curiously at the masked kidnapper, hoping for an explanation.
Ran tried to persuade her again, but seeing that Sonoko had no intention of leaving, she reluctantly gave up and stood protectively in front of her friend, on high alert.
"Because my conscience got the better of me! I was confused for a moment and did something wrong!" Ema resignedly took the blame, admitting to the "original's" mistake.
He tried his best to gain their sympathy, hoping to turn a major incident into a minor one, and a minor one into nothing at all.
So, Ema began to sell a sob story... well, it wasn't exactly selling.
This was his current character's background. He said, "A while ago, my parents died in a car accident. I got addicted to Pachinko and ended up with a mountain of gambling debt."
"Then the loan sharks incited me to do these illegal things."
"I don't know how, but I fell for their lies and kidnapped you."
"Sigh... thinking about it now. I was so stupid, really."
"I hope you can forgive my immature actions."
After hearing this explanation, a hint of sympathy appeared on the two girls' faces.
Ran's guard lowered, and her tone softened considerably. "So that's what happened. But it's really good that you recognized your mistake and didn't continue down the wrong path."
"Yeah, yeah. We forgive you!" Sonoko was finally relieved.
She hesitated for a moment, then said, "Can you take off your mask? Let me see what you look like?"
"Otherwise, I feel like this whole trip was for nothing!"
"Sonoko!" Ran was genuinely anxious now. What if he saw that they'd seen his face and refused to let them leave?
"Sure!" Before Sonoko could say another word, Ema readily agreed.
Even if he didn't take off his mask, Shinichi Kudo would quickly deduce he was a Teitan High student based on the love letter.
Besides, he had already revealed his entire background.
It was no different from taking off his mask. A little investigation would reveal everything, so he might as well be open about it.
With that, he took off the mask on his face as a show of sincerity.
When Sonoko saw that the kidnapper was a handsome young man with refined features, her eyes lit up, the corners of her mouth turning up unconsciously as she muttered, "I think... since you've already kidnapped me, you have to take responsibility for me!"
-------
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