People in Tokyo, the world is clear

Her expression returned to calm as she took the bulging envelope pushed to her by the young man in front of her. "After all, I do admire Mr. Itsuki's masculine charm."

"I am deeply ashamed to accept this offer. I sincerely decline. Please give your kindness to someone else."

The young man tutted. "This is May's royalties. We agreed you'd get 70% of it. Please count it quickly. If all is well, I'll take my leave."

"I understand Mr. Itsuki's eagerness to go home and spend time with his wife to rekindle the affection I've aroused. I'm curious about the passionate kisses of young couples. It must be... much more exciting than the couples I see at school, right?"

"I won't tell you, little one."

Chapter 118: The Thief of Destiny

Soon after, in an alley.

The girl wearing glasses put her arm around the guide's shoulder in an intimate manner, with a look of curiosity and shyness on her face.

As she stepped into the shop, which didn't look very big, she even lowered her head shyly, letting the young man next to her guide her past the waiter who was wearing a suit jacket and bending over to greet her.

After crossing a short corridor, when I looked up again, a dazzling scene slowly unfolded inside the building, a scene that would make ordinary people's hearts palpitate subconsciously -

The pinball machines on the right side flashed with a cold light, while the slot machines concentrated on the other side emitted an even more dazzling light.

They are neatly arranged in a space deliberately enchanted with blurred lights of different colors.

The store was filled with a unique metallic smell, intertwined with a faint smell of tobacco.

The active machine, which has been turned on and is attended by customers, hums and emits the simplest and most intuitive electronic sounds, accompanied by colorful numbers and patterns jumping.

Several prominently positioned new machines are equipped with state-of-the-art animation systems. Based on the Big, Medium, Small, and Micro Awards, they instantly play arcade character animations, battle anime special moves, and even various live-action images in the center of the screen.

The flickering reflections cast mottled shadows on the faces of the people in front of the machines, highlighting the numb faces, immersed in a dream woven by the sound of marble buttons and music.

"Gambling is truly a hobby and habit etched into the soul of our nation."

Yukiko leaned against the man next to her and complained quietly.

"It seems that you who dragged me here are no exception?" Lin Sen looked around the pachinko shop.

Compared to the one I'd visited with a female editor, this one was more discreet and had looser restrictions. The clerk was even deliberately "careless" in verifying Lin Sen's age, not checking the girl he was with.

"According to the law, minors are not allowed to play in the store."

He turned his head to give this additional reminder, but all he got was a prepared smirk from the girl.

"So, this is why we brought an operator here."

She waved the share of royalties she had just received from a certain writer in her hand. "You gave me the money, and you're wasting it with your own hands. That's fair, isn't it?"

“Being exposed to this kind of thing at such a young age…”

The expression on the half-spoken young man's face was a little serious, but the girl didn't care.

"It was just a little social experiment. The money doesn't belong to you anymore, so there's no need to feel any pressure."

She smiled and tiptoed close to whisper, "Aren't you planning on writing a gambler's rebirth story for your next game? This is a great source material. If you've played it before, it's a refreshing refreshment, but if you haven't, it's an eye-opener. Either way, it's a win."

The noise level in the store is quite high. Not loud enough to be deafening, but normal conversations will be drowned out by the noise.

Ke Linsen still responded to the girl's intimate actions by frowning and slightly widening the distance between their heads.

"Don't get so close."

"That way I can hear clearly. I always hate having to repeat myself to others."

Yukiko blinked playfully, her plain glasses reflecting the multicolored light from the camera on her side. "I planned this scenario long ago, which is why I asked you to meet at the cafe. This way, the only flavor left on your breath is the coffee, and you have no reason to use the excuse of dislike for my breath to refuse to interact."

"What if I hate the taste of coffee?"

"Of course that's impossible. After all, this is the favorite drink of the woman in your family. You must have gotten tired of it from her mouth a long time ago."

"..."

It’s simply amazing, with so many thoughts in mind.

No wonder she claims to be out of tune with her peers... This way of thinking is indeed not like that of a high school girl who just graduated from junior high school.

However, in Lin Sen's opinion, this was still the kind of mischief almost like a child's spoiled child - he speculated that based on the tip of the iceberg that this girl had revealed, she was probably surrounded by flattery and compliments on a daily basis, which was almost annoying.

That's why she needed to feel a sense of accomplishment in some unpopular field, whether it was collecting rare and obscure books or racking her brains to tease him, a man who always treated her with dignity.

Essentially, it's a way for children to vent their loneliness.

It's just a version of being lonely at the top.

Thinking of this, he didn't pay much attention to her malicious words directed at his wife. Maybe this little brat just liked to touch and tease her flamingo's reverse scale, watching himself being teased for fun.

As long as she doesn't say anything too extreme to the point where she needs to apologize, I don't bother to argue with her.

He is not a bad person by nature, has a pretty good background, and his attitude towards himself is not bad either.

It’s not a bad idea to maintain a relationship with such a casual acquaintance or younger person.

Thinking of this, he immediately reached out his hand and, in the girl's surprised eyes, took bold action and patted her head as if to teach her a lesson.

"You planned it so far in advance. What if I hadn't agreed to let you come to this place?"

"As far as I'm concerned, it's unlikely."

Yukiko didn't pay much attention to the actions of the people around her. After the initial surprise, she quickly calmed down.

In other words, it implicitly recognizes the relationship between elders teaching younger ones:

"From what I see, Mr. Itsuki, your way of doing things has the air of a thousand gold coins for a single meal. When you heard the name Yukiko from Mr. Akagawa, it meant that you would not refuse my small request today."

"what."

There is one thing to say, indeed.

I had a similar feeling a long time ago - for a best-selling author like Akagawa, even if it was a coincidence, it was impossible for him to come into contact with a work that was almost buried in the ocean at such a timely manner.

It was obvious that someone was moving quietly behind the scenes.

This was verified when he visited Akagawa with another writer, Higashino, and also led to today's plot.

It seems that everything is calculated...

No wonder, a certain girl laughed so wildly and happily.

This made Lin Sen glance at her unhappily.

"Ms. Yukiko seems to enjoy playing with people's minds."

"You're not wrong. Perhaps it's a form of compensation? Every day at home, I see those bitter faces being manipulated by those on the other side of the ocean. Naturally, I want to experience that sense of unbridled control myself."

"Tsk."

Lin Sen made a sound of disgust, "I feel like it's going to be a bit troublesome if I continue listening to this."

"Of course I won't continue to talk to you about this."

The clever girl also tacitly did not continue talking, as she seemed to know that she should not disturb the man who wanted to live a peaceful life with strange topics.

After a while, he remembered another interesting thing and stopped in front of a row of machines in the corner.

"It's really interesting to think about it. When I was very young, I went to visit the Sasagawa Group with my family. I had some impression of the daughter who was confined to her house."

She recalled a past event that instantly piqued the interest of the young people around her, "That bitter resentment, that weak expression of wanting to resist but ultimately suppressing it... perhaps only a similarly precocious child could grasp it."

"You have indeed seen her."

Perhaps I could take this opportunity to work with my wife to decipher the true identity of this girl named Yukiko?

But the natural and shallow curiosity was immediately stopped - not to mention whether the bird or animal still remembered that one-time encounter, it was not a good thing to casually get involved with this girl who obviously came from a wealthy family.

I figured it out quickly and put the related thoughts aside.

Turning around, I saw the girl codenamed Yukiko loosen her arms and hugged me.

"I didn't think it was special at first. I've seen too many people like her. Maybe I was curious about which family she would be married to by her father who had been begging for a son his whole life."

"Because you've lost your compassion due to your vast experience since childhood?"

"It's a bit like that. I thought that after a while, I would be able to laugh off the stories of unhappy marriages I heard about again."

The girl glanced over. "However, the next time I heard her name was from Mr. Itsuki. After that, I investigated again... Tsk."

She made a little noise of discontent:

"I can only say that a happy ending, besides arousing envy and blessings, also arouses naked jealousy."

"Because I've seen so many commonplace misfortunes, I have mixed feelings about this ordinary ending that could even be considered a good end."

"That's right. I'm the typical person who can't stand seeing others do well."

Despite saying so, judging by the results, the girl only managed to mutter a few words. She even had a tendency to offer congratulations in a disguised manner in front of Lin Sen, the real host.

She herself called it the compassion of a high-ranking person—

"What a chuunibyou! I have a feeling you'll be ashamed of this weird declaration when you grow up."

"Thanks to my intensive study of reincarnation, I have the luxury of being a giant baby for the rest of my life without having to grow up."

"...Although I'm really annoyed by your ugly face, I really can't refute it."

Then the girl laughed again at Lin Sen's speech.

"Hearing words like this from you is probably why I envy that woman. Itsuki-san always has the ability to cleverly find the boundaries of conversation. It would be very interesting to be with you, especially for a long time."

"Don't dare to take it seriously."

I can feel the naked sourness expressed in the girl's body and expression——

It's not that I admire a certain husband so much that I'm jealous of a certain bird.

Instead, a feeling of greed was aroused in my heart - Miss Yukiko seemed to be longing for this unique and wonderful life.

The wife, who was supposed to face a devastated ending, found unexpected happiness after a turn of events.

Her husband, who supported her wholeheartedly, eventually achieved some success in his career and kept her in his heart simply and firmly.

It seems to be an ordinary and common fate, not at all dramatic, but it is particularly attractive to some audiences.

"It's just like my mentality when I pursue those less popular works. This kind of secret joy of accumulating treasures...it's hard for those who don't understand to imagine."

Yukiko pushed her glasses. "I can imagine the ugliness of that woman. She'd slack off at work every day, do some housework when she got home, and wait for her beloved husband to come back. When she felt like it, she'd even play some little game of acting pretentiously and coquettishly, waiting for her lover to coax her... When I think of that secret joy, I want to roll my eyes to her face."

"Wow."

In fact, as the one who is returning home, I also like to enjoy this kind of plot - but Teacher Lin is not stupid enough to express this idea out loud.

Otherwise, he would be one of the people who would be rolled eyes by the little brats.

He just lowered the corner of his mouth and was glared at by the girl next to him.

"Come to think of it, I'm not looking forward to your new work lately."

"what happened?"

"I've lost that hidden art mentality when it comes to Mr. Itsuki's work. The thought of a treasure being unearthed and then publicly revealed, then read and browsed by visitors from all over...it's boring."

"I understand how you feel."

It's like in later generations, a song that you have quietly enjoyed and liked for a long time suddenly becomes a hit song on a certain audio platform, being wantonly abused and even adapted, and used as the background music for all kinds of weird videos... It's really hard to bear.

Lin Sen looked at the child beside him with sympathy and sighed deeply when he saw her.

"I can't help it. Who made me choose to use it to catch thieves? I haven't caught any yet."

"Even the all-powerful Ms. Yukiko doesn't have a clue? I thought I couldn't find it, and it was my fault."

"That thief, Robin Jiro, is a very cautious man. He knows exactly how to steal the fate of others."

"...destiny?"

The girl who was muttering to herself as the riddle teller raised her head and stared into the distance.

Find a customer who has just lost all his game coins and is getting up from the slot machine with a sigh.

"This is also the reason why I brought Mr. Itsuki here today. As many detective novels repeatedly emphasize, if you want to catch the murderer, you often have to start from the other party's way of thinking."

She handed the envelope in her hand to the young man beside her:

"Now, right now, go exchange it for game coins. I'm going to take over the machine that guy just lost all his money on."

"..."

It goes without saying that thief is an ancient profession.