Chapter 4
Although Vodka occasionally asked stupid questions, his ability to be chosen by Gin as a subordinate for so many years without being replaced proved that Vodka couldn't possibly be truly foolish.
Now somewhat accustomed to being shocked, after being choked up by Usuha Izuki, Vodka actually came up with what he thought was a brilliant solution that could keep up with the other party's bizarre logic: "Then can you switch jobs? It's normal for ordinary people to switch jobs too, right? However much your current company is paying you, I'll offer double!"
This way they wouldn't have to go to that damn assassination company! How could he and his boss casually go to such places with their identities!
Gin, who had originally planned to step in after Vodka failed, couldn't help but look deeply at Vodka upon hearing this.
He hadn't expected Vodka to have such quick wit—he had underestimated him.
Usuha Izuki looked thoughtful: "...You make a good point. I haven't been headhunted before—it really would be a good ordinary person experience."
Vodka had just been trying randomly and was shocked that it actually worked.
This gave him the illusion—maybe if he figured out Usuha Izuki's logic, dealing with him would become much easier?
The hypothesis needed time to verify. Vodka couldn't worry about that much now and quickly struck while the iron was hot: "It's daily pay work—you don't even need to resign, right? Just switch directly to us. The Organization won't mistreat children of veteran employees!"
"That's what you say..." Usuha Izuki looked troubled. "But I really can't do anything. I can only run away and tell who's not a good person. If you want to poach me back to the Middle East, I can only politely decline."
Only knowing how to run away and identify bad people—what kind of skills are those?! Did you survive in the Middle East by running away?! And what kind of polite decline is this?!
Vodka screamed internally, but maintained a calm facade: "...No problem! You'd be in charge of recruitment with us too! And whatever your current company is paying, we'll give you double!"
Paint the picture first, get him into the Organization, then worry about cleaning up the mess later. Hand that over to others—he wasn't originally responsible for recruitment anyway. Getting this done would be good enough!
Besides, with the Organization's sphere of influence and Usuha Izuki's such low requirements, finding a job position that met his standards in Organization-related companies would be quite simple.
Before Usuha Izuki could respond, the system got anxious first.
[What are you doing! At this rate you'll really be relegated to the Organization's periphery. How will you find important characters to grind suspicion values? You need to become an executive, responsible for sniping or intelligence gathering to get into the core!]
Usuha Izuki chuckled coldly: [I'd like to be a sniper too, but aren't the sniping skills on Samukawa Shinryu?]
The Suspicion Value System felt guilty: [...Well, you could be an intelligence agent too. You could easily become very suspicious... What HR work, it's too grassroots level, isn't it?]
[No way, intelligence work is too dangerous. You said it yourself—you'd easily become suspicious. What if I lose value on the Middle East side and accidentally die?]
Usuha Izuki argued convincingly: [The Black side is different from the Red side. The Red side won't do anything without evidence, but the Black side is unreasonable—they might eliminate you even without evidence. So grinding suspicion values requires more caution. I want a position with more freedom of movement and safety... Let Samukawa work harder on his side in the early stage. It's better to be careful here for now.]
System: [You call this being careful? I think you're just letting yourself go completely! Although the Organization doesn't have your files, you're not even pretending—you're performing completely as yourself! Truly careful people aren't as bad-tempered as you.]
[You don't understand. This is called building up tolerance first, so I have room to maneuver when I cause trouble later! Otherwise if I get eliminated right from the start when testing the waters, how unfair would that be!]
The system thought for a moment but still wasn't quite satisfied: [...But if you become HR, you won't have much contact with key plot characters. Don't you want points anymore?]
[Don't worry, watch me.]
Appeasing the system was just a moment's work. To others, Usuha Izuki just seemed to zone out briefly, then naturally spoke: "Double pay sounds great, but are you headhunting without understanding my capabilities? Don't you want to interview me?"
Vodka's purpose wasn't really to headhunt—their Organization lacked many things but not talent scouts, so he instinctively wanted to refuse: "No need, I trust..."
Before he could finish, Vodka caught the disappointed expression on Usuha Izuki's face.
His words immediately stuck.
Wait, this lunatic wants the ordinary person experience—could he actually enjoy being interviewed?
If I refuse now, won't he find it boring and back out?!
Vodka hadn't had to think this hard in a long time.
Usually following his boss's orders was so easy—why did he now have to figure out a lunatic's thoughts!
This job shouldn't be his! Vermouth should be doing this!!!
Usuha Izuki confirmed with him: "So no interview needed?"
No matter how much he complained internally, under Gin's gaze, Vodka still dutifully continued his efforts: "Uh... theoretically an interview would be best, but this ability to read people can't really be evaluated in a short time."
"Oh that, I'll just demonstrate briefly."
Usuha Izuki suddenly broke into a brilliant smile and walked toward the somewhat noisy commercial street.
Vodka followed behind him in confusion: "How will you demonstrate?"
"Well, for example..."
Usuha Izuki's gaze swept through the crowd: "That one in the blue T-shirt and black pants is a hitman. The one crouching under the tree across from him hasn't killed anyone but might kill someone soon. The second customer from the left at that oden stand is also a hitman. That office worker on the phone just finished killing someone..."
Vodka: "...???"
As expected of Hakata, the hitmen's happy homeland—there really were a lot of hitmen... but are you serious?!
Being able to identify hitmen was one thing—sometimes their aura really was different from ordinary people. But how could he tell who hadn't killed but would kill soon?!
"Do you know that person who's going to kill?" Vodka couldn't help asking.
"Don't know him."
Usuha Izuki answered while turning to look at Vodka.
For some reason, those originally vibrant green eyes were now filled with inorganic indifference. Though his gaze fell on Vodka, it seemed like he wasn't really looking at him, creating an eerie, bone-chilling sensation.
"I just 'saw' that he wants to kill someone, so I said I'm good at reading people."
Gin had originally had no interest in this farce, coldly leaning against the wall with a cigarette. Hearing this conversation, he finally looked around at the several people Usuha Izuki had pointed out.
A few seconds later, Gin extinguished his cigarette with interest: "If you got them all right, then your eye is indeed quite good."
He could also identify a few hitmen, but wasn't certain about the others. It would be best to investigate afterward to check the accuracy.
Usuha Izuki had already emerged from that eerie atmosphere and was once again a energetic young person: "If my eye wasn't good, I'd have died in the Middle East long ago!"
Vodka's mouth twitched: "What does this have to do with good eyesight? Isn't it because you're also good at running away?"
Usuha Izuki looked at Vodka with disappointment, as if frustrated that steel couldn't become iron.
"First-rate alertness means leaving before things happen, second-rate alertness means being able to leave when things happen, third-rate alertness only knows to run after things happen! I have the ability to run, but I can avoid trouble beforehand—that's the wisdom of survival!"
The system interjected quietly: [So that's what you were thinking. I was wondering why you only exchanged a 'Universal Navigation' for your main body...]
—This person was seriously spouting seemingly reasonable nonsense!!!
Yes, this fragile main body Usuha Izuki only had the 'Universal Navigation' cheat, plus the translation ability added later.
His thinking at the time was that living a good life as an ordinary passerby could grind Red side trust values, and as for the danger of the Conan world... knowing where danger would occur, just avoid it!
So Usuha Izuki threw all the points from the newbie gift pack to the alias that was supposed to enter the Organization, loading Samukawa Shinryu with skills.
Who knew the Undercover System would malfunction and reverse the factions, making him, a fragile character, the Black side who had to enter the Organization?
Fortunately, 'Universal Navigation' lived up to being the cheat he'd carefully selected—it was truly universal!
As long as he set “people who have killed”, his mind immediately had a three-dimensional map of the area, marking the targets' locations.
He could also switch to vision mode, so among the people he saw, those who had killed would have markers above their heads.
Distinguishing people who wanted to kill but hadn't yet was the same—just change the keyword. Through the overhead tags, he could roughly judge when the other party would act.
Except for range limitations and daily keyword limits, this ability was basically flawless.
Originally meant to avoid danger, now using it as HR for an assassination company was quite professionally appropriate.
But Gin and Vodka didn't know the reason—they just felt Usuha Izuki's eye was indeed good.
Even if it wasn't, Vodka wouldn't point it out now. He was eager for Usuha Izuki to switch jobs and wouldn't push him away.
"Good, you passed the interview." Vodka immediately announced. "Can you come with me now?"
Usuha Izuki held out his hand with a bright smile: "Pay me first."
Vodka felt he'd figured out the trick to communicating with Usuha Izuki: "Ordinary people get paid after they work."
"Right, but aren't you headhunting? You should show some sincerity first, shouldn't you? Actually, I'm not particularly curious about what you're looking for me for."
Vodka: "............"
Vodka reluctantly paid the money. Just as he was about to say something, he suddenly heard a scream.
Gin and Vodka both alertly looked toward the commotion, and were surprised to see a figure who had just appeared in Usuha Izuki's words collapsed in a pool of blood.
Usuha Izuki said lightly: "See, I told you he wanted to kill someone... Too bad he got counter-killed, but that's normal in Hakata."
Cold sweat suddenly broke out on Vodka's back.