"Deduction complete, beginning case closing."
"Case closing comprehensive evaluation: S"
"Knowledge: S"
"Observation: S"
"Logic: A"
"Settlement complete, overall score reached S, extra reward issued. Please choose:"
"Reward one: Defense Skill"
"Reward two: special item"
"Reward three: Virus Intrusion Algorithm"
Seeing this "S" comprehensive evaluation and the text about issuing extra rewards, Takato immediately became excited. It was the same as the first time: three reward options. However, weren't "Defense Skill" and "special item" the things he didn't choose in the first reward list? Why did they appear again this time? And why did their order in the list move up by one position?
However, compared to that, Reward Three clearly attracted Takato's attention more now. A perfect program algorithm that could quietly infiltrate, undetectable and unstoppable by programmers—wasn't this exactly what he needed right now?
Having only been in this world for a few days, and having brushed shoulders with the Black Organization almost twice, Takato had an urgent need to establish a new identity as quickly as possible. Although "Defense Skill" and "special item" were indeed very appealing, the identity issue was the top priority! As long as he could find a way to infiltrate the household registration system and change his identity information, then from then on, the identity of Akechi Takato would truly be that of an ordinary person living in this world!
Thinking this, Takato was about to choose Reward Three, but suddenly stopped.
"If Reward Three refers to the 'Night Baron' virus algorithm, why doesn't the reward directly state the algorithm, but instead uses the ambiguous term 'Virus Intrusion Algorithm'?"
Takato thought to himself, and then suddenly had a question—why did he think of the "Night Baron" virus when he saw this Reward Three?
Because the first time he received an "S"-rank reward, there was an event-related reward. So, when this type of reward appeared again in the reward list this time, he naturally associated it with the things that appeared in this case. The Trojan virus was a direct physical installation and intrusion, obviously not an "algorithm." So the only thing related to this was the algorithm of the "Night Baron" virus, which he hadn't detected and couldn't stop!
But after analyzing it this way, the question remained: why didn't Reward Three directly say "Night Baron" virus algorithm?
"No, no, the key isn't here!"
Takato felt like he had thought of something, but he didn't seem to grasp the crucial point.
He looked at the settlement panel again, recalling the first time he reached the "S"-rank settlement panel. Compared to the first time, two rewards were the same, so he would ignore them for now.
The difference was that the first time his "Observation" was "A," and the reward just happened to supplement the details he hadn't observed; this time, his "Logic" was "A," and the word "algorithm" in the reward was clearly related to logic.
The clues he had overlooked the first time—if he had had more time to search carefully then, he could have discovered them without using a reward opportunity. What about this time?
Thinking of this, Takato finally understood why he hesitated when choosing this time. Both times, the options included rewards related to or touching upon the items he hadn't achieved an "S" rank in. Did this mean that this reward option was actually indirectly hinting at what was missing to achieve an "S" rank in that particular item?
In other words, the item in this reward should be something he could have obtained by his own ability in this case!
If he thought about it this way, then Reward Three obviously couldn't be the source code of the "Night Baron" virus, because given the virus's ability to destroy all data, he simply couldn't have learned the virus's algorithm during the course of the incident.
So, if Reward Three could be seen as an indirect hint, didn't it mean that his process of the "Night Baron" invading the internet cafe server had a logical flaw!
"Excellent! Following this line of thought, it means that the logic of this intrusion algorithm can actually be deduced!"
Takato understood this point and quickly began to review the process of the internet cafe attack—a conspicuous Trojan program that consumed too much bandwidth was discovered by him, while the "Night Baron" virus had somehow infiltrated the internet cafe server at an unknown time!
"I was careless."
At this moment, Takato understood everything and couldn't help but exclaim. Hattori Heiji, who was beside him, looked puzzled when Takato suddenly said this. "What were you careless about?"
"Nothing, I just realized that the internet cafe server data was destroyed, and I could have prevented it."
Takato sighed, but Hattori Heiji didn't mind. "I say, Detective Brother, don't keep thinking about your part-time job. Since you have such good deductive ability, you will definitely become a Famous Detective! It would be a great pity if you don't become a good Detective."
Saying this, Hattori Heiji also patted Takato's shoulder.
Takato smiled with relief at this. This carefree Hattori Heiji might need a lot of guidance in the future.
Back at the internet cafe, Takato locked himself in a private room. He roughly had a clue about the "Night Baron" virus's intrusion algorithm: the seemingly foolish Trojan program that consumed too much memory was actually a diversion, and the "Night Baron" took advantage of the network fluctuations during that time to sneak in and then disguise itself.
At that time, because the Trojan was such an obvious target, Takato didn't notice anything else sneaking in amidst the chaos. All his energy was focused on dealing with that Trojan—and so, the perfect free ride was completed! As for how the "Night Baron" disguised and operated after sneaking in, Takato couldn't speculate on that at the moment, but this line of thought gave Takato inspiration for infiltrating the household registration system.
Therefore, Takato decisively did not choose Reward Three on the panel. After looking at "Defense Skill" and "special item," he chose "special item" as Reward Two, and then new text appeared on the panel.
"Name: The Detective's Magical Trench Coat"
"Special Effect: Wear it, and you are you, you are the most special Famous Detective! People who see you will not deliberately try to figure out who you are; you are just the Famous Detective in their eyes who comes to solve cases!"
"How to claim: Go to a mall and buy a windbreaker you like! The first windbreaker you purchase will then become the The Detective's Magical Trench Coat!"
"This thing!"
Looking at this description, Takato was so shocked he could barely speak. With this item, he wouldn't have to worry about his appearance for a long time! He wouldn't have to worry about someone seeing his face and associating it with the original Mitaraisuke Kyosuke!
However, the shock wasn't over. When the reward claiming interface closed, the settlement panel didn't disappear directly as before; new text appeared!
"Case closed three times completed. Detective probationary period ended. Beginning evaluation."
"First case closing performance: S"
"Second case closing performance: B"
"Third case closing performance: S"
"Probationary period case closing comprehensive performance: A"
"Settlement complete. Case closing comprehensive performance reached A. Grade passed. Promotion granted. Detective rating opened. Bounty system unlocked."
"Detective Rating: Apprentice Detective"
"Bounty: 130"
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