Looking at the graffiti numbers on the cover, Takato was puzzled.
"Miss Toyama, did this magazine used to have designs like this on its cover?"
"Huh? Let me see."
Hearing Takato's question, Kazuha was a bit confused. She took the magazine back and looked at the graffiti on the cover. After thinking carefully, she said,
"It seems like previous covers never had designs like this."
After hearing Kazuha's words, Hattori couldn't help but lean in. Looking at the graffiti made of numbers, he also found it a bit strange.
"This graffiti here is neither aesthetically pleasing nor does it fit in."
Hattori murmured to himself, "And this image... these strokes... they look like numbers!"
Upon realizing this, Hattori began to get surprised.
"Could this be... some kind of cipher?!"
So, Hattori began to examine the seemingly random strokes filling the graffiti. He quickly identified them as indeed being several numbers: 9, 53, 60, 75, 57, 22, 23, 99.
"These numbers..."
Although he identified the numbers, Hattori was still perplexed, unable to figure out what they represented.
"Numbers? What numbers?"
Kazuha looked at the graffiti and, combining it with the numbers Hattori mentioned, quickly recognized the numbers hidden within the graffiti.
"They really are numbers! But what do they represent?"
Kazuha asked, puzzled.
"Such random numbers could also just be drawn casually by the person who made this graffiti."
"Idiot, what fashion editor would put such an irrelevant image on a fashion cover like this? The style is too different from the people on the cover!"
Hattori retorted.
"So no matter how you look at it, it feels suspicious. This image shouldn't have been put there by the editor without meaning; it must have some special significance. And Miss Toyama, you also said that this magazine didn't use to put this kind of graffiti design on its cover. So, it seems very strange that this issue suddenly has such graffiti."
Takato said.
"Oh, right. This might even be a prize quiz designed by this fashion magazine! I remember this magazine collaborated with 'Fusae' on a similar project before."
Kazuha said, getting a bit excited.
"This is different. In that previous project, the puzzle was clearly written in the magazine's content, but this..."
Hattori recalled the project Kazuha mentioned, then thought of something and began to flip through the entire magazine.
"If that's the case, could there be some hints in the magazine's content?"
However, after flipping through the entire magazine twice, Hattori still didn't find the content he was looking for.
Somewhat unwilling, Hattori put down the magazine and scratched his head, "So, if it really is a puzzle, then this graffiti is the entire puzzle? But what do this set of random numbers mean?"
Takato looked at the clueless Hattori, feeling the same way himself.
"Speaking of number ciphers, a common method is to convert them into other content. For example, if the numbers are within 26, they can be analogized to English letters in order. But several of these numbers are clearly beyond that range."
Hattori mumbled to himself.
"Or we could try to find a pattern in these numbers and convert them into numbers within 26."
Takato suggested a possibility.
"But neither subtracting nor scaling them down proportionally clearly works."
Hattori denied.
"It might also be an algorithm that requires a key for encryption. For example, there's a very abrupt single-digit number '9' here, while all the others are two-digit numbers."
Takato looked at the numbers again, finding the single-digit '9' among them a bit strange.
"But even if we consider '9' as the key, if we don't know the actual encryption algorithm it uses, the possibilities are still endless."
Hattori pondered for a moment, then felt greatly helpless.
"Damn it, isn't there a hint for this thing? If there's no hint at all, it's impossible to solve!"
Kazuha, watching Hattori and Takato, helpless yet continuously thinking about the numbers on the graffiti, barely touched the food on the table. Seeing them so engrossed, Kazuha couldn't help but feel helpless.
She had originally just come to this famous restaurant with Hattori for a meal. Unexpectedly, they encountered a live broadcast murder incident on TV. After the show finally ended, they were now interested in magazine graffiti.
Somewhat dejected, Kazuha picked up the magazine and looked at the graffiti.
"Do you really think this monster-like graffiti is some kind of cipher? It might just be the editor's special creative idea, you know."
"It's precisely because it doesn't look like it that we consider it might be a cipher. Even I, an outsider, feel this graffiti is too unsuitable for this cover. How could an editor who professionally studied art and design come up with something like this?"
Listening to the conversation between Hattori and Kazuha, Takato seemed to think of something.
"Art? Monster?"
Kazuha's use of the word 'monster' earlier was not the transliterated English "Monster," nor the kanji "monster" (kaibutsu), but "bakemono" — "changeけthing" (changeけthing).
For Takato, whose native language is Chinese, when he thought of "changeけthing," his attention naturally went to the Chinese characters "change" and "thing." Facing these two characters, Takato's first thought was "chemistry and physics."
When Takato thought of chemistry, and then looked at these numbers again, he suddenly had an idea!
"You two keep eating; I'm going to a bookstore!"
Takato exclaimed excitedly and quickly ran out of the store.
Hattori watched Takato's actions, knowing he had already solved the cipher. He then slumped back in his chair as if giving up and sighed.
"I lost to him again!"
Finding the nearest bookstore, Takato found a study guide that included a periodic table of elements.
Element 9 is Fluorine, element 53 is Iodine, element 60 is Neodymium, element 75 is Rhenium, element 57 is Lanthanum, element 22 is Titanium, element 23 is Vanadium, and element 99 is Einsteinium.
Converting them all to element symbols yields:
findrelatives — find relatives.
Although it was only two short words, forming an English sentence using element symbols is not an easy task. Moreover, these two words already expressed the meaning very clearly — someone is asking for help! And the person sending this distress signal must be someone related to the magazine's editorial department!
Returning to the restaurant, Takato informed Hattori and Kazuha of the result. When Takato mentioned the periodic table, Hattori understood and then looked at Kazuha.
"Kazuha, do you know where this magazine's editorial office is?"
"Huh? This is a local Osaka fashion magazine; the editorial office is in Osaka. It seems quite close to here. I even went there during the last 'Fusae' event!"
"Then, without further ado, let's quickly go and ask who requested this cipher to be printed on the cover of this magazine!"
Hattori preemptively said what Takato wanted to say, but Takato still felt something was off.
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