Amidst the fluttering cherry blossoms, Tamazawa Shuxin stepped into the six-month training period leading up to his career as a police officer. Having successfully completed his mission, he had sacrificed himself only to be reincarnated into the world of Conan. After absorbing the memories of this body and discovering the gacha pool and various platforms in his mind, Tamazawa Shuxin resolutely decided to head to the police academy for training. "For a more stable retirement, here I come, police academy!"
Meanwhile, standing at the gates of the police academy, Tamazawa Shuxin initiated his very first gacha pull. His pulls were fueled by merit points; since his achievements from his past life had been carried over to the present world and he had never made a single pull, he still had two hundred pulls remaining. Coming back to his senses, Tamazawa Shuxin gazed at the two gacha pools visible only to him: the beginner pool and the time-limited seven-day causality pool. The beginner pool guaranteed at least one high-tier item in sixty pulls, while the causality pool offered no guarantees. Tamazawa Shuxin boldly chose the causality pool.
"Come forth, golden light!" With a ten-pull: {N-grade Ever-lasting Inky Fountain Pen ×2, N-grade Scratch-off Ticket ×3, R-grade Disposable Meow-speak Translator ×1, R-grade Unremovable Baseball Cap ×1, R-grade Energy Drink ×2, R-grade Instant Sleep Inducer ×1}.
Tamazawa Shuxin had never imagined this pool could be so rigged; a ten-pull didn't even guarantee a purple glow. Sure enough, it was utterly heartless. Glancing at the card skills in his inventory, he figured that scratch-off ticket might be interesting. {Wonderful Scratch-off Ticket: Has a probability of yielding a UR, SSR, SR, or merit points.} Tamazawa Shuxin decided to save up a batch before scratching them. Seeing the crowds around him growing steadily, Tamazawa Shuxin brushed off the unpleasantness of his recent gacha pulls and walked into the police academy, officially beginning his new life.
Inside the Class A classroom, Tamazawa Shuxin sat in the back row by the window, watching Instructor Onizuka deliver a stern warning from the podium. "Next, you will introduce yourselves!" Tamazawa Shuxin felt a wave of nostalgic fondness, as if he were back in school, until Date Wataru began his self-introduction and snapped him back to reality. The police academy quintet, huh? For the sake of his peaceful retirement, it would be best to keep his distance. After a variety of outrageous and bizarre introductions in the middle, it was finally Tamazawa Shuxin's turn.
"My name is Tamazawa Shuxin, a graduate of the University of Tokyo. I hope to have a peaceful life here at the police academy!" It was entirely standard. Once everyone had finished introducing themselves, Instructor Onizuka announced the dismissal. "Tomorrow is your official first day of training. Go back today and pack your things! That is all, dismissed!"
On his way back, Tamazawa Shuxin marveled yet again at the lavish treatment afforded to Class A: single rooms. Stepping into the dormitory building, Tamazawa Shuxin arrived at Dormitory 202. After unpacking his luggage, he curiously went to visit the neighboring Dormitory 201, where he met Morofushi Hiromitsu, a fair-skinned, blue-eyed cat-eyed youth, alongside Furuya Rei, who had golden hair and dark skin.
"I'm from Dormitory 202 next door, dropping by for a visit. Please take care of me, Morofushi-kun."
"Please take care of me, Tamazawa-kun. Would you like to come in and sit for a bit? Zero, I mean Furuya Rei-kun, is here too!"
Tamazawa Shuxin nodded. "Furuya-kun, hello!"
Without a word of reply, Furuya Rei turned and walked away.
"Zero just wanted to give you and me some breathing room to talk. Zero is actually really easy to get along with!"
Tamazawa Shuxin nodded. For a moment, the atmosphere in the room chilled; Morofushi Hiromitsu had no idea how to strike up a conversation with Tamazawa Shuxin. Suddenly, Tamazawa Shuxin spoke up, "Would Morofushi-kun like to take a walk around the school with me?"
And so the two wandered aimlessly across the campus. "Why did Tamazawa-kun want to tour the school? Are you looking to see if there are any special sights?"
Tamazawa Shuxin shook his head and told Morofushi Hiromitsu bluntly, "I'm checking where the blind spots are so I can climb out later. Plus, just in case I ever miss curfew, I want to see if there's a safe route back to the dorm."
Morofushi Hiromitsu hadn't expected Tamazawa Shuxin to be so candid. "Um, Tamazawa-kun, that behavior is against the rules. You'll get in trouble."
"It's fine, as long as I don't get caught. Rules are rigid, but people are flexible. It'll come in handy someday!"
Tamazawa walked over to the large tree standing between the dormitory and the athletic field. "Look, Morofushi-kun, this place is a blind spot. If you climb up this security netting, you can jump onto this tree. The surveillance cameras can't see inside the foliage. There's a very thick branch here that's extremely close to the second-floor dormitory hallway balcony, hidden amongst a bunch of twigs. There are no cameras by the dorms. If anyone ever misses curfew, they can use this path back to the dorm." Tamazawa explained with great enthusiasm, and even Morofushi Hiromitsu had to admit the route made sense.
"But Tamazawa-kun, surely nobody at the police academy would stay out past curfew!"
Tamazawa Shuxin gave Morofushi Hiromitsu a wicked grin. "Oh really? What if some hot-blooded youngster suddenly feels the urge to start a late-night brawl? Furuya-kun looks like a prime suspect, for instance."
Morofushi Hiromitsu immediately jumped to his friend's defense. "Zero would never do something like that! Zero has a strong sense of justice and is very mindful of time. He would absolutely never do such a thing!"
Tamazawa Shuxin watched Morofushi Hiromitsu, who looked ready to bristle with anger. "Sorry, I spoke out of turn. Morofushi-kun, to express my apology, let me treat you to a cherry blossom cake."
Morofushi Hiromitsu declined the goodwill. "It's fine, Tamazawa-kun. I was perhaps a bit too hasty myself. If there's nothing else, please excuse me."
Tamazawa Shuxin watched Morofushi Hiromitsu's departing back, figuring he had genuinely ticked the guy off.
The following week passed in complete tranquility. Although Tamazawa Shuxin was somewhat marginalized due to his mixed-heritage appearance, his mediocre performance combined with having the dazzling Furuya Rei as a shield kept his life peaceful and smooth. That was until late one night; just as Tamazawa Shuxin had finished climbing back over the wall, he heard the sound of heavy blows landing with solid flesh. Walking over to investigate, he found Furuya Rei and Matsuda Jinpei engaged in a vicious mutual beatdown, and their fighting skills were far from amateur. Tamazawa Shuxin looked at the glaring bruises on both of their faces—complete with Matsuda Jinpei missing a tooth—and listened to their increasingly bizarre dialogue. With a sigh, Tamazawa Shuxin stepped out of the shadows.
"You two, if you keep fighting, how are you going to explain this to Instructor Onizuka tomorrow? Or would you prefer I expose you right now? By the way, it's three in the morning!"
Furuya Rei and Matsuda Jinpei stopped fighting instantly. "Tamazawa-kun, it looks like the one truly breaking academy rules here is you! Sneaking back in over the wall."
"Are you in cahoots with Furuya Rei, then?"
Tamazawa Shuxin sighed, then cast a stern, heavy gaze upon the pair. "Look, I am really tired right now, and I couldn't care less about stopping you two. I've given my warning, so I'm heading off first!"
With that, Tamazawa Shuxin turned to leave. But Matsuda Jinpei wasn't about to let him go so easily, lashing out with a side kick. Tamazawa Shuxin spun around, looking utterly exasperated as he stared at Matsuda Jinpei. "Fine, you two take me on together! Once I beat some sense into you, I can just drag you both back!"
This remark infuriated both Matsuda Jinpei and Furuya Rei. The two exchanged glances and threw punches simultaneously. Sidestepping the attacks, Tamazawa Shuxin used their own momentum against them, redirecting their fists so they collided with one another.
Just as the pair pulled back their punches, Tamazawa Shuxin withdrew his hands, dropped low, and drove a fist into each of their abdomens. Two grunts escaped their lips from above as they staggered backward from the inertia. Seizing the opportunity, Tamazawa Shuxin surged forward to hit Matsuda Jinpei with a swift counter-strike—a side kick, a low hunch, and a chokehold. As Furuya Rei's fist came hurtling in, Tamazawa Shuxin pivoted, slamming a heavy blow into Matsuda Jinpei's chest. Releasing him, Tamazawa Shuxin chose to take Furuya Rei's punch head-on to end things quickly, grabbed his arm to draw him in close, and delivered a left hook right on cue. Seamlessly pivoting to pull Furuya over his shoulder, he crouched to wrap his arms around Furuya's waist for a side-body slam, followed by one last punch to Furuya's face, bringing the duel to a definitive end.
When formation was called on the field, the bruises on the faces of Furuya Rei and Matsuda Jinpei immediately caught Instructor Onizuka's attention. "Furuya, Matsuda, what happened to your faces?!" Fortunately, Date Wataru managed to smooth things over with an excuse. During the running laps, Tamazawa Shuxin lagged at the very back, yawning as he watched the leading quintet. "Ah, youth is wonderful."
Tamazawa Shuxin was genuinely exhausted; he really shouldn't have stayed up reading novels last night, leaving him completely drained of energy today. To avoid falling asleep during the upcoming classes, Tamazawa Shuxin pulled the energy drink he'd won earlier out of his inventory—it was even carbonated. With a sharp hiss, he took a sip.
"Tch, so bitter!"
Instantly, he snapped wide awake, his mind clearing entirely. The effect was remarkably potent, though the flavor could definitely use some fine-tuning.
At lunchtime, just as Tamazawa Shuxin sat down, Matsuda Jinpei took the seat opposite him. He was immediately followed by Morofushi Hiromitsu, then Furuya Rei, along with Hagiwara Kenji and Date Wataru coming over to say hello. Looking at these three individuals who clearly held an interest in him, Tamazawa Shuxin screamed internally while maintaining a completely calm exterior, saying nothing at all.
Just then, Tamazawa Shuxin felt a sudden impulse to pull gacha. After all, in the novels he'd read, main characters always brought good luck. Therefore, he activated a ten-pull from the Old Days gacha pool. A golden light appeared: {N-grade Scratch-off Ticket ×2, N-grade Fortune Telling Slip ×2, SSR-grade Echoes of the Past ×1, SR-grade Disposable Legilimency ×1, R-grade Colorfast Sweater ×1, N-grade Weather-Predicting Teru Teru Bozu ×3}. Tamazawa Shuxin felt a surge of inner ecstasy and immediately prepared to tap and check the details.
"Tamazawa, exactly how long are you going to ignore us?" Matsuda Jinpei finally lost his patience.
Tamazawa Shuxin snapped back to reality and looked up at them. "I'd say we aren't close enough yet to exchange pleasantries during lunch."
"True, but I'm extremely interested in Tamazawa-kun. After all, with skills like yours, how could you possibly rank near the bottom of Class A?" Furuya Rei's eyes burned with a competitive edge.
However, Tamazawa Shuxin had no desire to get overly entangled with this group. Ignoring what they had said, he shoveled down a couple of mouthfuls of food, stood up immediately, and left the cafeteria.
Back in his dorm room, he stared excitedly at the effects of the SSR card. {Echoes of the Past: Input anyone's name to make them recall past events without causing a butterfly effect. If someone is harboring deep emotional knots or suffering from amnesia, this item can be used to bring them peace of mind! Fortune and misfortune are intertwined; past and future are forever bound.}
"What on earth? What good is this card? I don't need this! Looks like it's stuck gathering dust in the inventory." Tamazawa Shuxin suspected there was a major catch to this card. Following the tropes of the novels he used to read, items like this always triggered massive secrets or special events at critical moments. "Anyway, there is no way I'm ever going to use this card. Absolutely none!!!"