In his previous life, Jiang Xia had been a psychic.
Naturally, since this ability follows the soul, technically speaking, even after transmigrating, he still was a psychic.
It's just that in this world, psychic powers were basically useless—ghosts were nowhere to be found, and spiritual energy was on permanent vacation.
The tiny bit of power he had left when he arrived was spent healing the depression in this body. After all, the original owner had… uh, committed suicide.
While mentally syncing with the new body, Jiang Xia also absorbed the memories left behind by Jiangxia Tongzhi.
—Apparently, Jiangxia Tongzhi's parents had been members of the Organization.
A year ago, they'd died heroically. And by "heroically," we mean flattened like pancakes under an overturned heavy truck.
Jiangxia Tongzhi had rushed to the scene after getting the news, only to witness the remains being shoveled into body bags.
Growing up, he'd been raised by a strict nanny who hammered in the values of Truth, Goodness, and Beauty. Later, although he was trained by the Organization, he never truly agreed with their blood-soaked methods. Over time, that internal conflict deepened into depression.
And now, with his parents gone and no one to support him, Jiangxia Tongzhi simply couldn't hold it together anymore—and chose to end things.
…
But after Jiang Xia crossed over, he found life surprisingly tolerable.
—For one, there were survivors from the truck incident who treated him with genuine kindness.
Especially Miyano Shiho.
Shiho always looked cold, but she was attentive in her own way—quietly shielding him from some of the more violent assignments, like she owed him a debt.
Jiang Xia's own worldview wasn't nearly as noble or upright as Jiangxia Tongzhi's. He was fine going with the flow.
And besides...
—He was kind of addicted to Gin's murderous aura.
As a psychic, his power came from lingering souls and intense negative emotions.
But in this world?
Nothing.
No ghosts. Not even a moody poltergeist.
And as for negativity...
Sure, the Organization was full of yinbi killers carrying debt and grudges, but they were emotionally dry as sandpaper.
If it weren't for the occasional spike of bloodlust from Gin, Jiang Xia would've started wondering if he'd gone blind to spirits altogether.
So, yeah. For a long time, Gin was basically his hope of activating a Goldfinger.
Of course, you don't get to see Gin often. But Jiang Xia was a peripheral member of the Organization—a highly mobile tool person who could be dispatched at will. And thanks to his tragic backstory, he was more trusted than other halfway-joined cannon fodder.
Which meant he did get to see Gin fairly regularly.
Plus, Jiang Xia wasn't scared of Gin.
Because he'd watched the Detective Conan anime.
As a kid, watching anime had always been considered a sign of slacking off—until he got a psychic license.
—Once, he'd watched two episodes of Conan at a classmate's house. Afterwards, he was so paranoid he didn't even dare to wash his face, afraid the terrifying little silhouette of doom (a.k.a. the Black Figure) would jump out and smash his skull the second he closed his eyes.
His master found out and fell into deep contemplation—a psychic, afraid of cartoon ghosts?
Not even a psychic yet!
So they prescribed some counter-conditioning: fear your fear, and face it head-on.
The next day, Master came home with a whole box of high-res anime DVDs. Not only that, she bought all the manga too—couldn't have the adaptation be incomplete.
Naturally, Jiang Xia was still terrified at first.
But two days later, once he got used to it?
Pure bliss.
He even unlocked his acting talent: when forced to watch cartoons, he'd shiver and whimper dramatically, playing up his trauma—meanwhile, other kids were doing math homework and he was watching Case Closed. Those months were the highlight of his childhood.
As a psychic, Jiang Xia had a sharp memory. He could recall scenes exactly as he'd seen them, like rewinding a tape.
Which meant even after only watching it once, he remembered everything.
So when he woke up in this world and realized his neighbor was "Dr. Agasa"… his feelings were complicated.
He really wanted to praise Master for her foresight…
But deep down, he knew this was just a coincidence. Psychics can't actually predict the future.
But in this world?
Maybe they kind of could.
Even if it was cheating.
…
Jiang Xia took Miyano Shiho's purse and walked down the street under the blazing sun. Soon, he spotted a familiar car in the shadows of a side alley—a black Porsche 356A.
Gin's car. The man hadn't changed it in years.
Clearly, he wasn't driving a car. He was driving a vibe.
Two figures stood by the car, with a third sitting inside—hidden behind pitch-black tinted windows.
The two outside were easy to recognize. Both were tall, decked out in black, with oversized top hats like they were auditioning for a gothic fashion show.
One had long, waist-length hair. The other had a square jaw and wore sunglasses.
Gin and Vodka—the Organization's main villain duo, locked in eternal brain-battles with the protagonist, and model cadres working overtime for the cause.
Glossary:
Yinbi (阴逼): Slang referring to someone shady, secretive, or unnerving in a creepy or sneaky way. Kind of like "edgelord," but spookier.
Goldfinger: Fanfic slang for a "cheat" or overpowered ability gained after transmigrating, often used to explain main character buffs.