21st Century Necromancer

"This is an actual event that has occurred: an employee, identified as A, of a certain company was drugged with sleeping pills..." On the podium, Misumi Mikoto, dressed in the standard white coat of the Unnatural Death Investigation Institute, was explaining, spreading the philosophy of UDI and the significance of researching unnatural death to the audience below.

In the audience, Yu Chen and Hiromi Jounouchi, invited by Misumi Mikoto, watched her give a serious explanation of an actual case, listening intently.

"Mr. Chen Yu, is the autopsy rate in Japan really this low?" Hearing Misumi Mikoto mention that Japan's autopsy rate is the lowest among developed countries, Hiromi Jounouchi couldn't help but curiously ask the person sitting next to her, Yu Chen.

Yu Chen nodded slightly, softly explaining to Hiromi Jounouchi, "Indeed, bodies judged by the police as having no likelihood of homicide are basically not autopsied; they just quickly write down a cause of death and close the case in haste. Although there are indeed some diligent police who investigate deeply, the vast majority do not perform forensic autopsies seriously.

On one hand, it's a systemic issue, and on the other hand, there really is a shortage of forensic pathologists."

Hearing this, Hiromi Jounouchi listened as Misumi Mikoto said UDI's goal was to increase the autopsy rate of bodies from traffic accidents from a measly 5% to 50%, she couldn't help feeling that the UDI's task was arduous and long.

The seminar didn't last very long, and after it ended, under the arrangement of the UDI staff, Yu Chen and Hiromi Jounouchi joined others touring the Unnatural Death Investigation Institute. Although Yu Chen had visited once before, touring with others and having a dedicated guide made it seem somewhat novel to him.

The two followed the crowd, touring within UDI, some areas they hadn't entered last time, as their previous visit was for business, not for touring.

"After touring, I feel that UDI is much more important than I initially thought! I used to think this place was just a medical examiner's institution," Hiromi Jounouchi expressed her thoughts to Yu Chen as they walked out after the tour.

"It should help in increasing Japan's body autopsy rate, indeed. Researching unnatural death is truly meaningful. After all, if many cases are hastily determined as non-homicidal without conducting an autopsy, it can lead to many miscarriages of justice," Yu Chen nodded in agreement.

He had gained a new understanding of the institute's significance after listening to the UDI presentation, "Moreover, as they said, studying the causes of a victim's death also helps us as doctors understand the reasons for patient mortality, which holds significant importance in clinical medical research."

As they were talking, they continued walking towards the exit. After the tour, Yu Chen and Hiromi Jounouchi were ready to leave, but they still wanted to say goodbye to Misumi Mikoto, since it was courteous to do so after being invited by her.

Yu Chen and Hiromi Jounouchi walked to the entrance of the UDI building and saw Misumi Mikoto with Kube Rokuro and other staff members distributing flyers. Just as they were about to go over and greet them, they saw a woman dressed in a black OL (office lady) outfit and wearing black sunglasses suddenly appear beside Misumi Mikoto and speak to her.

"Dr. Misumi!" Yu Chen stepped forward and called out Misumi Mikoto's name, causing her to turn her gaze towards them.

Seeing Yu Chen and Hiromouchi Hiromi, Misumi Mikoto hurriedly greeted them, "Doctor Chen, Doctor Jounouchi, are you leaving now?"

"Hmm, I've just finished the tour and was about to leave," Chen Yu nodded, ready to say goodbye, but when he saw the woman with the sunglasses standing next to Misumi Mikoto and their intimate behavior, he couldn't help asking curiously, "May I know who this is…?"

The woman hastily took off her sunglasses, smiling broadly as she introduced herself to Chen Yu, "Nice to meet you, I'm Misumi, Meiqin's mother. Hello! Are you Meiqin's colleagues?"

Since Misumi Mikoto had just called out "Doctor," her mother obviously mistook Chen Yu for one of her colleagues.

"Auntie, hello, we are just friends of Doctor Misumi. We were invited over today for a visit," Chen Yu quickly greeted Misumi Mikoto's mother while introducing his own role, "I am a surgeon at Eastern University Affiliated Hospital, not a colleague of Dr. Misumi."

However, upon hearing that Chen Yu was a doctor at the Eastern University Affiliated Hospital, Misumi Mikoto's mother seemed even more pleased, enthusiastically pulling out her business card to give to Chen Yu, and then asking him, "So Doctor Chen Yu, are you currently single…"

But before she could finish her question, she was pulled back by Misumi Mikoto, "Mom, that person over there is his girlfriend!"

"Ah! I'm so sorry!" Misumi Mikoto's mother, noting Hiromi Jounouchi linking arms with Chen Yu, was taken aback and quickly apologized to the couple. Yet, she still eagerly asked Chen Yu, "Then, Doctor Chen, are there any single male doctors at your hospital? Someone suitable for our Meiqin, could you please introduce us?"

"Mom!" Misumi Mikoto looked at Chen Yu with an embarrassed face, truly caught off guard that her mother would be so concerned about this, even to the point of asking him to help find her a partner.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Seeing the mother and daughter, Chen Yu couldn't help but smile, taking the initiative to say to Misumi Mikoto's mother, "There are quite a few single male doctors around Dr. Misumi's age at our hospital, I'll keep an eye out for you, Auntie. However, Dr. Misumi is so lovely, she probably doesn't need my meddling. Besides, it's a lifelong decision; haste won't help."

"Ha-ha, if only Meiqin were like you, a doctor at a major hospital, I wouldn't be worried. But she had to be a forensic pathologist! Ah!" Misumi Mikoto's mother heaved a sigh, her face showing the depths of her worry for her daughter.

Although there's only a one-character difference between a forensic pathologist and a doctor, and Misumi Mikoto is also referred to as "doctor," the difference between them is about as vast as that between King Kong fighting atop the Empire Building and a cute chimpanzee at a zoo - one is one of Japan's most respected professions, the other belongs to the disliked 7K jobs; the difference is indeed quite clear.

Facing Misumi Mikoto's mother displaying such concern for her daughter's marriage prospects, Chen Yu naturally didn't think it right to say much more. After an awkward exchange of farewells with the mother and daughter, he and Hiromi Jounouchi quickly turned to leave.

"Mr. Chen Yu, Daimon-san has invited us to play mahjong tonight; are you going?" No sooner had the two of them left the Unnatural Death Investigation Institute than Hiromi Jounouchi's phone received a text from Daimon Michiko. After glancing at it, she looked up at Chen Yu to seek his opinion.