"For the medical community, the origin of modern hypnosis dates back to 1843, and its original meaning comes from the Greek word for sleep."
"The principle of hypnosis is simply based on the two different levels of human thought: the conscious and the subconscious."
"When people are awake, the conscious mind dominates. Hypnosis works by having the conscious mind focus on a single idea or stimulus. This causes the conscious mind to become less active, allowing direct communication with the subconscious. In this state, both the conscious and subconscious minds are accessible."
"There are different types of hypnosis..."
"..."
"..."
Hayashi Yoshiki had been diligently studying lately.
He had picked up a few beginner books on psychology and hypnosis and had been going through them carefully over the past few days.
It was a deep and somewhat dull subject.
In truth, Hayashi had no real passion for it, but he was the type who would study whatever proved useful.
Still, reading books only took him so far. His plan was to use the tools acquired from the Spider after developing a solid foundation through theory.
"There aren't many useful books in the stores. I'd better go check out the library."
Closing the book with a snap, he glanced at the time and got up to leave.
He drove out of the apartment garage.
The library closed at 18:00. It was now a little past 17:00, which meant he'd have roughly half an hour to browse.
Soon, Hayashi arrived at the library.
Surprisingly, it was rather empty—even though it was after school hours, there weren't many people around.
He didn't think much of it. Following the signage, he took the elevator to the third floor where the psychology section was located.
The elevator doors opened—revealing a familiar scene.
In the wide and brightly lit room, between the neatly organized bookshelves, several familiar "little radishes" and a rather loud "sweet potato" were chatting.
Conan Edogawa, Genta Kojima, Ayumi Yoshida, and Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya.
"You guys here to study?" he asked with a pleasant smile.
"Ah?"
"It's big brother!"
"Yoshiki-oniisan?"
Hayashi's sudden appearance drew mixed reactions from the children.
Ayumi looked delighted and a little flustered, Mitsuhiko and Conan were polite as usual, and Genta pointed at him dramatically, exclaiming, "I remember you!"
Hayashi gave him a sidelong glance but said nothing, instead gently patting Ayumi on the head—causing her to blush happily.
"…We're here to read and write book reports. It's homework due tomorrow," she explained.
"Ah, I see. That's very responsible of you."
"Big bro, are you here to read too?"
"I came to borrow a few books to read at home." Hayashi replied casually, glancing around. "Do you happen to know where the psychology books are?"
"Over there!" said Mitsuhiko, eager to help. "I saw some just now on the left side!"
"Thanks."
Hayashi strolled over and began browsing.
There were several full shelves of psychology books, neatly categorized.
Among them, hypnosis-related titles stood out:
The Voice of Hypnosis Accompanies You, The Mystery and Power of the Subconscious, Self-Healing Through Hypnosis, Hypnosis and Memory...
He reached out to grab one—but noticed Conan approaching from the corner of his eye. To avoid suspicion, he picked a more generic psychology book instead.
But his motion wasn't missed.
"Yoshiki-oniisan, are you wearing a ring?"
"Ah, yes. A friend gave it to me. Does it look a bit too flashy?"
"Not really," Conan replied, narrowing his eyes. "But this ring looks a little... unusual."
He suddenly grew serious.
"Yoshiki-oniisan, I have something to tell you."
"Please, go ahead."
Before Conan could explain, Genta and Mitsuhiko interrupted:
"Hey! Conan, you're not supposed to say anything!"
"Yeah! Didn't we agree the Detective Boys would solve this ourselves?"
Hayashi raised an eyebrow but ignored them, keeping his attention on Conan.
"The police came earlier looking for a library employee," Conan said. "Inspector Megure and his team searched for a missing man named Tamada-san."
Ayumi, eager to contribute, blurted out, "They said Tamada-san was very punctual and would always call his wife from the library before heading home—but he didn't the night before last!"
"So he always called home from the library?" Hayashi mused.
This sounded familiar.
He hadn't remembered many Detective Conan episodes in detail, but this particular library case had stood out. It had a creepy tone that lingered in the memory.
"If he didn't call, then something likely happened while he was still here," said Conan. "The police searched but didn't find anything."
"So you kids aren't just doing homework—you're trying to investigate, right?" Hayashi smiled knowingly.
At this, the kids puffed up with pride.
Genta crossed his arms and grinned smugly. "That's right! Leave it to the Detective Boys!"
Hayashi chuckled softly.
He wasn't fond of overly energetic kids—but at least Ayumi was cute and polite.
"So, how are your grades?"
"Ayumi's at the top of the class!"
"Yeah, I'm doing well too."
"...Tch, what's so great about that?" grumbled Genta.
Hayashi turned back to the shelf.
When he didn't react much, Conan frowned and asked, "Aren't you concerned about the missing employee?"
"It's not that I don't care," Hayashi replied, eyes scanning a spine. "But you just said the police already searched and found nothing, right?"
"But they might've missed something!"
"That's not something we should be interfering with."
He calmly flipped through a book.
"Police need proper warrants to search suspects' homes. If even they have no leads, there's no reason for us to poke around a public building without evidence."
"What's your deal!?" barked Genta, clearly dissatisfied