North American Detective: I am Proficient in All Kinds of Gun Quick Draws

This kid, who really lived life to the fullest, was actually wearing a pair of moose pants.

In a panic, he pulled out his phone, only to find, to his despair, that he had over thirty missed calls and more than fifty unread messages!

Harry, who had been blasting loud music the whole way, hadn't noticed any of this.

Seeing this, Dean laughed gleefully, and his previously gloomy mood returned to normal.

「Back in the city.」

Dean said goodbye to a miserable-looking Harry, then went to buy a brand-new set of clothes. After changing and spraying on some cologne to mask any potential odor, he returned home.

「At home.」

His mom, Sheila, was cuddling Sinclair while watching a soap opera.

Upon seeing Dean, she pinched Sinclair's cheek. "Baby, am I seeing things? Is this handsome man in front of me really your second brother?"

Sinclair's eyes twinkled. "Wow, Dean, you look so dashing in formal wear, like a Hollywood star! Can you be my dance partner for my graduation? I'm sure I'll be the queen of the evening!"

"As much as I love your compliments, now that I'm back, don't you want to give me a hug?" Dean spread his arms, feigning hurt.

A cheerful commotion erupted.

Mom Sheila, a bit worried, said, "Dean, didn't you say you'd be gone for training for a while? How come you left this morning and you're already back tonight?"

Dean sighed. "Mom, I didn't want it to be this way, but my presence there was putting too much pressure on everyone else. For the sake of their mental and physical well-being, the instructor had no choice but to send me home. By the way, where's Thompson?"

Thompson always loved tinkering with strange and unusual things.

He planned to show him the parchment.

"He's out on a date," Sheila said, pouting a little. She sounded a bit upset as she added, "I feel like the day you all leave me is getting closer and closer."

"Don't be like that, Mom," Sinclair said, patting her forehead in exasperation. "Thompson had his first argument with Mom today over his girlfriend. It took me forever to cheer her up."

Good grief.

Dean couldn't help but chuckle.

So, mother-in-law problems were truly inherent and universal, regardless of country or race.

However, seeing the usually strong Sheila looking so sentimental, Dean still hugged her and comforted, "Mom, don't worry. When Thompson gets back, I'll give him a talking-to for you!"

After watching TV with them for a while, Dean returned to his room, ready to enhance himself.

"Panel!"

[Detective Panel]

Character: Dean

Level: 13 (300/2,400)

Spirit: 13

Strength: 14

Speed: 15 (Limit)

Endurance: 10

Skills: Pistol Proficiency, Ancient Muay Thai Mastery, Akarz School - Mind Reading Technique L2, Trace Tracking L1, details (expand).

Attribute Points: 1

Skill Points: 1

Completed Cases: 11, details (expand).

Dean, with a Spirit value of 13, had come a long way.

With just some simple study and practice, he had already gotten the hang of the Trace Tracking skill.

Of course, Massa's excellent teaching was also a significant factor.

[Trace Tracking L1: Through study and practice, your observation skills have improved significantly, allowing you to quickly spot incongruous traces within your field of vision. However, your understanding and experience of changes in objects are still limited, making it difficult to glean many clues from the traces.]

Having had the panel for some time, Dean had already discovered that there were considerable differences between skills.

One type, like Pistol Proficiency, leaned more toward muscle memory.

Once he mastered one of these, he found he could improve quickly through sheer hard work and training, without needing Skill Points, reaching at least L3.

For instance, Dean's rifle skill had already reached L1.

This was despite his practicing alone, without guidance from a skilled teacher.

Another type, like Mind Reading Technique and Trace Tracking, leaned more toward experience and knowledge.

After Dean's Spirit reached 13, getting started with these skills wasn't difficult. However, to advance further required spending a lot of time practicing, researching, and learning.

For this category of skills, Dean preferred to use Skill Points to achieve rapid mastery.

Yet another kind, like Ancient Muay Thai, involved skills that provided some form of physical enhancement.

Dean put these aside for the moment.

Hand-to-hand combat was just to compensate for weaknesses.

For enemies that could be dealt with using guns, Dean rarely chose to engage in close combat.

Trace Tracking belonged to the second type of skill.

Improving it through self-study would require a significant investment of time and energy, but it was very helpful for solving cases.

So Dean didn't hesitate.

He added his Skill Point to Trace Tracking.

It wasn't like Mind Reading Technique, which could level up with just one Skill Point.

The Skill Point vanished.

A mass of knowledge and experience about how various objects would behave in different environments and over time poured in and melded together.

Once Dean had fully digested it, he found that when he looked at objects, not only did they seem more layered and three-dimensional, but his mind would also subconsciously analyze what the objects had gone through, the owner's usage habits, and how often the objects were used...

The feeling was both amazing and bothersome.

Just imagine.

Imagine one day, when you're in the mood and intimately 'comparing techniques' with someone, your mind suddenly floods with professional terms like depth, wear, tightness, and looseness.

Isn't that a buzzkill?

Luckily, drawing on the infused memories, Dean managed to reclaim control over his thoughts after a few tries, no longer at the mercy of his subconscious memories.

After allocating the Skill Point, all that was left was the Attribute Point.

Following the chase through the mountains...