It was nighttime, two days after Jay’s correspondence with an intriguing potential client.

He was in his room, scrolling through social media looking for random images to use his ability on, enjoying memes and funny videos every once in a while.

Besides pure entertainment, he finally found another purpose for the time he spent scrolling on Facetome.

At this point, the lines between self-improvement and entertainment had become blurred for Jay.

The act of remote information-gathering had been quite a pleasant experience for him so far.

There was plenty of interesting information available at his fingertips, especially now that he was no longer limited by physical location.

He also didn’t need to travel to various commercial centers in his spare time, which he could have used to relax in his bed.

To be fair, this alone made the recent upgrade worthwhile in his opinion, even the aspect of confidentiality was only secondary.

Perhaps he would need to watch himself closely from now on, as the allure of the Internet had grown significantly stronger in his case.

On the other hand, he couldn’t afford to neglect the other modes of usage, particularly ‘touch’, even though they were less convenient for serious applications.

Based on his observations, the quality of information gathered through touch had far exceeded that of other modes.

Currently, he exclusively used the ‘touch’ mode to cultivate his ability, while the ‘image’ mode was primarily employed for enhancing his mental archive and conducting his secret business.

As for the ‘sight’ mode, he would only use it for cultivation when he had exhausted convenient targets in the vicinity, as it provided a considerably lower degree of improvement compared to ‘touch.’

While enjoying entertainment on his phone, Jay would occasionally check his anonymous e-mail account for updates from potential clients.

So far, none of them had sent any requests, even though a few had already acknowledged his assistance and ability, expressing their intent to use his services.

While he was disappointed by the lack of customers, he was aware that the service he offered wasn’t exactly considered a necessity.

It was more like a doctor’s visit, in which the clients themselves were only forced to avail due to necessity and lack of better options.

His only consolation was that he had just started and was still in the process of building his clientele.

It wasn’t until around eleven that he finally received his first-ever commission.

It was from Ms. Anne. The contents of the anonymous e-mail were a single image file and a short message.

“Using the image as reference, please gather any relevant information to the best of your abilities. You may set the price as you see fit. We only ask for fairness. Good luck.”

Without delay, Jay opened his laptop and viewed the image file in a cloud browser, even going through a virtual machine and a VPN for added security.

Although this combined approach cost him quite a bit, he felt that it was necessary if he was to survive as a successful shady merchant on the Internet.

There was no telling what horrors awaited him if he didn’t perform his due diligence in this murky environment.

The image in the mail was of a nighttime scenery in a pier somewhere.

However, there wasn't much to look at. In essence, the image only had the pier, the sea, the shore, and some indistinguishable things in the distance.

The pier itself was nothing special. It was only a simple one constructed out of wood, though rather quite long.

The first thing Jay did was to use Identification on the entire image itself.

He found out that the picture was taken by someone named “Godofredo,” with the surname unidentifiable.

Other basic attributes, such as the date of capture, were acquired without irregularities, unlike the name of the photo taker.

He then transcribed these information to a simple text file.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

His role was solely to excavate and organize information, not to provide analysis.

Although this didn’t prevent him from making deductions on his own, he preferred to keep his own observations to himself, regardless of the client’s thoughts. It was imperative that he didn’t forget this matter.

The last thing he wanted was to get involved with matters that didn’t concern him, especially ones that seemed related to the metaphysical world, like the current commission.

Jay noticed that the current image was completely unrelated to the one he saw on the online forum, which had been the gateway to the correspondence between him and Ms. Anne.

Perhaps she was only fishing for potential helpers at the time.

Now that he thought about it, the image on the forum felt more like a deliberate puzzle than an object for investigation.

It contained too many elements that felt inconsistent, which was only noticeable for people with similar inclinations and abilities as him.

As ascendants with information-related abilities were quite rare, his performance had probably far exceeded the threshold they set, hence their ‘unconditional trust’ in his services despite his lack of reputation and familiarity.

As for the recently acquired information, this “Godofredo” man must have been closely related to Ms. Anne, considering that he couldn’t identify both of their surnames. Perhaps they were family, or at least relatives.

His first assumption was that Mr. Godofredo had gone missing, leaving the image last taken by the latter as the only possible lead.

As for why he thought it was the only possible lead, and most likely the only remaining one, was that his client had actually been forced to consider a stranger’s services to salvage any form of information from this singular image.

She might have already tried to conduct the investigation herself, perhaps with the assistance of others.

Their decision to seek help from a complete stranger suggested that their previous attempts yielded no substantial progress.

Unfortunately for them, his current capabilities could only provide him with basic information.

Otherwise, he could’ve delved deeper and found more clues that could outright solve the matter if they were lucky.

After Identifying the image itself, he proceeded to Identify every element in the photo and organized the acquired information into a comprehensive whole.

Although he was only technically supposed to provide information, he didn’t just directly transcribe the information in his mind into the text file.

He took the time to make it presentable enough, such that he himself would be satisfied reading it.

The most important information so far was undoubtedly the location, which he felt was the primary objective of the commission.

He had acquired the exact coordinates, even the point where Mr. Godofredo had been standing when he took the picture.

He made sure that this information would be the first thing the client saw, while relatively unimportant ones, such as the pier’s construction materials, were placed in the latter parts of the text file.

Besides the obviously important data, he also included every bit of information that he acquired, no matter how seemingly irrelevant.

There was still a chance that these minor tidbits of information could very well be the key to finishing the investigation, or at least provide some assistance.

He had enough propriety not to deprive his clients of such a possibility. He also wouldn’t feel satisfied if he did his job half-heartedly.

On the other hand, he would obviously keep a copy for himself for future use.

Although it was somewhat inappropriate, one could argue that this matter was already implied when the client decided to commission him for an investigation, so he wasn’t too concerned about potential ethical violations.

After compiling and polishing the text file, Jay saved it and started another text file for the bill.

For this transaction, he decided on a range of ten thousand to fifty thousand pesos.

As for why he provided a range as opposed to a fixed amount, this was his first commission and there were no prior transactions as reference, so he had to resort to this more flexible arrangement.

This mode of remuneration would also provide the client a vague sense of control, which could possibly improve their impression of him, which could lead to more transactions and perhaps recommendations.

On the other hand, it would give him a way to gauge the client’s sincerity.

Despite being a shallow indicator, one could argue that the final amount decided by the client was a somewhat reliable indication of their own valuation of his work, which would undoubtedly affect his treatment of the client in future interactions.

To be fair, he wasn’t too desperate about gaining clients despite having only one commission so far.

He knew the value of his own work, and he didn’t intend to dismiss his own merits.

That was why he wouldn’t think twice about dropping an insincere client, as his time would be better given to the sincere and generous ones.

It was only proper, both personally and professionally.

After checking everything, he kept the files in a hidden folder, to be automatically sent a full day later from the time he received the e-mail.

Although he promised to send the results in three days at most, he opted to send it within a fraction of the time.

It would convey a hint of his apparent competence and diligence, which would greatly help him in subsequent interactions.

On the other hand, he could’ve sent it immediately in an extreme display of efficiency, but that would only create unnecessary questions in his client’s head.

The file in his possession contained a lot of information virtually inaccessible to mundane methods.

Sending a compilation of that caliber within such an unrealistic timeframe would reveal important information about himself that he would rather keep hidden.

Although it wouldn’t outright expose his identity, it would still leave a piece of his identity in the hands of strangers, which he didn’t feel comfortable thinking about.

After setting up the automated e-mail, he went back to his phone to continue what he was doing until he felt tired.

His studies were no longer an issue to him, courtesy of his enhanced cognitive abilities, so he could easily afford to use his time for other things.

If nothing went wrong, he was about to receive his first windfall from his secret business.

Since ascendant articles were still inaccessible to him, he planned to spend his money on practical matters, especially his tuition and living conditions.

If he could lessen the burden on his parents by shouldering his own expenses, then his previous efforts would have already been justified.

Although he would love to help more by also shouldering the expenses of his siblings and grandparents back home, it would be too unrealistic for someone of his perceived socio-economic status, as he was only a university student in the eye of the public.

The excuse of having a part-time job that could fully support himself and his education was already considered a stretch, considering the economy in his country.

Nevertheless, everything would still have to depend on the client’s future actions.

Although he was confident in the compilation’s quality, there was still a chance that the client would renege on their arrangement.

On the off-chance that it would happen, he could only keep the matter in the back of his mind, at least until he grew powerful enough to do something about it.