Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes.

Chapter 128, Section 126: Players Meet (Please Subscribe!)

Snapped!
Unable to contain himself, Kurosaki Chimei threw the empty oolong tea canister away, which landed in a corner of the room.

"Doesn't the investigation team have the right to conduct its own investigation? And we discovered the whole story of the Centipede Train in just one day. Shouldn't we have more say? Why are we being restricted by the investigation headquarters when we want to investigate a college student? Are they trying to steal the credit?"

"If peaches can be picked freely, then what was the point of setting it up this way in the first place?"

Ping Shenglong silently finished his coffee, glanced at the afternoon sunlight filtering through the curtains, took out a Kang Sheng pill and swallowed it, and his drowsiness and fatigue gradually disappeared.

"Rules are made in the name of ideals, but that doesn't mean the people who implement them are pure. Besides, this is a department that was set up in just one day, so it's not surprising that it has many loopholes."

“We did such a good job that our actions attracted even more attention.”

Kurosaki, biting the pen cap, stared at Taira no Ryu's seemingly indifferent expression, his tightly furrowed brows gradually relaxing.

"You deliberately?"

Ping Shenglong did not answer directly: "I know about the head of the investigation department. He is capable, but his reputation is not good. He is rather stubborn and greedy for credit."

"I think his idea is to take advantage of the time and opportunity when Nobi Tomoyoshi is in the open and we are in the dark, to try to catch a big fish."

"Otherwise, you can check the database; Nobita's information has disappeared from it."

Kurosaki still felt a pain in his chest. If this matter was to be left to their Fifth Investigation Team, he planned to take immediate action and invite Nobi, otherwise things might change if he delayed.

This isn't about facing some evil force. The most unsolvable aspect of extraordinary beings lies in the unknown, so don't try to think that you can control them and that's the best option.

"Isn't he afraid of messing things up?" Kurosaki gritted his teeth, even breaking the pen cap in his teeth.

“I’ve complained to the director multiple times. If Nobi runs away, he won’t be able to hold this position.” Taira no Ryu swiped his tablet, as if looking at something. “To quell the anger, the Minister of Defense might directly take over this position. His greatest strengths are delegating authority, listening to advice, and protecting his subordinates. Only then can the Extraordinary Countermeasures Department be officially operational.”

"You went through all this trouble just to take him down? The losses are too great! This kind of opportunity doesn't just come around every day."

Kurosaki still really wanted to ask Nobi Tomoyoshi how he became a knight. He feared his insomnia wouldn't end until this question was answered.

Ping Shenglong believes it's worthwhile: "A superior can influence many things. It's better to get rid of him as soon as possible than to wait until he's firmly in power and then cause trouble, isn't it?"

Kurosaki sat down dejectedly, glanced at Taimori Ryu's tablet, and was immediately drawn to it: "Hey! Don't swipe away, is this a ritual symbol?"

The high-resolution, uncensored photo shows a pile of horrific corpses, bizarre patterns, and holy eyes. The pupils, composed of densely packed eyeballs, undoubtedly reveal that this is a strange ritual pattern.

"Since it's called the Extraordinary Situation Countermeasures Department, it's not limited to the Hibiya Line incident, but also includes other cases involving the occult that the police have difficulty solving."

Kurosaki, his expression grave, zoomed in carefully to examine the document: "How many people have died?"

"In total, this ritual pattern appeared eight times, involving thirty-one people, one gang, and seven families from three families."

"Tsk tsk." Kurosaki clicked his tongue. "This can't be related to the incident on the Hibiya Line, can it?"

"The timing is very close, and the method of the crime is equally incomprehensible. What are you writing?" Heisei Ryu saw Kurosaki engrossed in writing.

"The Charcoal Teacher's incident started on April 4.4th, the Hibiya Line incident on April 4.28th, and the Ritual Case began on April 4.26th. As expected, the mysteries are starting to resurface." Kurosaki's expression was grave as he looked at the timeline he had compiled in his notebook. "Another great calamity for humanity is about to befall us."

"Again?" Ping Shenglong repeated the word.

"It's nothing. Luckily, both supernatural beings and monsters appeared together, otherwise it would have been a huge problem," Kurosaki sighed.

Ping Shenglong has a different view on supernatural beings: "For humans, supernatural beings are just as troublesome as monsters, and may even be more uncontrollable."

Kurosaki remained silent, continuing to bury himself in analyzing the oral accounts he had received from Otsuka Natsuki a few days earlier, as well as the corroborating evidence he had gathered from the train wreckage based on those accounts.

A moment later, the phone rang.

"Good morning, Director. I understand and will prepare the report and submit it."

Heisei Ryu nudged Kurosaki on the shoulder and stood up: "Nobi Tomoyoshi suddenly got off the subway on his way back to school and disappeared in the restroom of a store."

Kurosaki opened his mouth, but what could he say? He rubbed his face and put the notebook back into his tattered bag.

"Internal strife is truly an incurable flaw in human nature."

Arakawa Natural Park.

Nobita hid in a lush corner of the park, planning to use his cards to disguise himself as an office worker after nightfall, then take a taxi to the vicinity of Saitama Stadium, where there was a lot of farmland, so he could lie in wait for 12 hours without any problem.

Then, heading northeast, they hid along the way, making good use of their one hour of "invincible time," and slowly made their way to Yamagata Prefecture.

The Mogami River basin is located there.

Once he leaves the Tokyo metropolitan area, it becomes very difficult for the authorities to find him.

To be on the safe side, Nobi used the "Guidance" card again.

"Please tell me, when should I leave here for Saitama?"

The card provides the answer.

7:17:05

so late?
And why are there both whole and odd amounts?

Nobi originally planned to go around 6 o'clock. He had been here during his two-day vacation, and if the police checked all the places he had been to at the same time, it would be troublesome, and he might waste a chance to transform.

But the card's description says it will make a choice he won't regret.

Since that's the case, then let's believe it.

Nobita patiently waited.

He didn't bring his original phone; the only electronic device he had was an old foreign phone that Asano had given him, which had offline maps downloaded on it and had an extremely long battery life.

He dared not enter the game to play "Escape from the Other Shore," and could only watch the sparse figures in the park through the trees, gradually waiting for the sun to completely set.

"It's almost time." He jumped down from the treetop and walked towards the exit in the dark. Just before he appeared in front of the streetlight, he transformed into an ordinary office worker wearing a suit.

"So... um?"

A short, sharp scream came from the building across the street.

The call was not very clear; if one did not have a keen ear, one would probably just think it was a wild cat howling.

Nobita glanced at the time.

It was within those few seconds when the card gave the hint.

"."

Nobi didn't hesitate and rushed straight towards the building opposite, while also checking the map to confirm that it was a shrine.

He leaped over the fence, used his last card, Swift Step, and jumped onto the roof of the main building like a ninja.

He had just steadied himself and was about to lean in to listen to what was happening inside when he felt a strong killing intent, and his health bar mode instantly activated.

He quickly dodged to the side.

boom!
A large hole was punched through the roof, and bricks and wood flew everywhere. Nobita vaguely felt as if an invisible hand was rushing towards him.

"The Sword of the Warrior!"

He summoned his sword and slashed at the approximate location of the invisible hand.

"Ok?"

Inside the shrine, Iwasaki Kosuke, dressed in the black robes of a Ringwraith and reaping lives, frowned as he realized that his mage's hand had been broken.

Although this did not harm him, it would take time for the broken mage's hand to reform.

Currently, he can control up to three mage hands at the same time. If they are scattered in a short period of time, he will be unable to create any effective means of attack.

More importantly, being able to break through the mage's hand means that the opponent...
bang——

The roof shattered in large sections, and an office worker in a suit fell from the sky, landing steadily on the ground.

Iwasaki recognized the sword in the other person's hand at a glance.

With a gentle lift of his hand, he slapped aside the remaining survivors who were trapped in the illusion and whose tongues had been cut off, sending them crashing into the wall and whimpering in pain.

"die!"

Nobita's eyes widened at the sight, and he drew his sword to attack.

Iwasaki stood still, neither dodging nor avoiding, until the sword struck down. Only then did his entire human form dissipate into black mist, passing by Nobita's sides and reforming where he landed.

A code name flashed through Nobita's mind in an instant.

".Hao?"

“I never expected we’d meet under these circumstances, Satoshi.” Iwasaki Kosuke didn’t deny it, gently removing his gloves, and Asano Hi opened his palm.

【0111】

[Official Player]

Player information appeared in front of Nobita's eyes.

Nobi glanced at the corpses lying scattered all over the ground, his gaze growing cold, but he also opened his palm to the other person, and the two confirmed each other's player identities.

"Can you explain it?"

Iwasaki put his gloves back on, reached out, and conjured a wooden barrel from the shrine's altar to the space between the two of them: "I don't need to explain to others, but... I'd like to say a few more words to you. Open the barrel."

Nobita hesitated for a moment, then reached out and opened the lid.

The moment it was opened, Nobita's pupils dilated, and he dropped the lid he was holding.

There was a woman whose eyes had been gouged out, whose mouth was stuffed with salt, and whose body was surrounded by coarse salt. She was trapped inside in a contorted position, breathing very faintly.

Nobi immediately used his sword to split the barrel open, and the woman inside fell limply to the ground.

A strange pattern was etched into her bare skin, almost covering her entire body, and it was covered in blood, staining the salt grains red.

"You'd better not touch her, it will only cause secondary damage and make her suffer more." Iwasaki's words rang out in front of him, causing Nobita to stop halfway through his actions.

Nobita took a deep breath, slowly raised his head, and stared at Iwasaki: "They did this?"

"There are all sorts of strange beliefs in this country, aren't there? You may not know this, but this shrine is called the Shiozaki Shrine. Sometime ago, a person emerged from among them who claimed to be a messenger of the gods, mixed in his own ideas, and began to spread his own beliefs."

“Here, every year, such an offering is made. A pure young girl is chosen, her tongue is cut off, her eyes are gouged out, holy marks are inscribed on her skin, and then she is stuffed into a salt vat and buried deep underground to pray for blessings.”

“This kind of sacrifice has already been performed once this year, but in order to celebrate,” Iwasaki looked at Nobi with his dark face, “to celebrate that their leader survived on the Hibiya Line and witnessed the birth of the supernatural and the yokai, they believe it is the blessing of the Old Man of Shiodo, so they decided to make an offering once more.”

Iwasaki grabbed a dead man's head with its eyes rolled back and floated it in front of Nobita.

Do you recognize him?

At that moment, Nobita felt his hands and feet were ice cold.

This person was one of the people he saved from the monster's mouth on the monster train.

　Ask for a ticket~
　　There will be another chapter tonight. Thank you to "March" for the 10000 coin reward.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)