Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes.

Chapter 147, Section 145: The Benevolent Elder

"So, you can barely wield the demon sword without killing ordinary people?"

"Hmm, aren't you one of them?"

"I have a hard time controlling myself, just like how I am before I can't resist indulging in a meal, and how I am after I've finished eating it."

Player Lobby.

Nobita and Uesugi have completed their daily three rounds of games and are exchanging information that they can reveal to each other.

You can say almost anything, since they haven't figured out any endings yet and are still in the very early stages, so there's no need to worry about being judged as cheating.

"It seems that in this game, different players can create a gap between each other simply through their willpower. I didn't feel anything after killing people in the game, but after the game ended, that feeling came over me, and it was so uncomfortable," Uesugi Neko sighed.

She killed the hunter and his son in the game. At the time, she only felt a little sad. But after the game ended, the memory came back and she felt suffocated.

It was as if they were standing right in front of her, silently questioning why she had done this.

It took her about half an hour to calm down and slowly get rid of this moral dilemma.

Previously, death in the subway was agonizing, a form of physical torture. But death in the demon sword was instantaneous; having grown accustomed to the subway, she felt nothing. She had initially thought it would be easier, but she hadn't expected to experience mental torment upon waking.

It feels like if there were no morality, there would be no aftereffects.

Her sense of morality is still too strong.

"I don't want to kill people either. I originally wanted to walk the path of good first, and then the path of evil, but it takes a lot of effort to resist the control of the demon sword. The path of good is really difficult to walk. I can only try my best to control myself and not kill ordinary people." Nobita sighed.

He didn't kill ordinary people, but those who hunted him weren't all bad people either; many of them had no choice but to kill.

Otherwise, you won't be able to escape and the progress won't be made.

As a seasoned RPG player, he knew what those two progress bars meant after playing the game once.

The knife-shaped progress bar can be used as an energy bar.

The energy bar can provide effects including but not limited to healing, speed boost, and attack power.

Furthermore, when the energy bar is full—that is, when you have killed 100 people—you will gain a burst ability.

Nobita would call it his "moment of being possessed by a demon".

Similar to the burst mode in many games, for a period of time, the movement of the opponent's red dot slows down and their actions become slower, while your own speed increases, your defense is strengthened, and your recovery speeds up.

However, there is a price to pay for using the demon sword's energy bar.

The trade-off is that the humanoid status bar will slowly rise, especially after using "Entering the Demonic Realm" once, which will directly increase by one-fifth.

This humanoid status bar can be called the self.

The more it is invaded, the stronger it becomes, but at the same time, its self-awareness weakens and its control over the demon sword weakens.

When it's full, it means that even someone with the strongest willpower can't control the demon sword.

It's a very difficult choice. Becoming powerful leads to losing your mind, while maintaining your mind prevents you from improving. It's true that turning evil makes you ten times stronger, while turning good makes you nine times weaker.

When a game has such a judgment mechanism, it means that the game generally has three endings.

Good ending, bad ending, and normal ending.

Nobita believes that a good ending, which means not killing anyone, is the solution to a perfect ending. However, the problem is that he simply cannot do it. It's not that he can't think of a solution, but rather that he lacks the willpower to do it. It's the kind of ending that he can't achieve even if he sacrifices his life.

Even a normal ending would be difficult. After getting rid of Fa Cheng, waves of people came to besiege him, and dealing with them would require a lot of energy.

And coincidentally, those people were forcing him to go where there were many people.

This means that as long as he is willing to lower his standards, he can kill ordinary people to replenish his energy and then turn the tables on the attackers.

If you choose to stay true to yourself and not kill ordinary people, then facing an encirclement and suppression will be several times more difficult and very agonizing.

In comparison, the game's long timeline is nothing.

"I've calculated it. Each game session is exactly equivalent to an hour of sleep, regardless of whether the progress is fast or slow, or how long I spend in the game," Uesugi added.

"It's good. Otherwise, half a day or a whole day would pass in the game, and it would be troublesome to sleep that long in real life."

Nobita also noticed this.

"But three times a day is about the limit. If I play a fourth time, it might affect my condition the next day."

"Take your time, don't be too impatient. The historical information you find in reality should also be helpful."

Nobi nodded, looking around the round table. In addition to the original three, there were three more players shrouded in black mist.

Their individual IDs are 【森】【岛】【正】.

Considering that the fastest time to complete the game last time was about ten days, they shouldn't be appearing in the player lobby that soon.

Since his falling out with Nobita, Kosuke Iwasaki has rarely visited the player lobby. He usually just checks in briefly, and if he doesn't receive a system notification, he immediately logs off.

I didn't exchange a single word with them.

I wonder what kind of people these three new players are.
"Anyway, I have no hope of competing for a ranking. You'd better try your best and not embarrass us veteran players," Uesugi joked.

Rankings, please.
Nobita glanced at it.

[1. Correct]

2. Hao

3. Wisdom

4. Sen

5.Month

6. Island

His current ranking is precarious; only the top three receive a reward.

Nobody knows if they'll suddenly be dragged down by those behind them.

To be honest, although he wanted the ranking rewards, a better ending for his first clear was more important.

And we cannot ignore the possibility of finding clues in the game that are connected to reality, and whether they could trigger a disaster similar to the one that happened in the subway.

"I have something to do, I'm logging off now, let's keep in touch." Nobi estimated the time; it was already past 2 a.m., and he needed to do something.

"it is good."

Leaving the player lobby, Nobita wakes up in an elementary school classroom.

This is Sendai, the largest city in the Tohoku region.

He came here mainly to make money so that he could subsidize the disaster victims and rob the rich to help the needy.

As for where the money comes from.
He happened to know someone who had committed some heinous acts and was certainly not poor, having amassed a considerable fortune, making him a suitable candidate for the role of "benevolent elder."

He wouldn't feel guilty about killing Nobita if he were to deal with someone like that, but he doesn't want to kill anyone unless it's an extreme situation.

He took out a newspaper, stared at the pictures on it, and recalled them carefully before leaving the primary school.

The night was dark and the wind was high; dense clouds obscured the moon.

In a villa area, security guards were diligently patrolling. The surroundings were quiet; it was just another ordinary night.

"By the way, can we use the excuse of being extraordinary to ask for a raise?"

"Isn't that in Tokyo?"

"Have you forgotten what happened in Yamagata Prefecture a couple of days ago? I saw bombers flying overhead."

"Yes, among the rich people living here, is any of them cleanly made all their money?"

"You guys..."

Sasha. "Hmm?"

The well-trained guards turned their flashlights towards the canopy of a tree, where some sounds had just been heard.

"wait for me."

He told his two companions, then approached the tree, peered up at it, and only after confirming that there was no one there did he return to the patrol team and continue patrolling while reminiscing about the previous topic.

Unbeknownst to them, while they were focused on the tree, a dark figure darted past in another shadow.

In a villa.

The over 90-year-old Shimizu Takashi lay in bed with his eyes closed and his brows furrowed, seemingly not sleeping soundly.

"It's not that I don't want to, I just—"

Suddenly, his eyes snapped open, his head covered in sweat, and he was breathing heavily.

"Hehe. Dreams. They're all just dreams."

He sat up slowly, the nightlight turning on automatically as he moved. He picked up the water glass on the table, intending to take a sip—but his movement stopped the moment the rim touched his lips.

His old, dim eyes seemed to see a blurry black shadow, most of its body covered by shadow, sitting in his chair, facing him.

Shimizu secretly pinched herself. It wasn't a dream, and she wasn't mistaken. That outline was definitely a human figure!
His mind raced, pondering various possibilities. He became cautious with his breathing, continuing to pretend to drink water, while secretly moving one hand under the pillow.

Are you sure you want to resist?

A suppressed, strange sound rang out.

The figure stood up from the chair, slowly emerging from the shadows, revealing itself in the faint glow of the nightlight, showing its all-black attire.

In an instant, with just one glance, Shimizu completely lost the courage to resist.

"Demon in black robes, demonic mist!"

His aged voice uttered the title in a low, incredulous tone.

Yes, standing in front of him was the black-robed demon mist (Nobita version) dressed as a Ringwraith.

For a split second, Qing Shui almost peed himself.

Anyone who suddenly wakes up and finds a notorious killer standing next to them would find it hard to remain calm.

Roughly estimated, at least several hundred people have died at the hands of the demonic mist. This is the official figure; who knows if the authorities might try to downplay the number to avoid causing further panic?

Therefore, for such people, killing a person is not much different from eating a piece of bread.

If he displeases them in the slightest, they will never see the sun rise the next day.

With trembling hands, Qingshui struggled to put down the water glass, and a fawning smile appeared on her wrinkled old face.

"My lord in black robes, how can I help you? Just tell me, and I will do my best—no, I will definitely do it properly and beautifully for you!"

He knew that the other party's visit late at night was definitely not to scare him, and if they wanted to kill him, they could have done so while he was asleep. So, it must be that the other party had something to entrust to him.

So all he has to offer is money, and even compared to chaebols, his money is really nothing to brag about.

But since the demonic mist still chose him, it means that he has an advantage that others do not have!

He even felt a surge of excitement; perhaps he could use this opportunity to make contact with extraordinary beings! Even if he couldn't regain his youth, he might be able to alleviate the suffering of his aging body.

This is something that money can't buy.

It's better than giving it to a spendthrift son and paying inheritance tax.

"You are very smart."

Nobi Tomoyoshi took a few steps forward so that he could see more clearly the "genuine quality" of his goods.

Disguising themselves as demonic mist is really convenient for these villains; they don't even need to make any intimidation efforts, and the other party will immediately submit.

This identity is so useful!
"It's all just petty cleverness, petty cleverness." Qingshui didn't understand what Yaowu meant by that, so she quickly said modestly.

Nobi stared at him silently for a few seconds, until he was about to have a heart attack, before finally speaking again.

“I know you have a fake charity.”

"Now you have a real chance to atone for your sins."

"In Gukou, which was bombed a few days ago, forty-three families were resettled in the official refugee camp."

“You will donate 200 million yuan to each household free of charge in the name of a charity.”

Shimizu's eyes widened, and he almost blurted out "Impossible."

But he knew he couldn't say it, so he had to keep those words to himself and swallow them down with difficulty.

His smile looked worse than his tears.

“Okay, I will definitely do it! I will make sure that every household receives 200 million yen, and I will also pay the taxes.”

His heart was pounding.

That's over 10 billion yen!
It was almost all the wealth he had accumulated in his lifetime.

But if I can use these external things to connect with the extraordinary, then it's worth it!

Although he still didn't understand why he had to atone for those people, since he hadn't given the bombing order and hadn't lured the monster out!

Unless the atonement referred to in the black robe is his attempt to cover up and his inaction regarding the nuclear power plant leak many years ago.

But he wasn't the culprit; he was just pushed to the forefront as a scapegoat.

Nobita seemed satisfied with his performance, nodded slightly, and slowly walked to the window, as if he intended to leave immediately.

"Sir, please wait a moment."

Shimizu mustered her courage and, drenched in sweat, called out to Nobi.

Nobita stopped walking but did not turn around.

"explain."

"I wonder if I, a humble servant, will ever have the opportunity to serve you, sir, and do some menial tasks?" Shimizu clenched his fists, his heart pounding in his throat.

At this moment, he was risking his life.

"Are you threatening me?" Nobita turned half his face to the side, his deep black eyes fixed on Shimizu.

"No, no! I will carry out your instructions strictly no matter what. I only ask for an opportunity to serve you and perhaps help you with some small favors that are inconvenient for you to show your face."

Shimizu quickly explained, feeling as if his life was hanging in the balance.

"Then we'll see how well you handle things."

After saying that, Nobita disappeared from the window, just as the official announcement had stated, vanishing without a trace.

"We will definitely get it done, we will definitely get it done."

Shimizu clutched his chest, breathing in the air, feeling the warmth of his life. A surge of joy slowly overcame his fear, awakening his long-dormant passion.

He must handle this matter perfectly!

"Having committed such a heinous crime, he still wants to ask for benefits. Isn't living this long enough? Such greed only shows that he has no remorse whatsoever."

"Then don't blame me for being extreme, sigh."

A secluded place.

Nobita looked at the Hero's Sword in his hand and murmured to himself.

　From now on, the format for writing about dungeons will be as follows:
　　The game follows a real-world scenario that transitions into the player's ending, avoiding the in-game and real-world transitions seen in games like Subway. Dungeons will only be divided into two parts, with some game content being explored in real-world contexts through player interactions.

　　Ahem, double monthly votes start tomorrow, let's ask for some in advance!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)