Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes.

Chapter 154, Section 152: A Thousand People, A Thousand Faces

In the player lobby, all three players are gathered together, a rare occurrence today.

They looked at each other in silence, without saying a word.

Uesugi looked at Nobi, then at Iwasaki, as if there was a thick, solid barrier of ice between them.

Let the atmosphere freeze.

"Regarding the demon sword, do you have anything to say?" Uesugi finally spoke up.

"It's clear that the games we play indicate that hidden secrets about that period of history in reality are about to trigger some kind of consequences."

Nobita pondered for a moment.

"If that demon sword is the one from the game, I think there might be hints in the game about how to deal with it."

Iwasaki waited for him to speak before asking, "Did you find a solution for the Crimson Skeleton in the subway? What about escaping from the Other Shore?"

Nobi coldly replied, "The perfect ending of the subway was achieved by you. That braking device did indeed slow down Zhu Hai slightly, which at least saved some people."

He didn't mention anything about the other side. The giant serpent was already on the verge of death and didn't need any special solution.

The other side was subsequently leveled by the army.

Iwasaki didn't react to Nobita's tone. He opened the trade option in his notebook and directly gifted Nobita the Yellow Paper Doll, the entry reward from the Other Shore (which blocks one spirit attack).

Player "Hao" has gifted you 1 Yellow Paper Doll Substitute.

Nobita stood there, stunned.

"Go for it, Knights!"

After saying that, Iwasaki logged off.

"He gave me a yellow paper figure," Nobita said, looking at the note in his notebook. "What does that mean?"

Uesugi, an observer, saw it all clearly.

They're just teasing an idiot.

The two are worlds apart in terms of their social standing and moral compass.

I can't imagine how Nobita would have been tricked by Iwasaki if there were only the two of them as players.

"He knew you would definitely go to the Demon Blade, so he gave you this to put some pressure on you."

"I don't feel any pressure. It's his stuff, why not take it? I used to raid every house when I played games."

"You can lie to me, but don't lie to yourself, Tomo-san."

"."

"Let me see. A yellow paper doll blocking a spirit attack is really not very sincere, considering the demon sword is mainly a physical attack." Uesugi found the description in the shop. "So, you're really planning to go find the demon sword? You should be able to feel the power of that sword in the game, right?"

“I’ve found out. The person wielding the knife in the game should be the third generation Muramasa, and we didn’t sense any spiritual power from him, so he should be an ordinary person.”

“An ordinary person wielding that knife, if he can accurately identify its weakness, can actually kill a cultivator.”

"I'm worried that you'll be hit by seven weaknesses and instantly killed."

Nobita didn't answer immediately; he was worried about that too.

However, unlike others, he had at least one chance to gamble.

This is the source of his confidence in taking risks.

“A lose-lose situation is not good either. Do you think ‘Hao’ might come out and reap the benefits?” Uesugi reminded him.

Nobita shook his head: "I'll be careful."

Has the decision been made so quickly? Uesugi senses that Nobita has changed quite a bit.

It's neither good nor bad; I seem to have become more confident.

She still remembers that when they first met, the other person seemed quite dull, and even had an unconscious gesture of raising his hand before speaking, like a shut-in high school student.

Now, communication is much smoother, and I have more of my own opinions.

It's likely that he's experienced many life-or-death situations, which led to this change, but it also suggests that his original values ​​weren't very solid.

In layman's terms, they are prone to turning to the dark side.

He has always upheld justice, but he may not actually know what justice truly means. He is simply following the concepts instilled in him by games in the past, or perhaps he longed for a similar hero in his past life.

This kind of justice, though seemingly solid, is actually fragile.

She recalled the news she had found and, combined with what Nobi had said a few days ago, felt that it was highly likely.

She didn't want to ask originally, but perhaps it's not too late to say it now.

"I have something I'd like to ask you."

"Oh? You can just ask. I'll definitely answer if I know the answer."

Nobita nodded seriously.

Uesugi helped him a lot, and he remembered it all.

"I saw two news reports. One was that the Shimizu Charity Foundation donated 200 million yen to each household affected by the Koguchi Supernatural Incident."

"The second one is Shimizu Takashi, who passed away due to health reasons."

"The two news items were published not long apart."

Nobita stiffened slightly: "...This? I made it."

"You killed that person too? You killed them outright?"

"I...I know him. He used to be the president of TEPCO, and he was involved in the Fukushima leak."

“I didn’t mean to question you, Zhi-san.”

"Yes, I killed him. I think he deserved to die."

Uesugi remained noncommittal: "He certainly deserved to die, but killing him out of a sense of justice is completely different from killing him after he donated money to make up for your guilt towards those residents."

"The former has nothing to say, the latter, you are just satisfying yourself."

Nobita couldn't help but argue, "Does that mean someone like Hiro can do whatever he wants, while I have to be bound by all these rules and regulations?"

"Congratulations on understanding a truth of the world: good people will be held at gunpoint." Uesugi sighed. "So I don't want to be a good person either, but I feel that you still want to be one deep down. I'm just giving you a little reminder, but don't take it too seriously. What you do is always your freedom."

"I've always felt that living comfortably and without regrets is the best choice in life."

"You can think about it carefully and figure out what kind of person you want to become, because it will affect your future path."

Nobita sat silently for a long while before slowly nodding.

"I'll think about it carefully, thank you, Yue-san."

After saying that, he left the hall.

Only Uesugi remained in the player lobby.

She rested her chin on her hand and stared blankly into space.

She also had her own selfish motives. She had already invested so much in Nobi, and if he turned evil, then her investment would be at risk.

What's really strange is that all three players, including Nobita himself, want Nobita to continue being a good person and maintain his knightly role.

Uesugi knew that Nobita's personality change was definitely related to his gradual realization of his own power.

It seems that her abilities are the weakest among them.

But thinking about it, if she were invincible, it seems there's nothing she particularly wants to do.

Perhaps it means being able to relax more and no longer rely on live streaming to make money.

Playing horror games until you're sick of them, then pretending to be panicked when you first see them, just to please others.

"So, is gaining power beyond one's mind ultimately good or bad?"

Uesugi glanced at the other three players who hadn't yet become official players, praying that no evil or chaotic player would appear.

three days later.

"Now pray in your heart, and I can conjure up the playing card you want."

"I do not believe."

"Three, two, one, don't blink! I bet this is the one you want, the Queen of Hearts."

"Eh"

"Look at your pocket. Did you steal my heart too?" The woman touched her pocket and found that a King of Hearts had indeed appeared out of nowhere.

"Bravo!"

Shinjuku Kabukicho, a nightclub.

Renault followed his usual routine, making no changes, and continued to come to the nightclubs here to relieve his loneliness.

And incidentally, to fool some women.

With his good looks and designer clothes, he always had an advantage in places like this.

"So."

Renault was about to extend an invitation to the dance floor when he caught a glimpse of a cold glint in his eye at the entrance.

This was the cold light he had seen almost every night these past few days, deeply etched into his memory.

It can't be such a coincidence.

Is he going to be punished by heaven for killing too many people in the game?

"I have to go, please wait for me."

"Okay, come back soon, I'll be waiting for you."

Renault maintained his smile, walked quickly, and pushed through the crowd with both hands, heading towards the back door of the nightclub.

He then found a spot near the passage where there weren't many people. He lit a cigarette, keeping his eyes constantly on the entrance.

321
"Ah!"

"Help, it's murder!"

Amidst the frenzied DJ and dazzling lights, he heard muffled sounds of commotion.

"Is there any noise at the entrance?" Renault asked curiously, patting one of the guards next to him and pointing in the direction of the entrance.

"Hmm? It sounds like... Hey, can you hear me? What's going on at the door?"

"Hey? That's weird."

Yakuza picked up a stick and went over to take a look.

Soon, the commotion among the crowd spread.

Renault pretended to be scared, immediately left through the back door via the passageway, and then dialed the police.

chug.

The sound of a helicopter in the sky surprised him.

So fast?
During the pause, the crowd behind him surged out, and he mingled among them without stopping.

Inside the nightclub, the scene resembled a battle royale.

The only thing that made the shadowy figure blend into the night visible was the demonic sword gleaming coldly in his hand.

"Don't kill me! Don't kill me!"

"Help! Open the door! Open the door!"

In a private room in the corridor, a group of people brought in a huge pile of things to block the door, their faces covered in sweat as they stared intently, almost forgetting to breathe.

"No, please—"

Swish.

Blood splattered onto the door, making a splashing sound like water being poured.

"woooooo"

"Shut up!"

"Shhhh."

There were no footsteps outside the door.

They covered their mouths, their eyes glistening with tears.

boom!
The door was suddenly smashed open, and they were so frightened that they screamed at the top of their lungs.

But this time, the charred figure didn't kill anyone. Instead, the demonic blade emitted a red light and stabbed each of them in the heart.

Immediately, their eyes turned red, and they roared as they attacked those around them, their strength seemingly increasing dramatically.

Click-click—snap!

A spine was pulled out, and the perpetrator, his face stained with blood, grinned. He flicked the spine, and a flash of red light transformed it into a spine knife.

"Kill! Kill! Only kill!"

A group of people slaughtered each other until only a dozen or so remained. They had bizarre, fanatical smiles on their faces and held bone knives that had just been taken from the warm bodies of their kin. They surged forward excitedly.

The dark figure did not stop and continued to the next room.

"The outer perimeter has been evacuated."

"Import and export channels have been sealed off."

"Mechanized units have completed deployment."

"Avoid fighting in confined spaces and forcing the Demon Sword Monk out."

"Wait. Those people are attacking our robot dog."

"Kill him, he's a knife slave."

A firefight broke out inside.

However, some of the knife-wielding slaves still managed to break through the blocked passageway under cover.

The Talos squad guarding the spot immediately opened fire, riddling the man with bullets.

"The hall is now empty."

"Approach the enemy via the corridor!"

"Suicide drones."

Boom!

Several loud bangs followed, and a pool of blood and flesh bloomed in the corridor.

"The aisle is now cleared."

"The room search is complete; there is no trace of the Demon Sword Monk."

The on-site commander received a communication from headquarters.

"It has temporarily left to clean up the scene and rejoin the team."

In the underground base conference room, Leon took off his intercom headset and looked at Muramasa Takii in the one-way glass room.

The words she typed on her computer were projected onto the conference room screen in real time.

Either you kill Muramasa Taki, or I'll send the entire city of Tokyo to its grave.

"."

The people in the room remained silent.

"Have you noticed that ever since Muramasa Taki and the Demon Blade's thoughts became transparent, the Demon Blade's intelligence seems to be becoming more and more like a human?"

"Did it learn this, or did it always possess this intelligence, which it has only recently regained?"

People avoided the choices offered by the demon sword and reluctantly began discussing other aspects.

There's no way to escape this, and such conditions are unacceptable.

Muramasa Taki is currently their only card that could possibly restrain the demon sword, so why discard it out of thin air?
What's the difference between this and a country suddenly announcing its voluntary abandonment of nuclear weapons during a nuclear standoff? Can we really expect another country to suddenly become kind and stop threatening with nuclear weapons?

Impossible. The Demon Blade isn't powerful enough to force them into a policy of appeasement.

"In that case, let's implement the second plan and have a head-on confrontation. We'll choose the venue."

Leon slammed his hand on the table, turned around, and dialed Ping Shenglong's number.

"I've approved your proposal. Knight, is he? I hope he won't be as often late as Justice."

(End of this chapter)