Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes.

Chapter 166, Section 164: Mutual Aid Agreement

"This is the right decision, Ms. Muramasa. Welcome to our partnership. I assure you you will not be disappointed by your choice today."

In the conference hall, the Minister of Defense, in his capacity as head of the Extraordinary Countermeasures Department, formally reached an equal cooperation agreement with Taki Muramasa.

It's not that the authorities don't want to use force to suppress others. Although Taki performed well in the battle, if the authorities really disregard everything, they are still confident that they can force Muramasa Taki to become a subordinate of the superhuman, rather than engaging in equal cooperation.

But no one can say for sure how many more extraordinary beings will emerge in the future.

If others knew that Muramasa Taki had been forced to work illegally, they would only become more cautious and more disgusted.

Moreover, cooperation based on coercion cannot last long, nor can it bring wholehearted efficiency. This kind of inefficient exploitation is no longer viable. Only partnerships can truly bind each other more deeply.

And the costs they need to pay may not necessarily be much.

As the only extraordinary individual with whom the official cooperation can currently be achieved, Muramasa Takii holds a special position, making him a valuable asset.

Leon sat beside him without saying a word.

The Defense Minister originally wanted to cooperate with Taki in the name of the Japanese government, but after being warned, he had no choice but to give in and cooperate in the name of his department.

In reality, those inside know that America has half the control over the Extraordinary Countermeasures Department, and basically nothing can be kept secret.

The Minister of Defense knew exactly what they were thinking—a gradual, step-by-step encroachment—so he granted Muramasa Takii a high-level cooperation without hesitation.

Leon seemed to have anticipated this, maintaining a polite, faint smile throughout.

"Propaganda aimed at quelling public panic."

"Sure, but I need to review the contents."

"That's only natural!"

After talking with them, Taki was taken by helicopter to a seaside villa in the port area.

It has now been swiftly transferred to her name.

The smoke from Umi no Mori Park hadn't yet dissipated. Taki stood on the terrace, enjoying the sea breeze and gazing at the busy helicopters in the night sky for a while before washing up and lying in bed.

Sleepiness washed over her like a tidal wave. Today, whether it was forging the Demon Slayer or fighting the Demon Blade, it had consumed a lot of her energy. Now, as soon as her head hit the pillow, the accumulated fatigue finally broke through her defenses and surged in.

I glanced at the player lobby; there were two players online.

She closed her eyes and entered into it.

"So, for now... um? She's here."

Inside the player lobby, the two who had been chatting stopped talking at the same time and looked at the gradually forming black mist.

In the blink of an eye, the figure of a woman wearing a white mask on her chin appeared.

After looking around and getting used to her surroundings, Takii nodded and greeted the two of them.

"Those people in the Extraordinary Measures Department, they didn't do anything to you, did they?"

Nobi asked the question, revealing his continued distrust of the official's character.

"The terms they offered for cooperation are good, and they seem very cautious. As long as there are other supernatural activities outside, I won't be in any danger." Taki looked at Uesugi. "Also, they seem to have some suspicions about the existence of the game. I'd like to confirm, was your last game about the subway incident?"

This was no secret. Uesugi quietly observed Taki's words and actions: "Well, before you, we went through two games. One was solving puzzles and finding a way out in a rather eerie subway. The other was escaping from a cave, but there was only one reward."

"Is there any connection between these games?" Taki wanted to know more, to analyze why Nichiren and Sesshoseki became part of the demon sword, and why all of this was related to the Muramasa family.

"There is indeed some connection."

Uesugi even has detailed records.

Basic information is irrelevant.

But you have to buy the detailed information, including every ending.

It's not expensive either, only 20 points for a set, and it guarantees ten new games, which is equivalent to a membership package.

If you reveal your fate and the information, you can get a 50% discount.

In fact, this 50% discount price is Uesugi's target price.

This is a way to make money that Uesugi finally came up with.

Make money, not shabby.

Others may be able to directly resell her information, but they may not be able to keep up with her updates.

Given that Muramasa Takii's ending is a perfect ending, Uesugi is willing to sell himself for a rock-bottom price of five points in exchange for the perfect ending.

"Okay, I'll buy it."

After listening to Uesugi's sales pitch, Taki glanced at the prices of the items in the shop and got a general idea of ​​the purchasing power of points.

If she could exchange five points for detailed information, it would be worth it for her.

"Thank you for your patronage! Ahem, you can give me the points after you settle the account; I'm often in the player lobby." With his first transaction completed, Uesugi was in a good mood and copied the detailed message he had prepared in advance and sent it to Takii.

Taki opened it, and it was filled with dense text, which included not only the objective process of the game and various endings, but also several speculations about how it would unfold.

Five points can buy so much content. I can only say she deserves to earn that money. "After each game ends, I will collect and integrate the data during the settlement period and send it to the customers who have purchased it. Don't worry about me running away. I will continue to do this business! Of course, this only applies to ten games."

Uesugi patted his chest and guaranteed it.

Nobita did the math and realized that this money wasn't easy to earn.

However, Uesugi already had a habit of collecting and analyzing data, and now she was just packaging and distributing this data to others, so whether she earned a lot or a little, it was all profit.

"Should I tell you about the perfect ending now? I received a warning after completing the game that this kind of communication might be considered cheating by the system. Even if you achieve the perfect ending using my method, you won't get any rewards," Takii reminded her.

Nobita and Uesugi exchanged a glance and smiled wryly in unison.

Even if they wanted to replicate it, they might not be able to.

"Tell me first, did you not kill a single person in the game even after arriving in Edo?"

"Yeah, that's right."

Nobita felt helpless upon hearing this. He was right that this was the only way to achieve a perfect ending, but what good would it do if he couldn't do it?

"Fine, go ahead and tell me. Anyway, we can't do that. We can't control the demon sword at all. It would have killed people by the time it got to Edo, and..."

Uesugi sighed deeply.

"I've already completed the game, but because I killed too many people, Fa Cheng caught up with me. I couldn't beat him and got what is probably the worst ending."

That happened yesterday.

After Uesugi was defeated by Hosei, he thought he would lose a life and have to start over, just like when he was killed by other cultivators.

But unexpectedly, it triggered the worst possible outcome.

She was forcibly taken away by Facheng and brought back to the temple.

You have successfully completed the ending—becoming a nun.

[Ending Assessment: He was brought to justice, and after reciting scriptures and meditating, he spent the rest of his life in peace.]

[First-time completion score: C]

[Final Reward: Human Hat. Wearing this allows you to use the cat ear switch without revealing your cat ears.]

Even though she was mentally prepared and guessed that the ability rewards wouldn't be so easy to obtain in the later stages of the game, getting just this one hat still made her heart ache so much she could hardly breathe.

Fa Cheng, you've ruined me!

"Send it to me privately. Zhi hasn't finished the game yet, and he might be considered cheating."

Anyway, the rewards for completing the game have already been distributed, and someone else has already completed the game with a perfect ending. She's at the bottom of the rankings, so don't even think about getting anything. The only reward she can get is the settlement points.

Uesugi is fearless, let's get started!
"I'm almost at Edo Castle. Although I tried my best to control myself, I still killed some people. I barely managed to clear the progress bar by sacrificing myself. I don't know if it will work."

Nobita described the current progress.

Seeing this, Taki wasted no time and directly told Uesugi via private message the conditions that needed to be met for the two endings he wanted to achieve.

Cyber ​​game historian Uesugi has another document.

"Now, let me tell you about the principles we agreed on between players, which are..."

Uesugi elaborated on the three principles of identity protection, cooperative transactions, and conflict prevention.

However, compared to the previous principles that were basically unrestrained, she and Nobi, after discussion, intended to establish a front that leaned towards lawful good among the players, who were destined to continue to expand.

"The above principles are generally beneficial to players, and we only trade or cooperate with players who can accept these principles."

"Moreover, Zhi and I believe that while the power in the game can certainly help us achieve a better life or even seek revenge, we do not condone the abuse of this power. Therefore, based on the above principles, we have formed a more closely cooperating mutual aid team without imposing too many restrictions. We only require members not to kill innocent people indiscriminately and to have a more solid foundation of trust among themselves."

Uesugi finished speaking in one breath, then quietly watched Takii, who was deep in thought, and waited for her reply.

Taki enjoys the thrill of wielding her sword, but that doesn't mean she likes indiscriminate killing.

Therefore, she agreed in principle to Uesugi's proposal for a mutual aid team.

"Hao is Yaowu, right? Has he joined you?"

Taki looked at Iwasaki's seat; he hadn't logged on.

“He’s killed too many people. I’m worried he’ll go down the same path as the Demon Blade. Right now, we can only maintain the most basic understanding and not reveal other players’ information to outsiders.” Nobi picked up the conversation and shook his head. “If he continues to kill like this, even if I don’t stop him, the authorities will definitely not tolerate it and will very likely ask you to deal with him.”

Nobita's words are true. From the official perspective, the Demon Mist, which is mainly used to kill evil people, is even more terrifying than the Demon Blade, which kills randomly.

Especially since Takii also promised to manufacture weapons for him, which might turn into a dangerous situation.

But Takii was unwilling to break her promise in the first place.

Perhaps we could leave some kind of backdoor in the weapon, like creating a "Knife of Kindness" or something.
Make sure the weapon she makes isn't used for killing or hostility.

As they were talking, black mist suddenly surged and gathered around Iwasaki Kosuke's location, and the player's name lit up.

(End of this chapter)