Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes.

Chapter 208, Section 206: The Pact in the Underworld

Shinichi Higashiyama felt like he was playing an unconventional strategy management game.

It's just that the development takes place in the underworld, a theme that's extremely rare even in games.

However, Dongshan Shen showed little interest in the idea of ​​reopening the Six Paths of Reincarnation that Wuming had mentioned.

If the legendary hell has indeed collapsed long ago, then from a realistic perspective, its impact on the human world seems to be limited to the dissipation of spiritual energy and the severance of the path of cultivation.

For the vast majority of ordinary people, the impact is negligible. Even if they are reincarnated, ordinary people cannot awaken their so-called past life memories.

After the collapse of the Yellow Springs, even those demons and monsters almost disappeared.

From this perspective, the disappearance of Huang Quan seems to be more beneficial than harmful.

Unless this collapse itself is a harbinger of an impending catastrophe that will sweep across the world, judging by the timeline, this catastrophe has been brewing for more than a thousand years. If there were any signs of trouble, the world would have been turned upside down long ago, not waited until now.

Of course, if the process of building Huangquan yields benefits similar to those provided by Huangquan Pavilion (providing spiritual energy) and the production of spring water by Shengquan (generating spring water), and generates tangible benefits for him, he wouldn't mind giving it a push.

As he pondered, he had already walked to the vicinity of the Killing Stone.

Inside the stone, the little fox spirit that was originally curled up has now quietly grown from one tail to three.

The fluffy tail phantom swayed slightly within the stone, exuding a lively aura.

However, this seems to be the limit it can reach in this underworld.

The Yin energy filling the Soul-Gathering Umbrella is like low-quality food for the Killing Stone Fox, which needs the nourishment of evil energy or pure spiritual energy. It is not impossible for it to eat this, but it comes at a price.

The spiritual essence that the stone itself carried has been completely exhausted.

If this continues, it will either suffocate inside the rock or fall into a deep sleep.

Seemingly sensing the approach of Higashiyama Shin, the moving source of spiritual energy, the fox spirit inside the stone suddenly became restless.

The Killing Stone began to tremble violently, far more so than ever before, as if the little creature inside was about to break out of the stone.

Higashiyama Shin stopped and quietly watched the wildly trembling stone.

The little fox inside seemed to have finally made up its mind. The stone trembled more and more violently, and the originally tiny cracks began to spread and widen, forming a cracked pattern.

But this speed is too slow.

Higashiyama Shin watched for several minutes with a blank expression. Only then did a crack barely expand from two centimeters to five centimeters. At this snail's pace, it would take at least an hour to completely break through the stone.

He could clearly sense that this little thing definitely had the power to shatter rocks instantly. Its current appearance of struggling to hatch was definitely an act. This guy seemed to have a natural inclination to hide his strength.

He had no interest in being a spectator, and without hesitation, Shinichi Higashiyama turned and left.

click-

A sharp, loud cracking sound came from behind, followed by a series of popping sounds like popping beans.

The little fox got anxious and immediately stopped pretending.

The cracks on the surface of the Killing Stone were like those on ice where a boulder had been thrown in, instantly spreading all around like a spider web.

Wisps of grayish-white smoke rapidly spewed out from the cracks, settling around the stones and creating a stage effect reminiscent of a wedding banquet.

However, the crooked tic-tac-toe graffiti left on the stone by Ueda and Higan during their playful antics now stood out conspicuously, severely ruining the atmosphere.

The commotion also startled Ueda and the little snake playing nearby. The two little guys quickly came over, squeezed behind the spider lilies, and curiously peeked out.

Click bang!

With a muffled thud, the Killing Stone did not explode into fragments as expected, but instead shattered cleanly in two along the largest cracks, like a watermelon that had been cut open.

From the shadow of the cracked rock, two points of eerie blue light suddenly shone, cold and sharp, as if containing a killing intent that went straight to the soul, instantly locking onto Ueda Hiroshi and the other shore snake who were peeking out.

"Whoa!"

Ueda's spirit was as if it had been pierced by an invisible needle. Even its screams changed tone. It instantly went limp, turning into a trembling slime. It sprang up and fled the scene at the fastest speed it had ever been, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

The little snake on the other side wasn't frightened by that gaze; it just tilted its head, looking at the cracked stone with a puzzled expression.

It sensed Ueda's fear, hissed twice, and no longer paid attention to the Sesshoseki. It twisted its body and chased after the direction Ueda had fled.

From the shadow of the stone, a small fox slowly and gracefully emerged, stepping through the swirling smoke to reveal its true form.

Shinichi Higashiyama: "."

In a daze, he thought he was seeing a special calico cat.

At least this thing is called the Killing Stone, so the things inside should at least have some connection to Tamamo-no-Mae, the nine-tailed fox.

The fur color of the creature in front of us is a complete disaster.

Yellow, white, red, and black patches are mixed together irregularly, like an abstract painting. On some dark patches, there are even clear traces of crooked tic-tac-toe patterns.

As for its tail, let alone nine, at this moment only one fluffy tail was hanging down behind it, while the other two were hidden tightly, clearly with no intention of showing themselves.

Only her small face barely retained the features of a fair complexion, with delicate eyebrows and bright eyes.

Overall, it looks exactly like a fox mix that has been contaminated with calico cat genes.

"Hey~"

The icy killing intent in the little fox's eyes vanished instantly after the unrelated people disappeared, the switching speed was astonishing.

It took small, graceful steps and rubbed against Dongshan Shen's feet. First, it carefully rubbed its head against his trouser leg, then it turned over very naturally, revealing its soft, mottled belly. It made a humming sound in its throat, looking like an innocent and docile creature.

Is that how foxes call?

Higashiyama Shin bent down, reached out and pinched the little fox by the scruff of its neck, lifting it up completely.

The little guy's body stiffened instantly, its four paws dangling in the air, but its blue eyes still tried to maintain an innocent and ingratiating expression.

Higashiyama Shin picked it up expressionlessly and examined it carefully from all angles.

Hmm, its fur is a mess, the markings are haphazard, and it's missing a tail.

From now on, I'll call you Sanhua.

He delivered the final verdict in a calm and unquestionable tone.

"Eek?"

The little fox blinked.

After naming it Sanhua, Higashiyama Shin no longer cared whether it liked it or not.

It's just a name; as long as it works, that's fine.

As for its little quirk of hiding its strength, Shinya Higashiyama was too lazy to expose it.

He extended his index finger, and a crystal-clear droplet of spiritual energy, exuding a pure aura, condensed on the tip of his finger.

Sanhua, who was originally struggling with the name, was instantly attracted by the pure spiritual energy and her attention was completely diverted.

Its eyes shone brightly, its pink tongue panted slightly, and its tail wagged like a puppy's.

With a flick of his fingertip, Dongshan Shen sent a drop of dew flying into Sanhua's open mouth.

"Gurgle!" The dewdrop melted instantly upon entering its mouth, and the pure spiritual energy filled its limbs and bones in an instant. Three Flowers squinted its blue eyes in satisfaction. The spiritual energy contained in this drop of dew was equivalent to what it had painstakingly absorbed in this cold and gloomy place for half a month.

During her time inside the Killing Stone, Sanka had already become thoroughly familiar with the layout of this space.

The master of this space is undoubtedly Shin Higashiyama, who controls all life, death, and resources. As long as we hold on to this powerful figure, we can indirectly control this underworld and become, well, at least, the number two figure in this area!

That cowardly spirit named Ueda, and that silly little snake from the other shore, are not worth worrying about at all!

From now on, Lord Three Flowers will be second only to this one person, above ten thousand... uh, countless souls!
Of course, it is cautious by nature and likes to keep its cards hidden, so it decided to adopt a two-pronged strategy.

On one hand, he spared no effort to curry favor with Higashiyama Shin to solidify his position; on the other hand, he temporarily feigned friendship with Ueda and Koji.

When its strength has accumulated enough to crush that little snake, it will then use thunderous force to tell them that there can only be one number two in this underworld!

When the time comes, I'll settle all scores! Especially the score for ruining my beautiful fur into this ghastly state—that must be taken!
Higashiyama Shin had absolutely no interest in the grand ambitions churning within this little fox's heart.

Seeing that it had absorbed the dew, it casually tossed it to the ground, and its figure immediately faded away, leaving this space.

The little fox let out a burp and squinted, searching around for the little snake.

Just then, a person and a snake came toward it.

"Um... Hello, I'm Ueda, and this is the other side." Ueda was filled with guilt, and he didn't dare to look at the colors on Sanhua's body that looked like a spilled paint palette.

"Eek." Sanhua nodded, trying her best to show a foxy smile.

The other side felt no remorse and casually approached, pointing with its tail at the river beside it, essentially asking if it was hungry and wanted to eat fish.

Sanhua smiled even more broadly and declined the invitation.

With the pure spiritual energy provided by Dongshan Shen, it absolutely disdains the yin energy here; absorbing too much of it would only cause pollution.

Bi'an breathed a sigh of relief. Despite its seemingly all-encompassing demeanor, its eyes were actually scanning the surroundings nervously, as if afraid that Dongshan Shen might suddenly appear out of nowhere.

The appearance of the three flowers was just a minor episode for Shinichi Higashiyama.

What he was about to face was a major event that even he needed to be on high alert and make some preparations for.

6 month 5 day.

Saturday, 8 PM.

Dongshan Shen opened the game interface on time.

The countdown for the refresh time has ended.

The free new games for this month have been revealed.

The Promise of the Underworld

[New games updated monthly]

[The Pact in the Underworld (Role-playing, Adventure): This shouldn't be the fate our family has borne for generations. Let everything be severed from my hands, even if it means eternal damnation.]

[Size: Medium]

[Difficulty: Difficult]

[Additional support players: 3 (can be refreshed 6 times)]

[Points cap: 1000]

Medium-sized, difficult.

Higashiyama Shin remained silent for a few seconds before continuing to read.

This game uses a "team system" gameplay, with three players forming a team, and a total of three teams. Each team consists of two experienced players and one new player. (If there are not enough players, the team will be left empty, but the rewards will be increased.)

Players within a team can freely exchange game information and share a spirit (i.e., each person has three lives, but a life-borrowing mechanism similar to Contra is allowed). After completing their respective levels and achieving the unique ending, the full game is unlocked.

In other words, the actual game content is composed of three smaller games plus one normal-sized game?

From the text alone, Higashiyama Shin didn't quite understand how this was done.

But you can probably imagine it.

The three players each face a different game, and to complete the game, they need to gather information from all three games and complete a historically accurate puzzle, similar to collecting three fragments in a puzzle game.

Next, the official game will begin, and this official game will most likely serve as a bridge between the three games.

New players do not have official player status and therefore cannot communicate with other players under normal circumstances. Teammates can spend 20 points to grant new players in-team communication privileges until the ending is achieved.

That's outrageous! How can you play this game without a microphone? It's practically forced sales. That's what he despises the most.
This point will be collected by "Unknown".

That's fine.

Is 20 points a bit too little?
In team-based gameplay, rankings are displayed in team format, and ranking rewards will be distributed to the team leader. Please discuss this within your team.

[Completing the game officially means the entire team achieves a clear, but in the subsequent score calculation, the rewards will be distributed based on the team's contributions.]

[After this game ends, the game system will undergo a 2.0 update, unlocking more features and gameplay. Stay tuned!]

The amount of information brought by this game refresh was unexpectedly large.

It seems his guess was correct; not only him, but the other players' premonitions were also right.

The story of that mysterious Onmyoji will come to a complete end in this game.

Similarly, the resulting disaster is estimated to be unprecedented.

However, due to the emergence of extraordinary reasons, investments from various countries have been pouring into Japan, seemingly unafraid of any extraordinary disasters.

On the contrary, many people are afraid of not being able to participate in this extraordinary process. As long as Japan hasn't sunk and Tokyo is still there, any major disaster is just a minor incident.

Therefore, the Japanese government is currently experiencing both sorrow and joy, and is in a very difficult position.

The damage caused in Kyoto last time has now been followed by a rapid influx of investment, a surge in real estate prices, and construction projects are in full swing.

In particular, the original location of the hotel was fiercely contested by several world-class conglomerates, leaving the Japanese conglomerate with no chance to even get a say in it.

Wherever a major disaster occurs, hot money flows there, and apart from the deaths, the economy grows instead of declining, completely defying economic intuition.

However, these disasters should be solvable if players unite as one.

Even if things don't go well, there's always the "divine flower" he's planned.

He was more interested in the game's 2.0 update.

First of all, players' choices should no longer be limited to Japan. Since the game has always been based on Japanese themes, it's time to switch to some Western classics to change things up.

I wonder if the PVP mode he's been looking forward to will appear.

After a moment of contemplation, he returned to reality. Instead of rushing to refresh and select players, he first arranged the entry rewards and ranking rewards.

The first entry reward was to replace the hardworking paper figures with holy spring water, giving each person two bottles – a very generous gesture.

Ranking rewards
Looking at his relatively high score and the game's difficulty, Higashiyama Shin felt it would be better to give him some high-value items.

　I'd like to ask for leave tomorrow.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)