Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes.

Chapter 271, Section 14: Official Strategy Guide

Shinichi Higashiyama and the player ended the game at the same time.

After he exited the game, his consciousness entered the player lobby and spied on the players' debriefing discussions.

The result was better than he had expected.

Although the players had their own agendas, they maintained a cooperative tone overall and did not succumb to purely self-serving confrontations.

This was thanks to his arrangement, which placed Iwasaki and Nobita, the two core members, in the servant group and the prisoner group respectively, thus avoiding direct internal competition.

Within the servant group, Iwasaki had a decent track record, naturally becoming the leader.

Oshima Umeta has an easygoing personality and generally agrees with Iwasaki's ideas, making him a reliable executor.

Yui Hamasaki and Iwasaki have established a deep collaboration and work together seamlessly. Therefore, this small team is relatively stable.

The Prisoners group is more complicated, with a slightly more complex composition and three new players bringing uncertainty.

Fortunately, Lu something-or-other is simple-minded and Arthur is sensible, so even though Park Min-woo is quite suspicious, he doesn't cause much trouble.

In addition, five of the nine people are members of the Player Mutual Aid Association, which provides an inherent basis for cooperation.

Although Ethan is extremely selfish, he is by no means stupid. Once he realizes that cooperation is the only way to pass the level, he will become the most active promoter.

Given enough time for trial and error, finding a way to pass the level isn't difficult.

He also understood why the game's difficulty level was difficult to keep constant.

As the butler, he figured out how to pass the game on the first day. No wonder there was a special rule that prevented him from explicitly or implicitly telling players how to pass the game.

It turns out that the secrets of this game were almost completely unknown to the butler.

This is essentially a game where the more unified the players' will, the easier it is to complete the game.

If there is only one brain, and they completely trust each other without worrying about who might get more rewards or who might suffer more losses, they could complete the game in just a few rounds.

But once people's hearts are broken and there is no trust or cooperation among them, they cannot pass the test even if given a hundred chances.

Although the rules restrict him from explicitly or implicitly revealing the way to pass the level, they do not prohibit him from providing some additional assistance.

For example, the animal cards that the servants received originally only had simple line drawings, making it difficult to accurately identify the species.

He can thoughtfully add clear English names to the cards.

For example, he has the authority to assign daily tasks to the servants.

Despite his seemingly higher status, he couldn't just enter any room; he could only find out the purpose of those rooms through his servants.

He can then identify which room is more suspicious and may contain useful information, and assign it as a daily task for his servants to complete.

However, it should be noted that if opening a certain wardrobe would result in certain death, then assigning the task of cleaning the wardrobe would be tantamount to suicide.

The correct approach is to broadly summarize it as cleaning the room.

As for what areas are off-limits, let them risk their lives to obtain the information.

Finally, after summarizing where to collect clues that could be helpful to the player, and arranging them into tasks according to time, that's about all that Shinichi Higashiyama could do.

Headquarters of the Extraordinary Measures Department.

Since Leon has returned to America, the normal operation of the department is now being handled by Genji Himeko and Hiramori Ryu.

Having endured two days without sleep, Genjiko forced her eyelids, which were almost glued together, to rest her head on her desk piled high with documents, preparing to take a short nap, when the internal phone rang urgently.

"A new game has appeared."

Such a simple sentence instantly dispelled all sleepiness.

Genjiro sat up abruptly, took a deep breath, and shook her head vigorously.

She glanced at the time—four in the morning—and without hesitation, pressed the button for an emergency meeting.

After half an hour.

The meeting room, with its heavy atmosphere, was brightly lit, and the three extraordinary players who cooperated with the countermeasures department sat in the front row.

The surrounding area was filled with high-ranking officials from the Extraordinary Countermeasures Department, heads of various departments, as well as occult experts, historians, and psychologists who had been conducting research or waiting at headquarters.

What is the theme of this meeting?

"A summary of the third nationwide extraordinary investigation? It's far from over, and they probably wouldn't choose this time to release it. Has there been a major breakthrough?"

"Sigh, I heard that families like the Tsuchimikado and Kamo clans have been forced to offer up several direct descendants for human experimentation. Have they gained anything from them?"

"Hard to say."

Everyone had arrived, and Leon, who was on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, also joined via encrypted video.

Although his background was also an office of unknown location, he looked energetic and even relaxed on the screen, indicating that he was in a good mood.

The difference between them and the subordinates in the meeting room, who looked haggard, with heavy eye bags and sallow complexions from working overtime, resembling Kayako, was like heaven and earth.

Looking at the screen out of the blue, you might think you're watching a horror movie.

"The contents of this meeting remain top secret, so please keep it confidential. I don't want to go into the consequences of leaking information." This was Genji's opening statement.

These words instantly silenced the previously quiet meeting room, and everyone turned their serious gazes toward the podium.

In fact, their work is top secret. Strictly speaking, even the number of cups of coffee they drink in a day could be considered top secret.

But since Minamoto no Himeko mentioned it seriously, it means that this is a top secret.

The last time this was emphasized was when the Extraordinary Countermeasures Department officially listed the "Game Extraordinary Theory" as a basic research direction and informed them that the vast majority of extraordinary beings to date originated from a mysterious game, and their power came from it.

The selected player can become an extraordinary being if they successfully complete the game.

Based on this theory, Japan officially launched its third nationwide screening.

Based on more clues revealed by Muramasa Taki and his team, they launched another major investigation into those large families and items that might be passed down through generations.

Thinking of this, many people present couldn't help but cast envious glances at the three players in the front row, wishing they could take their place.

Why? I like playing games too! Why wasn't I selected? Is it because I'm bad at it?

I can practice cooking!

In human society, as long as information is exchanged, there is no such thing as truly top-secret information.

Many powerful and influential individuals are already aware of the game's existence and are forming their own research teams to determine the probability of being chosen as a player in this extraordinary game, and how to increase that probability.

The most common conclusion they reached was naturally that she had become a gaming expert. Their investigation revealed that before being admitted to the mental hospital, Yui had a terrible track record in several rhythm games and had played a considerable number of RPGs.

Before becoming a working professional, Hayato frequented arcades and occasionally played claw machines. He was a figure that local owners feared, and some even offered him game tokens to stop him from playing claw machines.

Muramasa Takii and the others didn't find any records of playing the game, but the first two were enough.

As a result, many wealthy tycoons in their seventies and eighties are now staying up all night, hiring people with high salaries to play games with them. They're always grinding dungeons or leveling up, constantly talking about positioning and kiting, and always mentioning bosses and buffs, looking exactly like elderly e-sports players.

Some people even register to become esports players, just for the slightest chance of being selected as a player.

Even the gaming industry has benefited from this wave of growth. Some previously arrogant groups that advocated "nothing is too ugly to play" have been replaced by more powerful capital and kicked out of the game.

A game must first and foremost be fun!

In short, in this short month, most ordinary Japanese people are probably concerned about Mount Fuji, volcanic ash, and the situation in Tokyo, while the higher-ups have focused their attention on the mysterious game, making their own moves and hoping to become one of the players.

"According to the latest information provided by three players, the new game officially started at 12 o'clock not long ago."

While waiting for everyone to arrive, Genji had already gotten a general idea of ​​what was going on from Taki and the others.

"Based on past experiences and lessons learned from games, we have reason to believe that the content revealed by games is often a warning of impending crises in the real world. When it comes to the safety of human society, if we can crack the game as quickly as possible, we will have a greater chance of preventing disasters in reality and minimizing losses."

The information given to them by players is limited; games like Peach Blossom Village don't tell them anything at all.

Choosing to cooperate was simply to obtain logistical support, maximize one's chances of achieving a better outcome, and incidentally, allow the authorities to prepare for a real-world disaster in advance. It was a mutually beneficial relationship.

"The name of this new game is Silver Cup Manor."

"Everyone here is an elite investigator and an expert in the occult. I believe that with your combined efforts, we will be able to help the player complete the level as soon as possible."

"I hereby announce that, effective immediately, all non-urgent tasks at hand are suspended. All resources and elite personnel of the Extraordinary Measures Department will be concentrated to establish a dedicated strategy team for 'Silver Cup Manor'!"

"The strategy team will be divided into a speedrun team and a collection team. The speedrun team will be led by team leader Ping Shenglong. The core task is to gather top analysts and game experts to fully crack the game mechanics, provide players with the best strategies to complete the game as quickly as possible."

"I am directly in charge of the collection team. The core task is to mobilize all intelligence networks, historical archives, and occult databases to deeply explore the real-world clues that may be reflected in the game's background, character settings, and environmental details, assess potential risks, and formulate contingency plans."

"We will allocate personnel later."

“Now,” Gen Himeko turned her gaze to Muramasa Taki, “Ms. Muramasa, please give us a detailed description of everything in the game ‘Silver Cup Manor.’ Ms. Hamasaki, Mr. Miyamoto, please feel free to add any details. Our work begins now.”

Muramasa stood up, walked to the podium, and calmly began to explain the current information about the game.

The involvement of the official strategy team is not surprising. Since Shin Higashiyama did not receive any violation notices from the system, it means that this is allowed by the rules.

He was never one to make the game too difficult for players; after all, he only invited players to join in order to speed up the completion of the game.

Moreover, the premise of brainstorming in games is that everyone can play and try and fail infinitely.

Many outrageous hidden Easter eggs in games are discovered in this way.

However, there are only a few players right now, and they can only play once a day, so the strategies they can try are extremely limited.

In the audience, Kurosaki, who had initially seemed a bit listless, was now sitting upright, writing furiously as he took notes and jot down his questions.

Such as the materials of the prison cells, the style of the statues, and the language spoken by the butler.
There are still so many clues that haven't been explained clearly and that can be explored further.

"You said there would be a Q&A session later, right?" Kurosaki asked Taira no Ryu when he had a spare moment.

"Yes, there will be." Heisei Ryu nodded, glancing at Leon on the screen from time to time.

The more Leon listened to Taki's explanation in the video, the more stiff his expression became.

Something's not right. Something's nine-tenths wrong.

This sounds completely different from the previous games!
The games were all set in ancient Japan, mostly several hundred years ago, but the real-world disasters also occurred in present-day Japan.

At that time, he was glad that, given the short history of Ami, it should be able to become a pure land for some time to come.

This is why he tried every means to return to China and strive to stay in the country.

And now what did he hear? The Civil War!?
Many countries in the world have experienced civil wars, but with the addition of various clues, the scope gradually narrows down.
Is this some kind of game that takes place in America?!

After listening for ten minutes, Leon was completely certain that the game was set in America.

After all, Andersonville concentration camp shouldn't have had a branch with the same name.

Oh no! He just applied to the President to stay in America! Why is America sending a large country like this? Am I the Grim Reaper?!
Even Death doesn't want to work overtime.

The thought of returning to that endless, dark and dreary state made his face turn ashen, and the complexion he had painstakingly regained vanished instantly.

Should we withdraw the application before the President approves it? But wouldn't that be treating the President like a fool? He says he's going back to Japan one minute, and the next minute he reports the new game's background is in America. He doesn't want to die.

It's just that the president has been busy with the election recently, otherwise he would definitely have been observing the meeting.

"You look just as pale as you did in Tokyo."

Hirosue Eri walked into his office and glanced at his ashen face with a strange look.

Leon tried with difficulty to tug at the corners of his mouth, but couldn't manage it.

He turned off the microphone and sighed, "Have you handled the wildfires?"

"Isn't your attitude towards the wildfires here too laissez-faire? Some of these fires could have been extinguished if monitoring had been done properly and personnel had been deployed in time."

Hirosue's words revealed his dissatisfaction.

On the day she arrived in America, she barely stopped before heading to California.

Then he devoted himself to trying to solve the local wildfire problem that occurs every year.

She could sense the forest's distress call, but because she could only use her own energy to extinguish and fuel the fire, she could only manage a small amount each time, and it was futile when the fire grew too large. So it took her a month to finally see some results.

At least it wasn't a waste of effort; it did manage to quell some of the divine flower's erosion.

"It's good that it's been taken care of." Leon forced himself to compose himself and tried to make his tone as light as possible.

"Breaking news: the mysterious game has started again."

"This time, the game's background is...Ami."

Hirosue didn't react much after hearing this, he just nodded.

Saving people and saving trees are both forms of saving.

She is not opposed to it.

　Thank you to "Li Daochang" for the 300 coins.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)