Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes.

Chapter 278, Section 22: Good and Evil Are Hard to Distinguish

A few more days passed, and it was the end of August.

The game goes on and on.

The prisoner group has never managed to get all three of them to kill; at most, one person will come up.

Even if the servants select advantageous question combinations to throw out, players will ultimately not be able to fully confirm certain characteristics.

Not to mention that people have different personalities, and it is entirely possible for them to cause trouble in secret.

Compared to the suspicion and uncertainty in the dungeon, the servant group as a whole was much more comfortable.

It can be said that all the clues that could be found have been found, and all that is needed is for the dungeon to have enough people to complete the final kill mission.

In the goat's room, unsurprisingly, there was also a final, hidden question sheet.

Whether it is good or evil is difficult to distinguish.

This question essentially confirmed the gargoyle's identity, leaving little room for further doubt.

How can a legendary creature used by churches to ward off evil be considered an evil creature?

However, the ugly, demonic face has always been criticized by religious figures, who believe it is a form of Satan worship. Even the origin of the gargoyle legend is that a monster's head was cut off by a bishop, so how can it be considered justice?

It perfectly embodies the idea that good and evil are indistinguishable.

The question sheet is accompanied by an IHSV cross-shaped pattern.

This is the last password pattern on the metal box.

Enter the three patterns in order of room number, then open them with the badge.

Inside this precious box were only a letter and an exquisite key.

The letter unfolded in a language Iwasaki couldn't understand, but perhaps the letter's owner had considered this situation, so the badge simultaneously conveyed the letter's meaning to Iwasaki.

The time I spend conscious is getting shorter and shorter.

Even in rare moments of lucidity, past memories are blurred and unclear. What meaning is there in living like this?
Having lost my memory, I am no longer myself.

I've forgotten how I came to this new continent, forgotten how I built this manor, just like there's another person hidden inside me, a greedy and dark personality that embodies all my negative emotions.

I've even forgotten the commander's name, but I still clearly remember his instructions.

"Do not let greed and hatred cloud your judgment; the Holy Grail does not belong to humankind."

Indeed, we often understand simple truths very late.

There is no power in this world that comes without a price, and there is no immortality that comes without a price.

I should have known this day would come. Unfortunately, once the Angel Game started, even suicide was not allowed, and death could be resurrected. Unless you used the rules, you could never stop until the last round, when you were completely transformed into a dark monster who had lost his past.

Now, the final round is about to begin, and before I completely lose my mind, I need to have some backup plans.

Within the rules, a backup plan that can extricate me.

Whoever you are, it's remarkable that you were able to crack this box.

I can't leave any obvious clues, because "he" would know and destroy them.

Remember, I can override some of the rules of the Angel Game, but any overridden, fake rules will not take effect.

Holding this badge and shouting "In Hoc Signo Vinces" will force all the manor's lampstands to light up. I've hidden something in those lampstands that can temporarily slow me down.

However, each use requires a short cooldown period, and those who possess the badge will definitely be my priority targets.

The key inside can open door number thirteen, and there are bottles of animal control potions inside as well.

If the person who escapes from the dungeon represents one of the animals, then make him drink it.

Door number thirteen will only appear at midnight. You need to shout: "In Hugo's name!" for the door to appear from the wall.

Let the animals that restrain me...￥%……&%￥——】

The crucial moment of this classic text is missing.

But there's still space to start a new line after that.

Remember, do not let greed and hatred cloud your judgment; the Holy Grail does not belong to humankind.

He repeated what a previous regimental commander had said.

Based on the current clues, the identity of the so-called leader, whether it is the Latin phrase he shouted or the octagonal cross pattern, points to the once glorious Knights Templar.

This organization was once the largest creditor of King Philip IV of France.

Then they wiped out the whole team.

Once you deal with the creditors, you won't have any debts anymore!
What's lacking now is concrete evidence to prove which regimental commander it is.

The most suspicious person is the last Grand Master, while the manor owner may be a survivor of the Knights who survived the purge by the French King.

Another old, shadowy corpse hiding in the dust of history.

But that's all outside of the game. What's important now is for the prisoners to coordinate and send the three people up.

In the new round of the game, the servants, as usual, prayed to open the rooms of the two small animals, obtained the potion, and transformed to obtain three keys and a ram's head badge from the study and the dressing room.

Using the ram's head badge to open the master bedroom, and obtaining the key to room thirteen from the metal box whose password pattern is already known, all of these steps will take at least two days.

Then, over three days, obtain potions for three types of night-vision animals: bats, ravens, and shadow cats.

This is the fastest strategy they've come up with.

Then you can wait until noon on the ninth day, when everyone takes a key and goes to open the doors to the three special animals.

"Ah (Only two?)"

In another round of the game, Oshima Raven anxiously led the excited Ludu out of the owl's room.

"What's strange? What's strange?!" Lu Du looked around excitedly in the dark, but found nothing.

"I'll leave the rest to you guys to command," Nobita said solemnly to the shadow cat lying behind him.

In this round of the game, the prisoners' group failed to gather all three special animals again.

After Iwasaki and his team opened the three special animal doors, they only found two players.

"Proceeding as planned (meow)!"

Iwasaki Kagene wasn't particularly pleased with this, but he wasn't surprised either.

His gaze fell upon the end of the corridor, where a "person" dressed in impeccably noble attire, with a face ashen as stone and an unusually tall stature, was emerging from the nonexistent door of room number thirteen and walking towards them step by step in the darkness.

"The game is over."

The manor owner murmured, and after their eyes met, the seemingly slow movement and the distance covered in a single step seemed completely unreasonable.

It seems that in just two or three steps, that outstretched hand can grab the back of their necks and twist their necks to the right.

Iwasaki commanded Nobi, and Oshima commanded Ludo, and they began a corridor chase with the manor owner.

The manor owner seemed very confident, and he certainly had the right to be.

Because the doors and windows are completely sealed, and so tightly secured that they can't be opened even with a hammer, something Iwasaki had already experienced in the previous game.

At this moment, the manor owner resembled a cat toying with a mouse, or a butcher with victory in his grasp.

And that's the mechanism by which players win!
Arrogance is the greatest obstacle to survival, nothing more.

"Yui (meows)!"

Turning his head back, Iwasaki saw that the manor owner had moved away from the hidden door number thirteen, and let out a hoarse growl like an old cat.

Hanging upside down in a concealed spot, Yui the Bat, holding the badge and key, suddenly darted out, her target locked on the wall of room thirteen.

Boom!
She slammed her head against the wall, her body twisting and contorting before quickly returning to human form. With blood seeping from her forehead, she revealed a distorted, morbid smile, her teeth clenched as she resisted the intense dizziness surging through her head.

"In Hoc Signo Vinces! In the name of Hugo!"

Her sound waves spread outwards into the darkness, and wherever they passed, the lamps hanging on the walls lit up one by one.

The River of Light converged and dispelled the darkness; in just two breaths, the entire manor was as bright as day.

Before Yui, the color of the wall faded, and a door bearing the Roman numeral thirteen slowly appeared.

The current situation is completely unexpected by the manor owner.

He twisted his head 360 degrees incredulously, his hate-filled gray-white eyes fixed on Yui kneeling in front of the door. His throat bobbed, and he let out a sharp, explosive sound: "What right do you have to utter those words!"

"Put the badge down!" Then, he completely abandoned everyone else, stretched out his hands, and was about to go to Yui.

But the light from the lamps on the wall suddenly became intense, the light condensing into threads that shot out and bound the manor lord's body like spider silk.

For a moment, he was unable to move.

Yui opened her mouth, stuck out her tongue, and the key was on it.

She didn't even need to use her hands; she simply bit the key handle, inserted it into the lock, listened to the mechanical sound transmitted through her bones, tilted her head, and click—the door opened.

"No!" the manor lord roared in a classic villainous rage.

The threads of light binding his body snapped one by one, and lampstands shattered one after another, casting a shadow over the once bright corridor.

Having done all this, Yui had completely lost all her strength. She simply leaned her head against the wall, placed the badge in her palm as planned, raised it, and waited for someone else to take it.

At this moment, under Iwasaki's command, Nobita, who had circled the corridor, bypassed Yui at the door and rushed into room number 13.

The room was completely empty.

The only thing that stood out was a desk placed in the very center; there was nothing else.

Lu Du rushed in as well, and without saying a word, the two of them began searching through drawers and any possible hidden compartments.

The island raven guarding the gate, seeing that the manor owner was about to arrive, quickly picked up the badge and flew away into the distance.

As the manor owner gradually regained his speed, he didn't even glance at the situation in room thirteen. He completely locked onto the island holding the badge, letting out heavy breaths. With each step and a flash, he frequently reached out towards the raven in mid-air.

Oshima had a hard time hiding, and even his tail feathers were plucked.

After circling around twice, feeling his stamina rapidly depleting and his transformation time dwindling, and seeing that the player in room thirteen hadn't come out yet, he could only grit his teeth and rush down to the lobby.

There was a muffled sound.

He also suffered a head injury and bled profusely.

“Hiss—Gurgle, InHoc Signo Vinces”

He shouted with much more difficulty than Yui.

Fortunately, she managed to say it completely, and the mystical system responsible for receiving this incantation was at least more sensitive than Xiao Ai.

In an instant, the candlesticks on the wall emitted light again, and several thick beams of light shot out, entangling and slowing down the manor lord's movements.

"I will become a legend. Why are you unwilling to become a part of that legend!"

"What an honor!"

The manor owner could not bear to fall in the final round of the game.

Hundreds of years, thirteen rounds of the game, the finish line is just around the corner!

"found it!"

In room number thirteen, Nobita found three bottles of potions.

He looked at Iwasaki.

"Shall we drink it now?"

Iwasaki hesitated for a moment, but the next second, Oshima's heart-wrenching screams came from downstairs.

The plan was not entirely successful, mainly because it took too long to find the medicine.

Without their badges, they would have virtually no chance of surviving until daytime. Of course, more importantly, only two players could leave the dungeon, but the game's design almost explicitly indicated that three were needed.

So he pointed to the dark brown medicine.

Nobita's identity is that of an owl, and based on color, that should be correct.

The other two bottles are white and grayish-brown.

“Then I’ll definitely go for this bottle!” Ludu, representing the goat, took the white potion and downed it in one gulp.

Nobi knew time was of the essence, so he tilted his head back and gulped it down, his face immediately scrunching up like he'd just eaten a lemon.

It tastes awful!

Before he could even utter a complaint, his body reacted immediately and began to deform.

"Bah!"

The first one to drink, Ludu, had already transformed into a goat, shaking his head and staring at the door with a mixture of excitement and wariness.

The manor owner has returned.

His elegant attire was splattered with crimson, exuding a madness. His left hand clutched a blood-stained badge, while his right hand held Yui's head, which he had just removed, blood dripping down her spine to the floor. Behind him, Yui's headless corpse lay on the ground, blood gushing from her throat and neck pooling into a pool of crimson.

The manor owner's face had returned to calm.

"I don't understand why being alive is so wonderful."

"Why are you so desperate to die?"

The "he" the manor owner refers to is likely his own positive personality.

We can't count on him now. We have to leave a clue secretly, so we can't expect him to be of any help.

Iwasaki retreated to a corner, and the cat's body swelled back into human form, leaning against the wall, staring helplessly ahead.

"Goo!"

Nobita, transformed into an owl, spread his wings, looked around, and suddenly crashed into the wall, as if he was about to collide with it head-on.

But the expected setback didn't happen; he simply disappeared into the wall.

Special ability? Iwasaki immediately had a guess.

Thinking of this, he took advantage of the moment to drink the last remaining potion representing the crocodile.

"Baaaah!"

Ludu's horns emitted a golden light as he charged straight at the manor lord.

The manor owner simply smiled coldly and snapped his fingers.

Instantly, all the candlelight went out.

Everything returned to that pitch blackness from which there was no view.

"What—"

A sheep let out a pitiful cry, which was cut off a few seconds later.

At this moment, Iwasaki also completed his crocodile transformation.

He simply couldn't sense any special abilities empowering him.

Perhaps this potion only works if a player in the Angel Game drinks it; his identity is merely that of a servant, and he is not included in the Angel Game.

It's also possible that you need to drink two bottles of the same medicine.

The reason why the nine people in the dungeon felt extremely unwell upon waking up was because they had already been given a potion.

However, finding no two identical bottles of potion in the manor, Iwasaki could only sigh and await the end of this round of the game.

Even with his night vision, Nobita, the survivor, couldn't hold out for long without support.

His ability to pass through walls has a cooldown period, and once he's pinned down, there's no way to counter it.

The correct solution has already come to mind: use the owl's flight and ability to pass through walls to act as the hub between the goat and the crocodile, constantly transferring badges and keeping the manor owner at arm's length.

But even if it's death
Nobita's gaze locked onto the demon statue in the hall.

Bump him!

The owl crashed violently into the statue's back at its maximum speed.

With a cracking sound, his head was almost smashed into his chest cavity.

A splash of blood and feathers erupted.

The somewhat dead corpse slumped to the ground, its nerves twitching, but it did not revert to human form.

The statue remained undamaged, its open demonic eyes filled with mockery.

　Thank you to "翼展千机" for the 400-coin donation.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)