Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes

Renault nodded, not paying much attention, and took the clothes the hunter handed him.

This is clearly the hunter's best clothing, probably meant for some important occasion. It looks like it hasn't been worn more than a few times; it's very new and clean.

Renault picked up a piece of charcoal, wrote a few words on the ground, and pointed to it.

"I'm very sorry, I can't read," the hunter apologized awkwardly.

Renault sighed, took the Muramasa Myōhō off his back, and then put the clothes the hunter had given him behind him.

Immediately, to the bewilderment of the two men...

The knife came down.

dong dong.

Two muffled thuds came from inside the room.

The boy, who was playing with his ribs outside and was itching to show them off to his friends, turned his head in confusion, carefully approached, and pressed his ear against the wall.

Huh? Why is there no sound coming from inside?

He crept up to the door and peeked inside.

Then he saw it—his parents lying in a pool of blood, their eyes wide open, staring in disbelief at the door.

"Father! Mother!"

The boy's expression changed drastically. He ran in but then stopped abruptly, staring fearfully at the smiling man standing upright beside his parents' bodies.

"Why...why?" the boy murmured absentmindedly.

Renault didn't answer, but just smiled and pointed at the boy's knife, then he raised the Myoho Muramasa.

The boy understood what he meant, and with reddened eyes, he also raised his knife.

"Ahhhhh!!"

He attacked Renault with a barrage of flaws, devoid of skill, driven entirely by emotion.

Renault tried to point out only one of the boy's weaknesses.

Clang.

The boy paused for a moment, but without much hesitation, and still swung the knife with fierceness and determination.

Renault easily dodged the slow, deliberate attack.

Then, the second weakness.

The boy's movements were noticeably slower, but his weapon was not damaged, and he still had the strength to launch an attack.

It seems that attacking weaknesses one by one is not only a waste of time and energy, but also has very low effectiveness, and it does not have any effect on breaking through weapons or armor.

Adhering to the principle of carrying out the experiment to the end, he successively penetrated all seven of the boy's weaknesses.

Blood kept flowing from the boy's body, which was covered in wounds. He had no strength left, and the knife had fallen to the ground. Looking at the unharmed Renault in front of him, and glancing back at his parents' corpses, he pulled out the cheap little dagger his father had given him and launched a final charge.

"Why did you—"

thump.

The boy fell to the ground, the knife in his hand clattering to the floor.

A family of three was wiped out.

Renault calmly stepped over the corpse, changed into clean clothes, put on a straw hat, picked up the wakizashi from the ground, wiped the blood off it, and sheathed it.

Then he walked toward the village that came into view.

Chapter 146: The Demon Blade Contract

'Is the current era name Keicho 7th year? So what is the current Gregorian calendar year in the game? I don't know.'

Even most Japanese people can't remember the era names from hundreds of years ago, let alone a foreign student like him. It would be almost impossible for him to know the corresponding Gregorian calendar year in the game.

As he walked out of the last house in the village, he held a tattered map showing the location of a nearby town, which was probably the main place where the villagers made their purchases.

There are no distance markings, but you can find it by following the stream.

Near that town, there is a body of water that is unclear whether it is a sea or a lake.

If that's the case, then let's go to this place.

He wanted to try walking in any direction to see if the game had any end boundaries.

But let's play around with it first and see what information we can find.

After all, this wasn't an ordinary game, and he was very much looking forward to seeing what kind of generous rewards were promised before entering the game.

Renault left the now desolate village and followed the stream.

After walking less than a few kilometers, he saw smoke rising in the distance and a vast expanse of water.

As he got closer, he finally saw a place name that was somewhat familiar.

Otsu.

It was a very familiar place name; he had even been there in real life.

So this body of water is Lake Biwa, and the place he left was Kyoto.

Were they escorted from Kyoto to Edo?

In ancient times, this was certainly not a short journey.

A group of people were gathered at the entrance, and they had to go through checks before they could enter the town.

A town must have a large population.

Renault glanced at his progress bar, which was only a quarter full, then looked at the bustling crowd, and walked over with a smile.

I wonder if killing everyone inside will allow me to complete the remaining progress.

"Namo Myoho Renge Kyo, this knife has indeed fallen into your hands. You should lay down the knife as soon as possible and not let it corrupt your true heart."

He had just grasped the Myōhō Muramasa in his hand when a chant came from behind him, causing the sword in his hand to tremble violently involuntarily.

Renault turned to face him and could tell that he was a monk, holding a tin staff, wearing a dark robe and a blue cylindrical hat.

In Renault's eyes, the red dots on the man's body were moving rapidly, making it difficult to determine their trajectory.

Is it a boss-level enemy?

Those rapidly moving red dots look so close together that it seems unlikely they'll ever connect; the opportunity is fleeting.

"If you trust me, I will not allow Tokugawa Shogun to take your life."

"But if you can return to the Lotus Sutra, even the ten evils and five heinous crimes can be redeemed. I am willing to bear witness for you and share this karma before the Buddha. From now on, enter my sect, calm your mind and cultivate meditation to cleanse yourself of the killing you have committed."

The monk tried to dissuade him.

Renault just found it funny.

Having a knife in hand and not having a knife in hand are completely different situations.

Once he puts down the knife, he will instantly become a prisoner again, completely powerless to resist. Those in power have a thousand ways to make him wish he were dead. What can a monk's guarantee mean?

Besides, he couldn't bring himself to put the knife down.

It seems to be the basic logic of the game; even if he were unaffected by the knife, he couldn't put it down.

Renault raised his knife.

The monk sighed and chanted a sutra once.

"The blood stain from the butcher's knife is not your true nature. All beings possess Buddha-nature, so why obscure your own light?"

"My Buddhist name is Hosei, and I am the abbot of a minor temple of the Nichiren sect. I am an old acquaintance of your father. Has Mr. Muramasa forgotten his instructions not to use the demon sword?"

Hosei, Nichiren sect, father, Muramasa.

Having noted down these key pieces of information, Renault remained calm and swung his knife forward.

Fa Cheng, with a compassionate expression, easily blocked Renault's attack with his staff, preventing him from targeting Fa Cheng's weak points.

"Namo Myoho Renge Sūtra".

"Killing and harming living beings will surely lead to the Avici Hell; a single thought of repentance will lead to the attainment of Buddhahood."

Fa Cheng struck with a palm, and Renault had no way to dodge. He was hit directly in the chest and sent flying backward.

"Cough cough!"

He crashed heavily to the ground, coughed a few times, and got up. He felt a tightness and numbness in his chest, and could barely lift the knife.

At this moment, the Mystic Village in his hand was channeling wisps of blood energy into him. Within a few breaths, he felt the pain disappear and his injuries heal.

However, at the same time, the knife-shaped progress bar dropped a bit, while the humanoid progress bar rose slightly.

Without time to ponder what this meant, Renault knew he was no match for the monk and that perhaps he should first fill the knife-shaped progress bar with kills before he could put up a fight.

He turned and ran, beheading several panicked passersby in the process, creating chaos.

The guards all shrank back, not daring to come out and intercept them.

Fa Cheng chased after him fiercely, his expression gradually becoming resolute.

'If you don't want to get caught, you'd better think of something quickly.'

Renault attempts to communicate telepathically with the Demon Blade.

The demon sword remained silent for a few seconds, then infused its blood energy into it. The sword-shaped progress bar slowly descended, while the humanoid progress bar gradually rose.

'Interesting. Does the humanoid progress bar represent the degree to which humanity has been eroded?'

'I've killed so many people and I don't feel inhuman at all.'

His blood circulated, covering his legs, and his speed suddenly increased as he plunged into the forest, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Fa Cheng chanted scriptures, and even with his eyes closed, he moved with incredible speed, chasing after the place where Renault had disappeared.

Compared to the clueless Ooshima and Reno, who struggled to gather clues and only gradually figured things out after playing for a while, this game was different.

Another player played the game like it was a breeze.

Because she has a compatibility score of 93 in this game.

This is also why Shinichi Higashiyama couldn't help but invite her.

The score was too high; he was curious to see if players with such high scores could easily dominate the game.

And this proved to be true.

She didn't kill a single person, and despite Fa Cheng's obstruction, she managed to fight him to a draw.

Of course, a very important reason for this is that Fa Cheng knew she hadn't killed anyone and her heart hadn't been corrupted by the demon sword, so he didn't use his full strength.

"The Tokugawa shogun is protected by a highly skilled person who is not someone that ordinary people can defeat. Even with your current skills, you are no match for him. Unless you actually do such a thing, in which case this humble monk will also stop you."

Fa Cheng stood there, looking at the broken tin staff on the ground, clasped his hands together, and left behind a final admonition.

Muramasa Taki wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, gave Master Hosei a deep look, and turned to leave.

Unlike other players, she knew whose story it was the moment she saw the knife.

The third generation of Muramasa, Muramasa Masaji.

At the end of the Azuchi-Momoyama period, because Tokugawa Ieyasu's grandfather, father, himself, and son had all been killed or injured by Muramasa swords, he gradually gained power and, before establishing the Edo Shogunate, ordered a ban on the forging of Muramasa swords, destroyed workshops, and hunted down his direct descendants.

At this time, the Muramasa family had already passed down to the third generation.

According to records, Muramasa Masaji was executed in Mie Prefecture in 1603.

However, given that Ii Naomasa, a man from 1602, is still alive, it is likely that it is 1602 now. Perhaps Tokugawa wanted to meet him by bringing him to Edo.

The reason she was so convinced that this was true history was because she knew that the third and fourth Muramasa had both been possessed by the demon sword and had committed mass killings. Furthermore, she had spent some time with the demon sword Myōhō Muramasa and was very familiar with every grain of its skin. It couldn't be faked.

This history has now been hidden, and even they learned about it from the Nichiren sect.

She had no reason not to believe that the game could be recreated in such an incredible way.

After the fourth generation of Muramasa, the Muramasa family completely disappeared. Every so often, a new generation would emerge within the family chosen by the demon sword. The Muramasa family members would then use methods provided by the Nichiren sect to circumvent the contract that the demon sword had made with Senko Muramasa, thus preventing the demon sword from being born and wreaking havoc on the world.

For hundreds of years, they lived in peace.

Until she was chosen as the ninth Muramasa, the previous methods inexplicably failed completely, and the binding was inevitable. She had to abide by the agreement to offer blood sacrifices to the demon sword regularly, otherwise the demon sword would gradually erode Muramasa Takii's will, turning her into her own sword puppet, and personally collect the blood sacrifices.