Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes

I don't expect to kill the boss on the first encounter.

He was quite self-aware; all he could do was delay his death and try to gather as many clues as possible.

He quickly found a problem sheet.

Do you like heights?

Turn it over and you'll see a pattern of the letter P inserted between the letters X.

The last question found in the owl's room was "Is it related to religion?" If the answer to all questions was "yes", then it points to a creature that is both related to religion and likes to stay in high places.

This basically eliminates reptiles, leaving only insects and birds.

Based on these two questions, isn't the scarab beetle still the only optimal option?

Oshima continued searching around, but found nothing except the problem paper. Just like the owl room that Iwasaki had opened before, there was no potion here.

Park Min-woo huddled in a corner. He sensed something entering the room, rummaging around here and there, but he couldn't see anything due to the darkness.

The footsteps in the corridor drew closer and closer. He was clearly very nervous, but his heart was beating slower and slower, gradually synchronizing with the footsteps.

He could clearly feel that he was starting to lose control of his body; his muscles were stiff, and any movement, even blinking, required more than ten times the strength he usually had.

His will was desperately resisting, but it could only have a weak effect.

Meanwhile, his true form was slowly rising in the darkness, emerging from the corner, closing his eyes, and walking step by step, with his hands hanging at his sides, to the door.

"The game is over, crocodile. Come and receive your reward."

In the corridor, in front of Park Min-woo, the footsteps stopped, and a strangely accented French voice sounded softly.

He couldn't understand the words, but their meaning was immediately imprinted in his mind.

I don't believe you for a second!

"Hah!"

A sudden, sharp pain shot through his neck, and Park Min-woo seized the opportunity to break free from the inexplicable manipulation and regain his senses.

Without pausing, Park Min-woo, having regained control of his body, turned and ran.

Oshima lay on the back of his neck, directing him.

"Meow (left)!"

"Meow (There's a wall in front of me!)!"

He could only remind Park Min-woo by pawing at him, and the latter roughly understood that the cat was helping him and that he probably couldn't avoid using scratching!

His neck and shoulders were almost scratched raw!

This escape didn't last long, because the time for the big island to transform had come.

"Meow!"

With a thud, Oshima pinned Park Min-woo to the ground as he ran, and the two slammed into the wall in front of them.

"Ugh! Don't, don't mind me—ugh!"

Although his body was not seriously injured, the side effects of the transformation caused Oshima to have a severe headache and convulsions all over his body, completely losing the ability to escape.

Park Min-woo couldn't even see his own fingers when he stretched out his hand, so where could he possibly run off to?

I might as well just sigh and wait to die with Oshima.

In the darkness, with a cracking sound of bones breaking, warm blood splattered onto his face, and Oshima's low moan disappeared.

The next moment, he was grabbed by the throat and dragged down the stairs.

Park Min-woo pried at the other person's hand that was pinching him. The touch was quite normal; they were both dressed and in human form.

He reconstructed the map in his mind; this direction was probably towards the hall.

With a thud, he was thrown to the ground and began coughing violently.

"The thirteenth round of the Angel Game has ended."

"From this day forward, I will become a legendary life, ha ha ha."

Amidst the low chuckles, Park Min-woo could smell a damp odor in his nostrils, similar to the smell that rushed up after he was judged to have cheated in the first round of the game.

Gradually, his consciousness faded and he disappeared.

reality.

Regardless of the time of death, to outsiders, they were merely distracted for a second.

The players frowned, silently processing the aftereffects of dying in the game. After a while, they breathed a sigh of relief, picked up the various recording tools they had prepared, and, while the memory was still fresh, meticulously recorded the process of this round of the game.

People like Park Min-woo, who are still in detention and don't even have paper and pen, can only keep a straight face and keep recalling key clues to avoid forgetting them.

If all else fails, you can use dead mosquitoes as anchors for your memories, which is similar to using knotted ropes for record-keeping.

It's fortunate that not long ago he was a top student, and memorizing texts was just a regular thing for him.

"Our approach is correct, at least the general direction is correct."

3:00 AM, Player Lobby.

After dealing with their real-world matters, the players tacitly arrived at the lobby. Once everyone was present, they began to synchronize the clues for this round of the game.

Both the servants and the prisoners gained a great deal from this round of the game.

In other games, this would at least be considered a bad ending.

"The player that Shima met in the crocodile room could only be 'Park'," Nobita nodded after hearing Shima's story.

The information from both sides was perfectly complemented through this round of the game.

The servants have found the keys to open the doors to the three special animal rooms, while the prisoners have pushed a player up there with all their might.

The importance of the three special animals has been basically established.

The next thing to consider is how to deal with the owner of the manor.

“The thirteenth animal,” Tian suddenly said, the camera head making a mechanical, buzzing sound, as if adjusting the focus.

The players looked at him.

"The questions 'Is it related to religion?' and 'Does it like heights?' point to the thirteenth creature," Tian stated his deduction. "It's a creature that the game has been hiding, and it's also the reason for the conflict in the restraint relationship diagram."

After saying that, he kept silent.

The players did not object; Tian's explanation did indeed explain why animal restraint relationships would lead to conflict, and why the three questions would be hidden.

"Following your line of thought, the manor owner used animals that were no longer present as substitutes, replacing the crocodile, owl, and goat with the same animal that truly counters them. This same animal represents the manor owner, so he's actually a player in this angel game?"

Uesugi followed up on his thoughts, adding, "He's afraid? Once these three animals are gathered, they can pose a threat to him?"

"In other words, there are some rules of the game that he cannot interfere with or change."

"The reason we hid the two problem papers we found so far is because when these problems are put together, they point to the animal he represents?"

"So, this is actually still an asymmetrical competitive game similar to Dead by Daylight?"

Taki had actually had this suspicion before, but she wasn't as certain as Tadashi.

She looked at Iwasaki: "That metal box in the master bedroom should contain the key clues on how to deal with the manor owner."

“Yes, I will focus on investigating this in the next round,” Iwasaki replied calmly. “You’d better prioritize getting those three animals to meet the conditions for leaving the dungeon. If only one comes out, the number might not be enough.”

Iwasaki knew without a doubt that the prisoners would be vying fiercely for those three special animal spots.

This is an inevitable fact; if he were moved to the prisoner group, he would do the same.

If he's not a special animal in a turn, he'll cooperate to gather information, but he definitely won't let other players clear the game.

This is a reward that's crucial to the perfect ending; no one can give it up.

Even if it wastes lifespan and time, it's worth it.

However, since he's not in the prisoner group now, he can talk big without feeling the pain. The servants also have to bear some of the responsibility for the opportunities wasted by the prisoner group.

It's best not to waste one's lifespan if possible. The Lifespan Pill isn't free. From his perspective, as the leader of the servant group, it's not a problem for him to ask the prisoner group to cooperate.

The players in the Prisoner Group looked at each other, each with their own thoughts.

Nobita sighed inwardly and spoke up: "The Mutual Aid Association will provide points subsidies to players who have not become special animals."

This can also be considered a function of the guild. After the game ends, the guild will have a guild-exclusive score, which is distributed based on the overall cooperation of guild members in this round of the game. The number should not be large, but it can be exchanged for real points and used to purchase items in the shop. It is entirely controlled by the guild leader.

With this kind of compensation, everyone will eventually feel a little more at ease.

Just a little.

Faced with perfect rewards, it's hard to say anything except for low-desire players like Oshima.

Even Nobita had to go through some deliberation.

Ethan remained silent, lost in thought about those two questions.

There are actually quite a few creatures that like to be in high places and are associated with religion; there are similar legendary creatures all over the world.

For example, dragons, celestial dogs, and griffins.

However, when considering the game's background, the range of options narrows considerably.

When Westerners talk about religion, they think of churches, and there always seems to be a kind of creature high up in a church.

Ethan's eyes flickered slightly. He thought of a possibility, not only a guess about the creature, but also a idea about the other party's location.

The more I think about it, the more likely it seems.

But he soon calmed down.

Because this feature is still too obvious, he is definitely not the only one who thought of it, especially Taki, Yui and Hayato, who all have official teams behind them.

It's easy to guess.

This secret couldn't be kept forever; perhaps while they were discussing it, their official expert team had already included that creature as a prime suspect.

"I have a guess about the animals that those two questions refer to."

After weighing the pros and cons, Ethan took the initiative to speak.

The players looked at him cautiously, slightly skeptical of his words.

Is he genuinely speculating, or is he trying to use this so-called speculation to divert their attention?

Ethan slowly uttered the name: "Gargoyle." Then he offered no further explanation.

The players lowered their heads in thought.

That really does perfectly address those two questions.

First of all, gargoyles are entirely a derivative of religion, widely found in various churches; one could say that without religion, they would not exist.

Secondly, gargoyles originally evolved from gargoyles, which were originally placed high up in churches.

Another important point is that the gargoyle legend has two forms: a day stone and a night beast, which also fits the pattern that monsters in the manor appear at night.

If the third question also points in a similar direction, then it would basically confirm that the thirteenth creature is a gargoyle.

Naturally, this is also the owner of the manor.

They understood why Ethan would say it, because this characteristic, combined with the game's historical context, wasn't hard to figure out.

"Is there something you haven't said?" Tian asked suddenly, having been staring at him.

Ethan's brow twitched slightly. Sure enough, someone had thought of the point he had deliberately omitted.

This is something that's easy to figure out once you think of it, but something you might not be able to think of if you don't.

Tian is clearly the former.

If Ethan doesn't say it, he'll say it.

"Okay, okay, don't you guys think that statue we think is a demon is actually quite similar to a gargoyle?"

"."

Everyone was silent.

If this conjecture is true, it means that the thirteenth animal has actually been staying with them all along?

No wonder the words they spoke when they were found guilty of cheating were like a lingering echo in my ears.

However, since the player eventually leaves the dungeon, it would be more reasonable for the gargoyle's true form to be in the manor.