Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes

The strange, dark figure averted its gaze from the bouquet and looked at Nobita, handing the bouquet back to him.

"Oh, you don't want it?"

Nobita was a little surprised, thinking it might trigger some kind of plot.

He obediently took the flowers back, and the dark figure began to squeeze into the almost full carriage, just like the other dark figures.

He seemed to be much "stronger" than the other humanoids, and little by little, he pried open a gap and crawled inside.

The car door started to move, it must be about to close.

Snapped!

Just as the car door was about to close, the strange dark figure kicked one of the humanoid figures out of the doorway.

The train started moving, clattering off, and drove away.

Only Nobi and a black humanoid figure, whose identity was unclear, were left standing on the platform, surrounded by empty space with no other moving objects around them.

Nobi stared at the human figure that had been kicked off the train with a strange look. His head seemed to droop even lower. He stood blankly facing the direction the train had left for a while before turning around, seemingly heading somewhere unsure of where.

Nobita quietly followed behind, taking a look at the "new map".

If the announcement is correct, this is Kasumigaseki Station, but it's unclear what era that station dates back to.

He could only tell that it was much older than the Tsukiji Station on the left. Rows of milky-white glass-shaded chandeliers hung from the vaulted ceiling, emitting a slightly yellowish light. Rusty emergency light stands hung beside the columns. The walls were covered with cream-colored square tiles, with copper strips embedded in the grout lines for moisture protection.

There are so many decorations that I've never seen in real life or in movies and TV shows, and they're full of a sense of nostalgia.

These trains from different eras are like ghosts in a time warp, constantly sending him further and further into time, to an era frozen in a certain moment.

If you were to take another train, you might see what the Hibiya Line looked like when it first started operating.

However, this is on the condition that there is another train for him to board.

"'Go to Hibiya!'" Nobita saw these words on the wall, the color of which seemed to be the same as the arrow on the stairs at Tsukiji Station, as if they were written with red crayon.

The black humanoid figure that had been kicked down stopped. He stood there motionless, and the scene around him rippled slowly, like a pebble thrown into a lake.

Slowly, a small campsite with a few tool kits, convenience food packages, and clothes scattered on the ground came into view.

Yes, Nobita immediately recognized it as a campsite, and one that appeared to be set up by humans.

Combined with the snack packaging previously found in the carriage

He quickly squatted down, picked up a few packages, and found the production dates.

Sure enough, just like the food scattered inside the carriage, it was food produced in 2019.

So—it's the same group of people!

After getting out of the car, they stopped here temporarily to discuss how to proceed.

In a daze, he seemed to see several people lying or sitting here, looking tired and still unsettled, discussing something.

Nobita carefully searched the toolbox and clothes left behind, hoping to find some clues.

In the end, he only found a strange flashlight, but when he turned it on, it emitted ultraviolet light.

Apart from that, they were all obviously useless little gadgets.

"Ultraviolet light can either ward off ghosts, or..." Nobita turned on the light and shone it on the black humanoid figure that was standing there blankly.

No reaction at all.

He then turned the light on the blank walls around him.

He quickly found the information he was looking for.

[This gap]

Several words appeared under ultraviolet light.

Besides the words, there are several arrows pointing towards a crack in the wall.

Nobita turned on the light, looked around to make sure there were no other writings, and then approached the wall. Upon closer inspection, he could see that something seemed to be stuck between the cracks in the broken bricks.

He touched it and felt that it was made of plastic, so he gently pulled it out.

It was a folded plastic cookie wrapper.

Inside the packaging was a folded piece of paper.

Nobita carefully and slowly took the paper out of the packaging bag and unfolded it.

Lines of messy handwriting appeared.

Chapter 47: To Those Who Follow

To those who come after, whose existence is uncertain:

We are the construction monitoring team of ==== Company, and my name is ====.

A few days ago, we accepted what we heard was an official assignment with a generous reward. The task was to lead a team this morning to conduct special operations inspections on several closed passages along the Hibiya Line.

But for some reason, we got lost in the passage.

It took us several hours to find a new exit, but the exit led us to Hatchobori Station.

The entire platform was deserted, with no exit passages, and even the route we came from had disappeared. Only one train seemed to be waiting for us.

By then, the situation was clearly not right, and everyone was a little panicked, but they still managed to stay rational. So after discussing it, we decided to get on the bus and take a look.

Although some people expressed their unwillingness to get on the bus, it was clearly worse for a few people to stay here alone, so they had no choice but to obey the majority and get on the bus with us.

The train was normal, and even the route was normal, until it brought us to the eerie Tsukiji Station.

I don't know if you came from there, or if you encountered anything we encountered. I really don't want to think about it, even though only a few hours have passed and my six coworkers are gone forever.

I regretted it. Sure enough, peony cakes don't just fall from the shelf; the official team wouldn't be so kind as to offer such a generous reward. I originally thought it was to keep those secret passages a secret.

It's too late.

We now have two options.

One option is to follow the direction in which the train disappeared and head towards Nakameguro.

Secondly, we can turn back to Hibiya Station, where things were clearly not going well. We got off at that station, and perhaps that's the only way back.

We had a disagreement. He didn't want to follow me anymore. He took two other people with him and wanted to go with the disappearing train.

I couldn't stop him, nor was I confident that my choice was the right one. After all, I was the one who led them to where they are today.

Now, there are four of us with me, and we've decided to go to Hibiya Station together.

We only have ballpoint pens and oil-based UV invisible ink pens on us. If possible, I will use the invisible ink to leave marks.

I've left the UV lamp with you; I hope it won't run out of power.

Good luck, to those who come after.

Wish me luck too, my son is graduating from the University of Tokyo, and I've made a promise to attend his graduation ceremony.

Should I give a bouquet of sunflowers or lilies?

After reading the contents of the paper, although a few words seemed to be blurred by force majeure, the overall information was still very clear.

They were commissioned by the authorities to conduct special inspections of several closed passageways starting from Hibiya Station.

It's probably not maintenance; if it were maintenance, the official team would definitely have a dedicated team for it.

Then they got lost in the tunnel.

Therefore, the problem most likely lies in that closed passageway.

Thinking of this, he recalled the rumors he had learned while searching for information about the possible existence of wartime tunnels and secret passages along the Hibiya Line.

However, those rumors are difficult to investigate in depth, and there is no substantial information to back them up.

Nobita looked somber.

That strange dark figure from before was probably the foreman who left him the note.

Since he has become a shadow, it means that he ultimately failed to leave the subway.

No wonder he was attracted to his own bouquet of flowers.

He promised his child that he would present the bouquet of flowers at the graduation ceremony, but in the end, he couldn't give it to them.

Nobita read the contents of the paper several more times, made sure he had memorized them, folded it up again, put it back in the plastic packaging, and stuffed it back into the gap.

Who knows, someone else might accidentally wander into this place in the future, so I can't be so selfish as to take it.

Even if it's just a game.

Taking a deep breath, Nobita summarized the information he had gathered so far.

From notes to arrival announcements, and then to the actual scene at Kasumigaseki Station.

The announcement seemed to mention a transfer. Could it be that we've found a transfer point? But this station isn't endless; you can see the end of it at a glance. There are no stairs or anything like that, and no other trains are running.

He rummaged through his belongings, but the fish eyes he had placed so much hope in showed no reaction and offered no direction.

"So now I'm facing the same dilemma as the workers: which direction to go."

"The worker who decided to go to Hibiya Station has become a shadowy figure, which means he is dead. But we can't hastily conclude that the direction to Hibiya is wrong."

Nobita looked up at the dark tunnel and sighed inwardly.

He knew he was bound to die here a few more times.

He stood there for five minutes to think it over. After careful consideration, Nobi still agreed more with the worker's decision, as going to Hibiya Station was clearly more reasonable.

The train should have stopped at Hibiya Station first, but it couldn't stop there due to construction, so it jumped to Kasumigaseki Station instead. This was clearly a hint to the player.

In addition, the map found on the fanatics had the word "Hibiya" written on it repeatedly.

And there are red words "Go to Hibiya!" left on the wall, which should be the same color as the arrow at Tsukiji Station, indicating that they were left by another survivor?

The worker didn't mention it, suggesting it might have been left by a survivor who came in after the workers.

From this perspective, the goal is clear; the only remaining challenge is how to achieve it.

Walking there? It seems like that's the only way.

Hopefully, the worker can leave more useful information along the way.

"That's why I don't like horror games."

Nobi adjusted his breathing, turned on his phone's flashlight, slowly climbed down the tracks, looked around at the equally dark area, and chose to walk step by step into the dim tunnel from which the train had come.

The tunnel was so dark that even light could hardly penetrate it, barely illuminating the tracks just a few meters ahead.

Nobita walked along, glancing back every few steps, unaware of the danger lurking nearby.

He only dared to turn on that ultraviolet lamp occasionally, for fear that it would run out of power.

Dang Dang Dang Dang Dang Dang Dang Dang

"I knew it!"

After walking for less than five minutes, Nobita heard the sound of a train coming from directly ahead.

Running back now is definitely too late. The walls on both sides of the track are very narrow, and even if you hug the wall, you probably won't be able to avoid it. The only chance of survival is to lie on the track.

This was only because the train's chassis was high enough; otherwise, the train would have been in a terrible state.

But he still wanted to take a gamble, so in desperation he touched the railway tracks—

In that instant, Nobita seemed to see his grandmother.

"Aaaaaah! My head!!"

Secret base.

Nobita didn't go home today, and his father didn't contact him either.

So he went to the convenience store where the girl who gave him water that day worked, bought some food, charged his phone for a while, and then returned to his secret base.

Unfortunately, I didn't run into that girl in the afternoon.

After his death, Nobita curled up like a shrimp on the tattered mat, clutching his head tightly with both hands, enduring indescribable pain.

"Why are the rails electrified?!"