Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes

While it's said that their reputation has been elevated, it's mostly been acquired gradually through reselling family collections from their heyday, and much of it is now being talked about as a joke.

Even though the family has fallen into such a state, factional struggles within the family still exist and are quite intense.

The Iwasaki family was not the main family, but rather a key member of one of the factions.

Perhaps because the faction was too powerful and touched the interests of some people, a sudden car accident caused a drunk truck driver to ruin his family's future.

All that was left was the paralyzed Kosuke Iwasaki and his sister Miyabi Iwasaki, who wasn't in the car at the time.

The insurance and compensation are enough for Kosuke Iwasaki and his sister to live a relatively frugal life, and with the faction's compensation, they can live a better life.

But the younger sister was determined to install the best Bocom brain-computer interface on Kosuke Iwasaki, a technology that allows paralyzed patients to control electronic devices with their thoughts and even gradually regain control of their bodies through exercise.

So Iwasaki Miyabi did not choose to live out his life like that, but instead returned to the faction, continued to assist in the work, and kept saving money.

Kosuke Iwasaki was familiar with the technology, but he didn't see much hope for it. The long recovery period and subsequent maintenance costs were quite expensive, and he didn't want to become a burden on others.

However, his sister has the right to choose how to live her life, and after failing to persuade her, he gave up trying to persuade her further.

His sister seemed worried that coming too often would weigh on his mood, so she usually only came once every one or two weeks.

To be honest, I haven't heard from her for the past two weeks.

"Ms. Iwasaki is a very kind person. I have received help from her before. She is the kind of brave person who will stand up and help even if it doesn't concern her."

Goto probably didn't even realize the deep longing on her face when she said those words.

help?

Their contact could only occur in the hospital, therefore...

Kosuke Iwasaki probably guessed it.

She knew her sister's character well; she couldn't stand anyone bullying others. At school, she had been retaliated against for stopping someone from bullying another student. She fought against five people and managed to hold them off until he came to her aid.

"Bro! Aren't I amazing?!"

He still remembered his sister, whose face was covered in bruises and scars, yet who was as proud as a swan, standing with her hands on her hips, looking up at him with an incredibly bright smile.

He couldn't help but smile.

"She's a bit silly, but she's definitely fearless."

Goto seemed a little unhappy that Iwasaki called his idol "stupid," but considering that the other party was Iwasaki Miyabi's brother, he could only swallow his dissatisfaction and muttered a few words under his breath.

Iwasaki pretended not to hear, glanced at the wall clock, and saw it was already past two o'clock.

"Go to sleep early, I'm fine, I just had a nightmare."

"Well, if you feel unwell, please be sure to let me know in advance. There was an elderly person in the same bed who was unwell but wouldn't say anything, and in the end..." Goto covered his mouth, perhaps feeling it was bad luck, and didn't continue. "Good night, Mr. Iwasaki."

clack.

The door and the light were gently closed.

Iwasaki took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and re-entered the game.

Chapter 66: Individual Progress

Nobi family.

Nobita was in his room, looking at the pages full of notes, and clicking his tongue in admiration.

"Asano-senpai is just too amazing!"

He felt a little guilty.

Is this really a good idea? Won't it be considered cheating?

Because Asano seemed to have a strong interest in his puzzle games, Nobita was invited to his house and explained all the clues he had gathered so far.

People like Nobita, when they meet someone who treats them well, will genuinely open their hearts and regard that person as their most precious partner.

If he hadn't finally pulled back the reins of reason, he probably would have revealed the existence of the game.

Then, based solely on his description, Asano deduced step by step how to escape the maze and how to decipher the information about the patrolling demons entering the iron gate.

The girl in the white dress unlocking the phone was the simplest part, and Nobi was too embarrassed to trouble her with even this, so he solved the puzzle himself.

After all, the hints were too obvious: the wedding anniversary flowers and the blurry photo of the two of them on the camera wallpaper all suggested that the phone password was their wedding date.

The available time range is also not large, and it can be solved by hardware.

With off-site support, he reached the Yamanote Line only one day behind Iwasaki.

He couldn't help but admire "Hao," who was ranked number one on the leaderboard, feeling that the other person must be a pro player like Asano-senpai.

Even though he cheated, he still couldn't catch up with the other person's ranking.

Fortunately, he doesn't really need the Rejuvenation Pill; he values ​​the ten-year lifespan of the Longevity Pill more, wondering if it can make up for the losses he incurred while completing the game.

Nobita didn't forget to use the UV light to check the situation inside the carriage, and sure enough, he saw the sign.

This indicates that the worker successfully escaped to the Yamanote Line.

I just don't know where the other person collapsed.

Are there any other stages after the Yamanote route?

However, according to Asano-senpai's speculation, the game will either have one level or more than three levels, and it is very rare for it to have only two levels.

Therefore, there is a high probability that there will be checkpoints after the Yamanote Line.

However, given the game's considerable difficulty, this final level will most likely be a kind of epilogue.

However, it's all just speculation. As long as we haven't gone there yet, no one can say for sure.

In a crevice indicated by the invisible pen in the train carriage, Nobita found another folded cookie wrapper. He opened it, and inside was a piece of paper.

It's just me and Hijikata left.

I feel like I'm not going to escape this awful place.

Perhaps we are already dead, and now we are just struggling in hell, all in vain.

It contained only a few hastily written words filled with despair.

It's clear that the worker has fallen into despair because of the endless railway and the ever-decreasing number of his colleagues.

"Ugh."

With a sigh, Nobita confirmed that there were no other clues on the note before folding it up and putting it back in its original place.

"This should just be a game," he murmured.

When the train arrived at the station, Noguchi regained his spirits.

Because he often gets too focused and engrossed in games, he is very easily empathetic and can sometimes need to remind himself: "This is a game, this is a game," to temporarily detach himself from the emotions.

Shinagawa Station.

If he remembered correctly, this was the starting station of the Yamanote Line.

But this train looks very old; according to his cramming on related knowledge, it should be one of the earliest trams in the country.

Further ahead, you'd have to go for steam locomotives.

As he got off the train that was about to close, he unsurprisingly found the little boy.

Then, like Iwasaki, he embarked on a mission to search for anomalies in the Yamanote Line.

"Looking for differences at the same site? Is this... the 'Exit 8' game that Asano-senpai mentioned as an example?"

At Takanawa Station, looking at the platform that was exactly the same as Shinagawa Station, Nobita instantly grasped the core gameplay of the Yamanote Line.

During the two days of his vacation, he talked a lot with Asano, not only breaking down the ideas and design motivations behind the game "Subway", but also giving examples of playing some games with the same theme. He had played this kind of game of finding anomalies in a loop with Asano before.

In summary, it seems very simple: find the differences, take a picture, and avoid danger.

This is a good thing; it means he was somewhat prepared.

It can't be any harder than the maze we went through before, right?

"This is way harder than a maze!"

Uesugi Hitomi sighed.

With the help of the all-powerful AI, after being stuck for a day, she finally passed through Hibiya Station and boarded the train to Shinagawa Station.

They received the little boy's ticket and camera.

But after only a few stops, it lost its life again.

Besides identifying anomalies, there seem to be unspoken rules at this platform, and taking a picture of an anomaly is definitely a violation of those rules.

As soon as you take a picture, different demons and monsters will appear, some like spirits, and some with physical bodies.

The feeling of dying is different at each station, and that's what makes it hardest for her to bear.

Are you opening a death mystery box here?!

Hell's Kitchen, huh?

The only thing they have in common is that they are both extremely painful, the kind that goes deep into the bone marrow.

Each time she dies, she has to take a shower when she wakes up, otherwise she'll be covered in sweat, her soaked clothes sticking to her skin, giving the impression of someone struggling to breathe while drowning.

"Damn it. I really want to ask for leave."

Having died three times, Uesugi Hitomi emerged from the bathroom limply, leaning against the wall, and sat on the bed, her face deathly pale.

The three days off she had requested were long gone, and she resumed broadcasting the day before yesterday.

The competition among costumed characters is so fierce now that it's become a red ocean. Don't get the illusion that you can make money without broadcasting just because you have a lot of followers.

Most of them are heartless fans who will flock to any new costume that's cuter and more entertaining, forgetting the old ones once they find a new one.

They say they're only promoting one person, but actually it's just the odd number of people. Even 10,001 is considered odd.

In particular, she is an independent person with no big company to back her up, and she has a professional team to maintain her popularity.

If you don't stream for a long time, your popularity will drop quickly, and your income will plummet.

Of course, even if she were a front for some company, she wouldn't get that much money, and she couldn't just take a fake job whenever she wanted.

"By the way, this game mode seems so familiar, like I've played it before."

Uesugi pondered for a moment, sat down at his computer, searched online, and quickly confirmed that he had indeed played it during his live stream.

Later, she felt that this kind of game of finding anomalies didn't suit her loud and boisterous style, so she stopped playing it.

"OK, we'll play this type of game during tomorrow's live stream, just as a practice run to get familiar with it!"

Uesugi pressed the download button for the game, then slowly climbed into bed, threw off the wet blanket, covered himself with a thin one, curled up, and tried to calm the lingering pain in his head before drifting off to sleep.

Chapter 67: Less than a week

"Cough cough!"

"The person you found is unreliable. You actually asked someone as high-ranking as the head of the First Investigation Division to go through these old files."

"The preservation environment is so poor and messy, and the Mainichi Shimbun is supposed to be the oldest newspaper in Japan!"

In the cramped archive room, two figures rummaged through mountains of files, the dust from the papers spreading under the light, making one cough.

Ping Shenglong pulled himself out of the pile of documents, leaned against the doorway, enjoying the cool breeze blowing in from the corridor, unbuttoned his collar, let out a long breath, and offered a few words of explanation.

"Because the newspaper has a lot of information, it has classified the information according to its importance, including permanent preservation, long-term preservation and temporary storage."

"As for the fire at Komagome Academy, since there is no evidence to prove that it is related to the disappearance of teachers and students, it is most likely that it was placed in long-term preservation."

"The long-term preservation period generally does not exceed seventy years."

"After they expire, they will be piled up in these sealed rooms and destroyed in a concentrated manner after they have been stored for more than a hundred years or have reached a certain quantity."

"We're lucky; the documents in this sealed room will be prepared to be burned soon."

Kurosaki chuckled twice: "Thank you very much."

There wasn't a trace of gratitude in his tone.

“I’ve assigned a different direction for the investigation in the First Investigation Division, and everyone has a mission.” Heisei Ryu was telling the truth.

Kurosaki, however, saw through Heisei Ryu's true intentions: "You don't want your subordinates to know the direction of your investigation, do you? Oh, don't worry, I certainly won't say a word."