Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes

And please don't tell my brother everything we investigated. Please, thank you!

Ya-liu

TNT? Whose nickname is that?

From the information, Ya didn't seem to realize that Otomo and Toshitaka were in cahoots.

Like Miyabi, Iwasaki no longer cares about why the car accident happened.

But he knew that the Iwasaki family should not exist anymore.

The saying that a knife is only effective when it is wielded by someone qualified to wield it is true, but Iwasaki doesn't need a knife right now.

The old man she was referring to, Iwasaki, was none other than the current head of the Iwasaki family.

Since the younger sister's final wish is to cause a scene at the Iwasaki family head's seventieth birthday banquet.

"As you wish, Ya."

"The Iwasaki family only needs me."

"As for the rest, I will ensure the entire family remains intact."

"Buried with you."

Chapter 98: Proposing a Conjecture

"My players really have a lot of secrets."

Higashiyama family.

After having dinner with the Chiba family at Matsumoto-ro that evening, Shin Higashiyama went home and started looking at the players' daily summaries, a new feature he discovered when he was preparing to use his points to buy new games.

The main reason was that he had completed the rotating game for the month perfectly, and he had a lot of free time.

This feature allows you to see what the official player has done and what they are doing at any time. It usually reports what has happened in text form, and can also invade the player's real-world first-person perspective when necessary.

Of the three players currently,

Nobi Tomoyoshi's predecessor had his soul swapped by Muto Tetsuro.

The situation within the Kosuke Iwasaki family is complex and rife with infighting; they are more like enemies than a single family.

Apart from Uesugi Hitomi.

She really does seem to be just an ordinary, unremarkable woman.

His life experience wasn't particularly impressive, but it was at least fairly normal.

The first half is an inspirational story: born in a rural area, he was admitted to Tsukuba University because of his good grades, and found a good job after graduation.

Then came the "lying down" scenario: after two years of working, he found himself unable to adapt to workplace life and even developed a serious mental illness, including fear of crowds, meetings, ringing phones, and face-to-face communication. In short, he suffered from social anxiety.

Then he resigned and went into seclusion, incidentally becoming a virtual streamer.

Because of his quick wit and ability to create entertaining content, he quickly started earning money.

"Brother Dongshan! The changes inside the umbrella are over! The speed at which Yin energy is gathering has increased, and there's now a strange red pool in the middle, along with a few more rooms!"

Ueda popped his head out of the Soul-Gathering Umbrella and shouted excitedly.

This is the work of the sinful souls sacrificed by Iwasaki.

Yes, those souls were indeed offered to him, the "unknowable," and he absorbed these sacrificed souls through the Soul-Gathering Umbrella.

It's clear that the Soul-Gathering Umbrella isn't just a place for spirits like Ueda to rest; it can also transform sinful souls into nourishment, enhancing their own quality, and seemingly even expanding the internal living space? This probably means it can accommodate more spirits.

This kind of setup feels strangely familiar and comforting.

The Emperor's Banner!!!

Don't think I won't recognize you just because you changed your skin and dressed up as an umbrella!

The quantity and quality of the sinful souls offered by Iwasaki were mediocre, and they did not activate any new functions of the Soul-Gathering Umbrella that were useful to him.

Ueda could sense the extra pool of blood in his mouth; it was used to accumulate sinful souls. Those souls would endure constant torment and be purified within it, transforming into wisps of pure Yin energy that circulated within the umbrella.

It's practically a paradise for spirits, but an inescapable hell for sinful souls.

Although it has little effect now, it has a promising future!

As long as Iwasaki continues his efforts to combat evil, the Soul-Gathering Umbrella will surely get better and better.

You are truly my outstanding employee! Not only did you strive to achieve a perfect clear in the game, but you also worked overtime to complete your performance targets as soon as you regained your mobility in real life (choking up). I must give you the Best Employee Year-End Bonus at the end of the year!

After studying the new features, Shin Higashiyama continued with his original plan and purchased the new game.

He currently has over 600 points, which means he can buy both "Escape from the Other Shore" and "Heart of the Ninja" together, except for "Peach Blossom Village".

One is miniature, the other is small.

Having just finished a mini-game, he was slightly worried that the player's lifespan might run out before he knew it, so he decided to check out the micro-games first.

I have already purchased "Escape from the Other Shore".

[The settlement for "Subway" is not yet complete. Please start the game again after the settlement is finished.]

[Escape from the Other Shore (Adventure, Racing, Survival): In Dewa Province, deep in the mountains from the Mogami River, lies a village called Orochi Village. Nearby is a cave called the Other Shore, where legend says a giant serpent dwells. A young Onmyoji, hearing the rumors, desires to capture it as a shikigami (spirit), enters the cave, becomes trapped inside, and nearly loses his life on the Other Shore.]

This game has only one ending; the first player to complete it will receive the ending reward.

[Inviting new players is not supported when purchasing games with points]

There's even a game introduction? Is this the service you get after paying points? It's definitely different.

Good explanation, quite detailed.

Since we can't play it right now, let's leave it for now.

I haven't had time to study the rewards I got yesterday in detail yet. Now that I have some time, I can try to familiarize myself with the players' abilities and the new items I've acquired.

"This escape cave order... it can't be what I'm thinking, can it?"

Player Lobby.

Nobi had to go to school in the morning, so his discussion with Uesugi was interrupted.

So, late at night, after Nobita had been restlessly thinking all day, he went back into the hall, where Uesugi was already waiting, looking rather bored.

They took full advantage of their initiative and continued to discuss the game's plot and details, mutually confirming their conjecture that "the game may be based on real history."

This also means that an extremely serious disaster may occur at the Hibiya line early the day after tomorrow!

Nobita couldn't even imagine the terrifying and catastrophic consequences if the monsters he encountered in the game actually came to life.

Especially the monster named Zhu Hai that they encountered at the end.

It doesn't look like something an ordinary person could handle. Even Nobita himself, who already has superpowers, doesn't have much confidence in being able to fight against it.

"These are just our guesses. There is no way to verify them at the moment. Perhaps nothing will happen that day, and it will just be a false alarm."

Uesugi couldn't even convince himself of his own words.

The further you play this game, the more you can feel the realism of the characters and the correspondence between details.

Kosuke Iwasaki logged in once while Nobi was away and told Uesugi how to achieve the perfect ending.

Uesugi relayed the story during the discussion, letting Nobita know what happened.

"No, perhaps I have a way to verify it."

Nobita shook his head slightly, and what came to mind was the woman holding a bouquet of cherry blossoms that he occasionally encountered on the Yamanote Line train after school these past few days.

The white-dressed girl's words, Chun Han Ying,

A photo of two girls on the phone.

She was waiting for someone, yet she didn't want that person to actually appear.

Everything aligned perfectly.

The girl in the white dress was perhaps waiting for the woman he met on the tram.

The verification method is very simple.

Follow her on a tram ride.

If it's a loop around the Yamanote Line and the Hibiya Line, then it's definitely true; he doesn't believe there's such a strong coincidence.

Even though this increases his risk of exposure, he is willing to try it.

Uesugi didn't press Nobi for his method, as that would obviously involve issues of reality and ability, violating the principles set that morning.

"Then I'll leave it to you. If you have any news, please send me a private message."

"I see"

Chapter 99: Verifying the Conjecture

Saturday, April 4.

"Huh, why does it show that there are changes to the subway schedule tomorrow?"

"There aren't many changes, just speed limits in [Diplomatic Mode], some stations will be delayed by a few minutes, and a few subway exits will be closed."

"Oh, it's a foreign visit? Really, it's just a matter on land, what does it have to do with underground?"

In the afternoon, after a noticeably upgraded security check, Nobita arrived at the Yamanote Line.

This timeframe was determined by him based on the time he had previously encountered that woman.

There's a high probability you'll encounter this train at this time.

If it doesn't work, we'll wait for the next one. He knows the blind spots of the subway's surveillance cameras very well; they were all discovered at the cost of his life.

He also understood that even if he could avoid the surveillance cameras, taking the subway for no reason would inevitably increase the risk of exposing himself.

However, if he is unsure whether the subway's ending will actually happen in reality, he will feel uneasy and unable to find peace of mind.

"Am I taking myself too seriously? Phew, I'm already here, let's do our best, Nobi!"

As the first train stopped, Nobita adjusted his glasses and quickly scanned the figures inside the slowing train.

No.

Next trip.

After pretending to be scrolling through his phone while waiting for two trains, he finally spotted that familiar figure.

She still had an exquisite makeup look and held a bunch of cherry blossoms in her hands.

The blossoms weren't as beautiful as they had been before, probably because the cherry blossom season is basically over and fresh camellia blossom branches are hard to find now.

Nobita kept a safe distance, found a place to sit down, looked down at his phone, and glanced at it from time to time.

Every time I see this woman, she's dressed like an office worker. Does she work in the morning and rest in the afternoon? And does she also have to work on Sundays?

Nobita's mind raced based on the details the other party showed.

My fingers absentmindedly swiped across the news on my phone: "[The Komagome Gakuin case on April 4.4 has been solved, and the suspect has been detained]".

While he was lost in thought, the train unknowingly stopped at Ueno Station, and the woman got off.

Nobita followed the others out of the car and walked behind the woman.

The further he walked, the colder his heart grew.

This is a transfer route, and it's the Hibiya Line.

In that instant, Nobita's face turned pale, and he was somewhat dazed, boarding the same train with her in a daze.

The woman, holding a bouquet of flowers, stared blankly out the car window, completely unaware that Nobi was following her.

After the woman circled around the Hibiya Line and returned to Ueno Station, Nobi gave up following her as she was about to transfer back to the Yamanote Line.

Did not run away.

This woman was the girl in the white dress's companion. They walked together to Kisaragi Station, but in the end, only one of them got a ticket to go back.

This also shows that what happened in the subway is a true historical event.

Asking in person would completely expose the truth, and at this point, it can no longer be explained by coincidence.

If the Crimson Skeleton Demon really does appear in the human world...