Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes

Uesugi re-entered the game.

As soon as she opened her eyes, she skillfully took out the talisman and placed it in a position where she could take it out at any time. She turned around and took a deep breath.

"Wow——"

Before the giant snake could even roar, she preemptively unleashed a burst of spiritual power, engaging the giant snake head-on in a direct confrontation.

The giant snake had just opened its mouth and flicked its tongue, looking somewhat dazed.

Is this guy having a relapse?

"What you're looking for is right here. If you keep chasing after it like this, I'll blow it up!"

Uesugi held up the sealing talisman and the explosive talisman, looking fierce, but in reality, he was nervous.

Because this statement is rather vague and contains a lot of uncertainty.

The giant snake stopped in its tracks, its sinister yellow-black vertical pupils fixed on the talisman held aloft by the other side.

After a long silence, the giant serpent finally spoke: "How can you prove it?"

call!

This giant snake can actually communicate!

Why bother running? Earth Release and Fire Release are no match for Talk Release!

She suddenly remembered that the character she was controlling in the game wanted to subdue Orochi and make him her shikigami.

As for shikigami, most of them can be communicated with.

But it's not surprising that players can't remember.

The main problem is that the starting point of the game is too cunning. You face a threat as soon as you enter, which creates a strong sense of urgency and makes you only care about running away.

Then, during the escape, I discovered that the items I carried made it easier to escape, and they also replenished my spiritual energy, which deepened my understanding of this aspect.

And this snake was always hissing and snarling, so whenever someone shouted "Hey kid, don't go!" she would anticipate that.

This game so directly solidifies the player's thinking; the most they can think of is running away in the opposite direction, and it's hard for them to think about communication.

“I need to get closer to the cave entrance before I can show it to you,” Uesugi cautiously requested.

Upon hearing this, the giant serpent's aura changed instantly. It slowly raised its body, and an invisible pressure gradually spread out.

"If you don't agree, then kill me. After I'm dead, you won't be able to make this thing." Uesugi withstood the pressure and refused to back down.

The two stared at each other, neither willing to give way.

After a while, the invisible pressure slowly dissipated, and the giant snake stared at her with cold, eerie eyes.

“I know that humans are quite despicable. Today, you broke into my home without cause and kidnapped my son. Why should I trust you?”

So they really are snake eggs.

Uesugi remained silent for a few seconds, refraining from further forceful retorts such as "You are free to not believe me."

Before becoming a master of horror games, she was also a master of visual novels!

You must be careful when choosing options.

Although there are no option boxes in front of her now, she has to rely entirely on her own input.

The fact that the giant snake eliminated the threat was already a gesture of goodwill, and in return, Uesugi should also show some goodwill.

“I know it’s hard for you to believe me, but I can leave everything here except these two talismans. Once I get to the cave entrance, I’ll release it from the sealing talisman and then I’ll leave directly.”

"And you can look closely, there's simply no extra space on me to hide your child."

Uesugi gestured with his eyes to his bag, which was quite empty.

Let alone snake eggs laid by snakes of this size, even chicken eggs would be difficult to hide.

The giant serpent fell into thought, its gaze constantly sweeping over Uesugi.

After a long while, it slowly disappeared into the shadows.

"I'll be waiting for you at the cave entrance."

After saying that, he disappeared completely.

Uesugi remained vigilant. This place was Orochi's home turf, and the other party might have been watching her from the shadows all along, waiting for her to relax her guard and reveal a slight flaw.

Of course, it cannot be denied that she might be overthinking things, because the giant snake now knows that what was stolen from it is in the sealing talisman.

Orochi was clearly not familiar with these talismans, but seeing that Uesugi didn't look like he was hiding snake eggs, he agreed to the condition.

Therefore, if they want their children back, even if they have to take action, it should be before the handover is completed.

Like in those old-fashioned TV dramas, they opened fire during the hostage exchange.

She dropped the bag, maintaining basic vigilance to ensure she didn't fall into the pit, prioritizing the preservation of her spiritual power, and slowly made her way to the exit, which was more than ten kilometers away.

The giant snake didn't urge her, and she didn't know where the other party was.

After spending quite some time, she finally saw the existence of the red spider lily.

These red flowers grew from sparse to abundant, and after seeing the first ray of sunlight, she finally understood why this place was called the Other Shore.

Right at the exit, the narrow cave passage suddenly opens up into a completely different world. The sunlight above is cut through by the cracks, and it falls neatly on the ground and rocks. The ground is covered with a field of spider lilies.

The exit was right in front of them. As for the giant snake, it rose up from the flower and ran over it without causing any damage.

Uesugi stood about ten meters away from the cave entrance and began to unseal the talisman.

The giant snake just stared at her quietly, without saying a word.

Half a minute later, the sealing talisman turned to ashes, and a red egg with spider lily patterns appeared in Uesugi's hands.

Uesugi could clearly feel the giant snake's gaze becoming even more intense. Without looking up, he slowly put down the red egg, then clenched the explosive tag in his hand and slowly retreated towards the exit.

"If you dare to come again, this will be your burial place."

The giant snake glanced at Uesugi, snatched the red egg in its mouth, and turned to go back to the cave.

At this moment, Uesugi also stepped out of the cave and turned around. The bright white light gradually filled his entire field of vision.

"Master is right. There are always higher levels out there. I was too complacent. I will come back one day."

In the end, Uesugi only heard one sentence, as if it were spoken by the character she was controlling.

He was indeed young and impetuous.

Player "Moon" has completed "Escape from the Other Shore". The game will close and scores will be tallied in two days.

You have successfully completed "Escape from the Other Shore" and received the reward "A Snake Bone".

"."

"Huh? That's all, meow?"

Back in reality, Uesugi stared longingly at the reward, his mind racing like a slot machine, constantly generating various offers.

Then reality dealt them a cruel blow.

I finally found a game that I'm good at, and it's the only reward, but I never expected it to be something that seems so random and nonsensical.

As expected, the rewards decreased along with the difficulty.

How do I use this? Are there any prerequisites?

She was determined to see if there was any information available.

A section of snake bone: It may have some special function.

What's the difference between saying something and saying nothing at all?

It can't be used for making soup or soaking in alcohol!

If you can get such a strange item in the game, it means there might be some hidden elements to discover.

But in reality, she really didn't know if she would have any chance of getting this thing and making any use for it.

The most immediate and obvious use she could think of was to find the real-world counterpart of the Cave of the Other Shore, hoping it might trigger some kind of effect.

For example, you could lure out a giant snake that you don't know if it's dead or not, make a contract with it, and turn it into a shikigami or a summoned beast.

But the problem is that she doesn't want to risk going out.

She would rather give this opportunity to someone else.

"Is it only good for trading, meow?"

"Who would I sell it to—wait, it seems like it could be recycled."

"Worth 80 points!!! Meow meow meow!"

Uesugi's eyes gleamed with excitement, and he stammered incoherently.

"Sold it, sold it!"

Uesugi did it without any hesitation.

There's no need to even consider other players, because they certainly can't come up with such a huge sum of eighty points.

To be precise, none of the three players can currently gather eighty points.

They were dirt poor.

The transaction is complete, and Uesugi instantly becomes the richest woman in the player lobby.

She knew perfectly well that since the store was offering to buy it back, it meant that the item was definitely worth more than just these points. But so what? She was determined not to go out and have fun now.

Using points to purchase items is probably one of the most effective ways to improve one's immediate combat strength.

So there's no need to overthink it; safety comes first.

As for who acquired this snake bone, it wasn't the game store, but Higashiyama Shin.

Chapter 135: The Serpent on the Other Shore

"It seems like we gave too much."

"Forget it, suffering a loss is a blessing in disguise. Consider it a loss on my part."

Higashiyama Shin sat at his desk and took out his only reward.

It was a red egg about half the size of a basketball.

The eggshell has a pattern resembling the red spider lily, making it look less like a natural formation and more like a man-made modern work of art.

It looks almost identical to the snake egg in the game.

If I had to say something, after careful observation, I could see that the size was a bit small, and the red wasn't as bright and pure as it used to be; it was more like a pinkish hue.

Then, next to the desk, were two sections of snake bones.

One section is a reward received from Uesugi, and the other is a replica reward from Higashiyama.

The snake bone was about the size of a fist, but it was very heavy, so much so that the table was warped and bent under its weight.

By the window, Ueda hid behind the Soul-Gathering Umbrella, peeking out half an eye and trembling as he looked at the snake egg a few meters away.

"Are you very afraid of it?"

Higashiyama Shin didn't feel any pressure from it, he could only vaguely sense the wisps of eerie energy emanating from the spider lily patterns on the eggshell.

This may be related to the fact that his true form is not a spirit and that he has a restraining attribute against it.

"Mmm! I don't know why, but it feels so scary, even scarier than Uncle Muto. It feels like I'm going to be eaten!"

Ueda was so frightened that he collapsed, turning his spirit into a slime-like ball, perhaps feeling safer that way.

After thinking it over carefully, Dongshan came up with an idea.

The game is called "Escape from the Other Shore". From a real-world perspective, the other shore in Japan is somewhat similar to the Qingming Festival (Tomb-Sweeping Day), and is divided into the spring other shore (spring equinox) and the autumn other shore (autumn equinox).

There are even more legends about the other side, but the most widespread one refers to the other side of the Sanzu River.

In the game, the spider lily is often depicted as the flower that guides souls across the Sanzu River, and it is also the only flower that can bloom in the underworld.

The giant serpent's behavior seemed to suggest a strange symbiotic relationship with the red spider lily.

Um.

Dongshan picked up a section of snake bone and placed it on the eggshell.