Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes

So after obtaining the ability to transform into black mist and the "Cave Master's Token" personal space, he planned to take a trip to Nagoya during Golden Week.

Mie Prefecture is also part of the Nagoya metropolitan area, so it's not far away. You can easily bury Ueda while on vacation.

It was worth it for Ueda to work so hard for him.

"Dear passengers, welcome aboard this flight."

The plane is about to take off.

Higashiyama Shin looked at Chiba, whose little face was tense, next to him.

"Are you sure everything's alright?" Higashiyama Shin felt he might need to prepare a vomit bag.

"not dead."

It's rare for Chiba to crack a joke.

He chose to fly because he preferred it; otherwise, taking the Shinkansen would have been more convenient.

But unexpectedly, Chiba seems to have a slight fear of flying.

What time did you go to sleep last night?

"It's quite late."

"Not sleepy?"

"I saw a video about a plane crash while I was staying up late, and after I finished watching it, two more videos were recommended to me."

"."

I hope you're not another "wish fulfilled" Dongshan Du.

"Does your 'not late' mean you stayed up until dawn?"

"Hmm, the next ones they recommended to me were wilderness survival and sea rafting."

"I feel there's a higher chance we'll crash."

"really."

Is there a record of any survivors?

Yes, the probability is...

Listening to the two people's serious yet absurd conversation, Higashiyama, who had been making enthusiastic plans, now wanted to get off the plane.

As expected, he was too normal, which is why he couldn't fit in.

The plane taxied onto the runway.

Chiba stared silently at Higashiyama Shin.

Higashiyama Shin thought for a moment and said, "I've heard that catching oranges can relieve tension."

"There are no oranges."

"It doesn't matter if you grab a little or a little." He said, taking her hand. "Look, when you clench your fist, doesn't it look a bit like an orange?"

"Hmm." Chiba glanced sideways. "Better than oranges."

The weather is great today, but that's to be expected.

Shinichi Higashiyama is like a walking weather doll; he's in a great mood today, so he's decided to clear up the weather.

after an hour.

It's no surprise that the plane didn't crash.

Because if something unexpected happens, he can calculate his fortune on the day he buys the ticket.

"I want eel rice! Two servings!"

This was the first thing Dongshan said after getting off the plane.

The three-day vacation has officially begun, and after the vacation, the monthly game will also be refreshed, a perfect transition.

I really envy the tense and exciting lives of other players, who climb mountains and wade through rivers, endure wind and rain, and suffer bloodshed, with one person every ten steps.

Unlike him, who can only spend his time on vacation, eating, drinking, and sightseeing, without any special activities.

"Stop shouting, hurry up."

"Oh no! Wait for me, bro!"

Dongshan, carrying luggage for three people, struggled to keep up with his brother's back in the crowded airport.

"Wait for me! Don't run so fast!"

Kurosaki was starting to lose his composure.

Damn it, Pyeongsung Ryu, how can you run so fast even if you haven't slept for three days? Is the power of drugs really that strong?

He's even considering taking one to see the effect.

Panting heavily, Ping Shenglong sat in the passenger seat and drove off without pausing, stepping on the gas.

After struggling to fasten his seatbelt, Kurosaki looked up with a sense of utter despair.

"Can you please change your habit of running away as soon as you get a phone call? Tell me first if you're going to die?"

"I really want a vacation, I really want to get a good night's sleep!"

"So, is that demonic mist wreaking havoc somewhere again this time?"

Kurosaki was howling there.

The official codename for Hirofumi Iwasaki is "Black Robe Demon Mist," which is as blunt and simple as ever, and you can easily imagine his image just by looking at the codename.

He had been secretly making sacrifices, and the investigation team had already vaguely discovered that all the victimized families were related to the Arakawa Ryuzaku group.

After wreaking havoc at Chunshan Manor, the demonic mist stopped pretending and appeared multiple times over the course of a few days.

More importantly, his targets are no longer the families associated with the Arakawa Ryuzake Group, because those families are basically all dead, and the investigation team has no way to ambush them.

He then turned his attention to some notorious gangs, keeping the authorities busy.

I finally got a peaceful night yesterday.

"The medicine is almost working, I'm going to sleep." Heisei Ryu squinted, his head starting to nod.

Kurosaki instantly perked up: "Even sleeping requires such a rush? Should I drive?"

"No need, we're almost there."

The car drifted and came to a smooth stop at a hotel parking lot.

Just as Ping Shenglong turned off the engine and was about to open the door, he suddenly closed his eyes and slammed his head on the steering wheel.

"No way, buddy! Are you kidding me?!"

Looking at the soundly sleeping Taira no Ryu, Kurosaki thought that if he stayed in that position all day, he probably wouldn't be able to get up.

"You're the team leader, I'm just the advisor."

Kurosaki awkwardly pulled him out of the car, carried him to the front desk, and booked a double room under the surprised gaze of the receptionist.

"I haven't slept for three days, I should at least get a full day and night of sleep, that would count as a holiday."

Advisor Kurosaki threw Taira no Tatsumi onto the bed and went to lie down on another bed himself.

I sent a message to Nakajima and the others, thinking I would happily take advantage of this rare time to catch up on some sleep, but I found that I couldn't fall asleep no matter how much I tossed and turned.

My mind is full of clues that I haven't properly organized yet, which have accumulated over the past few days.

He reluctantly got up, looked at Ping Shenglong's sleeping face, and sighed.

"Let's call our last analysis contest a draw. This time, the winner will be me."

"Because I used the time you spend sleeping to work hard!"

He sat down at the table, took out his notebook, and began to bury himself in organizing the clues he had gathered over the past few days.

Sunset and moonrise.

Just as Kurosaki had pieced together a clue, Heimori Ryu woke up after only half a day's sleep.

"You only slept for half a day?" Kurosaki yawned.

"Hmm." Ping Shenglong, who had just come out of the bathroom, didn't seem fully awake yet. He stared blankly at the light switch on the wall for several seconds before finally asking, "What new discovery did you make?"

"Aren't you hungry?" Kurosaki was about to order takeout.

"Not urgent."

"Okay, it's not a new discovery, just a reorganization of my thoughts. There might be some things you've already thought of in it."

Kurosaki cleared his throat.

“This can’t go on forever. We’re being led by the nose. This situation reminds me of random murders and random Coca-Cola poisoning incidents in the past. Now we can use AI and big data to solve them, which is why random incidents haven’t been able to get away with them for long in recent years.”

"Correspondingly, this time the enemy is not an ordinary person, but a superhuman with almost omnipresent abilities."

"His reluctance to lay a hand on us investigators is more likely due to simple disdain."

“But if we pose any threat to him, he will show absolutely no mercy.”

Ping Shenglong nodded, his mind slowly returning to normal: "I understand what you mean. We also need to develop targeted abilities, otherwise simply finding the other side won't be of much use. With abilities like the Demon Mist, they can escape to any place at any time."

“I spoke with people at the investigation headquarters, and they shared the same view. They only conducted formulaic investigations of suspicious individuals and dared not delve too deeply.”

"The government and the US are already developing targeted weapons, and there should be progress soon."

Kurosaki hesitated for a moment, seemingly unconcerned about what Heisei Ryu had just said: "I have a guess, but it might be a bit far-fetched."

"I've already read three reports proving that the extraordinary beings come from outer space." Ping Shenglong rubbed his temples. Those reports were written by various experts from the investigation headquarters; some were alright, while others were just a waste of database space.

He didn't believe Kurosaki's conjecture could be any more outrageous than theirs.

"The game that Asano mentioned talking about with Nobi a few days ago, is it possible that it's actually a game?"

"..." Heisei Ryu didn't reply, he just stared at him.

Kurosaki picked up the notebook and handed him the timeline he had drawn.

"Otsuka Natsuki's experience after entering the subway was almost identical to the game Nobi and Asano discussed."

"This photo shows the handwriting from the train carriage ruins, which was restored to match the descriptions of the two people."

"The year 2031 was left by Otsuka and the others, and the year 2037 is the time Nobi and Asano talked about."

"According to the plot that Nobi and Asano discussed, the character he was controlling was a man who was preparing to celebrate his wedding anniversary with his wife. This setting is exactly the same person as the owner of that greeting card."

"You must have thought of this as well. The game that Nobi and Asano talked about is based on that man's perspective."

"He also mentioned a girl in a white dress. Don't you think that description sounds a lot like Natsuki Otsuka's friend who died in the subway?"

"There are two possible interpretations here."

"First, Nobita experienced that past through some medium—a game or a movie. And his acquisition of the Rider's power is also related to this. After completing the game, he deduced the time of the Centipede Train's birth based on the time messages on the train, which is why he warned the Metropolitan Police Department and boarded the Hibiya Line train."

"Because it involves solving a mystery, and Nobita uses a game-like explanation, I prefer to present it in a game-like format."

"Of course, it's not impossible to become a third party and offer help to people from the past to solve mysteries."

"Secondly, Nobita was dreaming all of this, a dream he couldn't distinguish between reality and illusion, which is why he sought help from Asano. After the dream ended, he gained the abilities of a knight."

Kurosaki rattled off a long string of words, took a sip of water, and waited for Heisei Ryu to digest them before continuing.

"Then, the key point is that Nobita and Yougi know each other! And it seems they've had quite a bit of interaction, so can we assume that..."

Kurosaki gripped Taira no Ryu's shoulders with both hands, staring at him nervously.

"Their abilities come from the same source."

"They all gained it through similar experiences, and there are more than just two people like them."

Heisei Ryu didn't speak; his mind was analyzing the logic and consequences of Kurosaki's words.

If that's really the case.

So who organized this game? How many players were there? How were the players selected? What was the scope of the game?

The more you analyze, the more answers you desperately want to know emerge.

It can even make people feel powerless.

They can't even handle these suddenly appearing supernatural beings, so how are they supposed to deal with those who can control players and treat history and reality as games?