Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes.

Chapter 16.16: The True Ending
When Higashiyama Shin returned home with bags full of things, Higashiyama Doku was on the phone, shouting and yelling in an exaggerated manner.

"That's all for now, my brother's back! Brother! Brother! Something terrible has happened at school!"

Higashiyama Doku's exaggerated shouts came from the living room. He jumped up from the sofa and ran to Higashiyama Shin's side.

Higashiyama Shin placed the snacks on the table, sorted them, and put them into the snack cart. He casually asked, "What important matter is it?"

“My classmate is in the orchestra. He was practicing at school tonight, but around 8 p.m., the head coach and instructor suddenly rushed in and kicked them out. Before they even left the school, they saw a huge number of police cars and ambulances driving into the school! It almost blinded him. For so many police cars to be involved at once, there must have been some kind of murder!”

As he spoke, Dongshan grabbed a bag of potato chips, popped it open with both hands, and started eating.

"It's very likely indeed." Higashiyama Shin nodded perfunctorily, unsurprised; no one knew the situation better than him.

"Brother, do you think we don't have to go to school tomorrow?" Dongshan Du suddenly leaned closer, his true intentions revealed, which was the main reason for his excitement. "If it's a major murder case, we should at least be suspended from school for three days, right? That's how it's portrayed in TV dramas."

"I'm sorry, this isn't a TV drama. We'll have to wait for further notice." Higashiyama Shin shook his head, wondering what the school would do. If it was just one person who died, and it was an accident or suicide, it shouldn't affect normal classes. But the current situation definitely didn't look like a suicide, and there were more than one dead.

If one suspects that a vicious criminal is lurking nearby, suspending classes is not out of the question.

In a way, Higashiyama is a bit like him; he only cares about people close to him and doesn't care much about the life and death of strangers.

Just like when he was in the old teaching building, he had the opportunity to save everyone, but in order to see the other party's strength and methods clearly first, he chose to hide temporarily and then make a move when he had made a good assessment.

However, Shinichi Higashiyama felt that he was doing quite well.

He had noticed long ago that when a murder was mentioned, many people would casually say something like "How pitiful" or "How tragic," as if to make their words and actions fit the atmosphere.

However, the volume of gloating on online media has remained considerable.

He tends to be indifferent to things that don't concern him, and even at school, he doesn't hold a position or concern himself with any affairs.

"Don't you have a Line group? Your teacher is in it too. He'll let you know if there are any announcements." Shinichi Higashiyama walked into the room carrying an umbrella and a reusable bag.

"I almost forgot, let me see."

In the room, Shin Higashiyama carefully packed the remains and then stuffed them under the bedside table.

"Okay, now let's talk about your situation."

【Me? My name is Ueda Yoshi, my real name is Ueda Taro. The name Yoshi was given to me by Muto, who said it sounded better and was more suitable for city life.】

Ueda introduced himself with a slight nervousness.

"Tell me what happened after you and Muto came to Tokyo."

【OK.】

Through Ueda's halting descriptions, Higashiyama Shin gradually learns the true ending of the game "Soul Swap".

The incident began similarly to that in the game, with Muto traveling to the countryside to find children of suitable age for their birth.

Ueda's birth date is neither compatible nor incompatible with Muto's, but there are ways to remedy the situation. The main reason is that Muto's days are numbered, and Ueda is the best candidate he has found so far. Ueda has no interpersonal relationships, is in good health, and has an easy personality to manage, so he is considered as a backup option.

At this time, Muto was still a teacher at Komagome Academy. He became a teacher because this position made it easier for him to observe his students, which satisfied his needs and plans.

But this was only discovered later; just like in the game, Muto never revealed that his real job was a teacher.

Ueda initially thought Muto was a good person, but gradually he discovered something strange. Muto seemed to have many secrets. In addition to his normal work hours, he often went out at night. Every time he went out, he looked very weak, but when he returned in the morning, he looked rosy-cheeked. Ueda wondered what he had done.

One night, he secretly followed him and discovered that Muto's destination was the school, and that he only wanted to sneak into the library and stay there for a few hours.

The game and reality diverged here; he hadn't unlocked this information in the game. Until one day, when Muto returned, he was still in that weak state, and Ueda sensed that Muto's gaze towards him seemed to have begun to change.

Ueda sensed something was wrong, but he didn't know why or what to do.

About a week or two later, one night, Ueda felt particularly sleepy after dinner and went to bed before seven o'clock.

When he woke up, he found himself tied up in the library, but luckily, he had been carrying a bundle of matches.

After struggling for a while, he used a cluster of matches to start a fire, burning through the ropes binding him.

His memory of what happened next became confused. The fire got out of control, and he inhaled a lot of smoke and dust. He only remembered that Muto, who was covered in burns, found him in a rage and took him out. His eyes were bloodshot with anger and resentment. He said it was all his fault for disrupting the ceremony.

Then they knocked him unconscious, and he doesn't remember the rest.

Including how he died, and how Muto became a ghost.

"enough."

Higashiyama Shin took out his game notes and the "Soul Nourishing Manual" and matched them one by one with Ueda's description.

There are two thresholds to understanding the "Soul Nourishing Classic".

One is an ability similar to reading sheet music, where the knowledge content is encrypted and requires a special method of deciphering constellations; this aspect is called "external scripture."

Another aspect is the understanding of terminology, which is knowledge that cannot be comprehended until one reaches a certain level; this is the esoteric teaching.

As a master of the Five Stars, reading this is not difficult, but it is slightly obscure because of unfamiliarity.

After reading it carefully, he roughly understood why Muto would sneak off to school every now and then.

Because he was using a formation called the "Soul-Seizing and Vitality-Stealing Formation" to absorb the students' vital energy to replenish his life force and forcibly prolong his life until his lifespan could no longer be replenished.

At the same time, that formation should also be an important part of the soul-swapping ritual.

The true ending and another important branching point in the game is undoubtedly Muto's last trip out. He must have found a more suitable person to swap souls with than Ueda beforehand, and took Ueda to the library, probably as a backup in case of emergency.

However, Ueda's act of setting fire to the building completely exceeded Muto's expectations, disrupting the formation he had set up in the school building and making it impossible for the ritual to continue.

Although it's not possible to swap souls with the better candidate, if it's Ueda, the ritual will change, and the not-yet-completely-destroyed array can still be used.

However, due to Ueda's subconscious resistance and lack of preparation, the soul swap ultimately failed.

Muto, Ueda, and another soul-swaper remained forever in the secret chamber.

Furthermore, because both Muto and Ueda died during the soul-swapping process, a strange and mysterious reaction occurred in conjunction with the formation.

Muto and Ueda both became earthbound spirits and fell into a deep sleep until recently when they were awakened by those bad guys. Muto's mind was severely damaged, and for some unknown reason, he mistakenly believed that he was burned to death in a fire, which is why he turned into that state.

Although he had little intelligence left, his hatred for Ueda, the culprit, remained, which also led him to harbor a deep-seated resentment towards all young people.

Ueda Reiji, however, kept more of his secrets, so he avoided Muto, fearing that Muto would attack him.

"The Shadow Diagram extends life, the Divination Plate burns to summer ashes, bones are covered in frost and cold. So the last haiku points to the true ending?"

Higashiyama Shin glanced at the game interface. The game would be refreshed tomorrow. He wondered if the game that appeared then would be like "Soul Swap" and have a significant connection to reality.

"Okay, let me give you a basic overview of what era we live in."

(End of this chapter)