Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes.

Chapter 28, Section 28: Inviting Players

"call"

Higashiyama Shin opened his eyes, covered in cold sweat and with a headache. The scene before him was back in his room, where the cat and mouse game was still going on. Ueda Yoshi was curled up in a chair, watching intently, occasionally chuckling, completely unaware of his strange change.

"Even the feeling and details of death are reproduced one-to-one, making the experience of 'Switch' much more realistic."

He was subjected to slow slicing by Tetsuro Muto in the Soul Swap Game, but the pain should have been reduced, unlike in Subway, where the pain was fully experienced and the near-death experience was so real it was horrifying.

The trachea burned, the muscles spasmed, and even the retina seemed to be dissolving.

Fortunately, his true form had consumed the Transcendent Pill and was a Nascent Soul Master, making his spirit much stronger than that of an ordinary person.

Therefore, after returning to the original body, one can quickly suppress those fragments of despairing memories one by one, quickly calm down and become clear-headed, and detach from the near-death experience of the game.

This feeling would definitely not be so easy for an ordinary person.

After savoring the experience, he didn't rush back into the game, but instead picked up his phone and did some searching.

A dozen minutes later, he put down his phone, deep in thought.

The train in the game is the same as the Hibiya Line train that is still in operation today. It belongs to the 13000 series and has been in operation for twenty years. In other words, the game takes place during these twenty years.

He also found an urban legend that a last train on the Hibiya Line had disappeared, but this is just an urban legend and has never been officially acknowledged.

However, these legends seem to date back to before the war, and the total number of missing trains could probably circle around Tokyo, so their credibility is very low and they can only be used as a reference.

He also reviewed the subway disappearances of the past few decades but found no controlling character.

"The announcement tone at Tsukiji Station is the old version."

Higashiyama Shin recalled the cold, detached voice of the announcement.

The train stops at Tsukiji Station, the same station that was used during the sarin gas attack. The announcements usually indicate the direction of Tsukiji Market, because the Tsukiji Market has since been relocated to Toyosu, and only the outer market remains. Therefore, the announcements will generally indicate "[Tsukiji Outer Market Direction]" rather than "[Tsukiji Market Direction]".

The game stubbornly continues to use the broadcasts from the Heisei era, as if someone has sealed the 1995 sarin gas attack in Amber.

Does it convey some kind of message?

And why would there be equipment belonging to an engineering team?
How can I leave?

There are too few clues at the moment, and there are no NPCs around, so we can't understand the plot through communication like we did in "Soul Swap".

So, let's continue!

start up!

Shin Higashiyama re-entered the game.

A familiar white light flashed, and he was back on that train.

[We are approaching Tsukiji Station. The exit is on the left. Passengers heading towards Tsukiji Market, please exit through the left door. Please take your valuables with you when you disembark.]

The train still has doors on both sides. On the left is the old and dilapidated Tsukiji Station, and on the right is the clean and modern Tsukiji Station.

This time, he walked on the right, without the flowers or his briefcase.

Stepping out of the car and walking a few meters, Higashiyama Shin discovered that the car door was not closed this time.

"The instructions should be correct. To leave, you do exit from the left side, but before leaving, you need to use the right-side door. Are you looking for something? Found the gas mask?"

Dongshan Shen sorted out his thoughts. He didn't know if there were any other dangers behind the left door, but poison gas was inevitable. If he wanted to get through the poison gas, a gas mask was essential.

This is the typical problem-solving approach for games.

This also aligns with the general difficulty level displayed in the game.

Higashiyama Shin didn't know where the fire cabinet was, so he decided to look for it along the exit first.

But he had only taken two steps, before he even reached the top of the stairs, when he suddenly smelled an extremely strong and nauseating fishy odor. He felt a chill in his chest, and stiffness quickly spread throughout his body. His body seemed to be out of control, and then everything went black.

He died. His death was completely inexplicable.

"Cough cough."

After regaining his senses, Higashiyama Shin coughed lightly, his brows furrowed.

The death penalty has begun to accumulate.

He could already feel a little uncomfortable.

He could continue playing without any impact, but he had roughly calculated it.

If he dies five times in a row, he should start to have a headache. He will feel very uncomfortable after seven or eight times. The limit is about ten times, but there is no need to go to such extremes.

Then, recovery will be faster through stargazing meditation and sleep, taking about ten hours to recover. If you don't sleep, it will take about twenty-four hours to recover.

So if he's not in a hurry, he has ten lives a day.

"This death was so inexplicable, wasn't it? An instant kill mechanism?"

Dongshan rubbed his temples, reviewing his actions.

Although he headed for the stairs, he carefully observed his surroundings and only went up the stairs after confirming that there was nothing unusual. So where did the problem lie?
"Could a powerful spirit like Tetsuro Muto be capable of killing humans so silently?"

But according to the usual pattern, shouldn't these spirits first toy with humans and enjoy the fear they feel before killing them with a strange laugh? Why would they act so quickly and waste resources?

Most importantly, he didn't see who killed him because the character he was controlling didn't have the Spirit-Bearing Fire Eye, so it certainly couldn't be as invisible to the naked eye as his original body.

Even a weak spirit like Ueda Yasushi, if he didn't want to be seen, would be undetectable by ordinary people.

Even if he wanted ordinary people to see it, it would probably take a lot of effort.

"The risk of death in this game is much higher than in 'Switch,' and there are also certain penalties for dying. Even at the difficulty level of 'Switch,' I probably won't be able to achieve the perfect ending within a month."

He looked at the "Invite Players" function, paused for a few seconds, and then clicked it.

[Detailed Explanation of the Invite Players (Trial Version) Feature]

Each game has a limit on the number of players that can be invited; please take note.

This game system encourages players to invite each other; the maximum score increases by 10% for each player invited.

[The progress achieved by the invited players will be considered as your own progress.]

[All invited players are trial players and their access is not fully available until a formal ending is achieved.]

After using the "Invite Players" feature, three talented gamers will be randomly selected from within a 100-kilometer radius of you. The number of times the game can be refreshed is equal to the number of new players you can invite.

Inviting players incurs no cost, but requires providing three types of completion rewards plus a participation reward for each player. These rewards are entirely up to you and can be items you own in real life, rewards you've previously earned, or even items from the shop (automatically purchased with points after completion).

All players except you will lose lifespan and stamina upon death in the game, calculated approximately 3 times per year.

[The first ending achieved by an invited player will grant additional rewards based on the quality of that ending. Furthermore, the first invited player to achieve a perfect ending will also receive an extra reward. All rewards will be copied to you.] (Game completions achieved by players sharing walkthroughs with each other are invalid.]

Sure enough, there are costs involved, but there are also benefits. The most obvious benefit is that inviting a player increases the maximum points by 10%.

The maximum score in "Subway" is 500. If you invite three players and collect all the points, your reward will increase by 150 points.

This is the benefit that can be seen at a glance. The greater benefits are in the trophy rewards and time cost, which are no less than 150 points.

Not to mention the final settlement rewards.

Even without those, as long as he keeps the rewards within 150 points, he's guaranteed to make a profit.

No wonder the life-restoring pills in the game store aren't expensive; it turns out other players have to spend their lives to play. Without the life-restoring mechanism, they probably wouldn't be able to finish the game.

Once he had figured that out, he knew what to do.

(End of this chapter)