Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes.

Chapter 64, Section 62: Searching for Anomalies

"Brother, you have to be careful. There are some really scary bad guys at some stations, but the train is safe, and it's mostly safe around the lights. In the end, whether or not you find my dad, I will help you get out of this station."

The boy “looked” at the camera in Iwasaki’s hand.

“If it’s really dangerous, you can use your camera to photograph those ‘they’ who want to harm you, and I’ll help you delay them for a while. But every time you photograph them, it will damage your eyes. If you use it too much, you’ll become blind like me.”

The little boy shared a lot of information, and Iwasaki knew that there was still much he would need to figure out on his own, but at least he had a starting point to support his thinking.

"I'll pay attention."

"Yes! I'll wait for you here, brother!"

The little boy obediently sat back down in his original seat, and even though he had no eyes, you could see a hint of expectation in the corner of his mouth.

In the distance, a bright light broke through the darkness; the train was preparing to enter the station.

It had been less than ten minutes since he got off the train. Could it be because he had a "ticket" in his hand?

Or is the train here only running every ten minutes?

Unfortunately, he gave the phone to the girl in the white dress, and the clock on the platform wouldn't move, so he could only rely on his senses to estimate.

The train slowly came to a stop. Iwasaki turned around and looked at the little boy, who was smiling and waving at him.

As he stepped onto the train, the doors immediately closed. The interior was exactly the same as what he had seen before, including the few scattered snack wrappers.

As the train started moving, Iwasaki began to silently count the days, calculating the time it would take to reach the next station.

However, five minutes later, he saw the faint light of the new platform.

Iwasaki frowned, watching the platform gradually approach.

"This"

Iwasaki didn't know until the train stopped.

This platform is exactly the same as the Shinagawa Station we just visited.

Apart from the different platform name and the absence of the little boy, everything else is exactly the same.

The number of pillars, the location of the seats, even the mottled walls.

Takanawa Station.

This is the name of the website.

If Iwasaki remembers correctly, this station was abandoned a long time ago, but a new station called Takanawa Gateway was built later.

Before the train doors closed, he hurriedly stepped off the train and immediately leaned against the kerosene lamp next to a pillar.

He carefully observed the so-called anomaly around him while silently counting the time, waiting for the next train to arrive.

About ten minutes later, a new train arrived.

Just like the previous train, it only stayed for less than a minute before departing.

Hey.

At the very edge of the pillar, a kerosene lamp suddenly went out out of nowhere.

"The trains only come a limited number of times? Is that what you mean?"

Iwasaki carefully counted the number of platform lights.

There are ten lamps in total, which is quite generous.

He had actually already discovered the only unusual thing about this platform.

That was an extra vending machine in a corner on the edge of the platform, almost completely swallowed by darkness.

He held up a toy camera; the lens was very blurry, and it seemed to only be able to photograph objects within a three-meter radius, making it impossible to capture anything further away.

From his current position, he can't get a picture of that vending machine.

After waiting for nine minutes, just before the next train was about to arrive, he quickly ran to the vending machine.

Gada.

Suddenly, the vending machine made a coin-insertion sound, and then a bottle of some kind of beverage landed in the dispensing slot.

chapped.

Iwasaki pressed the shutter.

A flash of light appeared, and a photograph slowly emerged. Iwasaki didn't even look at the photo; he turned and sprinted towards the train that had just pulled into the station.

A strange roar came from behind him, along with a chilling aura that sent shivers down his spine.

Without looking back, Iwasaki only had eyes for the train with its open doors, and he rolled inside.

"Huffing and puffing."

Only then did he turn around, panting heavily, to look at the platform.

But there was nothing in sight, only silence, as if the commotion behind him had been nothing but an illusion.

As the train slowly started moving, he slowly sat down in the chair and took out the photos he had just taken.

"This"

The scene in the photo was actually during the day.

A middle-aged man was leading a boy who was wearing a hat and an eye patch.

They stood next to the vending machine, and the man opened a bottle of orange juice and handed it to the smiling boy.

"I love orange juice, but because of my illness, my family doesn't have any money, so my dad rarely buys it for me. I took a sip and said it didn't taste good, but I was lying to him. I wanted him to drink it with me."

I could faintly hear the little boy's voice in my ears.

After noting down these words, Iwasaki put the photo away in his pocket and quietly waited for the next stop.

Rumble.

The train pulled into Shinbashi Station.

Just as he had predicted, this platform was exactly the same as the one before it, at least from inside the train.

As Iwasaki stepped out of the car, he seemed to hear singing coming from somewhere.

Upon closer inspection, it was found against the wall, with an old cassette player on the floor.

The songs, carrying a sense of age and a distorted quality, lingered at this station.

I've fallen in love with this season of soft colors.

Just like falling in love with you, shining brightly that day.

Please keep running until the very end!

Please keep running until the very end.

"Don't give up?" Listening to music is one of the few ways Iwasaki relieves his boredom since he became paralyzed, and after being selected by his caregiver Goto and his sister, he can usually only listen to some positive and uplifting songs.

Among them, the song "Don't Give Up" was so badly played that I listened to it on repeat countless times.

This is clearly an anomaly on the site.

Iwasaki resorted to his old trick, valuing his life highly. He waited for the train to arrive at the station again, confirming that the arrival time was still ten minutes, before running to take a picture of the cassette player when the second train was about to arrive.

But by then, the songs on the cassette tape had already finished playing.

chapped.

Ok?
No photos have been released?

Iwasaki didn't have time to think and turned to run towards the approaching train, but this time the train closed the doors ahead of time!

He quickly turned his body to the side and slammed into the car door with a thud, instantly causing his shoulder and arm to go numb.

The pain itself is minor; the message it conveys is far more important.

Why did the car door close prematurely? Was it because he didn't capture the abnormality on camera?

The song... Oh right, the song has already ended, so he should have taken the picture of that spot while the song was still playing.

Moreover, after getting off the bus, you must take a picture of the abnormality before you can leave, otherwise you won't be able to get back on the bus.

After understanding the rules, he calmly turned around and saw several spirits with incomplete bodies laughing and joking as they rushed towards him.

"She's really ugly."

Iwasaki commented.

The spirit seemed to be enraged by these words. Its smiling face disappeared, and it pounced with a standard, shrill ghostly howl.

(End of this chapter)