Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes

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.

The death was 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.

Chapter 29: The Pitch-Black Figure

"The sixth death."

"There is a safe zone on the right platform. Once you leave this safe zone, you will be instantly killed without warning. However, I have figured out the mechanism of this safe zone."

in the game.

On his seventh time entering the game, Shinichi Higashiyama, carrying flowers, stood at the edge of the safe zone paved with death and trial and error, and stopped.

A strange smell with a faint fishy stench wafted past the tip of his nose, as if licking Higashiyama Shin, but he dared not take a step over it.

The reason for bringing flowers is that experiments have shown that carrying flowers can extend one's life by two seconds, preventing immediate death.

The key to this fan-shaped security zone lies in... Higashiyama Shin looked back at the surveillance camera on the wall, which was lit up with a red light.

That's right, the spirit that killed him was afraid of being monitored.

Therefore, the best approach is to find areas where surveillance cameras overlap, ensuring that you are always under surveillance.

The Tokyo Metro's surveillance coverage density is not high, mainly concentrated inside the carriages, platforms, and turnstiles, with relatively few surveillance cameras in passageways.

He is currently on the platform, where there is a wide-angle camera every 20 meters, so there must be overlapping surveillance areas.

Higashiyama Shin looked up for a while and quickly found another camera, but it didn't cover the stairs on this side.

After estimating his position, he took a step forward.

The stench seemed to intensify slightly for a moment, but then quickly disappeared into the air on the platform.

Dongshan Shen remained expressionless and continued walking forward, holding the flowers, constantly keeping an eye on the surveillance location to ensure that he remained within the surveillance range.

After walking past several surveillance cameras in this way, he finally saw the red iron cabinet that he had missed so much.

The problem is that the surveillance camera that should have covered the fire cabinet fell to the ground and shattered.

"It's not that simple after all."

Higashiyama Shin continued to observe his surroundings and quickly found another surveillance camera, which led him to another path.

Thirty minutes later.

Shinichi Higashiyama, who had died again, opened his eyes in bed.

A strong visual distortion followed the death of his character and even affected his physical body, but it was quickly suppressed by his powerful physique, and he returned to calm.

He glanced at the digital clock next to the bedside table.

12:19

The room lights had been off when he last entered the game, and Ueda Yoshi had already returned to the Soul-Gathering Umbrella to rest.

The room was pitch black and silent, with only a few rays of moonlight filtering in through the window, illuminating the Soul-Gathering Umbrella hanging behind the chair, which helped replenish the umbrella's spiritual energy.

He is now clearly exhausted, and he will probably have to wait until he wakes up before he can try the remaining few times.

But at least this time he saw other beings.

The platform on the right was not a static, modern decoration, but rather seemed to extend infinitely. The further you walked along the surveillance cameras, the more it felt like traveling through a time corridor. Everything around you, including the trains that were parked, would slowly become ancient. There were many branching paths and surveillance cameras along the way, but he kept walking along the main path.

As he went deeper, he could slowly see some dark figures standing on the platform near the train. They were just pure black silhouettes, but if you focused your attention, they would disappear, as if it were an illusion.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that they were of varying heights, hunched over, carrying briefcases as they stood on the platform. They seemed no different from ordinary people, showing no aggression whatsoever, as if they were waiting for the train to go home.

Like millions of other office workers.

The deeper you go, the stronger the stench becomes, accompanied by an unsettling rattling sound.

Finally, the lights almost completely disappeared, and a simple stone tablet stood quietly at the end. It was quite far away and very dark. Even with a mobile phone camera zoomed in, the words on it were not clear. Because there were no surveillance cameras, he had no way to get close.

Then, just as he was about to retrace his steps and explore the fork in the road—with a crash, the monitor above him fell to the ground. Instantly, the cracking sound that had been ringing in his ears intensified, followed by a chilling sensation identical to before, and an added illusion as if something had been swallowed.

The presence of the flowers made him run a few more steps, and then they withered and died at a visible speed, falling onto the wet and cold ground along with his life.

"Individual players' abilities are ultimately limited." Higashiyama Shin sighed softly, gazing at the moonlight outside the window.

Although he was a time traveler, he wasn't a big shot in his previous life. He was just an ordinary person from a small town who was good at taking exams and enjoyed tinkering with food in his spare time.

I've played quite a few games, but sometimes I still need to consult a walkthrough to get all the achievements.

In addition, inviting players brings positive rewards, which is equivalent to making others work hard for him. This is even more unscrupulous than a black-hearted boss and is a clear violation of labor laws. All he needs to do is squeeze a little bit out of the profits that they work so hard to earn for him.

Why not do it.

He clicked the "Invite Players" button again, and following the instructions, selected items from the shop to set rewards for the invited players, encouraging them to play the game well and make the most of their skills.

[Please set the invitation text] (Note that invited players have the right to refuse the invitation, but once they accept the invitation, they no longer have the right to cancel their player's qualification. Only you can cancel their qualification.)

After careful consideration, Dongshan decided that the text should ideally achieve these three points.

First, do not reveal his existence.

Second, maintain a certain degree of mystery and avoid appearing overly eager to curry favor.

Third, make the invitees feel special.

He quickly edited the invitation text.

"Then, I invite you."

[Refreshing nearby players for you. Please wait.]