Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes

They didn't know what was happening; they were just instinctively struggling to take this opportunity to escape.

Yui's smile grew brighter, her breathing weakened, and two streams of bloody tears slowly flowed from her dark eyes, down her pale, sharp chin, and dripped onto her hospital gown, spreading red spots like plum petals.

call!

Outside the ward, a cold, black mist suddenly rose up.

Black mist descended from the sky, instantly engulfing the entire mosaic sphere on the ground that was writhing in agony.

"Guga!"

This time, it was the line monster's turn to let out a miserable howl.

The black mist surged violently, as if a fierce battle was taking place inside.

In just over ten seconds, the black mist dissipated, and the mosaic had turned into a pile of rotten flesh, gradually dissolving and transforming into red matter, which was about to head towards Mount Fuji in the blink of an eye.

instant!

The red mist, which had never been stopped before, was now being tightly entangled by the black mist.

It can be clearly seen that the red substance is struggling and trying to escape in the black mist, but it is repeatedly entangled and dragged back by the black mist, and then swallowed up little by little.

After a brief stalemate, the red substance gradually weakened, lost its momentum, and was assimilated little by little.

Ultimately, the black mist seemed to deepen in color, faintly revealing a hint of dark red.

The black mist, having completed its engulfment, did not linger but dissipated in its original location.

However, the black mist silently arrived on the sixth floor, slipped in through the window cracks, and gathered in Yui's hospital room in the shape of a Ringwraith, which was none other than Kosuke Iwasaki.

In the hospital room, Yui remained in the same posture, hugging her knees and looking up.

The smile on his face was stiff, his body was motionless and straight, and even the rise and fall of his breath had disappeared, like a delicate doll whose soul had been taken away.

Iwasaki glanced at the surveillance camera in the corner, which had long since stopped working due to the power outage.

"I was a little delayed, I'm late." His voice was calm, and there was little apology in it.

Yui didn't respond, and the air froze for more than ten seconds.

Finally, her pure black eyes slowly returned to normal. She stiffly turned her head and focused her gaze on Iwasaki.

Her breathing returned to her chest, and a faint trace of color returned to her face, but she was still as pale as a geisha with thick white powder on her face.

She looked at Iwasaki, a slow smile returning to her face, showing no sign of anger, as if she hadn't just been on the verge of life and death.

"Now, am I qualified to join the team?"

Iwasaki wasn't late, he did it on purpose.

He needed to know Yui's strength and abilities, and that was a perfect opportunity. Now that he'd been exposed, he wasn't embarrassed.

Yui had told him in a private message a few days ago that she was thinking about forming a team. Not the kind of specific team that exists in games like "Yomi's Promise," but the kind of team that involves cooperation even in real life.

He hadn't agreed until today, when the incident at Mount Fuji happened. Only then did he come to the address Yui had given him and tell her to wait there.

As for Yui's performance just now, at least in his mind, it was passable.

Clearly, her ability is a means of influencing the minds of people and even monsters, somewhat similar to his soul manipulation, but without the ability to micromanage. However, it seems to have the potential to have a wide-ranging impact.

This would be a good help, he nodded as he met Yui's gaze.

Yui's smile deepened, without the slightest excitement, only the calm of having achieved her goal.

What do you hope to gain from this cooperation?

He would naturally be open to cooperation if there were shared interests, just like with Mori (Reno). But Iwasaki needs to clearly define the boundaries between them and doesn't want to become too deeply involved.

Especially when dealing with someone like Yui, who is difficult to evaluate.

That's interesting. I never thought that Kosuke Iwasaki would ever think that others were weirdos.

After all, he himself is known among players as an eccentric and unconventional person.

“There might be more games where you can team up freely in the future.” Yui’s voice was soft, and it was clear that she hadn’t fully recovered. “You’re very good at games, and I want to play with you.”

She paused, then added, "I'm also planning to join the official team so I can provide you with inside information later."

At this point, her gaze locked directly into Iwasaki's eyes: "But in reality, if someone else is targeting me, you need to help me unconditionally."

If his initial admiration for Yui's composure and competence was purely based on his respect for her, then hearing these words truly moved him.

Having a teammate like Muramasa Taki would certainly make things much easier.

The fact that Uesugi's team ranked first in this game is very likely due to Muramasa Takii's efforts, and her source of information is most likely the events that occurred before Mount Fuji. With her official supernatural status, she can know a lot of information.

“Okay.” Iwasaki replied almost without hesitation. The risks and benefits were clear, and so far the advantages outweighed the disadvantages; this collaboration was worthwhile.

As for helping her when she's being targeted by others, based on his previous interactions, he guessed that she wasn't the type to cause trouble, although it was true that the other party seemed to have some mental issues.

Yui seemed quite satisfied with the outcome: "If we breach the contract, we'll have to give our hearts to the other party."

Iwasaki was puzzled by her penalty for breaking the contract, but after spending time with her, he began to get used to her erratic thinking and did not refuse her.

"can."

Having achieved his purpose for coming here, Iwasaki didn't linger and left the hospital directly.

With a slight thought, it locked onto its next target: a giant ape monster rampaging through the nearby streets.

The ape was over three or four meters tall, its muscular arms easily overturning cars, and its thick claws left deep dents in concrete walls with each swing.

However, if someone pays close attention, they will find that this monster does not seem to be aiming to harm people; it simply creates destruction at will.

The black mist materialized and landed firmly on the giant ape's head.

Swish!

Several points of silver light shone from the shadows on his face; they were the flying needles he had commissioned Muramasa Taki to make.

The silver needles whistled as they pierced the giant ape's vulnerable spots, such as its eyelids, behind its ears, and its neck joints.

The giant ape seemed to sense the strangeness above its head, and its ferocity flared as it let out a roar.

It violently shook its head, its thick arms instinctively slapping upwards. But when it comes to cheating, Iwasaki's physical immunity cheat is obviously bigger than its shield cheat.

Even if it makes me dizzy from taking so many pictures, Iwasaki won't even blink.

Ding!Ding!

The flying needles struck the shield, but were deflected and bent, failing to achieve their intended purpose.

"Its strength is sufficient, but its instantaneous explosive power is insufficient."

Iwasaki made a rough assessment of the shield's defensive strength.

Without the power of life-saving magic, his Mage Hand's strength is indeed not considered immense, even though it is not purely physical strength.

With a slight thought, all the silver needles, except for the one aimed at the eyelid, were retracted back into itself after being deflected.

He left only one strand, poured all his power into it, and unleashed it in an instant.

The needle tip emitted a high-frequency buzzing sound, and the air was violently compressed, producing visible ripples.

Despite the monkey's resistance, its soul had already been manipulated by Iwasaki beforehand. He was only deliberately making it appear to be in a defiant posture to prevent others from knowing that he had the ability to manipulate souls.

Controlling monsters is much more difficult than controlling humans. He constantly feels a force pulling him back, but with his current strength, he can still suppress a single monster.

However, this also indicates that these monsters possess souls. But these souls felt like they had owners, quite different from human souls.

"go."

The giant ape monster used its eyeballs to block the flying needles. The red shield flashed, and the needles pierced through without any obstruction, deeply embedding themselves in the giant ape's eye sockets.

"Roar!"

The giant ape let out a scream, and in its intense pain, it broke free from Iwasaki's control.

But its brains had been churned up by its own thoughts, and after struggling for a few moments, its massive body crashed to the ground.

Red substance began to seep out from the melting giant ape corpse and quickly condensed.

Iwasaki, of course, wouldn't let this ball of soul energy go. The black mist spread out silently, using the same trick to envelop, surround, and devour the red substance that was struggling to return to Mount Fuji.

The power of these monsters clashes somewhat with his own source, but if handled with care, they can serve as a valuable backup energy source.

Perfect timing. He had promised Muramasa Takii that he would stand on the same side as them, and eliminating more monsters would be part of fulfilling his promise.

The black mist swirled up the red light that had been somewhat assimilated, rising into the air and hovering there.

Nuclear sirens continued to blare over the city, and the monsters roamed as if they were in their own backyard. The authorities seemed to have tacitly accepted their existence, and did not allocate any significant forces to eradicate them.

Iwasaki knew perfectly well that the nuclear bomb would not fall on Tokyo; its true target could only be Mount Fuji, the source of all this disaster.

The only impact that could reach this area was the radioactive dust that followed the impact or volcanic ash.

Iwasaki found another monster as his target and quickly darted away.

[Official: Nuclear strike on Mount Fuji in five minutes.]

Muramasa Takii sent a message.

Iwasaki was once again preoccupied with using soul manipulation to defeat a monster, which delayed him from seeing the message until now.

Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his mind, and as he looked towards Mount Fuji, a deep fear arose in his heart.

Chapter 246: The Nuclear Explosion of Fuji

They looked away from the virtual screen.

Having just sent the nuclear strike timer to all players, Muramasa Takii looked towards the source of the thick column of smoke, a hundred kilometers away.

In the sky, sparse lava still occasionally broke through the clouds, falling to the ground, leaving black spots and splashing up debris and dust.

Compared to not long ago, there is now much less lava falling.

Roughly estimated, so far, about sixty or seventy lava monsters have landed in Tokyo, scattered here and there, causing great chaos throughout the city.

However, the actual number of casualties is probably only a few thousand.

Compared to the tens of millions of people, the greater purpose of these monsters is to instill fear in the entire city, turning Tokyo into a slaughterhouse where the citizens are the prey.

She tried to deal with two of them until she encountered a monster, a tengu monster that she had seen at the command post before, a monster that had clearly been killed in Fujiyoshida City.

The two are exactly the same, giving her ample reason to believe that Mount Fuji is equivalent to a military camp, and as long as this military camp exists, the dead monsters will be able to resurrect through it.

Just like the underworld, which belongs exclusively to monsters.

Or you can just call it the respawn point.

Ashiya Dōman ultimately completed half of his plan, failing to rebuild the underworld for humans, but creating a underworld for demons.

Even if all these extraordinary beings were gathered together, they might not be able to outlast Ashiya Dōman, who had accumulated power over many years.

They might even be able to replenish their energy by killing humans.

The official decision to nuclear-bomb Mount Fuji gave her a glimmer of hope. If she could directly destroy the enemy's barracks, there would be hope of dealing with the remaining monsters.

However, the potential for massive eruptions and radiation from a nuclear explosion must be carefully considered, as it could have a significant impact on Tokyo, potentially rendering it uninhabitable.

However, when she first joined the official organization and underwent a physical examination, she vaguely sensed that the radiation that would be fatal to ordinary people seemed to pose little threat to her.

So she had nothing to fear, and with the protective spirit jade on her body, a fighting style formed in her mind.

It is known that the first prize she won in "Demon Blade" is the City Protection Charm, which increases her own defense and grants her the ability to taunt, creating a protected area.

The protective jade's function is to store life force, heal itself, and provide emergency protection; it cannot be transferred.

This is clearly a super-powerful tank shield.

In addition, she also has a set of armor that she personally crafted, which can increase her defense. With these three buffs, she is truly blessed.

We should be able to withstand the radiation from a nuclear explosion 100 kilometers away, plus the falling lava from a volcano.

So she went to Tokyo Skytree, the tallest building in Tokyo.

The spire was broken due to being scraped by lava, but these few meters of height did not affect Takii's plans.

He wrapped his long, wind-blown hair in his hand, pulled out the Demon Slayer sword, and cut off the hair without a second thought.

With her arms outstretched, her black hair scattered in the wind, its whereabouts unknown. Taki refocused her gaze on the broken spire.

With a flick of the grappling hook, it easily locks into position, and with a boost, it effortlessly jumps onto the ground.

"The outcome of the nuclear bomb falling on Mount Fuji won't change, and the radiation issue... the authorities won't ignore it overall, so you don't have to force yourself," Leon's voice came through the earpiece.