Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes

But the AI's approach seemed too "creative." Even though she had written a warning that mistakes meant death, the AI's solution made her frown. It completely contradicted her gaming intuition, and she felt that following it would only be a waste of her life.

They eventually gave up on that idea and used AI as an auxiliary tool to collect key information, which she then analyzed and refined.

"Sigh, now's not the time to think about that! We haven't even passed this hurdle, why are we thinking about the next one!"

"And please, don't jinx it. If there are a few more puzzles of this level, I'm afraid I won't be able to finish the game alive."

Uesugi patted his face, trying to clear his head.

"Since those dark humanoids seem harmless, perhaps we should try the plan I came up with yesterday. Maybe they really will help me."

Uesugi was considering whether to enter the game now, but his head was still a little sore, and he didn't want it to affect his thinking and cause him to lose more than he gained.

"I'll take another nap this afternoon and wait until tonight. That's right! My mind is sharpest at night!"

Anyway, she's just a solo streamer in costume. If she takes a break, she'll just cause a commotion in the group chat. She can just play dead; she's got plenty of experience with that. She can just throw in a couple of jokes, let out a few weird noises, and everything'll be fine again.

This is good. Although it is still necessary to maintain the "top-ranked player", at least there will be no situation where a guild demands to serve the top-ranked player at all costs.

All you need to do is call out names a few times during the live stream, play some friendly matches, give out some customized gifts, and ask a few questions on holidays to maximize the emotional value.

"Go to sleep! Goodnight, Makka Pakka!"

As soon as the curtains were drawn, the room instantly darkened. Uesugi sprang into bed, burrowed under the covers, leaving only her pair of delicate white feet exposed.

Swish.

Her little feet also tucked into the blankets.

After class.

Video game club activity room.

"Our club is finally all together again." Kanai Chito looked around at the club members with a helpless expression, making the ghost members feel rather embarrassed.

"Considering that recruitment is tomorrow, I've already done the main work with a few members. As for the rest of the recruitment—Higashiyama-kun! You're going to be a high school student this year, there's no escaping it, you'll be our living advertisement!"

Kanai then changed the subject, pointing to Higashiyama Shin.

"During lunch breaks, I'll help recruit new members for the archery club, and then I'll dedicate all my after-school time to our great video game club! Loyalty!"

He is absolutely loyal—Dongshan Kaka.

"Great!" Jin Jing was overjoyed, having been prepared to be rejected.

Logically speaking, the relationship between seniors and juniors in a club is usually quite serious.

Unfortunately, this is a video game club, so the members are either introverted guys and girls who will disappear if they feel uncomfortable, or solo masters who let skill speak for itself and practice more if they're not good at it. They also often team up to play games, and the atmosphere in the club is very relaxed.

So Shin Higashiyama landed a job as a mascot, where all he had to do was appear at the right time and place, and incidentally introduce the charm of video games to the newcomers he attracted.

"Ishiguro-kun, you'll be in charge of the Nintendo game demos. Ichikawa-san, you'll be in charge of the Soso game demos. And Nobita, you and Asano will be in charge of getting that vintage Street Fighter arcade machine over there."

Without hesitation, Jin Jing took the task assignment sheet and distributed the tasks. His main principle was to ensure everyone was given equal opportunities, so as not to make those who contributed more feel resentful.

However, if he really felt unbalanced, he had a solution. There was no dissatisfaction that couldn't be resolved by paying two 10,000 yen bills. If there was, he would pay two more.

What, a single-player gamer?

Want to share my vast game library? Become a member of my family and you won't have to work hard anymore! I'll have every game imaginable, enough to satisfy your little gluttony.

In no time, Kanai finished assigning tasks, and it was free time. Higashiyama was dragged to play Street Fighter, while Nobita took the opportunity to find the puzzle game expert, Asano Hiro.

A quiet boy, wearing glasses and looking refined, was holding a handheld game console, seemingly playing something.

"Um, Asano-senpai, do we need to discuss how to move that arcade machine over tomorrow?" Nobita asked, sitting next to him and starting a conversation.

"There are carts in the warehouse, and that arcade machine was modified by previous presidents, so it's very light. Two people could easily carry it down there."

Asano didn't look up, staring at the handheld screen with a calm expression.

Nobi glanced over and saw that Asano seemed to be solving a pipe puzzle from a game, which involved using a limited number of valves to make water spray out of a complex network of pipes in the desired way.

After staring at it for a few seconds without moving, Asano tapped a few times and solved the puzzle.

"Uh, well, actually I have a puzzle game problem I want to ask you." Nobita thought it might be better to get straight to the point.

As expected, upon hearing Nobi's words, Asano glanced at him in surprise, then saved the game and turned off the screen: "Go on."

Nobita took out his prepared notebook and recounted the clues he had gathered the day before, mentioning that a friend had asked him to inquire about the game, and using the excuse of a limited closed beta test.

"Using existing real-world past as a template for solving puzzles? I didn't expect anyone to still make this kind of game. Most of the games I've seen that link to reality involve creating an account or website in advance, then posting information in it to guide the puzzle-solving layer by layer."

Asano didn't delve into the truth or falsehood of Nobi's claims about things beyond solving the mystery; he simply stared at Nobi's clue paper, remaining motionless.

Nobita didn't dare to disturb them and just waited there.

A minute later, Asano nodded slightly.

"I think I have a rough idea."

"However, I haven't played this game myself, so I can only offer you some information for reference."

"Please speak!" Nobita took out a pen, ready to write it down.

Asano sorted out his thoughts, adjusted his glasses, and said, "The game is called 'Subway.' If there are no surprises, the goal is to escape from the subway. The scenes will most likely take place in the subway and on the platform."

"The first stop is Tsukiji Station, which presents the scene of the sarin attack. There is poison gas and cultists blocking the way. Under these two difficulties, it means that at least one of them needs to be solved in order to continue to escape. And it is more likely that you will need to solve both."

"The solution to toxic gas is straightforward: gas masks. Subways usually have fire equipment boxes, although they may not necessarily have gas masks. But since this is a known challenge, I think we can find the solution here."

“There are many ways to deal with cultists: weapon combat, using glass bottles to attract attention, or running away. But you need to be careful, you have to be prepared that the cultists are not afraid of poison gas.”

"The voice prompt is correct. The correct path is indeed on the left. However, the door on the left will close immediately after you exit, while the one on the right will not. Therefore, even if the correct path is on the left, you must go to the right first to obtain the key item to solve the problem on the left."

"You mentioned the instant kill mechanism, but you weren't killed immediately after leaving the house, which means that this instant kill must be conditional."

"Steps? Impossible, too short. Sound? If normal walking would trigger it, you'd die the moment you came out. Line of sight? Possibly, but it can be categorized as [range].

“What in the subway provides you with a ‘safe zone’ and a ‘danger zone’? This zone seems quite large. The only things I can think of are either the line of sight of some kind of creature or surveillance cameras. Since it’s a subway, I’m more inclined to believe it’s surveillance cameras.”

"You can start from this point. And since this game is about the Hibiya route and the number of deaths is limited, I suggest you do some research on urban legends about the Hibiya route and the history of Tsukiji Station. That might help you understand the game designer's purpose."

No wonder he's a puzzle game expert!

After hearing these words, Nobita felt his mind clear up considerably.

It's like the relief of finally getting rid of constipation after thirty years!

"Thank you! Thank you! Your ideas should be very helpful to my friend! Could we... could we add each other on LINE?"

Asano nodded, took out his phone, and the two followed each other on social media.

After adding each other as friends, Asano rummaged through her shoulder bag, took out a glasses case, and handed it to Nobita.

"Your glasses are so damaged, you shouldn't wear them. They could easily scratch you. Our prescriptions should be about the same, so use my spare glasses."

Nobita waved his hand: "This is too precious."

"Return them to me when you get your new glasses." Asano casually placed them on his notebook.

"Well, thank you, Asano-senpai!" Nobita said earnestly.

Asano smiled, said nothing, and continued playing the puzzle game on his handheld console.

Nobita was still somewhat lost in thought, wondering if this was the end of his troubles.

It seems like ever since she had a fight with her father and ran away from home, she's been constantly running into good people and good deeds.

The convenience store girl, the game qualification, Asano-senpai, even the two people who usually bullied him with Koizumi no longer care about him.

Could it be that my father is my jinx?!

Nobi carefully put on Asano's glasses, and the world became clear again.

Asano was right; their prescriptions were about the same. I don't know how he figured that out.

Is this the skill of a puzzle-solving expert?

It feels like being a detective, able to easily discover details that others miss.

Nobita was somewhat envious of Asano's abilities. If he had those abilities, he could probably clear the game very smoothly.

"The most important thing in the game is to rely on yourself."

Nobita's advantage is that he can fully immerse himself in the role and even empathize with the character he plays, but it's hard to say whether this is a strength or a weakness, especially in a completely realistic simulation game like this.

For example, when he entered the game for the third time yesterday, he seemed to sense a wisp of emotion from the character he was controlling.

I will return home alive and bring flowers and happiness back to her.

A kind of obsession that transcends time and space.

"I hope he succeeds, and I succeed too." Nobi took a deep breath, stopped bothering Asano, and began to look up information about the Hibiya Line.

A little after four o'clock.

After dominating a few games, Shin Higashiyama left the gaming club and headed to the literature club's activity room on the same floor.

The activity room of the literary society was converted from an old library, which contains many valuable books left by previous members and even their own works.

The literary society members would occasionally take out a few works by predecessors to criticize them, then write their comments on sticky notes and stick them on the title page. Over time, some works had more comments than the main text.

As Higashiyama Shin entered the activity room, he immediately spotted Chiba Shion.

Raindrops cast a curtain of water on the windowpane. She claimed the best spot by the window to listen to the rain, holding a foreign book with the title "To the Lighthouse" on the cover.

"She gazed at the boundless blue sea; the gray lighthouse stood in the hazy distance; to her right, green sand dunes covered with wild grass were slowly collapsing under the erosion of the sea, forming soft folds; the waves, carrying mud and sand, seemed to be rushing endlessly toward an unknown fairyland."

Higashiyama Shin walked behind her and slowly read a passage aloud.

"You've started reading stream-of-consciousness novels?" He knew a little about this book.

"Stream of consciousness can help organize thoughts."

Chiba placed the metal bookmark on the page he saw, closed the book, stuffed it into his backpack, and turned back to give Higashiyama a faint smile.

"go home."

Chapter 42: Field Observation (4k) Requesting more reading

The rain that had been falling all day was still continuing.

Shinichi Higashiyama and Shion Chiba walked side by side on the road, holding an umbrella, just like when they arrived.

There were still plenty of vegetables in the refrigerator, so he didn't need to go to the supermarket today. In addition, he deliberately left school much earlier than usual, intending to visit the Tsukiji Station and Yume no Shima exhibition halls to look for more clues.

"It's still early, I have something to take care of, why don't you go back first?"

It's not a big deal for him to go to Tsukiji Station, but when he goes to Yume no Shima, he will definitely visit the exhibition hall of the Fifth Fukuryu Maru.

Don't forget, there are other players in the game, and some of them might be clever enough to use this to find out who the other players are.

He's the mastermind behind it all; how could he reveal his true identity?

Even if he could sense the approximate location of all the players, it wouldn't work. Even if there are no players now, it's hard to guarantee that they won't think of this in the future.

Therefore, he himself cannot appear at the exhibition hall. It would be best to go to the vicinity and let Ueda out to observe the situation.

Chiba's observation skills are too sharp; she can easily spot anything that's not right.

Although Chiba must have already sensed something was wrong when he said those words.

As expected, Chiba was clearly stunned, and a hint of helplessness appeared in his eyes, which was extremely rare, almost making Higashiyama take back what he had said.

“Okay.” Chiba’s answer was as concise as ever, but he still didn’t ask any questions.

Higashiyama Shin sighed softly: "Is Aunt Chiba home tonight?"

"She's working overtime tonight."

"Shall we have dinner together tonight?"

"Okay." Chiba nodded, his expression quickly brightening and his eyes returning to normal.

The helplessness he felt just now seemed to be Higashiyama Shin's illusion.

Higashiyama Shin's brow twitched, somewhat suspicious.

Was that perfectly timed expression of hers a ploy to trick him?

Ah! What a blunder!

But once the words were spoken, Shinichi Higashiyama couldn't take them back.

The two continued walking side by side. As they approached the subway entrance, a woman in business attire emerged from a corner with a microphone, followed by a man carrying a camera; she was likely a reporter.