Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes

By the dim moonlight streaming through the window, one could vaguely see that what they were standing on was a wooden floor.

But this school building doesn't have wooden floors at all.

Even if they're slow on the uptake, they should have realized what's happening by now. If they haven't both lost their minds at the same time, then they've really encountered something evil.

But it was too late to realize it now, or rather, the outcome was already sealed the moment they chose to step into that old building at night. Because at that moment, a pair of charred hands rested on their shoulders.

In an instant, their bodies stiffened like stones.

A hoarse voice came from behind.

"Why aren't you all paying attention in class? What are you running around for?"

Inoue gritted his teeth, glanced at Hosokawa who had his mouth agape, and frantically gave him meaningful looks.

Hosokawa looked terrified. "Boss, what's with that look in your eyes? I don't understand!"

Ghosts are seven parts afraid of people, ghosts are seven parts afraid of people!

Inoue hypnotized himself like this, took a deep breath of the burnt air, instantly put on a ferocious face, turned around and threw a punch: "Baka yarou! Don't try to play tricks on me here!"

Click.

His fist felt like it was hitting a crispy chocolate cake; it broke through the brittle outer layer and sank into the other person's body softly. The feeling was extremely strange, like hitting putty.

At this moment, he also saw clearly what kind of existence was behind him. It was a charred ghostly figure with no facial features and a teacher's certificate hanging on its chest. Inoue's fist was stuck in the other party's shoulder, as if it was firmly attached to something and could not be pulled out no matter what.

The ghostly figure grinned, revealing a blood-red smile, and reached out, silently grabbing Inoue's neck as he tried to pull his arm away.

"Click. Let go."

Inoue was lifted up without any resistance, struggling desperately with a look of despair on his face. He turned his head slightly with difficulty and looked at Hosokawa with pleading eyes.

"Waaaaah! I'm so sorry! Boss! I'm so sorry!"

But Hosokawa was completely terrified and had no courage to resist. While the other party was still dealing with Inoue, he turned and ran away crying.

"Goo-ho-ni." Inoue waved weakly at Hosokawa's disappearing figure, then tried to pry open the charred ghost's hand, but to no avail. Slowly, his eyes bulged and his hand fell limply to his sides.

“Disobedient children deserve to die,” the charred figure said.

He watched the direction Hosokawa had left in, his charred figure silently disappearing into the darkness.

With a thud, Inoue's body, its eyes wide with rage, fell to the ground. But upon closer inspection, it was clear that his right hand was tightly gripping his own neck, and even in death, he had not let go.

He strangled himself to death.

Chapter 12: Reality Game

"What a beast! This thing is so realistic."

In the library on the first floor, Koizumi, a delinquent classmate of Shin Higashiyama, was searching for suspicious items among the dusty, dilapidated bookshelves, following the map's directions. He had already found a prop arm, and now he only needed two more items to complete the mission and officially become a member of the Seven.

"It won't scare me. As long as I join the Seven Clan, I can make those cowards hand over even more money, and I'll also have a chance with those women."

Thinking of this, he felt a surge of heat in his heart, and the cold and terrifying atmosphere around him completely lost its intimidation.

"Ahhh!"

Outside the door, a scream came rapidly approaching, and he accidentally bumped into a scary clown box. The box popped out with a bang and the clown's laughter. Even with Koizumi's boldness, he almost had a heart attack.

"Who the hell is yelling like that?!"

Before he could storm out to see what was going on, Hosokawa burst in, slammed the door shut, and collapsed onto the floor, leaning against the doorway, trembling like a leaf.

"S-senpai?" Koizumi recognized the man's face, holding the prop arm, and walked up to ask him a couple of questions. Hosokawa, however, had a ferocious expression on his face and forcefully made a shushing gesture.

It wasn't that Hosokawa wanted to hide here, but rather that he had finally made it to the first floor, only to find no one along the way, and he didn't know where the exit was. The only open and well-lit place was this library.

He had nowhere to run.

"It's a ghost. I'm not kidding, Inoue has been killed. I ran all the way here, but you're the only one I found!"

Hosokawa lowered his voice, veins throbbing on his forehead, as he explained with great difficulty, his eyes occasionally glancing at the severed arm in the other's hand, as if afraid that the severed arm might suddenly twitch.

Koizumi looked incredulous. He had only been there for a little over ten minutes and had just heard footsteps upstairs. How could he say he couldn't find anyone else?

They even said there were ghosts and someone was killed. Could this also be part of the plan?

Bang!

"Ahhh!!"

Snapped.

The sudden, muffled thud of a heavy object falling to the ground interrupted Koizumi's thoughts, making his heart leap into his throat. It seemed that what Hosokawa had just said wasn't so unbelievable after all.

We can't really let someone jump off a building just to test them.

He could see a pool of liquid quietly spreading across Hosokawa's trembling fingertips in the shadows where Hosokawa was slumped.

Da. Da.

Footsteps suddenly appeared and grew closer. Hosokawa scrambled and crawled away from the doorway to find a place to hide, completely ignoring Koizumi.

Koizumi was also a little flustered. She looked around and finally spotted a corner formed by an abandoned bookshelf and a wall. She ran over and was about to squeeze herself in when her fingertips seemed to accidentally touch a smooth surface.

Like a hard, smooth piece of paper?

"This spot is already taken."

A faint sound came from behind, like the rustling of old newspapers being rubbed together.

"Oh, I'm sorry."

After hearing this, Koizumi was about to find another place when she suddenly stopped.

He had already searched the library once before, and the only person who came in after him was Hosokawa-senpai. He even closed the door behind him. So where did this third person come from?

Thinking of this, beads of sweat instantly rolled down Koizumi's cheek. He held his breath and stiffly turned his head slowly.

A face as pale as paper and with bloodshot eyes, not of human origin, was almost pressed against his face; it was clearly visible even without light.

It had no breath, no body temperature, and even its body felt like paper to the touch.

That texture was definitely not that of human skin; it was more like treated oil paper, which gleamed with a cold, hard bluish-white hue under the meager light.

"Have you touched enough?" Higashiyama Shin asked expressionlessly.

"Aaaaaah—Mama mia!!!"

Koizumi's expression shifted dramatically, finally turning into a scream as he turned and ran outside, the wind from his run scattering the discarded papers on the ground.

Higashiyama Shin symbolically extended his hand.

That thing is right at the door, why are you running out? Isn't that like rushing to deliver takeout to a ghost?

In his shock, Koizumi couldn't think straight. He hadn't seen the terrifying thing Hosokawa had described, but the thing in the library was right in front of him!

So he suddenly flung the door open, yelling and screaming as he burst through the charred black figure, leaving the other person momentarily bewildered.

Did that thing just run past?

Is that a person?

Feeling ignored, the charred figure angrily chased after Koizumi in the direction he had left.

A moment later, Koizumi's screams abruptly stopped, and then the footsteps, which had paused briefly, resumed.

The charred, dark figure reappeared at the doorway.

Hosokawa hid in a corner, covering his mouth and nose, tears streaming down his face.

Just moments ago, I was thinking that Koizumi's sudden outburst might distract the ghost, but now it seems the ghost clearly knew he was there.

"Hehe. Disobedient child, I've found you."

In an instant, Hosokawa's pupils reflected a rapidly enlarging, charred head, covered with cracks, each fissure writhing with a trace of crimson, as if emanating a chilling laugh.

"Ahhh—uh"

Hosokawa could no longer control his screams, but the next second, his eyes rolled back, he was so frightened that he fainted and collapsed to the ground.

"You can't escape, hehehe."

Just as the charred, dark figure was about to pull Hosokawa out.

popping.

Someone patted him on the shoulder.

"Are you a ghost from Africa? Or a native demon?"

Dongshan Shenwen's question is more academic.

The charred figure stood frozen in place, seemingly bewildered by the question.

What's going on? How come there are still people here? How could he not know?

He turned around and carefully examined Higashiyama Shin, confirming that he couldn't detect a trace of human presence in him.

The two stared at each other in silence. The charred black figure was momentarily at a loss for how to treat this inhuman being, and was somewhat awkwardly left there.

But the aversion to young people quickly took over. Although Higashiyama Shin's paper doll didn't look like a living person, it was at least a young-looking man.

The child, a young man. His chaotic memories were stirred up, and hatred consumed his soul like a flame.

"Damn Ueda Hiroshi! You young people, you're a waste of time, you ingrates, you might as well give me your lives! Damn it, you all deserve to die!"

The shadowy figure roared and stretched out its charred hands toward his neck.

Dongshan Shen's brow twitched, and he activated the power of his Spirit-Nourishing Fire Eyes. Instantly, his eyes seemed to ignite with flames, and his whole body seemed to be protected by fire. The hands of the charred figure reaching out to him sizzled and emitted white smoke, while screams of agony echoed.

Dongshan Shen raised his hand, increasing the output of his Spirit-Nourishing Fiery Eye: "Now, can we talk properly?"

"Ahhh!"

The charred black figure let out a violent scream of pain, its body shrinking rapidly and becoming increasingly ethereal.

"So stubborn? I'll count down from three."

"three"

Before Higashiyama Shinto could finish counting down, the charred figure let out a final scream and vanished without a trace, leaving only a wisp of smoke slowly dissipating.

pat.

An old teacher's certificate fell to the ground.

"Uh"

"died?"

Chapter 13: Ueda Hiroshi

"Is this guy really that weak?"

Higashiyama Shin slowly extinguished the fire in his eyes, unable to resist making a sarcastic remark.

He was initially worried that the paper figure's spiritual power was limited and might not be able to control the situation, so he prepared to give this uncooperative person a warning. But just now, he hadn't even used half of his power, so how did that ghost figure just disappear?

He was certain that it was completely gone. As soon as the ghostly figure disappeared, the dense yin energy in the old school building began to dissipate, and the already damaged formation completely collapsed.

So, was he too strong, or was his opponent too weak?

He picked up the teacher's certificate and looked at the name on it.

"really."

He had a guess when the charred figure called out Ueda Hiroshi's name, and now he was just sure that his guess was correct.

【Tetsuro Muto】

This charred figure is the same person he fought in the game "Switch," Tetsuro Muto. The protagonist he was controlling in the game was Ueda Yoshi, a name given to him by Tetsuro Muto after he was adopted.

Even the timing matches up.

The game is set shortly after the war, and the wooden school building he hallucinates outside the door matches this time period.

"interesting."

So, he wasn't playing a game, but rather a real historical event?

And coincidentally, this incident happened right where he was studying.