Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes

This conjecture is practically an invention of a "god".

A god whose thoughts and intentions no one knows.

"You have to look on the bright side! Although the demonic mist is indiscriminately killing, it's not really killing indefinitely. They're not cooperating with each other either. Didn't the knight show up and stop them?"

"So this might be our opportunity."

Kurosaki's face showed no sign of despair, but rather was filled with excitement.

His fatigue vanished instantly; he could analyze for another twelve hours!

Heisei Ryu slowly closed Kurosaki's notebook and handed it back to him.

"You should compile a report on your theory as soon as possible. If there are no logical flaws and it is verified, your theory will become the basis for the Extraordinary Countermeasures Department, and everyone will investigate in this direction."

"And you are the founder of the theory, so you can think of a nicer name."

Kurosaki waved his hand: "I don't care about that. Can we skip writing the report? Or can you write it for me? Besides, if we give these analyses to the investigation headquarters, won't even more people be competing with us for resources?"

Do you know why so many experts publish all sorts of research reports?

"Isn't this their job?"

"Not entirely. If the report is analyzed and found to be valuable, there will be a reward."

"So, like you said, how much reward would be given if it became a fundamental theory?"

Ping Shenglong stood up, drew back the curtains, and casually pointed to a high-end tower apartment building.

"Aside from the benefits of a promotion, you could at least buy an apartment like that, and the remaining money would be enough to cover your management fees for a lifetime."

"If you write it down for me, I'll give you a million."

"."

With the alliance leader, I'll have to add three more chapters, I'll pay it back slowly, slowly.

Chapter 137: Searching for Traces in the Forest

70% of Yamagata Prefecture is covered by forests.

The Mogami River basin accounts for 75% of the entire county's area.

So, to be honest, the location hints in the game are a bit useless.

We basically have to search the entire county.

If it's convenient, it's best to first use information retrieval methods to see if you can find any records in those miscellaneous ancient books.

"Beyond the Great Snake Village"

Nobita climbed to the top of an unnamed mountain, looking up at the undulating forest. His hopes of finding a cave or abandoned village that was at least several hundred years old were slim.

Taking advantage of the Golden Week holiday, he mingled with a tour group and hitched a ride, arriving in Yamagata Prefecture a little earlier than expected.

The recent unrest in Tokyo has caused great anxiety among its citizens, indirectly boosting tourism from Tokyo to other parts of the country.

On the bus, Nobi heard many people complaining the same way. They hadn't originally planned to travel, but seeing the news reports that Tokyo's dangerous areas were being updated every day like monster lairs, it was really hard to stay in. So they decided to join a tour group to avoid being caught in the crossfire while staying in Tokyo.

Nobita's mood grew heavier as he listened, and his desire to find the other side and seek a way to increase his power became more urgent.

He highly doubted that Iwasaki's current strength was largely due to Iwasaki's claim that he had found the entrance to the subway game.

It's a pity he didn't go with us back then, so this time, the real-life counterpart of the game has to be the first to be found.

After looking around the mountaintop and finding nothing new, Nobita walked to a tree, sat cross-legged, and ate his rice ball with water, all the while keeping an eye on his private messages.

When he finished eating, his private messages finally started moving.

[Moon: I've sifted through the local history database and found a few places that might be related to locations in the game.]

Yamagata Prefecture is near Zao Town in Miyagi Prefecture. There is a mountain range called Zao Mountain Range and Mount Jizo. The terrain there is quite complex and there are many historical legends associated with it.

The village of Ōkura in the north existed as early as the Dewa Kingdom period; perhaps some clues can be found there.

Not far from Dazang Village is the Elbow-Breaking Hot Spring. Legend has it that a monk with a broken elbow met Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva in the Ksitigarbha Cave. The Bodhisattva told him about the hot spring, which could heal even a broken arm.

[Zhi: Thank you so much, you've been a huge help!]

After completing the game, Uesugi generously shared the ending and the method for completing it with Nobita.

On his way to Yamagata Prefecture, Nobita sensed that Uesugi wanted to help him, so after much deliberation, he told her about his journey to find the other side of reality.

Uesugi immediately expressed his support and offered to provide information support free of charge.

She certainly wouldn't go herself, but she's always curious, so it would be nice if Nobita could go and tell her what he found.

Compared to dangerous individuals like Iwasaki, Uesugi would much rather be on good terms with Nobita; who wouldn't want to be surrounded by good people?

More importantly, Iwasaki's current strength is far too far ahead of theirs, making it impossible to counterbalance him. Given that it is difficult to improve their own strength in a short period of time, joining forces with Nobi is a good option.

The only expense required was some information she wouldn't need.

By gaining the friendship of a good person, she knows that the other person will also be able to help her in the future.

Although this thinking is a bit mercenary, it was precisely based on this idea that Uesugi provided Nobita with free help.

[Moon: Check out the player lobby when you have time; the points have already been settled.]

[Zhi: I'll go on tonight, it's not convenient right now.]

With a new clue, Nobita perked up, opened the offline map, and found the locations Uesugi had mentioned.

"The closest places to me right now are Okura Village and Hichizuri Onsen."

"The Tibetan King's Peak is too far away, so we'll leave it for last."

Having found his direction, Nobita set off again, thinking about the game's ending as he went.

In the ending, the player-controlled character exits the cave and can see that the location of the Other Shore Cave is a prominent hill-like structure.

The character's final words were quite intriguing.

This likely means that this Onmyoji has the possibility of making a second attempt to cross to the other side.

The serpent also said that if he saw him again, he would be killed without mercy. So if there really was a second intrusion, the two would probably fight fiercely, either neither could defeat the other, or one of them would admit defeat or even be killed.

The disappearance of the Great Serpent Village may be related to this.

"The era when Onmyoji were prevalent was the Heian period. At that time, local chronicles were probably not widespread, so it is not surprising that no records have been left."

"Wait, could we start with disaster records?"

Nobi can only continue to trouble Uesugi.

[Moon: Are there records of disasters from the Heian period? There should be many; that area is prone to blizzards, earthquakes, and flash floods. Let me check.]

【moon:!!!】

[Moon: Have you heard of the story of "slaying the giant serpent"? Legend has it that a giant serpent was coiled in the main channel of the Mogami River, its body blocking the river and causing floods. I found a record here that in 1082, Dewa Province suffered from continuous torrential rains and frequent floods, leading to crop failure and widespread famine. Therefore, an Onmyoji (yin-yang master) was invited to slay the giant serpent.]

[Moon: The location for the extermination was chosen to be Shimizu Castle because legend has it that the giant serpent dwells in this river basin. Coincidentally, that area is now the site of Okura Village.]

Although it is still unclear whether the torrential rain was related to the giant serpent on the other side, and whether the invited Onmyoji was the protagonist of the game.

Since the location was chosen in that particular place, it means that legends about giant serpents are prevalent there, and the existence of a giant serpent village suddenly becomes quite reasonable.

The scope narrowed down considerably.

Nobita set his sights on a goal and set off quickly.

Two days later.

Nobita came down from another hill.

In the past two days, he has searched countless suspicious hills and climbed countless peaks.

The caves were indeed discovered, but after exploration, they bore little resemblance to the other side in the game.

However, he has just made a new discovery. He saw a campsite not far away and plans to pretend to be a hiker to ask about it.

Upon getting closer, he discovered that it was a group of four people, three men and one woman.

One of the men looked to be in his forties or fifties, while the others were all very young and had the air of college students.

"Teacher, look." A young man stood up from the ground, stretched, and saw Nobita walking towards them.

The middle-aged man looked in the direction the student was pointing, his gaze somewhat strange.

They had been in the mountains for almost a week and this was the first time they had encountered any passersby.

This place is far from the main road, who would be loitering around in a place like this?

"Carefully observe your surroundings and pick up the hammer."

He whispered these words to the student, put down his tools, dusted himself off, and walked towards Nobita.

As he got closer, the man realized that the other person looked young, but his face was travel-worn and a little dirty.

"Excuse me, I'm here for a hiking trip. I just happened to see your campsite on the mountain and thought I'd come and check it out," Nobita explained with a smile, pointing to a small hill not far away.

The man nodded slightly: "You've strayed so far from the main road, aren't you afraid of getting lost or encountering a bear?"

Black bear attacks have been a long-standing problem in Japan's Tohoku region until a few years ago when local authorities organized a controversial joint hunt with hunters, which brought some relief to the situation.

"As long as you walk in one direction, you won't get lost. I have a compass and bear spray." Nobita is playing himself. He is a high school freshman, and his childish voice carries a touch of innocence, which naturally makes others lower their guard.

"how old are you?"

"Just graduated from college."

"Is that so?" The man remained noncommittal, glancing back at his students who kept looking in his direction. "I am a professor of history and culture at Kyoto University, and these are my students. Our research involves the disaster prevention structures of ancient villages and the belief in water gods, and there is a very good village site here that is suitable as a case study."

Nobi immediately perked up and stared at the man.

"I also like history, but were there any villages around here before? It looks like there are forests all around."

"Time changes everything, rivers change course, and so on. Sorry, but in short, there used to be a village here, but it was probably buried underground by a flash flood or landslide, leaving only some remnants."

"Teacher, do you know the name of this village?"

"It's unclear. It's too far back in time. No relevant records have been found, and there's no value in large-scale excavation."

The two talked as they walked toward the ruins.

This place is said to be a ruin, but at first glance, it looks no different from ordinary muddy ground, except for some small undulations and some broken pottery jars that they have cleaned up around it.

"Have you seen any caves nearby? I'm worried about bears if I get too close, so I'll avoid them."

"No." The man shook his head.

But then a student suddenly interjected with a laugh: "I saw a hole to the north a couple of days ago, but it's just a crack now, so there won't be any bears there."

He was glared at by the teacher before he could finish speaking, and stopped talking.

"Oh, that's much more reassuring. Thank you all, I'll be going now."

Nobi was overjoyed. He continued in the direction he had come from, said goodbye to the man, and slowly disappeared from their sight.

After Nobi disappeared, the man spoke sternly to the student who had just spoken.

"If you find a real cave, what if he encounters a bear when he goes in? Even if it's a small entrance, there could be snakes inside. If he gets bitten in a place like that, can he survive? Can't you think before you speak?"

"Didn't he say he wanted to avoid it?" the student said helplessly.

"You dare to travel alone in the forest? You'd be better off believing I won't hit you than believing he won't take the risk!" With that, he swung a wooden stick.

"Why didn't the teacher stop him?" The student covered his head and ran away.

The man dropped the wooden stick and stared in the direction Nobi had disappeared: "With his leg on someone else, how could I stop him?"

Nobi and the others only changed direction and ran north after they were out of sight of those people.

About ten minutes later, he found the cave entrance the man had mentioned on a rock wall.

But it was blocked off everywhere, leaving only a narrow gap, which seemed to have been broken open by rain or an earthquake. You could barely sense that there was a space inside.

Nobita closed his eyes, recalling the scene when he had just emerged from the cave after completing the level using the method provided by Uesugi.

The appearance of the forest, the shape of the hills—none of them matched.

The only thing that might match up is the species of the nearby trees.

Nobita summons the Hero's Sword and tries to chop the stones on both sides of the crevice.

The clanging of metal against metal produced a sharp, resonant sound, and the strong shockwave made his hands feel numb, as if he had eaten peppercorns.