Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes

"Mushrooms only appear after the rain." This is what my brother read in a book.

"Don't mushrooms grow on trees?"

"No, it's an insect that turned into one."

The younger sister was frightened, covered her mouth, and looked panicked.

"Oh no, will eating mushrooms cause worms in my stomach?!"

"You can eat fish; the fish inside will help eat the insects."

"But Dad can't catch any fish."

"Then go help."

Upon hearing this, the younger sister hurriedly ran towards her father: "Daddy, Daddy, I'll help you fish!"

"Get lost, you little brat, you don't even weigh as much as a fish."

"I weigh 20 kilograms now!"

"It's not like I've never fished before; I've caught fish weighing up to 30 kilograms."

Annoyed by his daughter's constant pestering, he had no choice but to let her sit on his lap and hold part of the fishing rod so that she could feel a little involved.

I didn't expect that this might have triggered a bug in the newbie protection period, because the fishing hook seems to have moved.

"Dad! Daddy!"

"Shh-"

The father's eyes became incredibly serious, as if he were a leopard eyeing its prey, about to pounce.

The daughter quickly shut her mouth and put on a very serious expression.

"Alright, get up!"

My father has been fishing for so many years that he can tell at least eight or ten pounds of fish just by lifting the fishing rod.

He was so excited that he stood up on the spot and began to fight with the fish.

"Eek!" The daughter's hand was still hanging on her father's hand, her feet were completely off the ground, she was like a pendant, but she was still trying to pretend to exert force.

Wow!

A splash of bright red broke through the water's surface and leaped high into the air.

The father's eyes widened in disbelief. What kind of fish was this, so red it was almost black?

The fish that had been caught seemed extremely violent, flapping and tumbling in the air as it hurtled towards the daughter's location.

The father quickly put his daughter down, but before he could reach out to catch her, the fish swished its tail twice across his face.

clap clap!

He actually got slapped in the face by a fish!

After pulling the line, he snapped it and jumped back into the water with a splash.

The father was furious. He grabbed the net next to him and jumped into the water, slamming his hand into the water as if by instinct.

"Dad! Daddy!"

Behind him, his son was calling out anxiously.

Ignoring everything else, the father finally managed to scoop the fish out of the water, and it seemed as if a faint commotion was coming from the other side of the river.

"Dad, look, the sky is red!" The son ran over and pointed to the other side of the river.

The father, holding the fish, gazed at the forest opposite, only to see it ablaze with crimson light, hurtling towards them.

On the other side of the river, several people were jumping and waving. After they noticed him, they continued running along the riverbank.

Not only the forests, but also the rivers, have been dyed red at some unknown time.

The fish's smooth skin in his hand suddenly became rough. He looked down and saw that the crimson fish had grown human limbs and was wriggling in his arms. Its big mouth had somehow bitten his arm and was sucking on it frantically. Its eerie fish eyes were staring at him, clearly revealing greed and desire.

"Ahhh!!"

In a panic, he violently ripped the red fish off, tearing a small piece of flesh from his arm, causing it to bleed profusely.

After the fish landed, it stopped running away and used its limbs, which resembled those of a human, to quickly crawl toward its daughter, who was frozen in fear and dared not move.

"Run!"

The father kicked the fish away with a big kick, and looking at the twisted red forest on the opposite bank and the spider lilies that began to appear on the ground, even the slowest person would know that some kind of supernatural event had occurred.

He quickly picked up one child in each arm, ignoring the bite wounds he had just suffered, and ran towards the main road.

Panic spread rapidly. The people in this small settlement, which wasn't even a village, had never seen anything so bizarre. Those with cars quickly drove away, while those without cars hitched rides with their neighbors.

Some people not only didn't care, but were actually very excited and even wanted to enter that forest.

Until the red spider lilies bloomed at their feet, one by one, skeletons covered in flowers stretched out their bony hands and crawled out of the riverbed from the rapids of the Mogami River.

It's like the souls that fall into the Sanzu River are unable to enter the cycle of reincarnation and return to the human world.

"No! Help! Please help me!"

A man taking photos was tackled to the ground by a skeleton. He struggled desperately and quickly kicked the pile of bones away, but the next second, more skeletons pounced on him, drinking his blood and gnawing on his flesh.

Such scenes are scattered along the sandy shore, among those who court death.

Many of them even went live, and the gifts they received became their final legacy.

Wow, that's terrible.

[Oh no, the camera is blocked!]

How pitiful~

They couldn't even beat the bones. It's a pity I wasn't there, otherwise I would have killed them all.

Neither of the two patrol officers who arrived were armed. They witnessed this horrific scene, and their legs trembled.

They didn't dare go down to rescue people at all; they turned around, drove away, and kept reporting to their superiors to request the Self-Defense Forces to intervene.

This is absolutely not the kind of work they should be doing!

"You want us to test the waters?! Why didn't your wife let me test her? What do you mean by 'we can't consider it'?!"

The patrol officer was nearly driven mad with anger upon hearing the instructions from his superiors.

He was paid a patrolman's salary, not a mercenary's.

In short, they would still dare to give chase if they encountered armed and ruthless criminals, but the current completely unknown situation only makes them apprehensive and lacking the courage to fight back.

Soon, this small settlement was overrun by the spider lilies. Some skeletons that had been gnawed on flesh and blood seemed to gain a bit of sentience as new flesh and blood slowly grew on their skeletons.

From the river, a giant snake, consisting only of a skeleton, slowly crawled out, looking almost identical to the large snake on the other side.

The skeletons captured some people who hadn't managed to escape, lined them up as they cried and begged for mercy, and offered them to the bone snakes.

"Is this the other shore the great serpent spoke of?"

"Escape from the other shore doesn't mean we escape from the other shore, but rather that we escape from the other shore to the human world?!"

Nobita escaped before the cave completely collapsed, saving the save point cards.

But once you come out, it's like you've been switched from a realistic supernatural script to a fantasy script. Everywhere you look, there are eroded trees, and the spider lilies on the ground are growing taller than wheat.

Oh no, he's in big trouble!

The cause of the incident was obvious: he carried the bloody scent of Zhu Hai, which provoked the great serpent who had been bound by the breach of contract for five hundred years.

Then it activated its deathrattle, summoning the underworld.

Nobi's guess is that's how it is for now. He doesn't know if it's right, but it's definitely related to him.

Although even if he didn't come, the serpent would probably eventually come to his senses, at least it would be a little later.

How should we resolve this situation?

Since there are spider lilies here, perhaps the great serpent summoned the Sanzu River.

The red spider lily blooms on the other side of the river, and the other side is on both sides of the river. The only river in this vicinity is the Mogami River.

Carrying his sword, Nobita ran towards the riverbank.

click!

In front of Nobita, skeletons stretched out their hands from the ground and crawled out one by one.

The tall trees of the other shore all around him bent their branches, silently watching him.

"Nobita, you dare to play us? Did we not charge you enough for the friendship fee?"

"Nobita, it's normal for classmates to have some minor misunderstandings. Try to resolve them yourself."

"You dare to tattle? If we find out again, you'll be eating shit!"

"Games! Games! If you play games again, you're getting out of this house!"

Nobita shook his head, his heart tightening, and the emotions he had been suppressing most that he didn't want to recall suddenly burst forth.

Those giant flowers have transformed into those once arrogant and domineering figures who used to boss him around.

But it's just an illusion! Do you really think he's still the same Nobi Tomoyoshi from before?

Once I don this armor, I am nothing—

Nobita suddenly froze, looking at the woman in front of him who was both strange and familiar. She had a faint smile on her face and didn't say anything, just quietly looking at him.

He walked slowly toward the other person without thinking, until they were almost right in front of him, within reach.

That was the embrace he had longed to throw himself into countless times.

laugh!

The longsword pierced through.

"Don't insult my mother! Go back to where you came from!"

Amidst the roar, the surrounding illusions vanished like smoke in an instant.

Pushing through the smoke, Nobita, already clad in armor, wielded his sword and slashed his way through the skeletons.

Kaka.

The fragile skeletons fell to the ground one after another.

These things are so weak, even weaker than the skeletal monsters Zhu Hai created.

It felt like they were pulled out at the last minute. They weren't originally there for the purpose of fighting.

If the health bar lights up, it means the other party is hostile.

As long as he has the stamina, he becomes stronger with more enemies.

Especially with enemies that scatter easily, his card-drawing value can accumulate continuously, resulting in one skill card after another appearing.

But I just can't seem to draw any allies of justice.

He decisively abandoned the endless skeletons and rushed to the riverbank.

Looking at the eroded residential area and the towering bone snake on the opposite bank, Nobita glanced at the blood-red river and didn't know how to cross.

Just as he was debating whether to go back and farm more skeletons to see if he could get the Righteous Partner.

The building area on the opposite bank instantly burst into flames, a huge ball of fire accompanied by a thunderous roar, the ground trembled slightly, large amounts of debris were blown away by the explosion, and many bone fragments landed beside Nobita.

The giant snake was scattered and seemingly motionless amidst the explosion.

Nobita just opened his mouth and the monster was defeated?

It probably won't be that easy.

Before he could even finish thinking about it...

Another round of explosions rang out, destroying all the houses. In the face of this carpet bombing, even the larger bone snakes that were originally there disappeared without a trace.

Not to mention those skeletons that are weaker than ordinary people.

So cruel.

Good decision.

It doesn't feel like an order that would be given by those slippery eels in the official high command; it's more likely that it was given by the US military.