Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes.

Chapter 311, Section 58: Ancient Illusion

It was a little after 4 p.m. in London.

Whitechapel Road.

The area is named after a historic chapel of Our Lady of the Mary, which was called the White Chapel because of its white walls. Over time, the entire surrounding area came to be called that.

Even though the Whitechapel itself was destroyed during World War II, the name has remained unchanged.

"The Whitechapel was not rebuilt after it was destroyed; instead, it was converted into a park. It's right across from the Whitechapel subway exit."

Ethan used the possession paper doll he obtained through daily play attempts to transform into a South Asian woman and used the Mercy Crystal to teleport.

His crystal teleportation point was in an alley in East London, not far from Whitechapel. After contacting Park Min-woo and Arthur, the group rushed to Whitechapel Road to meet up.

Ethan knew perfectly well that compared to Nobi, Iwasaki, and their group of allied players, the three of them didn't have much of an advantage.

Swift and decisive action is one of the few advantages they can relatively easily gain.

So while the players' association was still discussing, Ethan, even though he was less than 30% sure about the Jack the Ripper theory, chose to go all in, and the three of them gathered on Whitechapel Road.

The reason for not splitting up the forces was mainly because the game description stated that certain key nodes could only be activated once. If the Whitechapel node was one of those, then someone would have to help entangle other players who might arrive.

"My abilities can only play a small part here."

Park Min-woo's image is that of a white male weighing at least 200 kilograms, the kind who gets a lot of attention on the street.

Without using his clones, he can only rely on the single-target combat ability that comes from burning flesh and blood, so making him larger is beneficial for him.

Of course, the paper doll's energy is limited; even burning flesh and blood will consume its energy.

There may not necessarily be a battle.

Ethan took out a briefcase and handed it to Arthur.

Inside are guns and bullets.

Although there may not be a battle, he still likes to be well prepared.

Arthur told him about his abilities without reservation.

Well, one person is a special forces unit, but that's all. When facing many extraordinary beings, special forces are no different from delivering takeout.

He suspected that this strength was at most similar to that of Uesugi, who had never made a move.

Arthur took out two revolvers, inspected them briefly, and put them in his holster.

"There's a curry smell here, I don't like it," he suddenly said, his fingers still touching the gun as he spoke.

Ethan shrugged: "There are a lot of South Asian immigrants in this area, and you'll probably like it even less later."

Before becoming a player, Ethan had already traveled to many countries, and his family even owned a property in London. He had a stronger personal understanding of the place than most players.

Arthur quickly understood what Ethan meant: on the streets, white people were in the minority, and the restaurants and street stalls everywhere were not serving local dishes—well, what local delicacies were there again?

Arthur frowned the whole way as the three of them arrived at the entrance to Whitechapel Park, where the foundation stone of the original church stands.

The park was neither too crowded nor too quiet in the afternoon. There were pedestrians on the streets, and some small tents and homeless people could be seen in the open space not far away.

“The park is near the homeless service center, so some people who couldn’t get a spot come here to spend the night.” Ethan pointed to the foundation stone and looked at Arthur. “Arthur, you use the crystal first.”

Mercy Crystal didn't mention whether there was a cooldown after activation, so to be on the safe side, he decided to let Arthur try it first.

Arthur's wary gaze swept over the passersby, and he took out a crystal from his system inventory, activating it with his mind.

The transparent crystal emitted a faint light from within, and then slowly floated up to a height of about one meter.

The three exchanged glances, took precautions, and protected the crystal in the center.

Passersby looked at them strangely, thinking it was some kind of performance. Some even stopped and took out their phones to take pictures, but most just watched curiously for a few moments before leaving.

Streaks of light began to appear on the floating crystal surface, like the reflective marks left by flowing water droplets.

The light rays gradually converged, and soon, at the sharp bottom of the crystal, a drop of seven-colored water fell with gravity and disappeared into the ground.

Hey.

A sound similar to water droplets falling into a pool was heard. Starting from the falling droplet, a white, semi-circular wave of light spread out, but it did not spread very far, only about five or six meters, before disappearing quickly.

Even so, it was eye-catching enough, causing the onlookers to gasp in surprise.

"What kind of performance is this?" A homeless man took off his sunglasses.

"Damn it, you really were pretending to be blind! Did you see everything when I changed clothes that day?!"

"Bullshit, I had no idea you had a spade tattoo on your butt!"

The light dimmed, and the crystal, which had returned to its original form, automatically fell into Arthur's hand. He frowned slightly: "It needs 12 hours to cool down after activation."

Ethan was right; the crystal needs a cooldown period to activate. But did the node actually activate successfully just now?
“There should be more than just that simple reaction; at the very least, some information will be provided.” Park Min-woo surveyed the park’s layout and landed on a broken wall.

Ethan squinted, staring at the ground: "If I remember correctly, there are markings on the ground indicating the location of the church's nave and altar. That's where it is."

Since the entrance is not an option, the altar, which is the core of the church, is the best choice.

The three ignored the passersby as if they didn't exist, and followed the markings on the ground to the central hall. There, in broad daylight, a homeless man was sleeping, full of impatience at being disturbed. Just as he was about to curse, he felt something cold pressed against his forehead.

Guru
The homeless man quickly raised his hands, his voice trembling, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I've disturbed you. Please let me go, I have no money on me."

Ethan gently moved Arthur's revolver aside, took out a banknote, stuffed it into the other's hand, and smiled, "Would you mind leaving the park voluntarily?"

"Yes, yes, that's perfect! I'm leaving right now! Thank you, thank you!" The man breathed a sigh of relief, glanced at the denomination of the banknotes, and his surprise overcame his previous fear. He hurriedly bowed and nodded, not even bothering with the cardboard, and turned to run away.

"Our performance affects our scores, so avoid causing casualties to ordinary people unless absolutely necessary." Ethan had no complaints about Arthur; he had chosen his own path and recruited his own people, so he was prepared for this.

He was destined not to stay in the Players' Mutual Aid Association, where he couldn't even compete with Uesugi and Taki for status, let alone Nobi.

Now that he has chosen to create his own guild, if he still shares the same principles as the player mutual aid association, not only will he be completely unable to compete with them, but it also does not align with his profit-driven personality.

Therefore, the only way to attract players who also dislike the concept of mutual aid associations is to go against the grain.

The trade-off is that the people we hire have more freedom.

It was unexpected that Iwasaki and the Mutual Aid Association, despite having many conflicts, could reach a complete cooperation agreement on the game so easily.

This left his triangular balance plan crippled.

Intrigue and trickery are ultimately meaningless; only true strength lies in one's own power.

He recalled his encounter at Lake Okechobi that night, and gently touched his neck, the feeling of Iwasaki gripping him tightly still vivid in his mind.

He could clearly sense that Iwasaki harbored murderous intent towards him at that time.

On the contrary, he did not have much intention to kill Taki. It is estimated that even if Taki refused to hand over the silver cup at the time, Iwasaki would have chosen to take it by force rather than kill her.

In Iwasaki's eyes, Taki is a "high-quality player," and keeping him around will likely be indispensable for clearing the game in the future. Moreover, he is quite strong and can deal with supernatural disasters.

And he, Ethan.

Arthur had no objection to Ethan's statement and silently put away his revolver.

Ethan snapped out of his thoughts, took out his crystal, and activated it.

The same scene is happening again: crystals float, gathering colorful water droplets that drip onto the ground.

Hey.

The light waves spread, but this time, something different happened.

The scene within a few meters suddenly changed, transforming into the interior of a church, with an altar in the center and a ball of water slowly floating from the ground in front of them.

Is this what's called a critical node?

"God above, is this some kind of holographic projection?"

"Wow, it's so realistic."

Arthur subtly revealed his gun, causing those who wanted to approach and touch him to immediately raise their hands and awkwardly retreat.

Without hesitation, Ethan reached out and touched the water sphere.

In an instant, everything went white.

"My lord knight, you are the most benevolent nobleman I have ever met. Please, please allow me to kiss your shoes to express my gratitude!"

"Hey, are you saying the other noble lords are unkind?!" "Ah! No, no! That's absolutely not what I meant, please forgive my foolishness!"

Ethan gradually adjusted to the light and slowly began to see the scene before him clearly.

This is inside a very simple church, which is different from the scene that appeared right after activation. It is even simpler and should be from an earlier era.

There was a group of poorly dressed farmers, and in the center of their reverence stood a tall man in a dark robe, belt, and leather boots, with an antique dagger hanging from his waist. Although his clothes were quite simple, his overall quality and demeanor distinguished him well from the reserved farmers around him.

The conversation just now seemed to have taken place between two farmers in front of that knight.

One had a mocking expression, while the other was extremely flustered, about to kneel down and beg for an apology from the nobles who were not present but whom he had offended.

At this moment, the knight mentioned by the farmer grabbed the panicked farmer's arm, preventing him from bending down, and said in a low but gentle voice:
“The Lord’s grace is not in our shoes, but in our outstretched hands. If my shoes are worthy of a kiss, it is because they are covered with the mud from the walk we took with you this morning.”

His voice was refined and gentle, as if it possessed a certain magic that made people admire him wholeheartedly.

He looked at the farmer who had just started the commotion, his gaze not reproachful, but with a hint of good-natured teasing: "Brother, we are all dust, and we are all covered by rain. If anyone is unkind, it is hunger and cold, not mortals like us who shiver and thirst."

The farmer opened his mouth, but in the end he lowered his head in shame and reached out to support the farmer's other hand.

"Sorry, I was just joking."

The knight smiled, stuffed a sack of wheat back into the farmer's arms, and patted the farmer's shoulder, which was covered in straw: "Go, save your gratitude for the next person who needs help. There, you will meet the Lord, and you will also meet a better version of yourself."

The image gradually distorted and disappeared.

Ethan fell into darkness, and the next moment, his consciousness returned to reality. He kept the gesture of reaching out to touch it, but the water sphere had disappeared, and the illusory scene within a few meters was also dissipating little by little.

He took a breath, calming his inexplicably rapid breathing, and looked at the two of them: "How long have I been holding this position?"

"Less than a second after you touched it, the water balloon exploded, and then you suddenly exhaled and asked the question you had just asked," Arthur recounted the events.

In other words, using nodes does not require time.

But what exactly did that scene mean?
He clearly found this place based on clues from Jack the Ripper, so how come there's a scene of a knight talking to a farmer?

Judging from their clothing and manner of speaking, they should be knights of the Knights Templar.

But even the most humble knight wouldn't be so approachable to ordinary farmers; they still had their pride, especially in that era of strict hierarchy.

To say that the wrong location was found is definitely not correct, since the node was indeed activated. Could it have been a lucky accident?

“Park, try your crystal.”

Before the mutual aid association members arrived, he let Park Min-woo try it out too.

He needs to figure out what just happened and whether this node can be activated again.

Upon hearing this, Park Min-woo immediately took out the crystal and activated it.

Soon, the illusory church scene reappeared, indicating that the nodes here can be activated repeatedly.

Was it because this was the initial clue? This was the only explanation Ethan could think of.

Park Min-woo didn't reach out directly, but instead glanced at Ethan.

Ethan reached out and scooped the water balloon up without reacting.

"It seems that it can only be used by the person who activated the node."

Seeing this, Park Min-woo reached out and placed his hand on it.

"What the hell, Allen Cross! How could you be so stupid! I told you to clean the altar, where have you been cleaning?"

"I'm sorry, Pastor, I just..."

"You will sleep here tonight. Tomorrow I want to see the altar spotless!"

"Yes"

"With a brain as dull as yours, don't even think about getting into medical school anymore, that's a waste of money."

The image gradually came into focus, showing a short man, who appeared relatively young from behind, being reprimanded by a pastor.

The man kept his head down, his hand hidden behind his back, clutching a rag and clenching his fist.

Only after the pastor turned and left did the man slowly utter a few words.

"I will pass the exam."

"must."

He bent down, picked up the bucket, and went to the vicinity of the altar to begin cleaning.

He muttered to himself:
"Who is it that keeps talking in my ear all day long? Is it God? But will God really have mercy on someone like me, or have I become a Bethlehemite too?" (Note 1)

"I hope... I hope everything goes well on our date the day after tomorrow."

The image gradually fades away.

After Ethan saw Park Min-woo come to his senses, he immediately grabbed Park's hand and said, "Let's go."

After saying this, the three of them quickly left the place.

Passersby curiously gathered around, taking pictures with their phones and touching the area, but they couldn't find any hidden mechanisms.

A few minutes later, Iwasaki, dressed in a black suit, arrived at the park.

Unlike Ethan and his group who used possession paper figures which had time limits, Iwasaki chose to go in person.

He randomly found a passerby who was excitedly playing on his phone and walked up to him.

"Hey, hey, don't bother me." The passerby was just about to post a short video of the scene he had just filmed.

"Did you see anything unusual just now?" Iwasaki casually snatched his phone, watching him while looking at the screen that kept repeating itself.

The passerby was about to explode in anger, but when he looked up, he saw Iwasaki dressed in all black, looking somewhat eerie. He swallowed his words and his eyes became clear.

"It looked like a magic show was just going on," a passerby said, pointing to the spot that had just been glowing.

"How long ago?"

"Uh, three to five minutes."

Iwasaki nodded slightly and returned the phone: "Thank you."

He walked to the spot the passerby pointed to, quickly found the markings on the ground, and roughly understood that this was the original location of the church's altar.

He stood there for a few minutes before Nobi and Taki finally arrived.

Nobita also came in his true form; he has teleportation abilities and is very good at protecting himself.

Takii came as a possessed paper doll. She needed to confirm whether this incident was related to Jack the Ripper before coming through official channels.

The others now continue their discussions with Uesugi, analyzing more possibilities and where the key turning point would be if it really were Jack the Ripper.

"Let's begin, knights first."

Taki looked at Nobi.

Iwasaki had no objection, and Nobi took out the crystal and activated it.

Then they repeated what Ethan and his team had done.

The scene Nobita saw was the same as the scene Park Min-woo saw.

“Mori and the others were just here. This node can be activated an unlimited number of times,” Iwasaki said after Nobita emerged from the illusion.

Takii understood; no wonder Iwasaki let Nobita activate him.

“The crystal activates and teleports each time, and it also has a 12-hour cooldown period. Do you want to take a look?” Nobita asked.

Iwasaki shook his head, intending to save the opportunity for other possible uses: "You've explained in enough detail, so we don't need to waste this opportunity here."

This guy puts pressure on people the moment he opens his mouth.

Nobita wasn't annoyed at all; in fact, he breathed a sigh of relief. Good, it's still the same arrogant Iwasaki; he hasn't been possessed.

　Bethlehemians: This phrase comes from Bethlehem Hospital, similar to how green hills are used in China to refer to mental hospitals.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)