Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes.

Chapter 351, Section 98: Seaside Fishing Village

[New games have been added]

【A Lone Boat on an Icy Sea (Strategy, Story): The sea swallowed everything】

Size: Small

[Difficulty: Easy]

Aside from the entry bonus, only the first player to complete the game will receive a reward.

[No ranking rewards, but points-based rewards]

The game description is very simple, with no special rules explained.

However, most of the initial games were like this.

"As expected, it's a game with only one reward, like Escape from the Other Shore and Heart of the Ninja," Oshima muttered to himself.

"Easy difficulty? This is the first time an easy difficulty game has appeared." Ethan smiled and looked at Arthur.

“Simple, which also likely means the reward won’t be generous.” Arthur said expressionlessly.

"makes sense."

The players were discussing it amongst themselves.

Taki glanced around the hall; the number of players inside was noticeably small.

Iwasaki and Ethan's team members were mostly present, but on the mutual aid association's side, only she, Oshima, and Ludu were there.

Nobi Tomoyoshi and Hayato are most likely still helping to clean up the battlefield and are too busy to go online.

Needless to say, Ikeda, although he has been online more often recently, is still generally elusive.

What's more noteworthy is that Uesugi Hitomi was absent.

It's worth noting that this person, who usually treats the player lobby and Peach Blossom Village like his own home, has been unusually low-key these past few days, rarely showing up and not revealing the reason to anyone.

Taki estimated that it was caused by the black rain that affected all of Japan, and that something might have happened to Uesugi's family as a result.

However, since she did not ask them for help, it means that the situation is still under control and she is trying to handle it on her own.

Based on past interactions, Uesugi has always been quite cautious, so Takii wasn't too worried about it.

Since it's a new game and a typical free-for-all mode, most players didn't waste time on meaningless communication.

After confirming the basic information, the figures disappeared one after another and logged into the game.

"Ludu," before entering the game, Oshima called out to Ludu, who seemed to be preparing to enter the game as well, and earnestly instructed him, "In the future, don't tell other players your progress in games like this, and don't listen to other players' methods of clearing the game."

Lu Du, half-understanding, blinked and pointed to the virtual screen that only he could see: "But didn't it say that only one person can complete this game?"

"I'm referring to games with non-cooperative gameplay, but where there's no single way to win," Oshima patiently explained.

"Oh! I understand!"

Ludu nodded vigorously.

Seeing the group's darling in this state, Oshima felt much more at ease.

While in London, he, Hayato, and the Ludu trio spent all their time together and got along well, so he roughly figured out the difference between Ludu's knowing and clueless expressions.

Even if the other person's face is half covered.

He knew that with Ludu's abilities and personality, he was actually at a disadvantage, or even at a disadvantage, in most competitive games of the extraordinary.

He still doesn't understand why the "Unknown" chose her as a player. Fortunately, Ludu's first game, Silver Cup Manor, was in cooperative mode, where everyone could look out for each other; otherwise, she might have unlocked the worst ending right from the start.

"Good luck with the game, Firefly."

"I will do my best! I will never disgrace the Chosen Ones!"

Lu Du tightened his little face, clenched his fist as if to cheer himself up, waved goodbye obediently to Taki in the seat next to him, then took a deep breath and solemnly chose to enter the game.

In an instant, the scene before my eyes was completely torn apart and reassembled, and a blinding white light appeared like a large truck with its high beams on, heading straight towards me.

It makes it impossible to open your eyes completely.

After an unknown amount of time, Ludu slowly regained consciousness.

She seemed to be floating in a void where even her own form was imperceptible.

All senses were stripped away, leaving only a vague sense of existence.

Gradually, a chill that penetrated to the bone spread silently, seeping into her untouchable body.

"Ho ho."

Heavy, labored breathing, filled with extreme fear, slowly rose in the deathly silence.

It took Ludu several seconds to belatedly realize that the voice seemed to be coming from herself.

Immediately afterwards, an unprecedented and terrifying hunger, almost burning away her reason, attacked her brain.

I'm so hungry
I’m so hungry!
I really want to eat it. I really want to eat piping hot spaghetti covered in meat sauce and cheese!!

Saliva seemed to be secreted frantically; the craving for food almost instantly overwhelmed everything else, even temporarily dispelling the bone-chilling cold.

Just as she was being tormented to the point of near madness by this sudden surge of primal desire...
boom!
A deafening roar jolted her awake.

Ahead, the once seamless darkness was suddenly cleaved open with a crack.

The axe blade, stained with dark red, was stuck in the crack.

A faint sliver of light struggled to squeeze through the crack, revealing fine wood chips fluttering in the air.

at the same time.

Her ears finally seemed to return to normal, and she could no longer hear only deathly silence and panting, but instead catch a faint yet shrill sound coming from outside the crack.

It was the wailing of humanity, desperate pleas for mercy, and the muffled sound of some sharp weapon repeatedly hacking through flesh and bone.

My nose had regained its function, and I could clearly smell the sweet, metallic scent emanating from the blood on the axe blade, mixed with the cold air from outside, rushing in all at once.

Click!

Before Ludu could recover from the chaos of fear and hunger, the axe was suddenly pulled back.

The screams and sounds of hacking outside the door abruptly ceased, as if their throats had been snapped.

Deathly silence descended once more. Only her own uncontrollable, frighteningly heavy breathing remained.

"Heh heh." She consciously tried to slow her breathing, but it was difficult to control.

Her heart was pounding, as if she could sense the thoughts of this body: clinging to a sliver of hope, praying that the "thing" outside the door had left.

however--

Just a few seconds later.

The light was suddenly blocked through the crack in the broken door panel.

A bloodshot eyeball, filled with madness and cruelty, suddenly pressed against the crack and became firmly embedded in it.

"Found you, you coward."

I am not cowardly—

Before she could refute, her breath hitched.

The screen suddenly went black.

Then, suddenly everything became clear.

A biting wind, carrying tiny ice crystals, rushed towards us.

The dull, resounding lapping of waves against the hull echoed in his ears. Ludu found himself in a strange position, watching a ship approach from in front of him.

The ship was not large, and its wooden hull bore the mottled marks of battle and was covered in damage.

The sails on the mast were tattered and hung limply like a few rags under the gray sky.

The ship was slowly sailing on a sea covered with ice floes that stretched as far as the eye could see.

A thick fog blanketed the sea, reducing visibility to almost nothing. Apart from the waves, the surroundings were filled with an unsettling stillness.

She observed everything in this somewhat detached way.

at this time,

The camera seemed to gain self-awareness, suddenly sinking downwards and piercing through the seawater.

In the deep blue sea, the light dimmed rapidly.

As you can see, a long, narrow object is being thrown into the sea from the other side of the ship, slowly sinking into the dark abyss.

A strong desire instantly captivated Lu Du's mind.

That feeling was far more irresistible than the hunger I had felt before.

A perfectly clear thought, indelible as if branded with a hot iron:
That thing.
Absolutely must not be lost
We absolutely must find it!
"Hehe!!"

With a series of heavy breaths, the cold images vanished instantly, replaced by a scene inside a house.

This appears to be a log cabin, with walls constructed from roughly processed logs. In the center of the cabin is a shallowly dug square hearth, above which hangs a black iron kettle, and below, embers emit a faint glow.

On the wall hung an old fishing net with obvious repair marks, an iron harpoon, a sheathed dagger, and several strings of dried fish and grass stems whose original appearance was no longer discernible.

Only now did Ludu clearly see the body he was attached to for the first time.

Judging from the outline of his arms and waist, this was a rather robust man. However, without a mirror, his age was unknown.

Moreover, she still couldn't control the protagonist to do anything.

She was like an outsider's soul residing in a man's body.

The man sat silently on the bed for a while before removing the animal skin blanket and getting up.

[Blow on the fire to prepare breakfast]

[Inspection Tools]

Sleep a little longer

The scene seemed to slow down dramatically, time almost frozen at that moment, and three selection boxes appeared in front of Ludu.

"Eat! Eat your fill first!"

Ludu understood the rules of the game and, without much hesitation, chose the first option.

The intense hunger lingered in her consciousness, driving her to make the most instinctive choice.

The man began his work. He walked to the hearth and carefully used a thin wooden stick to remove the surface ash, revealing the charcoal embers burning with a dark red glow beneath.

He bent down, puffed out his cheeks, and blew gently and continuously, skillfully adding some dry moss fragments and very fine wood shavings, until a small flame reignited.

The man poured water into the iron kettle, sprinkled in a pinch of coarse sea salt, and then tossed in a small handful of grains that looked like barley or rye. This was his simple breakfast.

Looking at the thin, watery wheat porridge, Lu Du couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

This is too miserable.
She glanced instinctively at the dried fish hanging on the wall and muttered to herself, "I thought at least I'd get to eat some fish."

After finishing this breakfast, which could only be described as filling, the selection screen reappeared:

[Inspection Tools]

【Fishing at Sea】

Go find Kustas.

Ludu thought for a moment and decided to choose the examination tools first. She felt it was important to understand the basics of survival.

The man walked to the wall and began to inspect his tools of livelihood one by one. He first touched the fishing net, checking if the knots were secure. Then he picked up the short knife, drew the blade, and gently wiped the edge with his fingers.

However, just as his fingers touched the wooden handle of the seemingly ordinary harpoon—

hum!
A fleeting, blurry, and violently shaking image suddenly pierced Ludu's mind.

The image appears to contain churning seawater, struggling shadows, and the outline of a ship.

But it all happened too fast, so fast that she didn't have time to grasp any clear details before the illusion vanished without a trace, leaving only a lingering sense of unease.

The man's body tensed visibly for a moment, and the muscles in his arm holding the harpoon bulged.

But he seemed to be used to it; he simply took a deep breath and quickly regained his composure, as if nothing had happened, and casually withdrew his hand.

At that moment, an ancient-looking notebook appeared in Lu Du's mind, and the handwriting appeared automatically.

[Clue 1: Why does the harpoon trigger memories?]

[Information: The hilt of the dagger is engraved with "Gift to Mattis"]

“Madis?” Ludu carefully recalled the names of everyone he knew, but none of them were similar.

This is most likely not France.

However, she lacks experience and knowledge, making it difficult for her to know what kind of place it is from just a name.

The option appears again:

【Fishing at Sea】

Go find Kustas.

"I see." Ludu roughly understood why the game was rated as easy.

This is clearly a choice-driven, slow-paced visual puzzle game, far less exciting and dangerous than those fighting games from before.

Not to mention there's a notebook to help organize clues.

She chose to go to Kustas.

The man put on his clothes and opened the door.

The sky outside was still dark, with the main light sources being the cold, waning moon on the horizon and the scattered torches in the village, swaying precariously in the wind.

A damp sea breeze swept over me, carrying a strong salty smell and the sound of waves.

Looking around, you see a small village nestled on the edge of a bay.

Dozens of similar log cabins were scattered sparsely across the land. Most of the villagers seemed to be up already, with wisps of smoke rising from the chimneys of each house. The sounds of preparing breakfast and occasional conversations could be faintly heard. Some men were outside mending their fishing nets, clearly preparing to go out to sea.

The man had a clear purpose. He walked on the relatively flat dirt and soon arrived at the door of a house.

The wooden door of that house was open, and a middle-aged woman was squatting by the hearth, stirring the porridge in the earthenware pot.

An elderly man with gray hair but still a sturdy build was carefully tidying up a set of fishing gear that looked more refined.

Hearing footsteps, the old man looked up and saw Mattis standing outside the door, a clear look of surprise on his face. He put down his work, walked a few steps to the door, and asked in a language that Ludu couldn't understand but could grasp:

"Madis? What's wrong?"

[About special schools of fish]

I had another dream.

The weather should be great today.

(End of this chapter)