Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes.

Chapter 357, Section 104: Neither You Nor Me

When Mattis found Indrek with the wood chips, he was on the dock directing sailors to reinforce the sails in preparation for the last few fishing trips of the year.

"There's definitely going to be snow and wind in the next few days, so our chances of going out to sea are slim... Hmm? Mattis?"

As he saw Mattis approaching, he was about to greet him when his gaze was suddenly drawn to the piece of wood in Mattis's hand, and his expression abruptly turned serious.

"Koustas wants you to tell me about that sea."

Matthias handed over the wooden piece as instructed and relayed Kustas's words.

Indrek took the wooden piece and stared at it for a long time. After a long while, he sighed heavily, pulled Madison aside to a quiet place, lowered his voice, and his rugged face was filled with solemnity and fear.

“Since old Kustas sent you here and gave you this,” he said, shaking the piece of wood in his hand, “I owe him a life-saving favor, so I’ll tell you everything I know.”

"A few years ago, several of our boats were chasing golden fish."

He was referring to the ghost ship incident.

During Ludu's visit, he hadn't heard Indrek mention this incident, so he was unaware of this part of the story.

After listening, Matthias and Ludu had a flashback in their minds—the conversation between the knight and his son William that Higashiyama Shin had triggered earlier, in which they decided to leave England and detour through the Baltic Sea.

After the flashback ended, Ludu opened the notebook that came with the game. Based on the clues and information gathered there, the already not-so-complex storyline became quite clear.

After saying goodbye to Indrek, she chose to return to the cabin in Kustas.

This time, the old man did not avoid the question. The two stared at each other for a long time, as if they both saw the shadow of another person in each other's faces.

Finally, it was Kustas who spoke first, asking word by word:

"Even knowing all this, and understanding the dangers of that sea, are you still determined to go there?"

【Yes】

【no】

Game options appeared before Ludu's eyes.

“Yes. I must go,” Mattis replied calmly.

Upon hearing this answer, Kustas trembled slightly.

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, as if making a momentous decision. When he opened his eyes again, the hesitation and sorrow in them had vanished.

"it is good."

He nodded emphatically. "I understand. I won't stop you from doing what you want to do, even if..."

He stepped forward, patted Mattis hard on the shoulder, and said with a piercing gaze, "But, son, you must remember what I'm saying, remember it well!"

His tone was more serious than ever before:
"We should have reverence for the sea."

"It gives us food and livelihood, but it can also devour everything in an instant, including our lives."

"Never underestimate its power, and never let greed and obsession blind you."

"You must learn to exercise restraint."

After giving this warning, Kustas turned around and walked somewhat unsteadily towards the deepest part of the room.

He pulled out an old, dusty wooden crate from a corner and opened it with trembling hands.

As the lid was opened, a smell of rust mixed with a faint grease wafted out.

Kostas carefully took out a long, rectangular object wrapped in thick oilcloth from the box, and he unwrapped the oilcloth layer by layer.

Finally, he took out a slightly rusted two-handed cross-shaped knight's longsword and presented it to Mattis.

Matthias was clearly lost in thought. He carefully reached out and gently stroked the rusty blade, finally stopping at the guard.

The word "Matthew" is engraved there in Latin.

"Take it,"

"It should have belonged to you."

“When I found you, this sword was stuck in your body. I thought you were definitely not going to survive, so I became greedy, pulled the sword out of your body, and hid it.”

"But you actually pulled through. Later, I thought about whether to return the sword to you, but in order to let you stay here, I didn't tell you about the sword."

"Now, the item has been returned to its rightful owner."

"I don't expect your forgiveness, I just hope you can find your own future."

"This inscription on the sword might be your name, but I couldn't understand it, so I asked a learned person to translate it. Based on this name, I gave you a local name with the same meaning: Madis."

According to the memories Mattis recalls, his real name should be William.

The name Matthew seems to have come from my father mentioning the name of my ancestor Matthew.

Therefore, this sword must have been passed down from his family.

Then, during the battle on the ship, his father impaled him.

The game successfully entered the final chapter, and Ludu began to organize all the memory relics he had collected.

Currently, Matthias's complex past memories can be divided into four categories.

The first is that when you touch certain objects, there are chaotic flashbacks of fragments. These flashbacks don't have any crucial function, but they provide an extra clue for Ludu to pay attention to, such as why the harpoon triggers memories.

The second is the long stretches of memory that come after understanding the key plot points. This is the most important supplement to memory, and the inference of the character's identity is also based on this.

Thirdly, through the memories of the relics, the first-person perspective of the relic's owner before death is obtained, and without exception, they are all killed by their knight father.

The fourth is a collection of fragmented memories, similar to those from a dream. Apart from the opening sequence of the game, most of the scenes are set in the sea, and their meaning is unclear.

"Could he still be on the ghost ship? I should still be missing one last memory relic. Once I find it, I'll be able to encounter the ghost ship?"

"Then will we need to fight? Can we really win?"

Despite the concerns, the journey must continue.

A few days later, Ludu, having obtained the special fishing net, piloted the upgraded icebreaker sailboat towards the northwest, heading towards the unknown sea area where the floating ice was growing larger and larger.

Money has lost its meaning, fishing is only for reducing hunger, and all goals point to that last relic of memory.

The voyage was extremely difficult, with ice floes constantly hitting the hull and making creaking noises, which gradually reduced the durability of the fishing boat.

Finally, at sunset, guided by their observation skills, they arrived at their destination before the fishing boat fell apart.

The salvage operation was not smooth, with several attempts yielding no results. Just as the last rays of the setting sun were about to be swallowed by the sea, the net finally pulled up an item.

It was a fragment of a kite-shaped shield with irregularly broken edges.

The instant Maddis's fingers touched the shield's cold surface, as usual, the memory of the item's owner appeared.

"Matthew! Damn it! Are you insane?!"

The flashback showed the shield the deceased had hastily picked up being shattered by an axe, and those words became his last words.

"That's too much power!" Ludu was even more worried. Although Mattis had shown considerable strength, he hadn't fought before and didn't know for sure.
Wait, wasn't that guy called Knight Matthew?

It's not uncommon for people to have the same name, so this sword didn't belong to Matthew's ancestor, but to William's father? Was he also named Matthew?
However, there seems to be no need to dwell on this issue. Regardless of whose sword it was, it was definitely Matthew who stabbed Mattis in the body.

Just as Ludu was pondering, the surrounding environment underwent a strange change.

Before anyone knew it, a milky white mist rose from the sea, silently and rapidly engulfing everything around it.

As darkness fell, the faint light appeared so blurry and indistinct in the mist.

The knight's two-handed sword placed beside Mattis seemed to be awakened at this moment, its blade emitting a soft glow that dispelled a small patch of darkness and chill in the surrounding area.

As if summoned by some instinct, Mattis silently reached out and gripped the hilt of his sword.

As he raised his longsword above his head, the light on the blade suddenly became brighter. Under this light, the sanity that Mattis had previously lost due to frequent use of the Observation skill began to recover rapidly until it was full.

Then, the sword's fluorescence dimmed.

Matthias, sensing something, turned his gaze into the depths of the thick fog directly ahead. There, he saw a huge, dilapidated old sailboat, its sails drooping like withered vines, silently piercing through the fog and slowly approaching his small boat.

"Ghost Ship" Ludu took a deep breath, knowing that the final moment had arrived.

The ghost ship, as if still being piloted, approached Madis and then quietly came to a stop to the side.

On the side of the ship, an old rope ladder appeared before Matthias's eyes.

Without giving him any choice, Matthias gripped the glowing longsword tightly in one hand and grabbed the swaying rope ladder with the other, beginning to climb upwards.

During the climb, fragments of memories that had been previously activated bombarded his mind one after another.

From the memory of hiding from pursuers in a dark hut at the beginning of the game, to the later discovery of each victim's last moments through their belongings, including the grotesque, murderous face of their father, these fragments gradually overlap and intertwine with memories of England.

The image of a father who is paranoid, tyrannical, and ruthless, placing the knightly oath above all else, becomes increasingly clear and increasingly detestable.

Ironically, the father who valued the knightly oath so highly betrayed everyone.

An uncontrollable surge of anger and resentment erupted from his chest and spread throughout his body.

His breathing became heavy, his eyes involuntarily filled with bloodshot veins, and the veins on his arms gripping the rope ladder bulged.

Finally, he boarded the deck of the ghost ship.

Before me lay a scene of desolation and death.

The wood was rotten, the cables were broken, and everywhere bore the marks of time and seawater erosion.

In the center of the deck, the moonlight barely penetrated the mist, illuminating a solitary figure.

It was a knight whose entire body was covered in plate armor, and whose face was even hidden under a visor.

He was kneeling on one knee, holding a heavy battle axe in one hand, the blade deeply embedded in the deck planks.

Before him was a short, inconspicuous metal rod standing upright on the deck, resembling some kind of wreckage.

He was like a frozen statue, as if he had been kneeling in this posture for countless years in this lonely boat amidst the icy sea and mist.

And it was only today, with Matthias boarding the ship, that the statue awoke.

Click.
The knight's neck armor rotated extremely slowly, and the subtle metallic scraping sound at the joint of the plates was quite noticeable.

The gaze hidden beneath the mask pierced the darkness and landed on Mattis.

Then, he moved his fingers slightly, gripped the handle of the battle axe, and pulled it out of the deck.

He slowly stood up, his tall figure casting a shadow in the moonlight mist, the deck groaning under his weight.

"You shouldn't have come back."

A dry, hoarse voice came from under the helmet.

I want my things back.

Fight on!

【.】

Three options pop up.

Ludu hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to choose. However, a countdown timer appeared on the selection screen.

In her haste, she chose to remain silent.

The price of choosing silence is a reduction of 10 sanity points.

Seeing that Matthias did not respond, the knight said nothing more. He simply slowly assumed a fighting stance, the battle axe that had shattered shields and claimed many lives pointed at Matthias.

The battle, in the end, was inevitable.

Ludu was relieved that she didn't need to control the battle.

However, she remained on high alert, fearing that some time-limited options might appear during the battle.

To Ludu's surprise, the battle was not as difficult as he had imagined.

Perhaps it's because Mattis is no ordinary man either; he's very strong. The only thing to be careful about is that the battle will consume sanity and increase hunger.

Perhaps due to a prolonged period of silence, the knight's movements, though powerful and heavy, appeared somewhat slow and stiff.

Matthias nimbly dodged and weaved, using the length and speed of his sword to continuously carve marks on the knight's plate armor, producing a piercing scraping sound.

Finally, after a precise parry and counterattack, Madis struck the knight's wrist with his sword. The knight's heavy battle axe flew out of his hand and crashed with a clang against a tightly closed, dilapidated wooden door leading to the cabin below.

Victory seemed within reach.

However, the knight who lost his weapon showed no panic whatsoever.

He merely let out a soft sigh, then took two steps back, placed one hand on the unidentified metal rod, gripped it tightly, and then yanked it out of the deck.

Om-!
A dazzling golden light suddenly burst forth from the short stick.

The light instantly dispelled the surrounding mist, revealing its true form.

That wasn't a short stick at all, but a trident that shone with golden light and resembled a harpoon.

The moment the trident was pulled out.

Rumble!
The entire ghost ship began to shake violently.

The sea surface on both sides of the ship suddenly boiled and churned with countless huge bubbles. Then, thousands of golden fish with scales reflecting a faint golden light, as if summoned by some supreme power, leaped out of the water.

At the same time, the already decaying planks of the ghost ship began to crack and collapse one after another, and seawater rushed in from all directions. The ship was emitting its final, painful groans as it disintegrated.

"We must never hand over the sacred relic to you again."

The knight, wielding a radiant trident, casually swung it, and the surrounding seawater gathered, instantly condensing into countless sharp ice blades that swept towards Mattis.

Mattis dodged left and right in a flustered manner, but there were too many ice blades and the range was too wide; he was about to be hit—

Just then, the fragment of the kite-shaped shield that he had just retrieved from his waist suddenly flew up automatically, transforming into a semi-transparent shield phantom that firmly protected Mattis in front of him.

Clang, clang, clang—all the ice blades were blocked by this ghostly shield.

Mattis instantly understood.

Without hesitation, he took out all the collected memories from his backpack and threw them forcefully across the disintegrating deck.

The next moment, each relic emitted a white light, and blurry, semi-transparent humanoid shadows slowly rose from these relics.

They either helped Mattis block the ice blades or attacked the knights directly.

The knight froze, blocking the attacks, staring at the trident in his hand, his voice filled with self-mockery and helplessness:
"As expected, you are not a sacred object but an evil one."

Matthias seized an opportunity. He roared, channeling all his strength into his arms, and with his longsword in hand, he charged forward to increase his power, ignoring the knight's plate armor, and plunged the sword deep into the knight's abdomen.

"Uh"

The knight's body trembled violently, and the golden trident in his hand crashed to the ground, its light gradually dimming.

However, the knight, pierced through the chest, did not struggle or resist. With a calm gaze, he looked through the gap in his visor at Matthias, whose face was filled with hatred, anger, and confusion.

The hoarse voice gradually became clearer:

".Father"

"Am I now a qualified knight?"

Boom!

These words struck Maddis and Ludu like a thunderbolt.

Father?
Why would he call himself father?

I am Matthew.
And this knight before me... is he my son, William?
All the barriers of memory collapsed completely at this moment, and countless chaotic and contradictory images surged wildly into his mind.

(End of this chapter)