Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes.

Chapter 371, 118: At All Costs

A morning in Istanbul.

The sun was shining brightly, the weather was neither too hot nor too cold, and the sounds of vendors hawking their wares echoed through the alleys of the Fatih district.

The aroma of roasted meat mixed with spices filled the air, an ice cream vendor teased several young travelers from afar, and two figures were running wildly on the stone path, their backpacks swaying and clanging.

"Make way! Please make way!"

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry!"

"It's all your fault! You insisted on dragging me drinking until the early hours last night!" Kostas complained as he ran, tugging at his sweat-soaked collar. "Now look what happened, we're late on our first day of internship, the professor is going to skin us alive!"

Emre, panting and unable to straighten up, staggered as he caught up: "You were the one who said your birthday was the most important, and you drank more than anyone else!"

He wiped the sweat from his brow, his gaze sweeping over the rooftops before finally landing on the iconic minaret: "Almost there! Bodrum Mosque, just two hundred more meters!"

The two stumbled out of the alley and the Bodrum Mosque came into view.

It is not grand, lacking the stunning domes and minarets of most mosques, but possesses a rustic charm steeped in millennia of history. This mosque has a long history, dating back to the 10th century AD.

"Huff," the two of them gasped for breath, leaning on their knees. Emre straightened his disheveled shirt and pulled a crumpled work ID from his pocket. "You've seen the documents, haven't you? You haven't forgotten, have you?"

“Of course.” Costas patted his chest, trying to calm his breathing. “The Bodrum Mosque was originally a private royal burial church in Byzantium, then it was converted into a monastery, and finally became a mosque.”

“The year?” Emre pressed.

Kostas's eyes darted around for a moment: "The professor probably won't ask such detailed questions." He scratched his head and changed the subject, "Isn't our task to continue digging deeper? Maybe we're going to find the tombs of some Byzantine emperors. The history I've been reading about these past few days is mainly about that period."

Since the extraordinary events were confirmed to be closely related to history, Turkey has seized the advantage of Istanbul, known as the City of a Thousand Cities, and the archaeology department has suddenly gone from being ignored to becoming a highly sought-after commodity.

Graduates are being snapped up by large companies and government agencies, and even sophomores are being recruited to make up the numbers.

There are simply too many historical sites being excavated, and a severe shortage of manpower. If people without the relevant knowledge were to rashly attempt to excavate, they could potentially cause irreversible damage to the sites. Therefore, these half-baked students are being given the opportunity to practice their skills ahead of time.

The two handed their identification documents to the soldier standing guard at the entrance, who checked them and then stepped aside to let them pass.

Stepping into the temple, the noise and bustle are instantly shut out.

Walking down the stone steps from the back door of the church, you can smell a bit of dampness. At the corner, there is a faded wooden sign that reads "Women's Prayer Room," and below that is a Byzantine-era cistern, which was once converted into an underground plaza by the Turks.

The original reservoir was over forty meters in diameter, with dozens of granite pillars supporting the vaulted ceiling. The water level line from the Byzantine period can still be clearly seen on the pillars.

Today, the stone slabs are covered with a green carpet, the lights are bright, and archaeological tools, generator sets, and even several boxes of explosives are piled up haphazardly around the area.

As early as the last century, official archaeological teams discovered that there was a deeper underground structure here. The plan was to open it by blasting, but the blasting work was put on hold because it was close to residential buildings.

Until the authorities listed this place as a key excavation mission related to the extraordinary, and the demolition mission was listed as a backup option, the main method now is to dig little by little. According to the plan, it will be completed today. This is also the reason why the professor asked them to help. However, no one expected that these two guys would be late on the first day.

"You two really know how to pick your timing."

The professor's voice was icy. Kostas and Emre looked up and saw an old man with gray hair and reading glasses standing in the center, his face as black as the bottom of a pot.

The two shrank back, barely daring to breathe, and could only whisper, "Sorry, Professor, we overslept."

"Hmph, be prepared. Don't do anything stupid once you're down there." The professor didn't say anything more, turning to walk towards the wall that had been mostly dug through. "The workers are almost through. You can help out and observe carefully."

"Yes"

The two dared not delay and quickly put on gloves to make preparations.

As the last few bricks were dug through, the workers gathered the soil and bricks aside. The professor squatted down, pinched some of the innermost soil, and carefully sniffed it.

"This humidity..." He shook his head slightly. There's a saying, "Dry for a thousand years, wet for ten thousand, neither dry nor wet for half a year." This underground space was damp enough to wring water out of, but it wasn't actually submerged. If there were any valuable artifacts, they would probably have long since decayed into dust.

"Deploy drones to detect air composition and internal road conditions." The professor stood up and patted the dirt off his hands.

The drone slowly flew into the excavated opening, and outside the square, the beams of several searchlights illuminated the passageway inside.

Just then, Kostas suddenly jumped up, pointing deep into the passage, his voice filled with terror: "There was a dark figure! It just flickered!"

The worker operating the searchlight immediately increased its power, moving the beam left and right in the passageway, repeatedly scanning every corner, but found nothing unusual.

The professor walked up to Emre, his expression serious: "Tell me carefully, what did you see?"

Kostas was sweating profusely with anxiety, and a hint of self-doubt crept in: "It was just a black shadow, it flashed by very quickly, right there in the corner!"

"Could it be the shadow of a drone?" Emre whispered to himself.

Upon hearing this, Kostas became even less confident: "But it doesn't look like it to me."

The professor didn't press further. He glanced at the drone detection report displayed on the equipment, which showed no toxic gas. But he put on his gas mask and said in a deep voice, "Let's go, let's get to work."

Unbeknownst to anyone, a dark figure was silently passing by in the shadows of the newly carved-out space.

It moved close to the wall, as fast as the wind, and in less than half a minute, it had finished exploring the area around the passage.

He seemed to be searching for something, but after a moment, he realized he hadn't found it. He then retreated deeper into the shadows, crossed the square, and climbed the stone steps, eventually leaving the mosque silently.

Turkish officials are eagerly anticipating the excavation of various historical sites across the country, completely unaware that this city has already been the target of many eyes.

On the streets of Istanbul, tourists in casual clothes and business people in suits can be seen everywhere, their eyes admiring the ancient ruins.

From the ruins of the Theodosian walls to the towers of the Galata, from the dome of the Blue Mosque to the golden dome of the Hagia Sophia.

Most of the tourists here are genuine, but it is precisely because there are so many genuine tourists that it is even more difficult to detect fake tourists.

It can be said that in Istanbul today, every building with a bit of a reputation is a potential site for America's spies.

Unlike its proactive approach in Britain, Aramco has chosen to wait and see when facing Türkiye this time.

The president knew that this country had always been ambitious, and he was not entirely confident that he could completely suppress it. Forcibly seizing the extraordinary opportunity would only backfire and be a losing proposition.

It would be better to wait until an extraordinary disaster breaks out and Türkiye is preoccupied with its own problems, then take advantage of the situation and see if there's an opportunity to seize what it wants.

Players with firsthand intelligence had long since set their sights on the Bodrum Mosque. In the game, Constantine XI retrieved the victory banner from the royal chambers there. Even a thousand years later, players could repeatedly search the area, only to find nothing.

The original royal rooms were destroyed by fire, and other corners were searched countless times, but not even a trace of the flag could be found.

Even today, after the underground space excavation was completed, Iwasaki immediately went in to investigate, but the results were still disappointing.

It seems the Victory Banner was never returned here, and there is no historical record of it.

Was it hidden elsewhere by Constantine XI, or was it accidentally lost due to its ordinary appearance? Iwasaki is more inclined to believe the former; a relic of this caliber would be difficult to destroy even if one wanted to.

Thinking of this, he unconsciously touched his heart, where the silver cup was.

To find out where the victory flag is, it seems we'll have to finish the game first.

Speaking of this game, Iwasaki unusually felt a headache coming on.

It's too difficult, not just a little difficult.

He barely survived the first large-scale siege, but his progress was stuck on the two consecutive attacks on May 7th and 12th.

The two offensives were too close together. Having just survived the fierce attack on May 7, their authority hadn't had time to be replenished, and their supplies hadn't been replenished before the next wave of Ottoman troops surged forward.

For a whole week, he tried repeatedly, but he still couldn't get past this hurdle.

Macro-level command is almost impossible to maintain under such extreme circumstances, and the defensive line could collapse at any moment.

However, the difficulty of micro-management is surprisingly high. The game's extreme controls allow you to command the position of each soldier and execute every command. Even the slightest mistake can lead to a chain reaction, making it less effective than macro-management.

In addition, the early-stage material management was almost harsh, with virtually no room for redundancy, and every decision had to be carefully calculated.

Even worse, even if you manage to get through this ordeal and hold out until the final assault on May 28th, it's highly unlikely you'll be able to hold out on your first playthrough, and you'll probably only unlock a normal ending.

He opened the game leaderboard, but there were no changes.

1. Wolf
2. Wallace
3. Arthur

Two of the top three are new players, and even Arthur, who has never been very prominent, has squeezed into third place, while he himself has been excluded from the leaderboard for the first time.

He knew that players had different specializations and talents, but the feeling of being left behind for the first time was a bit special.

The extraordinary crisis in Istanbul could erupt at any time, and his deal with Taki to protect Kyoto was not yet finalized.

After a moment's consideration, Iwasaki decided to return to Japan first, and then come back to wait for the right opportunity after completing the game and figuring out the key clues.

Just as he was preparing, a private message suddenly popped up:
[Yui: Hiro, online, player lobby]

Iwasaki found it strange. Unless it was something urgent, Yui usually wouldn't contact him first. Even if it was something urgent, she would explain it in a private message. This was the first time she had directly asked him to come online like this.

He immediately found a safe and secluded spot, and with a thought, connected his consciousness to the player lobby.

When he appeared at the round table, he immediately saw that the taskbar was surrounded by players: Taki, Nobita, Hayato, Ethan. All the veteran players were there, except for him.

Yui remained seated in her original spot, not moving closer. When she saw him come online, she simply nodded slightly and said in a flat voice, "That slime who was the acting village chief in Peach Blossom Village a while ago, he's here."

“He brought a lot of unique items to trade,” she paused, then added, “There’s one item that a lot of people have their eyes on, and I think you might want it too.”

Iwasaki nodded and slowly stepped forward. For Yui to specifically mention it, and for this group of players, accustomed to extraordinary items, to surround it so closely, it must be some powerful item.

He moved closer to the crowd and could vaguely see the transparent slime.

A nine-square grid floats inside his body, with each square containing a prop of a different shape, some emitting a faint glow, others plain and unadorned.

"The items here are not available in the store. I only charge points. Please see the flyer for prices and effects."

Ueda's voice trembled slightly as he faced the surrounding players, clearly intimidated by the scene.

Although he had spent a few days in Peach Blossom Village and could barely be considered to know these players, he still couldn't help but feel nervous facing so many people all at once.

The flyer was posted on the task bulletin board next to it. The players were unusually quiet. In this virtual space, they could even hear each other's heavy breathing. Everyone's eyes were fixed on the bulletin board, revealing an undisguised desire.

Iwasaki first glanced at the nine-square grid prop inside Ueda's body, and finally his gaze fell on the bulletin board.

When he saw the first line of text on the flyer, his head buzzed and his eyes were glued to it. Even though he was in a virtual world, he felt as if all the blood in his body rushed to his head at that moment.

The first line of text clearly reads:

[Stealing Heaven and Repairing Perfection Pill: A miracle pill. It can revive even a wisp of a soul or a single hair cell. Limited to ordinary people whose physical lifespan has not yet ended. Price: 3000 points]

It took him a while to regain his composure, his throat dry.

No wonder.
It's like they've come back to life!
His gaze swept subtly over the other players.

They met his gaze with burning intensity.

Faced with such a rare and precious item, those who need it would not be willing to back down.

We must get it at all costs!
Even if it means being at odds with everyone.

However, Iwasaki quickly managed to suppress his excited and chaotic state of mind and focused his attention on the price.

Three thousand points is an astronomical number for players.

He's probably the richest player right now, but he only has a little over 300 points, which is one-tenth of 3,000.

It would take forever to save that up.

However, his research on the soul has yielded no results regarding resurrection, and he sees virtually no hope of reviving his sister through his abilities.

Therefore, the appearance of this elixir finally brought hope.

(End of this chapter)