Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes.

Chapter 82, Section 80: Some Speculation
Before I begin—I want to become a master of the subway game.

After it ended— Waaah, I'm so bad at this game, I never want to be a pro at this stupid game again.

Uesugi Hitomi quit the game in despair and lay sprawled on the bed.

Her eyes lost their sparkle, and she stared blankly at the ceiling. Sweat splattered across the bed in the shape of a human, making her look like a broken cat doll.

"This is so hard, meow. How can it be so hard? I thought my dog-walking tactics were invincible, but I didn't expect these beasts to be able to chase me better than the last. Whose subordinates are these?"

Moreover, the consequence of being caught was dismemberment and torture; she was dismembered several times.

She came here to play games, not to learn human anatomy.

If this continues, she'll be able to distinguish the different textures of the monster's heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys just by listening to the sounds of the monster chewing.

The liver definitely tastes better—wait a minute!

Now all she wants to do is take a bomb and blow up the Tokyo Shrine that worships those trashy bastards. What a bunch of unlucky trash, notorious before they died and still disgusting people after they're gone.

"Could it be... because I forgot to use a key item that reduces the difficulty in my speedrun, meow?"

She couldn't help but suspect this, a design element found in many games.

This means designing side quests that can reduce the difficulty of the main storyline, allowing players to actively experience the complete game process while also providing experienced players with another option.

If that's the case, then she only has two paths ahead of her now.

One option is to grit your teeth and continue using your extensive experience in chase battles to clear the game.

The second option is to start over and explore previously unexplored areas, but this will inevitably slow down the progress and result in the loss of many lives.

"Will we win? No way, meow."

After glancing at the rankings, Uesugi Hitomi abandoned her second idea.

It's now clear that she chose the wrong direction from the start, playing with a speedrun mentality. Now that she's at this point and wants to turn back, she'll most likely be unable to catch up with the other two players.

When she received the reward, it was explained that each player's ending completion reward only applies to the first ending. Unless a perfect ending is achieved, a second ending reward will not be obtained.

One of her strengths is her ability to see reality clearly; the other two players are likely to be at a similar level to her, or even better.

However, it's unrealistic to expect to get ahead of them and achieve a perfect ending when you're already behind.

Therefore, the best option is the third option: lying flat.

This is not self-abandonment, but the result of calm analysis.

Anyway, there are only three players in this round of the game, so even if she's at worst, she can still reliably get the Fitness Pill reward for third place on the leaderboard.

Moreover, she has already achieved one ending, although it is probably the worst ending, but at least she got the ending reward.

Further up, only perfect endings and points can be rewarded.

I dare not dream of a perfect ending, and I don't know what the points will do yet, but I'll most likely be at the bottom anyway.

It has to be said that even in this worst-case scenario, she was rewarded with the special "superpower" of "cat ear switch," which she found to be very useful after two days of in-depth testing.

The downside is that it gets sleepy very easily, and it feels uncomfortable if it doesn't end its speech with a "meow".

Aside from that, he has many advantages: he runs fast, jumps high, and even his reaction time while playing games on live stream has improved significantly.

Moreover, wearing cat ears doesn't seem to be anything strange. People just think of them as hair accessories or headphones. There are plenty of people in Akihabara who dress much stranger than her.

Of course, to be on the safe side, she wouldn't consider launching an attack in this form.

I really wonder what better rewards those players who get a good ending get. I'm so envious!

"Since the rewards are fixed, should I continue playing?"

Uesugi fell into deep thought.

This game is incredibly demanding! You should have already gotten all the rewards, and there's no hope of competing on the leaderboard anymore. If you continue playing, your earnings will be negative!
Uesugi wasn't a particularly emotional person; rational thinking always prevailed. While she was eager to know the game's true ending, tangible benefits were paramount. Unless the game's plot contained some secret, or something she could realistically gain from it.

But how could that be? This must just be some unknowable virtual game, and the rewards can only be obtained from the game.

unless
The things that happened in the game actually happened in real life.

In the game, she is merely a possibility of reenacting history, but similarly, she can also find profitable parts for herself from these "historical moments".

"Hahaha, how could that be, meow."

"You scare yourself."

"Ghosts can't exist in reality, right?"

As she laughed, Uesugi looked at her palm, and the marks that remained despite her countless washes made her smile gradually freeze.

【0120】

[Official Player]

The numbers on her palm must have appeared after she completed the first ending.

0120 is the player's ID.

Formal players have a level, but they don't have an experience bar and don't know the subsequent leveling path.

But it seems that only she can see these words, because they are not displayed in the photos or in the mirror.

It's possible that players can see it together.

Since such an incredible thing has happened, the idea that the game I'm playing is based on real history doesn't seem so unbelievable after all.

"And there's a way to find out if it's related to reality, meow."

"By entering the man's wedding anniversary, residential area, and the date he went missing into the police system, we should be able to find him, meow."

"Besides, you can see what the protagonist's face looks like through the car window in the game, meow."

"that is."

She was unable to use the police system.

There are no legendary hacking skills involved.

You've got nothing to show for it.

Another approach is to investigate in person, but with the current AI models and surveillance, it would be far too easy to be detected without the ability to disguise or mutate.

Did you really think the police wouldn't be able to find you just because you're wearing a tight-fitting suit?! Especially since her breasts have given her away so much, the tight-fitting suit can't even hide them.

Even if she likes a little excitement, it shouldn't be this intense, meow.

The game is exciting enough; if reality were also a mess, she wouldn't be able to handle it.

"It's decided, meow!"

Uesugi looked serious.

"Before anyone achieves the perfect ending, every player plays the game at least once a day, so I'll play it once a day, meow, anyway, things can't get any worse!"

"But this time my goal is to determine whether the game is 'based on history' or allows players to play as 'real history'."

If it is indeed the latter, then how many mysterious entities are lurking beneath this peaceful society?

After figuring things out, Uesugi felt a little relieved.

"I'm sleepy again, but this feeling is so comfortable, I'll stay awake, goodnight."

(End of this chapter)