Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes

"With this, all the temple pictures in Bunkyo Ward except for Honmyo-ji Temple have been collected."

The blond man casually found a place to sit down, then edited the picture and sent it to a friend.

"Thank you! You've been a huge help, Ethan, you're so reliable."

"This isn't free, you know."

"I understand, I understand! You must be the lead contributor to the website I've set up! Only you understand how great it is to do all this organizing and categorizing work!"

Smiling, Ethan Reynolds packed away his equipment, glanced at the somewhat noisy area around Honmyoji Temple, fiddled with his camera for a bit, and walked over with a curious look.

"Hello, may I ask what happened?" Renault asked someone casually.

The man, who had initially looked impatient, immediately became meek and obedient after looking up and seeing that it was a blond, blue-eyed foreigner: "Your Japanese is really good. Are you an exchange student?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"You've definitely heard about the recent supernatural events. Something similar happened here. Just now, several people were covered with white sheets and carried out."

"Oh, how pitiful." Renault shook his head with a look of pity.

"Uh, yeah, I heard it's related to the legendary cursed sword Muramasa. I don't know why that sword is here. If someone is hiding with that sword, Tokyo will have another serial killer."

"Then it seems I should go out less often. Thank you."

"Oh, you're welcome. Please take care."

Before leaving, he openly took several photos and posted them on social media.

nursing home.

"Right, that is it."

"One step, two steps! That's right, Mr. Iwasaki is very adaptable to brain-computer interfaces. Although this shallow interface method has a small and well-concealed incision, the recovery is relatively slow. I didn't expect Mr. Iwasaki to be so amazing. He was able to get out of bed and walk in just one week."

"you flatter me."

"No, no, no, this is what we truly believe. At this rate, we can fully recover most of our independent mobility within a month, and try low-intensity exercise within six months."

The doctor chattered excitedly, as if he were witnessing a medical miracle firsthand.

Goto, the caregiver, supported Iwasaki, pretending to be very careful.

Some people look like they need to hold on even after taking two steps, but in reality, they could be thrown into the air by a truck.

The number of people killed could be as tall as the Tokyo Tower.

After finishing his daily training, Iwasaki slowly sat on the bed, and with feigned seriousness, "laboriously" reached out his hand, taking three minutes to drink a sip of water.

Then he sweated more than he drank the water.

Goto thoughtfully helped wipe away the sweat with a towel.

Iwasaki's brain-computer interface was installed about a week ago.

Where does the money come from in the open? We have to thank the Iwasaki family, whose entire clan has almost ascended to heaven.

Many of the deceased clansmen were related to Iwasaki as "uncle, nephew, uncle, or niece".

They are third-order heirs.

Generally speaking, it's rare to have the opportunity to inherit, but this is unusual.

Although most of the money was taken back by the authorities because there were no suitable legal heirs, the amount that was leaked out was still a large sum of money, enough for him to get the brain-computer interface that his sister had longed for before her death.

With this interface, Iwasaki can slowly rebuild his life on the surface, while his dark side continues to roam in the shadows, judging guilty souls and increasing his strength.

Now, gangsters no longer call him Demon Mist, but refer to him as the Grim Reaper.

Many people closed their businesses overnight and fled to rural areas or moved to other urban areas to seek refuge.

However, recently he has been focusing more on games, so he has been less active in real life.

This also gave the authorities a slight sigh of relief, allowing them to buy time to increase investment in training special forces.

"According to sources, a horrific incident has allegedly occurred at Honmyoji Temple, resulting in numerous casualties. A cordon has been established, and rumors suggest this incident is related to the legendary demon sword Muramasa."

The television was broadcasting a live news report about Honmyoji Temple.

Upon hearing the name of the demon sword Muramasa, Iwasaki remained unmoved and continued to slowly put the water back in.

Iwasaki and Goto chatted casually, not paying any attention to the news broadcast, and talked about their future plans.

"I might open a studio to sell the artwork I've inherited. Would you like to be my assistant?"

"Huh? Me? Can I really do it?" Goto pointed to himself, revealing his insecure nature.

"Ah."

"Thank you! Thank you! I will work hard!" Goto stood up excitedly and bowed deeply.

Iwasaki suddenly realized that she wasn't entirely acting.

She must have encountered so much disdain in her life that she cherishes even the faintest glimpse of someone's trust.

Suppressing his emotional turmoil, Iwasaki re-fortified his inner defenses.

Goto was merely a pawn he could discard at any time; there was no need or need to cultivate any emotional connection with him.

That would only become his weakness, hindering his goal of becoming an invincible person.

He quickly composed himself, regained his cold demeanor, and began to ponder the authenticity of the demon sword that had just been reported on television.

Recently, for some unknown reason, the authorities are still monitoring him, but less than he expected, as if they have found a more suspicious criminal than him.

This is a good opportunity for Iwasaki, making it easier for him to transform into a demonic mist and collect offerings.

However, now that the demon sword has appeared, it is clear that its value is more attractive than ordinary sacrifices.

In the game, he has decent control over the demon sword and can manage not to kill ordinary people, but if he doesn't kill those who surround him, it's difficult for him to escape.

So even though he knew that the way to achieve a perfect ending was to kill as few people as possible, it was still very difficult to do.

However, he discovered that sacrificing his own blood to the demon sword could temporarily boost his power and slightly reduce the progress bar controlled by the demon sword.

However, once too many sacrifices are made, the progress bar will suddenly jump to more than half.

He planned to use this method to control the extent of the sacrifices as much as possible, and to play the game to the end with fewer people killed.

He thought he had tried his best, but he didn't expect to only rank second on the leaderboard. So the first-ranked player, "Zheng," must have been able to almost completely control the demon sword, and he was a new player at that.

However, as a veteran player, he still has an advantage, namely that new players don't know that the ending of the first level is related to the most crucial reward.

Furthermore, before completing the game and reaching the final ending, they don't even have the status of official players and can't enter the player lobby to communicate, so even if those two overly kind people wanted to tell them, they couldn't.

That's a good point.

It is in his interest.

The question now is whether the official team is aware of the game and the players' existence.

Could the Demon Blade be a trap set by the official team?

If it really is a demon sword that has been unleashed, then will it be able to harm him?

He was unable to verify that the enemies in the game are currently all human.

Iwasaki wouldn't believe that the demon sword's attack was purely physical, because in the game, you can see the red seven-star weakness flowing inside any living creature.

He only turned into invisible black mist, not into a soul, so there is still a high probability that the person controlling the demon sword will see his weakness.

However, if the weakness is exploited in a single strike, an instant kill can be achieved.

He will be completely powerless to resist.

After careful consideration, Iwasaki decided not to act rashly for the time being and not to gamble on the probability of failure leading to certain death.

Ideally, the demon sword should lure the knight back so he can go first.

Iwasaki knew that the knight had gone to the other side to seek his fortune, and that the commotion there was too great, so there was no reason for him to abandon the demon sword that had already been born.

They didn't communicate much, but Iwasaki could tell that the other person was more easily controlled by emotions, which was a good thing.

It's very useful.

Moreover, he seems to lack experience in communication, which suggests he is very young. Perhaps he can be taken advantage of in a legitimate way.

This can also be considered a form of cooperation.

He gains tangible benefits, while the Knight gains a false sense of justice and satisfaction; how can it not be a win-win situation?

Chapter 152: With My Blazing Fire

Ikegami Honmonji Temple.

The cherry blossom season is over, and the peak tourist season has temporarily subsided. The next peak season will be during the autumn foliage season.

As evening fell, the monks finished sweeping and were about to close the gate when they saw a monk they had never seen before emerge from a small grove of trees nearby.

The other person had their head down, clutching something wrapped up, which was unclear whether it was a stick or a cane.

"May I ask which monastery you come from, Venerable Master?"

The monk clasped his hands together, recited a sutra, and stepped forward to ask the question.

".Honmyoji Temple."

"Benmiao Temple? Please wait a moment, Venerable Master, I will go and inform them."

The monk found it strange. Not long ago, the people from Benmyo Temple had left. Now, the younger ones had left and the older ones had arrived?

But sacred objects are the foundation of the temple, so how could they be lent to others casually?

Even kneeling for another ten days wouldn't be possible.

"No need to announce it."

After saying that, he barged in.

"Master, you mustn't!"

Seeing this, the monk hurriedly stepped forward to stop him, but with a push, he cried out and was pushed several meters away. Then, he staggered and rolled down the slope into the grove of trees.

The other party ignored him and walked straight towards the main hall.

"ho"

Riyan's eyes turned increasingly red, as if they were soaked in blood.

He gripped the Myoho-mura sword tighter and tighter, his whole body already soaked with sweat.

A strange power was continuously invading his body through the demon sword, making it impossible for him to discard the sword.

He overestimated himself.

Almost a whole day has passed since I drew my sword.

He abandoned the idea of ​​suppressing the demon sword with his own body. Now, there is only one option left.

time is limited.

He was losing much of his rationality.

He silently recited the scriptures and persevered as he entered the main hall.

He had naturally been here before; it was one of the sacred sites of the Nichiren sect.

In the center of the main hall is a seated statue of Nichiren Shonin, flanked by statues of his disciples Nichiro and Nichirin.

"You are Riyan!"

The two monks in the main hall clearly recognized Riyan.

Nichigen ignored them, knelt down before the Nichiren statue, bowed solemnly, and then got up and left.

“Riyan! Stop. What is your reason for sending your disciple to borrow the sacred object?” A monk stopped him. “He and a group of disciples knelt in the temple for three days. Do you know how much that affected us?”

"To save lives," Riyan said in a low, hoarse voice.

"Namo Myoho Renge Kyo. Who is it saving? Your disciple Richeng said it was to suppress the demon sword. Are you still clinging to that book, 'The Record of Subduing Demons with Wonderful Dharma'? We have told you that although that book was indeed written by Master Facheng, it is more about using stories to warn people and protect their true nature. Why do you insist on believing such a fable?"

The monk earnestly advised him.

"Master said it. It's true." Riyan's hands, where they couldn't see, showed prominent veins.

Another monk shook his head: "Why bring up the master? The reason he told us it was true was simply to encourage us to believe in the Buddhist principles. In reality, whether it is true or not is not important. What is important is the Buddhist principle of helping the world and guarding one's mind that Master Facheng wants to express."