Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes

Finally, one of the men, having suffered social death due to a false accusation, lost his parents, divorced his wife, and faced discrimination at work after his release from prison, leaving him with almost nothing. Therefore, he was willing to kill the woman himself and then turn himself in, begging Nobi to bring her to him.

Nobi, as he wished, brought the woman to the hospital, then watched as the man slit the terrified woman's throat with a knife. After enjoying the expression of her struggling, desperate, and dying face, he laughed loudly, said to Nobi, "Sorry, I lied," and then chose to commit suicide.

Many literary and entertainment works like to use the phrase "human nature is complex" to summarize human nature.

Nobita had never felt the weight of those words before; they seemed vague and light, as if they were both near and far from him.

But afterwards, he had a deeper feeling.

The so-called good and evil are not a clear-cut scale, but a bottomless chaotic vortex.

Human nature is like a series of ships caught in this whirlpool; no one can escape it.

Therefore, he did not become closer to "Sen," who was still a stranger at the time, just because the other party revealed that he was a fan.

To understand what kind of person he is, we need to observe more of what he does.

Seeing Nobita's gaze, Uesugi took over the conversation, welcoming the two of them, and then casually asked, "Mori-san, I remember you finished the game a few days ago, why are you only entering the player lobby today?"

"Well, actually I came here secretly when no one was around, mainly because I was scared. I didn't know the knight was here at the time, but," Renault nodded toward the big island, "I saw the notification and knew the island was open, so I waited for him to come in so we could come in together and avoid the awkwardness."

That explanation makes sense.

The island didn't say anything, but he felt it was a good thing that someone was sharing the social pressure.

But I wonder if I've heard of that outfit somewhere before?

Takii spoke up: "Recently, quite a few people have reported that a red-armored samurai has been appearing in Shinjuku and Adachi, helping people everywhere. Is that you?"

Hearing this, Nobita and Uesugi's impression of him improved somewhat.

"Are you Muramasa-san? I didn't expect to meet so many celebrities all at once." Renault exclaimed. "That's right, it's me. Because I really wanted to be like a knight, I did some clumsy imitation and taught some unrepentant guys a lesson."

Taki declined to comment, only adding, "The Extraordinary Measures Department has taken notice of you."

“I guessed so, so is Masako looking for an opportunity to arrest me?” Renault joked.

"Currently, the official attitude towards extraordinary individuals is to prioritize cooperation, while hostility is the only option. If you don't mind revealing your identity, you can choose to cooperate."

"A collaboration? I'll think about it."

Renault gave an ambiguous look, observing the somewhat reserved Oshima, and steered the conversation toward him.

"Island-san, what ending did you get?"

"Huh? Me? It's the normal ending. I killed Hattori Masanari, and then I was killed by Tokugawa's men." Oshima probably didn't have much of a guard up because of his basic trust in the player's identity and Reno's good deeds.

Renault nodded in realization: "Just like me, that Tokugawa is too cunning."

He didn't intend to reveal his demonic ending. Anyone who could achieve that kind of ending didn't seem like a righteous person; people would just think that his family needed to hire a master.

It's important to understand that the NPCs in this game are no different from living people; they're not like the NPCs in traditional games who drift when they walk or can steal things on the spot just by putting a wooden bucket on their head.

It would be very difficult for an ordinary person to withstand the psychological pressure, fight their way to the end, and even organize a large army of knife slaves.

To be frank, Renault's plan to infiltrate the good guys' camp will inevitably encounter more obstacles out of nowhere.

"Ahem, let me first tell you about the principles among players."

In order to promote his own information manual, Uesugi decided to take on the role of a new recruit guide without hesitation, hoping to gain some initial favor first.

It's like when you're a freshman and an upperclassman recommends you buy two packs of tissues; you feel a little embarrassed to refuse.

Moreover, she is very confident in the quality of her materials! Absolutely no deception!

However, she had already gathered information about the normal ending from Nobita, which meant that there would be no discount when selling it to them, and it would cost 20 points per person!

As expected, both of them were very interested in the previous game. After checking the purchase power of the points in the store and considering Uesugi's promise of free updates, they readily agreed.

"You won't regret it, it's absolutely great value for money! All the information inside has been meticulously checked and boldly speculated upon by me." After selling two more copies, Uesugi was in a good mood.

Seeing that she was getting a little too excited, Nobi coughed twice and said, "There's one more thing. Yue, Zheng, and I are preparing to establish a 'Lawful Players Mutual Aid Association.' The goal is to build a bridge of mutual trust among players and to restrain all players' destructive, malicious, and unscrupulous behavior."

He explained the role of this mutual aid association.

This is a more complete version of the previous hypothesis.

It simply aims to limit players' abuse of power, minimize harm to society, provide stronger guarantees for cooperation among players, and mediate disputes among members.

Upon closer inspection, it seems similar to the previous player principles, but with enhanced constraints and cohesion, and a more collective concept.

"This is a great idea, I'll join."

Good guy Renault didn't hesitate for a second.

These treaties have a major loophole, though it can't really be called a loophole, because the association is powerless to regulate them.

That means if it's not discovered, it's not considered wrongdoing.

Only the defeated are defined as war criminals, which is also one of Renault's creeds.

He didn't believe that all players would be so docile; there would always be those who were restless and dissatisfied with the status quo, and those would be the ones he could win over.

Oshima, who was looking at the information, also came to his senses: "I'd like to join too, but are there any requirements?"

Nobi and the others exchanged glances, and had basically no objection to their joining.

If someone joins and then acts recklessly in real life, the other players in the association will refuse to cooperate with them and may even attempt to kill them.

This association has no intention of becoming elitist. Its initial purpose was to restrict players from doing evil, so its goal is to recruit all players. They are actually unwilling to take action unless absolutely necessary.

Players possess a wide variety of extraordinary powers, and no one can guarantee that they will be able to defeat anyone without encountering unexpected situations.

The opponent might be weaker than you in potential, but they might be able to counter you, making a direct counter-kill not impossible.

Potential level doesn't tell the whole story.

"So, the 'Orderly Players Mutual Aid Association' is officially established today, and the five of us are the initial members. The association will have a rotating president, and related matters will be decided by voting, with the minority obeying the majority, and the president having two votes."

"The position of president is rotated every three months and is elected by vote. Presidents cannot serve consecutive terms, but may serve a term after a gap."

For an organization that is not particularly tightly knit, elections are indeed the optimal solution; otherwise, none of them would have the ability to completely convince everyone.

They also mentioned some rules that limit the president, such as "no confidence impeachment" and "principles that cannot be violated." In summary, the president's actual power is not that great, comparable to that of the UN Secretary-General.

It's only slightly better than a mascot.

As was quite natural, Nobita was elected as the first president by vote, while Uesugi became the vice president.

Taki did not participate in the election. Her identity is rather sensitive; she is an official partner. It's fine now that there are few people involved, but once there are more people, they will definitely become suspicious of her.

This would have a negative impact on the stability of the association.

She doesn't really need this identity, and in the short term, under the Knight's control, there shouldn't be any concern about the association changing its nature.

For some reason, when she thought of this, she subconsciously looked at "Sen," who was clapping continuously for the selection of the knight.

This person's actions seemed somewhat deliberate.

Afraid of embarrassment, they waited until the last player finished before coming in together, but their outgoing demeanor showed no sign of embarrassment whatsoever.

Would a sunny and cheerful young man really be chosen as a player?

Chapter 172: The Frenzy of the Other Shore

[Sen: I heard from the knight that you are Demon Mist? Currently, the other five players have reached a mutual assistance agreement, and they may make their move against you next.]

But I know you must have had reasons for what you did in real life. I really don't want to see hostility between players. We should unite to prevent the official team from having any opportunity to exploit the situation.

In the early morning, Iwasaki read Renault's message but didn't feel much.

Even setting aside his inner thoughts, his abilities meant he couldn't share a common goal with other players who wanted to maintain order.

Even if they manage to stay together, they will eventually fall out due to differences in their views.

This player named Sen is quite interesting.

He spoke in a seemingly kind tone, then subtly revealed that the five players had formed an alliance and might be targeting him.

Is this an attempt to entice me to proactively propose cooperation with him?

For reasons of self-interest, he did hope to have an intelligence source that could provide information on the movements of other players.

But this person gave him a sense of hypocrisy, as if he were hiding a knife behind a smile.

It's like someone who thinks highly of themselves, putting on a disguise and portraying a stereotypical image of a certain personality.

However, if it's just about mutual benefit, there's no need to consider so much.

Iwasaki closed his eyes and carefully considered the matter.

The knight's abilities may seem flashy, but they pose a limited threat to him in practice.

If we're talking about the person he fears most right now, it's Muramasa Taki.

She is the biggest winner in the game "Demon Blade". Even if she didn't get the perfect ending on her first playthrough, she must have received a considerable reward. In addition, she is likely to be able to create extraordinary weapons and is currently an official collaborator, which naturally creates an adversarial basis for him.

"Enemies become allies mostly for survival, while allies become enemies mostly for profit."

He stiffly climbed out of bed, slowly walked to the window, gazed at the hazy dawn, and spoke to himself.

Good morning, Mr. Iwasaki.

Goto knocked on the door and came in, ready to start his new day's work.

Since Iwasaki will be officially discharged from the hospital in a couple of days, she took the opportunity to pack some belongings and did a thorough cleaning of all her clothes.

"Oh, right, the police just told me that a friend of Ms. Iwasaki will be visiting at ten o'clock this morning," Goto said while tidying up.

Iwasaki's movements were a little stiff, but given his current performance, it was normal.

Ya's friend?

He is still surrounded by police, but not in a particularly tight security manner; they are mainly there to ensure that he remains under surveillance.

But to see him, you need to go through a police check.

Iwasaki, recalling his sister's suicide note, already had a guess in his mind.

Around 10 o'clock, a woman with a sickly pale face, wearing glasses, and with deep dark circles under her eyes came to the ward.

"Nice to meet you. I am Natsu Tokura, a friend of Miyabi Iwasaki."

Iwasaki repeated the other person's name, and it did indeed match the abbreviation for TNT.

"You came to see me because you wanted to ask about Ya's whereabouts, right?"

"Yes! I've been looking for her for a long time, but she seems to have vanished into thin air. Even the police can't give me an answer, and it took a long time for the police to approve my request to come to you."

Shi Cang looked dejected, but his eyes were firm.

“I can guess that the police suspect that Ya is the recent demon mist, but I saw the demon mist at the Camellia Villa, and I don’t believe she would do such a thing.”

Iwasaki was startled, but his face remained expressionless.

Indeed, on the surface, Iwasaki Masashi is more likely to be the Demon Mist than him, but he had never even considered that possibility.

It's so easy to make that connection, so why hasn't he thought about it this way?

Iwasaki felt that it was highly likely the police had never asked him about Iwasaki Miyabi.

He could have guessed that the police would have made this assumption if he had asked even one question.

"When was the last time you contacted her?" Iwasaki asked.

"At 4 p.m. on April 11, she asked me for details about the modified surveillance system through an anonymous app. Then she said she needed to investigate some things and didn't want to involve me, so she cut off contact with me."

"Modify the surveillance system?"

"It is a type of monitoring that is not affected by common blocking and can still operate normally."

No wonder the recording could continue inside the room even after Toshitaka Iwasaki blocked the recording.

After a few seconds of silence, Iwasaki shook his head: "The last time she contacted me was at the end of March, so you've got the wrong person. There's nothing I can do to help you."

"Really... not a single clue?" Tokura's eyes were filled with pleading, as if he were grasping at the last straw and was unwilling to let go.

Iwasaki shook his head again: "Sorry, no."

Shi Cang slumped down, his last bit of energy seemingly drained from his body in an instant.

Goto couldn't help but gently support her, afraid that she would fall off the chair.

"I understand. Thank you, sorry to bother you."

Her eyes were dull and lifeless. She got up to say goodbye, her steps unsteady as she tried to leave.