Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes

Upon hearing this, Eri didn't say anything more. After glancing down at the condition of the Ficus microcarpa, she casually handed the empty water bottle to the researcher and walked towards the direction of the Divine Flower, swinging her ponytail.

".Next."

There are only two people in the team now, and most of them haven't shaken off the hallucinations yet. Soon it will be Hirosue Eri's turn.

"Focus all your attention and try to communicate with the divine flower in front of you."

Eri, separated from the guards by an iron fence, gazed at the divine flower in its bud stage, and seemed to hear some faint, inhuman voices in her ears.

The words were unclear, but the content was clear.

They asked her if she was willing to sign a contract and become a human contractor of the Divine Flower.

"Extraordinary opportunities... you don't mean becoming a magical girl, do you?" Eri muttered softly, her eyes gradually brightening.

"Alright, next." The researcher in charge of recording saw that the Divine Flower hadn't moved and was about to tell her to leave when he was horrified to discover that the flower bud had quietly turned crimson.

The flower bud trembled slightly, and then slowly bloomed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Is that a spider lily? It's so beautiful."

Eri stared at the enchanting beauty of the Divine Flower, which could involuntarily captivate and intoxicate one's mind. Her eyes glazed over slightly, but she quickly regained her clarity. It seemed that she had a certain resistance to hallucinations.

However, everyone in the experimental site, even those who had undergone the test of hallucinations, fell into a new hallucination the moment the divine flower bloomed again.

A few seconds later, the illusion was shattered by the divine flower, and people's pupils gradually regained focus, returning them to reality.

The researcher stared intently at the blonde girl before him, his lips barely moving, his tone a mixture of respect and stiffness: "Please come with me, Ms. Hirosue."

meeting room.

Eri Hirosue's information has already appeared in Leon's hands.

"Hirosu Eri, a Japanese citizen of British descent, a second-generation immigrant, is 17 years old. She has a particular fondness for growing plants. During a school camping trip in elementary school, she disappeared alone into the woods. A search of the mountains failed to find her, but she returned safely on her own three days later, claiming that she had been invited by the forest."

If such a legend were told in the past, everyone would have taken it as a childish joke.

And now, perhaps Hirosue Eri truly possesses some kind of affinity with plants, which is why she was chosen by the divine flower.

"I didn't expect to be chosen by the Japanese again." Leon had a bit of a headache.

These individuals were all screened by Leon, had no anti-American tendencies, and had signed agreements promising to prioritize cooperation with America if selected, and to support their actions and research.

But ultimately, they are not as trustworthy as people from one's own country on the surface.

The only good news is that Hirosue Eri is not Japanese in a racial sense, but a Westerner.

Having this in mind should make the president look a little better.

You can also try to persuade the other party to give up their Japanese citizenship, but this needs to be done in a dignified manner.

And—are Japanese high school students really that amazing?!

The knight is a high school student, Muramasa is even in the same class as the knight, and the current Hirosue Eri is also a high school student.

This is such a biased way of giving out superpowers; is it because they look down on older men?

Leon also wanted to experience what it felt like to become extraordinary.

This was not because Shinichi Higashiyama favored high school students; he chose Eri Hirosue simply because he could sense a faint spiritual aura and extremely high talent emanating from her.

If Dr. Millai's original talent was 1, then hers is at least 5.

Other college students were selected perhaps because they are the most passionate and obsessed with games at this age, but talent was also a major factor in their selection.

Otherwise, spending all your time playing easy AI matches, no matter how much you love someone, will be of no use.

Players can be said to have cheated through the game system in order to gain extraordinary abilities through their gaming skills.

People like Hirosue Eri are the most orthodox practitioners.

If any sects or factions still existed in this world, she would undoubtedly be the XX Holy Body, sought after by the corresponding sects.

However, given the current scarcity of spiritual energy, she can only show a slight difference in her abilities, and then as she grows older, her spiritual energy will gradually diminish.

After all, Dongshan Shen had been cultivating the Three Nine Secret Abodes for some time. Before the Yellow Springs Pavilion appeared, if he wanted to replenish his spiritual energy, he would have to rely on the slow charging provided by the game system. If he wanted to charge quickly, he would have to go to sleep.

It's practically impossible to obtain from reality; you have to exert every ounce of effort to squeeze out even a tiny bit.

Unfortunately, the supplements provided by the game system are just that—supplements—and cannot be used for cultivation.

It wasn't until the Yellow Springs Pavilion appeared, which could transform yin energy into spiritual energy, that he was able to truly experience the feeling of cultivation.

Unfortunately, he arrived too late; he had already gotten used to being the boss.

As long as his employees work hard, his "account balance" will keep increasing.

Instead of spending so much time and effort training, we should focus on unleashing the players' potential and encouraging them to contribute their share.

Alas, Shinichi Higashiyama, you have ultimately fallen.

However, at least in terms of game progress, he still insisted on playing by himself, learning from other players, and then organizing and recording information.

In "Shinobi Heart", Bantou is probably the last ninja to awaken the Shinobi Heart. In order to defeat his nightmare, he brought the demon sword out of the castle tower.

Facheng completed the remaining sealing ritual and entrusted it to the Muramasa clan and his disciples.

The disciples rebuilt Honmyoji Temple, passed down the "Myoho Fuma Kōki" left by Hōsei as the most important scripture of Honmyoji Temple, and maintained contact with the Muramasa family.

Unfortunately, it still couldn't withstand the erosion of time; perhaps this is the limit that Fa Cheng can achieve.

Therefore, the identity of the person who could drive Fa Cheng to such a predicament is crucial.

The purpose of the fire, based on the clues, is not hard to guess: it was simply to create more deaths to fill the pseudo-Yellow Springs inside the demon sword.

But why would an Onmyoji wielding the Crimson Demon Slayer prevent the character from delivering the Furisode?

According to Shin Higashiyama's reasoning, the Crimson Demon Slayer should be in the hands of that Onmyoji.

"Family split?"

Higashiyama Shin deduced this possibility.

The lifespan of an Onmyoji is clearly insufficient to complete such a grand plan as rebuilding the Underworld, so it must be passed down through families or apprentices.

First, let's assume that the Onmyoji who made the five-hundred-year pact with the Great Serpent is the founder of the clan and devised the plan for the Demon Blade, controlling the Sesshoseki and integrating it into the Demon Blade.

After several generations of transmission, the term "New Jizo" was used to trick the dying Nichiren into voluntarily entering the demon sword to perform rituals for the souls within. Thus, the prototype of the pseudo-Yomi (Underworld) was born.

What's lacking is the foundation (a large number of lost souls), the other shore (for guidance), and the place responsible for the judgment of reincarnation.

Regarding the spirits of the dead, it was initially likely that the descendants of Onmyoji (yin-yang masters) accomplished this through killing, leaving behind many legends.

Until the end of the Warring States period, perhaps the descendants of the Onmyoji could no longer withstand the backlash of the demon sword, or perhaps they did not want to expose themselves, so they sought out the Muramasa family as gloves.

The so-called contract lasted until the ninth generation, but its actual purpose was only for the third generation. Once the killing started, the desire to kill would not be stopped. However, the third Muramasa did not kill a single person, only seeking to kill Tokugawa Ieyasu.

At this time, the descendants of Onmyoji still had considerable control over the demon sword.

After seeing the demon sword fall into the hands of the Tokugawa family, he took it back and handed it over to the fourth Muramasa.

From then on, the descendants of Onmyoji gradually lost control of the demon sword, and were even suppressed by Hosei.

The descendants of the Onmyoji became increasingly anxious, so they devised a plan: to awaken the demon sword with a furisaki, and incidentally destroy the entire Edo Castle, thus having a feast.

While carrying out the Demon Blade Project, the descendants of the Onmyoji were also cultivating the eggs of the Other Shore Serpent. Perhaps due to insufficient spiritual energy, the serpent eggs lacked "nutrition".

To supplement his nutrition, he somehow obtained a large centipede and began the fusion process.

Thus, in the game, there is the half-snake, half-centipede monster in the young Onmyoji's fan, which should be the form of Zhu Hai at a certain stage.

His desire to stop the players indicates that the descendants of the Onmyoji have split into two factions: one advocating for the continuation of their ancestors' plan, while the other is unwilling to do so.

They may have subsequently descended into internal strife, losing what little strength they had left. Ultimately, the dissipation of spiritual energy in the human realm became unstoppable.

Zhu Hai even lost his snake-like features; after being struck by lightning, his true form was that of a toad with a centipede tail.

Aside from the ability to regenerate flesh and blood and manipulate the soul, it has no otherworldly attributes whatsoever.

The fact that the demon sword was left unattended indicates that after the Great Fire of the Ming Dynasty, none of the descendants of the Onmyoji had the confidence to continue the plan to rebuild the Underworld.

This plan, which began around the Heian period and lasted for several hundred years until the Edo period, has thus come to an end in failure.

"Does that Onmyoji really not have any plans to take charge of the 'Yellow Springs Pavilion' for the Reincarnation Judgment?"

The Yomi-no-Kage that Higashiyama Shin mentioned is not the Yomi-no-Kage that is a reward in the game. If the pseudo-Yomi-no-Kage within the demon sword is to become the real Yomi-no-Kage, a place responsible for judging and reincarnating ghosts is indispensable. The original Onmyoji could not have imagined this.

1975 Extra Chapter: Muramasa Taki's Daily School Life

197.5 Extra Chapter: Muramasa Taki's Daily School Life

6 month.

The only month in Japan without any public holidays, and it's also the rainy season, so things can get damp and things can easily smell musty.

It is a nightmare month for many students.

Primary school students are no exception, because International Children's Day is not as prominent as Boys' Day and Girls' Day, and it is not as prominent as Shichi-Go-San Day (Note 1).

But Dongshan Du has been looking forward to June for a long time.

The reason is simple: the middle school's school trip is scheduled for June 1st.

Originally, it was also arranged to be in Kyoto, which is also a classic choice for Tokyo schools. Kyoto + Nara is a very stable option, and the teachers have plenty of experience leading the teams.

The downside is that it's too predictable; you can guess what the attractions will be like, and there's absolutely no surprise—that's what Dongshan Du complained about.

Then, perhaps to give Higashiyama a little surprise, the Giant Disaster broke out in Kyoto.

This surprise almost scared the school to death.

If this disaster had happened a few days later, wouldn't they have been hit by it?!

They thought Tokyo was unsafe enough, but they didn't expect Kyoto to be affected as well, and on an even more serious scale. As a result, the school once considered canceling the school trip plan.

But after careful consideration, they changed the location to Kyushu Island at the last minute, thinking that there shouldn't be any problems in such a rural place.

The only problem might be that none of the teachers have been there before, so we'll have to hire a travel agency to lead the group.

Higashiyama was quite pleased that he didn't have to go to Kyoto, a place he had visited before, and didn't mourn for the victims of the Kyoto tragedy for a single moment.

"Bye-bye, bro, see you in three days~"

Upon arriving at school, Higashiyama Doku waved to Higashiyama Shin and Chiba before running towards his classroom.

They first gathered at the school, then boarded the bus together and set off.

Higashiyama Shin wasn't worried at all. He had already divined Higashiyama Doku's fortune for the next few days, and it turned out to be slightly auspicious, meaning that good things would happen during this school trip.

"Our school trip back then was to Kyoto and Nara, I think."

“Yes, three days and two nights,” Chiba replied.

"I remember you back then." Higashiyama Shin seemed to recall something.

Chiba suddenly quickened his pace, not giving Higashiyama Shin a chance to recount his embarrassing past, and quickly went inside the building to change into indoor shoes.

"Ouch, that hurts! Watch out, you idiot!"

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry! Are you alright?"

"How can it be--"

Shinichi Higashiyama saw that the exhausted Umeta Oshima accidentally bumped into an older student, causing the student to hit the back of his head on the shoe cabinet.

Oshima immediately apologized. The senior student, who looked unfriendly, was about to take a few steps forward to stretch his muscles when his eyes suddenly changed, becoming extremely kind and bright.

"How could anything be wrong! You're seriously underestimating my physical abilities! I'm the vice-captain of the boxing club, and I won the Rising Star Award in the Kanto Region High School Boxing Tournament in 2039!"

As he spoke, he struck various bodybuilding poses.

Oshima smirked, then caught a glimpse of a profile and finally understood why the guy in front of him had suddenly started displaying his peacock-like display.

The most popular member of Komagome Academy, Muramasa Taki, has arrived.

A group of girls, centered around her, seemed to spring up from all around and gathered together, creating a bustling scene that gave no other men a chance to get close.

"Mr. Muramasa! Have you eaten yet? These are cookies I made myself!"

"Taki-san, I got up at dawn to make tiramisu, please try it!"

"Isn't it too sweet to eat dessert so early in the morning? What would you like to eat, Taki-san? I brought the portable kitchen!"

Shinichi Higashiyama and Chiba were already used to this.

He grabbed Chiba's hand and pulled her out of the crowd of girls, her once straight long hair now looking a little messy.