There must be "Gods" in this world.
Its name is Philemon—the rational collective unconscious of humanity.
He created the concept of the "Velvet Room" between the "conscious" and "material" worlds to deal with catastrophes that could cause devastating blows to human civilization.
No one knows what kind of crisis Philemon is blocking for humanity.
In any case, Kurusu Akira has been contracted with the Velvet Room for so many years, and he has never once met that mysterious big boss.
The only people he could contact on a daily basis were Igor, who served as a company executive, and Lavenza, the personal secretary dispatched by the company.
Igor is a servant created by Philemon, appearing as a very amiable old man. As the manager of the Velvet Room, he is the starting point and soul guide for every contractor's "Fool's Journey."
However, Igor's work is very busy; he always has to help the big boss with all sorts of messy and tiresome tasks.
So, most of the time, it was just Kurusu Akira and Lavenza alone in the Velvet Room.
...
"Even though only a little over ten days have passed, I strangely feel a great sense of nostalgia."
Kurusu Akira looked at the world reflected in the window glass, then reached his hand into it.
There was no sense of obstruction, and he naturally passed through the material realm. Like being erased from reality by an eraser, only the pale light poured down like a waterfall, landing in the empty music classroom.
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The vast and spacious room was unlit. Beyond the twelve portholes was a clear and bright sky, and gentle, soft light filled every corner as far as the eye could see.
The blue wool carpet covering the floor exuded a mysterious and noble aura, while the dark furniture surfaces shimmered with beautiful iridescence, together creating a surreal illusion that transcended the mundane.
Faintly, one could hear the tiny hum of an airplane cutting through the air high above.
As soon as Kurusu Akira stepped into the Velvet Room, he immediately felt a small, warm presence bump into his arms.
"Lavenza?"
The girl with long, silky, platinum-blonde hair hugged Kurusu Akira tightly, burying her face against him like a kitten, nervously and anxiously sniffing the residual scent of laundry detergent on his clothes.
After seven years together, this was the first time he had seen such clear and intense 'dependence' and 'fear' from the elegant and gentle Velvet Room assistant.
Though she was a demigod born from the sea of human consciousness, she now resembled a little girl, anxious and insecure, as if her home had almost been destroyed.
But soon, as if realizing her lapse in composure.
Lavenza reluctantly released her embrace of Kurusu Akira, stepped back a few paces, and lowered her head to straighten her magnificent blue court gown.
At this moment, one could clearly see her beauty, conceptually reaching the limits of human perception, with divine golden eyes radiating divinity, exquisite features perfect enough to evoke goodwill in anyone, and platinum-blonde hair tied with blue ribbons, the edges of which were adorned with a pair of butterfly hair ornaments.
Then, she lifted the sides of her skirt, curtsied to the young man before her, and nodded with a smile, a standard curtsy, like a high-ranking princess.
"It's been a long time, my 'Master.' Lavenza has been waiting here for a while."
Her voice was soft, easily bringing to mind falling cherry blossoms or feathers.
Kurusu Akira was surprised by the address "Master." "Does my counterpart in this world also possess ownership of the Velvet Room?"
Lavenza's expression immediately turned serious. "'Master,' please mind your words. Lavenza is your exclusive secretary. After you completed that great feat of saving the world, everything in this room... including me, will not be separated from you by any accident or disaster."
"The Velvet Room is essentially the world of'subconsciousness,' and it has already become a part of Master's 'subconsciousness.'"
Kurusu Akira walked behind the desk and sat down. He looked at the Persona registry placed on the desk. "Then why was I only able to enter now?"
Lavenza lowered her eyes. "Because we are all outsiders, including the room we are currently in."
"In fact, your previous calls were all transmitted to the original Velvet Room of this world, and it rejected your access again and again."
"It took me a lot of time to finally re-establish contact with 'Master' today..."
"Now I suspect that your counterpart in this world must have died in the original Velvet Room."
Lavenza gracefully walked to Kurusu Akira's side, slightly stood on her tiptoes, picked up the pen on the desk for him, and carefully wiped it with a handkerchief.
Kurusu Akira tapped the desk with his fingers for a while, then opened the Persona registry.
The registry, which once listed hundreds of Persona, now only had three lonely lines:
-
1. "The End of the Fool's Path," [Fool] Arsene.
2. "The Omnipotent One, Lord of All Spirits, the Beginning and Conclusion of Humanity," [World] "???"
3. [Faith] Dioscuri.
-
"Can this registry still be used?"
"Of course it can be used; they are inherently your power."
"Can we forcefully break through that room to investigate the truth? I need to figure out why such a strange 'transmigration' occurred."
"It will likely be difficult. That door is hidden by an evil force; it seems to be afraid of your arrival."
"Given how things have developed, I suppose Igor cannot be contacted?"
"Yes, I have tried many ways to question the 'Sea of Subconsciousness,' but I have consistently received no reply from Igor-sama. However, it is fortunate that the most powerful Persona registered here already bears the inscription of your world-saving deeds and merits, so this world is willing to acknowledge their existence."
Kurusu Akira picked up the pen from the desk and checked off the remaining [Fool] and [World] in the registry.
"Since the enemies are deliberately avoiding my attention, I can only try to find a weakness in small places."
He closed the empty Persona registry and handed it back to Lavenza. "Perfect, I have some people I need to make repent next."
"Then, please allow me to prepare this calling card for 'Master.'"
Lavenza held the registry and gracefully bowed to the Phantom Thief.
----------------
Meanwhile.
Tokyo, Shinjuku.
Dusk erased the sharp outlines of the trees outside the window, the blue sky slowly darkened, and the boundless night cradled a crescent moon.
In the darkness, a black sedan sped along the road.
The blue-haired girl, with her hands tied, sat in the back seat, beside a woman whose arms were covered in thorn tattoos.
The tattooed woman laughed mockingly, "Togawa-san, your family's security door doesn't seem to work very well, does it?"
A tall, slender man sitting in the front passenger seat was roughly rummaging through an old backpack. Soon, he found a graduation certificate.
The school emblem of "Tsukinomori Girls' Academy" was embossed on the cover of the graduation certificate.
"Oh, so she used to be a young lady from Tsukinomori Academy."
He laughed loudly, then threw the graduation certificate back. "Togawa Sakiko, that's a good name. And she's pretty, plus she used to be a Tsukinomori student... Hey, you might be able to pay off a lot of your father's debts."
The woman sitting next to Togawa Sakiko also let out an unpleasant laugh. "Although you've been working hard, it seems you haven't fully escaped your former life as a 'young lady'... Maybe after working in that place for a while, you'll completely break down in every sense, won't you?"
"Boss Kamo probably hasn't slept with a Tsukinomori student either, has he?"
"No choice, it's a prestigious school, very influential in all aspects, and the boss doesn't want to be too arrogant."
She was being commented on as casually as if she were merchandise.
Togawa Sakiko did not cry in panic and despair like ordinary girls. She merely stared at the seat in front of her with a gloomy and hateful gaze.
"You criminals, the Police Department will definitely..." Her words trailed off. Clearly, she realized that if the Police Department could be of use, she wouldn't have been forcibly taken from her home.
"You're being threatened," the man driving suddenly said.
"It seems you really haven't recognized your situation," the woman said. She wasn't pretty; her face was covered in acne scars, appearing vicious and malevolent in the dim light.
The next moment, her palm viciously struck Togawa Sakiko's face. It was a loud slap that made her fair, delicate face swell red, even splitting the corner of her mouth and causing it to bleed.
But even so, Togawa Sakiko didn't utter a sound. Instead, she glared at the other person with eyes full of hatred and anger.
This was infuriating... The woman simply grabbed her slender neck, her sharp nails digging into the tender skin, drawing some blood.
Just as she was about to push Togawa Sakiko down and beat her, a low growl came from the passenger seat.
"Hey!" The person in the passenger seat angrily stopped her. "This Togawa Family girl is very valuable. If you keep hitting her like that, her 'price' will drop! Then all of Boss Kamo's losses will be blamed on you!"
The woman clicked her tongue, then obediently let go of Togawa Sakiko.
"Just you wait, you bitch," she cursed in a low voice, then suddenly kicked Togawa Sakiko hard in the back, making the girl's forehead hit the car window with a dull thud.
Even so, the cries, pleas for mercy, screams, or shouts for help she wanted—none of them appeared.
Togawa Sakiko quietly curled up in the corner of the back seat, like a doll.
After about half an hour, they finally arrived at their destination, an old-looking hotel.
The sedan drove into the hotel's underground parking garage, facing the dim night.
The driver and the thug got out first to observe the surroundings.
"You two go up first." The tall, slender man lit a cigarette, standing by the car door, his eyes occasionally glancing at the ceiling, tinged with jealousy and resentment.
The tattooed woman roughly pushed Togawa Sakiko out of the car.
They walked one after another into the elevator, which was plastered with advertisements and posters of outdated celebrities.
She pressed the button for the top floor, and as the elevator doors closed, the woman couldn't help but start mocking the "young lady" whose hands she held.
"Remember, this will be your workplace from now on. Making money here is much easier than playing the piano or being a customer service representative... You just need to open your legs in front of men."
She enjoyed Togawa Sakiko's gradually paling face and couldn't help but laugh. "But before that, I need to take you to see your father... Hmm, maybe it's the last time?"
The elevator reached the top floor of the building, a large ballroom.
As the elevator doors opened, an exaggerated atmosphere of noise instantly rushed out—
The tattooed woman was stunned.
The scene was indeed lively, but why was it different from what she had imagined?
She saw the gang leaders crying and kneeling on the ground, some vigorously slapping their own faces, others pulling out their phones to call the police, tearfully confessing their various crimes.
In the midst of widespread wailing, a handsome boy with messy hair, his hands bound, sat on a sofa, his face full of helplessness and fear.
There was an empty envelope at his collar.
The letter had been taken out and lay open on the coffee table. It was red and black, filled with text in a judgmental tone:
[Mr. Kamo Saizo, a great sinner who has committed evil deeds, the wealth you have gained through blackmail, usury, and inciting gambling is built upon the corpses of countless victims. Therefore, I have decided that you shall confess all your crimes yourself today.]
[—Phantom Thief, present.]
Next to the letter, the man named "Kamo Saizo" knelt, bewildered and confused, looking down at his wine-stained hands, seemingly regretting why his life had come to such a sordid state.
But before the woman escorting Togawa Sakiko could report the situation to him.
Kamo Saizo suddenly slapped himself hard, then rushed into a conference room, unlocked a safe, haphazardly grabbed a handful of "evidence" that would surely get him shot for ten minutes, and then silently rushed into the elevator... He was going to turn himself in.
As the elevator doors closed, the woman suddenly felt a chill down her spine.
Crazy, everyone was crazy.
She looked at the ballroom, filled with cries and shouts of remorse, and immediately turned back, frantically pressing the buttons of another elevator, wanting to escape this place that felt like it could turn into a horror movie set at any moment.
Her heart was filled with panic and fear, completely unaware that the surrounding space was distorting, seemingly being sucked into another world of "consciousness."
Then, a young man wearing bright red gloves, a black trench coat, a gray collared shirt, and black trousers slowly stood up behind them. A white bird-shaped mask covered most of his face, creating the common "Phantom Thief" image seen in various stage plays.
Then the Phantom Thief slowly approached.
He whispered into the tattooed woman's ear, "I'll take the sin in your heart."
----------------
The elevator ascended.
But the tattooed woman, who had been holding Togawa Sakiko's hands, couldn't take even one step inside.
Togawa Sakiko's eyes widened. She watched in disbelief as the woman, who had just been full of madness and fear, suddenly knelt before her, continuously kowtowing and apologizing, not stopping even as her forehead bled profusely.
On the sofa nearby, Kurusu Akira, still with his hands tied, couldn't help but yawn.
He waited quietly until police sirens wailed outside the window.
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