No, outside of very extreme circumstances. I'd imagine Shiro would kill to protect Sora and vice versa, but they are not otherwise terribly interested in killing people.
Got to admit when I saw a character named Akane was as Akane Shinjo from SSSS.Gridman.
Not sure if it counts as an Isekai fully, but is absolutely in line thematically with us wanting to save people from their own "perfect world" escapism.
I have a plan for how to deal with『 』based off the Reversi game, but it's a question of if we can get them to commit to a non-GGO duel game with rules. We might have blown that opportunity back before the hurricane.
I have a plan for how to deal with『 』based off the Reversi game, but it's a question of if we can get them to commit to a non-GGO duel game with rules. We might have blown that opportunity back before the hurricane.
[X] Plan: First Step of the Golden Rule
-[X] Ganbatte = 5 MAJOR actions, 6 MINOR actions.
-[X] Major Actions
--[X] [Challenge//Pitohui]
--[X] [X to Z]
--[X] [Gather//Challenger]
--[X] Shadow//[The TEMPLE of Employment]
--[X] [Kill for COIN]
-[X] Minor Actions
--[X] [Work//Augma]
--[X] [Work//Titan Movers]
--[X] [Cram School]
--[X] [Literature Club!]: The Three Great Mystery Novels
-[X] Free Actions
--[X] [Nekoya!]
--[X] [Sweets!]
SUNDAY - June 22nd, 2025
Midnight
You shuffle between the claustrophobic aisles, feeling like a rat trapped in a very glowing cage. The heat from a hundred PCs and just as many human beings crammed into a single, small building is starting to make the room feel like a sauna, even more so than the actual sauna that is Tokyo's weather.
The Shinjuku Manboo is by no means a permanent resident for the former hikikomori, but the internet cafe was the closest form of housing that was available on short notice. The elder Natsuki has given you a brief rundown of the homeless man's finances, and in summary, it was a big, fat nothing. The shut-in had no savings, no bank accounts, no income and no legal rights to the house he grew up in.
There was some semblance of an inheritance whose dispensation was complicated by his refusal to even show up to the funeral. Natsuki was trying to negotiate on his behalf, but there was little he could do when the man himself couldn't even be bothered to show up.
Not to counseling, not to the day labor job the local Hello Work managed to scrounge up, nor even the inheritance negotiations.
"HEY! HEY COME OUT!"
No answer. Of course not. Nothing but a silent door.
The cartoon fish of the Manboo is emblazoned onto its surface, its windowless frame making it seem more of a wall than an entry. Any semblance of privacy is forfeit in an internet café— snores, bad karaoke and grunts mix together into indistinguishable noise. As you're trying to figure out how to even start this, a girl in a wrinkled maid outfit walks out of a nearby cubicle. She gives you a nod, eyes filled with both pity and misplaced solidarity, and makes her way down the stairs as the smell of alcohol hits you with her passing.
Gah, you know how this looks! That's it, you're getting the fuck out of this place as soon as possible.
"Can you just come out!? Cause I ain't going in there for all the money in the world!"
The occupied tab taunts you. You pound on the door last time, but the stubborn shut-in within refuses to budge.
"I got you food! I got you a job! Your tab's about to run out! You don't wanna end up in the streets, do you?!"
No response.
"FINE!" You slam the door with your fist, rattling the entire thing. "You want to end up floating down the river!? This is your last chance! You hear me, Rudy!?"
...
There's a sound of shuffling. A lock clicks. Like a magic spell the words finally reach him.
And he finally comes out.
He looks worse than the last time you met him. The same tracksuit complete with the mud stains and holes, the same unkempt beard, the same greasy, uncombed hair, the same sunken eyes and crooked glasses, only this time he's thinner, and not in a way that implies exercise.
His Manboo brand complimentary sandals squeak along the tiled floors of the local Big Bang Burger, the only fast food establishment so pathetic that not even he looks out of place in it. The whole walk here the man was zoned out, a zombie on autopilot. He slumps down onto his seat, looking like a man with no more fucks left to give, taking slow bites of the Big Bang Burger.
"So... Natsuki-san says you didn't show up to the job he got you."
No response.
"You had career counseling at Hello Work yesterday. No show."
Still no response.
"Why?"
Nothing.
"Rudy!"
...
"I can hear them. All the time. Laughing."
His voice is so dry and scratchy that it's hard to understand him. It rises and rises, like a geyser waiting to burst. "It's always the same thing."
"You got to make money or you'll—"
"You don't fucking get it. Why should I go do some bullshit job just to get laughed at by some assholes? You think I don't know!?" The large man's voice echoes across the empty restaurant. "You're just pitying me! All of you, nobody actually wants me here!"
You want to scream that at this point, pity's all that he has going for him.
"Look," you motion for him to sit down willing yourself to remain calm, "you think you got a monopoly on suffering here?" You gesture to the blankly staring clerk, who recoils at the attention. "You think anyone works at Big Bang Burger cause' they enjoy flipping mystery meat? This is a business so crappy that even the Phantom Thieves tried to shut it down! But you know why it's still going strong?"
You jab your finger at the man's chest, "Because even if the job is shit and the food is shittier, it's still a paycheck. It's a way to survive."
"...Survival?" the word bounces off the man like he was made of teflon. "Is that why you work? Is survival so fucking important?"
He continues, his voice rising. "You suck up and bend over, do your little song and dance and for what? So you can get up and do it again the next day!? So you can have enough money to buy another goddamn hamburger!?"
He closes his eyes, daydreaming a life you've only seen glimpses of. "I've seen the end... I've been there, and it was everything I ever dreamed of. Rudy— people love Rudy. They hate Rudy, they protect him, they try to kill him, they seek him out because he matters. He's not just some guy that does the same thing over and over again, he's not some piece of shit that just survives. He lives!"
The man is shaking now, his voice a barely contained howl.
"Why am I here!? Why the fuck am I here right now!? This isn't where I belong!"
The image is so brilliant in his mind that it might as well be real. Pockets of a new life— flashes of triumphs and tragedies, a new world half formed from his own imagination. The SEED of his world is already complete, only held in place by the inescapable grip of your own world— the real world.
When the walls of the world crumble he will be the first, and he will blaze the trail for others to follow.
And that is why you need to convince him to stay.
"You're not wrong."
The man pauses, his ranting grinding to a halt.
"This isn't your world, but it isn't my world either."
"Then you agree! I know you see it too!"
"That's not what I'm saying," you take a deep breath. "Your world, my world... it's not one or the other. It's our— everyone's world. Your world is no more than where you are at right now. This... Rudy, he's not you, he's not some alternate version of yourself. He's an illusion, a shadow, a false hope. You can't live a life that isn't yours."
Rudy's expression changes into a deep scowl. "So what if he's a lie!? You told me that I could be him! I can become the man I was meant to be, and then—and then—"
"Then do something about it! If there's one thing you should've gotten through your thick skull by now is that none of this is fair! You hate this life and want to go on to the next? I hear you loud and clear. Fine."
Rudy stares at you with wide, hopeful eyes.
"But it's not going to fall into your lap! If this is what you really want, you're gonna have to fight for it! You can't just run away."
"I-I know. I'm not running away, I'm— I'm just—"
"What the hell do you call this? What, you gonna wait until the Manboo's staff throw you out onto the streets and hope you can make it to your dream world before you starve?"
You despise Kayaba but at least he has the gall to do something to make his delusion a reality. This is a man utterly unmoored in the world. He has no friends, he effectively has no family— if he were to disappear, right here, right now... would anyone notice?
You want to say that he has siblings rooting for him, that there's someone out there waiting for him— but that's a lie that not even you can sell. Subaru even at his lowest point had a hundreds reaching out to help, but this man? Nobody. If it wasn't for the Persona's power would you be spending even a second of your time helping this pathetic man?
"Listen to me. Don't complain, I'm not attacking you, so just shut up and listen. Okay?"
He dumbly nods his head, and you take it as a sign that at least a little bit is getting through to him.
You stumble through the Labyrinth on the 32nd floor— room by room, every step feels like a kilometer. To sit still is to die, the orcs of the den closing in. The Anti-Crystal Zone has cut off all your escape items. The only path is forward.
"Nobody cares. Maybe at some point someone did but right now, for you, nobody cares."
Nominal allies? Dead or separated, the teleport trap saw to that. You gave yourself a 10 level safety margin, but it's not enough, it was never enough. Forward. To an exit, to teleporter, to a zone without a damn Anti-Crystal effect— forward is the only way to survive...!
"You can jump in front of a truck and no one will mourn you or have any regrets— your death won't even be revenge. Live or die, nobody cares."
The club smashes down on your head. Out of HP, out of options. Nothing left to do but pray. I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I want to survive!
"And the so called help? They're only here cause they want something from you. Don't believe that I'm any different, don't believe that I care."
The men in the black cloaks circle you like sharks, their blades gleaming under the torchlight. They mutter amongst themselves, arguing about who gets to kill you, only to be silenced by the devil himself. He has a use for you. Live with them or die in this ditch.
"So you've got to be the first. Nobody else will, not until you start. For any of this to be possible— you've got to be the first to care!"
Whatever it takes, no matter who you have to betray. Competence provides safety, safety provides survival, and survival? Survival provides opportunity. For a world that's better than hell.
"I can see it in you. If all you wanted was to die, then there's nothing I'd be able to see, even this Rudy wouldn't exist. You want to live— you desperately want to live!"
He doesn't consider this his real life— he no longer feels this is even 'his world'. If he could leave now he would, he almost did, before you got involved. Yet you can't just will into being a new purpose for him— If there's going to be something that will change his life, you won't be the one to bring it to him.
But he longs for something beyond oblivion. Even if it's a dream of another world. It's the only hope he currently has, and if you're going to get him to find another hope, you'll have to drag him through his current existence with the only scrap you can find. Take on life one day at a time and feed him some false hope about a future you are actively fighting to prevent.
"You want your new life? Then you've got to work for it! Hell, someone else is already doing all the hard work on your behalf, so all you have to do is survive. Same as everyone else, same as everyone here in this stupid burger chain. You get it?"
You look around the barren dining room of the Big Bang Burger, empty save for you, the clerk, and the giant of a man. He's stopped eating, he's not moving.
He's thinking.
"...You said that I can be... this Rudy? Someday?"
You nod your head.
"Think of it as a reward you've got to earn. Whatever you were planning on doing in your new life? Get a head start on it now. No hesitation, no regrets, take on life full speed."
That way when you crush his hopes utterly, he'll have something new to live for.
"Then... you... you said you have a job for me...?"
You smile, the mask firmly in place. "Of course! You can consider me your angel of opportunity, and I've come with the chance of a lifetime!"
You reach into your bag and slam the prefilled employment contract down onto the table, sliding it towards him. He eyes it, his hand twitching for a second before he finally grabs the document. With ketchup and grease stained fingers, he signs his name onto the paper.
"W-what's the job? I... I don't have any skills..."
You laugh, waving off the comment. "Don't worry about it. I've got the perfect place! Entry level to the max!"
"B-but I can't pay for transportation..."
"Oh no, it's super close. In fact, you already know how to get there!"
"W-who would hire..."
"A place that's bleeding workers like crazy, after it came to light that their CEO was working everyone to death, assassinating his competition, and funding a fascist conspiracy!"
"W-wait, you can't mean...!"
"Oh I can! A place that's losing market share to MgRonalds and the heathens at Wild Duck Burger every quarter, a company desperate to recruit anyone they can! A place in need of a new night shift worker!"
"No!" He suddenly realizes the trap he's walked into.
"Yes!" As if on cue the terrified part timer walks up with a mop and a towel.
"NO!" He rises to escape his fate but only manages to knock his drink to the floor.
"YES!" You seize the mop from the part timer's trembling hands and shove it into the hands of Big Bang Burger's newest recruit, to clean his first spill.
"NOOOOO!!!!" The evening shift worker signs out to the night shift by screaming and throwing his hat at his replacement.
"YESSSSS!!!!"
>TEMPLE has ranked up!
>Don Juan has powered up!
RELEASE RECOLLECTION
'Life 's a poor player,'—then 'play out the play,
Ye villains!' above all keep a sharp eye
Much less on what you do than what you say:
Be hypocritical, be cautious, be
Not what you seem, but always what you see.
Carpe Diem: For this one moment— you are almighty. Pick a physical action or narrative stunt that would typically require a roll. If it rolls it is automatically assumed to roll only 6s. If it's narratively possible it succeeds no matter how absurd (shoot a bullet in midair? Done. Matrix dodge the machine gun? Done.) All Personas are now SEALED until the end of the NEXT SCENE (you cannot use nor gain stats from any Personas). [2 SP]
Physical stunts only. Cannot apply to status effects, magic, or verbal warfare. Can apply to abilities of other Personas if used in a PLAN.
Works by Hiyori deluding herself into thinking she can do it via Incarnation. It turns the improbable into the possible, but doesn't explicitly strengthen anything. You can think of it like "auto-success" and not like, say, Marble Phantasm reality bending.
The QM will veto vague uses of this ability (example: "I land a headshot on X" is legal. "I immediately kill X with a headshot" is illegal.)
The definition of what is 'possible' is going to be loose. (example: "I ricochet my 9mm pistol bullet around a tree to hit X in the back" is legal. "I shoot through space armor" is illegal. "I catch the sword in my teeth" is legal. "I catch the lightsaber in my teeth" is legal, but you will still end up decapitated.)
Lugh has invited you to a meeting. Who do you take with you? You may take one person.
[ ] No One
[ ] Kikuoka Lugh considers Kikuoka to be a member of law enforcement.
[ ] Meimi The two of them seem to get along.
[ ] Shino Lugh is familiar with Shino's story.
[ ] Karen If you want to keep bullying her.
[ ] Write-In [Generally you can use SL or associates who are familiar with your Hiyori identity] Unavailable: TEMPLE, NATURE, CHAOS, FOOL, COIN [Obviously]
JUSTICE will be considered as a member of law enforcement by Lugh but is available if you want to push your luck.
MANKIND is available but Cayna will hijack it.
The QM cannot promise that a write-in option will be interesting. You can totally take your teacher here but she's just gonna stand in the corner and read books until you're done.
Hes smart. He could piece together things from things Lugh slips that could lead us to get the full scenario from his side. Hes a unknown element. And hes our most trustworthy confident, would be our second if he had more time to be around
I shoot through space armor" is illegal. "I catch the sword in my teeth" is legal. "I catch the lightsaber in my teeth" is legal, but you will still end up decapitated.)
Physical stunts only. Cannot apply to status effects, magic, or verbal warfare. Can apply to abilities of other Personas if used in a PLAN.
Works by Hiyori deluding herself into thinking she can do it via Incarnation. It turns the improbable into the possible, but doesn't explicitly strengthen anything. You can think of it like "auto-success" and not like, say, Marble Phantasm reality bending.
He closes his eyes, daydreaming a life you've only seen glimpses of. "I've seen the end... I've been there, and it was everything I ever dreamed of. Rudy— people love Rudy. They hate Rudy, they protect him, they try to kill him, they seek him out because he matters. He's not just some guy that does the same thing over and over again, he's not some piece of shit that just survives. He lives!"
The image is so brilliant in his mind that it might as well be real. Pockets of a new life— flashes of triumphs and tragedies, a new world half formed from his own imagination. The SEED of his world is already complete, only held in place by the inescapable grip of your own world— the real world.
When the walls of the world crumble he will be the first, and he will blaze the trail for others to follow.
Interesting could that be Kayaba and PHILEMON's endgame? Find a way speed up people's HEAVEN's growth so they all mass ascend without the need for a VR world or to grow and supplant reality? Just instant actualization?
"Then do something about it! If there's one thing you should've gotten through your thick skull by now is that none of this is fair! You hate this life and want to go on to the next? I hear you loud and clear. Fine."
Rudy stares at you with wide, hopeful eyes.
"But it's not going to fall into your lap! If this is what you really want, you're gonna have to fight for it! You can't just run away."
"I-I know. I'm not running away, I'm— I'm just—"
"What the hell do you call this? What, you gonna wait until the Manboo's staff throw you out onto the streets and hope you can make it to your dream world before you starve?"
'Life 's a poor player,'—then 'play out the play,
Ye villains!' above all keep a sharp eye
Much less on what you do than what you say:
Be hypocritical, be cautious, be
Not what you seem, but always what you see.
Carpe Diem: For this one moment— you are almighty. Pick a physical action or narrative stunt that would typically require a roll. If it rolls it is automatically assumed to roll only 6s. If it's narratively possible it succeeds no matter how absurd (shoot a bullet in midair? Done. Matrix dodge the machine gun? Done.) All Personas are now SEALED until the end of the NEXT SCENE (you cannot use it, nor gain stats from any Personas). [2 SP]
Physical stunts only. Cannot apply to status effects, magic, or verbal warfare. Can apply to abilities of other Personas if used in a PLAN.
Works by Hiyori deluding herself into thinking she can do it via Incarnation. It turns the improbable into the possible, but doesn't explicitly strengthen anything. You can think of it like "auto-success" and not like, say, Marble Phantasm reality bending.
The QM will veto vague uses of this ability (example: "I land a headshot on X" is legal. "I immediately kill X with a headshot" is illegal.)
The definition of what is 'possible' is going to be loose. (example: "I ricochet my 9mm pistol bullet around a tree to hit X in the back" is legal. "I shoot through space armor" is illegal. "I catch the sword in my teeth" is legal. "I catch the lightsaber in my teeth" is legal, but you will still end up decapitated.)
This actually could work really well with XaXa's esoc. It already turns Hiyori into a master fencer so it could be even easier to come up with crazy action movie shit that could work.
[X] Shiroe
We need a competent adult. There's no better person we know than Shiroe.
Interesting could that be Kayaba and PHILEMON's endgame? Find a way speed up people's HEAVEN's growth so they all mass ascend without the need for a VR world or to grow and supplant reality? Just instant actualization?
Here we see a Hiyori in her natural habitat: bullying nerds. It's kinda like meeting a Manic Pixie Girl, except she thinks you're a shitty NEET pathetic piece of trash.
It's beautiful.
[X] Meimi
[] Shiroe
Honestly fine with either, so I just flipped a coin.
I just remembered in the Dramatis Personae page it says Meimi is always guarded by a squad of killer ninja. Is that true or is it just what Hiyori assumes?
If it is I do think it could be interesting if Lugh is able to detect them.
