Off-site Screenshot test poster

Toggle Background Color

Chapter 84: 7/20-7/21: Black Hat, White Hat

This update contains content from Parts 70 and 71 of the original LP.

Anon: medjed’s here loooool

Early Morning

Music: Beneath the Mask (Instrumental Version)

I didn’t think Medjed would pounce on the Phantom Thieves. Interesting things keep happening this year. The influence of #Millennials knows no bounds… I underestimated it, honestly.

Of course they have influence. They’re all influencers!

I wonder what the public thinks of this. Are they entertained? Or perhaps inconvenienced?

Entertained, huh… A luxury for the uninvolved. I know they mean no ill intent. So this is what the public thinks…

_{I’ll show them. I’ll show them all!}

…Whoops, I don’t have time for a conversation. My attendance has been poor due to interviews lately.

You play hooky to go on TV? Somehow I’m surprised. Figured a cop like you wouldn’t bend any rules.

Thank you for your valuable opinion. I’ll see you around.

Which of them will come out on top? They’re both just criminals pretending to be heroes.

(Listless-Looking Student) If you ask me, Medjed causes way more trouble. They attack every company they set their sights on.

_{Not seeing the problem!}

Why is the transfer student yelling back there?

Ignore him, he scares me.

I see… Well, I just hope something happens soon. But you gotta tell me—who do you think will win?

Early Morning → Lunchtime

Music: Desire

I am the one they call Alibaba. I want to ask you something. You’re a phantom thief, aren’t you? Can you really steal hearts?

Who is this? Why does he know that you’re a phantom thief? Is one of our teammates pulling a prank on you?

Shit, Maaku, think, how are you gonna get outta this one?

>QUE ES FANTOM THIEF?

Do not attempt to lie to me. I know you are aware of “QUE” a “FANTOM THIEF” “ES.”

Dammit.

There is someone whose heart I would like you to steal. But I’m not asking for charity. Let’s make a deal. You wish to know about Medjed, correct? I can give you information on them if the change of heart is successful. If you so desire, I can take care of them as well.

>That seems rather convenient.

It is, yes.

Do you believe in my skills? I can track down their accounts, just as I have with yours. But this is all I can prove in the moment. I’ve prepared the necessary tool on my end. Look forward to it.

Shouldn’t you respond to it?

>Sounds dope. While I got you here, you know anyone who can hook me up with some pot? I’m thinking about ditching the whole straight edge thing.

Hm? You can’t reply back?

I think so. Want me to read these strange runes to you and you can tell me if they make sense to you? Epsilon, resh, resh, omicron…

I don’t know what this is all about, but we should probably let everyone know about this…

Lunchtime → After School

It’d be hilarious if the honor student fell off the podium…

Is it over for the Phantom Thieves?

Hacking? I have no idea what that’s like, but it sounds scary.

I think they were getting a little cocky. They got what was coming for them.

Anon: justice this, justice that…
Anon: Slam the hammer of justice!
Anon: It’s just like Akechi said!
Anon: can the thieves win?
Anon; namedropping medjed, lol…

Music: Suspicion

Gee, ya think?

How were we found out?

He may have traced our chat log…

I told you guys we needed to all get on Signal instead of broadcasting this shit via plain text messages.

But how would he have known all these details with just that?

We discuss this shit in public all the time. Hell, that’s how *you* found out, after all. It’s not like, for example, there’s a bug in Leblanc or something. Probably.

Do you think this could be the work of another hacker, a rival to Medjed? That would certainly explain how they managed to get access to our text conversations…

If we take his words at face value, that would appear to be the case.

Hey… Shouldn’t we try to get this guy to help us? He says he can take down Medjed! It’s, like, perfect timing!

We don’t know anything about them though. They could be a criminal.

Oh, right. That wouldn’t be good…

The “I’ve prepared the necessary tool” part makes no sense either.

Isn’t this risky? What if he turns us in?

No. If he wanted to report us, I think he would have don it already.

He must have some sort of objective of his own. He did offer us a deal, after all. I’m certain he’ll contact us again.

We should stay together and wait for that to happen so we can act immediately when it happens. Somewhere we can stay put for a while… how about Leblanc?

Sure, but if Sojiro overhears us it’s a 50/50 if he kicks me out or I can successfully convince him he has dementia.

I cut out like 50% of that conversation, you’re welcome.

After School → Evening

Music: Break it Down (Elp Version)

……

What’re you staring at, big guy? They gonna make you start paying child support for your many illegitimate children?

Yeah, something like that…

…Oh? What’s with the big group?

Hello. We were just coming over to—

I don’t actually care. Who’s the fresh face, though?

It’s nice to meet you. My name is Makoto Niijima. I hope we’re not being a bother.

She’s our student council president.

Niijima…? *sigh*_{You sure know how to pick ‘em, kid…}

Is something wrong?

Oh, nothing. Can’t believe he’s hanging around with the student council president, though. He doesn’t have some blackmail on you or anything, right?

_{Closer to the truth than you realize, just mixing up victim and perpetrator!}

Heheheh, what a kidder!

I’m Sojiro Sakura, but everyone just calls me Boss.

I don’t think I’ve ever once heard anyone call you Boss.

Quite a mouth on this one tonight, eh?

Oh, we’re used to it.

By the way, someone sent you this letter. I assumed it was junk mail, but I dunno how they’d associate your name with this address.

Well I don’t know how to read, so really, all mail is junk mail to me.

This old man’ll get going and leave you kids be. All right, the store’s all yours.

Where did we get all this food? Did you guys bring this with you? I could really go for something other than curry, please hook me up with some grub.

Music: Suspicion

Just moments ago, a new message has been released on their website. They have announced their victory over the Phantom Thieves. Medjed also warns any Japanese citizens who praised the Phantom Thieves to stop doing so. We will report any further actions by Medjed as they arrive.

*pulls out phone* Oh, come on! It’s in English!

Leave it to me.

“The Phantom Thieves remain silent at our question. This proves that we are just. People of Japan, wake up. You must not worship the Phantom Thieves.”

What!? That’s bullshit!

Stop interrupting.

“We will discipline any who worship them. The punishment is the confiscation of possessions. We are Medjed. We are unseen. We will eliminate evil.” ...That’s what it says.”

They’re going to target sympathizers of the Phantom Thieves… They might target bank accounts or personal information. Nothing good, at the very least.

They gave us like two days to respond. I feel like it should be clear by now that it takes a while for us to change a heart. What were they expecting? Again, it’s not like we even have any public channels to disseminate a message.

This is certainly troublesome…

Can’t we do anything about this?

Not on our own…

Hey, so what’s this letter about? We don’t need any more trouble.

It’s rare for you to get something like this.

I dunno. I was just gonna burn it, but if you guys insist on knowing…

Who the fuck…?

Music: Disquiet

Anything else in there!? Who’s this from anyway?

There’s no stamp on it. Someone must’ve directly dropped it into the mailbox here…

Could it have been Alibaba?

That seems like a safe guess. It’s not like we have any reason to believe that Alibaba has some reason they can’t go outside or anything, so it follows that they could just drop it into the mailbox.

That was a rather specific qualification…

I like to consider all possibilities.

That reminds me, he did mention something about preparing the “necessary tool”… Don’t tell me… Is this what he was talking about!?

If this is truly from Alibaba, then we should wait for their demands. Let’s be ready for anything.

Music: Beneath the Mask

“The showdown between the just Phantom Thieves and the global organization Medjed is here!” Reactions have been great too. Everyone is really engaged. So far, most of the comments have been pro-Phantom Thieves. Most likely because of what happened in the Kaneshiro case. Those on the other side say Medjed are “hackers of justice.” But there’s nothing resembling justice in what they do. Someday, I want the whole site to be filled with pro-Thieves comments. I’m looking forward to when that day finally arrives.

He can look forward to whatever he wants, but we have no means of striking back against Medjed. We’re gonna be in deep trouble if we don’t do something...

What the hell’s going on?

“The Phantom Thieves remain silent at our question. This proves that we are just. People of Japan, wake up. You must not worship the Phantom Thieves. We will discipline any who worship them. The punishment is the confiscation of possessions. We are Medjed. We are unseen. We will eliminate evil.”

They’re just acting without even waiting for us to respond! What are they planning to do?

Let’s watch that DVD we got. I still want to unlock Iwai’s Confidant ASAP.

Guts! Guts! Guts!

Music: Generic horror music
Southern-accented survivor voice: *pant* *pant* The hell is this!? How the hell are the dead running about!?
Other survivor voice: Have you been bitten? Show me your arms! You haven’t been scratched or bitten, have you?

Ugh, talk about a dead man walking. I saw dogs in there too, but… not a single cat.

What?

Music: Everyday Days

I bet you’ve summoned a little more Guts by watching this drama.

Thanks to The Craft of Cinema, I was able to enjoy the show on a deeper level…

Maaku gains Guts +3.

Sweet, we can go hang out with Iwai now. Or at least, once this batch of story ends.

Anon: I agree, it’s false justice

Early Morning

Anon: ugh. again?
Anon: medjed’s here loooool
Anon: I bet they’re crying LOL
Anon: What side is Akechi-kun on?]
Anon: QUE ES FANTOM THIEF?
Anon: is medjed worse than mafia?
Anon: yo, where the police?
Anon: What cheapass justice, lol
Anon: Go go Phantom Thieves~!
Anon: this’ll blow up

Having your money stolen sounds terrifying…

It’s unsettling not knowing what they’re going to do to us.

They’re declaring their victory? What does that mean?

I really wish they’d stop that…

Music: Beneath the Mask (Instrumental Version)

Every day is so hot. I empty my water bottle so fast…

That’s that climate change, baby! We’re all gonna die!

By the way, summer break is coming up. Could I ask what your plans are, Senpai?

Oh, so you’re not the type to make plans in advance, I see!

It’s more that my life is a neverending parade of existential ennui, but also that, sure.

Then maybe we’ll have a chance to practice some more! I’ll be sure to give you proper instruction! Just let me know whenever you’re available, Senpai! Oh, the train is here. Let’s get going then!

Early Morning → Morning

*sigh* It’s just Ryuji.

Nothing? Let us know ASAP if he tries to get in touch with you, mkay?

Morning → Afternoon

I already said, I am Alibaba. I take it you received the calling card?

So it really was from this guy…

I’ll answer that question as many times as is necessary. I am Alibaba.

I’ll keep answering if you insist on asking. I am Alibaba. Aren’t you able to steal a heart as long as you have a calling card?

Tell him. We need the name of the target.

…I see. Hm, I suppose past calling cards did have names on them. One moment. Very well, I’ll tell you. ……. I believe their name was… Futaba Sakura.

So yes, for whatever reason, the game lets you ask for Alibaba’s name 5 times. Maybe their real name is actually “Kagami” or something.

And Sakura…? I feel like I’ve heard that name before…

Huh. Probably nothing.

In any case, we should let everyone know about this.

Afternoon → After School

Music: Disquiet

“Futaba Sakura”?

Wasn’t Sakura…

It’s Boss’ last name!

Huh. So it is.

How did you not immediately notice that?

Listen, I’m not even sure I remember *your* name.

Does he have any family?

Uhh… Good question.

And you don’t know that either? How much do you even know about this man?

He’s pretty cagey! Honestly, I’ve never even been inside his house. I keep teasing him about getting action and having illegitimate children and shit, but maybe it’s true…

Well, his situation does make things difficult…

The calling card was delivered to Boss’s house; it’d be more natural to assume this is all related.

I always thought Futaba managing to deliver the calling card to Leblanc was a (minor and irrelevant) plot hole, but I forgot about this line, which suggests that she just dropped it in Sojiro’s mailbox, which explains a lot. Also creates a neat offscreen character moment where you can imagine Futaba having to steel herself before venturing four feet outside for a few seconds to drop the letter. I approve.

After all, Alibaba didn’t specify which Futaba Sakura he was referring to, which suggests he thought the name alone would be enough information. We should assume they’re related somehow. But I’m less convinced about his motives. He got hold of Maaku’s smartphone information somehow, and is now asking us to steal a heart with no apparent justification.

So we’re being tested?

It’s certainly possible. Either way, we should ask Boss about Futaba Sakura at least once.

Makes sense. We have no other leads, and he might have some idea what this is about.

We must make sure Boss doesn’t figure out who we are. We’ll have to go about this cautiously.

After School → Evening

Hm? What’s up?

_{Well, I’ve lived a full life…}*deep breath* Who’s Futaba?

Why do you know about that?

*gulp*

Music: Desire

Oh no, they’re playing the “this guy is evil” music!

…… It’s got nothing to do with you. I’m going home. Make sure you lock up the place.

Music: Beneath the Mask

Maaku, were you able to ask Boss about Futaba Sakura?

Oh, you mean the thing we were just talking about? No, I forgot.

For real!?

No, not for real. I asked him, he got really weird and vaguely hostile and then left. Not much I could do after that.

We shouldn’t force this. I do not wish to cause discord between the two of you, and it would be counterproductive besides.

We should wait for Boss to broach the subject himself.

That doesn’t seem terribly likely, but whatever.

Our show managed to get a “calling card” left by—as it says here--”The Phantom Thieves of Hearts.” On it, they also claim that they will make their target “confess their sins.”

That should save us some time. Let’s call her over.

Let’s get Kawakami to brew some coffee for us. We’re getting to the point where the lack of SP Adhesive 3s on this run will probably need to be compensated for in other ways, so having SP recovery items will be a godsend.

Oh, wait, it’s you… I’m off today, but if you just want housekeeping, I don’t mind.

If you’re off today, why did you answer the phone like that? Maybe she has a special work phone we’re calling?

It’s still work, so I’ll head over after I change. Hold on for a bit.