After parting ways with Raiden Mei, Ren Amamiya left Chiba Academy and caught the last train. Following the address recorded on his phone, he arrived at the apartment building that was presumably his home.
He inserted the key he carried into the lock on the front door, turned it gently, and smoothly opened the door. Stepping inside, Ren felt a wave of relief wash over him. The apartment clearly looked like it was occupied by only one person. There was no sign of parents named Amamiya, nor any trace of multiple people living together.
If Ren had to face this body's biological parents, he would have been utterly lost, unsure of what to say or do. After all, he only possessed memories from after transmigrating; he hadn't inherited a single memory from this body's past. Facing the original owner's parents would have been incredibly awkward.
"Finally, time to rest..."
After a comfortable hot shower in the bathroom, Ren changed into clean clothes and sank gratefully into the soft embrace of the living room sofa. He made himself a bowl of instant noodles with hot water, warmed up a glass of milk, and turned on the living room TV for background noise.
While waiting for the noodles to steep, Ren curled up on the plush sofa, lazily pulling out his phone.
"All the instant noodles at home are my favorite flavors, the sofa is perfectly soft, the clothes have great taste... The original owner really knew what's up. This is super convenient."
Ren couldn't help but remark aloud as he unlocked his phone. He had initially thought he'd have to adjust to the original owner's lifestyle, but surprisingly, the previous occupant seemed to share his tastes and hobbies. This made things much more comfortable.
"Ah, a message from Hare..."
Scrolling through his chat apps, Ren noticed an unread notification next to Hare's icon. He sat up slightly from the sofa's embrace, his expression serious as he opened the message.
[Hare: I've carefully explored the otherworld domains around Nagazora City and detected faint signs similar to a Palace. I should be able to pinpoint its exact coordinates by noon tomorrow.]
[Hare: Joker, shall we explore that Palace tomorrow? Or continue exploring Mementos? Or do you need to take a day off for other matters?]
Although the probability was extremely low, there was still a risk of information leaks when using chat apps. Therefore, Ren had asked Hare to continue using their Mementos codenames even in chat.
"Hare found a suspected Palace reaction too... Could it be Mei-senpai's Palace? Or one born from someone else's heart?"
Ren raised an eyebrow slightly, surprised Hare had brought such exciting news so quickly. While he didn't know whose distorted heart had given birth to the Palace Hare found, he could find out simply by going inside and exploring.
If it was Raiden Mei's Palace, that would be ideal.
Although the glimpse Ren caught of Mei's Shadow showed a haughty, queen-like arrogance, Ren had already successfully established a stable connection with Mei herself. As the friendly junior learning swordsmanship from her, Ren should be able to obtain passage into her Palace, treated as a guest by her Shadow self... probably.
If not, worst case, he could just escape the Palace and try again once his bond with Mei deepened. He was determined to make her Palace his safe zone!
If it was someone else's Palace, then the plan was to conquer it within a day, seize the Will Seed and Treasure inside, and focus on strengthening himself.
Strengthening himself was a race against time because Ren couldn't be sure how long his period of relative safety would last. Besides the pseudo-god Yaldabaoth looming above, Ren also had human enemies: Goro Akechi and Masayoshi Shido.
With Shido's political standing as a prime minister candidate, opposing him meant challenging practically the entire Japanese establishment.
Goro Akechi, moreover, possessed the same Wild Card power, allowing him to traverse between reality and Mementos. Akechi frequently used his power to cause mental shutdowns, eliminating Shido's political rivals, meaning he entered Mementos often.
Ren needed to explore Mementos to develop comprehensively and gather stronger Personas. If he was lucky, he might avoid Akechi. But if his luck was bad, Ren could potentially run into him in Mementos as early as tomorrow, catching a bullet to the head from the Black Mask.
Even with Hare potentially providing cover on Shido's side [A misunderstanding based on Hare's vague association], Ren knew his exposure to Shido was inevitable. Therefore, Ren had to push himself to his limits before his existence was noticed by those with malicious intent.
Dreaming about summoning Satanael, formed from the collective prayers of society, was unrealistic for now. But at the very least, Ren needed to evolve Arsene into Raoul [Ren's second-tier Persona]. That would give him a fighting chance against Akechi.
After all, in the original story, the Phantom Thieves themselves acknowledged that Akechi was unbeatable in a one-on-one fight. To defeat Akechi—who awakened his Persona earlier and was empowered by the Evil God to cause mental shutdowns—Ren, having just started, needed to catch up fast.
[Joker: Of course we explore the Palace. Where should we meet? Inside Chiba Academy again?]
Despite becoming a world-saving protagonist, Ren initially wanted to ditch the Japanese high school student identity entirely and focus on more meaningful tasks.
But limited by his circumstances—lacking the MetaNav app and needing Hare to enter Mementos—it seemed he'd have to stick around Chiba Academy for a while longer. At least there was Raiden Mei there; Ren could spend his free time raising her Confidant rank and learning Hokushin Itto-ryu from her.
The shrimp-flavored instant noodles on the table emitted an enticing aroma. Ren put his phone aside. Just as he peeled back the steamy lid, ready to dig into the perfectly cooked noodles... Ping! A notification sound came from his phone.
Ren picked it up again, seeing his previous message marked as read. Hare had replied instantly, as if she'd been waiting right there.
[Hare: Understood. I will pinpoint the Palace's exact coordinates before noon tomorrow. Let's meet in the alley at Chiba Academy then.]
[Hare: One more thing. Do you need weapons?]
[Hare: There happens to be an executive among the Serpent's followers operating covertly in this city. Due to her profession, a wide variety of weapons and items can be obtained from her. If you need anything, I can help you acquire some weapons to arm yourself.]