Persona 5 Part #111 - 9/22-9/23: Avoiding Awkward Conversations

Part 111: 9/22-9/23: Avoiding Awkward Conversations

Part 107: 9/22-9/23: Avoiding Awkward Conversations

Music: Beneath the Mask -Rain (Instrumental Version)

I’ll be at the arcade today, so stop by if you feel like playing. I’ll teach you a bunch of tricks.

How’d you get my phone number, kid?

I’m eating now. Maybe I should respond later...

Oh, and make sure you eat your curry before it gets cold.

We got an invitation to go out. Let’s reply once we finish eating.

So, we have another day off. I don’t know what for. Probably Arbor Day or something, there are a lot of random Japanese holidays (I just checked, it’s “Autumnal Equinox Day,” and Monday’s day off was for “Respect for the Aged Day,” both of which are somehow even dumber than the joke example I just gave).

Music: Tokyo Daylight

We head over to Chihaya to boost our affinity with Futaba. It’s not enough, unfortunately.

I guess we should hang out with the child, failing other options (okay, fine, Makoto was actually available today, I just wanted to get the next skill before the Palace for some ill-defined reason).

You can get all kinds of Phantom Thieves stuff. I got a Phantom Thieves badge. I wonder what I’ll get next… You’re here to train, right? Well, are you ready?

What are you gonna do? Are you gonna have Shinya teach you how to shoot?

Let’s keep playing.

Music: Wicked Plan

Okay, so, how to explain this? In non-voiced scenes, Confidant characters will occasionally have little voiced “barks,” or short phrases that don’t match the text of the scene, but fit with the spirit. Why do I bring this up? Well, for this line, Shinya’s bark is “You bastard!”

…That’s right. He swears in the non-canon voice lines, but not in the text itself. This is fucking baffling to me.

Don’t you get it!? You can’t just shoot all over the place!

...Yeah, but he’s got such a bad attitude.

It’s like he’s bipolar.

I really wanna know if he calls him “bipolar” or something else in the Japanese text.

I wonder how long that high schooler’s gonna be able to keep up…

Gahhh! You haven’t gotten better at all! When are you gonna learn!?

Music: Alright (Elp Version)

Thanks to you taking so long to figure it out…

I’ve always been good at shooting games… But I absolutely NEVER wanna lose at Gun About. So I guess I tend to get all heated up about it…

Do you understand, little boy?

Do I need to call your mom?

...Fine. I’ll leave, all right?

I… really wanted to keep playing.

You must have deep pockets, kid. Where are you getting all this money for arcade games?

...My house is so boring. No one’s ever there and there’s never anything to do. Adults and high schoolers are so lucky. They get to play all night long. Having that much time helps you get stronger… ...I wish I could play all day instead of going to school. I’d never lose another game… ...I need to get really strong, like the Phantom Thieves.

Seriously though, I can’t stop thinking about that employee. He was super annoying, huh? If he says something again, I might just have to use that move on him. The one I taught you, remember? You should use it sometime.

You’re gonna fake shoot him!?

I feel like my bond with Shinya is growing deeper...

Bullet Hail lets us sometimes follow up an ambush with a smaller All-out Attack using our guns. It’s pretty neat, and we’ll see it next time we go into the Palace.

Well, it’s just a move in the game, so it wont’ work against actual people… ...I wish it did. Then I’d be strong in real life. I need to be able to win in real life… …...

Uhhhhh

...I’m gonna head home.

Interacting with Shinya has made my heart grow… I feel like my Kindness has increased...

Maaku gains Kindness +3.

Later. Say hi to the Phantom Thieves for me1

Music: Beneath the Mask

We got 3 Condenser Lenses, a Five-inch Nail, a Black Rock, and a Nirvana Ring.

Oh, yeah-- You bought stuff from Shady Commodities.

Now, which of these is the punishment for forced labor, the most grievous offense? A: Ten years in prison./B: A twenty million yen fine.

The correct answer is… A! An inhumane executive gets ten years in jail!

Okumura Foods is likely only guilty of long hours and unpaid overtime—not forced labor. Many say the punishment for that’s too lenient: six months in jail or a three hundred thousand yen fine.

The punishment is too soft in both those answers! That’s why people are looking to us…

It feels like I’ve improved my Knowledge.

Maaku gains Knowledge +1.

I wonder… I bet it’s better than Okumura Foods though. But geez, are you OK? Don’t overwork yourself.

I have to work as much as I can to keep my job. Everyone else is sucking it up and pitching in…

Now that our package has arrived, it’s Shady Commodities time!

Music: Dark Net

Mr. Hamiru, you’ve opened the door to possibilities that normal people can only dream of! Now, you can find all the rare items you could possibly want!

Some new items in stock now. We buy the Spyware-laden Gear (which requires washing, and I only bought because I got confused), the Hercules Anklet (Strength +5), the Black Robe (for transmutation), and another Black Rock.

You’ve spent over 50,000 yen! Your member rank is now Dark! Now you can purchase all of our Dark-tier products! But wait, there’s more…! You’ve spent over 100,000 yen! Your member rank is now Chaos! Now you can purchase all of our Chaos-tier products! You’ve reached our highest member rank, so this is our full lineup. We can’t thank you enough!

All right, we’ve illicitly acquired some new shit, so let’s get to Confidantin’.

Music: Crossroads

But how the heck would you know, right? Riiiiiight?

What are you insinuating!? Oh, wait, I think she might just be plastered.

Hey… you have some info to share, riiight? Need s’more info on the Phantom Thievesssss. So sit your pretty lil’ butt down…

This is sexual harassment!

I’m expecting a lot from you… OK, take a seat!

I’ll shmack you if it’s not good enough…

...Hey, you sure you’re OK?

You’re usually kinda-- *hic*

Man… I haven’t seen her drink this much in forever.

You could… you know… cut her off? Just saying, Lala.

I’m… totally not drunk… *hic*

Oooh, you’re sharp, kid! Truth is, um… my quota got doubled.

Music: Suspicion

They’re shacklin’ me down so I won’t have time for anything else… Ugh, my chief’s such a shithead…

He’s clearly saddling you with more work so you won’t have any more time to date high schoolers.

Before this, I was starting to feel like a real journalist again… The rush of investigating Kayo’s case… uncovering the dark secrets hidden away by our corrupt society… But now? It’s gonna be impossible to run my investigation with this quota…

That doesn’t sound good.

They’ll fire me if I can’t reach my quotas! Hey, Lala-chan… if they fire me, can I live here? That still won’t help my investigation though… The incident’s over a year old, and the authorities aren’t doing shit. *gasp* Maybe Kayo really was the true culprit…

I mean if I don’t, who will!?

Watch your temper.

*sigh* What am I doing…? I mean, I’m the one who dragged Kayo into politics. It’s my fault this ended up happening to her… Y’know, she started out in book publishing, mostly taking photos of nature and wild animals. She was a genius behind the camera though. That’s why I thought she’d make the perfect partner for me…

Right. “Partner.” I’m hip to the lingo.

Hey, you can’t blame yourself. Kayo-chan was just as set on exposing the evils of society as you were. Isn’t that right?

Dammit, that incident is all my fault… That’s why I’ve gotta get to the bottom of it!

Y’know, it’s weird how calm I get when I’m talkin’ to you. It’s almost like you actually understand me. Oh, and… I’m sorry for snapping at you earlier. The stress must have gotten to me. It’s just, all this quota business is driving me crazy. I’m gonna have to put all my focus on that for now. I’ll still be counting on you for Phantom Thieves stories though… as long as you’re up for it.

It feels like Ohya is really starting to rely on me...

But I might be able to ask some of my coworkers for help. Journalists will do anything for a scoop. Now then, I’ll take any tidbits you have for me today. Hope you don’t mind if I get back to drinking though. This whole conversation really sobered me up…

That’s not how that works, but whatever.

Mm, it’s getting late… I’ll see ya later.

Anon: He’s definitely a target
Anon: Make him beg!

Music: Beneath the Mask (Instrumental Version)

Aren’t they a bit late this time? I’m on the edge of my seat here…

Dude, it took like a month for Medjed to go down. Settle down, bucko.

Yeah, they can take Okumura down easy.

Not just him, but ALL companies that exploit their employees.

Yeah. We’re in trouble too, you know. Take out one, you gotta take out them all. It’s only fair.

Why are they raking us over the coals…?

Music: My Homie

*chime* ...Is this on? Ms. Chouno, please come to the faculty office at once.

What could this be…? I’m off to the faculty office, so make sure you study on your own.

Learning about the spirit of the samurai seems useful, but this book looks difficult…

Seems like you still have some pages left. You should continue some other time.

One more session to complete that book.

Ah! The teacher’s back…!

Phew, that was close. Kawakami helped us get a good chunk of free time though!

Music: So Boring

In another class…

Someone please save Pleasant Boy, he’s been trapped in the Metaverse for eight days. He’s had to eat the burger robots for sustenance.

He’s in hiding now that everyone turned against him.

Public opinion has truly flipped between him and us, but I doubt he’s given up.

And if we don’t hurry, the public will turn against us next…

There are already signs of that.

Then let’s move! We can’t go wasting our popularity!

I’d like to stop my father as well, for everyone’s sake.

Considering Haru’s circumstances, we must follow through with this.

Music: Butterfly Kiss

First thing we do after school is head over to Takemi’s.

Not to actually talk to her, mind, just to buy pharmaceuticals.

We buy a bunch of Takemedics (200 HP for one party member, kinda pointless but I still wanna be prepared), a lot of Takemedic-All Zs (200 HP for all party members, nearly entirely redundant due to Mediarama but we’re saving these for a specific purpose later on), some Kajaclears and Kundaclears (negate enemy buffs and party debuffs), a large supply of Life Ointments (full HP restore from KO), a good number of Relax Gels (Rage/Despair/Brainwash/Fear/Confuse relief, because those statuses suck and Wakaba drained us of these), a few Nohar-Ms (Burn/Freeze/Shock relief, which we haven’t been hit with much but never hurts to be prepared for), and some Alert Capsules (Hunger/Dizzy/Forget/Sleep relief, and I’ll tell you why we’re buying these later).

So, some healing items, a full round of ailment relief items, and some debuff deleters. All in all, a pretty productive shopping session, which drains us of about 60k.

Oh hey, while I’m here, Takemi? Yeah, your patient’s alive. What? No, sorry, I have to go, can’t stay to elaborate. Maybe we can hash this out in a few days? I might still be busy though. Tell you what, we’ll definitely talk sometime next week. Just don’t take any initiative on this before that. I know she’s dying rapidly, but I’d really prefer to be there for the whole “Confidant” thing. Oh, you don’t know what that is, whatever. Kthanksbye.

Music: Tokyo Daylight