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Rule number 1 to anyone with a solid brain in their head, never go in a room with men in black suits. Whatever's happening in there has to be at least sketchy as fuck. Sadly, my brain doesn't work like that, and how I ended up roped into some company bullshit.

At least I get some waifus for doing it.

With that out of the way, it's time for some introductions. My name is Sora, I'm 19 years old and a professional dumbass who's now traveling to the world of SMT 3 on a business trip.

Waking up on a train, I got up and looked at my new self. I was now in the body of "Demi-Fiend", though I am quite a bit taller, standing at about 6'3, and the muscles on my body were larger thanks to the talent.

"Yoyogi-Koen. Yoyogi-Koen." The announcer stated through the PA system. This should be the stop, now we just have t-

*vvvt*

Someone messaged me, wonder who it could be? Pulling out my phone, I found out it was from the Naoto look alike.

Nitta-san: You're late, Sora! What's the big deal? You forget we're visiting Ms. Takao today? Just get to Yoyogi Park ASAP. Time's a-wastin'!

Nitta-san: Real talk, I'd prefer more of a "private counseling" scenario. Buuuut, Ms. Takao IS a lot nicer when you're around…

Nitta-san: Oh right. Be sure to dress improperly. After all, you represent me by association. How about the slick jacket you bought the other day? The one with the little demon sprites?

Nitta-san: Remember, you're only the mood maker. Don't get it twisted, m'kay.

The person, Nitta Isamu, urged me to head over quicker. Following the plot, before I inevitably shatter it, I exited the station.

…

Thankfully, I didn't get lost on the way there. While I was at it, I tested out my first element. Enhancement. Seems like the current boost only gives me a small amount of extra speed, but that was good enough.

Getting to the park, I found a man that I'd see quite a bit of in my journey. Standing in front of a sign, wearing what looked to be a spotted polo, but it looked closer to scales up close.

"Great, the entire park's closed off. They can't even let a guy in and snap a few photos? Guess it's not my lucky day." He said aloud, rubbing his fingers on the rim of his hat. Though, it appeared that he finally noticed me staring at him. "You need anything, kid?" he asked, turning to face me.

"Nothing much," I shrugged, eyes drifting to anything else I could find. "was just walking to the park. But, looking at the situation, sounds like a change of plans." I responded in an annoyed tone,

"Well, here's what they said on the TV:'Panic erupts as a clash between corporate representatives and a civic organization ends in violent deaths.'" Interesting thought, I wonder who won?

"Pretty disturbing right? But those people who live on the fringe say… It was a deeper struggle between two cults." At that moment, my phone decided to ring again, just when things were about to get interesting.

Pulling out my phone, the guy seems a bit surprised… I'm not supposed to have a phone like this, am I? Yep, the year should be somewhere around 2005, if we're going to use the year the game was released. So using a touchscreen phone would make me look either high or really rich.

Moving on, putting it up to my ear, a female voice went through. "Hey Sora, are you there? Finally, I got a hold of you. What's taking you so long?"

"Sorry, you can't really blame me though, the train got delayed while I was waiting for it."Saying these words, I heard a tired sigh on the other end. What else was I supposed to say?

"You're still at Yoyogi Park, right? We kinda just left a bit ago, you should head straight for the hospital. You remember which one, right? Just to jog your memory a little, it's Shinjuku Medical Center. Just head east from Shinjuku Station, you can't miss it."

"Well, I better get going then, wouldn't want you guys leaving me alone again." I replied with a bit of snark. This ticked off a nerve in the girl as she shouted through the phone.

"Just get here already damn it!"

The call abruptly ended there. The man's attention was quickly taken by the things he heard from the call. "Hold up, you're on your way to Shinjuku Medical Center? Oddly enough, I was just about to head there myself. Oh… Here, you should probably take it." Handing me a magazine, he continued on.

"It's a copy of our upcoming issue. I'm assuming you don't know what went down here. Then, you probably don't know what kind of place that Hospital is either. The name's Hijiri, author of 'The Ring of Gaea and the Scripture of Miroku.' Might want to give that a read. I know what you're wondering, why would a hospital be associated with the occult. But that hospital is anything but normal. Or so they say. There's a lot of misinformation floating around these days. If it turns out I'm wrong, just laugh it off, okay? Well, I better get going. Oh, if we ever cross paths again, tell me how you liked my article."

And with that, everything was finally done, I got my ass over to the medical center.

…

That took longer than I expected. The world is larger in real life, what did you think was going to happen? But, it should have been just a little bit faster with the boosts in speed.

Inside the actual building, sitting on one of the long lobby seats, was the girl who talked to me on the phone, Chiaki Tachibana. She wore a blue denim dress and boots, and I have no idea what that white belt thing i-.

"Well hey, Sora about time." She let out a sigh of relief upon seeing me. Making a small tentacle with my shroud, I slowly made it crawl behind her. "Is it just me, or is something seriously off here?" She worriedly asked me.

"No, absolutely nothing is wrong at all. Just relax and let's try to find Ms. Takao's room, okay?" I reassured her, extending an arm out.

And everything fell according to plan. Once she touched my hand, black tentacles sprouted from my wrists. She fell back in surprise, but Chiaki was suddenly trapped by the black substance which formed a dome around her.

Forcing my will onto the thing, the dome constricted around her. The substance became skin-tight, wrapping itself into every nook and cranny inside her body. Tendrils conjoined to become large, entering her mouth and other holes, while the smaller ones entered through her pores, completely suffocating her. And within a couple more seconds, it was complete.

The shroud quite literally violated every part of her body, it was almost indescribable. A dark writhing mass, squirming with every passing second, gradually becoming smaller and smaller until it revealed the naked form of Chiaki.

She slowly started to regain consciousness, a semi-liquid covered her body in the clothes she wore just before being bound. A soft ping rang on my phone, notifying me of the successful capture. A good tier 8 to start things off, nice.

"Wa-what? Sora? What happened here? Did I pass out?" A confused Chiaki asked, rubbing the sides of her head to relieve a forming headache.

Helping her up, I reminded her. "Don't we have to find Ms. Takao? Let's go together and meet up with Nitta-san, or just text him when we find her."

Still clutching her head, she tried to get up, only for her knees to give out once they fully stretched "I-agh- I think I'll stay here. You should go on your own. Wait. Give me that magazine, it should give me something to do once this headache subsides." And with the seeds planted, the plot thickens. This should set up exposition for later when I get back here.

With nothing else to do here, I left to go find our teacher or anyone else for that matter.

…