Watching the anime from Madoka Magica and writing the rules

But in P5, there are either thieves or noble ladies. Why is that?

But now, the paper industry has a guess about this.

That is the situation, which was caused by the false god in front of him or the power left over from the Velvet Room.

From Zorro of Morgana, who split from the original Iger, to Arsen, who awakened Amamiya Ren before the room was occupied.

This laid the foundation for the personality mask styles of the protagonists.

No, it probably started when Mona forced everyone to call themselves Phantom Thieves.

Zhi Xing looked at Iger, who didn't speak immediately, and asked in confusion:

"Did you arrange the personality masks for Ren Amamiya and the others?"

Iger tapped the table, letting the atmosphere fall silent for a moment before asking:

"Why do you think so? Everyone's personality mask is obtained through a contract with themselves. The power of the contract does not require the approval of others."

"really?"

Zhi Xing closed his eyes, covered his eyes with his hands, and carefully recalled the plot he remembered:

"If I remember correctly, no matter which hall or shadow, they all recognize their own identities the most. Even if they play a certain role, they will never forget who they are."

"Then why, everyone in the Phantom Thieves, when you talk about yourselves, all have names and are based on the images that others perceive them to be?"

"What exactly are contracts? Are they truly the shadows of the Phantom Thieves themselves?"

Zhixing felt that things became chaotic from the moment he stepped into the room.

Arsene Lupin, Captain Kidd, Carmen, Zorro, ..., ..., UFO, ...

Although he couldn't remember some of their names, Zhixing was also very clear that the members of the Phantom Thieves should not directly apply the names of characters that have already been known to exist, whether based on their past experiences or their own desires.

Especially since they should have disappeared many years ago, theoretically it is impossible for the Phantom Thieves to know about their deeds.

If I remember correctly, the Phantom Thieves even needed to translate biographies of the characters in order to deepen their use of the personality masks.

It would be unreasonable to say that all this was not arranged by anyone.

"Kukuku, well, let's go back to when you interrupted us."

Iger supported himself with his other hand and began to explain again:

"To awaken your personality mask, you need to make a contract with yourself, which is essentially a transaction."

"But that's my own desire. How can I possibly accomplish it on my own? Something I can accomplish on my own wouldn't generate desire at all, let alone a strong desire."

"Could it be!" Zhixing once again recalled the timing when Kyubey chose to make the contract.

Those girls were at their most helpless, when they had no choice and when they most desired to get something.

"The so-called contract is to abandon oneself and become another being, thereby gaining the cognition possessed by the corresponding being."

"Rely on the extra strength to gain power far beyond your own limits."

"This kind of self-sacrifice is something most people would never encounter or do."

Zhixing swallowed and suddenly felt that the power of the personality mask was not so attractive, but then Zhixing began to question it again.

"That's not right. I remember that before, people could gain the power of a personality mask by reforming themselves. Why do you have to abandon yourself and become someone else to gain power?"

Iger remained unmoved, but continued to respond:

"Perhaps you feel that the shadow in the temple is the person you know, so you feel that it is still yourself, right?"

"Have you ever seen a shadow use its own secret treasure to return to its original form?"

"The same goes for personality masks. Using the secret treasure of one's own desires, one can forcibly transform into another being."

"Oh my, clearly none of the halls were involved just now, it seems you are well aware of this."

"That way, it's easy to explain."

"You only need to raise your own desires, and then, through your conviction to fulfill these desires at all costs, convey them to your shadow. Then, your will will act as a contract to bind the shadow's actions, transforming it into a personality mask capable of fulfilling your desires."

"Even if you're a sudden intruder, I'm really looking forward to your rebirth."

"What kind of existence will such a special you bring out?"

As Iger expected, Zhixing also understood the truth of the contract.

Ultimately, it's just a transaction between desires.

The transaction itself is to use one's own things to satisfy the desires of others, and then exchange them for other people's things to satisfy one's own desires.

It’s just that in the cognitive world, the action logic of each shadow follows desire.

Therefore, if the desire is strong enough, it can control the actions of the corresponding shadow.

The surviving humans provide the desires, and the corresponding beings provide their own recognized images as a transaction.

So, the members of the Phantom Thieves used their own desires as materials to drive the famous cognitive shadows in history to accomplish things that they themselves could not do.

Except that, like the magical girl, she has some weird energy recovery, as if she can never exhaust her desires, other aspects look exactly the same as the righteous magical girl.

Cognition trades desire, desire comes from the soul, and the soul produces cognition.

This is the information that Zhixing learned from Iger's words.

Zhixing couldn't help but look at the only usable different world navigation app on his phone.

Perhaps it is the desire to meet that guides them to realize the navigation function.

Based on this understanding, Zhixing thought of the similar unrestrained physiques of Amamiya Ren and the various protagonists.

Every cognitive being is also but an ordinary shadow.

However, due to the infusion of desires from the temple, he possessed powers far exceeding those of ordinary shadows, and thus became a small monster that the Phantom Thieves defeated along the way.

At the same time, the protagonist can regain these cognitions and turn them into his own mask.

It can be understood as transforming one's own desires into desires that correspond to this cognition.

No wonder every time you regain the mask, you need to ask questions. I'm afraid it's to locate the corresponding desire and thus attract the cognitive existence.

As for the mismatch between desire and cognition, that is the origin of the cosplays in the hall.

In order to realize one's own desires, one turns one's shadow into an image that can be realized and then becomes a public recognition. In a sense, the mask has been stereotyped.

Unless one makes friends and falls in love with people in other communities like Ren Amamiya, and changes desires through reality, the personality mask will be transformed into another cognitive image, attracting a stronger shadow to use this desire.

Beyond simply metaphorically representing souls as people, the paper lines feel connected to the entire game.

This also means that there is no need for the paper industry to learn more about the Velvet Room.

"Well, even though I say that, I don't actually have many desires. Ordinary daily leisure and entertainment are my biggest desires."

"Peace is more important than anything else."

Zhixing sat on the bed beside him, lowered his head and said the conclusion he had thought about for a while.

"Is that so? That's a shame. I was really looking forward to whether you could summon it, but it turns out to be a person without desires."

Iger, the false god desired by many people without desires, is no stranger to this. Rather, ordinary people who just want to live each day are the choice of most people.

Therefore, those selected by the Velvet Room are basically students.

Seeing Iger express his disappointment, the twins looked at each other and wanted to take the opportunity to ask Zhixing about the situation that had just been revealed.

But then, Gemini heard Zhi Xing's self-deprecating words:

"If I were to say I have desires for something, I might have some thoughts about new things, but I don't have any thoughts about things I can't have."

"But if it's another situation, then my desire will be quite strong."

Zhi Xing looked up at the sky, which had no ceiling but was so deep that he couldn't see anything clearly. He covered his neck and muttered to himself:

"I actually hate causing trouble for other people."

"So if I find that this kind of result will happen, I would rather suffer myself than trouble others."

"And if this trouble is serious enough."

"I'm afraid that I will develop desires and motivation strong enough to put myself in danger."

"After all, finding children troublesome in daily life and running around when they're sick—that's also a kind of desire, isn't it?"

Iger regained some interest and took over the topic:

"Oh? It seems like all your actions so far have been because you don't want to cause trouble for others?"

"You clearly know a lot about the future, and you clearly know that I won't end this game early, so what are you afraid of?"

It seems like I have begun to fall into memories.

Zhixing covered his neck with one hand and his eyes with the other, forcibly creating a dark environment and recalling his motivations for coming this far.

"Games, anime, stories, I've long been tired of these things. Even if I give them up, even if it's a waste of time, they're not worth cherishing for me."

"So the only thing that makes me resist is the idea that I'm a good person and shouldn't cause trouble for others."

"Taking this idea to an extreme will turn this trouble from a waste of other people's time, energy, and money into a fatal loss of all their energy."

"The heaviness of life and death is theoretically enough to make me take action."

"Either the desire to prevent tragedy from happening, or the opposite desire to help others."

"I should have done something about it."

"Unfortunately, I've encountered situations even more extreme than this."

"That's the principle of the circle that involves the lives and deaths of countless people."

Two streams flowed out from the gaps between his eyes, telling the emotions of Zhi Xing at the moment.

"It's obvious that according to time, they were going to die anyway. It's obvious that according to fate, their deaths were already predetermined no matter what."

"Obviously, I didn't see it with my own eyes or have any personal contact with the other party."

"But just thinking about this possibility makes me feel very scared, afraid that such a result would happen because of me."

"It's like I accidentally got the bomb control button in the movie. If I let go, the hostages somewhere far away will be killed."

"I don't know if there are any living people there, or if there are any people I know. The only thing I can do is press this button, even if my fingers are cramping uncontrollably."

"Even if someone told me the bomb had been defused, even if someone told me this was just a staged show."

"But as long as there's even a slight possibility, as long as there's a chance that this button could lead to the death of the most people, I can't let it go."

"From the moment I pressed the button, I had only two options: keep pressing it until death, or let go by mistake and let tragedy happen, and then give up completely."

While Zhixing was still describing his feelings, Gemini, who was originally staring at Zhixing, suddenly noticed something unusual.

"Who are you? How did you get in?!"

"Has the mask awakened? No, this feeling is..."

In response to the twins' exclamations, Zhixing simply put down his hands that were covering his eyes, looked at the girl in front of him, and reached out to take the bowl from her hand.

[I worked really hard to collect this, but this is enough for the past two days, so I absolutely have to finish it all!]

Zhi Xing looked at the semi-solid substance in front of him, which had turned as black as sesame jelly, and couldn't help but smile at the girl and said:

"In this case, you and I should be completely the same person."

As he spoke, Zhixing quickly chewed the semi-solid substance into his throat like tortoise jelly.

The next moment, before the magic power spread throughout his body, Zhixing's body underwent a huge change.

This huge change even forced the twins to retreat away from the cell.

Then, as the prison door was blown away, Zhixing's head finally appeared in the hall.

"Incredible, incredible! I never thought you could rely on the desires of the Palace Master to transform into a common cognitive shadow-like existence. It's truly interesting."

Compared to Iger's excitement with his smile gone, the twins who had retreated to the open space in the hall frowned.

Although I am used to seeing various monster shapes when executing those masks on a daily basis, at least most of them look very regular, with only some features exceeding the aesthetic standards of reality.

"What has this become? Why can't I pronounce its name?!"

"It seems that this is the confidence that allows him to come here alone, but what's with this feeling of disgust?"

Under the gaze of the twins, Zhixing's body kept changing. It was no longer an enlarged version of Zhixing, but was gradually approaching the image of the Mending Witch.

Chapter 258: Fate's Observer