Persona: Devil Summoner

Yoshizawa Sumire frowned and raised her hand like a good kid to ask a question. Her question made Oyamada stunned, and then he said: "That's not a given! By then, I haven't developed a cure for Eden's disease, but she has! Wouldn't people call me a waste in the future? I will become a laughing stock of the world, and become the lowest level of persecuted existence... Impossible, I, I am Oyamada Shoichi! I am the most popular star in the world! My glory will never fade! How can I fall from grace and become a sinner through the ages, and be cursed by future generations for thousands of years..."

Ooyamada became more and more extreme and exaggerated as he spoke, and as he said this, he was sweating profusely, his face was pale, and his eyes were staring straight ahead with a hollow look in them. This expression was not acted out... He was thinking this from the bottom of his heart, and he was also so scared from the bottom of his heart.

After Jiang Tianwei confirmed this, he noticed something was wrong.

Although he is not a wise man, he still has the most basic doubts. The mental state of Oyamada is obviously not right... To put it nicely, this is an overly profound sense of crisis, to put it bluntly, this is excessive anxiety? !

After he sent Takemiya away, he tried to search for Ooyamada Shoichi using the Different World Navigation APP, but this morning, the APP did not respond.

But at night, the Oyamada Palace can already be confirmed...

In other words, during the ten hours between this morning and evening, something happened that completely distorted his desires...

"...I'm asking you, did you go to Kawahara Bank to get a loan?"

Jiang Tianwei's mind flashed with the message that Naoto had given him before. He frowned and asked in a stern voice.

"? Yeah! So what? You think hiring gangsters is cheap? But those guys are still professional. Although I have to put in some [working capital], it's all worth it. As long as the reputation of Oyamada is still there, I can make a comeback! By then, the nutrient solution will sell well, and I won't have enough money?!"

A key word in Ooyamada's words caught Shinjima's attention: "Working capital? You used public money?! You didn't use your own assets, but hired gangsters with public money?!"

"Haha, that was originally the project I led. A health supplement for calming nerves and nourishing the brain? Anyway, the cost is just sugar water mixed with some vitamins, there is a lot of money to be made. I just embezzled in advance - oh no, I withdrew the compensation that should have belonged to me in advance. What's more, I immediately took out a loan to make up the money! - But, I used the name of the hospital. Haha!"

Jiang Tianwei didn't care about his misappropriation of funds. He didn't have to worry about the debts anyway, so he just let him confess his crime. Compared with these, it was the first time he heard the testimony of [going to Kawahara Bank to apply for a loan] clearly from the palace master.

(Also, although not as obvious as the two previous emotional fluctuations, Ooyamada's fear of "failure" is obviously not a normal behavior. He is too afraid of failure. Although most people are afraid of failure, few people are as afraid as he is. Not only is his face pale, but he is also sweating all over. No matter how you look at it, it is an overreaction, it is simply a stress reaction... Could it be...)

Jiang Tianwei had a conclusion in his mind. If the Chinese restaurant owner was angry, and the bastard who attacked people with a knife was sad, then Oyamada's situation was just like...

"Have you been trafficked [anxiety]?!"

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 255 Common sense! Brother!

Anxiety is probably the most common mental problem among modern people.

The emotion that can best be associated with Oyamada's appearance is anxiety.

After being exposed by Jiang Tianwei, Da Shantian felt as if a basin of water was poured on his head. The sweat all over his body had soaked his clothes. He stammered and couldn't say a word...

If you have ever suffered from anxiety disorder, or have a friend who has, you should be able to understand Oyamada's current situation. The reason why anxiety disorder has the word "disease" is because this thing has exceeded the ability of ordinary people to self-regulate.

For example, if you cut your finger with a blade, it will bleed, but it's okay. It will heal in three to five days. But if someone chops off your head with a knife, you will die. Although they are both [cutting trauma] in essence, the degree is completely different. For anxiety disorder, it is meaningless for others to persuade him to "then don't think about it." It's like telling a dying person not to die, or shouting to a fleeing criminal to stop.

The same is true for anxiety disorder. Once this emotion expands to the point where a person's self-regulation ability cannot regulate it, it will greatly affect life. The person will become extremely afraid of failure and will be unable to act before doing anything because of panic.

In extreme cases, some anxious patients can’t even leave their rooms. Even a simple act like opening the door can cause them to feel as panicked as if they were about to jump off a building…

The same thing happened to Oyamada, who was overwhelmed by the meaningless panic in his heart and was now unable to move. While Oyamada Shoichi was at a loss due to anxiety, Jiang Tianwei began to quietly look around the room, looking for something that might be a secret treasure.

This is the biggest disadvantage of sending out a notice without any prior investigation: you don't know what the room originally looked like, so naturally you can't judge clearly what those things are that appeared out of thin air.

Moreover, based on previous experience, Kamoshida's secret treasure is the crown, his identity is the king, and the corresponding thing is the medal. By the same token, Ooyamada's secret treasure is probably the same.

Since the other party thinks that he is a superstar, then his secret treasure may also be related to his celebrity status...

But there was nothing in this room that looked like a secret treasure. And considering that Kamoshida wore a crown, Madarame took the painting away, and Kaneshiro was guarding the vault, I'm afraid that this secret treasure would be fully protected by the shadow Oyamada Shoichi.

(But why doesn’t it look like a secret treasure anywhere?).

Jiang Tianwei's eyes rolled and he suddenly had an idea!

"Really? You paparazzi always believe everything you hear and gossip behind people's backs. You can't even tell three true sentences in your entire life. I'm tired and don't want to bother with you anymore. Please get out."

Oyamada was obviously irritated. In order to get rid of his anxiety, he raised his voice, looking fierce but weak, trying to use his frenzy to drive away his anxiety and the guys who made him anxious! He waved his hands randomly, signaling everyone to leave quickly.

However, Jiang Tianwei turned his phone handsomely, and a brilliant magic circle flew out from his palm. Then, a gorgeous red giant bird flew out from his phone!

It was Suzaku who had appeared once before!

In Chinese legend, it is a sacred beast that symbolizes the power of fire.

Jiang Tianwei waved his hand and said, "Burn down this room for me!"

Of course, he had secretly told Suzaku when he summoned him, not to burn it with all his strength, but to burn it carefully, just to light everything on fire.

Jiang Tianwei had a lot of clever ideas: since the secret treasure was the most important thing for the people living in the palace, as long as he threatened to burn down the room, then whatever the owner of the palace took away in the end would be the secret treasure.

What a simple strategy!

But simplicity often means practicality.

Although Oyamada's room is very large, it is only relative to the size of a human. For a giant creature like the spiritual bird Suzaku, which is huge, flaming, and can fly, it is not big enough!

There is a Chinese poem that goes: I wave my sleeves and take away not a single cloud. The Vermilion Bird obviously did not take anything away, but it brought light and warmth to the room, which can be regarded as another style of poetry.

The flames suddenly burst out, and Oyamada was stunned. Seeing the raging fire, the man didn't bother to negotiate with Shinjima, and ran away! He didn't take anything in the room with him!

This time it was Jiang Tianwei's turn to be stunned: Why didn't this person play by the rules? No, to be more precise, this person is too common-sense! Here is some common sense. According to common sense, when encountering disasters such as fire and earthquake, don't be greedy for material things, and give priority to escaping... Oyamada made a very correct decision!

Seeing Ooyamada running away, Jiang Tianwei looked at Yoshizawa Sumire and then at Niijima Makoto. These two people had obviously seen the world and they trusted Jiang Tianwei, so no one ran away. There were only three people left in the fire scene. Jiang Tianwei spread his hands and said, "I, I thought that this guy would run away with the secret treasure... Who knew that he would not care about the secret treasure..."

Yoshizawa Sumire also frowned rarely and said, "Then, is it possible that the secret treasure is not actually in this room? After all, the secret treasure is here because we speculated it, wasn't it?"

"No, there is actually another possibility."

Shinjima shook his head, his tone revealing a sense of certainty: "We can change our thinking. It's not that [Oyamada did not run away with the secret treasure], but that [Oyamada carried the secret treasure with him from the beginning]."

This is very possible, Jiang Tianwei nodded involuntarily, but deep down, he didn't want it to be like this... Because, to be honest, the things that Oyamada was wearing just now, there were too many things that could be secret treasures... The dress? The gems? The feather duster-like decoration on the back? Or the big leather shoes?

When Jiang Tianwei thought of this, he felt a headache and couldn't help but sigh: "This speculation is indeed very likely, but is there any evidence to support it, or any reasoning that can narrow the scope?"

“Although it can’t be considered as ironclad evidence, I have a vague guess… Does this secret treasure have to be something with a physical form?”

Shinjima asked back.

This question left Jiang Tianwei confused.

When Morgana introduced the secret treasure, he just said: This is the [original intention] to distort the palace owner. But does this original intention have to be a physical thing?

If it's not something physical, then what is it?

The secret treasure must be the source of the palace owner's distortion. Let's trace back to the source and find out what made Oyamada become what he is now...

Suddenly, Jiang Tianwei felt cold all over. Although he was in a fire scene, he felt like he was in an ice cellar!

"Could it be! Are you saying! His secret treasure is - is his reputation?!"

Jiang Tianwei gave the answer in disbelief. Shinjima closed his eyes and nodded vigorously: "Yes, that's what I guessed."

From the previous conversation, it is not difficult to see that Oyamada has a rather twisted obsession with reputation. Why did he never think of taking action against Takemiya before, but later even hired gangsters to cause trouble for her even if he wanted to embezzle public funds?

According to the information provided by Jiang Tianwei, it is probably because the paper that Dr. Takemiya is about to publish will have a huge impact on Oyamada's reputation. To put it bluntly, his reputation has plummeted.

It was obvious that Takemiya knew Oyamada too well. She knew that compared to arresting or even killing him, the cruelest form of revenge was to make this fame-seeking man lose his beloved reputation.

Jiang Tianwei figured this out and felt an increasing chill down his spine.

This is not because Jiang Tianwei is afraid of celebrities, but... How do you steal reputation? The Phantom Thieves have always been "stealing treasures", so how do you steal something like reputation that is invisible and intangible?

Jiang Tianwei asked weakly without holding out hope: "Yes, is it possible that the secret treasure is not the reputation, but the reputation gave birth to the secret treasure, for example, the clothes he is wearing are the secret treasure or something?"

Shinjima shook his head: "Not likely. Because he set his character as a [big star], naturally, the secret treasure should be something that is most closely related to stars. Considering that he ran so fast just now and didn't care about the things here at all, I think the secret treasure is most likely his reputation."

"So, how do we steal his reputation?".

Jiang Tianwei had a sad face. This was the first time he had seen a secret treasure but couldn't steal it...

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 256 What a sad story!

Fame, power, wealth, if you want it, I will give it to you. Go and find it at the end of the sea!

Even if you haven't seen "One-Piece", you must have heard this sentence more or less. When Roger Gol said this bold statement, he certainly didn't expect that there was actually a person in real life who was worried about how to steal someone else's reputation.

If it is a tangible thing, it would be easy to deal with, but how can you steal an intangible reputation?

This question really stumped the Phantom Thieves.

After all, although these people are called Phantom Thieves in name, they are students at heart. How could they have thought of so many stealing techniques...

Seeing the fire growing bigger, Yoshizawa Sumire suggested: "Why don't we go out and talk first?"

Jiang Tianwei nodded, and the three of them quickly left the fire scene.

Dr. Oyamada was nowhere to be found in the corridor. He must have run away.

"hey-hey……"

Suddenly, Yoshizawa Sumire smiled.

Jiang Tianwei was puzzled and asked, "Why are you laughing?"

As soon as he said this, for some reason Jiang Tianwei suddenly recalled the classic quote by Mr. Bao Guoan during the Battle of Red Cliffs: I laugh at Zhou Yu's lack of strategy and Zhuge Liang's lack of wisdom!

Thinking of this, Jiang Tianwei felt that the "Fangze Guoan" in front of him seemed to have grown a beard, and he couldn't help but smile.

Fang Zejin was reminded by Jiang Tianwei and quickly put away her smile. She said seriously, "I'm sorry, senior. I, I shouldn't have smiled just now."

"I don't blame you, I'm just curious."

"Well, I just thought that Dr. Takemi's clinic was burned down by Dr. Oyamada, and now we burned down Dr. Oyamada's office. It's such a coincidence. It's as if there is a destiny."

"This is what they call karma. No one can escape it."

Jiang Tianwei had just finished speaking when a light bulb suddenly appeared in his mind. No wonder people would use pictures to express a light bulb suddenly appearing near his temple. Jiang Tianwei now felt that his muddled mind was suddenly split open by a possibility and a light bulb suddenly appeared!

"You said... there is a final conclusion in the dark... Yes... This is the Palace of Cognition. The so-called fame is not real fame. It is something in reality that was distorted by Ooyamada and recognized as honor!"

Shinjima's eyes lit up at first when she heard Jiang Tianwei's speech, but after hearing the latter part, her expression dimmed again: "But we don't have time to confirm what it is in reality, and he has distorted it and recognized it as his own reputation. Moreover, even if we have time, it will be difficult for us to steal things in reality, right?"

"No, let's think about it from another perspective. Since we can't steal his reputation, why don't we just find someone who has the ability to steal his reputation?"

"You mean, should we ask Dr. Takemi directly?"

Shinjima thought about it and felt that it made sense. After all, the Jincheng Palace had proved that people with special identities would receive special treatment in the palace.

Dr. Takemi Tae is indeed about to take away Dr. Ooyamada's reputation. If we bring her in...

"no……".

Shinjima opened his red lips and denied this possibility himself: "I've seen my sister working for so long, and I know it from what I've seen and heard... Doctor Takemi must be being questioned by the police now, and conservatively speaking, he won't be able to go back until tomorrow morning."

"Yes, that's right."

Jiang Tianwei did not show any sadness, and his eyes were still bright.

"So we won't look for Dr. Takemi. Besides, if we look for Dr. Takemi, we'd be going around in circles... There are other better candidates who could really cause Oyamada's reputation to plummet!"

Is it Takemiya who really caused Oyamada's disgrace? No, if it was her, Oyamada would have no reason to ignore Takemiya for so long and let her do whatever she wants.

The core conflict between the two people is Eden disease.

Wu Jianmiao took out a special medicine for Eden disease...but what is needed to prove that this special medicine is effective?

Yes, Jiang Tianwei had a guess in his mind. In this situation, the person who could deal a fatal blow to Dr. Oyamada was Meiwa.

She was the patient under Wu Jianmiao's care and drank the special medicine given by Wu Jianmiao. It can be said that she was the experimental subject that proved Wu Jianmiao's thesis.

It can be said that it was because of Miwa that Takemiya had solid evidence and overturned Oyamada's reputation.

In other words, in Oyamada's cognition, Miwa must be a special existence.

Coincidentally, Jiang Tianwei really knew where beauty and reality were! After all, he had just seen it once this morning, in the hospice ward on the fourth floor!

Jiang Tianwei told him his analysis, and Shinjima thought about it for a moment before finally relaxing his frown: "I think it's feasible! Let's go downstairs..."

Now that we have confirmed that there is a correspondence between the real space and this place, we at least have a general direction to find it.

————————————————————

At the same time, Shoichi Oyamada had already fled to a place.

As the owner of the palace, he did not have the option of escaping from this theater.

Since there is no way to escape, then fighting is a foregone conclusion. Since we have decided to fight...

At least, I have to find a place where I have the best chance of winning the battle... a place where I can exert my greatest advantage...

I have analyzed before that for this kind of zombie army whose individual combat power is not strong and wins by numerical advantage, a vast plain with an unobstructed view is the best choice...

Therefore, he did not flee upwards to the roof, nor did he flee downwards blindly. Instead, he headed for a certain area with a purpose...