I, Den-O, the Contract Urban Legend

???

Inoue Ueya was also confused.

Although he knew that he seemed to be awakening now, what was the name of his personality mask?

When I was distracted just now, I seemed to hear something vaguely, but I didn't hear it clearly...

Looking at the crowd gradually approaching him, he realized that he was in an awkward situation.

"Well, what's your name?"

[Huh? Didn't I already tell you that? Were you distracted just now?]

"Sorry, could you please say that again?"

In fact, it was not just a matter of distraction. Inoue Ue had persisted for so long that he was finally affected by the injury and his consciousness gradually faded.

【Be careful ahead! 】

whoosh-

A wooden stick was swung at him, and Inoue Ue barely dodged the attack, looking at the crowd in front of him vigilantly.

"Anyway, putting the name aside for now, you can probably guess what I'm talking about after seeing my appearance. Let's take off the mask first!"

"Hmm, I see..."

Inoue Ueya swallowed and grabbed the mask on his face with his right hand, trying to take it off.

"Hiss, it hurts..."

The mask was like a part of Inoue Ueya's body, firmly attached to his face. When he tried to take it off, he felt an indescribable pain, which made his movements slow down unconsciously...

[Hurry up! Stop dawdling. Don't you want to save that girl?]

——That’s right, Kuin is still waiting for me…

Inoue Ueya made up his mind and tore the personality mask off his face in one breath. As the mask fell off, the wound caused by the tear bleeds and completely covers his face, and his eyes glow with golden light.

He lowered his head and looked carefully at the personality mask in his hand. This mask was exactly the same as the one that Inoue Ueya asked Miss Sadako to imitate. It was a half-face mask in the shape of a white bird, and the eyes had black borders.

"Hmm, is this the captain's mask..."

Inoue Ueya raised his head and silently looked at the crowd in front of him. He saw pale blue flames coming out from his body, gradually covering his entire body. The blood on his face disappeared instantly as if evaporated by the flames.

The flames covering Inoue Ueya broke away and formed a tall figure behind him.

[I am you, and you are me. If you wish to resist your present fate, then I will lend you a helping hand!]

Inoue Ueya turned his head and his pupils shrank.

What came into view was a demon wearing a red evening gown, with jet-black horns and wings. Without a doubt, this was the Persona "Arsem".

What? It turns out to be material for synthesis teaching?

"Then I'll leave the battle to you..."

Yasen just nodded, then rushed forward and started fighting with the crowd.

Since it's a personality mask, it should be appropriate to let Yasen deal with people who appear out of thin air in dreams, right?

There is no doubt that the people in front of him are definitely not real humans, and this is a special dream. Maybe they are some kind of projection in Kuin's subconscious?

"Their properties are somewhat similar to those of Personas, but they are probably closer to the concept of 'shadow'?"

Blue flames flickered among the crowd, and all those knocked down by Yasen turned into ashes and dissipated in the wind.

"Shadow" is another concept in the Goddess series. Simply put, it is the part of the heart that one is most unwilling to accept and acknowledge, similar to the existence of the inner demon. Since he can awaken the personality mask here, then the shadow may also be possible...

But Kuin has lost her memory. According to common sense, she should not have such a shadow, unless she is resisting the recovery of her memory. If so, I am afraid that I will have to deal with more than just the strange people in front of me. Kuin's real "shadow" is likely to exist somewhere in this dream.

"Well, maybe I'm thinking too much..."

Inoue Ueya came to his senses and saw that Yasen had knocked down all the people in front of him, but the forest was still dark and had not returned to its original sunny state.

Chapter 102 Facing the Past

Seeing Yasen rescue Kuin from the tree, Inoue Ue finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"So handsome! Was this strange creature with wings summoned by Jingye?" Kuin was looking up and down at Yasen in front of him, his eyes shining.

"Hey, am I a strange creature?" Yasen pointed at himself with some confusion.

"Kuin, don't worry about that for now. Aren't you hurt?" Inoue Ueya asked worriedly.

After taking a closer look at Inoue Ueya in front of him, Kuin found that his face was pale, his left hand was hanging down, and his movements were a bit unnatural, as if it was broken.

"No, no, no, Jingye, you're the one who needs to worry, right?"

Inoue Ueya smiled slightly, shook his head, and replied, "Don't worry, my injury is not a problem. I'm glad you're okay."

If he was injured, he could return to reality for treatment, but Kuin couldn't escape the dream, so if she was injured, it would be a bit troublesome.

Moreover, if the dream problem is not solved one day, Kuin may be attacked again at any time...

Inoue Ueya still couldn't calm down even when looking at the dark night sky. He didn't know how long he could stay in this dream, so he had to find the reason for the strange changes in his dream as soon as possible.

"The problem now is still the dream changes. Kuin, do you have any clues?"

"I……"

Kuin seemed to be hesitant to speak, with a hesitant expression on his face.

Inoue Ueya sighed, then walked forward, raised his right hand and pinched her cheek hard.

"Ah, it hurts!"

Kuin exclaimed, reaching out to cover her pinched cheek, a look of confusion in her eyes.

"If you encounter any problems, just tell me. We are friends, right?"

"Well, if I do something that violates our agreement, will you be angry?" Kuin asked in a tentative tone.

I guess what Kuin is talking about now is that she secretly went to touch the cross.

"Idiot, of course Mr. Inoue will be angry! At least tell me about your discomfort so I can think of a solution. Just staying here and holding on will not solve the problem!"

Inoue Ueya shook his head, then reached out and gently tapped Kuin's head.

"No, Jingye, your reaction is completely different from the story I told you. Shouldn't you forgive me now?" Kuin looked stunned.

"Isn't this a matter of course? Anyway, tell me everything you've encountered so far in detail!"

So, Kuin told Inoue Ueya everything about the cross he had secretly found out of curiosity, the headaches he had experienced from time to time, and the scattered memories that emerged in his mind.

"Well, apart from the headache, there shouldn't be any changes in your body, right?"

Although Inoue Ueya claimed that he was very angry, his eyes looking at Kuin did not show any anger, but were full of worry instead.

"No, don't worry about it!"

"That's good……"

As he spoke, Inoue Ueya fell into deep thought.

Since Kuin's memory is recovering, it's probably not so strange that things from the past appear in this dream, right?

but--

When Kuin completely recovers her memory, will she still be the same person she is now?

Thinking of this, Inoue Ue couldn't help but fall silent.

"Anyway, let's walk around first, maybe we can find something..."

Yasen, who had been standing silently by, suddenly shook his head and pointed to the place in front of him. "Don't bother with that. The key person is already in front of you."

Hearing this, the two subconsciously looked in the direction that Yasen was pointing.

What came into view was another Kuin, but the "Kuin" in front of him was completely different from the one Inoue Ueya had in mind.

Her eyes were filled with resentment, and her body bore marks of severe burns. Even her lips and eyelids were gone. She looked exactly like a character from a horror game...

Well, since Kuin's origin is related to Corpse Party, it's normal to have this style of painting... probably.

But these are not the main points. Inoue Ue also saw the golden light flashing in "Kuin"'s eyes. For some reason, his intuition told him that this did not seem to be a normal phenomenon.

[Don't be careless. Although I haven't actually seen the real thing, the existence before my eyes can barely be considered a "shadow." I have this feeling.]

"I understand. Then prepare to fight..."

Then, Inoue Ueya tensed up again, holding the wooden stick in his hand, staring at the shadow Kuin in front of him.

The shadow Kuin stared at Kuin beside Inoue Ueya, a flash of anger in his eyes, "Why do you resist recalling the memories of the past? That resentment... That hatred for humans, how can you just forget it like that!"

"Quin" faced his true form with an angry expression.

"Eh?" Kuin's eyes widened slightly. Seeing the girl in front of her who looked similar to her but was covered in bruises, she froze in place for a moment, not knowing how to react.

Inoue Ueya wanted to say something, but when he opened his mouth, his throat seemed to be choked by something. After hesitating for a moment, he still didn't say anything.

After all, the "shadow" in front of her is also a part of Kuin's heart. Inoue Ue also believes that he cannot answer her questions on behalf of Kuin, and this should be faced by Kuin herself.

Furthermore, if the shadow is directly destroyed, Kuin's consciousness might also be affected...

Now that things have come to this, the best way is to let Kuin face her. Whether it is to resolve the changes in the dream or to let Kuin get relief, she still needs to face her past in person.

So Inoue Ueya explained to Kuin beside him: "The existence before you is probably similar to the dark side of your heart from the past. How you should deal with her is up to you."

"I……"

Kuin was still a little confused.

Because of the strange dream, Kuin roughly guessed what she had experienced in the past. However, it was also for this reason that she gradually became a little resistant to recovering her memory. Rather than recalling the terrible memories of the past, she hoped to continue to stay by Inoue Ueya's side and be a girl who had lost her memory.

but……

Since you can't escape it, just face it!

So Kuin nodded, walked towards his own shadow, and responded: "I understand. I will accept the memories of the past, but I will overcome the past and return to Jingye's side again!"

The "shadow" just sneered and disdained what its original body said.

"You're so arrogant! You actually want to eliminate my existence? Then go ahead and try. Who knows, you might be the one who gets devoured!"

Chapter 103: Yasen?

A white light flashed, and Kuin merged with the "shadow", and memories gradually emerged from Kuin's mind.

Because of her identity as a "witch," she was captured and crucified, only to be taken down when she was dying, and finally burned at the stake...

Kuin closed his eyes and frowned.

"Have I already died?"

After a moment's silence, she sighed. She no longer had the same hatred towards the people who killed her.

——It doesn’t matter anymore.

"Although I want to stay by Jingye's side, even for a while, it's just..."

As if sensing her change, cracks began to appear in the sky and ground in the dream, and everything around her began to dissipate, including Kuin herself.

She turned to look at Inoue Ueya. Kuin's face showed a reluctant expression. Recalling the experiences of the past ten days, a trace of reluctance flashed in her eyes, because she knew clearly that she probably had no chance to return to the ordinary days with him.

Inoue Ueya narrowed his eyes and put on a puzzled expression. Because he had severely overdrawn his body, his vision was blurred and his hearing became deaf due to severe tinnitus. Especially after summoning the personality mask, it was a bit difficult for him to continue standing there.

"Hey, are you okay? Did you manage to get your memory back?"

Arsen, who was standing nearby, witnessed everything and hesitated for a moment, but ultimately did not explain the current situation to Inoue Ueya.

Kuin forced a smile and walked up to Inoue Ueya, who looked confused. Then she smiled brightly and hugged him tightly with her arms open.

"If possible, I really want to visit the world you described, but I don't think I can do that now..."

"Hey, Kuin, are you really okay?" Inoue Ueya frowned and vaguely saw the light flashing on Kuin's body, and he couldn't help but feel panicked.

"Goodbye, Jingye."

Suddenly, Inoue Ueya's eyes went dark and he lost consciousness.

……