"Hmm, he really fits my impression of a typical councilor."
A councilor has the right to participate in politics, able to influence local budgets and policy decisions.
While a single councilor doesn't hold decisive power, the political system of Japan relies on gathering multiple councilors with limited abilities to decide on policy changes.
Aside from the relatively high personal income, a councilor's greatest privilege lies in their political participation.
"Spouting things like, 'The future belongs to the young.' Nice-sounding slogans."
"He is indeed quite young for a councilor, but once someone stands in that position, the one best suited should be the most capable overall."
Based on the events in the game, Ren could pretty much confirm that Shido Masayoshi was very skilled in the use of power.
He wielded his authority and the abilities of traitors in full, using power to accumulate wealth and clear paths for himself, while using traitors to secretly eliminate political enemies and win over other power holders.
By helping others solve their problems, he gained leverage over them and pulled them into his camp.
That was what Shido Masayoshi considered "justice."
In his eyes, the common people were just that—common. He trampled over them from his high pedestal without hesitation.
He had extremely strong ambition, and he possessed the means to back it up.
He was ruthless, even to the point of striking at his own illegitimate child, which completely aligned with Ren's understanding of the darker side of politicians.
Naturally, Ren detested this kind of self-important person.
"Right now, he doesn't have the ability to realize his ambitions. Everything is still under control. But once someone helps him achieve those ambitions, the real world will no longer be able to restrain him, and his ambitions will inflate rapidly."
"The Tenebrous World is indeed a terrifying convergence."
Ren now strongly suspected that the so-called "false god" was likely a manifestation of the Tenebrous World's consciousness.
At the end of Persona 5's story, the god had attempted to completely enslave humanity, robbing them of their ability to move forward. In truth, that was the Tenebrous World trying to devour reality itself.
This "Sefirot" also matched Ren's understanding of what the Tenebrous World represented.
"Hmm~ so this Shido Masayoshi has someone like us with special powers helping him?"
Chika tilted her head with curiosity.
"No. The one with special powers isn't Shido himself. Right now, he's just an ordinary councilor. What makes him special is that someone with the ability to enter a mirror world approached him. That person uses the mirror world to destroy targets' Starlight Forms, killing them in reality to clear the way for Shido."
"It's thanks to that person's help that Shido gained real power in politics, even becoming the head of a party."
"As for his goal, it's naturally to seize total control of Japan."
Chika blinked, then blurted out,
"Isn't that pretty much the same as what we're doing?"
The clubroom immediately fell into silence.
"It's not the same."
Ren waved his hand to deny it.
"Shido Masayoshi's methods involve concealing crimes, manipulating politics, monopolizing technology, and suppressing opponents through violence."
"He used that person's powers to eliminate the biggest threats to certain factions in order to win them over and achieve his goals."
"For example, covering up scandals. For example, dealing with political enemies."
"Our methods may also seem vile to those we confront, but we still have a bottom line. We don't harm ordinary people."
That bottom line was the biggest difference between them and Shido Masayoshi.
Ren was fine using certain means to achieve goals, but he refused to let those means drag in innocent people.
He had no interest in or habit of killing ordinary people.
Even for exposing secrets, he didn't need to eliminate people. Using the Spectator's methods to deal with them was much more efficient.
"Chika, tell your mother to stop digging into Shido Masayoshi. Over the next six months, just keep an eye on his rise to power."
Once Shido's rise was confirmed, the timeline for Akechi Goro gaining his power would also be clear.
After developing Akechi Goro, the false god had taken over Igor's consciousness, spreading a portion of its own will from the Tenebrous World into reality.
However, that influence was still limited.
It interfered with the real world through humanity's collective unconscious, but in the end, there was still a separation between the Tenebrous World and reality. And based on the game's plot, the false god was sealed from the outside. As long as that external seal remained closed, its ability to affect reality would stay limited.
"Chika, remember to remind your mother when you go home."
"Mm, got it."
"Any updates on artificial intelligence and virtual reality?"
"I have something."
Nagi raised her hand.
Because of the game, I've taken an interest in cutting-edge gaming technology. I've looked into AI and VR a bit.
"I first learned about it a year ago. I heard it was a U.S.-based tech company called the Sindora Corporation that was developing AI, and they've already made significant progress. They also started venturing into the field of virtual reality."
"After digging into it a little, I understood that the challenge of AI lies in creating strong intelligence, while the challenge of virtual reality is how to project self-awareness."
"But if you want strong AI, it means giving it human-like emotions. And once AI develops emotions, combined with the unrestricted nature of the internet, it's highly likely to rebel."
"Especially when paired with so-called virtual reality. If Sindora succeeds, something terrible is likely to happen."
"Recently, I investigated their behavior further and found that they're developing a game pod called the Cocoon. That's when I realized how their so-called VR would be implemented."
"By hypnotizing players inside the pod and transmitting brainwaves into a virtual world through machines."
"But this type of game pod strips the player of almost everything. And if AI truly reaches the level of strong intelligence, then once these pods spread, players' lives will essentially be in the hands of the AI."
"That technology is impressive, but I don't think their AI has truly achieved strong intelligence."
Of course, the reason Nagi could make such a judgment was because of other clues, especially after combining what Ren had shared. She had a basic idea of what was happening inside the corporation.
"There's one more thing. It also happened about a year ago."
"There was a ten-year-old child from the Sindora Corporation who jumped to their death."
(To be continued.)