After confirming that the story of Persona 5 did not exist in this world, Miyauchi Hikage, who had obtained the "Other World Navigator" app, had already designated it as his future training ground.
However, he had not yet clicked on or used this app.
Because in the settings, the Metaverse is regional. Each region should have its own local Metaverse, and the entrance to this Metaverse is generally in the most densely populated place in the area.
The entrance to Tokyo's Metaverse is located beneath Shibuya Station, and its form is a subway network entrenched beneath Tokyo. When entering the Metaverse from other locations in Tokyo, one will randomly appear at a certain location inside.
And the only way to leave the Metaverse is to return to the entrance. In other words, no matter where he was in Tokyo, as long as he clicked on this app, he would appear at Shibuya Station when he returned to reality from the Metaverse.
In a sense, this could also be considered a form of spatial teleportation. However, for Miyauchi Hikage, who had true teleportation abilities, this was not very practical unless the teleportation time was not enough for him to escape.
Then there was his current location in the countryside of Saitama Prefecture.
He didn't know what the situation was with the Metaverse in Saitama, but the entrance was most likely in Saitama City.
As for Asahigaoka... although its popularity had indeed been quite high in recent years, the number of tourists visiting was not particularly large. Unless you counted the online popularity, there was no way the entrance to the Metaverse could be here.
Miyauchi Hikage's current teleportation could be used at most twice in a row. If he was really transported to the center of Saitama City, it would be difficult for him to teleport back, and he would have to wait for the train in Saitama.
So he was preparing to test the effect when he was leaving Asahigaoka. Even if he was teleported to Saitama, he could just take the train to Tokyo from the station there.
In short, with this app, Miyauchi Hikage did indeed have the ability to let others gain special powers—although the power of a Persona required one to recognize one's own heart, which in itself was not a low threshold, and for the most part, it could only be effective in the Metaverse.
But Miyauchi Hikage himself possessed the spiritual power of a Stand. Adding another, similar existence like a Persona, perhaps the fusion of the two would produce an even more wondrous chemical reaction?
At that time, perhaps he would be able to use the power of his Persona in the real world as well.
In short, for this app, Miyauchi Hikage had no intention of spreading it out directly like he did with Hamon for the time being.
After all, Hamon breathing required years of practice to achieve anything, and its main role was to strengthen the body and for self-defense.
Even if those girls had reading value to speed up their rest, without a year or so, it would be difficult for someone with ordinary talent to form any combat power.
Miyauchi Hikage had only spread Hamon after ensuring that his own advantage was obvious enough.
But the Metaverse was different. The stronger a person's heart, the stronger the Persona they would obtain. This kind of power was not stable, and there were certain dangers within the Metaverse, so it was not suitable for spreading.
Shiina Mashiro, Jerry, and if he had to say, the shadow Yuuko who was under his control. These were the people Miyauchi Hikage would currently bring in.
As for the others, Konomi, Kaede, and Koshigaya Suguru here in Asahigaoka, Miyauchi Hikage could naturally trust them. But he himself was not too willing to let them give up their current lives to come into contact with those dangers when they could live peacefully.
Then in Tokyo, Sakakibara Kouichi and Conan's character and personality were also trustworthy. They certainly wouldn't be like that Akechi Goro, using the Metaverse to fulfill their own selfish desires. He could find time to take them for a stroll in the Metaverse to let them see the world, but the app would certainly not be given to them so easily.
As for Itou Kaiji?
This guy's personality flaws were indeed quite significant. Matters of the inner world could be forcibly bound by an agreement, but for other things, he had to be careful that he wouldn't accidentally leak them.
However, with his fate, as long as he continued to film these videos and appear at the front line of incidents, he would awaken supernatural powers sooner or later.
Miyauchi Hikage wasn't worried that the app would find its way to Itou Kaiji on its own.
Because this Other World Navigator app was a reward from the diary, he also had a certain degree of administrative authority. Although he couldn't choose whether to let someone awaken a Persona, he could decide the number of people who entered the Metaverse each time, and whether to let the app appear on others' phones.
With this authority, it wouldn't be like in the original work, where other people nearby would be accidentally pulled into the Metaverse, and the app would appear on their phones and couldn't be deleted.
Only after Miyauchi Hikage had figured out the situation on the Metaverse side and could ensure that the situation would not get out of control would he possibly distribute it on a small scale.
And on Itou Kaiji's side, he didn't know the meaning behind Miyauchi Hikage's words.
But hearing him say that they were also talented and might awaken supernatural powers in the future.
Just this one sentence, Itou Kaiji probably wouldn't be able to sleep well tonight. He would be thinking about this all night, wondering what kind of power he would get if he obtained supernatural powers.
Fortunately, he had nothing to do tomorrow, and he didn't need to drive the car from home. A bus was arranged directly from the film base to take them there together.
Seeing Itou Kaiji's pumped-up look, Miyauchi Hikage patted his shoulder, ending the conversation.
After resting for a night, the time soon came for the next day, which was the annual spring field trip day for the Asahigaoka Branch School.
The number of participants in this field trip was quite large.
Besides the original Koshigaya siblings and Miyauchi Renge, because of Asahigaoka's rise, the number of students at the branch school had now barely reached double digits. In addition, Kagayama Kaede, Fujimiya Konomi, and some previous graduates from Asahigaoka would also participate. The bus was almost full with nearly twenty people.
However, except for Ichijo Hotaru, who had just transferred here this year and had not met Miyauchi Hikage, the other students had all been taught by him in various ways after enrolling. After not seeing him for more than a month, they still retained a sense of admiration and awe for him.
Therefore, when Miyauchi Hikage appeared on the bus holding Renge, the chatter on the bus instantly became almost inaudible.
It wasn't until he waved at them and casually found a seat in the front row that the bus became lively again.
Ichijo Hotaru, who was on the side, had never seen such a scene before, so she asked Komari, who was sitting next to her, with some curiosity, "Is that... the Miyauchi Hikage-senpai you all often mention?"
Miyauchi Hikage's reputation inside Asahigaoka and outside Asahigaoka was completely different.
Everyone in Asahigaoka knew who was responsible for the changes in the village over the years, so everyone was grateful to him.
And outside Asahigaoka, because of his low-key nature, among the hundreds of videos from Asahigaoka, apart from his voice appearing as narration, his image had never appeared in the videos.
Just like how Koshigaya Suguru, although he often appeared in the videos, under Miyauchi Hikage's request and his own habits, had never said a single line in these videos.
Specifically, Miyauchi Hikage had basically evolved the videos of certain handicraft UPs from his previous life into the classic daily life of Doraemon and Nobita. First, Natsumi or Komari, or someone else in the village, would encounter some problem, and then go to Koshigaya Suguru for help. In the end, Suguru, in silence, would single-handedly develop an invention that seemed useful but was actually useless. Finally, Miyauchi Hikage would act as a serious narrator in the video.
Koshigaya Suguru's handicraft channel was also one of the origins of Asahigaoka's success. Although it was only updated once every one or two months, he would usually upload some exquisite handicraft production videos to meet the fans' demands, developing both invention and handicraft aspects. Therefore, Suguru's reputation outside was quite big.
But in comparison, Miyauchi Hikage's narration, because it had been voice-modulated, not only could no one outside recognize his voice, but few people had even heard of his name.
Ichijo Hotaru only learned these truths after coming to Asahigaoka and becoming friends with everyone at school.
From that time on, she had been curious about this Miyauchi Hikage, whom she had never met but who had completely changed Asahigaoka in just a few years.
Today, she finally met him. Looking at Miyauchi Renge sitting affectionately on his lap, Ichijo Hotaru couldn't help but exclaim, "Miyauchi Hikage-senpai seems quite gentle. Why does everyone seem a little afraid of him?"
Koshigaya Komari showed a look of longing. "Because before Hikage-nii graduated, he was always the one teaching us. You've been here for a month, you should know how lazy Kazuho-nee is. Our usual classes are basically self-study with the teaching plans she gives us."
"Those teaching plans were actually all prepared for us by Hikage-nii before he graduated."
But then, Koshigaya Komari seemed to think of something again, and her body shivered slightly, then she shook her head. "But in terms of studying, Hikage-nii is really strict. Basically, all of us younger ones, except for my brother, have been scolded by him all the way."
Hearing Komari's words, Ichijo Hotaru couldn't help but try to imagine in her mind how this seemingly easy-going Miyauchi Hikage would scold people to leave such a deep impression.
But now the man himself was sitting at the front of the bus. Koshigaya Komari certainly didn't dare to imitate him on the bus and could only say that she would find a chance to do it after they got off.
She had always wanted to show her dignity as a senior in front of her junior, so she had deeply memorized the words Miyauchi Hikage used to scold people back then, just waiting for an opportunity to use them.
Although this scene was not very satisfactory to her, at present, it seemed that this was the only situation where she had the chance to satisfy her urge.
The straight-line distance from Chichibu to Asahigaoka was about ten kilometers, but there was a mountain range in between. It might be possible for an off-road vehicle, but a bus couldn't take this shortcut.
Following the road, they took a detour around the periphery of the mountain range. After spending more than an hour, they finally arrived at Chichibu City.
At the agreed-upon place, Miyauchi Hikage also saw Honma Meiko, whose face still looked a little pale, sitting in a wheelchair.
Behind the wheelchair was her younger brother.
Although her physical condition had recovered a lot due to the power of Hamon, and she could move like a normal person, her parents were naturally still worried about letting her go out alone, just to be safe. At the very least, someone had to be with her.
Miyauchi Hikage silently activated his Destiny skill and placed his gaze on Honma Meiko.
Within Honma Meiko's fate, there was still that thread affecting her life, and it looked slightly thicker than when he had seen it in Asahigaoka.
As for the direction, it was indeed the mountain where she had fallen into the water.
A simple math problem, the intersection of two non-parallel line segments. Miyauchi Hikage was not bad with directions. After looking at the map a few times, he could quickly confirm the specific location.
I wonder if it's because this thread has grown a bit in the past few days, or is it that the closer Honma Meiko gets to that mountain, the thicker this thread becomes?
Miyauchi Hikage felt that the latter was more likely. After all, a few days should not be enough for this thread to grow so quickly.
In other words, if Honma Meiko was far enough away from Chichibu, would it be possible to break the connection with that mountain?
Miyauchi Hikage thought, and then helped Honma Meiko lift the wheelchair onto the bus at the door.
"How has your body been these past two days? Are you feeling any better?"
A faint smile appeared on Honma Meiko's face. "I've been sunbathing a lot more these past few days, but there hasn't been much change so far."
These past few days, she had actually been struggling with the commission that had suddenly refreshed, wanting to find out what had caused her body to become like this.
However, because it was still early, she was not yet ready to go to the place where she had fallen into the water.
The girls in the group also suggested that she make ample preparations before taking action, before the time reached the final limit.
But her heart had been reminding her that it was best to go to that mountain as soon as possible to find out the truth about her body.