Tokyo Psychic

The director looked at Mutsumi Wakaba, who was unconsciously curled up in her chair due to fear and anxiety. "This is probably... not a good idea," he said carefully, cautiously reminding her.

Takayuki Wakaba scrutinized him expressionlessly. "I'm the producer, and the show is on the verge of cancellation. I need to find a way to save it... Do you have any objections?"

The director scratched his graying hair. "Okay, I got it." He slowly said to the staff below the stage, "Turn on the teleprompter."

The camera was positioned so that it would be used when filming tomorrow's program, and it was aimed at the two guests on stage.

If Ye Mutsu clasped his hands together—even though according to the etiquette teacher, his hands should be placed flat on his knees at this time.

But when the red light from the teleprompter shone into her eyes, she subconsciously prayed to be saved.

Takafumi Wakaba held the clapperboard and counted down below the stage. Each number fell into Mutsuka Wakaba's ears, but seemed unable to enter his thoughts.

Everything in the entire venue seemed to have drifted away from me in an instant.

The chair beneath him was transformed into a bed, and a huge floor-length mirror was placed very close by.

In a hazy vision, Ruoye Mu seemed to see the puppet in the performance costume rush out of the mirror, crying and throwing itself at her, holding her face and shaking her.

"Xiao Mu, Xiao Mu! Don't listen to that guy anymore! Let's run away!"

"Escape...where to go?"

“Call Xiangzi! Or Lian! Or Su Shi…”

"We must not involve them."

"If this keeps up, Xiao Mu will break down!" Metathy slapped Wakaba Mu's cheek hard, then muttered resentfully. "Didn't the Phantom Thieves say they were going to save Xiao Mu? Why haven't they come yet?!"

A light seemed to suddenly pierce through Wakaba Mutsu's empty, dim eyes.

“The Phantom Thief…” She raised her head and looked at the tightly closed door of the room.

With a loud bang, the door was suddenly kicked open from the outside.

Under the bright lights, Akira Kurusu and Shoko Toyokawa burst into the rehearsal venue.

"Excuse me, I've come to the wrong place." Akira Kurusu actually bowed to the producer and director below the stage with a genuinely apologetic expression.

Then he looked very "surprised" and exclaimed, "Wakaba-senpai! Mori-san! You're here too?!"

Toyokawa Shoko nudged Kurusu Akira's shoulder, and Kurusu Akira immediately understood, "Huh? Shoko, isn't that Mutsu over there?"

Toyokawa Shoko said "Oh", "I happen to have something to talk to Mutsu about."

"Uncle and Aunt, could Xiao Mu talk to us for a little while? It's about a club activity."

So Akira Kurusu strode toward the stage, grabbed Wakaba Mutsu's hand without a word, and pulled her off the stage.

Throughout the entire process, no one dared to step forward to stop it, nor did anyone dare to reprimand them—Toyokawa Shoko was watching from behind, and everyone sitting in the rehearsal studio knew the eldest daughter of the Toyokawa family.

It was also thanks to Mori Minami's habit of showing off her close relationship with the Toyokawa family that even the cleaning lady heard that this big star was backed by the prestigious TGW Group.

As Ruoye Mu was led by Kurusu Akira's hand toward the exit of the film set, she didn't turn around to look at the expressions of the audience and staff. Instead, she gazed up at Kurusu Akira's profile, her light golden eyes slowly misting over.

Walking down the corridor of the office building, a childlike smile appeared on Ruoye Mutsu's face. "This time Xiangzi didn't break his promise, very good! Mutsu is saved!"

Then, as if complaining, Motis chattered around Laixi Xiao, "If you had come any slower, I would have gone out to save Xiao Mu!"

Lai Xixiao stroked Motisi's head, "You've worked hard, taking care of Xiaomu must have been tiring, right?"

“Of course,” Mortis smiled smugly, “but don’t worry, I’ll do my best to protect you…”

As soon as she finished speaking, Lai Qixiao hugged Motisi and patted her back, saying, "I will protect you."

The smile on Motis's face vanished instantly.

She opened her mouth wide, wanting to say something, but only felt a stinging sensation in the corners of her eyes and the tip of her nose, and a sob rose in her throat.

Metis pressed her forehead against Akira Kurusu's chest, listening to his heartbeat, and tears suddenly streamed down her face.

Then, without giving Akira Kurusu a chance to ask any questions, she hid away—Wakaba Mutsumi wiped away her tears and hugged the phantom thief in front of her with great affection.

"I love lotus the most," she said.

"And what about me?" Toyokawa Shoko grabbed Wakaba Mutsu's ear.

Wakaba Mutsu immediately broke free from Kurusu Akira's embrace and then hugged Toyokawa Shoko, saying, "I like Shoko too."

"Add the word 'best' to it!"

“Then…then I like Xiangzi the most.” Wakaba Mutsu blinked.

"Alright, stop playing around," Akira Kurusu pushed open the fire door to the fire escape. "We need to resolve everything within ten minutes."

"Why ten minutes?" asked An and Subaru, who were waiting in the fire escape.

"Because it sounds cool to say it that way." Akira Kurusu closed the fire door. In order to protect the privacy and safety of the artists, all the cameras on this floor of the office building were turned off during filming, which actually made it easier for the Phantom Thieves to operate.

Just as Ruoye Mu was about to ask him some questions, she noticed that the surrounding environment began to spin and change dramatically—

Rusty stains of desire bloomed along the ventilation ducts overhead, and mold suddenly sprouted on the ceiling like a dried-up Noh mask. The fluorescent glow of the vending machine licked the remnants of the data stream, and deleted chat logs grew coral-like crystals in the stagnant water.

The red light of the warning lights blurred in every corner of the field of vision, and the bright red lines clung to the wall like veins flowing with blood, then slowly expanded and contracted.

The already cramped fire escape suddenly seemed to expand dozens of times in size. In the vast open space, a black cat, mimicking a human standing upright with its paws crossed, smugly and arrogantly declared, "Hey! Listen up, humans over there! My name is Morgana..."

Before he could finish speaking, Lai Xixiao had already slapped it on the head.

"Newcomers should just observe how their seniors act; why waste so much time talking?"

"We never said we wanted to join your Phantom Thieves!"

"Hmm?" Lai Xixiao glanced at it, a blue flame flickering in her eyes, the sudden burst of power almost making the big cat's fur stand on end.

"Join! I'll join!" Morgana said with a fawning expression.

Wakaba Mutsu stared in astonishment at everything around her.

Akira Kurusu waved, "Pleia, Oblivionis, go find 'Mori Minami'."

He grasped Wakaba Mutsu's hand. "Mutsu and I are going to find 'Wakaba Takafumi'."

"Yes." The girls' clear voices echoed in the empty fire escape.

"And what about us?!"

"You go with them."

"No! Please, let me follow you! I'll do anything!" Morgana hurriedly followed Lai Qixiao, feeling that Lai Qixiao was the safest person in the entire Impression Space.

Akira Kurusu ignored it, but blue flames flickered around his body, which was covered by a black phantom thief outfit.

Only when they were leaving the fire escape did he turn back and say, "Stay close."

Then, under Morgana's astonished gaze, the phantom thief picked up Wakaba Mutsu and suddenly accelerated down the long corridor. The figure of "Dioscuri" appeared, strumming a guitar, and several melodies swirled around the phantom thief ahead.

In Morgana's view, Akira Kurusu immediately appeared with a light like a program effect, followed by a power-up effect reminiscent of a video game—

[Added: Time Reversal Resistance], [Added: Time Stop Resistance], [Added: Physical Damage Resistance], [Added: Fire Damage Resistance], [Added: Mental Resistance], [Added: ......]

[Added: Advanced Universal Enhancement], [Added: Advanced Curse Enhancement], [Added: Agility Skill], [Added: Advanced Gunfire Enhancement], [Added: ......]

A dense array of buff effects flashed in Morgana's vision.

Then, the phantom thief's speed suddenly increased dramatically.

They disappeared without a trace in the stairwell almost instantly.

......

The walls of the rehearsal studio suddenly shattered.

With a flustered expression, "Wakaba Takafumi" turned his head to look at the uninvited guest who had barged in.

His gaze fell on Wakaba Mutsu in Kurusu Akira's arms, and his eyes immediately turned ferocious and terrifying.

“Thief, you’re the one who stole my… Hmph, never mind,” Wakaba Takafumi watched as Kurusu Akira carefully placed Wakaba Mutsu on the ground, but then took out a strangely shaped clapperboard from behind him.

The clapperboard, when disassembled, became the "control rod" and "hand rod" for operating the marionettes.

"Wakaba Takafumi" looked at Wakaba Mutsu, then raised the "Life Rod" and swung it forcefully. The bright red thread shot out and disappeared on Wakaba Mutsu's forehead.

"Mu, kill him."

As soon as "Wakaba Takafumi" finished speaking, a doll-like joint structure rapidly replaced Wakaba Mutsumi's entire body—

Her eyes showed despair, and in that very instant...

thump.

A very crisp, muffled sound.

In an instant, a deep black dagger shattered the "life stick" and "hand stick" in "Wakaba Takafumi's" hands, which were made from a clapperboard. Countless threads connecting to Wakaba Mutsuki's limbs simultaneously lost control and drooped helplessly to the ground.

The next moment, the phantom thief appeared in front of "Wakaba Takafumi". The blood-red demon spread its black wings behind him and stuffed a sharp, thin smoothbore gun into "Wakaba Takafumi's" mouth.

Without hesitation, Akira Kurusu issued the order, "Arsène Lupin, [Supreme Magic Bullet]!"

The bullet, which devoured all light, was instantly ejected from the barrel, blasting "Wakaba Takafumi" into pieces.

However, the [Supreme Magic Bullet] did not disappear; instead, it began to move extremely fast in all directions, chasing after his fragments.

On the laptop screen, the audio track of laughter in the recording software was distorted into an air raid siren amidst a series of explosions.

The next moment, the Supreme Magic Bullet found its target and slowly came to a stop, eventually being swallowed by a giant clown whose chin drooped to his knees.

The clown, dressed in Takafumi Wakaba's clothes, had his body covered in the bullet he had just swallowed, like putty.

It let out a piercing scream, then flailed its arms and lunged at the mind thief before it.

"Arsen" suddenly blocked Akira's path, wielding its sharp claws and tearing it to shreds.

Amidst screams, the clown rapidly collapsed, gradually transforming back into "Wakaba Takafumi".

"Wakaba Takafumi" knelt on the ground, panting heavily, and then fearfully kowtowed to Kurusu Akira, begging for mercy.

Just as he was about to say something, Akira Kurusu suddenly stomped on his head, grinding his head against the ground, making it impossible for him to utter the words that would make Mutsuka Wakaba feel "broken".

The phantom thief calmly took out his pistol, released the safety, and aimed it at Ruoye Longwen at his feet.

Just then, the red dot of the teleprompter swept across "Wakaba Takafumi's" swollen eye bags, like a gun sight locking onto a rotten melon.

Akira Kurusu had no intention of pulling the trigger. Only after confirming that the man's psychological defenses had completely collapsed from fear did he slightly reduce the pressure on his foot. Taking the opportunity, he asked the shadowy figure in front of him, "Takafumi Wakaba," "Tell me, what do you want to do to Mutsumi Wakaba?"

"Wakaba Mutsumi..." the man murmured the name, then let out a morbid laugh, "Wakaba Mutsumi is my daughter. What I want to do to her is none of your business, you thief."

He screamed hysterically, "I've raised her with such care for sixteen years, now it's time for her to repay me!"

Hiding behind the phantom thief, Mutsumi Wakaba subconsciously took a step back, a movement that was noticed by Takafumi Wakaba.

"Wakaba Takafumi" immediately burst into ecstatic laughter, "Xiao Mu! Daddy would never harm you! Trust Daddy... As long as this show is a huge success, you'll become the most popular teenage idol online. Then, whatever you want—men, money, fame, fortune..."

Bang. Akira Kurusu stomped down again, and "Takafumi Wakaba's" almost insane ramblings were immediately replaced by screams.

"You're hopeless, but I'll make you repent soon enough."

Akira Kurusu put the pistol back in his trench coat pocket and said condescendingly.

Then he reached out and grabbed "Wakaba Takafumi" by the hair, lifting the man whose desires had been twisted.

At the same time, upon hearing Wakaba Takafumi's words, Wakaba Mutsumi on the other side suddenly covered his face, as if another consciousness was trying to force its way out of his body.

......

Just as "Wakaba Takafumi" was trembling and trying to fight back, a small, white hand reached out and grasped Kurusu Akira's wrist.

Wakaba Mutsu gazed at the Phantom Thief with her seemingly glowing light-gold eyes, "Let me do it."

Akira Kurusu suddenly froze. "Metis?"

"Wakaba Mutsumi" nodded calmly, then shook her head. "After entering this place, I finally remembered the meaning of my birth. I am Motis, but I am also Wakaba Mutsumi."

She whispered, "Xiao Mu completely severed her will to resist the status quo, and that will shaped me."

A layer of ice crystals slowly condensed in Metis's palm as she stared at the man before her, whose desires had been twisted, with a look of regret and disgust.

"Xiao Mu's 'self' is too weak. Living under such heavy pressure for a long time, she simply cannot resist."

Only at this moment did Metis truly gain recognition from the "Sea of ​​the Heart," which is the collective unconscious of humanity.

She smiled at Akira Kurusu, "But don't worry, I will teach her how to 'rebel'."

Then, Mortis took "Wakaba Takafumi" from the phantom thief's hand, kicked him to the ground without mercy, and put on the same expression as Kurusu Akira just now, looking down at him condescendingly, "Mortis, this is the name given to me by Toyokawa Shoko, and it is also the beginning of my existence."

“Since Xiaomu has entrusted me with the will to ‘rebel,’ I will now demonstrate to her what exactly constitutes ‘rebel.’”