Within a vast, boundless river of stars, Ren Amamiya slowly opened his eyes.
"This is... a dream?"
The breathtaking view of the galaxy filled his vision. Ren was stunned for a moment, but from the hazy, dreamlike feeling, he quickly discerned that this was, in fact, the reality of an unknown dream.
In the real world, he should have just finished discussing the mysteries of Stigmata crystal transcription with Hare. He was supposed to be resting and sleeping alongside Hare in the Schariac Palace right now.
The place this dream was connected to was clearly not the familiar Velvet Room.
Could it be that this dreamscape is the Sea of Souls, formed by the collective human unconscious?
Standing in the deep, dark void of the cosmos, Ren gazed at the endless multitude of stars shimmering with dim light and roughly realized where he was.
"I apologize for disturbing your rest. I've always wanted to speak with you face-to-face like this, Mr. Ren Amamiya."
A gentle female voice, filled with joy, came from behind Ren. The unfamiliar tone made him frown slightly.
When Ren turned around, the figure of an unfamiliar woman standing gracefully amidst the starlight finally came into view.
She wore a deep brown, twill-style tuxedo dress with a puffy skirt, accented with green stripes. The mature and beautiful green-haired woman clasped her hands in front of her chest. On the part of her chest wrapped in white fabric, an extremely eye-catching red barcode was imprinted.
However, what drew Ren's attention even more than the barcode on her chest was this green-haired woman's peculiar hairstyle.
Her smooth, jade-green hair was tied into two loops at the back of her head, from which two long, slender strands of green hair curled down to her waist... If it were a different color, this hairstyle would undoubtedly give off the ethereal aura of a celestial maiden.
However, this mature lady's hair was a tender shade of jade green, which made the two hair loops on either side of her head... look very much like two indescribable cabbages.
"Who are you?"
Although this green-haired lady's appearance was a bit strange, Ren could sense she held no hostility towards him. Thus, he simply asked the unfamiliar woman for her identity in a calm tone.
"My name is Ai, Ai Hyperion Λ. I am a pseudo-time crystal adrift outside this world—and also, Mr. Ren Amamiya, a supporter of yours."
The green-haired woman who called herself Ai was very frank, showing no intention of being a riddle-master or deliberately mysterious.
But the incomprehensible, specialized terms she used still made Ren instinctively furrow his brow.
"A pseudo-time crystal? What is that? You say you're a supporter of mine, but in what way?"
Pseudo-time crystal... sounds a bit like a Crystallization of Stigma... Having just finished his... session with Hare, Ren now encountered this Miss Ai in a dream. He naturally tried to connect the two.
"A pseudo-time crystal... To put it simply, it's an individual consciousness born from the repeating cycles of time. If that's still difficult to understand, you can just think of me as a super-advanced AI with self-awareness."
Ai scratched her head, looking rather troubled. The concept of a pseudo-time crystal was too complex, and she was the only example. So, after organizing her words, she explained it to Ren as concisely as possible.
Although he was still a bit confused, when Ai explained that she was a super-strong AI with self-awareness, she felt Ren's gaze towards her instantly soften. The wariness he had from being pulled into a dream by a stranger vanished by more than half.
Even without understanding the reason why, Ai chose to seize the opportunity and continued to explain her purpose to Ren.
"When Mr. Ren is in the real world, Ai's ability to interfere is quite limited. Sending the fully developed Metaverse Navigator app to Mr. Ren's phone was my limit. It wasn't until now, with Mr. Ren not returning to the real world but spending the night in the Schariac Palace, that Ai finally had the conditions to meet with Mr. Ren in a dream."
While explaining to Ren, Ai seemed to suddenly realize something. A faint blush crept onto her fair shoulders. She gently placed her right hand on her left arm, looking somewhat embarrassed, but she steeled herself and continued to clarify.
"Ah, please don't misunderstand! Ai did not peep on your rendezvous with Misteln. I only sensed you entering a dream and then took the initiative to invite you into this space."
"Mm, I believe you. Neither Hare nor I sensed any extra gazes."
Ren Amamiya nodded, choosing to believe Ai's clarification.
He had already checked the Schariac Palace multiple times. He had even blocked the gazes of the Personas in his Sea of Souls, and Hare had used her authority as the Palace ruler to max out its anti-peeping functions. Even this mysterious Ai probably couldn't peep on the two of them through so many obstacles.
It was only when both Ren and Hare entered a state of rest and sleep, when the anti-peeping mechanisms were slightly lowered, that this Miss Ai had the ability to invite Ren's consciousness into a dream for a meeting.
Hearing Ren choose to believe her words, Ai let out a small sigh of relief. However, when she looked at Ren, a tiny, strange glimmer remained at the bottom of her orange-red eyes.
Although I couldn't see the entire process, I could still calculate how long it lasted. Even with just that single piece of data, I can imagine how valiant and skilled in battle Mr. Ren must be...
"But, you were the one who developed this Metaverse Navigator app for me? I thought Yaldabaoth sent it to me."
The dream reflected all states of reality, so Ren naturally had his phone with him. He opened it and looked at the cabbage icon of the Metaverse Navigator app, then looked at the cabbage hairstyle of the playful lady in front of him. His belief in Ai's words grew stronger.
He had originally thought the cabbage icon was some kind of beta-test easter egg. He never expected the developer was a completely different person.
Although he hadn't actually played Persona 5, Ren at least knew it was a story about AI.
For Ai Hyperion Λ, as a powerful AI, to be able to create the Metaverse Navigator app, allowing Ren to invade Mementos, was an entirely logical matter.
"Mr. Ren seemed to be troubled by the overly cumbersome way of entering the Velvet Room. Since Mr. Ren has already been recognized by the residents of the Velvet Room, if Ai just upgrades and adjusts the Metaverse Navigator app a little, Mr. Ren will be able to enter the Velvet Room space as freely as he enters Mementos."
A jade-green light burst forth from Ai's hand, slowly flowing into the phone Ren held, upgrading and modifying the Metaverse Navigator app residing within it.
"Thanks for the support. But you didn't pull me into this dream just to upgrade my Navigator app, did you?"
Looking at the upgraded Metaverse Navigator app, Ren put away his phone and then asked Ai.
Since Ai could stealthily install the Metaverse Navigator app on his phone, if she wanted to upgrade the program, she clearly didn't need to pull him into a dream to do it face-to-face.
"I hope to contribute more to Mr. Ren's rehabilitation. I hope that you, as the Trickster, can break this unchangeable tragic fate and bring smiles to everyone's faces... Being outside the world, Ai cannot personally intervene to help Mr. Ren, but just providing some guidance is no problem at all."
A genuine smile appeared on Ai's face. She looked at Ren with serious and encouraging eyes as she spoke.
"Ai has already lit up the locations of the other Herrscher Palaces in the Metaverse Navigator app. As long as you gather all the Herrscher core Treasures, Mr. Ren will definitely be able to create a miracle that saves everything and rewrites the original fate... This is something only Mr. Ren, who is from outside this world, can do."
The green-haired lady with the cabbage hairstyle smiled as she offered Ren words of encouragement that nearly stopped his heart.
"...Why do you know that?"
Ren's gaze gradually grew serious. He had never mentioned his identity as a transmigrator to anyone, yet Ai Hyperion Λ knew the reality that he was from outside this world.
"Just as Ai said earlier, it's because Ai is equivalent to this world's AI. Mr. Ren broke the original fate and acted outside the script, so it was hard not to attract Ai's attention... Besides, Ai could tell that Mr. Ren had been treating the entire world as a game, enjoying the process of getting stronger, until only recently did he completely shed that higher-dimensional perception of the world as a game."
A cunning smile appeared on Ai's pretty face. She winked one eye and made a gun gesture with her other hand, shooting at Ren. Her tone was light as she asked him.
"So, this game, this world, is Mr. Ren enjoying his time here?"
The burden of being a savior had always weighed on Ren's shoulders. If it were before today, Ai would never have asked Ren this question so lightly.
But after today, Ren had finally overcome his hardships and could find some solace and diversion in the oppressive life of a savior.
Therefore, Ai dared to ask Ren such a somewhat sensitive question.
"...Yeah, it's not bad. I've met a group of great companions here."
After a slight pause, Ren crossed his arms and nodded lightly, honestly stating his true feelings.
To be able to master the power of Personas, which only existed in imagination, and to venture into another world with companions who shared life and death with him—this grand and magnificent lifestyle, though stressful, was also incredibly fulfilling.
Honestly, Ren was very satisfied with this life where his strength and progress were visibly increasing.
The only thing to worry about was whether his strength would be enough when facing the final boss, when fighting against god-level enemies.
"It seems our meeting time is almost over. Ai will always be supporting the great Trickster from outside the world."
Suddenly, Ren's figure began to grow transparent, and the entire starry sky dreamscape began to shake and crumble, entering a state of collapse.
Ai's eyes held a hint of regret. She wanted to talk more with Ren, but as a pseudo-time crystal, it was difficult for her to interfere with the real world. Even with Ren currently in the Imaginary Space, the time she could meet with him in a dream was very limited.
"...Ai, if you're this world's AI, do you have something like a DLC or UG [Ultimate Guard] to support me with? I can handle the 'Myriad Truths' myself, but do you have something like the third protagonist's Great Seal ability, something that can at least completely seal an enemy on the moon?"
His body was gradually becoming transparent and ethereal, the connection to the dreamscape slowly severing. Seizing the moment before the connection was completely cut, Ren hurriedly asked his supporter from outside the world one last question.
Of the three great ultimate skills of the new covenant, Sins of the Ten Thousand was a skill Ren could learn on his own, and he was already close to mastering it, with only the last two great sins left to complete.
The third great sin, the Almighty Myriad Truths of the All-Encompassing Flock, required obtaining the countless Persona Izanagi-no-Okami to master.
And the second protagonist, Makoto's [a fan name for the P3 protagonist] Great Seal, was something Ren couldn't master even if he obtained the Persona Messiah.
After all, the Great Seal wasn't a skill of Persona Messiah, but an ability mastered by the Persona user Makoto himself.
Although he didn't really want to be hung on the moon to be neighbors with Makoto, there were simply too many god-level beings in this stitched-together worldview.
Ren had to prepare for the worst in advance, at least mastering one ultimate skill that could trade one-for-one with a god-level being.
Even if Makoto was sealed on the moon guarding the great gate, he wasn't completely without hope of rescue. If Ren went up to be his neighbor, maybe when Makoto was rescued, he could come down from the moon together with him.
"...That is the worst ending. Although gathering all the Herrscher core Treasures can achieve that, I do not wish for Mr. Ren to repeat the same mistake as that girl."
Ai's voice became distorted and erratic. Ren could only hear fragmented words, but he could taste the sorrow and prayer in her speech.
"O great Trickster who shatters fate, please, change the future and steal back all the beauty that belongs to humanity."
"...So, the one sealed on the moon right now isn't Makoto, but Kotone?
With this final thought flashing through his mind...
Ren Amamiya's connection to the dream was completely severed.
(End Of Volume VI: Placeholder (give me a good title of your choice))