The Asaka Group. One of the most powerful trading companies in the world, the Yokohama branch was in utter chaos after receiving an unsettling threat message. The manager was calling the police, but...

Manager: What do you mean remain on standby!? Can't you see what we're going through! Isn't it your job to prevent this kind of stuff from happening!?

Officer: We're deeply sorry. But we're still investigating the truth behind the method. We can't do anything unless we figure that much out.

Manager: Screw you!! The police is useless! Why are you even around!?

Officer: O-One thousand apologies, sir.

Employee: Sir, the servers are not doing so good.

Manager: What!? Damn it! Damn it all!

Poppy: I am Poppy. Your trustworthy navigator. I'm here to guide you through.

Suoh: Holy shit! Who the heck are you?

Poppy: Me? I am me.

Suoh: No, I mean, what are you?

Poppy: Oh. I am an A.I of course.

Suoh: And A.I? Hold on, as if, an artificial intelligence?

Poppy: That is correct.

Suoh: You're pulling my leg!

Ikki: So that's how it is.

Poppy: It is.

Suoh: You're not even fazed by the fact that she's an A.I?

Ikki: Hm?

Suoh: Are you the one who's been hacking onto my phone.

Poppy: That's one way to put it.

Suoh: What do you want?

Poppy: I have some big news for you.

Suoh: What is it?

Poppy: Congratulations! You have been selected to partake a game of survival, "The Persona Game".

"The greatest game awaits you to maintain the peace of society and and make your own hopes come true

Suoh: Eh?

Poppy: You will become a Persona-user to fight and protect the peace of Japan from a dangerous threat knows as "Shadows" and survive to the end. The winner will be granted anything they desire, only limited to their imagination."

Suoh: Wait, what's this about a wish? Are you trying to scam me? Sorry, not falling for that.

Suoh tries to block her, but couldn't.

Suoh: Seriously, what is up with this phone today?

Poppy: The greatest game awaits you to maintain the peace of society and and make your own hopes come true. We'll be eagerly waiting for you to join the fray and have your skills to be displayed in clear sight. Bye-bye!

Poppy disappears.

Suoh: I have literally no idea what just happened. What was that about Shadows and Persona users?

Ikki: What indeed.

Suoh: She also said something about a wish.

Ikki: I guess our fates really are connected.

Suoh: Huh?

Ikki taps Suoh's shoulder.

Ikki: See you on the battlefield.

Suoh: The what?

Ikki and Suoh go their separate ways.

Ikki was on his way home. He continuously bumped into people as he was walking among a big crowd.

Ikki: (Move... Damn it, watch where you're going... Everyone's so annoying.)

He puts on head phones and starts listening to music in high volume. Ikki then looks at the timer in his hands.

Ikki: Guess I should be heading back.

A mysterious pair of glasses appear on Ikki's face.

Then he gets teleported to another world.

Suoh was heading home as usual, then time suddenly stops to a halt.

Suoh: Huh?

He looks around speechless, then a mysterious pair of purple glasses appear in front of him.

Suoh: The hell?

He tries as hard as he could to take off the glasses, but it was futile. The glasses wouldn't even budge.

Suoh: What is up with these things?

Suoh then receives an anonymous message.

"You have been cordially invited to The Persona Game. We hope you have fun."

Suoh: EH!!?

Suoh gets suddenly transported to another world.

Suoh finds himself in a cybernetic void in front of Poppy.

Poppy: Welcome player. We've been expecting you.

Suoh: You again?

Poppy: Can you tell us your name?

A bar appears in front of Suoh.

Suoh: What's going on?

Poppy: Can you tell us your name?

Suoh: My name?

Poppy: This is a game. We recommend you not using your real name.

Suoh looks at the bar again.

Suoh: I see. So this is when a game asks for the player's name. If that's the case.

Suoh changes his name to Rogue.

Poppy: Welcome aboard, Rogue. Allow me to explain the rules. To beat the game, you must defeat shadows and clear the dungeons across all of Cyberspace known as "Labyrinths". Each Labyrinth are swarmed by powerful shadows. These trials are too difficult for one person alone. Which is why I suggest you team up with other players before anything else. Please prepare as much as possible before taking them on.

Rogue: I'll be keeping that in mind.

Poppy: This concludes the tutorial of The Persona Game. Of course, there are still many surprises hidden within, but we'd like you to figure them out on your own as you progress. We hope you make the best of this experience. Best of luck player, and don't forget the spoils~!

When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in a Cyberpunk-themed city.

Rogue: What the- Where the hell am I?

Rogue starts to look around.

Rogue: This is beautiful.

Ikki looks at himself in a reflection, his hair was more stylish, and he was wearing a completely new outfit.

He stars walking around, where there were idols playing live and everything.

ACE: Okay, what should I do today?

ACE finally arrived at an open area. There, he finds other players doing missions.

ACE: Hehe. This should be fun.

Then another player came charging at him.

Tempest: HELP MEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!

ACE: Huh?

Suddenly, monsters crashed in.

ACE: Shadows?

Tempest: What?

ACE: These are Shadows, they're the main enemy. So fight them.

Tempest: And how the heck do we do that?

Players pull out their weapon and begin fighting the shadows.

Tempest: What kind of weapons are those?

ACE: Special weapons called COMPs.

Tempest: COMP?

A player's HP reached zero. Then that player began glitching.

Tempest: W-What's going on!?

Poppy appears in front of the player.

ACE: Well, when your HP reaches zero... Well, you die.

Tempest: What the shit are you saying!?

The player was slowly glitching out of existence.

Player: This can't be happening... no... NO!!!

The player screamed in pain as he vanished and died. All the other players were speechless.

Tempest: Did that guy just died...?

ACE: Like I said. If you die in this world, you die in the real one as well. However, that is also a feature of The Game.

Tempest: Huh?

ACE: The souls of the defeated players become part of the treasure guarded by the final boss. So defeating him would set their souls free, bringing them all back.

Tempest: Are you serious?

ACE: Or so they say, don't know, don't care.

Then Poppy suddenly appears.

Tempest: Wait, you're that girl that appeared on my phone!

Poppy: The world is in need for a hero, and that hero could be YOU! Now that you know this, we hope you'll take this to heart, and value the one life you have as you try to clear The Game. Bye-bye!

She vanishes.

Tempest: We're gonna die... WE'RE ALL GONNA FUCKING DIE-

Tempest gets slapped by ACE.

Tempest: Sorry.

But then...

???: Persona!

A female figure walks into the scene holding a gun. Then a mysterious creature appeared out of blue flames and blasted the shadows with a fire arrow.

Tempest: W-Wha...? A girl?

A female figure walked up to them. It was revealed to be a red-haired girl.

Girl: You two, party up with me if you wanna live.

Tempest: Huh?

ACE: Why should I?

Kunai: I believe I should introduce myself, I go by Kunai in this world.

ACE: Kunai? As if the weapon? Talk about a lack of imagination.

Then he takes a better look at her outfit.

ACE: That's quite an interesting outfit you got there.

Kunai: F-Forget that! And besides, it's easier to move like this! Anyways, you two shouldn't be playing by yourselves.

Tempest: Some dude just died! Kunai, what's going on here?

Kunai: We'll talk about this later, for now take cover. Things are about to get rowdy.

Tempest: Right away ma'am!

Tempest hides behind a wall. ACE just stands there on his knees.

Tempest: Hey, ACE. She just told us to hide.

ACE: And I should listen why exactly?

Kunai: All right. Time to take out the trash.

Kunai summons her Persona one more time.

Kunai: Give them hell, !

Tempest: What in the hell is that!?

ACE: That, is a Persona. A manifestation of your inner personality. It is the main mechanic of this game.

As Kunai started fighting the shadows, ACE joined in as well.

ACE: Persona!

A Persona slowly materialized into existence.

ACE: Heard you loud and clear... I will clear this game with no continues!

Everyone was in awe at ACE's Persona.

Kunai: Amazing...

Tempest: That's his Persona? So cool~!

The shadows waste no time charging at ACE.

ACE: Let's go all out!

The shadow swings down its sword, only for Fenrir to dodge the attack and knock it back with his claws. Another wave of shadows came their way, but ACE continued to effortlessly take them all down with his Persona.

ACE charges and Fenrir attacks the shadows with Nuclear skills, then he takes out his sword and starts jumping from block to block, dodging attacks and firing at the shadows.

Tempest: Just how many buffs is he using!?

Kunai was nearly speechless.

Kunai: You're good, but I'm better!

Then time slowed to a halt.

ACE: Huh?

ACE saw Kunai behind attacked from behind.

ACE: Behind you!

Kunai reacts in time and dodges the attack from the shadow.

Kunai: Thanks.

ACE: No prob.

The shadow blasted an ice attack at Ikki, who rolled out of the way to dodge.

Kane: Nice dodge!

ACE: I'm just getting started.

Swinging out his sword, he charges towards the shadow, slashing it several times, he then finishes his combo with a thrust attack that knocked her back, allowing him to baton pass to Kunai.

Kunai defeats the last shadow.

Kunai: I think we should get out of here.

ACE: Sure.

Tempest: Right behind you!

And so, they ran away.

The trio sat down at a bar to talk.

Tempest: Thanks for the save. If not for you, I would be dead by now.

Kunai: It was nothing. Now, we should start with the introductions. You can call me Kunai.

Tempest: I'm Tempest.

ACE: I go by ACE.

Kunai: I've been part of this game for the last 3 months. I pretty much know my way around The MatriX. The location we are right now is called "Cyber City". To be more precise, this is the Mitsukawa District, a beginner's area. And this bar is called the "Moonlit Nightcap."

Tempest: Any idea as to why this is happening? The Game I mean.

Kunai: No one knows, but we know that these shadows are causing a stir in the real world, and we must defeat them and clear the dungeons. And a wish has been promised to whichever party survives to the end.

Tempest: A wish? For real?

Kunai: It is said that you can wish for anything, be it money, power, status, anything you've ever wished.

Tempest: Sounds a bit too good to be true. And when exactly does this game end?

Kunai: Nobody knows. I guess when all Shadows are defeated.

Tempest: Is it true that our lives are on the line here?

Kunai: Yeah. Unfortunately we have no choice but to play, or else we'll suffer a penalty.

Tempest: I'm afraid to ask, but, what kind of penalty?

Kunai: A player was once forced to take on an over-powered shadow by himself, others got stuck in a dangerous quest and barely made it.

Tempest: ...O-O...

Kunai: The rules of this world are similar to those of a VR MMORPG. The items, quests and resources are all limited. You need to be quick on your feet and have a plan if you wish to get strong enough.

Tempest: Damn...

Kunai: Are you guys new players?

Tempest: I know I am.

ACE: I'm only new around these parts, but I've been part of this game for as long as I can remember.

Kunai: I've been looking to assemble a party of my own. Would you two party up with me? Especially you, ACE. You're very skilled, I can tell you're no amateur.

Tempest: I thought this was a free-for-all kind of game.

Kunai: This world has a function that allows you to join forces with other players and become a faction. You can ban together with up to 9 players.

Tempest: I'll be happy to party with you. I could really use all the help I can get. But what about the wish?

Kunai: We don't know for sure what would be done if the game is cleared by a faction. But for now our priority should be clearing the game ASAP.

ACE: Do what you want. I work alone.

He then gets up from his seat and starts walking away.

Tempest: You can't be serious! Did you forget the situation that were in?

ACE: I can't take another minute of this. I'm a solo player. I don't need a pair of strangers holding me back.

ACE was ready to log out.

Kunai: Wait. Before you go,

Kunai sends him an address.