Chapter Twelve: The Mask of Personality — The Twenty Faces

“Does it hurt?” The cold muzzle pressed against his mangled wound. “I’m asking you, does it hurt?”

That voice, one that could never be erased, echoed through the dimly lit cabin.

“You’re already a cripple who can’t stand… Should I help you lose the other leg too?”

The stench of blood filled his nostrils, moonlight casting a cold glow over the crimson pool.

Unable to resist, he struggled like a fish gasping for water, gasping and twitching.

Everything melded with the scene before his eyes.

Tang Ze gritted his teeth as pain and fury surged from the depths of his memory. The roof tiles he clung to groaned under the strain and cracked.

Alert samurai shadows drew their swords in unison. Maru Denjiro, who had been watching the prey’s pitiful expression, was also startled and turned toward Tang Ze’s hiding place. “Someone’s there! Who is it?”

Tang Ze rose to his feet.

He had been crouching on one side of the rooftop, his back pressed against the wall to stay hidden. This movement fully exposed him to the shadows’ gaze.

But Tang Ze had no time to care about the tense standoff before him.

Before his eyes swirled those things he desperately wanted to forget.

In the cramped room, the gunshots and searing pain pierced his flesh, blade after blade.

Hunger, hypothermia, the sound of blood dripping onto the floor grew louder and louder…

And there were the pitying eyes by the sickbed, eyes unwilling to meet his gaze, silently repeating the same word:

“Wretch.”

Thump—

His pounding heartbeat echoed in Tang Ze’s eardrums.

“Have you truly forgotten all that pain? The future denied, the end sealed… Have you really forgotten?”

A child’s tender voice, a man’s deep tone, a woman’s clear voice—all seemed to speak at once, overlapping in Tang Ze’s heart.

“Fate manipulated, pride broken, a life destroyed—haven’t you suffered enough? Do you still want to feel that shame again?”

The pain radiated from his chest throughout his body. Tang Ze staggered two steps, clutching his splitting head, unable to suppress a cry of agony.

“Stand up, stand up again. Those who don’t give their all will only be swallowed by fate—”

“Ahhh—!”

Whether from pain or some deeper, buried emotion, Tang Ze roared, his fingers brushing the edge of the mask covering his face.

—

“That’s it. Let us make a contract. I am you, and you are me—”

“With an unyielding spirit, with a presence no one can ignore, let us dance within fate!”

Tang Ze gripped the mask tightly and tore it off his face with force, the pain of peeling it from his skin making the veins on his hand bulge.

An invisible gust of wind roared outward from Tang Ze’s center. Maru Denjiro’s shadow raised his sleeve to shield his face from the blast.

Tang Ze lifted his head, his upper face smeared with blood.

The crimson dripped down his nose to his lips. He licked the bitter-sweet blood, and a brilliant blue flame engulfed him.

When the flames faded, Tang Ze—who had just been wearing the Teitan school uniform—now stood clad in black, a scarlet scarf wrapped around his neck, its trailing ends whipping fiercely in the wind.

Behind him, a jet-black phantom thief rose from the flames. Beneath the black top hat was a face masked by a skull design. A wide cape billowed behind the leather suit, the all-black silhouette creating a backlit shadow that made the pale mask under the brim appear even more ghostly.

Behind it, tendril-like black mist swirled, carrying numerous pure white masks—fox masks, demon masks, Noh masks, masks of laughter and tears—all chillingly eerie.

As his mind cleared, Tang Ze glanced back at the mask representing his persona, a twitch at the corner of his mouth.

What’s this? Why is Arsène so handsome, but my mask looks like some Lovecraftian horror? It looks so messed up!

Never mind. Time to show off a bit—no, the important thing is to storm the palace.

“You really are a pervert who enjoys tormenting others with money and resources, Maru-san,” Tang Ze looked down arrogantly at the retreating Maru Denjiro. “If you weren’t afraid of the law, you’d recreate this scene in reality, wouldn’t you? Disgusting scum.”

“Who are you? Why are you in my mansion?” Maru Denjiro’s face darkened as he shouted.

“Me? I’m the one sending you straight to hell.” Tang Ze spread his arms wide; the scarf fluttered dramatically with his movement. “Killing scum right away is mercy. You should live, live well, and watch helplessly as you lose your money, your fame, your status, and spend the rest of your days in prison, full of regret.”

Maru Denjiro’s shadow cursed loudly and shouted, “Arrest him! I want to kill him! Archers, shoot! Shoot!”

Tang Ze smiled brightly and leapt backward.

He vanished before the shadows’ eyes.

———

Before the battle began, Tang Ze quietly grabbed his phone and exited the cognitive world.

Though the speech was grand, Tang Ze hadn’t sent a notice letter yet. Without heightened alert from the real-world host, the treasure wouldn’t manifest.

So even after dealing with Maru Denjiro, no one would repent immediately. It would still take time for the process to complete. As someone who had cleared Persona 5 three times, Tang Ze knew this well.

But that didn’t stop him from delivering his lines and making a flashy exit—it was thrilling to show off and then run.

Just as he was about to laugh triumphantly, Tang Ze looked down, his expression stiffening.

Damn, why am I still wearing the phantom thief outfit?!

—

Moreover, he had teleported from the shopping street straight to the Maru residence.

Tang Ze glanced around nervously, confirming no one noticed his sudden transformation before trying to change his clothes back.

As he focused on the thought, the black clothes on his body flickered and reverted to the blue Teitan school uniform.

Good, it changed back. Tang Ze sighed in relief.

If it couldn’t change back, he’d have to find a place to hide and change after leaving the cognitive world—not very elegant.

Relaxing, Tang Ze felt soreness and weakness all over, swaying twice.

This must be the power consumption from awakening the mask. Exhausting.

He sighed, took out his phone, and opened the navigation app—of course, a normal map app—and saved the address of the Maru residence, then dragged his feet back to the café.

Along the way, Tang Ze slowly organized information about his persona mask.

Unlike the Persona 5 protagonist’s mask, Arsène Lupin, Tang Ze’s initial mask was based on the phantom thief from Edogawa Ranpo’s novels: the Fiend with Twenty Faces.

How to put it? Somewhat surprising, but not really.

The Fiend with Twenty Faces was a phantom thief character created by Edogawa Ranpo, modeled after Arsène Lupin’s literary image. He was a master of disguise and impersonation; the “Twenty Faces” referred to his skill in adopting many identities—reportedly possessing twenty different faces.

He was famous worldwide for stealing artworks, skilled, daring, and meticulous, always sending a notice letter to the owner before striking, informing them of the time he would act.

Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

Exactly. Kaito Kid was inspired by both the Fiend with Twenty Faces and Arsène Lupin.

The Fiend’s nemesis was Edogawa Ranpo’s classic detective character, Kogoro Akechi.

The original model for Mouri Kogoro, and the Persona 5 character Goro Akechi directly parodied this role.

Thinking of this, Tang Ze tapped his forehead.

What kind of strange inside joke is this? Feels like some sort of official endorsement!

Besides, he didn’t believe Maru Denjiro’s palace would randomly include a leg-breaking cop scenario. Tang Ze wasn’t easily rattled; he hadn’t experienced PTSD from the leg-cutting scene and wouldn’t transform impulsively. He refused to believe this wasn’t deliberately designed.

Leon, come out and take this beating!