Two years.
That's how long it's been since Ren Amamiya vanished from his world and woke up in this one—reborn in a 14-year-old body, stripped of his team, his world, and every answer he once thought he had.
He was 17 when the final battle ended. Maruki had been defeated, reality restored, and for a brief moment, it felt like peace. But peace never lasts—not for someone like him for some reason.
He still remembers the moment he opened his eyes here.
Dressed in his Phantom Thief attire. Mask still in place. Gloves stained from a fight that no longer existed. At first, he thought he was in another Palace—some remnant cognition clinging to life. But then the realization hit: this wasn't a dream or illusion. This was the real world.
A world eerily similar to his own… yet profoundly different.
The powers remained—The will of rebellion was still strong within him. He could still call upon Arsène and the rest however it was different than before. He didn't need to be in the Metaverse to access his power. He could use it at any moment with just the mere thought.
He could still feel the pulse of the Metaverse around him—just beneath the surface of reality.
But no app.
No team.
No Velvet Room.
No Morgana, Futaba, Ryuji, Ann, Yosuke…
Not even Lavenza and Igor…He was all alone just like before.
The Metaverse still existed—Palaces, Mementos, Shadows all were still here. That fact alone should have been impossible. Yaldabaoth was gone. Mementos should have collapsed with him. And Maruki? He accepted defeat. He let go. This twisted world shouldn't exist. But it does.
And so, Ren did the only thing he could.
He explored.
Mementos was still vast—larger than before. Most layers were sealed. The further he went, the darker it grew. The deeper, the more human it felt. Not in form, but in weight. Fear, shame, envy, hatred—they coated the walls like fog. This world wasn't just broken—it was suffocating in its own negativity.
He couldn't explore it on foot forever. The Reaper still hunted. So he pivoted. It was impossible to continue further down mementos if every floor is sealed. However, this doesn't mean he couldn't go further down, he could always just destroy the floor or mementos itself entirely using a psycho force with Shiva, a cosmic flare from Ardha, a morning star from Lucifer or even a sinful shell from Satanael itself.
How does he know that? Well he already tried it already using cosmic flare and sinful shell and well let's just say he forgot just one thing whenever he tried it…mementos is the collective unconscious.
In simple term, Mementos isn't just a dungeon or a building.
It's everyone. This means that unless the 'treasure' is stolen, mementos will always exist in an infinite variation due to the collective unconscious.
Even if he destroys all of the infinite variation at once it will be pointless, if the people don't accept their true self and let go of their desires which is creating the treasure.
And therein lay the cruel irony—there is no treasure.
This easiest way to do it would simply be to become popular enough for mementos to open itself to him. After all this is how it worked the first time, there is no reason it wouldn't work this time.
So he has to become what this world need the most… a rebel who will change society. This means his job of reforming society isn't done yet and now that he can access his power outside of mementos, it may be even easier than before in all honesty.
Criminals collapsed in public, confessing to crimes no one even knew they'd committed. Abusive parents, corporate tyrants, corrupt officials, rapists, murderers and predators- in short, individuals with extremely twisted heart. All fell one by one.
Luckily for him, he picked up some skills from all his friend. He learnt a bit of hacking from Futaba and use Ganesha and thoth to absorb as much knowledge possible from books to learn about.
He improved his art skills by remembering how Yosuke used to paint in mementos to draw the calling cards. If Ryuji could have made one, he also can do it.
And in two short years, an urban legend at first became something more.
Joker, the phantom thief of heart.
A hero to the people.
A criminal to the law and evil do-ers.
He became a modern day robin-hood in some way. The one who was revealing the darker side of society and saving people for free. Weirdly enough, very rarely he actually had to save someone in real life. Maybe it's due to how safe the world is or maybe it's cause most of stuff happens underworld.
Merchandise started getting sold on almost all the street possible. Posters, television shows, toys, stories, masks, calling cards and more stuffs like this started being present everywhere you could go in Japan. There was a higher chance of someone winning the lottery twice in a row than not possessing an item with his logo on it due to how much it was present everywhere.
In simple term, his popularity was at an all-time high maybe even higher than it was in his past world and yet Mementos was still closed.
As long as people believe in his existence he can go further down Mementos. It was a simple concept really. And yet it wasn't working like that.
Advanced Nurturing High School.
This was the only answer he has right now. During his exploration of Mementos, a lot of shadows he met were students and most specifically students of Advanced Nurturing High School. Some were students who were expelled, others were students who were in 'lower' classes and develop heavy hatred in their hearts. Some were mad at the school for hiding what happened to their friends to the public…every time he asked them what they mean by this, they would always give vague answers to him due to them experiencing a change of heart.
If his theory is correct about Mementos, due to how huge it is currently. He might be exploring it from the wrong place itself. Maybe if he tried exploring it from there, he can find what he is looking for, either way this was his only clue so far. However, entering ANHS isn't going to be easy every time, his best bet would be to become a student there, so that it would be easier to rest afterwards.
Ren leaned back in his bus seat, staring at the ceiling after waking up from his sleep due to the commotion happening in the bus. Three years. He'd be 19 by the time he left this school, assuming he stayed. Were his friends alive? Did they remember him? The collapsing Palace had been chaos, but they'd been far enough to escape. They had to be. He clenched his fist, ignoring the ache in his chest.
"Excuse me, would anyone give this old lady a seat?" A girl's voice cut through the hum of the bus—bright, bubbly, radiant. She wore the same uniform as Ren, her smile radiant.
He took a glance around him and saw no-one getting up from their seats. It was natural after all. Most people weren't willing to give up a seat, just for a stranger even if that person is old. Most people want to experience a good journey to their destination after all.
"She can have my seat." Ren said, lifting his hand a bit for them to notice him. He didn't mind giving up a seat.
"Thank you very much."
"Thank you a lot young man."
"It's no problem." He said.
A couple of minutes passed by before the bus ultimately came to its stop.
'I hope I am right about this.' He thought to himself while descending from the bus.
"Excuse me!" That bubbly voice again. The girl jogged up, her smile unwavering. "Thanks for earlier."
"Earlier?" He was a bit confused by what she means.
"You know, giving up your seats for the old lady, thank you for this."
Ren tilted his head. "It's nothing."
This is giving him some deja-vu for some reason.
"By the way, I'm Kushida Kikyou, Class 1-D." Her tone was warm, but her posture was practiced. Almost as if she wasn't being herself or true to herself.
Sumire?? Is she also like Sumire? Just faking her true self or rejecting her true self?
"Amamiya Ren, also 1-D."
Her eyes sparkled. "Oh, we're classmates! Want to find the room together, Amamiya-kun?"
"Sure." He nodded.
The two walked side by side through the clean, marble-floored hallway of the Advanced Nurturing High School campus. It was far more pristine than any other school Ren had seen before. No signs of aging walls, no scuffs on the floors, no graffiti, no flickering lights. Everything was new. Almost too new and clean for his liking. He was so used to Mementos now that this feel like a lab more than a school.
"If Shujin Academy was like this, Me, Ryuji and Ann would have been expelled the first day itself especially Ryuji." He thought to himself.
After a while of walking and exploring, they finally reached the class.
"Class 1-D," Kushida said, stopping at a door. The sign gleamed, but the "D" carried a faint stigma. The shadows had ranted about "D"—the lowest rung. This was it.
Ren glanced at Kushida. "Ready, Amamiya-kun?"
"Yeah."
The moment the classroom door opened, one thought hit him:
Why are there cameras in here?
Back in the day, he probably wouldn't have noticed. But after years of sneaking through Palaces, dodging Shadows, and living as the world's most wanted 'thief', vigilance had become second nature. His Third Eye was now a natural reflex, always scanning for hidden threats.
And the Third Eye didn't lie.
The cameras weren't just in the hallways like a normal school. They were in the classroom itself, tucked in corners, some barely visible. A few had their red lights blinking faintly. Others looked fake, but he could never be sure.
Was this normal for a prestigious school… or something else entirely?
He couldn't decide if he was being paranoid, or if this was normal in this world.
At least the classroom was nearly full, saving him the awkwardness of wandering around looking for his seat. He headed straight for his spot in the back row, near the door. In front of him, a boy with bright red hair had already settled in but soon slipped out, leaving his chair empty.
With a few minutes left before the bell, Ren decided to look around. No point sitting idle. Friends will come later on naturally.
He slipped into the hallway and walked the corridors, letting his eyes sweep over every camera he could spot—some blinking, some dark, some suspiciously pristine.
"This place is crawling with eyes…this feels more like a palace than a school." he muttered under his breath.
He turned to head back when—
BAM!
He stumbled back as someone crashed into him, papers exploding into the air like confetti. A girl with purple hair styled in buns fell to the floor, rubbing her nose.
"I'm so sorry!" she blurted out immediately.
"No, it's my fault," Ren said, crouching to pick up scattered sheets. "I wasn't watching where I was going."
He handed the papers back, meeting her wide, embarrassed eyes.
"Here—are you okay?" he asked, noticing the redness on her nose.
"It's nothing, really," she said, brushing it off. "You're a first-year, right? Homeroom's about to start."
A faint trickle of blood dripped from her nose. Without thinking, he offered his handkerchief and gently wiped it away.
"Thanks," she whispered, eyes softening a little. "But you should hurry."
She was right. The bell was seconds away. With a final nod, he turned and jogged back, heart still beating fast from the collision.
He slipped into the classroom just as the final bell rang—and froze.
Standing at the front of the room was a beautiful woman with a sleek ponytail, her expression cool and unreadable. And next to her—
"Dr. Maruki…" he breathed.
The man gave him the same warm, easy smile Ren remembered all too well.
"You are?" the lady asked him.
"Amamiya-kun." Maruki said, before Ren could open his mouth.
She took a glance him before looking at her list before giving Ren a look that is basically telling to go sit at his place.
For the first time since arriving in this strange new world, Ren felt something close to relief.
He wasn't completely alone.