Matsuda Jinpei: This Was No Proper Phantom Thief Troupe

"Before I make a decision, let me confirm something... This is the 'essence' of his power? An ability that can directly turn the mind into a scene?"

"You could put it that way... or rather, that's how you can understand it for now."

"What's with that outfit of yours? Is that part of the ability too?"

"Mm... Just think of it as my identity in this world after awakening my power?"

"That app you operated when you entered this world... Forget it, I'd better not ask you."

Matsuda Jinpei patted his forehead and decided not to make Hirotsugu Morofushi answer his many questions when even speaking was becoming increasingly difficult for him.

Clearly, Hirotsugu Morofushi had not returned to this world much earlier than he had. He might know a little more than Matsuda, but likely not by much. It was unlikely he could get answers about powers beyond the bounds of reality from a friend who was equally clueless.

"If you're really curious about those things, you can ask the others after we leave. There are people on the team who understand this better. You saw it when you woke up too—there's a laboratory over there." Hirotsugu Morofushi was not surprised by Matsuda Jinpei's questions. Rather, he would have found it strange if Matsuda's curiosity had not been this strong. "As for the app, I think you'll be able to figure it out yourself before long."

"...Is this some kind of authority granted to you by someone?" Matsuda Jinpei, who had yet to fully lower his guard around the Phantom Thief Troupe, reasoned accordingly.

For some reason, even though his old classmate standing before him seemed perfectly normal in every regard—or rather, perfectly normal aside from all these bizarre new concepts—Matsuda Jinpei could not help feeling as though a