Since it's been a while since Part 7, and I was able to get most of this done today, here's a double update.
June 26'
I spent some time with Adachi today, since he returned to his daytime availability. Oddly enough, even if you've done everything right on Adachi's Social Link and have a Persona of the Jester Arcana at each event, you will still have to spend time with him once to get up to Rank 6. Unfortunately for me, though, it wasn't enough, and I had to spend another day hanging out with him
Evening
I studied, since my Knowledge stat was lagging behind the others.
June 27
Magician Rank 6
Yosuke, desperate for help at Junes, brings you on as a worker for a day. You earn 5,500 yen, a fairly paltry sum compared to some of your other jobs if your stats are good. Still, it's fairly good for a short shift, and Yosuke likes hearing you enjoyed it.
Unfortunately, the girls are back, and they once again complain about having to work extra hours. This time, however, they hit a sore spot by badmouthing Saki (which makes me wonder what she did to deserve all this), suggesting that she'd planned on eloping with a college guy, but worked at Junes when it fell through. Yosuke almost loses his temper, but calms down by reminding himself that he has a purpose, and he has a friend like you.
Evening
I studied again.
June 28
Strength Rank 6
You and Daisuke invite Kou for some Aiya, but he's depressed about basketball. He muses that he's short for a basketball player, and it's less of a disadvantage than one would think. Unfortunately, since he doesn't think they play any "real" games, he believes his talent is meaningless.
Daisuke, confused as to why Kou is depressed when he's been allowed to play, and worried for his friend, comes up with an idea to have a game. All he needs are players, and he blackmails one into helping by threatening to reveal that he copies homework. Of course, Daisuke forgot himself, but offers to play if they're short on people.
Evening
I translated, since I'd hit a wall with Nanako that requires maximum Expression to clear. Around this time, I went up a rank in Knowledge.
June 29'
Strength Rank 7
The scrimmage happens, even if Kou's initially confused as to what's going on. Your team is tied, and you do fairly well, but the opposing team gets a basket at the last minute, and wins. (Contrast to the anime, when Kou gets a basket at the end, but after the opposing team has a roughly 20-point lead).
After the game, Kou's appreciative, even if he snarkily points out how Daisuke, despite his enthusiasm, didn't know how not to travel. Kou feels a bit better, but is concerned about his family. He's grateful that they took him in as a successor, but is concerned that now that his sister is born, they're no longer expecting of him what they used to, as if they cast him aside. The usual tactic of employing an Armor-Piercing Question here doesn't help gain any points, much less solve his problem, so the third "act" of this link will deal with it. For now, though, Kou is once again grateful, but makes fun of Daisuke's attempts to put a positive spin on the loss by calling it losing a battle to win a war, since Daisuke doesn't even know what war they're fighting.
Evening
I went to the Velvet Room, finding Margaret there alone. She expresses a desire to know more about you, beginning the Empress Social Link, which is advanced by showing her Personas that know specific moves. While this requires a fair amount of level grinding and fusing Personas, it also doesn't consume any time, so you can potentially do all the ranks in one day. Of course, that wasn't possible now, but I went as far as I could.
- Rank 1: You get it automatically when you enter the Velvet Room with 3 or more Knowledge after a certain point in the game.
- Rank 2: Ippon-Datara with Sukukaja. Instead of fusing one, I found it easiest to get one from the Compendium (having found one in Kanji's dungeon), and give it a Sukukaja skill card.
- Rank 3: Matador with Mahama. Again, I found summoning it and using a skill card easier than fusing it.
- Rank 4: Gdon with Rampage. This one's trickier, since I generally can't find a Rampage skill card, and physical skills are harder to level up with Magician cards. This time, I fused a Legion to get Rampage through the level-up bonus, then fused him with Kaiwan to make Gdon.
Since the next Persona not only was higher level than I was at the moment, but also required Cross fusion (fusions involving four or more Personas aren't available yet), I had to call it quits for now and work at the hospital.
Devil Rank 1
You see a nurse, whose uniform is pink where the others are gray, and she introduces herself and flirts with you. She responds best to being told to stop, which was something I didn't think of at first, hindering my progress. She then asks to see you again, beginning the social link.
June 30
I decided to advance Kanji's Social Link today, since I usually end up putting his off until summer or fall.
Emperor Rank 2
You and Kanji go to Aiya, even though Kanji will be too full to eat his mother's meals. I've noticed that you and your social links seem to often eat between lunch and dinner for some reason. At this point, a police officer (who's probably plainclothes since he has a suit rather than a patrolman uniform), comes in and asks Kanji some questions, resulting in Kanji getting rude and defensive. The officer leaves in a huff, and Kanji's annoyed with him. Kanji grouses about how the cops suspect him and how it causes trouble for his mother, and the most constructive response is to say that he needs to change. As usual, some of the best answers involve encouraging the Social Links to do something constructive. Kanji doesn't know what to do just yet, but he decides to start by protecting the town and doing a hilarious Verbal Backspace when the Aiya chef forgets his order, threatening to renovate the place.
Evening
I went to the hospital again. The link advances relatively quickly early on, but slows down in the later parts.
Devil Rank 2
After flirting with you (again, you're rewarded for refusing her), Sayoko notes that you're different from the other boys, and have more depth to you. There's not much to the event other than that.
July 1
Since it was raining, I turned in the latest Hermit quest (which isn't that bad, since you finish it over the course of four days, assuming you have a Tanaka sticker). Just ask the boy what's wrong and give him the Tanaka sticker on Day 1, talk to him again on Day 2 before talking to Nanako that evening to get the sticker, give him Nanako's sticker on Day 3 and talk to him again on Day 4. I ended up getting to Rank 5 in the Hermit link.
Evening
Devil Rank 3
As the event begins, you'll catch a glimpse of an old woman in black mourning garb, who turns out to be the Death Social Link. Unfortunately, you can't unlock it this time.
Sayoko then asks you why you're there, and whether you have a girlfriend, giving you a few options that allow you to flirt with her. Sayoko reveals a bit of her cynical side and comes on to you- again, forcefully rejecting her is best.
July 2
I picked up the next quest in the Hermit series, one of the first ones that requires spending time (you have to make a model in your room), but also gives you some Diligence points.
I spent some more time with Adachi, which enabled me to get his link up the next time we met.
Evening
I started work on the model.
July 3
Emperor 3
Kanji takes you to his house, (and if you approach him on a holiday, like I did today, he doesn't even have to go anywhere), warning you that there's nothing fun there. He's concerned when he notices his mother isn't home, and is alarmed when the Aiya owner says she's at the hospital, something he heard from a customer. After telling him to calm down, you head to the hospital, and find out that Kanji's mother is fine, since the truth is she took a young boy there, since the child got hit by a bicycle. Kanji gets angry, yells at his mother and storms off. After calming down a bit, he apologizes to you, and you can either reassure him or mock him, neither of which grants any points. Kanji then points out that he thought he'd conquered his inner demons by accepting his Shadow, but realizes not everything is so simple- in fact, growing as people after understanding one's flaws is the point of the party members' social links. He thanks you for being there and leaves.
Kanji's mother then comes up to you, and remembers you from when you came to the store with Yukiko. She reveals that you made quite an impression on him, that he's hated coming to hospitals since his father died, and that his hobbies are the main reason why people his age won't accept him, which in turn led to his becoming a Delinquent.
Evening
I continued work on the model.
July 4
Finally, I was ready to advance Adachi's Social Link. Oddly enough, he's sometimes not available at this stage, even if you see him in Junes.
Jester 6
Adachi muses about how you have a lot of time, and tells you to enjoy it while it lasts. He's trying to avoid the old woman again, but while she finds him, this time, she has her actual son with her, whom she introduces to you. Apparently, her actual son is fairly busy, but enjoys his time with her, unlike Adachi. Adachi's relieved that he doesn't have to spend overtime with her anymore, and shares his brand of cynicism, indicating that he thinks that most people content themselves with pale imitations of what they want, and that being alone is easier, if not always better. Dojima then arrives, and much to Adachi's surprise, apologizes on his behalf.
With that, the part of Adachi's Social Link that you do on your own time ends. It won't be until much later that you get the remaining four rank ups.
Evening
I finished the model.
July 5
I turned in the model, completing the quest, but I decided not to spend the time to go up a rank in Hermit at the moment. I then decided to return Naoki's handkerchief, and finally began the Social Link.
Hanged Man Rank 1
Naoki thanks you for using it, saying that the handkerchief belonged to his sister. He apologizes for his rudeness, and says that the health committee fired him after the previous incident. He's not all that put out by it, partly because it never mattered to them whether he shows up. He offers to start hanging out with you, and says that he's available early in the week.
Evening
I did some more translation.
July 6
Since I was short on options and had an Aeon Arcana Persona, I decided to spend some time with Marie. Unfortunately, not only can you end up without enough points to advance early on, but there are some mandatory spend time events with Marie.
Evening
I went to the hospital again.
Devil Rank 4 You meet the woman in mourning garb again, who apologizes for staring and says that you reminded her of someone. With a somewhat cryptic hint, she tells you to find her at the river, and leaves. She doesn't say when she's available, but Yukiko (under the impression that the old woman is a ghost), says she's available on Sundays and holidays.
Sayoko then comes and gives a story that sounds disturbing and gives the impression that the patient died, but actually has a happy ending- the patient, a young and hard-working company president, recovered faster than she'd expected and left. She then bitterly notes that once patients recover, they no longer need her, and nothing you say is of much help. She tells you that she'll have someone else do the room, and flirts with you a little before you go.
July 7
In order to get some progress on Kanji before Rise joins, I decided to do his link again.
Emperor Level 4
Kanji takes you to one of his favorite places- the hill overlooking town- and asks you if his mother talked about him. Honesty is the best policy here, and Kanji responds in kind, saying he wishes he could stop being afraid of hospitals.
Kanji sees the kid again, and he seems upset. It turns out the boy borrowed a rabbit from his friend, Sana, but another boy, Taka, stomped on the bunny and forced the boy to throw it in the river, causing him to dread having to face Sana. Kanji's quite upset, and plans on going to do something about it... which, contrary to what it sounds like, is actually trying to find the doll in the river.
Despite Kanji's efforts, and him having a better chance of success than the young boy, the search is fruitless. Still, Kanji has a solution- he tells the boy to apologize to Sana, while he goes and makes a new rabbit. Kanji's a bit embarrassed, and not entirely because the boy calls him "Mister" like he's old. He sees a bit of himself in the boy- doing things he shouldn't to fit in and and upsetting the one person he should be trying to make happy.
July 8
I turned in the Rank 6 Hermit quest.
Evening
I washed some more dishes at Shiroku. I'm not sure who came here tonight.
July 9
I took the final bike ride, and unlocked Okina City, which doesn't use up any time. While there, you can play a crane game for various dolls to put in your room (Jack Frost, Pyro Jack, Neko Shogun, King Frost and Black Frost). You get about 5 chances per day, although on some days, each chance gives you two attempts, and have a chance of either getting the prize, getting a small prize (which makes it more likely that if you win something, it'll be the grand prize), or most likely, getting nothing. You can also go to Croco Fur and buy costumes, or see movies with your friends (who will text you when one they like comes out) to level them up.
I took my first long ride to increase my Courage and get one step closer to unlocking Shichiri Beach. Like Okina City, it requires three rides to unlock, and the first two spend your afternoon.
Evening
I watched the weather and Midnight Channel again, and there wasn't any news out of the ordinary on either. However, as the fog clears, you see another body on the telephone poles... that of King Moron.
