Superiority/Inferiority (Week 1, Day 6)

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or character details follow.

Shiki, Day 6
Title	Superiority/Inferiority
Protagonists	Neku, Shiki
In-Game Description	Game Master Higashizawa confronts Neku and Shiki, whereupon Neku learns of his own death…
Objective	Dominate the scramble crossing view at 3:00.
Previous day	Week 1, Day 5
Next day	Week 1, Day 7

"First, I'm going to hand free pins out, and fill Shibuya with walking billboards! Hmm... and to get people's attention, I need some "hip" one-liners like that book suggested. Let's see... how about "Totally gnarly!" "Come get some hot stuff!" "Unreal, bro!" Perfect! The slang of the moment!"

— Makoto about the red pins

Events

• Using Imprinting, Neku and Shiki help a businessman Makoto sell the Red Skull pins in Shibuya.
• Neku and Shiki learn how to control trends.
• Shiki reveals her entry fee was her own body, and she’s using Eri’s appearance for the Game.
• Megumi Kitaniji promotes Game Master by proxy Yodai Higashizawa to full Game Master.
• Beat, wanting to figure out how to use Rhyme's noise pin, runs away from WildKat Cafe.

Plot

Neku wakes up on the Scramble Crossing holding a strange red skull pin that looks like his Player Pin. Wondering what it is, he figures out he can’t scan using it, and thinks about what Higashizawa meant when he said Neku was really dead. Neku can’t remember dying, but he also can’t remember anything since waking up on the scramble. He recalls what Hanekoma told him and Shiki; the Reapers use a different Shibuya to run the Game where all Players come to for a common reason, which he deduces is dying, and it’s a contest to come back to life.

Neku’s phone beeps, and gets the mission mail: to dominate the scramble crossing view at 3:00, with a time limit of 180 minutes. He doesn’t know what the “view” would be, because he doesn’t know Shibuya well, and then wakes up the previously-sleeping Shiki to ask her what it means. She has no idea either, and Neku says they have to figure out what it means.

They notice a businessman, Makoto, mumbling about how he’s going to be fired in three hours, and Neku realises that since it’s noon now, it’ll be 3:00 in three hours. He tells Shiki he thinks he’s the key, but Shiki is uncharacteristically quiet. When Neku scans him, Makoto laments about an advertisement for the Q Floor, that’s too short to catch the eye. Shiki says the Q Floor is the big screen above the scramble crossing playing commercials, and Neku says he thinks the mission is about getting the crowd to watch the man’s ad. Shiki says it’s impossible because people don’t look up when crossing the street, but Neku says the mission is to make the crowd look up. Negative Noise starts possessing Makoto, and Neku and Shiki erase it.

Makoto cheers up and commits to making his pins the “next big thing” and Neku points out they look just like the red skull pin he has, and hopes Makoto at least has a plan; he starts declaring he’ll hand out free pins and use hip one-liners like “Totally gnarly!”, “Come and get some hot stuff!”, and “Unreal, bro!”, calling them the slang of the moment. Shiki comments “Come and get some hot stuff!” sounds like a pickup line and pins aren’t that popular.

Makoto stops Nao to give her the pins, but she calls over Sota who starts threatening him. Using the meme “Totally gnarly!”, Neku imprints on Makoto his slogan, and he lies to Sota and Nao that his grandfather has arthritis and wanted him to hand out pins on the street. Sota, moved, takes pins for him and Nao.

Makoto moves up into Center St. Entrance and tries to talk to Shuto Dan, who aggressively starts talking about Tin Pin Slammer. Neku imprints “Unreal, bro!” on Makoto, and Shooter challenges him to a slam-off. When Shooter wins, he takes Makoto’s pin, and Makoto leaves for Spain Hill. Neku imprints “Come get some hot stuff!” onto Makoto, drawing in Futoshi. Convinced the pins will take off, Makoto walks back to the scramble.

At the Scramble Crossing, Shiki tries to tell Neku to give up the mission before running off. He catches up with her and asks what’s going on as it’s nearly 3:00. Shiki answers that it’s like what Higashizawa said; if she comes back to life, she’ll continue hating herself. She confesses there’s nothing special about her and she wanted to be like Eri, but it didn’t work. Neku is confused, but gets interrupted when he sees a girl that looks just like Shiki in the crowd talking to her friend about an adorable outfit, and the friend calls her “Eri” back. Shiki silently runs away and Neku chases her.

"I don't-- !? WHOA! Over there! Is that... you?"

Shiki confesses her entry fee is her appearance. She was happy when she first came to the UG and saw herself because she wanted a new body, wanting to be cute, smart, and perfect - so excited that she acted bubbly and cute like Eri. Then Shiki realised she’d never be Eri, and she was just jealous, declaring what she valued most was herself. She says she doesn’t want to come back to life if it means being jealous of Eri and not changing. As Neku says he likes her the way she is, Makoto cries out about how nobody is wearing his pins and how he’s doomed.

The Prince approaches Makoto, asking him what’s wrong. He explains that the pins aren’t taking off because of the trends, and he’ll have to change them to make the pins popular. Shiki tells Neku when she and Rhyme talked, they noticed wearing brands in combat would make them more trendy. They start fighting battles with the Red Skull pin; in the Scramble Crossing, then 104, where the popularity of the Red Skull takes off. Makoto excitedly runs back to the Scramble, and Shiki apologises to Neku in advance if they fail the mission due to her slowing them down. Neku stutters that we all have our bad days before they’re interrupted by Eri appearing again, talking to Mina. Eri confesses she’s been thinking of giving up designing and mentions Shiki. Shiki excuses herself and runs off.

The Red Skull pins trending.

At the Scramble, Shiki apologises again and admits she’s afraid of what Eri would’ve said. Before her death, Eri told Shiki she wasn’t meant to be a designer and assumes its because Eri was fed up at her not having talent. Neku cuts her off and tells her to live her own life, and her envy of Eri gives her something to shoot for. The commercial airs, and the public notices it, completing their mission and vanishing their timers.

Shiki asks to stand by Eri as she talks to Mina. Eri states Shiki died in a car accident the other day before she could apologise for her comment about Shiki not being meant to be a designer; Eri thought Shiki had a bright future as a seamstress with care and attention to detail. Shiki says she wants a second chance to see Eri again, and is ready for the next day.

In the Dead God's Pad, Megumi praises Higashizawa for keeping on schedule. Kitaniji grants him full GM privileges as he’s proven he can handle it.

At WildKat Cafe, Beat is frustrated at Rhyme’s noise pin. He says “they” (referring to the Reapers) have to know. Declaring he is done collecting dust, he runs out of the Cafe. Hanekoma in the scramble goes home, mentioning Beat must be starving by now.

Walkthrough

When the day starts, a man dressed in a blue suit will sit to the right of the scramble. Talk to him, then scan him. Scanning him again will reveal he’s plagued by Noise; fight the Noise, then Neku will get three memes; “Totally gnarly!”, “Come get some hot stuff!”, and “Unreal, bro!”.

Once Neku’s received the memes, talk to Nao or the businessman and imprint “Totally gnarly!”. When the conversation ends, this businessman, Makoto Miki, will move to Center St. Entrance. There’s a wall up by a Reaper who will do a Reaper Review; the answers are "Edoga the Shop", "High heels", and "Bubbles".

In Center St. Entrance, talk to Shooter or Makoto. Imprint on Makoto “Unreal, bro!” and walk up to AMX. A Reaper has set up a wall, and will only take it down if he gets three Rare Metal pins; fighting Noise No. 58, the Decadraven, on easy will drop the pins. When the Reaper lets down the wall, move to Spain Hill. Talk to Makoto or the Futoshi, and imprint “Come get some hot stuff!” on Makoto. Follow Makoto back to the scramble.

At the scramble crossing, Shiki will run off. Talk to her at the right of the crossing, and she’ll move to the other side. Talk to her there, then go back to the right of the crossing and talk to Makoto. With the Red Skull pin equipped, fight battles until Gatito is the top brand in the scramble. Makoto will move to 104; make Gatito the top brand like in the scramble. Shiki will move to the scramble again, like the first time she runs off. Talk to her to end the chapter.

Noise

No.	Noise	Pic.	Location
02	Bigbanfrog		Every Map
10	Bigbansprog		Every Map
12	Garage Wolf		Scramble Crossing, 104 Building, Towa Records, Spain Hill, AMX
15	Mosh Grizzly		104 Building, Cadoi City, Towa Records, Molco, Spain Hill, Tipsy Tose Hall, AMX
33	Hard Corehog		Scramble Crossing, Towa Records, Molco, Spain Hill, Tipsy Tose Hall, Center St. Entrance
58	Decadraven		Scramble Crossing, Shibu Dept. Store, Cadoi City, Towa Records, Tipsy Tose Hall, Center St. Entrance

Secret Reports

1. Collect the report for Shiki, Day 5.
2. Collect the report for Shiki, Day 3.
3. Track down and eliminate all of this chapter's Pig Noise symbols.
4. Get the Solid Slammer. ("Totally gnarly!")

The Secret Report for this day can be found here.