jigokufever | AUGUST 2022 TEST DRIVE

1. SHUTEN TERRITORY - Muscling In

art by tohdraws

In the aftermath of the curse crisis, the Shuten Clan forgave a bunch of protection payments in the region, and helped cover the costs for rebuilding. Unfortunately, some of the street gangs in the area are much less civically minded. They have used the Shuten's relaxed policies as an opportunity to turn their own screws on the local business owners. These unaffiliated youth gangs have been much rougher with the locals, and have been asking for even larger collection fees. This has pissed off the folks who are just trying to get their lives and businesses back on track!

Unfortunately, the opening of Sai no Kawara in the underground drew so much of the clan's focus and manpower, that the issues up top just slipped through the cracks. Until now! Toraguma is in a bad mood and is looking for people to take it out on: the youth gangs will do just fine.

Volunteers are being solicited to join the regular Shuten enforcers in driving these interlopers out of Shuten territory. The gangs are wise to the usual Shuten tactics, though, and they're prepared for a fight. They are also appealing to the influx of Lost Souls: they act as though they're the victims of the factions' power struggles! They propose that taking up arms against the Shuten Clan will win them favor with the other groups in the city. (It will look less good with the Shuten Clan, should you be assigned to them.)

Fight with the Shutens, or with the gangs. Either way, a fight is coming.

2. TAMAMO TERRITORY - Throat Goat (NSFW)

at by akai riot

This prompt is overtly sexual in nature. Please use the proper NSFW labelling in your top levels and threads.

While the Palace of Sai in the underground is doing well, that doesn't mean the other businesses in the Tamamo Clan's collection have been slacking. One of the least "classy" soaplands has decided they're going to hold a contest to drive up business for themselves! They are partnering with some of the other sex clubs in the area for the sleaziest of events.

The Hyottoko Cup is looking for volunteer participants! The competition is pretty straightforward: a ruler is drawn on the throat of each participant and an array of members is presented to swallow. Whichever contestant can take the guests deepest and longest will take home the "coveted" Hyottoko Cup! Ok, there's a little judge favoritism involved too, so put on a show.

The guests have likewise been pulled in as volunteers, with instructions that they don't have to make this easy on the participants. Guests are provided with special seals that they can use for the length of the competition to enhance their natural assets. For those lacking the equipment entirely, there's a seal for that too.

Have fun and play nice.

3. TAMAMO TERRITORY - Strike a Poise (GEN)

Other businesses looking to jump start this month's earnings are also getting in on the spirit of competition! Businesses less oriented towards sexual service have come together as a means to draw in the high dollar clients, and one local club has proposed something old school.

Sign up for the Poise Contest, where contestants are placed into more and more ridiculous geta while tasked with serving drinks to the guest. Spills are expected, and the guests are cheerfully kitted out with cheap club-branded ponchos to protect their clothes. (Marketing, am I right?) While spills are expected, the contestant will lose points for each of the spilled drinks. Try to keep your balance as you attend to increasingly absurd drink orders. The intensity of the traditional footwear will only make your job that much harder.

Do you have what it takes to pour a champagne fountain while wearing teetering tengu geta? Prove your balance and dexterity is the best and the take home prize is some sweet cash. For Lost Souls freshly in the city, the chance to win some extra money can't really be passed up, huh…

4. SUTOKU TERRITORY - Jigokucho's Got Talent

Ever since Moonday's beloved singer – Ringo-chan – was kidnapped at the Tanabata festival, the band has had to cancel all of their scheduled gigs. Unfortunately, they were a hugely popular act, booked solid in most of the Sutoku Alliance's various nightclubs. This has left a ton of empty spots that need to be filled quickly, before the crowds get upset and demand… refunds.

That's where you come in, Lost Souls! Desperate promoters and talent bookers are literally grabbing Lost Souls off the street and begging, pleading, with them to perform a set for the night. They just need to have something to fill the space Moonday would have otherwise occupied. At least give the crowd something to see!

Acts do not need to be of the musical variety. Any performing talent is accepted, no matter how esoteric or bizarre! If it can fill out a 15-30 minute set, the club owners will be happy and the customers will at least see something interesting; even if it's a bad kind of interesting. So get on stage and show this city what you've got!

( Help us fill our time slots, please! We're desperate! 😩)

5. DEPARTMENT OF THE ENMA - Sticky Paws II: Outta the Bag

The Enma Department is busy: they have a kidnapping to investigate, a primordial god to pin down, and the crisis of their ever-shifting public image to manage. However, crime never sleeps and is always there to add to the troubled Department's workload. Worse still, we thought this little crime spree was over six months ago! But here it is again, much to the Enma's chagrin.

Cat cafés are a popular tourist attraction all across Jigokucho. About six months ago, a gang of bakeneko infiltrated several of the cafés to rob customers occupied with kitty bliss. Wallets, jewelry, and anything else those sticky paws could snatch away were being picked in droves. The cat capers are afoot once more!

Are you a hapless victim of these furry thieves, or are you helping the Department of the Enma track down these cat burglars? Unfortunately, the bakeneko are exceptionally clever and are using a seal to disguise their secondary tails. This makes them look just about like any normal cat. Better make sure your lead is good, or you'll be chasing down an ordinary Felis Catus. Soft to pet, but not going to return your pilfered cash.

Of course, the café staff might be in on this caper too… It's never easy to tell who's getting a cut of the profits. Be careful who you trust out there.

6. ALL OVER - The 100 Billion Yen Man (PLOT RELEVANT)

The local TV news has been announcing that Kaberou Kannazaki – the legendary finance wolf and the father of kidnapping victim, Ringo-chan – will be making an announcement this week. People have flocked to television sets throughout the city; at the squares, around TVs in bars, electronic stores, each other's phones, and any other venue with a connection. The kidnapping has been a highly public ordeal and the talk of the town. Many of the locals were present at the festival and witnessed the crime. They want to hear what the word is!

The public doesn't have to wait long. Wolf-eared Kaberou sits at a press desk, surrounded by microphones, and dazzled with flashbulbs. He clears his throat and, as he begins to speak, he is direct and to the point; not unlike a wolf lunging for the throat.

"As of today, I am issuing a bounty on the man known as the Iron Bear, who has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of my daughter, Ringo Kannazaki. The payout to the party responsible for bringing me Iron Bear, dead or alive, is 100 Billion Yen. Individuals or groups, I don't care. Just bring my daughter back to me, and the money is yours."

Well! The Department of the Enma's hopes of an orderly investigation have been dashed, but this is certainly an opportunity for anyone brave enough – or, more accurately, stupid enough – to traverse the Wasteland. Maybe one of you out there will find the legendary Iron Bear and bring him to some form of justice.

Local businesses are quick to leap at this opportunity, too. They begin to aggressively push sponsorships at would-be bounty hunters. Weapons? Armor? Survival gear? All at discount prices! Each faction has their interest in collecting the massive bounty as well. They will all be putting a lot of pressure on recruits to get ready to head out to the Wastes.

If you just got here? Well, it would definitely be in your interest to start finding gear, and finding people willing to collect that bounty with you. It could mean a big step forward toward your eventual contract, after all.

Welcome to the test drive meme!

First of all, big thanks to our discord chat for the "Throat Goat" prompt idea. Stay golden, gang.
IF YOU'RE TOP-LEVELING A NEW CHARACTER, post it here!
Characters already in the game can top level as well.
Threads here can be considered game canon.
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Reserves are open until September 5th.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ There's a bakery in the Sutoku district that Megumi likes to go to for their cute dog-shaped sandwiches. It's something he keeps a secret from everyone who knows him, but on the days he finishes early at work, he likes to grab one to have on the way home. While he doesn't tend to go into the Shuten territory deliberate, it's a neccessity sometimes to get to Enma, where his apartment lies. He was walking past a certain eatery when the body of a man goes barreling out and in his direction, not quite landing on him but knocking his sandwich out of his hands and crushing it.

When Shou asks him that question, Megumi glances at the sad state of his cute sandwich, the pastry looking muddied and squished. Yes, he will give his attention to the ruffians gathering close, but let him take this moment to mourn it.

He's not angry, just disappointed. ]

I don't think you can help me.

[ in truth, shou had thought this newcomer might have also been a member of the youth gangs sent in as backup. being new to the city and its conflicts, he hasn't quite gotten the sense for who's who just yet. titles and rank mean very to little him, only that someone was in need of assistance. but when he follows the boy's line of sight to the man he'd just tossed and realizes that the sad, pasty smear on the ground must have been his lunch, a startled expression seeps onto his face.

he opens his mouth as if he's going to say something to him — ]

[ but he's interrupted by one of the gang members edging in too close for his liking. still in the doorway, shou snatches the rubber spatula from the owner's hand, rears back, and sends it hurtling at the would-be aggressor with terrifying speed. it cold clocks him in the forehead and sends him crumpling to the ground.

not for long, probably. ]

[ but long enough for shou to turn to megumi in the same swift movement, offering him a deep and sincere bow. he seems more flustered by the sandwich than he does by being attacked. ]

I'm very sorry for the state I've left your meal in. I should have been more aware of my surroundings. Please allow me to replace it for you.

[ Well, whoever this other boy is, they have quite good aim. Megumi makes a move to step out of the line of fire, but it doesn't look necessary. Before he addresses the gang members, he glances at the boy beside him and the polite way they are bowing. He can't exactly fault someone who is apologising with such sincerity. ]

It's fine. If anything, it's their faults.

[ Speaking of those gang members, they have started to make the assumption the two boys are working together now. While he was unsure about getting involved, he can't exactly leave the other boy to face off against what looks to be five or so thugs looking for revenge.

Megumi sighs, rolling his shoulders as a warm up. ]

Let's just get this over with so I can go home.

[ With that, he ducks a steel bar coming his way, then lands a sharp upper cut which knocks out one of the thugs. That leaves them for 4 more. ] Can you take two?

[ shou isn't really about to let the untimely death of the cute sandwich go so easily, but the other boy is right in that there are more pressing issues to deal with.

more pressing, but not necessarily more dangerous.

righting himself, a flickered glance towards the thugs makes him nod obediently as if megumi had given him an order instead of asked him nicely. stepping out into the street with a light scuff of his heel like a precursor to a much more pronounced movement, he affirms: ]

Yes, it's no problem. I can handle two.

[ with that, he's not waiting for them to come to him; shou advances, agile on his feet as he weaves past the nearest attacker's two solid punches. gauging his range... shou has just enough time to catch his attacker's elbow as it comes at him with his bare palms, halting him with enough force to seize his balance out from under him with a low, circular sweep of his leg.

shoving him backwards in the same motion, shou slams him into the ground hard, vaulting over his collapsed body to aim for the second thug.

one down! ]

[ With the other boy handling the two on their end, Megumi can focus on the two in front of him. Taking on two at once isn't a difficult feat at all, for someone with the use of shikigami. In fact, it almost feels a bit unfair. Still, it's stupid to fight fair against thugs who wouldn't hesitate at all to send him to the hospital. ]

Divine Dog. [ From the shadowing, a large black wolf emerges, charging at one of the men and catching their clothes in its muzzle. It shakes that thug around like a dog playing with a chew toy, tossing him in the direction of a nearby wall, where he slams against the bricks. As the other thug is distracted, Megumi takes his opportunity to swing his leg across and throw off their footing, waiting for them to fall to the ground before he stomps hard on their stomach. ]

They aren't very strong. [ A mean thing to say while stepping on someone (and he grinds his foot down harder when they try to get up), but perhaps he is a little peeved about losing his cute lunch after all. Now, he glances at Shou to see how they are faring. ]

[ shou had been just about to take care of the last of the last guy when the shadows coalesce into a wolf. he stutters to a stop, bright blue gaze pinning on it for a long moment as if he's both stunned and somewhat threatened, but his thoughts race past his instinct.

it was summoned — summoned by his temporary ally.

gritting his teeth once he realizes the thug is on him, shou ducks the swing of a lead pipe, surging into the opening it creates and punching him square in the gut. he doubles over, allowing shou to seize the pipe and sidestep his fall, giving him a crack across the shoulders with the pipe to make sure he stays down.

huffing, he gives the pipe a quick flick in his grasp. ]

Without formal training, their strength likely lies in numbers and intimidation. [ back to business, though his expression is somewhat hazy at the corners. ] Thank you for your help. I'm sure these local businesses will benefit from it too.

[ The momentary look of distraction on Shou's face does not go unnoticed. He doesn't think it's too strange for someone else to be shocked or surprised by the sight of his wolves, but he's found that most people he's met in Hell end up taking a liking to them. It's a different sort of emotion that seems to overcome Shou, and Megumi is curious, but he decides not to pry further as they have just met.

Grabbing the man behind him by the arm, he drags them a few meters to the side, hauling thier body onto the unconscious body of the man Shou had just taken out. He's making a bit of a pile (which his dog helpfully adds to) so the bodies won't be blocking the roads. It reminds him of middle school actually. ]

They were annoying me too. I was looking forward to eating that.

[ shouldering the lead pipe as if he's going to hang onto it for safekeeping, shou's expression seems to fall again at the mention of the sandwich now lost to the war... ]

I understand your disappointment. As I said, please allow me to replace it for you. I was careless to begin with.

It wasn't your doing, though ...

[ But he isn't opposed to having his lunch be replaced. Since this boy is insisting, he'll oblige. ]

I got it from a bakery a few shops away. [ Megumi points at a shop nearby, and he'll start walking toward it if Shou looks inclined to follow. ] You are?

If you believe that, then think of it as thanks for your help instead. It was much easier to clean up with two of us.

[ he is DETERMINED and so once megumi finally gives into his hardheaded maneuvering, shou does follow diligently. ]

I'm Tenkuubashi Shou.

AUGUST 2022 TEST DRIVE

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