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.
Characters can be recruited to do work for any faction until they're given their official assignment.
If you have any questions about the TDM content, please ask them here! You can find information on the story so far here!
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Reserves are open until September 5th.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ This thug problem is really getting out of hand. Yoojin's not one to step out of line to draw attention to himself and has had to run off a few times to keep from getting involved with them, but when it comes to other people getting hassled? Other kids? That's where Yoojin draws the line.

He's already on his way over to try and intervene when he sees the flash of a knife being drawn--and that's what tips him from 'trying to peacefully intervene' to shoulder-checking from behind to take down one thug, before punching another straight in the face. ZERO HESITATION. ]

What the heck do you punks think you're doing?! Picking on a kid...!

[ They round on him pretty quick, which is good because now he can yell at Takemichi; ]

Get out of here, hurry!

[Even while in this body, Takemichi isn't used to being called "kid." It almost surprises him as much as the guy who shouts it out. The guy is a complete stranger, someone Michi's never seen before, and yet here he is, diverting all the attention to himself so that Michi can escape unscathed.

And he could. He could take off right now, call the police, and everything would be okay. Except that he can't. Except that it wouldn't.

Familiar corpses superimpose themselves over the stranger's form, and Takemichi moves before he can give it a second thought. He leaps for the nearest vulturous thug, wrapping his arms and legs around the dude's neck and waist. He's bound to get cut when the guy gets desperate, swinging his knife in every direction, but such a small detail isn't about to dissuade him. He squeezes for all he's worth, determined not to let go until the bastard passes the fuck out.]

[ ~~Michi you precious good boi??~~ It's times like these Yoojin has never hated being an F-Class more. No attack skills, weak stats--just barely enough to give him an edge over the average human. Not that he believes it's good to use greater power against those who don't have it--but these thugs are asking for it, picking on ~~a kid~~people like this.

He only wishes that this kid would take the chance he's given him to run. ]

What are you doing?? Hurry up and run away!

[ Yoojin ducks a swing aimed for his face but has to retreat when a knife whips out his way...only to see red when Takemichi gets injured. He doesn't have any amazing abilities or skills he can call on in a fight...but he does have 5 years's experience fighting to survive in a world overrun with dungeons filled with monsters. Humans are a break compared to that.

Yoojin blocks the next blow aimed for his face with his arm and swings his elbow forward to take the guy down so he can steal that knife, please and thank-you. ]

[~~Too bad he's not also a strong boi!~~

He shakes his head, a frenzied movement that doesn't help his flailing victim's balance.]

Four on one's not fair! I'm not running away while you clean up my mess!

[These guys may have been hassling the shopkeepers on this street, but Takemichi is the one who threw the first punch. He's the one who started this fight. He can't run away in the middle of it! At least, not alone.

Of course, now that he's been sort of cool for a couple seconds, the universe has to right itself. Before Yoojin gets a chance to say anything in reply, the rogue thug passes out from suffocation and crashes to the ground. Michi goes down with him, yelping as his back hits pavement.]

YOW!

[ ~~story of Yoojin's life tbh~~

Yoojin will have words for throwing the first punch to provoke thugs....if only because Takemichi is a kid. It is perfectly justifiable to punch assholes when they deserve it if you are an adult ~~capable of defending yourself. if you cannot, do not.~~ ]

Ah...!

[ Well shoot, that's less than ideal. Yoojin's got a knife but that doesn't really help him peel the pass-out guy off of of Takemichi; though it does help in fending off the next guy that charges him. Yoojin dodges to the side and swings the knife around. It's a direct hit to the guy's arm, and Yoojin uses that chance to dash toward Takemichi and try to tug the guy off of him. ]

Get out, hurry!

[He helps free himself with a kick and a shove before scrambling back to his feet. His back smarts something fierce and his calf stings where the guy's knife nicked him, but he's had so much worse that the pain barely registers. Rather than worry about his injuries, he catches Yoojin's arm in his line of sight and grabs for the guy's sleeve.]

It's time to take off. Sure, he has no idea where he's going and is probably about to get very lost on top of everything else, but for now, all that matters is making sure his would-be savior is safe.

Are they behind us?!

AUGUST 2022 TEST DRIVE

1 DADDY'S HERE, SON (blame mikey for this)

i'm always happy to blame mikey

grips ur hand

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