Hell's Hot Paradise Prologue Part 1

One day, after school, the Summoners have been gathered together and get bombarded with camera flashes. Zhurong nods to himself after that saying the pictures came out great and thanks everyone for agreeing to his interview. All the answers everyone's given him have given him a clear view that you guys are all close, he says as he smiles and lowers his camera. Kengo asks if they're done now, then offers to tell Zhurong how the two of your first threw hands at each other and became friends. Shirou attempts to stop this saying it'd be a bad influence, but Zhurong is excited at the idea and asks Kengo to tell him next time as he refers to him with nii-chan. Kengo is thrown off by the title but tries to roll with it and awkwardly tells Zhurong to look forward to it. You either tease Kengo for being bashful or talk to Zhurong and say it's amazing he's making a newspaper. In A, Kengo gets annoyed and tells you to shut up. Kids always got scared and cried at the sight of him, so he's unused to being admired like this. In B, Zhurong laughs and promises to show you the newspaper when it's done right away.

Anyways, Ryouta comments on how cute Zhurong is and says it'd be great if they had a little brother like him as he turns to Touji for his opinion. Touji agrees and says it's great that Zhurong is so polite. Zhurong blushes at the compliments, so Shirou gently tells everyone to stop there since it's bothering him. Zhurong waves it off and mumbles for a moment before thanking you guys. You either nod and proclaim Zhurong cute, be a weirdo and take a deep breath of Zhurong's scent, or say Moritaka's cute too. B has an extra bit of Zhurong weirded out by you. C has a different extra bit of Moritaka being shocked at you suddenly bringing him into the conversation like this and bluntly saying as much.

In any case, Moritaka points out that you guys are in the high school building and asks Zhurong if it took some courage to come over despite being an elementary student. Zhurong says it doesn't since he normally goes in and out of the high school newspaper clubroom, so he's already heard about you guys from a long time ago. Shirou looks awkward at this and says being told that makes him feel a bit self-conscious. Kengo jokes that they must be talking about how much of a nag and a nerd Shirou is, prompting Shirou to say his image turned out that way because of what Kengo's done. Kengo teases Shirou for being scary before running off, saying that having 36 plans for escape is the winning move. Shirou gets pissy as he chases after him, saying that's not going to be enough if he's going that far.

Ryouta sighs about Kengo and Shirou leaving, but he quickly shrugs it off to tell Zhurong he can come talk to any of them if he needs to interview them about anything. Zhurong nods and thanks everyone again for helping, and he leaves looking satisfied as the rest of the gang watches him go.

Time passes to Zhurong outside the dorm area and saying everyone is so interesting, and he comments on how weird it is everyone gets along so well despite being such a colorful cast of people. And since the interview went so well, he feels like he's been lucky lately since he's gotten some interesting scoops from the casino and colosseum he can apparently enter without issue. Zhurong is noted to be humming to himself and skipping, and when he comes across another photography club member they start talking to him.

Blue Yasha casually comments on meeting Zhurong and figures the interview must have gone well if he's in such a good mood. She was worried about him and asks if anyone talked down to him or did anything weird to him. Zhurong insists that he's fine and that everyone is a good person, so he'd like to go talk to you guys again sometime for data collection. The yaksha is happy to hear so, but she reminds him to be careful anyway since there's this new rumor going on lately.

Zhurong cocks his head as he doesn't know what the yaksha is talking about, so she elaborates. So hey, have you heard? Has anyone told you? It's the ghost story of Awakage-sama, that unidentified black bubble thing that all the public has been talking about lately. Zhurong immediately suspects it's something of a forced meme people have put together and started talking about, then accuses the yasha of treating him like a kid again as he says he won't scare that easy. Despite his disbelief, the yaksha solemnly shakes her head and says that unlike random urban legends, there's actual victims apparently. Everyone got swallowed up by Awakage-sama, turned pitch black, then got sent on to the next world. Zhurong starts looking concerned but he still tries to insist she made it up, though he can see in her eyes she's not trying to scare him.

The water yaksha tells Zhurong he ought to stop going on interviews for the time being and promises to bring him some more candy in the club room next time. Zhurong is saddened at this and asks when he can go again if it turns out Awakage-sama is a real thing. She sympathizes but says she's worried about him as she and all the other photographers dote on him. They don't want anything to happen to him on the off chance things go wrong. Zhurong is disappointed but gives in, saying he wasn't intending to cause his senpais worry. He does however plead to go finish up the interviews he already has set up, so she sighs and relents. She asks about his other interview being at Saru no Yu, that bathhouse in Asakusa. Anything else he'll have to wait on. She hugs Zhurong and pats him on the head as she calls him a good boy, which accidentally makes him sleepy. When she notices she says there's time before he has to go, so she leads him to a bench so he can nap on her nap and promises to wake him up on time.

Sarutahiko starts narrating about how he loves Saru no Yu and says the place picked him up when he came to Tokyo. He's also fond of the regular customers who accepted him immediately when he was some shady stranger, and their actions prompted him to think that there's no warmer, more welcoming place anywhere else. He did his best and devoted himself to repaying their kindness. But he was always an idiot and not one who's quick to get with things, so nothing went right of course. He was such a screw up that someone he refers to as Pops got mad at him a lot. Still, they saw he was trying. He thought of the place as somewhere where someone like him could stay if he tried, but then one day Saru no Yu started trending by word of mouth online. Some employee got exposed online, and he's sure it was himself. Pops (who turns out to be an oni) noticed this and watched him from afar. He called Sarutahiko a clumsy oaf, which hurt him to the point he ran away. He doubts Pops noticed, and he went off to cry out of sight like the sadsack he was.

Back to the present, Zhurong calls to Sarutahiko several times trying to get him to pay attention again. Sarutahiko tunes back in and apologizes, asking what they were talking about. Zhurong chirps that he was asking if it was okay to take pictures of him while he worked, then asks if Sarutahiko is okay since he noticed him spacing out. Sarutahiko quickly smiles to keep Zhurong from worrying, claiming he was just thinking about things and giving the okay for Zhurong to snap pictures whenever. He also suggests that they take a picture together since they're there already and says it can be a commemoration.

Zhurong is surprised at the idea and turns it down, saying he's just a cameraman. Sarutahiko insists and tries to take the group selfie together himself with Zhurong's camera, shocking Zhurong into giving in so he'll stop handling it so roughly. Once the picture is taken, they both look into the camera to look at the snapshot. Sarutahiko teases Zhurong for looking shy, causing him to argue that he isn't and just isn't used to taking a picture of himself.

Sarutahiko says it's a good pic and asks for a copy, saying he might go decorate it. Zhurong agrees, saying that once he has word of mouth comments from the inn, he'll bring it along with the newspaper it's for. Sarutahiko stiffens on reflex upon hearing "comments," which Zhurong notices shortly after and asks about. Sarutahiko claims it's nothing, so Zhurong leaves it be and says he'll go talk to the attendant up front and the customers. Sarutahiko wishes him good luck with the paper, then sighs about needing to work harder to himself when Zhurong leaves.

Time passes to Zhurong humming to himself and talking about being able to write a good article with what he's got. He smiles as he looks at his camera, which currently has the picture of him and Sarutahiko on display. Zhurong thinks about sorting out his pictures and getting to work on his writing once he gets back, and it's noted that the day looks to be a day like any other. He doesn't suspect that the rumored incident will drag in him and Sarutahiko at all.

Let's talk about ghost stories. Ghost stories are mainly things that spring up from baseless rumors. But the more these rumors spread from person to person, the more influence they pick up. There's plenty of people who say they get the creeps and feel like they're being watched in places like the school restrooms, some street corner, or a well. And it's possible people might run into the real thing. That's how all ghost stories start gaining power of their own, and in Tokyo such a rumor manifesting itself would be unthinkable. When it comes to ghost stories and faith becoming necessary, their nature is no different from other legends and folklore. And here on a hot day, someone's joke of a rumor becomes a genuine ghost story that would freeze your body.

Event title card briefly pops up, then tunes things back in at the police station where Tajikarao bringing some tea to a guest and saying Daikoku will come to see them shortly. Said guest is Mineaki, who sits across an empty seat as Tajikarao puts two cups down. Mineaki says the tea is good, so Tajikarao thanks him before excusing himself. He is heard greeting someone when he gets outside the reception room, and Daikoku comes striding in soon after. Daikoku politely apologizes for the wait and asks if Tajikarao showed Mineaki any rudeness, so Mineaki denies any such thing happening and says he can't complain since he showed up without an appointment.

Daikoku looks at the tea and thinks of it as thick and bitter, so he apologizes about it and says he'll personally teach Tajikarao how to brew tea. Mineaki laughs it off saying he prefers not being able to see the bottom of the cup. Daikoku laughs as well, then asks what business he has with him. Mineaki takes another sip, and once he sets his cup down he asks Daikoku if he knows about Awakage-sama. Daikoku says he does and refers to it as that ghost story going around the neighborhood, but Mineaki firmly tells him to stop playing dumb as he already knows there's been casualties involved. Daikoku suggests they can cut to the chase then and asks what Mineaki is trying to say here.

A silent beat passes, and the mood turns tense. Mineaki brings up that all victims of the Awakage-sama case have all been found in Enclosed Areas of some kind. Based on that, he reasons that Awakage-sama is likely to be a power that can only be used in Enclosed Spaces. Daikoku expresses some approval of him researching things that far, calling Mineaki an S Class Agent with abilities comparable to a private eye. He asks if Mineaki came to offer assistance with the investigation since it'd be a big help, saying he's the type to think working together would be better when it comes to these sorts of mysteries.

Mineaki can tell that Daikoku has clearly meant zero percent of what he's just said, and he directly accuses him of being the fixer/mastermind pulling the strings from behind the scene. Daikoku laughs the accusation off and calls it groundless, so Mineaki reveals he suspects Daikoku of having a power related to shadows. And since 'awakage' seems to mean 'bubble shadow,' that'd mean Daikoku would be able to make it actually happen. And as for a motive, Mineaki says that Daikoku doesn't like any of the residents of Takamagahara.

Despite what Mineaki said, Daikoku shows no reaction when one should be noticeable even to people without special eyes. Daikoku laughs and denies the statement, saying he believes everyone has their own value no matter where they came from. Mineaki points out that value can mean many things, but he doesn't belabor the point as he gets back to the main topic. He talks about how the rumor of Awakage-sama is spreading fast, and people are starting to believe it's real. Once a majority of the people in Tokyo believe it to be real, then Daikoku will be able to use his ability without needing an Enclosed Area.

Daikoku deviously notes that he could totally sink the people he hates into shadows if that happens, then thinks aloud about wishing for that upon his lucky mallet. Daikoku stops fooling around as he looks at Mineaki with a serious expression now, then points out that the above is still based on the assumption that he's responsible. He asks Mineaki if there's anything else, saying it's been a fascinating, meaningful conversation they'd had. Since he's so interested in the case, Daikoku offers to inform him if he's confirmed the veracity of anything.

Daikoku gets up and ends the conversation there, then picks up a phone on the wall to tell whoever on the other end that Mineaki's business is done and that he is to be escorted out. Mineaki decides to throw in one last bit and tells Daikoku that whatever schemes he has planned out, he's not really interested in bothering himself with them. But if any of those plans hurt his students, then it totally becomes his business and he'll be coming for him. Daikoku notes that Mineaki would be a tricky enemy to have and swears to the 'sun' that he won't do such a thing. Mineaki leaves as Daikoku smiles suspiciously, and the episode half ends with narration noting that they'll meet again following an unfortunate fate.