Two years ago, the notorious King of the Underground, Abe Shinya, went missing after launching a massive attack on the grand city of Tokyo, Japan. Investigators deduced that during this attack, three people were involved: Usako Ban, who is presumed dead, Abe Shinya, who is not dead but rather M.I.A., and the infamous Murakami Kouta. Somewhere inside the length of this battle, a portal was opened up to what we know as the Spirit Realm. Thousands and thousands of spirits escaped through this wormhole and entered our world. Researchers have discovered that these creatures are responsible for the superhuman beings we call espers.
To fully understand these espers, first we must understand the beings that fuel their power. Spirits. We often categorize these into specific classifications. The lowest classification for these spirits are called ghouls. Ghouls are evil spirits that feed off of the life energy of humans. They are not even remotely intelligent, and they simply wish to kill the living. Next up are phantoms. Phantoms are slightly more powerful than ghouls. They are mostly found in groups of six to over twenty, and are much more violent. Phantoms also have the power to possess inanimate objects. Phantoms can as well fly at high altitudes while ghouls are more comfortable close to the ground. The next classification of spirits are called shinigami. Shinigami, or gods of death, are spirits who bring death with them wherever they go. These spirits utilize weapons, usually a scythe or sword, to kill their prey. Shinigami are rarely seen, and can be occasionally found hanging near cemeteries. And last but not least, the most dangerous class of spirits. The Yokai. Yokai are fully conscious and intelligent spirits that can dwell inside of the human body, in a spiritual place we call a Gate. Some yokai are harmless, while others are extremely hostile.
The people we call espers draw their power from the energy of the Spirit Realm called Zen. Zen is the energy that all spirits of all kinds are made of. The various abilities that espers use Zen for are called vectors. The name comes from the explanation that the powers held by espers are their direct connection to the Spirit Realm. An esper's Zen is housed inside of their Gates. It was recently discovered thanks to General Inouye of the TPD that any average human can become an esper, as there are multiple triggers to awakening one's Gate. Trigger number one would be to naturally have it awakened from birth. There have been reports of mere children using Zen since the infant stage. Trigger two comes from direct contact with a spirit. The stronger the spirit, the more likely it is to awaken your Gate. This is especially true for yokai. Contact with a yokai almost guarantees a person becoming an esper. Trigger number three happens when your average human is directly attacked by an esper. The Zen used by espers can directly cause a person to awaken. And the last known trigger, number four, is severe emotional trauma. Severe trauma to a person can sometimes force the Gate to awaken in response to extreme anger, depression, or grief.
Government experimentation on human beings for the sake of further understanding these espers was approved just about ten months ago. It was found that those who become espers unlock a common ability known as ESP, or extrasensory perception. This ability can be assumed to be a common factor in all espers. ESP essentially gives the user a heightened version of the five human senses; taste, touch, smell, sight, and hearing. They can perform many tasks well above the capacities of even the best athletes in the world. For reasons like these, espers are banned from all forms of sports, and are not allowed to use their abilities in public, for obvious reasons. Along with this ESP, espers have superhuman strength, speed, and reaction time. I can personally say that I have indeed witnessed these factors up-close, from personal experience and from recent events. Sadly, some of the people used for experimentation went mad from becoming an esper, and were put down for the safety of our staff, and for the citizens on the outside.
Even though the TPD has gone to extreme lengths to keep the espers in private, there are those who refuse to obey the law. This group of people is known to us as the Underground. Now even though the Underground is bunched into one group, they are far from unified. The Underground is split into various families, rogues, clans, gangs, and the like. Before, Abe Shinya kept those rowdy criminals on a tight leash, but now that he's gone, Tokyo has been nothing but chaos. And the leader of this new era? None other than Murakami Kouta. Just the name is enough to strike fear into the hearts of regular people. After all, he is a threat equal to that of Abe Shinya and Usako Ban, and maybe even more dangerous. According to the founder of ROOT, Mr. Aragaki Kenzo, Murakami Kouta is a dangerous individual who has the power to steal the vectors of those he kills. A horrifying ability indeed. The TPD has been trying to capture Murakami Kouta for over two years now, and the fact that he still freely roams these streets goes to show his power and influence. These days Murakami Kouta is the leader of a clan known as Sakugami. The number of members this clan has are unknown, but the members can be identified by their all-black unmarked clothing. Other notorious Underground factions include Red Factor (a large organization with members identified by wearing red and black cloaks), Byakuren (a group that wears all-white unmarked clothing with a gray lotus flower on their backs), and Fifth Company (unidentified).
As I find myself writing this, I too, am becoming intertwined with this new world that we live in. Thanks to multiple testing sessions, I have also become one of these espers. But fear not, for I have sworn to use my power to bring justice to this city and its people. The TPD will, without fail, destroy the Underground. But even with such bold statements, I do not know when that day will come, for the espers in the Underground far outnumber those in the TPD, and well, if just two or three espers can kill tens of thousands of people, I'm not sure I want to know what would happen if we were to go to war with all of them. But I will remain vigilant, as I did not take this job to hide behind empty words. That is all for my report.
Yours truly,
Kurihara Takeshi