[Does Hajime fully understand the Metaverse, even after having it explained to him? Not really. Does he know how to use the app to enter? Only partially. He'd already gone in with the actual Phantom Thieves once before, and just-- found himself on the sidelines, only able to watch. The toy gun Ryuji had lent him was literally just... a toy in his hands.

He trusts them, but he can't help but feel like they're messing with him. Their guns all looked real inside this weird shadowy replica of the station. His still looks and feels like a toy. "Cognition" this, "belief" that. It's all too nonsensical, too far outside even what he's come to accept as normal on this station.

But the fact remains that whatever this place is? It's very real. He hadn't meant to end up here alone, but before he knew it, his feet had started to splash through something he couldn't quite explain, the vague distortion he'd come to associate with this weirdness. But then again, this is a good opportunity. If he can practice, maybe he can justify Ryuji's belief in him. Be able to come back and show off some cool mask and his own set of magic powers.

Which is how he finds himself face-to-face with some weird medieval knight astride a massive horse, a very obvious toy gun held in one shaky hand as he tries very, very desperately to believe it's real.

Plink, plink, plink. Foam bullets bounce off the knight's armor, and the demon just laughs. And charges toward him, full-speed ahead. Something collides with his chest and hurls him back, sending him flying several feet up and back with a scream of terror until he slams against the corridor wall and collapses, curled up and gasping for breath. If ever there'd be a time for a magic mask to appear, now would be the time.]

[Sometime later, Hajime can be found in the Metaverse, though it's less because he wants to be there by himself to prove something about himself, but more because he keeps just-- slipping into the damn thing. He's gotten much, much better at hiding and running since his unfortunate mishap trying to channel some non-existent magical powers.

Instead, he beckons to someone else who seems to be lost, trying to wave them behind the doorway he's currently half-hidden behind.]

C'mon, it's not safe to go that way. Let's go around, I can get you out... I think.

[He doesn't know much -- he's not a real Phantom Thief like his friends -- but he can work the app, and he's a steady voice of reason in all the chaos. That has to count for something, right?]

[Although-- sometimes hiding doesn't work. Sometimes running is the only option he has, which is why Hajime can be found sprinting down the corridor, chased by what seems like, for all intents and purposes, a floating jack-o-lantern. Lovely.]

Shit shit shit shit-!

[If you can fight it, you're more than welcome to! Hajime is Not.]