Much of the story is told through flashbacks while Sae Niijima interrogates the protagonist. After the protagonist defends a woman from assault, he is framed for assaulting the man responsible and put on probation, resulting in expulsion from his school. He is sent to Tokyo to stay with family friend Sojiro Sakura and attend Shujin Academy during his year-long probation. After his arrival, he is drawn into the Velvet Room, where Igor warns him that he must be rehabilitated to avoid future ruin and grants him access to a supernatural mobile app that leads him into the Metaverse and the Palace of the school's abusive volleyball coach Suguru Kamoshida. The protagonist meets Morgana, who informs him of the ability to change wicked people's hearts by stealing their "Treasure," the emotional root of their behavior and desires, from the Palaces ruled by their Shadow selves. The protagonist assumes the codename Joker and, together with Morgana and fellow students Ryuji Sakamoto and Ann Takamaki whom he befriends, reforms Kamoshida.
