Jyoji Hijiri

Biography
A writer for an occult magazine.

He meets the main character while collecting data for an article on the riot at Yoyogi Park. Even after the Conception, his sense of duty as a reporter pushes him to investigate further. He considers himself too weak to survive in the Vortex World, so he stays within the Terminal Room, studying the Terminals and their connection to the mysterious Amala Network.

Hijiri's main motivation is to discover the truth. Even after the Conception, this goal does not change. He does not pursue Hikawa out of a sense of moral righteousness, but simply because he wishes to learn the meaning behind the Vortex World. Soon, knowledge becomes everything to him, from him disregarding the worth of human life in the Vortex World to bribing the Demi-fiend with the facts that he has discovered through the Amala Terminals. With knowledge comes power, and with power comes corruption.

Hijiri does not seem to realize that he could create a new world until he learns this information through the Amala Terminal. It is also notable that he never mentions the dream that the Demi-fiend, Chiaki and Isamu all share upon entering the Vortex World.

Completing the optional Fourth Kalpa dungeon reveals that Hijiri actually died when the Conception occurred, having failed to reach the hospital in time. However, he continues to exist in the Vortex World as his punishment for committing the "ultimate sin". Hijiri's punishment is to be trapped in an endless cycle of suffering, death and rebirth, being forced to witness the creation and destruction of each world without having any chance to affect the outcome. Because of this, there is speculation that Hijiri is a reincarnation of Aleph, the main character of Shin Megami Tensei II, who committed the "ultimate sin" by defeating YHWH at the end of the game.