Online: The Comic Ch 1

Phase 1: Nightmare – Preludio

Sunday- A gruesome incident is being reported on the news regarding some kind of ‘video game’. Yashiro Mai, unimpressed with current television programming, leaves to check her mailbox. A game console is waiting for her and all her personal information has been uploaded into the console as ‘character’ data. A voice explains this and proceeds to give examples such as height, age, blood type, etc. If she throws the game console, it will explode and failure to participate will result in the death of a loved one. Subjected to play, Mai is greeted by a character creation screen and is horrified to find that her avatar is nearly identical to her real life self. Here is where Mai has to choose a body part as the revival cost for an in-game death. The game explains that the body part in question will cease to function in the real world. A mysterious text message comes from someone named Taisuke Asagi. Asagi seems to know Mai, hinting that she may be suffering from partial/temporary insomnia. Furthermore, he advises Mai not to battle, to carefully read the help section, not to choose the heart as the revival cost and gifts 100 CP points which unlocks the ‘Auto-Death System Message’. Unless Yashiro Mai can gather 100 CP points every day, she will be treated as ‘dead’ which means a body part will cease to function in the real world. Another text message shows up from Naomi Suzuki, requesting help as only her eyes are functioning in the real world. Mai discovers through Suzuki that players are released from their penalty during specific times of the day for a 30 minute interval to take care of basic bodily functions. Two options are presented to Mai should she decide to help Suzuki, 100 CP sent via mail system or to battle against the boss responsible for the loss of Suzuki’s body parts. Unable to ignore the plea for help, Mai agrees to battle the slit-mouthed woman , a rank B boss, to recover Suzuki’s legs. Almost certain that she will lose should she chooses a normal battle, she instead opts for a ‘brain battle’. Mai is transported to a dark place with stiff sofa chairs where she comes face to face with the slit-mouthed woman while their characters face each other off on a big screen. Yashiro avoids making any rookie mistakes such as ‘attacking’ head on and instead chooses to ‘talk’. The slit-mouthed woman, misreading her, chooses to ‘duck’. A message from the console informs Mai that a player wishes to watch. It’s Asagi who wishes to ‘support’ Mai and explains that if she had chosen a normal battle, she would have been defeated in one blow. The two proceed to exchange text messages where Asagi explains various points of the battle system. The slit-mouthed woman is provoked into rage by Mai accusing her of being ‘simple-minded’ and too easy to read. After Mai’s second charging command, the slit-mouthed woman begins to suspect her true intentions are to use a critical attack and after being mocked by Mai, the slit-mouthed woman attacks her mid-charge.