How come I must know
where obsession needs to go?
How come I must know
the direction of relieving?
Deep in the night
Far off the light
Missing my headache
Visions of light
Sweeter delight
Kissin' my Loveache
Deep in the night
Far off the light
Missing my headache
Visions of light
Sweeter delight
Kissin' my Loveache
How come I must know
where obsession needs to go?
How come I must know
where the passion hides its feelings?
How come I must know
where obsession needs to go?
How come I must know
the direction of relieving?
Whoa.
A trap?
No. Why would Helba do that?
What is this?
Well, now this is...
What kind of a place is this?
It looks like a ghetto.
Crim.
What?
Do you think Tsukasa will come?
I would like for him to come but...
If this is what's waiting for him, I think it's better if he doesn't.
What are you?!
What are you doing here?!
It's useless... that's only data remains.
Remains? Of what kind of data?
Probably... a copy of Tsukasa.
Thank goodness.
Hey, shouldn't we clean this up?
And put it where?
Then...
What're you doing?!
Don't misunderstand. This is just data. It is not Tsukasa.
That's right, but doing that is not acceptable.
Why?
If he is coming, he'll be here soon.
If Tsukasa sees us attacking these, think how he'll feel.
It's an unpleasant sight but...
There are times when it is better to just accept what is there.
But, why is Tsukasa the only one?
He's here!
What is this? What does it mean? I...
Tsukasa, calm down. Don't be fooled by their appearance.
I'm glad you came. Good job!
We're getting closer to the truth. We're almost there.
But this...
Hey!
Welcome to Net Slum.
Net Slum?
A place where remnants of undeleted, old data...
...and undiscovered bugs gathered.
Together, they constructed a new area.
To put it more precisely, it is a place that we reconstructed ourselves.
Several places like this exist in ''The World.''
What are those?
My program started to pick those up about six months ago.
What program is that?
It is compiled to collect illegal data within ''The World.''
Trash is a gold mine for information.
Hey, six months ago...
Shortly before Tsukasa was unable to logout.
I think, in the beginning...
...the enemy was trying to reconstruct Tsukasa's data...
...and create something like a clone.
That's why Bear said they were copies.
Once it realized that it wasn't going as planned...
...it took the original inside the game and tried to achieve its goal.
But why Tsukasa?
The answer to that is probably within Tsukasa himself.
I... don't know.
Tsukasa!
Subaru, go to him.
Right!
So, who is behind this?
A being that is unevenly distributed in ''The World.''
I do not know anything more.
How do we fight an enemy like that?
You said that you are here.
Yeah.
Then please be here, by my side.
I am here too, by your side.
Why?
There is a place for you to return to. I want to see you one more time.
Is there really a place for me to return to?
There is. As long as you desire it.
I don't like this place. But...
Don't be bound to yourself.
Don't say things that reject your own possibilities.
That's what l want to believe.
I thought that I was a guy.
But that's because my memories were altered.
I don't know which one is the real me...
...and which ones are the memories that were created anymore.
I think the real me is a girl. Do you still want to see me?
Yes. Because...
Because?
Because I've been touched by your trembling soul.
I will be here. To see you one more time.
So, this is a strategic base?
Huh? I don't get it.
If the enemy is unevenly distributed in ''The World''...
...then it means that the enemy is everywhere. But, here.
It was created in secret, so it is separated from the enemy.
But setting that aside, how would we fight an enemy like that?
Currently, I think it is impossible to defeat it.
What do you mean?
To stop the intention of an unevenly distributed thought. That is our goal.
To give birth to Aura in a normal form.
Aura is believed to be linked with Tsukasa.
When Tsukasa is positive, she grows in the desired direction...
...when Tsukasa is negative, that growth is warped.
The goal of the enemy is to give birth to a warped Aura.
No.
No?
So boring. Nothing's changed.
Sora, I cannot see Tsukasa and the others.
Do you know where they went?
What does that mean?
The enemy has no intention of giving birth to Aura in the first place.
If Tsukasa remains negative, then the enemy's goal is achieved?
Probably.
The cause and the effect is the opposite from what we thought.
It's not that Tsukasa will be able to log out when Aura is born...
...but when Tsukasa is able to log out, then Aura will awaken.
I believe so. And at that moment, the Key of the Twilight will take form.
What should we do?
Old lady, old lady, who are you? Hey, hey, hey!
Old lady!
You can hear me, right?
Are you talking to me?
Who else is here? Old lady, aren't you hiding something from me?
Who knows?
Old lady, what's your wish?
To give Tsukasa deeper despair.
That's not that interesting, you know.
What is your wish?
Something interesting.
I will give you this, as I have given it to Tsukasa.
Would that make it slightly more interesting?
I don't want it.
Why? If you have this, you'll be the most powerful.
I'm already powerful without it.
Fool.
I'm leaving for today. I'll come again.
Macha! Macha!
You're still holding that?
Now go.
Go!
I don't have any brothers or sisters, but if I did, I think it'd be like this.
Tsukasa, Shimokita, you promised.
Old man!
Who're you calling old man?
You're young?
More or less. You're young?
More or less.
I'm 23. I work part-time at a video rental store. That's all I do though.
Hey. I used to do that too. You can watch whatever you want.
What kind of a store is that?
If you worked at a sushi restaurant...
...could you eat as much sushi as you wanted?
It's a joke, a joke!
It's been a while since I had a silly conversation like this in ''The World.''
See, it's because you talk like that...
...that's why I thought you were pretty old.
What do you mean ''like that''?
Then how should I talk?
Boo!
I've deleted most of the unnecessary data. Unfortunately, that's all I can do.
I thought that you were going to fight with us.
Helba is insurance.
Instead of being in the front lines, I'd rather have her monitoring in back.
I will monitor as much as possible.
I want to see what the awakening of Aura will bring to ''The World.''
Balmung isn't coming?
He has no intention of dealing with hackers.
I pray for your success.
Bear.
The reason Tsukasa is still barely able to be involved with people...
...is because of Subaru.
If I was the enemy, I would strike at her.
If that happens, then Tsukasa would surely be unable to recover.
That is why Subaru should not be here.
I think so too, but it's not going to happen.
Subaru won't leave here.
The risk is too great.
Bear, we have no choice.
As Crim said, Subaru will not leave.
But even if we succeed in convincing her and she agrees to log out...
...what would happen to Tsukasa when he's left here?
Tsukasa barely made it here because of Subaru.
Bear, you just said so yourself.
That's...
We should not think of those two separately.
We didn't have a chance in the first place. But we still have to do it.
''We don't need to win, as long as we don't lose.''
Mimiru is calling.
Macha?!
No! Don't!
You can't!
Tsukasa!
Lady Subaru!
I won't let you!
Lady Subaru!
Subaru!
Tsukasa! Take Subaru and run away somewhere!
Somewhere?
It doesn't matter where! Hurry!
We'll take care of this somehow.
It's after Subaru. Protect Subaru!
Tsukasa!
Tsukasa! Hurry up!
I...
Let's go.
Tsukasa, I'm counting on you!
Yeah, but I don't wanna hear that from you.
Hey!
How much more HP does this thing have?
It's probably infinite.
Damn it! No!
Subaru, you...
You should log out from here.
No. I won't log out.
But...
If you can't log out, then I will remain here as well.
I... I....
Tsukasa....
You defeated that thing?
It wasn't me. It was my guardian.
Tsukasa!
That's amazing.
But...
You were able to return a blow...
...to that unevenly distributed thought. Be happy!
But what should I do now?
I'm not asking that. What do you want to do?
Crim.
Tell us, not what you should do...
...but what you want to do.
I...
I want to log out.
I want to return to the real world.
Preview
Searching for eternity, you are a frivolous dreamer
Holding fast to unreliable dreams, where are you going?
Searching for the key to open twilight,
With the moon's shadow out of reach, I cry. Where am I going?
Even though secrets are lost in our eyes,
We will never break our embrace.
Pale January moon, hide the morning's glow.
The gentle dawn of a night that should not end.