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?
You waiting for someone again?
Hey, long time no see!
You're going to take part in this event as well?
Guess so.
The unbeatable dungeon that gave birth to many legends...
...returns once again to ''The World'' after two years of silence.
Well, see ya!
I'm here!
You're late!
Sorry.
Let's go! Hurry up!
Why are you so insistent on this limited time only event?
I want to make sure.
Come on, hurry up!
Hey, looks interesting!
A monster is coming this way!
Can you lend us a hand?
Sorry, but I'm not interested in defeating monsters.
Huh?
It's here!
This way!
You're not interested in defeating monsters?
There's something I want to make sure of.
But, I wonder...
That one has monsters that can heal it.
So you can only defeat it with a critical blow.
You seem to know a lot.
This way. Let's ignore the monsters.
I just want to get to the lowest level.
I guess it's okay to ignore them but...
...is there a player that can defeat that with one critical blow?
Actually, there was.
Two years ago when this dungeon was first opened.
We should've healed ourselves. If we get hit again, we're dead.
I guess this is it.
Here. You should take this.
I don't want it.
Why not?
I'm not interested.
No way! Why?
Uh, wait...
Come on, let's go.
Yeah. We shouldn't bother.
Well, that's true...
Are you alone?
Did you come all the way here solo?
I'm not alone...
...but I'm not part of a party either.
No, don't!
He'll just get more confused if you say that.
We should keep quiet about us.
Yeah, if they ask questions...
Yeah, I know.
Well, I'll come tomorrow on the first train again.
Then I'll be here around early evening.
Yeah, OK.
Later.
Let's go.
You sure?
Yeah, I'm sure.
What are you afraid of? Come on.
Not with our level. It's hopeless.
No it's not! If we form a party with her.
Did you read the Board? There're a lot of posts about this dungeon.
What did it say?
That this dungeon has the worst game balance.
The monsters that appear are completely random...
...and there's no relation to levels.
So in truth, the game balance isn't bad...
...it's just that there is no game balance to this dungeon.
A dungeon without game balance?
I wonder what the purpose of creating this dungeon was?
It's better that we don't know.
Why?
It's boring if we find out where people came from...
...and where they are going, right?
Is it?
It is.
You say things that don't make any sense sometimes.
Try to understand.
Jeez, we've been playing together for a long time.
You're kidding!
A weak monster like this?
Kill it. You can even do it with your bare hands.
We're already in B8 and there still aren't any big ones.
We're lucky. For now.
Wow! Look at this rare item.
This place is weird.
You feel kind of bad defeating small fry like that...
...and getting a rare item like this.
Let's go back.
Why?
The game balance is too crappy.
But, this place is like that.
This place isn't a game.
What are you saying?
If we stay here, a really strong enemy will appear and we'll just get killed.
Isn't that the thrill of a game?
No, I don't think that's it.
This place is... don't you understand?
I don't.
It doesn't matter if you understand. Let's just go back.
No way.
If you wanna go back that much, then go back alone.
Here, I'll disband the party.
What about the Sprite Ocarina?
I don't have one.
Then how are you going to get back?
I'll be fine. Nothing powerful is going to show up.
Wait!
What is this?
A trap?
Who are these people?
They look like the guys I helped yesterday?
I'm in the middle of a battle!
Oh no!
Ap Vorma!
Are you all right?
Don't worry.
It's already dead.
You're right. Is it going to stay this way?
Defeat your opponent by sacrificing yourself...
...and hit the enemy with all of your energy.
That's what that attack was.
It can only be used once and after it's executed...
...you need someone else to cure your body that's been crystallized.
I've never heard of it. Can players use that too?
But, defeating that monster in one blow! You're...
Can I ask you one question?
Did you come all the way down here alone?
Have you ever formed a party?
I thought it was one question?
Have you ever formed a party?
Never.
And you're at such a high level!
What did you do to get that powerful?
I guess you could have found an item that increases your level by chance.
And you kept finding them.
But the possibility of that happening is very close to zero.
There is only one way.
To continually be in ''The World'' without any sleep or rest...
...and continually defeat monsters.
Without sleep?
Yes.
For months?
Yep.
Impossible.
It's possible.
Huh?
If there is more than one person controlling the character.
There's no way.
But she said it herself.
I'm not alone...
...but I'm not part of a party either.
How many of you are there?
Three. We take turns and raise this character.
Why? For what reason?
This is...
Isn't this what you wanted?
Damn! If I reset, I can go back to where I saved, but...
...this will be gone too, so...
Blinded by an item. Fool.
He is.
He's a fool. But can you help him?
You...
He's a fool. He's a fool, but I...
How old are you in the real world?
8th grade.
And him?
I think he's in college.
What do you want to do?
I think we'll have to.
Looks like it.
Yeah!
I haven't asked yet. How old are you in the real world?
18, 18, and 17. We'll all be 18 soon though.
You're older than me.
That's right.
What are you all like?
Why do you ask?
I'm interested.
We're normal.
Normal?
Normal high school girls.
Our parents told us to be normal, or wanted us to be normal, so we...
...went along and ended up being uninteresting girls with nothing special.
We though we had to do something, but we couldn't.
We're not good singers and we can't dance or draw.
Even if we each had a character and formed a party...
...it won't amount to much.
So we thought of taking turns and creating one really powerful character.
One of us was living alone, so we kept staying over at her place.
On and on, we kept doing it.
I think it feels like when our entire class had to take care of rabbits.
We took turns giving it food...
...cleaning the cage and it gradually became used to us.
We'll hold it one at a time and it gradually got bigger.
The rabbit was ours. This character was also ours.
For me, it was like a relay.
I was a slow runner so I'd never hold the baton in the real world, but...
...in ''The World,'' I was able to hold the baton, which was the character.
Inflict a critical blow to a monster that no one can defeat.
This is what it must feel like...
...to have everyone in your class cheering you on...
...as you whip around the corner for the final stretch.
While I'm holding the baton, I'll do my best to fight.
I wield this sword as hard as I can...
...to hand this character off to my friend who is waiting.
I helped someone when I had been in ''The World'' for a while.
He was attacked by a monster, and was on the verge of death.
I came in and wielded my sword. I didn't mean to help him.
My body, the hands that clutched the controller moved on its own.
He said, ''thank you'' to me.
That's when I realized for the first time, that in all 18 years of my life...
I don't remember ever helping anyone.
I don't remember being useful to anyone.
I was shocked and at the same time...
...I thought how wonderful the words ''thank you'' are.
No one ever needed me in the 18 years of my life...
...but even someone like me can help others and be useful.
And they will say ''thank you'' to me.
I was able to experience all of this in ''The World.''
And soon, all of this will end.
End?
It's almost graduation.
You can't!
It's what we decided from the beginning.
We'll do our best in ''The World'' until we graduate.
If the three of us do it together...
...then we thought there will be something to gain.
I... I made you use up such valuable time like that for nothing.
It's fine. If it ends because we were...
...trying to do something for someone, we are happy.
You've been running around with a huge monster chasing you.
My stat for speed is high.
Idiot!
It looks good on you.
You need to hide.
Is there anything left to use?
No HP either.
That's not good!
You want to try with that?
But if we use that and miss..
You got any regrets?
None.
I don't have any either.
Did we do it?
Did it work?
Wait! Something's wrong!
Huh? What?!
This character cannot be recovered.
Oh, you're going home now?
Yeah, since it's over.
Guess so.
Yeah, later.
But there is no more ''later'' left.
Let's not get into that.
Well, later.
Thank you.
It's just as it was.
This is...
She's crystallized. I've never heard of magic like this.
It's not in this version of the game.
My mentor.
Mentor?
The three of them taught me this game.
If they weren't here, I wouldn't be here...
...and I wouldn't have met you and Tsukasa.
So the three of them didn't return to ''The World''?
Nope. They graduated both the school and the game.
Graduated, huh?
I won't yet. Not for a little while longer.
Thank you.
Huh? What do you mean?
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.