JAPAN, 2071. For once, the planet is peaceful as technology continues to flourish. Hoverboards and airtouch devices are popular, major chain restaurants are almost completely managed by robot cat hosts, physical health is monitored through chips inserted into the bloodstream, and humans and domestic animals have strengthened their bonds through the use of interspecies speech translators. Despite everything, these technologies seem to fade in the presence of virtual reality. It’s ever present in Japan; with its help, doctors perform complicated surgeries, soldiers are exposed to hyper-realistic training, individuals even use it in place of hallucinatory drugs… and of course, almost everyone uses it to play video games.
When VIVIDREAM, an obscure VR-gaming company, sent prototype headsets out to one hundred lucky individuals in Yokohama, the city appeared to celebrate overnight. The VIVIDREAM headsets provided gamers with a completely new virtual reality experience. More vibrant displays allowed players to further immerse themselves in their games, there weren’t any instances of lag or delay, and instances felt much, much more realistic. The headsets were lauded as a godsend to both casual and hardcore gamers alike.
Then Uehara Masahiko, a popular student and hard-core VIVIDREAM technoid at Izumi Academy, slipped into a coma. The incident was enough to send a shiver through the student body. Whispers passed from class to class. He pushed himself too hard. He spent too long playing on the VIVIDREAM. Rumors flitted about, as well: there were claims that Masahiko hardly ever left his house and only left to go to school, that there were these strange games that appeared on the VIVIDREAM but only at midnight, that someone swore they saw Masahiko on it once before he fell unconscious. A month passed and students slowly went back to their lives. They had tests to pass, friends to watch out for. There was no need to dwell on an isolated incident. Everything was fine.
Right?
At the tick of midnight, the virtual reality presented by VIVIDREAM undergoes maintenance and morphs into the MIDNIGHT REALM. Sometimes it might display a sci-fi MMO. Other times it might display a fantasy single-player. The possibilities are endless, but they are always dependent on the type of game its victim (or host) usually plays. However, it is always riddled by dangerous creatures called Shadows that are extremely aggressive. If one dies in the Midnight Realm, they are consequently placed into a coma from which they may never wake up in the over-world.
Players should make their characters’ Personas, their choice of weaponry, and their get-up reflect the type of game they like. Someone who is devoted to a fantasy game should have a Persona that reflects that archetype, i.e. King Arthur, Gawain, Morrigan, other types of knights and mages, and so forth. On the other hand, someone who spends their time playing a lot of western games will have a Persona similar to legends like Billy the Kid, Butch Cassidy, etc. This also corresponds to their main weapon Midnight Realm, though their clothing will change once they enter other worlds beneath the umbrella of the Realm.
0. FOOL: ...
I. MAGICIAN: Hayakawa Kimiko
II. PRIESTESS:
III. EMPERESS:
IV. EMPEROR: Mori Kaito
V. HIEROPHANT:
VI. LOVERS:
VII. CHARIOT: Oda Junichiro
VIII. JUSTICE: Igarashi Kaede
IX. HERMIT:
X. FORTUNE:
XI. STRENGTH: CLAIMED!
XII. HANGED MAN:
XIII. DEATH:
XIV. TEMPERANCE: CLAIMED!
XV. DEVIL: Shinozaki Yurie
XVI. TOWER:
XVII. STAR:
XVIII. MOON: Aozora Torio
XIX. SUN:
XX. JUDGEMENT:
XXI. WORLD: ...
