Part 25: .hack Outbreak - //Update 01 - One-Two-Three Gut Punch

//Update 01

Hello everyone! Welcome to the first update for .hack//Outbreak. We're now officially past the halfway point of the series and you could consider it all downhill from here. Let's jump right into the action.

Video: Attract Mode

Video:









: The day that he first played "The World," his friend Orca fell into a deep coma as a result of Skeith's data drain.





: "The World" isn't just an online game. Something with another purpose is lurking within it.



: The "Book of Twilight," handed to him by the girl Aura, transformed into a bracelet, giving him two extraordinary powers.









: Data Drain, the power to alter monster data.









: And Gate Hacking, which allows him to gain entrance into protected areas. And it was these very same powers that put Orca into a coma.





: After heeding the information offered by the mysterious woman, Helba, that the key to saving Orca is in the release of Aura through the power of the bracelet.







: He and his party succeeded in defeating Skeith, Innis, and Magus.









: And yet, in spite of their triumph, the situation only worsens.





















I'm gonna give you all a fair warning right now. Outbreak starts off with things being pretty bad and throughout the game, it only gets worse. This particular game is not going to have a lot of high points and things are going to go downhill from now until the end of Quarantine. So if you stick around, know that we're entering Anime Melodrama Territory.

With that out of the way, let's see what's new.






: Helba's behind it? That's not possible... and Lios knows that too...




Glad to see Altimit is getting with the times and putting their version of Windows 8 into beta.




I would kill for a 90 Megabit connection to my desktop, let alone my cell phone. I'm also amused that PDAs are still around in the dotHack universe.





You ever get the feeling that Wiseman's one of those thesaurus speakers? The kind of person who can't say something without at least five different synonyms to choose from? I get that feeling.



Version 3.02 of "The World" patch notes: Grunties can search for shit. Seriously. That's it. At least they didn't give it a major revision number. Anyway, let's see what's new on the Board.





things depending on their type.

I'm probably never going to bother with this skill. Just as a fair warning. It's as useless as it sounds. Anyway, those two posts were it for the message board. So let's see if the servers are back up after the patch.

Video: *YOU SHOULD WATCH THIS*





Mia's stumbling around almost drunkenly. She's also slouched over as though she can't stand up straight. You know, like someone exhausted. She... doesn't look very good. You know what? You probably should just watch the video. It conveys this better than screenshots can. ...Come to think of it, you should just be watching all the videos for this update. Trust me.

: Oh.. it's you... There aren't many people here today...



: Festival?

: The barriers have been lifted. They're all gone. We can go back and forth freely now.



You know, I may rag on Mia and Elk a lot, and a lot of it's deservedly. But they're still Kite's friends, and honestly? I'm worried about her. She seems delirious and exhausted at the same time. I hope she's not sick.

: Mia?



: DON'T TOUCH ME!





Still screenshots can't convey it, but she's visibly shaking.

: ?!

: Tell me... Do you happen to know where Elk is? Did I leave him behind again? Where is he?

: What's the matter, Mia? You're acting... peculiar.





Not long after that worrying encounter, we get a new mail notification. Better check that out. Also, there's nobody in town.







Alright, this is pretty awesome. These are the key words to a level 70 dungeon - the level cap for Outbreak. In this dungeon is a weapon that basically snaps the difficulty curve of the game right in half. It's so powerful that when we get them, we won't need another weapon until the tail end of Quarantine - if even then!

Λ Stalking Betrayed Nothingness has been added to the Word List.




our best in exterminating hackers.

We appreciate your understanding in this matter, and your continued patronage to "The World."

Glad to see that Lios has started making up his own reality in lieu of dealing with this one.



That doesn't seem like Mistral's feeling like herself at all. Anyway, logging back in again.






























This last message thread is extremely important and lists the absolute best feature about Outbreak! Now we can find virus cores just hanging out in dungeons. They're almost always in dead-end rooms of dungeons - ones without a treasure box inside.

Anyway, we hop over to Mac Anu to meet up with Mistral.

Video: *SERIOUSLY WATCH THIS ONE TOO*

: Um... uh...

: What?

: I've been meaning to say this for a while, but I couldn't...

: You're not acting like yourself. :-)

: I'm sorry... I'm...



: ......

: So... I can't do anything that's scary or dangerous. I'm sorry... I wanted to help until the end.

: I see... I had no idea. Wow... you're going to be a mom! Congratulations!

: It's not...

: I understand. Don't burn yourself out.

: Same goes to you, too.

: Yeah.

: Be careful.

: Yeah. You too.

: Well, see you later... :_(



: ......

We've just lost Mistral. Permanently.

Video: *ALSO WATCH THIS ONE TOO*



: Hey, I just sent an e-mail to you. Did you get it?

: No, not yet.

: Oh, OK. Well... it wasn't really anything important.

: Hey...

: Hmm?



: I don't know anymore... if what we're doing... is the right thing.

: Are you kidding? It's sort of late to change your mind now.

: Yeah, but...

: You know, you can tell me, I'm here to listen... so spit it out.

: Every time we jump into action, something awful happens. That is the truth. Balmung may be right.

: There's no way to tell if it's bad or good!

: Um, but...

: Will you cut it out? This is stupid and it's really pissing me off! Stop and think about why we risk our lives to do all these terrifying dangerous things in the first place! Whining over the situation isn't going to help!



I told you, it starts off bad and gets worse. It's the perfect introduction to the game, however. A one-two-three gut punch for the player. Mia is acting oddly, Mistral quits the game, and BlackRose is now pissed off at Kite. Mia is functionally out of the party as well. She's available even less than she was before, and until the end of Quarantine, she only shows up a handful more times.

We're less than ten minutes into the game and we're down three people - Mia, Elk, and Mistral.

That's all for now, however. Next time, we get things officially rolling with a new recruit. Stay tuned!